Chapter 3
"So, Quirrell's a girl, Severus?" I asked as I thought about knowing all the Ancient Houses and the knowledge popped into my head. My head hurts a little but it's fine.
"Yes," Severus said with a questioning look on his face.
"She, er, was a guy in my world. Vol- The Dark Lady was too." He looked surprised.
"Interesting. I wonder if anyone else in this world is a different gender to your world..." He was silent for a minute and the Goblin came back in with a box. The Goblin sat back down in his chair and handed me the box. I opened it and saw a bunch of Heirship Rings. Four were clearly the Slytherin, Gryffindor, Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff Rings but I couldn't tell which of the others were which other than the Black Ring as I'd seen the Black Family crest on one of Sirius' letters to me over the summer before the Quidditch World Cup. The Slytherin Ring was a silver snake wrapped around a black crest on a gold band. The snake had emerald eyes. The Gryffindor Ring was a ruby band with a crest on it in gold, the Hufflepuff Ring was a gold band with a black crest, the Ravenclaw Ring was a sapphire band with a black crest and the Black Ring was a black band with a white crest. All of the other Rings had a silver or gold band with black crests except for one. Maybe that one was the Peverell Ring? It was an obsidian band with a gold crest on it.
"Put the Heirship Rings on one at a time on your left middle finger, Miss Potter," the Goblin said. "It doesn't matter what order you do it in."
"Miss Black-Potter," Severus corrected as I put on the Rings. Every time a new Ring would be put on, it would merge into one. After putting on all fifteen Rings, the Goblin grinned.
"As you can see, it currently displays only one Ring. The first one you put on. The Potter Ring. If you think of a different Ring, it will turn into that Ring instead." I thought about the Peverell Ring and the obsidian-banded Ring with the gold crest appeared. I was right then. I thought about each of the others to figure out which crest was which before displaying the Black Ring since most people would call me by the Potter name. I felt a large rush of Magic and power consume me and I shuddered. The Goblin grinned even more.
"How do I change my Magical Guardian?" I asked.
"All you have to do since your Magical Guardian is self-appointed is choose someone to be your Magical Guardian and have them accept it."
"In that case, Severus, will you be my Magical Guardian?" He looked shocked but smiled softly.
"Gladly." There was a bright golden light for a moment and then it disappeared.
"Well, that's that, Lady Black-Potter. Severus Snape is now your official Magical Guardian." Severus and I left with my test results for The Daily Prophet Offices.
...
"Hi," the receptionist said once we entered the building. "Do you have an appointment?"
"No, we do not but Lady Cassiopeia Black-Potter here wishes to talk to Miss Skeeter," Severus said and the receptionist's eyes went wide when she heard the 'Black-Potter' part of my name. She immediately wrote a note and sent it off as a parchment bird. About a minute later, Rita Skeeter walked over with her signature smug smile. I played a little with the Black Ring and she noticed it. The glint in her eyes sharpened.
"Hello, I'm Rita Skeeter," she said as she shook my hand. For someone who's a total lying bitch, she's really hot. I thought about her being unable to write or say any lies about me unless they're lies I'd approve of and the glint in her eyes softened a little. I thought about her liking me and finding me adorable until she meets me during the Triwizard Tournament when she starts developing an attraction to me and her eyes softened further. I felt myself get dizzy for a moment and I felt a little weaker but a few seconds later, I was fine again. What was that?
"I'm Lady Cassiopeia Black-Potter but you can call me Cassiopeia or Violet, Miss Skeeter." Skeeter's the Head of the Ancient House of Skeeter but only the Sacred 28 Heads of House, the Peverell Head of House, the Potter Head of House and the Heads of the Hogwarts Houses are called Lady or Lord so Skeeter's just 'Miss'.
"Then you can call me Rita. Follow me, Cassiopeia, Professor Snape."
...
"Well, that was fun," I said and Severus winced. I smirked at him and he rolled his eyes as we entered Madam Malkin's. I froze in the doorway.
"What is it?" Severus asked, concerned.
"Malfoy," I whispered as I spotted Draco Malfoy sitting on a stool a few feet away. "He's been a jerk to me since I decided to be friends with Ronald Weasley instead of him because he insulted Ron... Though, come to think of it, Ron had laughed at his name and he's said a lot of things about Malfoy's Mother after that..."
"Draco takes great pride in his name and his Mother. He's always been a Mommy's boy. In fact, Narcissa is the one who named him." I walked over and sat next to him.
"Hi. I'm Malfoy. Draco Malfoy," he said. "And you are?"
"Lady Cassiopeia Black-Potter, Cousin." Draco's Mother, who I never officially met but did see at the Quidditch World Cup final, gasped as Lucius Malfoy was discussing something with Severus. He froze when he heard my name, though. I played with the Black Ring and I saw the Malfoys' eyes all go wide as they spotted it and impossibly more so when I turned it into the Slytherin Ring before turning it into the Potter Ring. "I assume you two are Uncle Lucius and Cousin Narcissa?"
"Uncle?" Lucius asked.
"Ask Professor Snape. He can show you my Heritage Test results. I was planning on reaching out to you both regarding finding a suitable Regent for my Wizengamot Seats. I was hoping you both might take a few... I know there's quite a bit of work regarding being a Regent so I was hoping you'd take one or two as I wouldn't want to leave all 15 Heirships and the work each one would take with Professor Snape as my new Magical Guardian when he has work to do as a Professor too." The Malfoys' eyes all went wide again when I mentioned my Heirships and more so with my next words before all three looked at the Heritage Test results. "I mean, there are 20 Wizengamot Seats between those 15 Heirships and I don't think, even if he was Regent, he could go to all of the meetings with all his work as a Head of House and a Professor and everything else."
"How can you... If this is right, Lucius, that explains why your Father put all those rules into our Marriage Contract," Lady Malfoy said after turning from me to her Husband. "His Wife cheated on him with Rodolphus and Rabastan's Father so he immediately got her to get rid of the baby in the Muggle World and knocked her up with Pandora and then made sure I couldn't cheat on you like his Wife cheated on him. It also explains how Lily was so powerful. She wasn't a Mudblood, she was a Pureblood."
"Professor Snape?" I asked as Madam Malkin came over with her clipboard and receipts.
"Yes?" Severus asked.
"After we've finished, are you going to take me back to the Dursleys?" He glared.
"And why would I ever take you back there? I grew up with Petunia so you can't tell me she treats you well and expect me to believe it." I saw Hermione, her Parents and Professor McGonagall enter the shop as he talked and they came over.
"Then where will I live? Besides, all my stuff is there in my cupboard."
"Cupboard?" Lady Malfoy asked and Madam Malkin pretended to not be listening.
"Yeah. The cupboard under the stairs. It's where my letter was addressed. It's where my stuff is and I sleep there." Everyone stared at me wide-eyed and the females and Draco gasped.
"You sleep in a cupboard under the stairs?" Professor McGonagall asked.
"Yeah. Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon have one room, there's the guest room Vernon's Sister, who they make me call Aunt Marge, stays in when she visits, Dudley's room and Dudley's second bedroom."
"Dudley's second bedroom? But you have a cupboard?" Hermione asked. "Oh, sorry. I'm Hermione Granger."
"Hi, I'm Cassiopeia Violet Narcissa Lily Black-Potter but I think Cassiopeia's much shorter, don't you?" Hermione giggled and nodded. "Though I think I prefer Cassiopeia, I don't mind Violet either... And yeah all his old and broken stuff's in there so I get the cupboard. I don't spend much time in it anyway 'cause of the chores I have to do."
"What's a chore?" Draco asked. "I've heard Tracey Davis, she's a Half-Blood, talk about chores with Millicent Bulstrode, another Half-Blood. I know they're a Muggle thing but that's all."
"They're like jobs that need doing around the house that kids do, usually for pocket money or as a punishment. They teach responsibility and the benefits of hard work. Of course, I don't get pocket money though if I'm lucky I'll get 50p off them for Christmas instead of my usual coat hanger or used socks."
"50p?" Draco asked as everyone stared in horror.
"Yeah, I think it's... Well, a Knut is worth 1p and there's 29 Knuts to a Sickle so 1 Sickle and 21 Knuts."
"That's all you get for Yule? If you're lucky? Oh, Gods, I think I'm gonna pass out... Are your family like super poor?"
"Er, no, they're like Upper Middle Class? I think... They just hate me 'cause I have Magic."
"They hate you?" Hermione asked with a frown. "Do they... Hurt you?"
"Sometimes... Maybe, er, a lot of the time but it's not like... They don't like break my bones or rape me or anything so it could be worse. I'm luckier than others."
"Miss Potter--"
"It's Lady Black-Potter now, Minerva," Severus said, cutting her off with a frown.
"Lady Black-Potter, once you've gotten your supplies, Severus and I will be taking you to see Madam Bones at the Ministry."
"Who?"
"Madam Amelia Bones is the Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement," Severus said.
"Head? So, she's also on the Wizengamot? Like me and Dumbledore and Uncle Lucius?"
"Uncle?" Professor McGonagall asked.
"Yes, Lady Black-Potter," Severus answered. "Lucius, pass her the results. Minerva can be trusted to keep this from Dumbledore. Her students come first and given Cassiopeia ended up with the Dursleys on Albus' orders, I'm sure she won't tell him a thing that's on there. Right, Minerva?"
"Of course, Severus. I warned Albus about leaving her there. I told him they were the worst sort of Muggles imaginable and now I'm proven right at Lady Black-Potter's expense." She read the results. "I assume you're planning on reaching out to Mrs Prewett and Miss Black?"
"Yes," Severus said as I introduced myself to Hermione's Parents and they introduced themselves to everyone. Once Severus and the Malfoys had introduced themselves too, Hermione's Parents paid for her robes, Lady Malfoy paid for Draco's and I paid for mine.
"Dumbledore... I didn't know he... Did my Parents want me with them? They probably wanted me with my Godparents but after them then who?"
"Lady Black-Potter," Severus said. "There's no way in Hell your Parents wanted you with Petunia. The Ministry have public Wills and Gringotts have private Wills. Since they didn't mention a Will, that means your Parents' Will was public and we can check it out when we go to the Ministry, okay?"
"Okay."
...