Cassius stood in silence before the fading shimmer of the mist, his expression unreadable.
Five crests had formed before him—five ancient emblems that had not appeared together since the Founders themselves still walked the living world.
The Badger.
The Raven.
The Serpent.
The Lion.
And the Dragon.
The fifth, the Dragon, glowed faintly black and gold before dissolving into the ether — a mark known only to one other soul in the wizarding world: Lady Draconis herself.
Even the goblin, hardened by decades of handling old blood and older power, had stepped back in awe.
His voice had trembled when he whispered the words, "the true heir apparent."
Now, as the torches steadied once more, Cassius turned toward the two figures waiting near the doorway.
Hermione's eyes were wide with amazement, her knuckles white where she gripped her mother's sleeve.
Mrs. Granger, pale but trying valiantly to maintain her composure, whispered, "That wasn't… normal, was it?"
"Far from it," Cassius murmured, sliding the dagger back into its sheath upon the dais.
His voice was calm — too calm — but there was something alive behind his eyes, a slow-burning fire that Hermione had never seen before.
While he had been named the true heir by Lady Draconis at school, this moment made it clear she wasnt wrong, he did in fact have a claim to the mantles of all the previous greatest forebearers.
As they followed the goblin out of the chamber, the silence was thick enough to cut.
Only once they moved to a seperate private room did Cassius finally speak.
"I'll need to decide which houses to claim."
The goblin standing across from him looked confused sharply staring back at him.
"You would choose among them?"
Cassius gave a small, humorless smile.
"I might have the right to claim, but that doesnt mean all of them are worth claiming, or should be stolen from those already with the right."
The goblin studied him for a long moment, then nodded slowly.
Mrs. Granger frowned faintly, confused.
"Excuse me, but—what does it mean exactly? To 'claim' a house?"
"Mum its like back when there were kings, Cassius can claim a 'royal' bloodline, the only problem is he could claim five if he wanted." Hermione explained softly. "Each of the Founders' bloodlines holds an heirship — sort of a crown prince status, which would give him limited rights to their left behind possessions."
"And if more than one person has claim to the same house?" Mrs. Granger asked.
"Then a challenge can be lain to secure the heirship wresting it away from the one who currently holds it," Cassius said. "Meanwhile the lord, the true master of the bloodline cannot be replaced save for when the current lord dies."
Mrs. Granger blinked. "Combat?"
"Wizarding politics," Hermione sighed. "It's never simple, but it doesnt always happen that way."
Cassius nodded. "Then I'll decide now."
Hermione and her mother exchanged glances as he closed his eyes briefly, his hand resting lightly on the cool marble of the desk.
He looked less like an eleven-year-old boy than a monarch weighing the fates of kingdoms.
When he finally spoke, his voice was low, deliberate.
"There are five that recognized me. But two are not mine to take."
The goblin's quill hovered midair, ready.
"Name them."
"Hufflepuff's line yet lives," Cassius said. "The Smith family maintains the heir and lordship, and I will not challenge it. As for Slytherin…" His tone darkened faintly. "The line belongs to another. A man who styles himself as Lord, one who would leave nothing for the one to follow, so i shall wait to claim it when the time is right."
The goblin's thin mouth curved into something resembling a grim smile.
The rules stated very clearly he could not reveal the name of the current heir even though he knew it, but from the way this boy spoke he to knew it was the dark lord, presumed defeated but the lords ring had not returned to the banks hold proving otherwise.
Cassius inclined his head once. "Until his death, the Slytherin vaults are bound to his claim. Anything I might gain by taking that title would be worthless—or worse, marked, as a threat."
Hermione frowned softly, her voice hesitant. "So you're letting those go? Just like that?"
"Yes," Cassius said simply. "Some legacies are not worth the cost of claiming."
He turned then, his gaze hardening. "But three others still remain."
The goblin straightened slightly, sensing the shift in the air.
"Draconis," he said quietly. "Your birthright."
Cassius nodded.
"Mine alone. That house I will claim, in full when the time is right, but for now the heirship is my limit."
He paused.
"Ravenclaw's bloodline ended long ago with her daughter Helena's death. Its vaults have lain unclaimed for nearly a thousand years. Knowledge was her domain — wisdom, logic, discovery. I will see that it is preserved."
Cassius's jaw tightened.
His final choice didnt need to be said aloud, since he'd already expressed his intent.
But to him, Cassius was claiming Griffindor's heirship now to save himself the trouble later on down the line.
Harry Potter, his Half-twin, carried within him the blood of the potters, a bloodline descended from the Griffindors.
When the time came when he came to claim his heirship of the potter house, he would no doubt also be capable of doing the same for Griffindor.
But to allow that would be one of the worst things he could allow.
Harry was a blank slate currently but before to long Dumbledore and even Lily would begin to dye him in their essence and allowing the potential power laying quietly in Griffindors vaults fall into their hands, would make the war to come just that much harder to win.
Cassius's hand rested on the polished table, fingers steady as stone.
"I, Cassius Severin Snape, do hereby lay claim to the heirships of Draconis, Ravenclaw and Gryffindor. By blood, by merit, and by will."
The quill scratched across parchment, sealing the words in ink that shimmered faintly gold.
Upon his statement the very room itself trembled.
The first test was just to show his rights, but the room they were in now was saved for the actual claiming of those inheritances.
Upon his statement aloud of his intent to claim, a wall opened up within the room.
From this opening appeared a wooden box, one that opened on its own as Cassius approached it.
Contained within perched atop three differently colored velvet cushions stood three rings.
Each bearing the crest of the house they represented.
What came next however was the test of heirship.
The rings own challenge to the various heirs to see that they were worthy to become the heir, a rather simple test, one to prepare them for what would come later when they tried to claim the lordship ring, and total control over the families assests.