The morning began with fire sweeping across the mountainside as a young Welsh Green exhaled a broad stream of flame over the rocky training ground. Vesryn moved beneath it without using magic, relying instead on speed, balance and timing while the rough terrain forced him to adjust constantly. The space had only recently been cleared for use, and it still looked more like a section of mountain temporarily repurposed for combat than any formal training yard. Loose stone gathered along the edges, temporary ward markers stood where stronger protections would eventually be placed, and the mountain wind carried the steady noise of construction from the lower slopes.
The Welsh Green tracked his movement before lunging as he passed beneath its neck, but Vesryn shifted aside at the last instant, braced one hand against the ground and drove his heel into the underside of its jaw. The impact snapped the dragon's head upward and forced it backward several paces, scattering loose stone across the training ground. An ordinary man would have been killed by the same strike, and most adult wizards would have fared little better, yet Vesryn's expression remained dissatisfied because he remembered exactly how much more force the movement had carried at the height of his first life.
His current body was not weak by any sensible standard. Even at eleven, Vesryn was physically stronger than nearly every adult wizard he had encountered, while his confrontation with Fenrir Greyback had already demonstrated that even a transformed werewolf could not overpower him in close combat. Hagrid remained one of the few people he had met whose raw strength seemed comparable, but Vesryn did not measure himself against the standards of this world when judging his recovery. He measured himself against the man he had once been, and despite the fact that his present body was developing far beyond what his former one had possessed at the same age, there was still a long distance between his current strength and the peak he remembered.
"I'm still losing too much force through the rotation," Vesryn said as he regained his stance, prompting an irritated rumble from the Welsh Green, which appeared to take the criticism personally.
"I was talking to myself," he added, though the dragon only approached until its head hovered directly in front of him and released a deliberate puff of smoke across his face. Vesryn closed his eyes until the cloud passed, wiped a streak of ash from his cheek and regarded the creature with mild annoyance. "I preferred you when your attempts to irritate me involved biting."
A quiet laugh came from the edge of the training ground, where Aurelius stood beside a stack of timber that had been hauled up the mountain earlier that morning. His arms were folded across his chest, and his expression made it obvious that he had been watching long enough to find the exchange entertaining. "You say that like it ever stopped trying."
"It has simply developed more variety."
"Maybe that's why you two understand each other so well."
Vesryn gave him a flat look before turning back to the Welsh Green, which had already lowered its head in expectation. He placed one hand against the warm scales of its snout and examined the creature through touch and magic, checking its breathing, the condition of the wounds it had suffered before arriving at the sanctuary and the stability of the magic flowing through its body. Satisfied that the training had not aggravated anything, Vesryn withdrew his hand and let the dragon wander toward a rocky ledge overlooking one of the lower valleys.
From the training ground, the sanctuary spread across several connected mountain shelves and narrow valleys a few miles outside Hogsmeade, though calling it a sanctuary still described what Vesryn intended to build more than what currently existed. Nearly everything around him had been created within the last several weeks, and most of it remained temporary. Supply tents stood beside piles of lumber and quarried stone, rough paths had been cut into the mountainsides to connect different work areas, and workers moved steadily between fresh foundations and simple shelters built to withstand the mountain weather long enough for something permanent to replace them.
Several natural caves had already been claimed by dragons, which had saved labor but also forced Vesryn to order inspections and reinforcement work before injured creatures were allowed to remain inside them. Temporary enclosures had been established for younger dragons and those requiring treatment, while the first permanent structures existed only as half-raised walls, marked foundations or plans spread across tables in the makeshift office below. The mountains themselves provided useful natural protections, with high ridges discouraging casual visitors, narrow valleys creating separation between dragons and the elevation offering enough distance from Hogsmeade to reduce the likelihood of some unfortunate traveler stumbling into a nest.
Vesryn found the incompleteness of the place more satisfying than he expected because nothing here had been inherited from another life or simply claimed after someone else built it. Every ward, shelter, path and foundation had been created since his arrival in this world, which gave the sanctuary a weight entirely different from the homes and fortresses he remembered. It was rough, vulnerable to the weather and nowhere near what he intended it to become, but it was something he was building rather than something he had lost.
The endless work also gave him a useful defense against memory. Whenever Vesryn allowed himself too much silence, his thoughts tended to return to his mother, his father, the Drachengard, fallen comrades and a homeland he could no longer reach, so the sanctuary's constant demands suited him well. There was always another ward to inspect, another creature to examine, another structure to plan or another piece of magical theory to study, and Vesryn had long ago learned that grief was easier to carry when his hands and mind had something useful to do.
Aurelius approached after the Welsh Green settled on the ledge and glanced toward the rough path leading up from the lower construction area. "You have a visitor."
Vesryn followed his gaze and immediately recognized Professor McGonagall making her way toward them. Her presence alone was unusual enough to draw his attention, but the expression she wore made the visit more concerning, because he had seen similar looks on commanders forced to report an avoidable disaster and on diplomats preparing to explain that someone politically important had done something exceptionally foolish.
"Whatever brought her is unlikely to improve my morning," Vesryn said.
Aurelius looked toward him. "You can tell that from her face?"
"I spent enough years receiving bad news from people trying not to look as though they were delivering it."
Before Aurelius could question the remark, McGonagall reached the training area and stopped several paces away. Her gaze briefly shifted toward the Welsh Green, which had turned its head in her direction with obvious interest, before settling on Vesryn. "Mr. Haerel."
"Professor."
"I need to speak with you privately."
Vesryn looked toward Aurelius, who raised both hands before anything could be said. "I know when I'm being dismissed."
"You rarely behave as though you do."
"That's because I usually choose to ignore it."
McGonagall's lips tightened slightly, though Vesryn suspected she was suppressing amusement rather than irritation. Aurelius gave them both an exaggerated bow and started down the path toward the lower construction sites, only for Vesryn to glance toward the Welsh Green and tell it not to follow him.
Aurelius stopped and looked back. "Why did that need to be said?"
"The fact that you have to ask is part of the problem."
Once Aurelius had moved beyond comfortable hearing distance, McGonagall's expression became more serious and she reached inside her robes. "The Ministry has contacted Hogwarts regarding your legal status."
Vesryn's attention sharpened immediately. "What aspect of my legal status?"
"A formal petition has been submitted regarding your guardianship."
For several seconds Vesryn simply stared at her, because the statement was so far removed from anything he had expected that he briefly wondered whether he had misunderstood. When it became clear that he had not, he looked across the mountainside as though another child might have appeared nearby without his notice.
"No."
McGonagall blinked. "You have not yet heard the details."
"I don't see how additional details are going to improve the idea."
"I thought you might react that way, but refusing does not automatically resolve the legal question."
Vesryn exhaled slowly through his nose, already irritated by the fact that a matter which should have ended with a simple refusal apparently required paperwork, hearings and institutional involvement. "Who submitted it?"
McGonagall hesitated only briefly before answering. "Viktor Nott."
The name changed Vesryn's expression immediately because he knew far more about Viktor Nott than he would have liked. He had encountered the name repeatedly while studying British magical society, enough to understand that the Notts belonged to one of the older pure-blood families and possessed both wealth and longstanding political influence within the Wizengamot. That alone would have been enough to make the petition worth taking seriously, but the far more important connection was personal. Viktor Nott was the father of one of the Death Eaters Vesryn had stopped earlier and the father-in-law of the other.
"Viktor Nott," Vesryn repeated, his voice becoming noticeably colder. "The father and father-in-law of the two Death Eaters who already attempted to harm me now wants legal responsibility for my welfare."
"That connection has not escaped our attention," McGonagall replied.
"I'd have been surprised if it had."
Vesryn held out his hand for the parchment she was carrying. Whatever charitable explanation might otherwise have existed for the petition had become considerably harder to believe, because there was no reasonable way to separate Viktor's familial relationship to those men from his sudden interest in becoming Vesryn's guardian.
"Why does a man in his position believe anyone would consider him appropriate for this?"
"That is one of the reasons I came here personally."
McGonagall handed him the document and continued while he unfolded it. "The petition describes you as an unaccompanied magical minor of unknown foreign origin, with no recognized guardian, living relation or established legal authority responsible for your welfare within Britain. Lord Nott argues that someone your age should not independently manage substantial finances, property and a sanctuary containing dangerous magical creatures without adult oversight."
Vesryn read in silence, quickly recognizing the sort of language being used. Viktor Nott wrote of stability, education and cultural integration while praising Vesryn's intelligence, accomplishments and apparent potential. He expressed concern over the burden of managing so many responsibilities at such a young age and presented the Nott household as a respectable environment capable of providing guidance, protection and access to the traditions of British magical society.
If Vesryn had encountered similar wording in a treaty during his first life, he would have skipped past the compliments and searched for the section explaining what the other party actually wanted. He found it soon enough and read the most relevant portions aloud.
"Management of assets, representation in contractual matters, authority regarding residence and supervision of magical holdings."
McGonagall's expression hardened. "Yes."
Vesryn lowered the parchment and studied her. "How much authority could those provisions grant him if the Ministry approved the petition broadly?"
She hesitated before deciding not to soften the answer. "Potentially a great deal."
That was the real purpose of the document, or at least part of it. Whatever personal motives Viktor might possess, guardianship could give him influence over Vesryn's finances, property, movements and contracts while also placing another person between him and nearly every meaningful decision connected to the sanctuary. The fact that the man seeking that authority was directly related to two Death Eaters Vesryn had already fought made it impossible to view the situation as simple coincidence.
"Does the Ministry know exactly who his son and daughter-in-law are?" Vesryn asked.
"Yes."
"And they know their connection to me?"
"Yes."
"Yet the petition was still accepted for review."
"Accepting it for review is not the same as approving it."
"It does mean someone considered it sufficiently legitimate to entertain."
McGonagall did not argue with that point, and Vesryn folded the parchment carefully before asking what would happen if he simply refused to recognize Viktor as his guardian. Her answer was not encouraging. British magical law did not generally allow an eleven-year-old to declare himself legally independent merely because he objected to the proposed guardian, and while Vesryn's foreign status complicated the issue, it did not remove him from Ministry concern while he lived in Britain and prepared to attend Hogwarts.
When Vesryn asked whether foreign students were treated the same way, McGonagall explained that most arrived with parents, guardians, citizenship records, recognized governments, birth certificates or some other legal structure British authorities could acknowledge. Vesryn understood the weakness immediately, because none of those things existed for him in this universe. His homeland lay in another reality, House Haerel possessed no recognized legal standing here, the Drachengard could not provide records to a government that had never heard of it, and neither his mother nor his father existed in any archive the Ministry could consult.
British law therefore saw none of what Vesryn actually was. It saw an eleven-year-old boy who had appeared without records, relatives or a state capable of speaking on his behalf, and the absurdity of that would have been amusing if Viktor Nott were not attempting to exploit it.
"What exactly would he gain if the petition succeeds?" Vesryn asked.
"Legally, he would become responsible for you."
"That phrase is broad enough to hide almost anything."
"I agree."
"Would he gain access to my finances?"
"Depending on the ruling, yes."
"My property?"
"Potentially."
Vesryn gestured toward the mountains around them. "And the sanctuary?"
"That is where the matter becomes more complicated. The sanctuary is being established through arrangements that assume you are directing and financing it, but your age leaves several legal questions unresolved."
"And the dragons?"
"They are protected magical creatures under Ministry law rather than personal property."
Vesryn turned toward her slowly enough that McGonagall immediately recognized the direction of his thoughts and clarified that she was merely explaining the Ministry's position rather than suggesting anyone intended to hand control of the dragons to Viktor.
"That would be an exceptionally poor decision," Vesryn said.
"I am aware."
"The dragons would also object."
"I assumed as much."
Vesryn looked down toward the lower construction areas, where workers were laying stone into one of the first permanent foundations while others moved supplies between temporary shelters and the rough forge. Farther up the mountainside, two dragons rested near a reinforced cave, and the sight only made the timing of the petition seem more deliberate. Viktor was moving while the sanctuary remained legally vulnerable, before Vesryn's position had solidified and before the institutions he was creating became difficult to challenge.
"Who else knows?"
"Professor Dumbledore."
"Has he already begun involving himself?"
"He has made inquiries, though he has not agreed to anything on your behalf."
"I'd prefer that remain the case unless he speaks to me first."
McGonagall gave a short nod. "I believe he expected you to say that."
Vesryn started down the rough path toward the temporary buildings below, and McGonagall followed after a brief pause. When she asked what he intended to do, he told her that he planned to research the law before anything else. Viktor himself would also be investigated, but Vesryn already knew enough to assume that his motives were unlikely to be charitable, while the more immediate weakness was that Vesryn did not yet understand the system being used against him.
"I can't properly respond to a legal attack while depending on other people to explain what the law supposedly allows," he said as they walked. "I need to know exactly what authority he is trying to acquire, how these petitions are evaluated and what alternatives exist."
"That is more measured than I expected."
"I am capable of behaving reasonably."
"You once threatened several grown men with a dragon."
"They were behaving unreasonably."
"That is not quite the defense you seem to think it is."
The building they entered had been completed only days earlier and currently served as an office, records room and makeshift library all at once. Rolled plans and maps occupied one corner, construction records were stacked along a side table, and the shelves against the far wall contained only the beginnings of a proper collection. The smell of fresh timber still lingered throughout the room, reinforcing how new everything around them remained.
Vesryn placed Nott's petition on the central table and asked for anything Hogwarts could provide on guardianship law, magical property ownership, minority status, foreign residency and Wizengamot procedure. He also requested whatever public information existed concerning Viktor Nott's family, political alliances and financial interests.
McGonagall raised an eyebrow at the emphasis on public records, which prompted Vesryn to point out that he was making an effort to respect the process. She replied that the Ministry would no doubt find that comforting before informing him that the initial review had been scheduled for three days from now.
"That should be enough time to understand the basics," Vesryn said.
"You sound almost pleased."
"I would rather deal with an opponent who has announced himself."
"Lord Nott may not consider himself your opponent."
Vesryn looked down at the parchment on the table. The document repeatedly invoked guidance, protection and responsibility while requesting authority over nearly every important part of his life, and the man who had written it was directly related to two people who had already tried to harm him.
"If that is true, then he has chosen a remarkably poor way to demonstrate it."
McGonagall remained silent for a moment before warning Vesryn that this was not a duel and that the methods he might normally use against someone threatening him would only make the situation worse. Vesryn replied that he was aware killing a man because he filed paperwork would create complications, which earned him an immediate glare when McGonagall clarified that she had been referring to threats.
"So was I," Vesryn said.
Her expression made it obvious that this had not reassured her. She also informed him that he could not intimidate Ministry officials and was absolutely not to bring a dragon to the review, prompting Vesryn to admit that the idea had not occurred to him but that he accepted the restriction.
"The fact that you needed to consider it worries me."
"It would discourage interruptions."
"Vesryn."
"I said I wouldn't do it."
He sat at the table and unfolded the petition again before telling McGonagall that, for now, he intended to follow the Ministry's procedures and resolve the matter within their system. She immediately noticed the qualification and asked what he meant by "for now."
Vesryn met her gaze and considered how much of the truth she could understand without knowing anything about the life he had lived before arriving in Britain. There was no arrogance behind his position, nor did he believe strength granted him the right to disregard every law he found inconvenient. He had commanded soldiers, enforced discipline and dealt with people who abused authority, and the Drachengard could never have functioned if everyone powerful enough to ignore a rule simply did so whenever it suited them.
Britain had also given him refuge without knowing who he was, and several of its people had treated him with genuine kindness. Vesryn had no desire to repay that by behaving as though their laws mattered only when convenient.
"This country allowed me to live here when it had no obligation to do so," he said. "I consider that enough reason to respect its laws and institutions so long as those laws remain reasonable. I will not object to rules intended to protect nearby communities from the dragons, nor will I object to inspections, licensing requirements or sensible safeguards around the sanctuary. If the Ministry requires financial documentation or proof that the creatures here are being handled responsibly, I will cooperate because those are legitimate concerns."
He rested one hand beside the petition before continuing.
"What I will not accept is the idea that being legally eleven gives someone the right to place a man connected to people who already tried to harm me in control of my residence, property and decisions."
"He would legally be your guardian, not your owner."
"Then British law should have no difficulty demonstrating the difference."
McGonagall did not answer immediately, and Vesryn made no attempt to soften the point. He was not threatening her or the Ministry; he was establishing the limit beyond which cooperation would cease to be reasonable. If the Ministry behaved sensibly, Vesryn intended to do the same. If it attempted to turn lawful oversight into control over his life, then his willingness to respect the process would eventually end.
McGonagall seemed to understand at least part of that, because she agreed to bring the requested books and records before turning toward the door. She paused before leaving and warned Vesryn not to underestimate Viktor simply because he had chosen legal pressure rather than violence.
"I don't intend to," Vesryn replied. "This approach makes me take him more seriously, not less. It means he has some intelligence at least. Some."
McGonagall gave him a searching look before leaving the building and beginning the walk down the mountain toward the nearest safe Apparition point beyond the sanctuary's temporary wards.
Vesryn remained at the table after she was gone and reread the petition from the beginning, paying particular attention to every clause that appeared deliberately broad. He had dealt with political maneuvering before even if the laws involved had belonged to different kingdoms and another world entirely, and the underlying principles were familiar enough. Authority rarely announced itself as a desire for control when concern, responsibility and tradition could accomplish the same purpose more politely.
The door opened some time later, and Aurelius stepped inside before immediately noticing the parchment on the table. Vesryn slid it toward him without explanation, and Aurelius began reading with visible curiosity that gradually shifted into amusement as he understood what the document was asking.
"Someone wants to adopt you?"
"That's a very simplified description of the problem."
"It's also the funniest description."
"You would think so, wouldn't you?." Vesryn retorted with sarcasm dripping from his voice.
Aurelius sat across from him, still smiling. "You have my sympathy."
"You're smiling way too much for that statement to be credible."
"I can be sympathetic and entertained at the same time."
Vesryn decided that asking him to leave would require effort without accomplishing anything. When Aurelius asked who Viktor Nott was, however, the amusement disappeared as soon as Vesryn explained the connection. "He's the father and father-in-law of the two Death Eaters I stopped a while back."
Aurelius frowned. "That seems important."
"It is, which is why I have no intention of treating this petition as though it came from a concerned stranger. Whether he wants revenge, control or something else entirely, his relationship to those men means I assume hostility until he proves otherwise."
Aurelius looked down at the parchment again. "So what're you going to do?"
"I'm going to learn British magical law."
His expression became immediately less enthusiastic. "That sounds considerably worse than being adopted."
"You may be right."
Their amusement faded after a moment, and Aurelius asked what would happen if the Ministry decided Viktor was allowed to take him anyway. Vesryn turned toward the unfinished window opening, through which he could see workers carrying supplies between the new foundations below while a dragon circled lazily above one of the ridges.
"I'm following their laws because this is their land and because I have been treated well here. Mostly anyway," Vesryn said. "Living among other people requires accepting limitations, and I have no objection to restrictions that serve a legitimate purpose. What I won't do is mistake hospitality for ownership. If the Ministry expects respect from me, then I expect it to recognize that there are decisions about my life that belong to me."
"And if they don't?"
"Then I will decide what to do when I know exactly how far they intend to push the matter."
Elsewhere in Britain, Viktor Nott received confirmation that the Ministry had accepted his petition for initial review and read the notice in the privacy of his study. He considered the first step successful and saw little reason to worry about Vesryn's likely resistance, because talented children often mistook unusual ability for independence when adults had already begun accommodating their eccentricities.
Viktor had heard the stories about Fenrir Greyback, of course, including claims that the transformed werewolf had been physically overpowered by a child and that magic had done little to change the outcome. He did not dismiss the reports entirely, but neither did he believe them as readily as those spreading them seemed to. Fear exaggerated events, Greyback had always possessed more reputation than discipline, and each retelling had made Vesryn sound less like a boy and more like some creature out of legend.
Whatever had actually happened, Vesryn remained eleven years old in the eyes of British law, and Viktor believed that fact mattered more than any story about strength. Old families possessed influence accumulated across generations, while laws written long before Vesryn's arrival could impose obligations regardless of whether the boy approved of them. Strength might frighten hired killers or control dragons, but it could not simply erase the institutions surrounding him.
What Viktor did not yet understand was that Vesryn had no intention of trying to erase those institutions. For the moment, he intended to study them, respect them and use their own procedures to defend himself because he believed the laws of the land that had given him refuge deserved that consideration.
Viktor Nott would eventually learn that this respect was not the same thing as fear, and that the law he imagined as a weapon against Vesryn was, for the moment, the only shield protecting him from what might happen if Vesryn ever decided those laws were no longer worth respecting.