"Not exactly, Sir. This is where it does get interesting. In the eyes of the law, your disinheritance is meaningless due to feodum talliatum. As the very last male Black, it disregards all and any earlier arrangements and you automatically inherit everything," Mr. Howe explained, even though it was clear that he was not happy about that fact.
Sirius froze at that declaration. "Please tell me this is a bad joke."
Mr. Howe looked a bit annoyed, though he had clearly expected Sirius to be difficult due to how he'd chosen to live his life. "I can assure you, it's no joke. As of this day, you are the sole heir of the entire Black fortune."
At first Sirius said nothing, then stood up and went to the liquor cabinet and quickly poured himself a gin in order to calm down his nerves, which were close to freaking out. He had thought that he was done with all of that. Sadly, reality was very determined to prove to him that there were things you just could not run away from easily. He felt like being at the butt end of a huge joke made by the universe.
Remus, seeing that Sirius needed a few moments, asked an interesting question. "Say, if Sirius decides to reject the inheritance, what happens then?"
Mr. Howe was glad for a smart question. "Well, should Mr. Black decide to not accept the inheritance, then the estate goes to the nearest male relation. In this case, Mr. Draco Malfoy."
Sirius turned around, looking as if hit by a sucker punch. "You mean Narcissa's son?"
"Exactly, as he is the closest male relative. However, since he is merely five years old, he can not be expected to follow the duties of an heir, meaning that his parents will be entrusted with the estate, until he comes of age," Mr. Howe explained.
As much as Sirius hated having anything to do with what he saw as blood money, that was an even bigger nightmare.
The Black fortune was very extensive - they were easily one of the richest families in all of magical Britain - and thus very lucrative for those wishing to get their hands on it. The thought alone that Lucius Malfoy could get hold of such an extensive fortune was causing Sirius to almost develop an ulcer. He had no doubt that Malfoy would use all that money for his own pure-blood cause and later install his son as a puppet to nominally lead the estate, while he himself would pull the strings in the background.
No way I can allow that to happen! With so much money, Malfoy could literally buy himself the way to become Minister for Magic, Sirius realized. Crap, sometimes I hate it when I have to make such decisions.
"I understand... Under these circumstances, I will accept my inheritance," Sirius finally told Mr. Howe, feeling like he'd kicked a thousand puppies.
"Very good." Mr. Howe clearly tried to mask that he would have preferred the inheritance to go to Draco, but was professional enough not to make an issue of it. "We need to go to my offices in Diagon Alley in order to finalize matters."
Sirius now felt like he'd bitten into a very nasty lemon. "Alright. I need some minutes to arrange for my absence from work today, though my superior probably will accept legal entanglements." That said, Sirius left for the phone.
Remus for his part hoped Sirius would get through this day without having a mental breakdown. "While we are waiting, a coffee, Mr. Howe?" he offered.
"No thanks. That would only make me uneasy." It was pretty obvious that he did feel unwell in such a non-magical environment. It seemed he didn't leave the confines of the magical world that often.
Remus however had one more question. "You mentioned that you hastened the process. I thought this normally would take weeks?"
Mr. Howe now looked quite uncomfortable, this clearly had been a nightmare for him to prepare everything in such a short time. "Due to the high prominence of the House of Black, we put all our resources into it. The only work left is that which needs the presence of Mr. Black."
It took some minutes, but then Sirius finally returned.
"Alright, we can go now," he said, not sounding very eager to do so. Seeing Mr. Howe start walk to the door, Sirius stopped him. "You don't honestly want to walk into a Muggle neighborhood looking like that?"
"I do not see the problem," Mr. Howe asked in confusion.
Note to myself, replace that guy as soon as possible with someone actually competent. He clearly was selected solely because of his political views, Sirius decided, then told the man that they would apparate from inside the house to the Leaky Cauldron and enter Diagon Alley from there. It would create attention, but he hoped not too much of it.
Several hours later, Sirius was taking it back. Getting into the Alley had not been bad.
No, it had been even worse!
Arriving at the Leaky Cauldron to enter Diagon Alley had at once ignited a storm of attention as soon as one patron had recognized him - something that only became worse when entering the Alley itself. Sirius was pretty sure his face would be plastered all over the magical newspapers in a matter of hours. He would certainly make the evening edition of the Daily Prophet. After all, it was big news that Sirius Black, who had disowned the magical world years ago, now was seen again.
He could very well imagine the rumors that were already flying around. He was pretty sure, some bozo in the Ministry would leak news about his inheritance soon enough for a handful of Galleons.
Sometimes I hate that I'm right, he cursed himself. So much for staying under the radar.
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