Severus and Korgad walked through several rooms and offices until they reached the end of one of the long corridors where they found themselves in front of two large black doors with no knob, but with a strange slot in the middle.
"Place the ring in the slot," the goblin told him, pointing to the slot in the middle of the doors.
Severus placed the ring and a few moments later the two large black iron doors opened inwards revealing a large chamber.
Severus watched amazed as the huge chamber was carefully arranged with many candles around it.
He didn't know much about rituals, but he knew enough to know that there was always a price and that was why it was illegal.
In this case, Severus knew that the goblins had managed to minimise this price to be paid in ritual, to the point where the Ministry of Magic agreed to make an exception for blood rituals used in heredity testing, but in any other case the use of rituals was strictly forbidden.
"Sit in the centre of the chamber," the goblin indicated, showing the only place in the chamber where there were no candles in sight.
Severus obeyed and then watched as Korgad pulled out a silver dagger, wrote runes on it, and poured a potion over it.
After doing so, the goblin began to chant in an unknown language.
Severus' eyes widened as Korgad stopped chanting and then walked over to him, grabbed his head, and carved some sort of rune into his forehead.
It hurt Severus to feel the dagger cutting and burning as he carved the rune into his forehead, but it was not an excruciating pain for him, he had suffered far worse.
The goblin took three steps back.
"Now the test begins," Korgad said.
The instant the goblin said that Severus felt as if molten lava was flowing through his veins, second by second the feeling intensified.
Slowly he began to feel as if he was being torn apart from the inside, his head began to spin and ache.
Suddenly there was a flash of light, and it seemed to pounce on his memories, his thoughts, and everything in his head.
Severus could recognise that this flash was the Force itself affecting his emotions as in meditation.
But the surprising thing was that it was made up of both the dark side and the light side.
Severus tried to stop it from affecting his mind, but it was almost impossible to stop its advance, it was the same feeling young Snape had with the Sorting Hat.
A unique magic that was impossible to stop, a magic that could see everything about you, but Severus knew that this kind of magic could not give that information to others, it was very old magic, Severus had read about this kind of magic when studying the Sorting Hat.
But the information was quite limited, there was only mention of this magic.
But now he was sure that this magic was the dark side and the light side, it was something dangerous and powerful, that acted on one's emotions.
But as far as he knew, this magic could only be given the function of using the information for specific purposes, like the Hogwarts hat that only used this information for selection and could not distribute or show this knowledge to others, unless the wizard in question allowed it.
'Such strange and unique magic' Severus thought despite the complications he was going through.
Severus could now surmise that this heredity testing ritual tested various aspects of one, blood, body, soul, and mind.
Severus went through a sort of mental test and when it was over the light was consumed by the darkness of his mind, this darkness completely and easily devoured the light that seemed so omnipotent when it entered his head.
'I guess that's all, I thought it would be harder...' Severus said to himself a little disappointed.
Such impressive and unique magic, but the mental test was so simple that it only took him a few moments to pass it.
Shortly after the light disappeared into the darkness, the sensation of pain in his body and blood slowly began to subside.
Finally, a few minutes later, when any pain or discomfort caused by the ritual had almost completely passed, Severus heard the goblin speak.
"You have finished the test," Korgad informed him.
"So... this..., that's all?" asked Severus intrigued, he was quite confused at this point, he didn't know if he had already passed or if there were any more mental tests left.
He had heard that the mental tests for the inheritance of noble families used to be like a torture.
"Well, I must congratulate you, Mr. Prince, from now on you will be considered the rightful heir of the Prince family and future Lord Prince."
"So, the test is over and it was a success?" asked Severus again a little surprised, although he expected this result, after how simple the ritual was, he expected there to be something more.
" That is right. Let me tell you, in all my years of taking this test of heredity, this is the first time I've ever encountered a ritual that ended so quickly and smoothly," said the goblin, looking analytically at Severus as if he were a very strange wizard.
"Well... there are always exceptions," Severus commented not knowing what else to say.
'It's not my problem that wizards are a bunch of wimps' complained Severus, he supposed the ritual must be quite a test for most wizards who never suffered anything serious in their lives.
"Uh-oh, yes, as you say, there are always exceptions" Korgad nodded.
"But that I have seen..., only when one is a baby" he added.
"A baby... What do you mean?" asked Severus who was intrigued by the meaning of the goblin's words.
"Well..., all the rituals for the Inheritance test performed on young wizards are, for the most part, long, painful, tedious, and involve some problem that we must solve," Korgad began to explain.
"That is why it is recommended to do the heredity test at a young age because a child has not fully formed his personality and his most distinctive traits, so the ritual cannot judge much more than the child's body and blood."
"In these cases, the ritual will be short-lived, as the mental test they go through does not usually affect the Babies, and only usually gives a negative or positive result without much further complication" Korgad finished.
"I see..." nodded Severus not very impressed by what he said, this only clarified his conjecture that wizards were just a bunch of wimps.
"I can only say that your case Mr. Prince is similar to a baby's."
"I guess I'm just different from the average wizard who does the ritual," Severus commented quietly.
"Yes..., strange, very strange, but as you say, not impossible," nodded a thoughtful Korgad.
"Now you'd better go to Dorbuck's office, he is the goblin in charge of the Prince family finances and vaults, he will tell you everything you need," he added.
"I understand, I will do that," nodded Severus.
"One more thing," said the goblin, taking some papers and handing them to Severus.
"Take this, give it to Dorbuck, he will take care of validating you as the new and rightful owner of the ring, as the ring is now magically locked, if it is not unlocked, you will not be able to access the Prince's vaults"
"Right, thank you," said Severus taking the papers and heading back to the centre of Gringotts bank where the goblin offices were located.
"Excuse me, I would like to speak to Dorbuck, could you tell me which is his office?" asked Severus to one of the goblins in the many offices.
The goblin gave him an irritated look, then grunted slightly and pointed to one of the offices.
"That's goblin Dorbuck's office," he snorted and pointed, and after saying that he turned back to his duties without paying any more attention to Severus.
Severus didn't bother to say anything else to him and went to the office he pointed to.
When he arrived he was greeted by a goblin he assumed was Dorbuck.
"You are Dorbuck, the goblin in charge of the Prince's finances and vaults?" asked Severus.
"Hmm..., That's right, what can I do for you wizard?" asked the goblin called Dorbuck, but the instant he saw the ring in Severus' hand, the goblin had a good guess as to what it was all about.
"I would like to see the Prince's properties, finances, and vaults as the new heir. Here are the necessary papers to validate that," Severus said as he handed him the papers Korgad had given him.
"Oh..., I see, let's see what we have here," Dorbuck said with a glint of interest in his eyes as he took the papers Severus handed him.
"Hmm, well..., it seems that everything is in order Master Prince, from now on you will be listed as the rightful heir of the Prince family and will be renamed Severus Tobias Prince"
" Fine," answered Severus, already knowing that the change of surname was one of the mandatory requirements to inherit the Prince family legacy.
Severus couldn't help but smile in amusement at the goblin's obvious change in attitude now that he knew he was the Prince heir.
"Master Prince, my name is Dorbuck, I am the accounts manager of the old Prince house. It is an honour to meet you and a relief to know that the house of Prince has found a new heir," the goblin said respectfully.
Severus nodded.
"Thank you, Account Manager Dorbuck, your words are welcome. Now, what do you say if we continue?"
"Oh, sure. Whatever you need, Master Prince"
"Okey..., I was informed that I need to unlock the magic of the Prince's ancestral ring to gain access to the belongings my family has, Tell me, how does it work and how would the unlocking be accomplished?"
"Well, as the legitimate heir to the House Prince, the entire inheritance rests with you, making you the sole heir, and the Ring will allow you to have full access to all of the House Prince's possessions," Dorbuck explained.
"Oh, and since you are now 16 and emancipated, you can now take the title of Lord Prince once the Ring is unlocked," he added.
"Interesting and to do this, doesn't the Ministry of Magic or the Wizengamot have to be told?" asked Severus rather intrigued on that matter.
He didn't want others to know about his heritage just yet, he preferred to stay out of the public eye for a while, he still had a lot of things to do, and drawing too much attention from the magical community would take the time that he didn't want to waste now.
Dorbuck nodded and explained: "Hmm, well, that only happens when the heir is from a house of British origin."
"But as the House Prince has its origins in the Republic of Ireland, it does not answer to the Wizengamot or the British Ministry of Magic, the decision to declare your heritage and your position as Lord is only yours."
Severus just nodded satisfied.
"Even though it is not necessary, as your account manager, I must recommend that you report your status as the new heir of the House Prince" clarified and recommended the goblin as he saw Severus' intentions.
"The Prince House may not have British origins, but it is closely linked to the Wizengamot and the British Ministry of Magic, as over the years the political power and influence of the Prince family has grown in Britain and is on the same level as any other noble house of British origin," Dorbuck informed him.
"Don't worry, I understand perfectly, but for now I prefer to familiarise myself with my heritage and once I feel in a position to report my status, I will let you know Dorbuck," said Severus.
"Very well Master Prince, as you wish. Now, if you will allow me to take your ring to continue..."
Severus handed him the ring without much trouble.
As Dorbuck took the ring, he gestured for Severus to wait a few moments as he made his way to a locked compartment within his office.
Severus watched as the goblin placed the ring in the middle of the locked compartment door, after a while the sounds of the compartment's inner workings could be heard as it appeared to open.
When the compartment opened, the goblin took a bowl with the Prince's House crest on it along with a wooden scroll inside.
Then Dorbuck closed it, took the ring, and returned to where Severus stood.
"Very well, Master Prince, I am going to ask you to pour a few drops of blood over this bowl," the Goblin told him as he handed him a sharp object identical to the one in the ritual.
'Yeah... They definitely have a thing for blood' Severus thought.
But he complied without a word and spilled a few drops of blood, then the Goblin took the ring and dipped it into the bowl of blood.
The ring did not seem to undergo any drastic changes, only the black serendibite gem glowed for a few moments before fading to leave the gem a bluish colour.
"Very well, you may now take the ring Lord Prince and from now on you have full access to the inheritance of House Prince," Dorbuck reported respectfully.
Severus only took a few moments to look at him before he reached out, took the ring, and placed it back in his hand.
The ring was made of pure gold with a large serendibite gemstone, which had previously been black but now turned blue, which was rather odd for that type of gemstone.
"Does the change in colour of the gemstone have anything to do with the magical blockage it had?" asked Severus curiously as he looked at the ring.
Dorbuck smiled, which was rather frightening, then handed him the wooden scroll.
"It is as you think. That was the final confirmation that you are in fact the Prince's heir," the goblin nodded.
"The ancestral ring confirms in that way that you are worthy to wear the ring and as such, that you are worthy to be the next Lord Prince," he added.
"I see..., how interesting, the black color of the gem indicated its magical lock, while the blue color is the result of the unlocking" Severus nodded in understanding and took the scroll Dorbuck gave him.
"In the scroll, you will find a summary of all the finances, properties, assets, vaults, liquid assets, the commercial capital, and all the general belongings of the Prince House" Dorbuck informed Severus once he took and saw the scroll.
Looking at the scroll, Severus saw the Prince vaults, properties, businesses, and investments:
-Prince family:
- Vault No. 777 (Prince family main vault).
- Vault No. 77 (Ordinary, daily use vault).
- Vault No. 7 ( Heir Prince's Vault)
- Vault No. 55, Vault No. 108, Vault No. 47, Vault No. 85, Vault No. 127 (Smaller vaults opened by several earlier generations of the Prince family line who, after their deaths, became part of the main Prince family.)
-Old Prince Mansion (Republic of Ireland) (Abandoned)
-Prince Manor (Great Britain) (current)
-Several properties are spread throughout the magical world (Detailed specifications attached)
-Various businesses and investments in the magical world (Attached file with detailed specifications).
"Well, I'll continue looking at the finances of Prince House in more detail later, for now, we'd better proceed with the tour through the vaults," Severus said to the goblin once he understood the vast amount of properties, businesses, and investments that Prince House had in the magical world.
It would take him a considerable amount of time to read and understand all the details.
'Time he would rather use for other things,' sighed Severus.
For now, Severus wanted to see how much fortune the House Prince currently had in money, then see how he would invest or use the money for his future plans.
He had a lot of technological things to do that would require research, investment, and time.
"Very well, please follow me Lord Prince" Dorbuck nodded indicating for him to go with him.
They both went to a cave that stretched into the darkness and had some torches on the wall with footprints leading into the abyss.
Dorbuck simply pulled out a lighted torch that hung on the wall and led the way.
A few moments later they came to a wagon that was connected to some long tracks.
The goblin climbed into the carriage and gestured for Severus to do the same.
"Which vault do you want to see first?" asked Dorbuck.
"Let's start with the main vault."
The goblin only nodded and the cart took them to one of the deepest parts of the cave.
What Severus knew about Prince House was that they were a very old family, dating back over 700 years.
They were famous for brewing potions and had links to many noble houses in Britain.
They were a family of blood purists, but they accepted half-bloods, unlike other more orthodox houses.
They used to be a house dedicated to dark potion making but eventually opted to stay on the "light side".
Although the Princes did not accept Muggles or Squibs, as they considered them inferior since they could not use magic.
That was one of the reasons why Severus' grandparents, his mother Eileen Prince's parents, removed his mother from the family tree even though she was his only heir.
They simply would not tolerate or accept that she had married a Muggle.
Eileen Prince was the only living heir, all the other family members died due to their recognition as dark potions.
Many dark wizards sought out the Prince's for different reasons and it never ended well for any of the Prince's involved.
So the family went on to leave the dark side.
Keeping only a few Prince's alive, until finally, it was just Severus' maternal grandparents and his mother.
When they finally reached the vaults, Severus stopped thinking about his family history and concentrated on the wealth of his maternal family.
The vault was just a large cave-like hole with a black metal door.
The goblin tapped the vault several times and a small opening appeared through which only the gem of his ring seemed to enter.
"You must place your hand with the ring in the hole," Dorbuck informed him.
Severus calmly moved his hand in front of the opening and then inserted the ring into the hole.
The wall seemed to react quickly and after several mechanical noises, the doors opened fully.
Instantly, in front of Severus were piles of coins scattered around the vault along with ancient books, gems, potions, cauldrons, ingredients of all kinds, and parchment.
Severus was very pleased, no doubt he had a good fortune to spend from now on.
After checking some more, they went through the rest of the remaining vaults and Severus asked Dorbuck to count the money in each vault.
Once they had finished checking all the Vaults in the Prince's possession, they both returned to the goblin's office.
"So, how much money is there in total?" asked Severus.
The goblin pulled out the parchment he had been writing on and began to read it.
"This..., How much money does the Prince's vault have in total or the sum of all the vaults?" asked Dorbuck.
"Between all the vaults, how much money is there?" asked Severus again.
"Hmm... Here you have" the goblin passed a piece of paper to Severus.
He quickly took the paper and read it:
-Total money vaults in possession of the Princes.
-697,807 gallons
-970,703 sickles
-530,005 knots
Severus almost lost his composure as he read the paper.
He knew the Princes had vast wealth, especially since he had checked vault by vault himself.
But never in his dreams had he dreamed of having such a large fortune in his lifetime.
'All this must be from selling potions...' Severus concluded.
In the magical world, Galleons were the most valuable coins.
Seventeen sickles made a galleon and 29 knuts made a sickle.
In Muggle currency, a gallon was 17 Pounds and 1 Pound was 2 USD.
Severus had an approximate wealth of around 700,000 galleons.
That was about 12 million Pounds or 24 million USD.
And that is without considering the value of all the assets and investments that the Princes had.
But considering his family's profession, it was understandable, potions made a lot of money, especially the sale of dark potions.
But still, it was a large sum of money, one that neither of his two souls had ever had the pleasure of having or seeing.
A sum that made him one of the richest wizards in Britain.
Though he knew that there were houses like the Malfoy's that had much more.
Severus was not greedy for money and did not give it much importance, but now it was a fundamental resource that he could not lack.
So being able to dispose of a large amount of money put him in a very good mood.
'Looks like those two were a miracle of the Force in disguise' Severus smiled at the thought of how beneficial his encounter with Draco and Hermione had turned out to be.
Supposedly Jedi couldn't have attachments, but he always thought that not having attachments could be just as bad as having them.
If a person begins to isolate himself from his attachments, his friends, colleagues, and everyone else who is important to him, he will eventually begin to devalue himself. Eventually, he will begin to devalue the lives of those around him.
'Jedi may not devalue conscious lives, but they do devalue sentient life. Emotions, attachments, love, happiness, and pain; all the things that make us live rather than just be alive'.
'It was absurd, the Jedi distancing themselves from their attachments began to distance themselves from the very people they were sworn to protect and lead, and they ended up being treated as mere soldiers by the Republic' Severus thought a little irritated with the Jedi code he had worked so hard to follow.
That damned code was one of the reasons Darth Sidious' poisonous words had such an effect on him.
He always had those thoughts, but Obi-Wan never listened to him, but the " Friendly Chancellor" was all ears and fully supported him, so he let his head be filled.
Snorting, Severus decided to stop thinking about it, he didn't need to justify his actions anymore.
Obi-Wan was gone, there was no Jedi council that cared about his actions or could criticize him, he was free now...
Dorbuck and Severus continued to talk about various things in the Prince family.
And Severus noted that Prince House was on the poorer side when it came to significant holdings in the magical world, but the Prince family was never very large, so it was understandable.
From what Dorbuck had told him, a family from an average pureblood noble house had around 400,000 galleons in the vault constantly.
In the magical world, those with large assets and investments are more renowned.
And the richest families in the magical world had over a million galleons in their vaults constantly.
In addition, most of them had a large amount of property, assets, businesses, and investments.
Severus was now rich enough to buy almost anything he wanted, too bad that what he wanted didn't exist on this planet and so he knew he would have to come up with even more money to finance all his future projects.
But he was sure he could triple his money in a short time.
He had the knowledge and the talent, he just lacked the money and now he had it.
'It's funny and also pathetically sad to think that before the most I ever made in money in a year was about 277 galleons.'
'Hmm... Merlin, I'd better not think about that.'
Severus had already taken about 70,000 galleons out of the Vaults which he would use to improve his current lifestyle, and then the rest to start on his plans.
Once he got his plans together he would start using more.
After withdrawing the paperwork and withdrawing the money, Severus left the bank and returned home.
'I suppose I can buy some food... those two probably haven't moved from their beds.'
'Well..., food for three it is then' concluded Severus who was in a good mood and decided to stop by some local eatery.
Not every day you become the heir of an important and wealthy family.
And so it was that Severus became Lord Prince.
Two weeks later.
-Dorset, West Country, south-western England, Great Britain
-Prince Manor
A young man was sitting by the tree of a huge manor.
Not as skinny as he used to be.
Not as unkempt as he used to be.
His hair was no longer as greasy, unkempt, and long, his face no longer showed signs of acne, his teeth were no longer crooked and yellow, and his nose no longer looked like just an ugly hook.
This young man was Severus Prince who had cut his hair shorter, built a stronger and more muscled body, his teeth were white and cared for, and he now dressed in good quality black clothes that made him look like a noble prince dressed in black.
Anyone who had met him before would be very impressed with the many changes in the young man.
For those who know him now, this is the norm.
Severus Prince left behind his old life as Severus Snape.
He no longer thought of Lily, who decided to move on with her life without being his friend.
Nor of Dumbledore, who always favoured his beloved Gryffindors.
Nor did he give any thought to his fellow Slytherins who only wanted him to be a death eater and only considered him a friend for convenience.
All that was left behind with the old Snape.
He left behind the house of his parents in which he had lived and suffered so much throughout his life.
He wouldn't sell the house he lived in at Spinner's End, despite the bad memories he had in that house, it was still part of his life.
But leaving was one of the best decisions he had ever made.
It was a new beginning and Severus knew he had a whole life ahead of him.
He had already started his plans, but it would take time, so he decided to focus on his training, the control of the Force, and the different spells and magics that were on this planet.
But in these two weeks, he also decided to enjoy his time on this planet, he would have no more regrets, so he would try his best, but he would also enjoy his time to the fullest.
Since his unexpected meeting with Draco and Hermione, they had both kept their part of the deal and spent a few hours a day showing and teaching him all kinds of magic unknown to the magical world of this time.
Severus had also fulfilled his part since he had obtained the Prince family's inheritance thanks to the ancestral ring they had given him.
They were now recognised as Draco Prince and Hermione Prince in the magical world, distant cousins of Severus Tobias Prince, Lord of House Prince.