3rd June 1993. Gringotts. Ricbert's Office.
The Dark Lord stepped leisurely out of the fireplace, greeted by the opulence of the busy office.
With inhuman speed, Ricbert appeared at his side, a fawning look upon his face.
"I trust you have been well, Lord Peverell-Slytherin. If you'd care to take a seat, I would love to borrow some of your time and introduce your new personal accounts manager. This is Bloodclaw, my nephew, a very talented and loyal young goblin overseeing all of your investments under my supervision."
Ares relaxed back into the provided chair and took stock of the relatively little Goblin hiding behind Ricbert before nodding his acceptance.
"I will visit two vaults today, 327 and 465, and subsequently merge them into one singular library to be kept under Gringotts care."
A third goblin, the smallest yet, quickly arrived to guide him toward the minecart system used to transverse the labyrinth of vaults under the bank.
As they set off, the Slytherin Lord barked orders, "We shall visit vault 327 first!"
There was a grinding of gears as their speed increased rapidly, creating air resistance, plummeting into the depths of the Goblin's lair.
Ares was nostalgic for his Triwizard tournament days when he noticed the captive dragon being used as a glorified guard dog.
Before he could inquire why Gringotts thought imprisoning a dragon was a good idea, they ground to a stop in front of a vault door decorated with gilded snakes.
Stepping out with a steady step, he made his way gracefully to the vault door, much to the disappointment of the Goblin in the mine cart.
A traditional magic altar stood centrally in front of the vault, emanating a desire for lifeforce and blood.
With a concentrated cutting curse cast upon his finger, Ares swept it across his palm, letting blood flow down onto the altar and consciously resisting the invisibility cloak's abilities.
The blood of a Slytherin Lord forced the ancient vault doors to gradually open into an extensive library and limited jewellery collection with one defining quirk. Every single book was written or recorded in parseltongue.
Observing them all closely and in great focus, he eventually picked out two of the books,
Oaths Of fealty by Priscilla Gaunt
And
Bonds of servitude by Silvanus Slytherin
Satisfied with his choices, he peered into the open-topped cabinets.
First, he picked up a necklace with an engraved silver snake that could be used as a portkey and would turn warm when someone attempted Legilimency on him.
Next, he picked up a bracelet that would suppress the magic of anyone who wore it and could only be taken off by the person who put it there.
Finally, he picked up an emerald necklace that would allow him to use his ring to see into the mind of whoever wore it, even if they had Occulmency shields up.
Content, he returned to the mine cart closing the vault behind him.
"Vault 465 now, please." He asked the Goblin, now in a much better mood.
Once again, in a whoosh, they were off again, although this journey was considerably shorter as it was on the way back to the surface again.
A similar security system was in place to defend this vault, though its altar appeared to take on an almost reddish hue, suggesting a long history of blood-letting.
Inside was a similar library, though this time it was entirely dedicated to blood magic, and Ares was sure he would be able to find several books that would suit his needs.
Looking through the picked out three books,
Blood wards by Augustus Rookwood III
Lineage Protections by Salazar Slytherin
Blood Rituals by Antioch Peverell
The Dark Lord's schemes were now ready to be set into motion, and his objectives were achieved.
Perhaps traumatised by the Wizard's laissez-faire attitude to mutilating himself, the small Goblin returned his charge to the surface in record time.
A little put-off, though highly amused, Ares took his leave and immediately apparated back to his manor, Gringotts and their defensive wards be damned.
------------------------------------
4th June 1993. Peverell Manor.
Well rested, Lord Peverell sat down in his study and began to read the first of the books he had acquired:
Oaths of fealty by Priscilla Gaunt.
Despite an already extensive awareness of magic, he was keen to refamiliarise himself with the foundational knowledge of specific essential topics, such as the three traditional oaths of fealty;
The first merely meant the swearer would support the oath holder in when times of need.
The second meant the sworn person would become a vassal of the house of whoever the proclaimed person was lord of or a member of.
The third and final oath effectively made the sworn person a servant as everything they owned became the oath holder's property, although the person still had human rights and could appeal to the law if mistreated. There was, however, a horrific history of this oath being abused, as the victim often found themselves unable to contact a judicial representative out of fear or a simple order to keep their near servitude a secret.
Ares could already apply this knowledge to the current socio-political climate of Wizarding Britain.
Most light families were Albus Dumbledore's vassals: Weasley, Diggory, Lupin, Prince, Brown and McGonagall.
While the dark lord had been unable to make the dark families swear these oaths other than Lestrange, Rosier, Nott and Parkinson. So he had resorted to the Dark mark, which was effectively a branding that forced the rest to serve him.
The Longbottom family had been sworn friends of the Potter family, whilst the Malfoy family were vassals to the Black family.
Narcissa Malfoy nee Black played a crucial role here, with her scheme to make Draco Malfoy Lord Black and raise the Malfoy family to equal social status.
Despite the grand success of her initial schemes, he had put a stop to these plans in his previous timeline and would do the same even faster this time.
Having made sure his understanding of the foundational theory was sound, Ares plucked the second book from his reading pile:
Bonds of Servitude by Silvanus Slytherin.
The book outlined that the most straightforward bond of servitude was similar to the third oath of fealty limitations and effects, but they became drastically different from thenceforth.
Upon using this bond, the contracted victim was forced to obey the orders of their master by their magic or risk losing it.
The next bond took control of the bonded in mind and body, meaning they were willing to serve their master and would have no thoughts of betrayal or freedom.
The fourth bond was the ultimate bond as the bonded became their masters in mind, body and soul, effectively tying them together for eternity.
The Dark Lord perused the details with great care, memorising them. Then, having concluded his research, he opened a secret compartment in his desk and put all five books together.
'There's just enough time to kidnap some foreign wizards for 'research' before I meet with Lucius in a couple of days.'