There was a stunned silence for a motion before Arcturus picked up the letter Severus had thrown on the desk. Sirius and Regulus wanted to read it too, because they were just as confused, but they decided to wait until their grandfather was done reading it.
A minute passed before Arcturus looked up from the letter. "Would it be alright if Sirius and Regulus read this as well?" he asked Severus.
"Yes," Severus agreed. The letter was handed to Sirius and Regulus.
After reading it, Sirius looked about ready to lose his temper. "Severus, your mother is a... a..." he paused, trying to find the right words.
"A dunderhead," Severus sneered.
"Yeah, exactly," Regulus chimed in. "She's horrible!"
"Severus, I am going to get Ignatius and Lucretia here," Arcturus explained. "They need to know what is happening, and if you want to change your name, they will need to be present for that."
"I understand," Severus replied. "Go ahead."
Minutes later, Ignatius and Lucretia arrived through the Floo. Arcturus allowed them to read the letter, then informed them that Severus wanted to change his name.
Lucretia turned to Severus. "Are you sure about this, Severus?" she asked. "Once we change your name, there's no going back. You will be officially a part of the family by name."
"Yes," Severus responded without hesitation. "I am positive. I don't want to be a Snape anymore, and in fact, I want to change my first and middle names as well, because I do not want to be reminded of my so-called mother or father."
"Alright," Lucretia agreed.
"Let's choose a name that will confuse people," Ignatius joked.
"Ignatius!" Lucretia scolded.
"Actually, the more unique it is, the better," Severus jumped in. "If it confuses people, oh well!"
"Very well," Arcturus said. "We will need to go to the Ministry of Magic to change your name legally. There are ways around going to the Ministry, but they are dark rituals, and they're illegal. Let me get Melania, then we'll go. Sirius, Regulus, you can come as well."
A few moments later, Melania arrived, and after being filled in on what was going on, she gave Severus a hug.
"This is a big step you're taking, Severus," she told him. "I am proud of you for making this decision."
"Thank you, Grandmother," Severus replied.
Severus, Sirius, Regulus, Lucretia, Ignatius, Arcturus, and Melania headed to the Ministry of Magic via the Floo Network. Arcturus led the way to the Office of Child Family Services, where they were greeted by a kind-looking lady at the front desk.
"Lord Black, Lady Black, it is an honor," she greeted them. "How can I assist you today?"
"Sra. Oyarzabal, we are here for a name change for my daughter's ward," Arcturus explained.
Sirius and Regulus gave each other questioning glances.
"Sra. Oyarzabal?" Regulus whispered. "What does Sra. mean?"
"I think it's Spanish," Sirius informed him. "We might want to get used to that, because when we go to Spain in a couple months, we'll be hearing that all the time."
Sra. Oyarzabal showed them to an office where another lady was waiting. "This is Madam Yelverton," Sra. Oyarzabal introduced. "She will be helping with the name changing process."
"Thank you, Sra. Oyarzabal," Melania said with a smile.
After Sra. Oyarzabal had left the room, Madam Yelverton began. "Who is it that wants to change their name?" she asked.
Lucretia stepped forward. "My ward, Severus Snape, is the one who would like to change his name," she stated.
Madam Yelverton nodded. "Very well," she agreed.
The process was long and exhausting, with endless amounts of parchment work for Lucretia and Ignatius to complete. While they waited, Sirius, Regulus, and Severus sat in hard chairs in the office.
"People are going to be so confused. Students, professors, you name it. They're going to have to remember a whole new name," Sirius said.
"I know. That's the only downside to this. But I will deal with it," Severus responded. "I'll just call people a dunderhead every time they call me by my old name."
Sirius and Regulus tried to hold in their laughter, but it was not working.
"Alright Severus, we are ready to choose your new name," Lucretia cut into the laughter.
Severus stood up and walked over to where the adults were sitting. "Alright," he agreed. "What name should I have?"
"We want you to choose, Severus," Ignatius told him. "We want you to like your name, so we don't want to pick it out for you."
Severus was surprised. He had not been expecting to be allowed to pick out his own name. "Er, alright," he said slowly. "What about Miaplacidus?"
"That's very unique," Ignatius commented. "I like it."
"Yes," Lucretia agreed. "It's very different from your old name. I like it as well."
"How many middle names do you want?" Arcturus asked curiously.
Severus thought for a moment. "Two," he replied.
"What would you like your middle names to be?" Melania asked. Severus' response put smiles on everyone's faces, and he even got hugs from them.
"Alright," Madam Yelverton spoke up, having stayed silent during the discussion. "Here we are." She handed Lucretia the parchment with the new name on it.
Miaplacidus Saiph Arcturus Prewett
"Perfect!" Lucretia exclaimed. Sirius and Regulus cheered.
"Let's go back to Hogwarts, where we will inform your professors of the name change, and you can have fun telling all the students," Arcturus said with a slight smile. Miaplacidus smiled back.
"Alright, let's go," he agreed. With that, the family headed back to Hogwarts. When they arrived, Ignatius squeezed Miaplacidus' shoulder.
"Welcome to the Prewett family, Miaplacidus," he said with a smile.
"Thank you, Ignatius," Miaplacidus said gratefully.
The Black brothers and Miaplacidus walked back to Gryffindor Tower to spread the word. Miaplacidus knew that it would take some getting used to, but in time, his new name would become natural to both him and everyone else.