A Deeper Connection: A New Beginning

A Deeper Connection - Part I

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-"