• 1-A Most Trusted Soldier
• 2-2
• 3-3
• 4-4
• 5-5
• 6-6
• 7-7
• 8-8
• 9-9
• 10-10
• 11-11
• 12-12
• 13-13
• 14-14
• 15-15
• 16-16
• 17-17
• 18-18
• 19-19
• 20-20
• 21-21
• 22-22
• 23-23
• 24-24
• 25-25
• 26-26
• 27-Author's Note: update
• 28-Still getting reviews...

It was a perfect day for Quidditch Harry mused as he made the walk up from the front gates of Hogwarts. After meeting Hagrid and prying himself out of the half-giant’s bone shattering hug, with a promise to stop by to see his new baby Hippogriff before heading home, Harry took his time strolling up to the castle for the reading of the will. McGonagall had one of the elves meet and escort him to the Headmistress’s office.

In honor of Dumbledore, McGonagall had continued to use the names of sweets for her passwords. After uttering “Boysenberry Lollipop” Harry entered the office. Seated or standing in various places around the office were the usual suspects, plus the ministry official from the office of Inheritances, Taxes, and Properties.

McGonagall, Filius Flitwick, Aberforth Dumbledore, Neville Longbottom, Arthur and Ron Weasley, Madame Pomfrey, Kingsley Shacklebolt, and Severus Snape all crowded the office looking either close to tears or close to pulling out their wands and setting the late Headmaster’s portrait on fire. Harry was feeling capable of both.

“I take it with the arrival of Mr. Potter we are all here?” the official asked Minerva.

“Yes, those from the list you submitted to me after the authentication of that portion of the will are all here,” replied McGonagall in her usual stern, if somber, manner.

“Well then, I’ll just proceed.” The official murmured a recording spell and then tapped the parchment with his wand. The disembodied voice of Albus began:

I, Albus Wulfric Brian Dumbledore, being of sound mind, although some may disagree, do bequeath upon my death the following to said persons:

To Arthur Weasley I bequeath the sum of 75,000 galleons and my copy of Muggle Confections of the Modern Age.

To Ronald Weasley I bequeath 25,000 galleons and any remaining credits I may possess at Honeyduke’s or Quality Quidditch Supplies.

To Neville Longbottom I bequeath the Sword of Gryffindor. Based on your ability to wield it in battle I would say it seems to like you, my boy.

To Kingsley Shacklebolt, my good friend, I bequeath the Order of the Phoenix Shield pendant, Fawkes, if he is amenable, and the Codes of Light Magic texts from my personal library. As the holder of the Order of the Phoenix Shield pendant, Kingsley is my chosen successor. I ask all those who allied with the Order when I was leader to transfer that loyalty and service to him should he require it. By Merlin, may he never need it.

To Minerva McGonagall, I leave my love, 150,000 galleons, my home in Fernwood Mountain where we spent many a wonderful time, and my personal journals in which she is so prominently featured. Don’t blush Minerva.

To my brother, Aberforth, I leave all remaining funds from my vault at Gringotts, all Dumbledore familial political seats, properties, heirlooms, and lands.

To Severus Snape, my most trusted soldier, I leave you my confidences, your pensieve memories returned, and my belief that you will continue on in the capable hands of your new Custodian. I ask one last boon as not only your former Custodian, but also as a friend. Release yourself from your guilt Severus. You have repaid your debts ten fold. Allow yourself to indulge once again in the simple pleasures of life, the human luxuries that our kind are blessed by nature to distinguish. Remember, Severus, while you are a man of great gifts and talent, you are but a man. Also, I leave you, unchallenged—except by broken law on your part—a lifetime tenure as Potion Master of Hogwarts. Go and enjoy your life my son.

Lastly, to Harry Potter, the boy, now a man who has done so much to aid this old coot’s endeavors to end a second Dark Lord. Harry, I leave you not only my pensieve, but also a most precious gift, one that I have the utmost faith that you will take great care of and use properly. I bequeath the Right of Fides of Severus Snape to you. He has been a most trusted friend, confidant, protector, and soldier for me. May he be the same for you.

Finally to the house-elf Dobby, I leave all my socks. He was always one to appreciate polka dots.

Farewell my good friends. I bid you goodbye until such time as we meet again.

During the reading there had been small sniffles and solemn hums from those assembled, but once the official started on Severus’ portion of the will stunned silence had descended upon the group, punctuated by Minerva’s small gasp as the lifetime tenure was bequeathed. Then once they all heard of Severus’ Fides being handed down to Harry, well even the unflappable Kingsley was left with his mouth gaping.

Arthur recovered first.

“Er, well then, thank you Mr. Binks for your time in coming to read Albus’ will for us. I assume all the necessary paperwork and transfers have been made?”

“Yes, Mr. Weasley.”

The official, sensing the tension and shock hanging in the air, gathered the duplicate will scrolls and handed the lot to Arthur, before picking up his satchel and heading for the door.

“I’ll just run along back to the Ministry bowels, then. No need to see me out. I’ll just call an elf along the way if I miss a turn. Good day all.”

Harry and Severus just sat there staring at one another with narrowed eyes and thinned lips. Minerva, in an uncharacteristically shy moment, was at a loss for anything to say.

“Albus you dizzy, manipulative, unscrupulous, dotty bastard!! I am done. You knew I was done!! How could you?!!” Harry was breathing fast and hard having let loose such a barrage of slurs.

Then Harry just stood up, raised a hand and proceeded to fling balls of bluebell flames at the portrait of the late Headmaster, who luckily had woken from his afternoon slumber in time to duck out of the frame, no doubt dashing off to the safe confines of his other portrait in the Wizengamot hall.

Severus still had yet to utter a single word. He just sat, obsidian eyes glued to Harry. He would never know why Albus chose Potter. Sure, Potter was enormously powerful, not entirely without brains, and he did carry enough political power to ensure that Severus was well protected. Yet, the Custodian Right had nothing to do with power. It was a magic bond of not quite servitude, ensuring that the relationship between the Custodian and his charge was one of fairness if not equality.

Harry, coming down from his tirade surveyed the room, looking almost as terrifying as he had on any battlefield turned his ire to Severus.

“Did you know?” he barked at Severus.

“No. I knew it would pass on when he died, but we never discussed to whom. Even as he lay dying he would not tell me. I suppose he wanted it to be a…surprise,” replied Severus in his usual drawl with just a notch less disdain that usual.

“Snape, I can’t do this. I am finished. I’m not … I’m not Albus.”

Kingsley piped up, “No one is asking you to be Albus, Harry. The Right of Fides carries no compulsion, no servitude. It is not enslavement, and Severus will always have his free will.”

Turning to Severus, Kingsley asked, “I still am not sure I understand why Albus held such a Right to begin with Severus. Would you enlighten us?”

Severus, feeling naked and thrust in the spotlight, explained in clipped tones.

“I am what is called Dark Sought. We are few, but our magic is pulled to the Dark. Dark Sought souls are not evil, as some would have you believe, but our tastes and predilections make us more susceptible to less noble arts and Dark Magic. My time, albeit brief, as a loyal servant to Voldemort, seems to have enhanced this feature in me. Once I sought sanctuary from Albus and turned spy for the Light we had to do something to ensure that I would not be swayed once again to Voldemort and his ilk. Thus the Right of Fides.”

“To ensure that you would not betray us?” Kingsley persisted.

“No. As Dark Sought I would have been in a constant battle within myself, little of which had much to do with whether or not I believed in Voldemort’s cause or not. I would never have betrayed Albus or the Order willingly, but over time I would have become weaker in the fight against the pull towards the Dark. I would have begun enjoying revels, participating willingly in their demented orgies, delving further and further into the Dark Arts.

“None of it would have mattered in the long run to Voldemort, even if I had gone over to his side. However, it would have overloaded my soul surely and driven me even farther to the edge than Bellatrix. She was Dark Sought. She gave in to the need. Imagine me, with all my skill and knowledge possessed of little more than a need to inflict pain and suffering, and to take my fill of every twisted, depraved desire my mind and heart could conceive. Bella was a terror. I would have brought immorality, hedonism, and depravity to a whole new level over time.”

Ron stood next to Harry unsure if his friend needed protecting or if the others did. “But I don’t get how this Right of Fides prevents that.”

Arthur knew. He had only known one other person in his lifetime to adhere to such a right, and that person had gone mad when their Custodian died before transferring the Right.

“It prevents him doing anything that would go against the wishes and values set forth by the Custodian. At its core the Right is a bond of loyalty. However, what is unique to the Right is that while there is no compulsion for the charge of the Custodian to obey, but to not do so would be akin to self-flagellation. Am I correct, Severus?”

“Of a fashion. However, Albus, clever man that he was, added a component to my Right that I am not so sure Mr. Potter will be able to accept.”

At that Harry stilled. “What component? What could be worse than binding you to my values? It may not be slavery, and you may still have free will, but it is still a forced binding that acts upon your freedom to choose for yourself. I will not be master to any living being, ever.”

“That is where you are wrong Mr. Potter. The Right only seeks to anchor me to another who will see after my…welfare if you will. You are just as the Right suggests, a Custodian. You hold my Right of Fides and the magic binding helps me to weigh my actions and balance my desires. So for instance if I wake and want strawberry jam on my toast but you hate it, what of it? Nothing. I can have all the jam I want. However, if I desire some fair morning to create a potion to turn young Mr. Weasley there into my own personal incubus, your magic would no doubt check that desire. While I could still create the potion and give it to Mr. Weasley, I could not do so without causing myself a great deal of pain that would come in some unknown form. It could be temporary suffocation one moment, fire-laden veins the next.”

Harry, eyes swimming with angry tears, headed for the door. “I can’t do this!”