"Good. There's a book in the library called Powerful Potions, and in it there's a formula for a potion called Polyjuice Elixir. Its effect is to let one take on the appearance of someone else.
We can transform into Malfoy's two cronies and then go question him directly.
You two figure out a way to get that recipe. As for the ingredients, Professor Snape definitely has them—you'll need to find a way to get those too."
Hermione quickly laid out the plan once she saw Harry and Ron both agreed.
The boys nodded, but then Ron frowned.
"Wait a second—then what are you going to do?"
"Me? I'll be the one brewing the potion, of course. Or do either of you actually know how to?"
Hermione gave them a calm, sidelong glance that immediately shut them up.
With no better option, the two energetic lads could only start discussing how to pull off the tasks she'd assigned.
Not once did they stop to wonder how Hermione even knew about the Polyjuice Elixir—or which book it was in.
In truth, she'd once come across that very formula among her cousin Arthur's private collection. She hadn't bothered to memorize it at the time, simply because she hadn't been interested.
As for why she didn't just ask Arthur for the book—well, she was still a bit annoyed with him. The little witch had decided that since Arthur wouldn't tell her, she'd find out on her own.
Arthur, of course, knew exactly what she was up to. Otherwise, with all the ingredients sitting in his possession, Hermione would've already come knocking long ago.
The Lands Between, Mount Gelmir.
Since Arthur had flown straight there, he had absolutely no idea where he'd actually landed.
Normally, the proper way to reach his destination would've been to ask Raya for help and have her guide them to Volcano Manor.
Back when Arthur had been sweeping through Liurnia of the Lakes, he'd already met Raya—she'd asked for his help finding her lost necklace, which he'd eventually recovered from a shack belonging to a prawn cook.
(No prawns were harmed in the making of this quest.)
In gratitude, Raya had given Arthur an invitation to Volcano Manor.
He only hoped she wasn't still waiting for him among the ruins of Lux at the Altus Plateau… because she would be waiting in vain.
Arthur had decided to visit Volcano Manor first—to learn the whereabouts of the Primeval Sorcerer Azur. He'd been eyeing Azur's Comet sorcery for a long time.
The only problem: he had no idea where to go.
But it wasn't that big of an issue—he vaguely remembered Volcano Manor being located in the very heart of Mount Gelmir.
So all he had to do was head toward wherever the lava flowed thickest.
After walking for a while, he suddenly remembered something: his fire resistance hadn't been fully maxed out yet.
Naturally, there was only one way to fix that—by taking a dip in the magma.
He placed the tiny Ranni atop his head and waded straight into the molten rock.
Ranni could only watch as Arthur's skin blistered and charred in the magma. When the burns reached a critical point, he drank a vial of Crimson Tears, healed completely, and went back to being burned again.
Gradually, the magma's damage weakened, until at last it could no longer harm him at all.
Seeing this, Ranni fell silent.
This was the first time she had ever witnessed the effects of Arthur's Twelve Trials.
Of course, she didn't know what the Twelve Trials were—she merely assumed he possessed some strange innate talent.
Her lord's method of growing stronger truly was… unconventional.
What kind of power-up was this—get beaten until you evolve?
No wonder back in Caelid he hadn't shown the slightest trace of Scarlet Rot.
So he'd built up immunity, even to that.
Once magma could no longer burn him, Arthur set off again.
After several hours, he finally found the entrance to Volcano Manor.
Guarding the gate were two Abductor Virgins—grotesque iron maidens whose names made him question the definition of "virgin."
Each had a cage-like torso with a humanoid shell atop it. The human arms had been replaced by a spiked wheel and a scythe, and a pair of wheels beneath their feet allowed them to roll about menacingly.
Arthur remembered seeing one of these things in the depths beneath the Academy of Raya Lucaria—and in the game, if you were killed by that one, you'd respawn right outside Volcano Manor.
He had no intention of testing whether that still applied in real life.
After dismantling both iron maidens, he stepped into Volcano Manor proper.
The manor's interior glowed with a dark red hue, like the light in a photo-developing room—everything bathed in crimson.
In a grand hall, he found its mistress—Lady Tanith.
She sat there with composed dignity, a fully armored knight standing silently behind her.
On the wall beyond hung a portrait of Rykard—depicting him as he was before being devoured by the serpent.
When she saw Arthur, she said, "Tarnished, welcome to Volcano Manor. I am Tanith, mistress of this place."
Technically, she wasn't wrong—though the true master of the manor was Lord Rykard, the Praetor, he had long since fallen, enslaved by the base hunger of the serpent that consumed him.
At first, Rykard had simply grown disillusioned with the Golden Order, seeking to defy its law and profane the gods.
The Erdtree had blessed the demigods with Great Runes—but after the shattering of the Elden Ring, it had driven them to war against each other, to steal and devour each other's fragments of power.
Only the final victor could repair the Ring and ascend as the next Elden Lord.
To Rykard, this was nothing short of mockery.
The god of the Erdtree had given them pitiful blessings and crushing burdens—then made them fight to the death for divine amusement.
Thus he resolved to defy the Erdtree, to blaspheme against the Golden Law.
But to reach the Erdtree, he first had to unseal Death itself—meaning he would need to defeat Maliketh, the Black Blade who guarded Destined Death.
Maliketh was the shadow of Queen Marika, a beast bestowed upon her by the Greater Will—both her servant and her warden, just like the bond between Ranni and Blaidd.
As a shadow-beast and the keeper of Death, Maliketh's strength was beyond measure. His blade itself bore the power to slay gods.
How could Rykard, a mere demigod, ever overcome such a foe?
So he sought another path—a forbidden one.
He turned to the Great Serpent, an ancient god-devouring being, seeking to be consumed and fused with it.
The serpent, in turn, craved his demigod flesh to grow stronger.
It was, in a sense, a mutual understanding.
The plan neither failed nor succeeded—the serpent's will merged with his own, and Rykard's noble defiance twisted into base, gluttonous desire.
He devoured his own followers, transforming them into his kin.
From then on, Rykard hid away, letting the serpent gorge on countless souls while he wallowed in corruption.
At that time, Tanith stepped forth.
As Rykard's consort, she took on the mantle of leadership, carrying forward what remained of his ambition.
She recruited new warriors—"Recusants," she called them—but one by one, she sent them to "audience" with Rykard…
Where they were devoured by the serpent to sate his hunger.
In truth, Rykard was no longer a lord—just a gluttonous snake.
And the true ruler of Volcano Manor was now Tanith herself.
"...Tarnished? Tarnished, are you listening to me?"
Tanith's voice snapped Arthur out of his thoughts.
She looked mildly embarrassed. He'd just stood there staring at her, saying nothing after her grand introduction.
"Oh—sorry. Go on, I'm listening," Arthur said quickly.
"I heard from Raya that you're a person of great promise. So I ask you: would you join Volcano Manor and fight alongside us?"
Arthur nodded without hesitation.
For him, faction choices were purely transactional—he needed the Manor's flame sorceries, and they needed new Recusants.
Come to think of it, in his past life when he'd played the game, he'd also joined Tanith… only to immediately slay Rykard right afterward.
That had confused him at first—joining a faction only to kill its leader?
No side quests, no resolution—until he realized he'd ended the questline himself.
"Oh? Are you sure, Tarnished? Volcano Manor's creed is to stand against the Golden Order and raise our swords to the Erdtree. We obey not the Two Fingers. Have you truly made up your mind?"
"Of course," Arthur replied coolly. He'd never taken orders from the Fingers anyway.
The Finger Maiden hadn't even survived past his tutorial zone—why would he ever work for their side?
(He really needed to hunt down that white-masked creep from the starting area one of these days…)
Watching him pledge allegiance so readily, the tiny Ranni perched on him had a strange feeling of déjà vu.
When they'd first met, Arthur had also offered to serve her without hesitation.
And now… he was her lord.
Wait—could it be that her lord was doing the same thing again?
She eyed the veiled Tanith with suspicion. Rumor had it the Praetor's consort had once been a foreign dancer of great beauty, though now she wore a concealing mask.
Could her lord be… interested?
Ranni said nothing, but quietly decided she'd test him later.
"Then thank you for your answer. From this moment, you are a member of Volcano Manor. There's a guest chamber down the hall—consider it your home," Tanith said, handing him a key.
Arthur took it, then remembered why he'd come.
"By the way, do you know where the Primeval Sorcerer Azur might be?"
"You seek Master Azur? It's said he resides near the Hermit's Shack, south of Mount Gelmir."
Arthur's expression froze.
He'd entered Volcano Manor from the south side of Mount Gelmir—meaning he'd probably already passed right by the Hermit's Shack.
Sighing, he decided to rest first in the guestroom Tanith had provided.
Compared to the Roundtable Hold, which didn't even have a proper bed, Volcano Manor's accommodations were luxurious.
Once inside, Ranni finally asked, "My lord, why did you join Rykard's faction?"
Arthur didn't answer directly. Instead, he asked, "You won't even call him 'brother'?"
"Hmph. That man…" Ranni's tone was sharp. "He once reached out to me, saying he'd defy the Erdtree. But after the Night of the Black Knives—after I gave him the Blasphemous Claw—he vanished."
The Blasphemous Claw bore the power of a Death Rune fragment, capable of parrying the Black Blade's strikes.
Clearly, Ranni didn't think much of that brother.
When Radagon abandoned the Full Moon Queen and returned to the capital to wed Queen Marika, he became the new Elden Lord—and Ranni and her brothers became political outsiders.
Rykard and Radahn were each given posts—one as Praetor overseeing justice and inquisition, the other as General commanding the armies.
Her other brother, Radahn, at least had purpose—he guarded Caelid, even sealing away the stars to prevent the Greater Will from casting down new monstrosities upon the world.
Rykard, however…
As Praetor, he not only oversaw judgment and law, but also ran inquisitions and tortures against heretics.
Those who refused to follow the Golden Order were branded impure and "cleansed."
In Mount Gelmir, adventurers could find a black hood—gear once worn during interrogations to heighten fear and sensitivity to pain.
Its description read:
"This torture was never meant to extract confessions. Therefore, it never ends."
All evidence pointed to one truth—Rykard had been a sadist long before he became a serpent.
No wonder he ended up trying to overthrow the Erdtree by blasphemous means.
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