HP: The Son of Tom

The bronze doors closed behind them with a whisper more frightening than a slamming door. The interior of Gringotts was vast, cold and dazzling.

The floor, white marble, reflected the enchanted light of floating chandeliers that hung like still constellations. The walls, covered with pillars carved with arcane symbols, seemed to vibrate with an ancient and dense magic.

And at the back, behind a counter as long as a train, were the elves.

Short, bony, with elongated ears and fingers like feathered claws. Each one wrote with such absolute concentration that not even the slightest murmur seemed able to distract them. Aurelian advanced with a slow, measured pace, accompanied by Stinky, who followed him silently from the shadow closest to the wall.

Once in the center of the room, Aurelian raised his voice. Firm. Clear.

"Good morning, I wish to speak with a magical inheritance manager."

The goblins did not react immediately. But one, seated at a raised black wooden desk, barely turned his face towards him. His eyes were like burning coals.

"Name?" he asked, without emotion.

"Aurelian Riddle."

That time, the silence was more pronounced.

The goblin raised an eyebrow, closed his book with surgical precision, and hopped off the stool. She walked towards him with silent steps, and watched him closely.

"Very well. Follow me."

He was led through a side door into a narrower corridor. The walls here were smooth stone, undecorated, and the air had a distinct density, as if each breath was filtered by banking magic.

"Do you have any proof of your lineage? Who were your parents?" the goblin asked.

"My mother's name was Elaine Harper" said Aurelian "My father...is Tom Marvolo Riddle."

The goblin didn't blink, but his jaw barely tensed.

"There is no record of an official union between the two" the goblin spat.

"I know. That is why I wish to perform an inheritance test. And verify if there is a vault linked to me."

The goblin looked at him for a second longer, then nodded.

"Wait here."

He left through a small door at the back of the room, Aurelian was left alone with Stinky.

"Are you sure young aurelian?" whispered the elf "This could generate reactions... alerts"

"If there is anything to my name or anything due to me as heir, it is time to know" He looked at his reflection in the security mirror floating nearby "I am not an accident. I am a consequence."

Several minutes passed. Then the goblin returned with a carved wooden box and a crystal quill wrapped in a cloth.

"Direct magical lineage test" he said "Requires a drop of blood on the scroll."

The goblin unfolded the magic scroll in one motion, the crystal quill, hollow and cold, waited on the table. Aurelian extended his finger without hesitation, pricked, and dropped a precise drop of blood onto the enchanted edge.

The parchment vibrated with a faint reddish glow, and then ancient letters began to slowly engrave themselves, as if an invisible hand wrote from time itself. The letters began to appear in golden ink:

🜁 Gringotts Hereditary Record

Name: Aurelian Riddle

Biological Father: Tom Marvolo Riddle († Presumed dead)

Biological Mother: Elaine Harper († Deceased)

Status: Legitimate direct heir

Inheritance rights: valid

Recognized ancestral lines:

. Gaunt family (last living legitimate heir).

Linked Vaults:

. Vault 7 - Gaunt Family (active - no funds or treasure. Condition: magical ruin. Protected by inherited curses. Historical archives available).

The goblin read quietly, then nodded.

"As we suspected... the last Gaunt heir."

"And the vault?" asked Aurelian curiously.

"It exists" said the goblin "But in... extremely sorry condition."

He pulled out a small file of secondary parchments, and placed it on the table.

"The Gaunts were an ancient and very proud family, but by the end of their known lineage, they lived in miserable conditions. This vault contains no gold, no valuable artifacts. Only vestiges: deteriorated grimoires, broken arcane relics, poorly preserved scrolls... perhaps some objects with historical or magical value, if you know what to look for."

Aurelian looked at the document with a neutral face. He did not look surprised.

"About the Riddles, do you have any information?"

"No house registered as such. Only a Muggle line extinct in the mid-20th century. Nothing in our records connects that branch to a formal vault. Only the Gaunt line exists, and you are its only living heir."

"What about my mother?" asked Aurelian.

"She had no registered vault," said the goblin, without looking up "According to Gringotts records, she never opened an account. She probably lived outside the formal circles of the magical world, like many unaffiliated half-bloods or witches. But your parentage has been verified by blood. Your lineage concludes in you."

The boy nodded slowly. He had expected this.

Blood did not bring wealth. Only legacy. And power, if he knew where to look.

The silence in the inheritance chamber was thick. The parchment had already revealed the gist: there was no fortune, but there was lineage. There was no surname that resonated with glory...except one.

Gaunt

Aurelian stared at the line etched in gold ink:

. Recognized ancestral lines: Gaunt family (last living legitimate heir).

The name was not clean. It was tainted by madness, fanaticism, decadence. But it was a magical, ancient, profound name. And most important: it wasn't Riddle.

For years he had carried that surname like an unavoidable mark. A shadow. Sometimes a condemnation. Sometimes a motivation. But now he had a chance to choose who he wanted to be.

For the first time, he felt divided.

He turned to Stinky, who was watching him silently by the wall.

"What would my mother have thought... if she decided to name me Aurelian Gaunt?" she asked him.

The elf blinked. He moved a little closer, as if the question had pulled him out of a distant memory.

"Your mother... she loved your father. But she was never blinded by his darkness. She wanted you to be free to decide what part of you to wear with pride. If you chose the Gaunt name... I don't think she would be angry. Rather... I think he would hug you tighter. And he'd say, "Make it your own. Clean up what the others messed up. Make it new."

Aurelian looked down. The name Riddle sounded like an alien prophecy. Gaunt, on the other hand, sounded like defiance.

"Then that's what I'll do" he whispered "I'll be Aurelian Gaunt."

Stinky nodded respectfully.

"A name that can be scary...or hopeful. You decide which it will be."

Aurelian turned to the goblin, decision clear in her eyes.

"I wish to register my magical identity as Aurelian Gaunt. Let all records linked to my lineage be updated."

The goblin nodded with the solemnity befitting an ancestral act.

"It shall be done. As of today, Gringotts will recognize him as the last legitimate heir of House Gaunt. Since you have claimed your lineage, you are entitled to bear a magical seal of family identification."

The goblin opened a compartment under the table and extracted a small black wooden box with brass hinges. Opening it, Aurelian saw an opaque silver ring, smooth and cold, with a freshly made engraving: a snake coiled over an upright eye, and under it, the name:

Aurelian Gaunt

"This is not the original family ring" clarified the goblin "The real Gaunt Ring, also known as the Seal of the Old Blood, was reported lost decades ago. The last to possess it was his father, Tom Marvolo Riddle."

"Lost?" she said with false curiosity.

"It disappeared after his rise...and fall. Some say it was destroyed, others that it is hidden. But until it is recovered, this ring" forged by Gringotts "will serve as legitimate identification to any magical institution in the world. It is magically linked to your blood. Only you may wear it."

The goblin offered it to him with both hands.

Aurelian took it without a word, held it for an instant, feeling the symbolic weight of the metal, and then slipped it onto his right finger.

The silver adjusted instantly, as if recognizing the lineage.

"Welcome officially, Mr. Gaunt" said the goblin with a slight bow "The lineage has a name again."

Stinky watched him from the wall with shining eyes. He said nothing. He didn't need to.

Aurelian clenched his fist slowly and felt the cold firmness of the ring against his skin.

He was no longer anyone's son. He was now the founder of himself.

While the goblin finished sealing the lineage records, Aurelian stared at the empty box that had contained his new ring. There was something still nagging at the back of his mind.

"Do I have any property on record?" he asked with an inquisitive tone "Land, houses, ruins... whatever."

The goblin raised an eyebrow and flipped through a secondary parchment with legal seals on it.

"Let's see..." he murmured "As a Gaunt heir, you have rights to an ancestral property known as the Gaunt Cabin, located on the outskirts of Little Hangleton."

"The same cabin where my ancestors lived?" interrupted Aurelian.

"Correct. The site has been abandoned for decades. It's listed as a collapsed structure with no active protections. No one has claimed it... until now."

"Any property in the Riddle name?"

The goblin paused, cocked his head to one side.

"Technically, Riddle Manor, though it's not registered in his name, as it belonged to the Muggle Riddle family. However, under certain old Ministry agreements about magical inheritances with crossed lines, you could file for ownership if you prove linkage and if the land remains without a rightful owner. That property is also in Little Hangleton."

"So... they're both in the same town?"

"That's right. Two ruins facing each other... with a bloodstained history between them."

Aurelian nodded slowly. There was no visible emotion on his face, but his thoughts were already projecting further.

He let the silence hover for a few seconds, then, in a calm, precise voice, asked the question that would mark his next big move:

"Does Gringotts offer services to manage...investments?"

The goblin did not smile. But his eyes sparkled with the exact reflection of what Aurelian had planted in that word.

"Of course" he said and a slow smile formed on his face "As long as the gold is willing...Gringotts knows how to make it grow."

he didn't reply. He just nodded once.