Time Skip: Three months

July, '89

Marvolo sighed, both tired and relieved as he stepped out of the Floo into the home after the successful raid in Ministry without anyone knowing what's happening, how the history of many is being changed overnight. It was a long, tedious raid, with no action other than twisting the wards and disabling the alarms which he did in a heartbeat with aid of Walden, Lucius did the rest. Yet, being high on alert for almost the whole night, running on adrenaline to make sure no one catches on was a tad taxing. He took a deep breath, relishing the feel of rich and glorious Magic that surrounded him, making him content and relaxed by just being here. The weather in Hawaii is starting to get too warm, not that the weather wards of Slytherin Castle would let it suffer the residing Lord and Heir of the Castle. Marvolo took a deep breath as the warm evening breeze came from the Window, and sighed, relaxing.

As he did so, he noticed tiny traces of lingering familiar magical signature on the room, making him frown and look around his office. His fireplace, Marvolo realized, probably has been destroyed and then repaired. No one would have noticed it, but he is the Lord of this sentient Castle, and he is not a Dark Lord for just namesake. But the Lestranges wouldn't dare destroy his fireplace, and it is more likely that the real child residing here could do it, he had already destroyed many more things while trying new spells and controlling his Magic.

Speaking of which...

A tiny smile crept in on Marvolo's face, completely involuntarily as the sounds of joyous laughter and ecstatic squeals resonated on the stone walls of Slytherin Castle, coming from the hallway as soon as he lowered the wards of his office. Wishing to see what has his son so delighted, he followed the sounds of giggling towards the playroom. He had finished renovating this room from a guest room a couple of weeks ago after researching thoroughly in both Magical and Muggle World, so Hadrianus can amuse himself safely while staying indoors, instead of exploring the Castle or the garden and risk falling into another secret passageway, even though he had found them all and locked them tighter than the vaults of Gringotts. He had understood that Hadrianus is an outgoing child who may love to read, but it's not enough to keep him occupied the whole day, unlike Tom Riddle who would have been happy with a good Library and three regular meals. Then again, if Tom Riddle had grown up in a loving Wizarding family and friends, he probably would have become different as well!

Marvolo stopped at the doorway of the playroom, noticing the adults' laughter and bickering added to the mix, and peered inside.

On one side of the room, between the large white chalkboard full of various random colorful doodles (courtesy his son, obviously), and the large indoor sandpit with colorful sand toys, sand buckets, pails, and shovels, there was a big - almost eight feet long - toy castle that Marvolo didn't remember installing. It looked eerily similar to his Slytherin Castle, complete with small fake trees, grass field, and butterflies around it charmed to look alive, the only differences being some fairy lights installed artfully, looking like fake torches giving the castle a mysterious aura, and the sides of the castle. From one side there are spiral stairs going upwards, and on the other side, a spiral slide is coming out, ending towards the sandpit so if Hadrianus uses it, he will safely land on the sand. From the small windows and the open door, he can see the inside of the said toy castle, a small chandelier made of light crystals can be seen glimmering, hanging from its ceiling, lighting up the interior and he can see tiny chairs, a table full of his son's sketchbooks, and crayons, and a small wooden wardrobe.

And on the grass field of the said 'castle', the known ruthless murderer and sadist bloodthirsty Rodolphus, now officially a 'teenager' named Reynaldo Lestrange kneeling down on his hands and knees, crawling around emitting odd noises that suspiciously sounds like a horse's neigh, and Hadrianus, wearing the small crown similar to that Bella had conjured for him four months ago, is riding on the back of the said 'horse', clutching the back of Reynaldo's shirt, and giggling so hysterically that Marvolo wondered how the child is sitting up. He is clearly having a blast.

Probably a sticking charm, Marvolo mused, resisting the urge to smirk amused, and glanced at Nagini who is supervising them like a hawk, curled up on the rag in front of the small forest green four-pole cotton canvas teepee play tent packed with different toys and fairy lights. Beside her sat Bella who is laughing herself to sick watching her husband's antics. Rabastan (now officially another 'teenager' called Raylen, they will take the de-aging potion a few months before starting their Hogwarts life, wanting to enjoy their adult body before they had to go through puberty once again), and Barty were building something on the sandpit and bickering like children, while Severus sat on one corner, reading a book and having tea while keeping an eye on them. Summer vacation has started so neither Severus nor Barty are needed in Hogwarts. And the Healer has approved visitation under supervision, so Marvolo need not worry about his son or his home - either getting hurt because of a few insane Azkaban escapees - though after seeing them, he is now starting to think that they had charmed their way to the green card. Well, at least they've not set his son or his home on fire...yet.

"Father!" Hadrianus screamed when he spotted him standing near the door, ecstatic on seeing him.

The adults around him scrambled to their legs, Rodolphus pausing to cancel the sticking charm and made the child stand on his feet first promising him more rides later, proving Marvolo that he had guessed right. "My Lord," they bowed deeply.

Marvolo nodded at them, eyeing the Castle curiously. Noticing where he's looking, Bella volunteered the answer, "It is a late birthday present for Little Az from the House of Lestrange, My Lord," She replied with a proud smile, "We had ordered Garrick to custom made it, obviously, under a fake name, and have it delivered to the Malfoy townhouse in Switzerland so they won't suspect a thing." Bella muttered the 'fake' part in disgust. She didn't like how they had to hide their original identity under fake, but she understood it. Garland Garrick was the most famous manufacturer of Wizarding toys in Europe and he didn't care if his customers are Pureblood or Mudblood, as long as they pay adequately.

Marvolo hummed thoughtfully as he examined the toy castle. They seem determined to spoil his son. "Anything else I should know about?"

"Yes, My Lord," Severus spoke this time. "The fireplace in your Office was accidentally exploded, but the twins had repaired it and reinstalled all the wards." The twins were in their final years of getting their Ward-Master degree before they were imprisoned. They were as brilliant as Mcnair, if not more in the respect.

Hadrianus shifted on his feet awkwardly, looking at Marvolo through his long eyelashes with huge, guilty eyes, wondering what his punishment will be. He had been very guilty and dismayed when it exploded even though everyone was quick to contain the damage and repair it, thinking his father would be very angry, and he will be condemned to hell, but was distracted when Reynaldo asked if he wants to play with him.

"Not your fault," Marvolo assured the guilt-stricken child, then asked, "What happened?" because he needs to know if he requires to change the wards. Fireplace exploding is never harmless or safe, rather quite serious. Magical household or not.

"Adrian wished to learn the Knockback Jinx after listening to the twin's legendary tales of how they escaped Mad-Eye Moody, and overpowered the charm." Not that it's the child's fault, he is still learning how to control his Magic. While channeling the Magic through Wish takes greater power, but if one casts the same spell through their Wand, it amplifies the power of the caster. And Hadrianus had already been told by Barty that it is a First-Year Charm according to Hogwarts Curriculum. This is why, thinking it could be difficult for him to cast, Hadrianus had channeled more Magic than required, which had resulted in exploding the Fireplace, to much shock, and distress to the child.

Marvolo slowly nodded, remembering the incident and knowing very well that they didn't use something as innocent as Knockback Jinx, it was a rather various utilization of Sectumsempra, Fiendfyre, and other Dark Curses from both sides. Thankfully, it confirmed that they have been following his order about not teaching his son Dark Arts until he permits. He needs to make sure that his trouble-prone child accidentally won't set himself on fire.

"Very well," Marvolo nodded, mentally noting that teaching his son how to control his Magic from overpowering a spell cast through Wand will be the next issue to address, "I believe it's almost time for dinner. Do you all want to stay or return afterward?"

Everyone chose to return. It's early morning in Britain and Severus, Barty, and the twins had some plans regarding their own Lordships and Heirships, even Bella has some plans to visit Walburga and all. So after a long and not-so-quiet dinner, everyone left through the Fireplace, back to their Headquarters then to their own houses.

"You know what you have to do now, my son," Marvolo said as he took his seat at his throne-like armchair in his Office, accepting the letters from Davy, and started going through them. Nagini curled up near the fireplace.

Hadrianus sat cross-legged on his bean bag, tapping his wand on a specific part of his father's desk and a small study desk emerged towards him. Hadrianus carefully took a sheet of parchment from his thick leather binder and placed it on his study desk. He then pulled his favorite ever-color changing ink and dipped his quill in it, then started on his Latin essay. His father had already given him a list of a few questions, he has to write an essay on each question one per day. His reference book lay beside him, he is welcome to search for reference if he needs but he has already learned about it in the morning and knew the answer, and he knows father likes it best when he writes an essay in his own words after understanding the topic, not from memorizing it, or quoting from books word to word. Even most of his teachers encourage him to do the same - except Lord Malfoy, but it's not his liability, not when a word missing or replaced with other similar words has the probability of changing the meaning of the said Law. So it has become a sort of a habit to soak up the knowledge on a given topic from every available book, process it, or jolt down the pointers in his notebook and then produce an essay using his own words and in his own way. 

Sorting out all the letters and after checking carefully and then placing the letters from Heir Longbottom, Nott, and Krum beside the child, Marvolo picked his owns, the first being from Gringotts. His account manager Ironclaw informs him that now Slytherin and Peverell House have successfully bought 39% shares of The Daily Prophet. Marvolo is pleased. With Malfoy, Crouch, and Lestranges having brought a total of at least 18% of their shares, it gives him the executive control of the Daily Prophet. Ministry has hardly a 6% share.

There was another letter from Ironclaw, he had notified Marvolo about their conclusion of the research they did on monetary profit from at least fifteen Muggle Casinos in the United Kingdom and agreed with Marvolo about having a good business opportunity to earn more money, though he presented his conditions that Gringotts would be doing the money exchange from the chips to Galleons and back. Well, Marvolo doesn't have any wish to handle the money when they will be opening the Casino so close to Gringotts. Marvolo would need to work out the details of the establishment with Gringotts, if he wanted to get it running properly. He has already appointed some of his Knights to search for an appropriate place for opening a Magical Casino in Diagon and Horizont Alley.

He had already sent Severus and some of his new recruits to study a muggle casino and how it functions. Being Muggle raised, the new recruits have a good chance to blend with the public to learn properly. When the Muggle-born recruit will return, with Greyback's word spread, many werewolves who have already contacted him for some works, and Marvolo will appoint them for his new Casino. Obviously, there also will be wizards and maybe some vampires if they're willing to work, given the werewolves would need time to recover on the Full Moons and the next day.

He knows that by the time he had his business blooming, the DMLE will probably take interest and send some Aurors, trying to figure what the place was and how exactly it may have so many customers and such huge profits. He has already looked into the Law books and no one, not even DMLE has any reason to stop him. After all, he won't be breaking any laws if the rich wizards and witches come to him themselves with consent to gamble their fortune. He already has plans for many other entertainments to arrange in his Casino to attract more people, and he was thinking about fixing the gambles in the beginning until people starts talking about easy money by playing games. Others will start coming like bees to a drop of honey, and then the real game will begin.

He already has plans for euphoric and exotic wards that the twins have recommended and offered to put, so when people leave, they will remember the great time they had, not the monetary loss. The Aurors, when they will come, would suspected glamours, potions in the drinks, and such things, but of course it will be nothing like that, and they couldn't exactly charge Lord Slytherin-Peverell for taking the money people so willingly threw at the tables. Such wards are not illegal in Magical Britain, both twins and Lucius has assured him and he checked himself as well.

Marvolo smirked, thinking of the incident that inspired him with the idea of opening a Magical Casino.

FLASHBACK

"Father," Hadrianus yelled as he rushed into his room just as Marvolo was about to get into his bed, making him blink in surprise. Did he not just make sure the child was sound asleep in his room a few minutes ago? He thought he sent him to bed after they completed their summer solstice ritual, Hadrianus certainly looked sleepy when they were done. Nagini was slowly and sleepily slithering in the room, following her hatchling. Clearly, she has been sleeping, unlike his bothersome child. "Can you teach me how to play poker?"

"Hadrianus!" He said, exasperated, "It's almost midnight, way past your bedtime!"

"I know!" Hadrianus climbed on his bed and bounced, "I just wanted to learn how to play poker with you, then I will sleep, I promise!"

"And why would you want to play poker with me?" He asked, watching how his bed is being hijacked by both his son and Nagini who curled around them and promptly went back to sleep.

"I learned today during my Law class that wiggles don't have laws against gambling, so I want to learn it so I can get what I want." The child yawned.

Marvolo is not sure where this is going, and why his nine years old would want to learn about something as appalling and atrocious as gambling, and why Lucius would indulge him by responding to such concerns. He was supposed to behave like a responsible adult, and talk him out of that, instead of encouraging him! "I am too tired for this," Marvolo mumbled, sighing, "While I understand wishing to learn to play poker, why would you even want to gamble on it? Even if we don't have such a law, gambling's disgraceful and atrocious. You will always have more chances of losing your money as you have with winning."

"But I don't want to use it for money, it's not like I am a criminal who needs money like in Casino Royale," Hadrianus blinked owlishly as he curled up to his side, "If I wanted money from gambling, I would open a Casino." He yawned again, "I only want to do it with you for more slices of cake, father," were his last words before he fall asleep, clutching to his side.

Marvolo gives in to his urge to pinch the bridge of his nose.

FLASHBACK ENDS

Marvolo folded the letter, thinking about it. When the Casino business blooms in Diagon, he will open another one in Wixenheim, his new Wizarding City that he is planning to build, taking almost 90% of the part of Great Hangleton.

The Muggle Little Hangleton was a small village and the Riddles used to own the area, just out of little Hangleton is the Gaunt shack and the land they had which has now turned into the grandest Manor holding his Dark Headquarter, and with the layers and layers of wards with the expandable ground and the forest, it had become another safe haven for every Dark Creatures, second to the Slytherin Castle and Forbidden Forest of Hogwarts. And much easier this time, given he already had the experience of building Slytherin Castle. The whole area is visible to only those people or creatures who had The Dark Lord's willing permission.

But it's not all that he wanted or limited himself to build. He had always wanted to create another Hogsmeade, but much bigger and better for every kind of wizard - rich, poor, or middle-class. This is why he has been placing several plans forward to take most of the Great Hangleton and make it a big Wizarding City which he named Wixenheim, the home of Witches and Wizards alike with no difference in blood purity. The architectural layout of the city has already finalized last month and has been Ministry-approved. As soon as the last of the Muggles of the Great Hangleton had vacated their houses and sold their property to him - willingly or unwillingly it doesn't matter, strong and powerful muggle repellant wards have been placed around the city border and the demolition of the muggle houses has started.

For the poor and middle-class families, he has planned to create several similar seven-storey modern city apartments buildings and with extension charms and proper wards, they will be secured and big enough for them to reside in. Even the muggle-borns would like the modern style city apartments that he had planned. There is also a place for multi-story city markets, parks, gardens, zoo, Floo places, post offices, restaurants, tourist lodges and hotels, guest houses, a grand library, and many more, he already has connections and contacts who would love to work there for some money. Like a proper and modern Wizarding City. He also has plans to install Thestral stables as carriage and transport around the city. With the connections and having control in all the necessary Departments in the Ministry, it has become easier for him. He had been planning this for at least three decades, after all.

As soon as Wixenheim is complete and running, which will be by the next couple of years or so, Marvolo will focus on the Godric's Hollow. From what he gathered, there are some muggles who are starting to inhibit near the place, and he absolutely refused to let muggles infiltrate the small Magical town and realize the existence of a world hidden from them. He had already ordered his Knights to put some well-hidden charms and wards around the area that will make the muggles uncomfortable and believe that this place is not suitable for residence. He is taking such precautions to avoid