CHAPTER 5:

RANNI THE WITCH

After considerable discussion, and a rather pointed lecture to Delphi about the nuances of trust, talking to strangers, and the dangers of enchanted objects that seemed alive, it was decided that Harry, Delphi and Hermione would go and see Ranni. The doll had promised she could get them to their destination, and they could return with ease via the Shard of Grace they would be taken to. Harry would have rather left Delphi at home, but she insisted on coming, and Ranni swore she would not endanger Delphi's life.

Harry, understandably, was nettled. At Delphi, for letting her guard down, and at Ranni, for speaking with his daughter furtively. But he was also angry with himself. If Ranni had malevolent motives towards Delphi, what could have happened? Hell, how did he know this didn't? He was only going to see Ranni because he wanted an explanation. That, and maybe she had useful information about the Lands Between.

As they approached the Roundtable, with the massive Shard of Grace hanging above it, Ranni whispered, from inside her coat, "I should warn thee, my brother in all but blood will be present. His visage is a fearsome one, but I promise thee, he is more valorous than I. Doth not be alarmed."

"Fine," Harry muttered sullenly. He still wasn't sure he wanted to do this, but if helping out Ranni meant they could get more information or even items here, then he might as well. He was more worried about Hermione and Delphi. He reached out to the Shard of Grace, as instructed…


…And then, they were somewhere else.

The room was a large study, the walls lined with books and cluttered with what looked like astronomical instruments. A balcony was nearby, overlooking a spectacular vista of seaside cliffs, shrouded in mist. Strange blue crystals seemed to grow from the floor. As a final touch, a smaller version of the Shard of Grace they had seen at Roundtable Hold hovered above the ground between them.

Ranni poked her head out from Harry's coat pocket. "Blaidd? Whither art thou?"

From the balcony, just out of view, they heard a gruff, but surprisingly calm voice, speaking with something like a faint Welsh accent. "You told me you were bringing guests, Ranni. Guests who might not take my appearance kindly. I thought if they heard my voice first, they wouldn't attack me on sight. Whoever you lot are, I'd appreciate it if you didn't start swinging weapons or flinging spells around. I don't like starting fights, though I'm sure to end them."

"We'll hold our fire," Hermione said, shooting Harry a look.

"Very well. I'm coming in."

Whatever Harry expected, he wasn't expecting a tall, armoured man with a fur cape. Nor for said man to seemingly have the grizzled head of a wolf. Still, given that he approached them calmly, and without reaching for the massive sword on his back, Harry decided to hold back from firing off spells.

"…What a motley crew," Blaidd remarked, folding his arms, peering at them curiously. "Well met, I say. Is this the child you spoke of, Ranni? Delphi?"

"Indeed," Ranni said. "Blaidd, meet Delphini Potter-Riddle, and her guardian Harry Potter, along with Potter's learned friend, Hermione Granger, who is apparently the daughter by blood of Sir Gideon Ofnir and Dolores the Sleeping Arrow. This is Blaidd the Half-Wolf, my vassal by title, and my brother in aught but blood."

"…This is strange," Hermione said. "Your name means 'wolf' in Welsh, we have legends of a Round Table back home, not to mention legends of a World Tree like Yggdrassil echoed with the Erdtree. I'm not sure what that means."

"Thou art a scholar, Hermione Granger, and thou know that there art many strange things beyond one's immediate ken, stranger than echoes between worlds," Ranni said. "But prithee, let us make haste. Blaidd, kindly escort them up to my chamber."

"As you wish, Ranni." As the doll slumped back into Harry's coat pocket, Blaidd led them up some stairs to a lift. "Don't mind her. At times, she can be quite cold, but while I was created to be her vassal, she has earned my loyalty a myriad times over."

"Created?" Hermione asked.

"By the Two Fingers. I assume you haven't had the dubious pleasure of meeting them yet?"

Harry shook his head, but Hermione said, "Gideon told me…there is one of their number in Roundtable Hold, along with a Finger Reader, a maiden who is supposed to act as an interpreter. But they only give an audience when they believe someone is worthy. Gideon claims that they are awaiting a Tarnished who has promise to become the Elden Lord."

"That'd be right," Blaidd muttered as the lift ground to a halt, and they began moving up some stairs around the side of what seemed to be a tall medieval tower.

Delphi looked out at the view as they climbed the stairs. "So, where are we?"

"The Three Sisters, a triptych of Sorcerer Rises behind the Caria Manor," Blaidd said. "The northwest of Liurnia, if that means much to you. A beautiful view, though. Many are in the Lands Between. A shame these lands are so damned lethal."

At the top was a chamber, filled with piles of books, boxes of that same azure crystal they saw earlier, and more astronomical instruments. It was the clutter one would associate with a scholar of some sort. In pride of place in front of them was an elaborate wooden chair, not anything as gaudy as a throne, though it was carved rather elaborately.

And sitting in that chair, two of her hands steepled as before, was Ranni.

"I bid thee all welcome," Ranni said. It was eerie, seeing that spectral face's lips match the movement of the lips on the doll body. "I entertain few visitors here, albeit by design." There was a distant roar, and a sardonic smile quirked her lips. "A Dragon is a very effective deterrent. Adula once sought me out to devour me, but I bested her, and she swore herself to my service instead. But thou art privileged. However, let us dispense with the…"

Harry had noticed something by that point. Ranni seemed a little taller than she did when her doll was sitting on the chair in his expanded trunk. And yet, her legs seemed to be off the floor, and she seemed a little elevated on the chair. And then, he realised it, and chuckled, interrupting Ranni.

"Oh, fie, why hath thou seen fit to interrupt me?"

"You're sitting on some books."

"…Nay, I am not." The denial came a little too quickly, and Blaidd snorted quietly, leading Ranni to shoot him a glare.

Harry shook his head, before he fished out the doll, the small one. "It's fine, I got a bit sensitive about my height at times too. Here. Thanks for not killing me or those I care about in our sleep."

As Ranni took the doll, Blaidd remarked, "I'm sensing there's a story there."

"He is referring to an entertainment on their world, a form of recorded play known as a film," Ranni said, examining the smaller doll carefully, before nodding, satisfied. "He is also understandably, if somewhat overly, cautious towards objects that hath come to life, or towards those who bind their fragmented soul to objects. I shudder to think what heights Voldemort's ambition would have reached for had he ever come to the Lands Between. I doth not hath destruction or conquest as my ambitions, but liberation."

"Liberation?" Hermione asked.

"Another time. I doth not trust thee enough yet," Ranni said. "I hath shown thee more trust than I normally would in allowing thee here. But know that thou hath done me a service, righting a centuries-old wrong. That being said…Delphi. Approach."

Delphi came up to Ranni, without any real fear, though her look was a little morose. Harry grimaced, at the sheer trust Delphi showed Ranni. Ranni, however, gave a soft smile, before handing her the doll again. "When my doll came into thine hands, 'twas as plunder by thine ancestor. But…thou art as blameless of his crime as thou art of thine birth parents, and thus, having it returned to my hands, I now return it to thee. Not as a boon in exchange for returning it, but as a gift, from one who knows too well the sting of solitude. Prithee, I ask that thou keep it hidden from those within the Roundtable Hold, and should thou speak of me, speak of me as Renna the Snow Witch, not as Lunar Princess Ranni."

"Thank you, Ranni!" Delphi said, leaping onto the demigod's lap and hugging her, much to her surprise, and to Blaidd's amusement. Harry just hoped they wouldn't regret this…


Not long afterwards, Blaidd had led Harry and Delphi back down, so Delphi could play in a chamber that actually had a railing. Hermione was left with Ranni, albeit on the demigod's request. "Why did you ask for me to stay here?"

"A number of reasons," Ranni said. "Firstly, thou art much like myself. We art both scholars, ones who seek knowledge and wish to change the world, no matter how much the established order may baulk at it. Secondly…I know, from what dear little Delphi told me, that thou art the child of Sir Gideon Ofnir and Dolores the Sleeping Arrow. Thus, I will offer thee an olive branch. Hath Sir Gideon spoken to thee yet of Preceptor Seluvis?"

"He said that he suspected Seluvis to be responsible for Dolores' current condition, in some sort of coma. They used to be allies until then."

Ranni harrumphed. "Very circumspect of him. Sir Gideon and I hath had but few occasions to meet, but we have something of a mutual antipathy. Part of the reason is that Preceptor Seluvis is one of my allies." Ranni held up a hand. "Prithee, doth not mistake my alliance with him as being a friendly one. He is useful to me for his contacts amongst the sorcerers across the Lands Between, and in creating and maintaining this body, nothing more. If what I suspect about him is true, he repulses me. And if he had a hand in thy mother's condition, then I will gladly let thee take thy revenge once his use to me hath ended, if that is thy wish."

"And what about Blaidd?" Hermione asked archly.

"He is my brother," Ranni said simply. "He hath my trust, and is willing to give much to mine cause." She looked down at the floor. "Too much. Another who hath given me overly much was Iiji, my blacksmith and War Counsellor. Thou hath not met him yet, but he is Hewg's rival in skill as a smith. I hath few I can trust as much as they. I thought I could trust my brother, Praetor Rykard, but he hath since succumbed to a mad folly, and I regret showing him even a small shard of trust. So trust is not something I give readily."

"I'm guessing you're not on good terms with your family?"

"My sole step-brother whom I got along best with sacrificed himself," Ranni said. "All others, are either bitter rivals, or incommunicado. But we art not here to speak of my family, at least for now. Thou hath many questions, I am sure. I may answer a great number of them, depending."

Hermione frowned. She didn't want to use up the boon Harry had been granted, at least not without consulting him. And she didn't know where to start with the questions.

Her eye fell on the blue crystals in the box. "Well…let's start with that. What is that crystal? It seems…magical."

"Ah…Glintstone," Ranni said, following her gaze. "A good topic to start on. A boon and a bane both…"


"I understand your misgivings about Ranni," Blaidd said as he walked with Harry and Delphi around the Three Sisters. He'd given the massive dragon in the distance a gesture, and the creature didn't make any moves towards them. "Never had kids myself, not even sure if I can given my nature. But if I found a living doll that my kid had been talking to, I'd have reacted badly too. That being said…Ranni is a good person. Stoic and, I daresay, more than a little ruthless. But given what she had to deal with…" The wolf-man shook his shaggy head. "True, I was engineered to be her loyal vassal, her faithful Shadow, much like Maliketh the Dark Blade was engineered to be Queen Marika's, but Ranni has earned that loyalty, and I do question her decisions at times, and to her face."

"You'll forgive me if I don't take your word for it," Harry said.

"And yet, you're walking alongside me with…well, I won't say little fear, but you're certainly calmer than I thought you'd be. Not that I'm complaining."

"…Look, I'm trusting that Ranni won't do anything stupid for now, I mean towards me and mine," Harry said. "But that's about it. Besides, you seem surprisingly nice for a wolf-man."

"Know many back home?"

"Teddy's Daddy was a werewolf!" Delphi said. "He was a nice guy, apparently."

"He wasn't technically a wolf-man, more of a man who turned into a wolf-monster under the full moon, but yes, he was, mostly, a nice guy," Harry said. "Most of the others I met were monsters. And there's of course horror movies."

"I understand being wary around me," Blaidd said. "More than a few have attacked me on sight. True, many in the Lands Between attack first and ask questions later, but my appearance evokes a rather primal fear. Most of my friends are amongst the outcasts of the Lands Between, like the remnants of the Great Caravan."

"The what?"

"A group of itinerant wanderers, mostly merchants. They were accused of heresy, probably falsely, and many of them were imprisoned. Desperate people are dangerous people, however, and in their desperation, they called down a dangerous force, the Flame of Frenzy. The few survivors are oft shunned, even when they are good and decent people, and forever condemned to be wanderers, cursed by the Flame of Frenzy, whether they like it or not. You'll probably meet a few should you walk abroad in the Lands Between. If you do, treat them well, even if you don't give them your custom. One of my oldest friends is one of them, a merchant called Kalé. His stomping grounds are in Limgrave."

"…And the Golden Order allowed that to happen?" Harry asked.

"All that glitters is not gold," Blaidd said simply. "And sometimes, gold is but a thin veneer, a gilt plating that covers what lies beneath. So, even if your path and Ranni's never join, allow me to give you some advice. You may not trust Ranni or myself, but the Golden Order and the Greater Will are not trustworthy either. Whatever path you walk, keep your eyes, ears and mind open."

"That's easy! Aunty Luna taught me that!" Delphi said.

Harry chuckled, even as he ruffled Delphi's hair. Still, given what he heard…who could he trust here? At least Ranni was being civil, even kind, despite her rough initial encounter with Harry. And she at least made it clear that she wished to build up their trust before discussing more about herself.

But what of others? In a place as hostile as the Lands Between, was there anywhere else that they could find allies or even friends?

CHAPTER 5 ANNOTATIONS:

So, they've finally met Ranni in person, along with Blaidd! But how will things go?

Review-answering time! iiNeo: I'll be honest, I was pretty nettled at your first review. Don't get me wrong, you have a fairly good point, but Harry has only just woken up, and his first instinct when he realises 'Renna' is alive is "OH FUCK, THAT'S A HORCRUX!" He has bad memories of what happened with Ginny and the Diary, to say nothing of what happened during the Horcrux Hunt during what should have been his seventh year. He is panicking, and he is concerned about his daughter having contact with a dark artifact, which is as bad, I would think, as her keeping a relationship with a stranger secret.

That being said, I'm glad you qualified your criticism with your second review. If you don't mind leading with that in the future, or at least putting it into the review in question, I'd be grateful.

And I actually do have a couple of more stories where Delphi is adopted by better guardians. I have Resident Evil oneshot called Xenial in Dulvey, where Harry has adopted Delphi AND Eveline from Resident Evil 7. Secondly, I have a crossover with Harley Quinn, called Zest for Life, where Delphi is NOT adopted by Harry, but Hermione and Luna, and is basically an adorable junior supervillain. If you want a funnier, sassier take on Delphi, give Zest for Life a go.

NecrorexSparda Juubi-No-Kishin: Harry currently only possesses one Hallow, the Cloak, so it's unlikely to interact with any Great Rune, AFAIK. I'd considered the possibility that the Hallows are connected to Godwyn or the mysterious Rosus whose statues point to various Catacombs, but I feel that will overcomplicate this story more than it is already.

hero of time45: I thought that might be interesting, but I honestly thought it might overcomplicate things. Elden Ring already has a fuckton of characters, and I think I did enough in bringing five Potterverse characters over for now…

Wall1114: She is never heard to laugh in the game, and her reaction to Harry's declaration that he's not bowing to her was just a deadpan stare.

Jostanos: While funny moments aren't that common in this story, there'll be some good ones. I just finished writing the fourteenth chapter, which, after a lot of angst due to Harry being forced to seek the Elden Ring, has some needed levity. We have his being astonished by the Carian Grandeur skill, meeting Miriel, and a sneeze-cut gag involving a certain serpentine boss' infamous meme…

No numbered annotations this time.