For a moment, time appeared to stand still as the Lord of the Light stared at the Dark Lord, disbelief and shock clearly written all over his face.

Then, Dumbledore did the stupidest thing he could do as he reached for his wand, while pushing Harry out of Ragnok's office.

Before he could even point the wand in Tom's direction, four heavily armoured guards had already arrived, while Ragnok rose to his feet, the air in the room growing colder as he spoke, his hard eyes fixated on the unassuming wand in the Headmaster's hand, "I would tread carefully. You forget, Mister Dumbledore, that you are currently standing on the sovereign ground of my people. Should our rights and our neutrality be violated, we will retaliate immediately, as is our right. I will not warn you again. Furthermore, this meeting is not of your concern since you are not a member of the Prince family. Therefore, I ask you to leave."

While Dumbledore refrained from fully drawing his wand, he did not step back, although it was clear that he did not appreciate being addressed so plainly without the usual myriad of titles, "While I would normally honour your neutrality, I am afraid that I cannot comply. Not under these circumstances."

Ignoring the warning of the Goblins, the Lord of the Light pointed his wand at his adversary.

Fractions of a second later, Dumbledore's wand was flying through the air before the old coot could even utter a single syllable, while two razor-sharp axes, and two equally sharp halberds were pressed at his sides as the four Goblin guards stepped closer. With a swift movement, Ragnok caught the wand, his dark eyes fixated on the disarmed wizard, "You were warned, Mister Dumbledore. Be sure that your actions will have severe consequences given that you violated the neutral ground you are standing on. Now, leave."

Being the stubborn man who he was, who believed to be above such petty laws, Dumbledore did not step back, "You are wrong. The only one who will answer for their crimes is you. Not only did you just attack a member of the Wizengamot, but you are also holding a wand, which you are prohibited to do. Furthermore, you are protecting a wanted war criminal-"

" Mon dieu! " Madame Delacour exclaimed as she rose to her feet, as her eyes darted between the Headmaster who was pointing in accusation at his supposed adversary and said adversary, "what is ze meaning of zis, Dumbly-dorr? What are you implying about Thomas? E is a fine young man a-"

She stopped, staring at Dumbledore who had turned very pale at the mention of Thomas' name.

"What did you say is his name?" the Lord of the Light asked, his voice barely above a whisper.

"'is name is Thomas," Madame Delacour replied, looking slightly confused given the seemingly trivial subject of the question.

"This… this cannot be a coincidence," Dumbledore whispered more to himself than anyone else, staring at the Dark Lord before turning to address Ragnok, "we must inform the Aurors immediately. Otherwi-"

"Have you lost your mind?" Auberée de la Roche's voice accent-free boomed through the office as she, too, rose to her feet positioning herself between Dumbledore and Tom, not wavering the slightest, nor trying to hide the venom in her voice, "the Prince family was fleeing from the Dark Lord Voldemort and not with the Dark Lord Voldemort. His family spent the last decade hiding from the very man you are accusing Thomas here to be. He has suffered enough as it is in the last few days without your accusations, losing both his parents and being treated rather poorly in the horrible orphanage he was placed in. Before you start questioning his identity again, we have confirmed his identity twice. He is Thomas Nero Prince and nobody else. Madame Delacour, the Chef Adjoint du Département de la Famille of our Ministry, both Zordrak and Ragnok here as well as myself, Auberée de la Roche, Senior Auror, can attest to that. For someone who is supposed to care for children, your behaviour tells a different story."

"How dare you!" Dumbledore spat, having lost all his grandfatherly charm as he angrily pointed his finger in Tom's direction, who was sinking deeper in his chair, beginning to shake as fear contorted his face, "you are blind to his manipulation. You-"

The shouting match between Dumbledore and the two French witches, who were occasionally joined by Ragnok and Zordrak, that followed was amusing to say the least. Given the fragments of emotions that he felt through the link, Tom knew that Harry was sharing the feeling, although to the outside it appeared like he was following the conversation, if one might call it that, with eyes open wide, clearly in shock because of the Headmaster's behaviour.

Severus, too, was watching the scene, his watchful onyx eyes taking in the scene, his face impassive and unreadable. Somewhere along the line when Madame Delacour had wildly gesticulated at the family tree of Thomas Nero Prince, the Potions Master had quietly approached the desk of Ragnok to inspect the piece of parchment himself, occasionally glancing at his supposed cousin twice removed. In a rare moment of silence between the two parties, the Lord of the Prince family cleared his throat, "Ragnok, can you confirm that this family tree is indeed real."

Before Dumbledore could interfere, the Goblin quickly answered, "Yes, Lord Prince. I administered the Inheritance Potion myself and conducted the ritual personally. There is no doubt that young Thomas here is a member of your family."

"No," Dumbledore exclaimed, "he must have falsified the results of the Inheritance Ritual with his Dark Magi-"

"How dare you question our capabilities," Ragnok hissed, glaring at the Headmaster, "Mister Dumbledore, I have personally conducted the Inheritance Ritual. Thomas Prince had no way of influencing the resul-"

"Then you must have assisted him," the Lord of the Light spoke, "you and your people have always supported criminals under your supposed banner of neutral-"

"Unbelievable!" Auberée de la Roche finally snapped, "never in my life have I ever heard such unjustified accusations! Never! You should be ashamed of yourself, Monsieur Dumbledore. We can all attest to the authenticity of Thomas' past. Therefo-"

"That is incorrect, Miss de la Roche," the Lord of the Light interrupted her, "neither I nor Severus were present during the proceedings. Unlike you, I did not witness this supposed Inheritance Ritual. Because of that, I demand to personally supervise the confirmation of Thomas Prince's claimed identi-"

"You demand?" Ragnok sneered, "you are in no position to demand anything, Mister Dumbledore. Unless the Lord of the Prince family personally wishes to repeat the Inheritance Ritual, I am afraid that I can not comply with your demand. "

For a moment, the office was silent.

"Wou… would it he… help if I… I were to willingly offer to par… participate," the Dark Lord stuttered, letting himself sink deeper in his chair under the intense gaze of the many eyes that were suddenly focussed on his meagre frame.

"Thomas, you 'ave already done enough," Madame Delacour said, placing a calming hand on his shaking shoulder, "you 'ave given you blood enough as it is."

"Offering your blood would certainly help us," Severus' familiar drawl echoed through the office, his gaze shifting between his supposed cousin twice and the Headmaster, "I would like to take you up on your offer, although I certainly do not want to force you, Thomas."

Poking his finger for the third time today, the Dark Lord carefully squeezed his blood on yet another sheet of empty parchment before handing Ragnok the needle. Feeling the suspicious eyes of the Headmaster on him, he refrained from checking if the Goblin was properly cleaning the sharp metal object. Since Thomas Nero Prince was mostly unaware of the finer workings of the Wizarding world, it would only arouse suspicion if he was suddenly displaying any signs of paranoia regarding his blood. Thankfully, Dumbledore's attention soon shifted as Ragnok began to concentrate his magic on the blood-stained parchment.

His face contorted in concentration, the Goblin pushed forth his magic. The Dark Lord could sense that it was considerably more than during his first attempt to activate the Inheritance Ritual a couple of hours earlier. Crossing his fingers that the use of such an unusual amount of magic would go unnoticed, Tom kept his eyes on the parchment, hoping that Dumbledore was oblivious to the finer details of the ritual. Unfortunately, luck was not on their side as the Lord of the Light cleared his throat, staring at the Goblin, "What did you do? The Inheritance Ritual requires far less magic to work. Did you manipula-"

" Mon dieu!" Madame Delacour exclaimed once more, shaking her head as she stared at the old coot, "again wiz ze accusations. Zey are 'ave throuble wiz ze Adansonia Leaf Extract due to ze declining quality of zeir Madagascan suppliers. Zus, ze Inheritance Ritual requires more magic to work. I 'ave witnessed countless rituals in ze last few months and can attest to zat. I can swear on my magic if you want."

"Is that true?" Dumbledore asked, ignoring the lines on the paper for now in favour of the two Goblins in the office.

"Of course," Ragnok sneered, although a bit defensively, while reaching for one of the many drawers of his desk, producing a small vial filled with a chartreuse substance that was still sealed with wax, "to calm your nerves, you can of course test the Madagascan Adansonia Leaf Extract."

Just as Dumbledore was about to grab the sealed vial out of Ragnok's hand, the Goblin added, a feral grin plastered on his face, "Of course, it comes with a price since the extract is quite expensive. Shall the 94 Galleons and 14 Sickles be taken out of your personal vault, Mister Dumbledore?"

In the back, Auberée de la Roche quietly snorted as the Headmaster grudgingly consented to charge his personal account before pocketing the Adansonia Leaf Extract. For a long time, Tom had suspected that the Hogwarts funds were being used not just for new furniture, books, chalk, and the salary of its staff but Dumbledore's personal agendas. In the presence of that many watchful eyes, the old coot obviously did not dare to use the school's vault.

Once the vial had disappeared out of sight, Dumbledore's eyes finally focussed on the parchment which was now covered with a myriad of names, the name Thomas Nero Prince at its centre. The longer the Headmaster stared at the family tree, the wider his eyes grew. When he finally looked up, the Dark Lord was finding it rather difficult to keep a straight face.

"I require my wand back," Dumbledore finally said, clearly not bothering to voice the obvious request any nicer.

"Why?" Ragnok asked, one eyebrow raised in question and clear suspicion, "you already violated our neutrality once. Why should I follow your kind demand ?"

"I just want to check the family tree myself," Dumbledore answered, refraining from employing his trademark twinkle in favour of a more demanding and serious expression.

"Still suspicious," Auberée de la Roche chuckled, shaking her head in incomprehension of Dumbledore's behaviour. Pretending to not have overheard the comment, the Headmaster kept staring at the two Goblins. Given their stoic, unrelenting demeanour, he eventually added a quick 'please', although it seemed like uttering the single word was causing physical pain.

"You will get your wand back. Under one condition," Ragnok finally said, twirling the piece of wood between his fingers, fixating the Headmaster with cold and calculating eyes that left no room for protest, "should this wand be used for anything other than checking my questionable work, you will be incapacitated immediately. Is that understood, Mister Dumbledore?"

Grudgingly, the Headmaster agreed to the terms, although the four armoured guards were watching his every movement with suspicion. Before long, the returned wand was moving over the family tree in complicated, yet silent movements. Realising what the old coot was doing, the Dark Lord relaxed, although refraining from doing so outwardly. Since Dumbledore was only searching for faults within the family tree, Tom was sure that his search would turn out inconclusive. After all, this was the real family tree of the true Thomas Nero Prince which had been magically attached to the Dark Lord. All Ragnok had done was to make sure that this specific family tree appeared on the parchment and not the one of Tom Marvolo Riddle. Therefore, he had technically not interfered with nor modified the Inheritance Ritual in the way Dumbledore was suspecting.

"Can we finally confirm that Thomas is who he claims to be?" a clearly exasperated Auberée de la Roche asked a few minutes later, one eye narrowed as she stared at the Headmaster.

"So far, I could not find any faults," Dumbledore said, although it was very clear that he was not happy with the assertion nor that he believed in his words.

"Finally," the French Auror sighed, trying very hard to not roll her eyes.

Seemingly shaken out of his stupor by the words of Auberée de la Roche, Severus finally averted his eyes from the Headmaster and the family tree. Without sparing Dumbledore another glance, the Lord of the Prince family finally approached the newly discovered member of his family for the first time, kneeling in front of his cousin twice removed, "Hello, Thomas. First of all, I, Severus Snape, Lord of the Prince family, offer you my sincere condolences for your recent loss. While I am glad to meet a long-lost member of my family, I wish the circumstances would be different. Sadly, neither of us can change the past. Still, we can hope to make the best out of it in the days to come."

At the end of his introduction, the usually meticulously impassive mask of the Potion Master had morphed into something akin to an encouraging smile.

"Tha… Thank you, Lo.. Lord Prince," the Dark Lord stuttered, squirming slightly under the friendly onyx eyes of his opposite.

"You may call me Severus," the Potions Master offered. Before he could say more, Dumbledore once again directed all the attention in the room on himself, "Actually, I had not finished yet. I have a few questions for Auror de la Roche, Madame Delacour, and the two involved representatives of Gringotts which I am sure you would be interested to hear before the start of the official proceedings, Severus."

Neither Ragnok and Zordrak nor the two French witches looked excited at the prospect to interact any longer with the old coot given the lengthy silence that followed.

"If you 'ave to," Madame Delacour finally said, "go a'ead. Ask us whatever you want to know."

"I had hoped for a more private setting," Dumbledore asked, his eyes hovering over the Dark Lord for a brief moment, "I think Thomas has been through enough as it is, not needing to relive his past again. Especially not so soon."

Somehow, Tom guessed that the French witches only agreed to the interrogation – there was no better word to describe what Dumbledore wanted to do – in order to speed up the proceedings at least a bit, while the Goblins had openly voiced their disapproval and had once again reminded the Headmaster that the discovery of a member of the Prince family was not of his concern. In the end, Ragnok gestured to the adults to follow him to a nearby office.

On their way out, they were passed by a fast raven-haired figure, stopping in front of the Dark Lord, "Hi! You are Thomas, right?"

After a quick confirmation, his equal continued, "I am Harry. I live with Severus. He is my godfather. Nice to meet you, although I have to agree with Severus that the circumstances of our first meeting could have been better. I am really sorry what happened to you and your fami-"

"Harry, my boy," Dumbledore's voice boomed through the office accompanied by his trademark twinkle, which mysteriously had returned, "I think it would be better for you to wait outside the office until we are finish-"

"Do you think now that the Dark Lord Voldemort disguised himself as a member of the Prince family just to get the best shot at killing Harry Potter at next best opportunity?" Auberée de la Roche snorted, her words laced with sarcasms, "I think they can stay alone for a minute. Or are you planning to interrogate us for the next few hours?"

"Auror de la Roche, I merely have questions," Dumbledore replied, trying to keep his voice calm, although it was very clear what he thought of the French witch, "I merely wish to prevent any sorts of accidents that could happen when two young boys are alone."

"I can stay wiz them," Madame Delacour offered, "Auberée was wiz Thomas the longest. Therefore, she can answer everything and certainly more zan I could."

Grudgingly agreeing to the compromise, all adults bar Madame Delacour left. Once the door had been closed, words continued to bubble out of Harry's mouth, while Madame Delacour simply retook her seat, opting to simply stay in the background overserving.

"Are you really THE Harry Potter?" Tom asked, his voice barely above a whisper once Harry had finished the remainder of his introduction, "the one who vanquished You-Know-Who?"

"Yes, I am," his equal replied, shrugging his shoulders, "although I am not sure what exactly happened. I was barely over a year old at that time. Therefore, I doubt that I had much to do with it and prefer to be just Harry and not the figure the media paints me to be."

"Okay, just Ha… Harry, " Tom tried to smile, "ha… have you a… always live with Lor… Severus ever… ever since…?"

"No," Harry quickly answered, "before last summer, I was unaware that I even had godparents. Instead, I was living with my aunt's family."

"Why… why not anymore?" Tom asked.

"They are Muggles… Non-magical folk," Harry sighed before going on to explain, "they did not like me very much because of my freakishness as they called my magic and thus treated me rather badly… I was forced to cook, clean, and do the gardening, while never receiving anything in return... Barely enough food, no room of my own, no fitting clothes… Only very unpleasant words, and regular beatings to free me of my freakishness… To this day, I have no idea why I was placed there, and no one ever checked on me… When I got my Hogwarts letter, Severus was the one to explain everything about the Wizarding world to me. He was rather shocked about my living conditions…. He took me to Diagon Alley, the magical district of London, and Gringotts. There, we found out that he was my Godfather. After getting to know each other at Hogwarts over the last year where Severus teaches Potions, I decided to live with him since I like him, and I really wanted to get away from those Muggles. He has been really nice to me since I moved in with him."

The expression of disbelief, anger, and outrage on the face of Madame Delacour of the obvious neglect of the British Ministry of magical children, especially the famous Boy-Who-Lived did not go unnoticed. Pretending to be oblivious to the reaction of the French witch, Tom continued with his act, "I… I am so… sorry to… to hear that… Muggles are just so cruel when it comes to things they do not understand… I am glad that you got out of there and found a real home…"

"Hopefully," Harry smiled, "you will soon find a new home, too. I would not mind living with you. You seem nice."

All Tom could do was nod in answer as he sank back in his chair, while his lips curled into a faint smile.

"It is alright," Harry finally said, patting the Dark Lord's arm, "I am sure that Severus will help you. Although he might seem a bit unapproachable on the outside, he always makes sure to help magical children as much as he can."

Staring at Harry with big hopeful eyes, Tom leaned forwards, "Does he really teach Potions?"

"Yes, he does" his Equal answered, "but he also creates lots of new Potions. After all, he is the youngest Potions Master in history."

"Really?" the Dark Lord inquired.

Over the next hour or so, they talked about the Lord of the Prince family, their passion for Potions, other subjects they enjoyed, especially Defence, Charms, and Runes, Hogwarts, Wizarding Britain, and even flying. Seeing how well the two young wizards appeared to be getting along, Madame Delacour eventually produced a book out of the depths of her robe and began reading, a smile on her face.

They had just started talking about Diagon Alley, when the door of Ragnok's office was opened, revealing the two Goblins, a clearly exasperated Auberée de la Roche, and Severus. The latter entered the room without further ado, stopping in front of the Dark Lord, "Thomas, I am really sorry that you were kept waiting for so long. I am afraid that Professor Dumbledore is a rather suspicious individual. You somehow reminded him of the Dark Lord of the British Isles when he was a student under Professor Dumbledore. For me, there is no doubt his suspicions are unfounded. You look like a proper Prince, and the results of the Inheritance Ritual clearly confirm."

"Whe… where is he?" Tom asked, his voice trembling slightly.

"Once he finally stopped questioning the facts," Auberée de la Roche sighed as she took her seat next to Madame Delacour, "we agreed that his presence was not needed for the remainder of the proceedings. Anyway, did the two behave, Apolline? Or did you have to stop them killing each other?"

"No, zey are both lovely boys," Madame Delacour laughed.

"Good," the French Auror replied, "Lord Prince, the floor is all yours."

Once again, Severus gracefully let himself fall on his knees, his eyes on the same level as those of his cousin twice removed, "Thomas, as I wanted to tell you before we were interrupted, I am glad to meet you despite the very unfortunate circumstances. We are family after all. Because of our connection and my firm belief that magical children deserve to grow up amongst those who understand and cherish them, I offer you a place in my home, where we can get to know each other."

After the Potions Master had finished, Thomas Nero Prince appeared to be at loss for words.

"My dear," Auberée de la Roche finally broke the silence, "we all know that you have just met. You certainly do not have to make this decision right now. You have all the ti-"

"Will Harry also be there?" Tom suddenly asked, looking at the Potions Master with hope-filled eyes.

For a moment, Severus appeared to be slightly confused by the question before he answered, "Yes, Harry also lives with me. At least, when we are not at Hogwarts. Since I am also his Head of House, I can be there for him even during the school year."

"Well…" the Dark Lord said, seemingly carefully contemplating about his next words, "I… I… I think I want to accept your offer… You seem sincere from what I can tell… You are family after all… The last that I have left… And I really enjoyed talking to Harry…"

"Are you sure, Thomas?" Auberée de la Roche asked, one eyebrow raised.

Straightening his back, Tom answered, " Oui, Madame. "

Over the next couple of hours, the paperwork was completed. Again, the Dark Lord was very surprised how thorough the regulations of the French Ministry were. For the first three months, Severus would only serve as the temporal guardian while Madame Delacour as representative of the Ministère des Affaires Magiques would supervise that Thomas was treated well. Only if Thomas did not voice his disapproval, Severus would become his full guardian after the end of the third month. Besides sorting out the forms of the temporal guardianship, the Lord of the Prince estate had also insisted to add his cousin twice removed as an official member of the Prince family, much to the delight of the two Goblins. Once the final document had been signed, both Ragnok and Zordrak congratulated the Dark Lord.

"Finally," Auberée de la Roche smiled once the Goblins had finished, "Thomas, I wish you all the best with your new family."

" Merci, Madame, " Tom replied, the corners of his mouth curling into a shy smile.

"Still, I want you to know that we are always there for you," the Auror continued, pointing at the sealed letter in Thomas' pocket which could be only opened by the young wizard himself, keyed to his blood as a means to contact the French Ministry in case of an emergency, "do not refrain from contacting us. Whenever you need help, we will help you, regardless of the problem."

" Je vous remercie, Auberée ," the Dark Lord said, not even pretending to fake the gratitude in his words since it was real.

" Vous êtes les bienvenus, Thomas," the French witch smiled, ruffling his hair before turning to her companion, continuing in French, " Apolline, unless you have something to add, I think Thomas here is in good hands. Shall we return to France?"

"Actually, I have something to add," the Chef Adjoint du Département de la Famille said, switching to back to English as her attention shifted to Severus, "if zis adoption should and 'opefully will work out, am I right to assume zat Thomas will be attending 'ogwarts?"

"Most likely," the Potions Master answered.

" Je comprends ," Madame Delacour said, trying to keep her voice free of emotions, "in zat case, I want you to know, Thomas, zat we can arrange for you to transfer to Beauxbâtons should you for whatever reasons-"

The name 'Dumbledore' remained unsaid.

"-feel uncomfortable at 'ogwarts. Ze same also applies to you, 'arry Potter. Both of you are always welcome at Beauxbâtons."

At the raised eyebrow of Severus, she quickly added, "Zis 'as of course nozing to do wiz you, Lord Prince."

"No offence taken," the Potions Master quickly replied.

Once they had been led to the Floo room of the Goblin bank, Auberée de la Roche and Madame Delacour turned to Tom to properly bid farewell.

"Thomas, I wish you all the best and 'ope zat you will be 'appy 'ere in Britain," Madame Delacour said. Once Tom had smiled back at her, Auberée de la Roche ruffled his hair one last time, "May your future be bright, my dear."

"Thank you for everything," the Dark Lord relied, accompanied with a genuine smile, "can you convey my thanks to Henry?"

"Of course," the Auror laughed, "just do not forget to write to him."

Moments later, the two French witches were gone.