By noon the following day, Vesryn had acquired enough books on British magical law to conclude that whoever had first decided laws should be written by lawyers rather than soldiers deserved to be dragged into the street and publicly mocked, although he had not yet decided whether anything more severe would be excessive.
The temporary building serving as the sanctuary's office and library had been transformed overnight into something resembling a siege position constructed out of parchment. Books covered most of the central table, loose notes had spread onto two nearby desks, and several rolls of copied Ministry regulations leaned against one wall beside architectural plans for the sanctuary. McGonagall had kept her promise with uncomfortable thoroughness, delivering texts on guardianship, inheritance, property rights, Wizengamot precedent, foreign residency, magical creature law and the legal status of minors shortly after breakfast, after which Vesryn had begun reading immediately and found his irritation growing with every hour.
The problem was not that British magical law was entirely unreasonable, because much of it reflected the sort of regulation Vesryn would have expected from any functioning society. Dangerous creatures required controls, minors received legal protections adults did not, estates could be placed under supervision when heirs were too young to manage them, and foreign residents without recognizable documentation were subject to additional scrutiny. None of those principles offended him by themselves, but the way they intersected around his circumstances created a problem the Ministry had never been designed to resolve cleanly.
Vesryn had no recognized nationality within this world, no surviving parent the Ministry could contact, no legally acknowledged guardian, no birth record it could verify and no foreign government capable of confirming who he claimed to be. At the same time, he possessed enough personal wealth to attract attention, had invested a significant amount into the sanctuary alongside several other backers and had become deeply involved in shaping how the project was being built. He also intended to attend Hogwarts while still legally eleven, which meant nearly every unusual detail of his existence created another question the law had never expected to answer at once.
Aurelius, who had taken one look at the growing pile of legal texts and decided that helping would be more entertaining than leaving Vesryn alone with them, occupied the chair opposite him and had spent the last several minutes trying to make sense of a chapter on magical household responsibility.
"I have read this paragraph four times," Aurelius said, keeping one finger beneath the relevant line, "and I am increasingly convinced it says that a guardian is responsible for damages caused by a minor's magic unless the minor was acting under the instruction of another adult, unless the magic involved a registered dangerous creature, unless the dangerous creature was legally under someone else's control, unless none of those things apply because the minor is emancipated."
Vesryn looked up from the case summary he was reading and gave the passage a brief glance. "That is approximately what it says, although it becomes worse three pages later."
Aurelius stared at him before looking toward the stack Vesryn had already marked as completed. "You already read three pages farther?"
"I finished that book an hour ago."
Aurelius looked from Vesryn to the book in front of him with the expression of someone personally betrayed by literacy. "I hate you."
"You have told me that before."
"I mean it more sincerely now."
Vesryn returned his attention to the case summary, where a seventeenth-century dispute involving a fourteen-year-old heir, three cursed estates and a legally recognized family ghost had somehow produced precedent relevant to his current situation. The more he read, the clearer it became that Viktor Nott had chosen his approach carefully, because this was not some obscure loophole discovered by chance. Viktor had selected a legal mechanism with enough precedent behind it that the Ministry could not dismiss the petition merely because Vesryn found the idea offensive, which did not make the petition strong enough to succeed but did make it dangerous enough to require preparation.
The door opened a short while later, and McGonagall entered with Professor Dumbledore behind her. Vesryn had expected the Headmaster eventually, though he had hoped to finish another section before the meeting began, so instead of objecting he placed a strip of parchment between the pages to mark his position and leaned back while Aurelius closed his own book with visible relief.
Dumbledore's eyes moved across the table and lingered on the notes covering nearly every available surface. "I see Minerva was not exaggerating when she said you intended to educate yourself."
Vesryn glanced toward McGonagall. "She thought I was exaggerating?"
"I believed you might discover that magical law is less pleasant to read than combat manuals."
"It is substantially less pleasant."
Dumbledore smiled faintly as he approached the table. "On that point, I suspect many members of the Wizengamot would agree with you."
Aurelius began to rise, apparently assuming another private discussion was about to occur, but Vesryn gestured for him to remain seated. Aurelius already knew enough about the situation that sending him away would accomplish little, and Vesryn trusted his character enough not to repeat anything important without permission. Dumbledore noticed the decision but made no comment as he sat opposite Vesryn, while McGonagall took the remaining chair and examined several of the notes nearest her.
"You have been thorough," she said.
"I have been attempting to understand why the Ministry believes this petition deserves consideration, and the answer appears to be that on paper I am an administrative nightmare."
McGonagall's mouth twitched, while Dumbledore looked openly amused. "That is one way of phrasing it."
"It is also the accurate one. I have no records recognized by this government, no citizenship it can verify, no guardian it considers legitimate and no legal institution capable of speaking for me. At the same time, I possess enough money to matter, hold a meaningful financial stake in a sanctuary containing dangerous magical creatures and am legally too young to enter many agreements without adult approval."
He reached for one of the marked texts and opened it to a section he had copied earlier. "Under ordinary circumstances, the Ministry would have several obvious solutions. A surviving relative could assume responsibility, a foreign government could confirm my status, an estate executor could handle financial matters, or a recognized magical household could sponsor me until adulthood. None of those structures currently exist for me in a form the Ministry recognizes."
Dumbledore's expression became more serious as Vesryn spoke. "That is essentially the problem."
"Viktor Nott knows it."
"I believe so."
Vesryn's eyes narrowed slightly. "You believe so, or you know so?"
Dumbledore considered the distinction before answering. "I know that Lord Nott has been asking questions about your legal status for at least several days, and I know he has consulted individuals familiar with guardianship and estate law, although I cannot yet prove why he began doing so."
The answer irritated Vesryn without surprising him. "Which means this was prepared rather than improvised, and because his son and daughter-in-law are the two Death Eaters I already dealt with, we are expected to believe his concern for my welfare developed independently."
"No," McGonagall replied before Dumbledore could answer. "I do not expect that at all."
Dumbledore inclined his head. "Nor do I."
Vesryn appreciated the directness enough not to press the point further. "What can actually happen at the review tomorrow?"
McGonagall answered first, having clearly anticipated the question. "The initial review is not a final ruling. A Ministry representative will examine the petition, your current circumstances and any objections you wish to raise. Lord Nott will likely attend, as will someone from the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, and there may also be a representative familiar with magical creature regulation because of your involvement with the sanctuary."
"Can they order me into his custody tomorrow?"
"Not permanently, although they could theoretically impose a temporary supervisory arrangement if they believed there was an immediate concern for your welfare. Given Lord Nott's connection to the individuals you encountered earlier, I consider that unlikely."
Vesryn did not particularly like the word unlikely, and Dumbledore appeared to notice before adding that he would oppose any such arrangement if the Ministry attempted to impose one.
"On what authority?" Vesryn asked.
The Headmaster did not appear offended by the question. "Very little direct authority, which is why I would prefer not to rely on my position alone. I can provide testimony concerning your education, conduct and ability to manage yourself, while Minerva can speak to your circumstances in greater detail. There are also several members of the Wizengamot who would find Lord Nott's petition troubling for reasons entirely unrelated to affection for you."
"Political competition."
"In some cases."
"That is useful."
McGonagall gave Vesryn a mildly disapproving look. "You sound very comfortable with that."
"I commanded an organization that required cooperation between people who frequently disliked one another. Shared interests are often more reliable than shared affection."
Dumbledore's eyes sharpened with interest at the comment, though he did not ask what organization Vesryn meant, while Aurelius leaned forward against the table after listening quietly for several minutes.
"Why does he need a guardian at all?"
McGonagall turned toward him. "Because British law recognizes eleven as childhood."
"I understand that part. I mean why can't the Ministry simply decide he does not need one?"
"Because creating exceptions is rarely simple, particularly when the individual involved possesses substantial assets, participates in a project involving dangerous magical creatures and lacks the usual legal structures around him."
Aurelius glanced toward Vesryn. "So the problem is that you have too much."
"The problem is that the law assumes anyone my age possessing this much influence and responsibility must require someone older to control the parts it does not trust them to manage."
Dumbledore folded his hands together. "That assumption exists because it is usually correct."
Vesryn considered the point and nodded, because there was no reason to pretend otherwise. Most eleven-year-olds should not control significant wealth, negotiate important contracts, manage dangerous creatures or make decisions affecting large projects, and the law had been written around ordinary children rather than someone carrying decades of experience from another life. The Ministry's mistake was not that such rules existed, but it would become a mistake if its officials refused to recognize that Vesryn did not fit the circumstances those rules were intended to address.
He reached for another set of notes. "I found references to something called legal sponsorship."
McGonagall nodded slowly. "That was one of the alternatives I intended to discuss."
Dumbledore smiled. "I suspected you might find it."
Vesryn ignored the amusement and continued. "The law appears to distinguish between a guardian, who gains broad authority over a minor, and a sponsor, who can assume limited responsibility for specific legal matters without acquiring parental control."
"That is correct," McGonagall said. "It is uncommon in Britain because most children already have parents or guardians, but the arrangement exists for unusual circumstances involving foreign students, apprenticeships and certain orphaned heirs."
Aurelius looked between them. "So someone signs things when Vesryn legally cannot."
"That is an oversimplification."
"It sounds accurate."
Vesryn privately agreed with him, because the sponsorship model was the first genuinely useful solution he had found. It addressed many of the Ministry's legitimate concerns without giving another person broad authority over his life. A sponsor could serve as a legal point of contact, attest to his identity, countersign specific documents and assume limited responsibility where the law absolutely required adult participation, while Vesryn retained control over his residence, finances and personal decisions.
There were still weaknesses in the arrangement, so Vesryn asked who chose the sponsor and what happened if he rejected every candidate the Ministry proposed. McGonagall explained that the Ministry had to approve the individual but that Vesryn would normally have substantial input, while Dumbledore added that refusing every workable option indefinitely could eventually cause the Ministry to conclude that sponsorship was not sufficient.
"Who would you propose?" Vesryn asked.
Neither professor answered immediately, which interested him more than an immediate response would have. McGonagall eventually admitted that she would be an obvious candidate, though Vesryn had already considered the idea and rejected it for the same reason she did once he pointed out that she was about to become one of his professors. Combining academic authority with legal responsibility over him created an unnecessary conflict, and McGonagall agreed without argument.
When Vesryn looked toward Dumbledore and asked whether he intended to volunteer, the Headmaster admitted that he could serve in that capacity.
"No," Vesryn replied.
Aurelius coughed into one hand, obviously hiding a laugh, while Dumbledore's eyes brightened with amusement rather than offense. "You did not require much time to consider it."
"You are Headmaster of the school I will attend, Chief Warlock of the Wizengamot and politically involved in nearly every issue that appears to interest you. Giving you legal authority over any portion of my life would create more problems than it solves."
"That is a remarkably concise summary."
"I have spent most of the morning reading legal texts. Concision has become important to me."
McGonagall looked suspiciously pleased, while Dumbledore merely inclined his head and suggested several other possibilities, including a neutral solicitor, a Ministry-approved trustee or perhaps a representative from Gringotts handling financial matters separately from personal sponsorship.
Vesryn's attention sharpened at the last option. "Can goblins serve as legal sponsors?"
"Not ordinarily under current Ministry practice."
"Of course not."
Dumbledore acknowledged the criticism with a slight inclination of his head before explaining that goblins could nevertheless serve as trustees for assets under certain circumstances, which might remove some of Lord Nott's arguments concerning Vesryn's finances without granting a human guardian control over them.
That possibility interested Vesryn enough to begin taking notes immediately, and the conversation shifted toward whether his personal holdings could be separated cleanly from the money he had invested in the sanctuary. The sanctuary itself was not his private estate and had never been financed solely by him; several individuals had contributed capital, resources or other forms of support, while Vesryn's role combined investment with considerable influence over the project's direction and dragon-related decisions. Any attempt by Viktor to treat the entire sanctuary as an asset falling under Vesryn's guardianship would therefore affect other stakeholders whose interests were legally distinct from his own.
"That may be more important than I originally realized," Vesryn said after reviewing one of the relevant clauses. "If my personal finances are placed under separate management where necessary, and the sanctuary's assets remain governed by the arrangements between its investors and organizers, then Nott cannot plausibly argue that guardianship over me gives him control over the entire project."
McGonagall nodded. "Not without creating a dispute with everyone else involved."
"Which gives those people a reason to oppose him even if they care nothing about me personally."
Dumbledore smiled faintly. "You do have a talent for identifying useful incentives."
"I prefer people whose motives I can understand."
The more they discussed the structure of the petition, the more obvious its central weakness became. Viktor's argument depended on combining several separate concerns into one sweeping conclusion: Vesryn was a minor, Vesryn possessed wealth, Vesryn had invested in and helped direct a sanctuary, and Vesryn had no recognized guardian, therefore Viktor should receive broad authority over his person and affairs.
Vesryn tapped one finger against the petition as the pattern became clear. "He made this too broad."
Dumbledore looked toward him. "Explain."
"If his concern were limited to my finances, he could argue that I need a trustee. If his concern were the sanctuary, he could request additional Ministry oversight of the project or ask the other investors to establish clearer governance. If he were concerned about my education, Hogwarts already addresses that. Instead he wants authority over my assets, residence, contracts and magical holdings under one guardianship arrangement."
McGonagall's eyes narrowed thoughtfully as Vesryn continued. "That makes his motive relevant in a way it would not be if he had requested a narrowly tailored solution, and because he is the father of one Death Eater I already stopped and the father-in-law of the other, the Ministry must explain why granting him broad personal authority over me is preferable to any of the less intrusive alternatives."
"You have been reading," McGonagall said with the faintest trace of approval.
"I told you I would."
Aurelius leaned back in his chair and looked between them. "So you can beat him without breaking his neck."
McGonagall turned sharply toward him, while Vesryn sighed and pointed out that avoiding physical violence had always been the preferred outcome. Her response that the word preferred was precisely what worried her earned a muffled laugh from Aurelius and a suspiciously thoughtful look from Dumbledore.
The discussion continued for another hour as they established what needed to be done before the review. Dumbledore would contact a solicitor familiar with unusual guardianship cases, McGonagall would obtain copies of the relevant incident reports involving Viktor's son and daughter-in-law, and Vesryn would prepare a concise statement explaining why he rejected Nott's petition while still acknowledging the Ministry's legitimate concerns.
Vesryn objected most strongly to the prepared statement, arguing that he preferred answering questions directly, but McGonagall refused to yield. She pointed out that Vesryn was intelligent, capable and far too comfortable saying things other people found alarming, which meant a prepared statement would allow him to establish his position before someone provoked him into explaining that he considered killing them a viable administrative solution.
Aurelius lowered his head to hide his laughter, while Dumbledore stroked his beard and admitted that Minerva had a point.
Vesryn regarded both professors with disappointment. "I have shown considerable restraint since arriving in this country."
"You have," McGonagall agreed. "Your standard for restraint is... simply unusual."
That was difficult to dispute, so Vesryn let the matter drop.
When the professors finally left, he returned to the books with a clearer sense of direction. The Ministry did have legitimate questions surrounding his status, and pretending otherwise would only make him appear unreasonable. He could acknowledge those concerns without conceding that Viktor Nott was an acceptable solution, especially when most of the underlying problems could be addressed through narrower arrangements that preserved Vesryn's autonomy.
There was no reason he could not demonstrate that the sanctuary was being managed responsibly, that the money he had invested in it was part of a larger financial structure involving several stakeholders, or that his personal assets could be protected through a trust where necessary. If the Ministry wanted clearer structures around those responsibilities, Vesryn was willing to work with that, but he would not accept reasonable concerns being used as an excuse to place him beneath personal authority he had never consented to.
By evening, several additional documents had arrived from Hogwarts, including summarized incident reports connected to the two Death Eaters Vesryn had already confronted. Vesryn read them carefully and paid particular attention to anything that might tie Viktor directly to their actions, though there was no obvious evidence that he had ordered what they had done. That was hardly surprising, because men who survived long enough in politics rarely left convenient written proof of criminal conspiracies.
For the review, however, Vesryn did not need to prove that Viktor had orchestrated those attacks. The family connection created an obvious conflict of interest, and when placed beside the less intrusive alternatives Vesryn intended to propose, it gave the Ministry a concrete reason to question why Viktor should be trusted with broad authority over someone his immediate family had already targeted.
Aurelius remained long after the professors left, though his contribution gradually shifted from reading legal material to drawing increasingly elaborate caricatures of Ministry officials being chased by dragons in the margins of discarded notes. Vesryn eventually noticed one depicting a man in elaborate robes hiding behind a law book while a dragon breathed fire around the edges and asked whether Aurelius intended to contribute anything useful before the review.
"I am improving morale."
"Whose?"
"Mine."
Vesryn shook his head and returned to the statement he had reluctantly begun drafting, while Aurelius watched him for another moment before asking whether he genuinely believed the Ministry would listen.
"I think some of them will," Vesryn replied without looking up.
"And the ones who do not?"
Vesryn paused, recognizing that Aurelius was asking something more serious than the words alone suggested. He set down his quill and considered the answer before speaking.
"I only need enough of the system to function properly for tomorrow to matter. I am giving their laws the opportunity to prove that they deserve the respect I have been offering them, and if they do, then this can be resolved without becoming something worse."
Aurelius's expression became more serious. "And if they fail?"
"Then I will decide what happens next once I know exactly what they are trying to force me to accept."
There was nothing more worth saying until the Ministry made its choice, so Vesryn returned to his work and continued drafting the statement McGonagall insisted he prepare.
Far from the sanctuary, Viktor Nott was preparing for the same meeting with considerably more confidence. The legal arguments had been reviewed twice, the relevant precedents selected and several Ministry contacts quietly reminded of the importance of maintaining proper standards where unaccompanied magical children were concerned. Viktor expected resistance from Dumbledore and perhaps from McGonagall, but neither concerned him particularly, because even Dumbledore's influence could be countered when enough old families agreed that allowing an undocumented child to possess substantial wealth and exercise meaningful control over dangerous magical projects without oversight set an unacceptable precedent.
Vesryn himself remained the least concerning element of the problem. Viktor had heard still more stories about Fenrir Greyback since filing the petition, including claims that the transformed werewolf had been physically overpowered by a child and that Vesryn had broken bones without needing a wand. Viktor did not dismiss the reports entirely, but neither did he believe them as readily as those spreading them seemed to, because fear exaggerated events and each retelling had made Vesryn sound less like an eleven-year-old and more like something out of legend.
Whatever had actually happened, Viktor believed British law mattered more than stories about strength. Old families possessed influence accumulated across generations, while laws written long before Vesryn's arrival could impose obligations regardless of whether the boy approved of them. Physical power might frighten hired killers or allow someone to handle dragons, but Viktor saw no reason to believe it could simply erase the institutions surrounding him.
What Viktor had not yet considered was that Vesryn understood authority extremely well and had no intention of trying to erase those institutions while they behaved reasonably. For the moment, Vesryn intended to study them, respect them and use their own procedures to defend himself because he believed the laws of the land that had given him refuge deserved that consideration.
Viktor Nott would eventually discover that this respect was not the same thing as fear, and that the law he imagined as a weapon against Vesryn was, for the moment, the only shield protecting him from what might happen if Vesryn ever decided those laws were no longer worth respecting.