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Chapter 535: The Everglades
🕑 Added 2019-06-30 23:09:53 +0000 UTCFollowing the information he got from Hagrid, Evan directed Buckbeak to fly deep into the marsh.
They flew in the white mist and watched the ground closely.
Although the water and plants in this place were delicious, the creatures living in the Forest rarely came here.
Many parts of this swamp were bottomless and dangerous. It looked no different from the ordinary ground, but if accidentally caught up in it; one could only wait for death in a desperate struggle.
Only the most experienced of explorers like Hagrid could find a path through the depths of the marsh through years of exploration.
Although the creatures of the forest were rarely close, that did not mean that there were no other creatures in this swamp.
The facts were just the opposite. Without the invasion of forest species, in the unique environment of the everglades, there were many rare special living organisms. They interacted to form a complete ecosystem.
On his way, Evan saw patches of Mandrake.
The Mandrake, also known as Mandragora, is a powerful healing agent. It is also an important part of most antidotes used to restore those who have been transfigured or cursed to their original state.
A few days ago, in Professor Sprout's Herbology class, Evan had changed the pot of a Mandrake seedling.
Near the Mandrakes, he also saw dozens of magical creatures resembling pieces of dead wood.
They had finned paws and sharp teeth, and glided through marshland. These magical creatures were Dugbogs that mainly feed on small animals and plants. They can inflict severe injuries to the ankles of human walkers, but their favorite food is the Mandrake.
The root of the Mandrake looks like an ugly baby that can make a harsh cry. The Dugbogs feed on these roots, which leads to Mandrake-growers finding nothing but a bloody mess when pulling their plants out. The roots of Mandrake were gnawed by Dugbogs and could no longer scream.
Besides the Dugbogs, Evan also saw two Hinkypunks. They hid in the puddles on the side of the road, only the lanterns hanging from their front feet were exposed to the outside with a faint glow.
In this always foggy marsh, this light can lure travelers or passing animals to follow.
The Hinkypunks will give the wrong instructions and lead them to deliberately go to the bottomless marsh area or the puddle. They wait until the travelers die, and feed on their decayed corpses.
Moving on, beside a large reed, Evan saw something looking like a giant firefly.
Its tail emitted a reddish or yellow foggy glow with sharp spikes. It floated quietly a few feet above the water to capture plankton.
However, before it flew out, it was eaten by a big fish that with green scales and sharp tusks.
There were also a few round gray meat worms crawling slowly in a swamp full of mushrooms and fungi. This creature has a huge mouth, constantly devouring the mushroom in front of it. Behind its body is also a hole, oozing with green mucus.
It was like Evan was entering a new magical world, and what he was seeing was totally different from what he had usually come into contact with.
"The ancient ruins you talked about are in this place?" Caresius frowned.
"This is where Hagrid met the Manticore, and we’re still going east." replied Evan.
"I am absolutely mad to come to such a place with you! Be careful of the Manticore that may appear at any time; that’s definitely trouble beyond your imagination!" said Caresius, "And, I doubt whether the relics you talked about will have any exploration value. I’ve seen too many of such ancient buildings, and there was nothing but rubble inside. "
As the place where the statue of the evil god was first discovered, even if there were only rubble left, it was worth exploring.
"I have my own discretion. You just have to follow our previous plan. I asked Hagrid about the habits of the Manticore. As long as there’s no accident, there will be absolutely no problem."
"Well, first of all, even if your plan and trap work, I can only control the thing for an hour. You’ll have to hurry up!" Caresius stared gloomily at Evan. "If you don’t come out in an hour, I won’t go in to save you."
"I know!” Evan nodded and said, "I'll watch the time."
Having long been in contact with dangerous magical animals, wizards have summarized and explored a set of effective control methods, such as the use of the Stunning Spell, special potions and herbs, as well as traps, etc.
As for the upcoming Manticore, the skin of this monster repels almost all known charms. It is very aggressive and very dangerous and it’s very difficult to defeat it head-on.
Evan was not sure if Caresius could actually beat the beast, but it would definitely not be without a cost.
Fortunately, they were not here to beat the Manticore, but to trap it for a period of time, enough for Evan to explore the remains.
After consulting the relevant information, Evan had chosen a trap tool that met his own requirements.
He had asked Sirius to help him get this trap and send it to Moody's office. It was a magic item specializing in dealing with dangerous and magical creatures.
As long as triggered, several chains could be quickly stretched out to entangle the trapped magical creature.
Under the control of the wizard, it was difficult to break the chains, and the duration was related to the magic of the wizard who controlled the trap.
Caresius’s strength should be enough to control the Manticore for over an hour.
Of course, he was dissatisfied with being asked to do this kind of thing, but he had no choice. The current situation was that whatever Evan would ask for, Caresius ha to try to satisfy it.
What's more, there was no danger in this matter; only that Caresius needed to consume some of hismagic.
In the past few years, from time to time, Hagrid had been providing food to the Manticore, living in the marsh.
Evan learned from Hagrid that the food the Manticore liked was the flesh of the Nogtail.
The Nogtail is a magical creature that lives in rural areas in Europe, Russia and the Americas. It looks like a stunted piglet, but with narrow black eyes, a thick stubby tail, and long legs.
It often sneaks into pigsties and suckles an ordinary sow alongside her own young. The longer the Nogtail is left undetected and the bigger it grows, the longer the blight on the farm into which it has entered.
Evan also asked Sirius to get him a lot of Nogtail meat and send it to Moody's office with the trap.
Now, these things are all packed in the parcel that Caresius was carrying in his hand.
