Chapter 535: The Everglades

Following the information he got from Hagrid, Ivan directed Buckbeak to fly into the depths of the swamp.

They flew through the white mist and observed the terrain carefully.

Although the water and plants here were delightful, the creatures that lived in the Forest rarely came here.

Many parts of this swamp were bottomless and dangerous. It looked no different from ordinary soil, but if one accidentally got caught in it, one could only expect death in a desperate struggle.

Only the most experienced of explorers, such as Hagrid, could find a way through the depths of the swamp through years of exploration.

Although forest creatures were rarely around, that did not mean that there were no other creatures in this swamp.

The facts were just the opposite. Without the encroachment of forest species, in the unique environment of the Everglades, there were many special and rare living organisms. They interacted to form a complete ecosystem.

Along the way, Ivan saw patches of mandrake.

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, Ivan had changed the potting of a Mandrake seedling.

Near the mandrakes, he also saw dozens of magical creatures that looked like pieces of dead wood.

They had legs with fins and sharp teeth, and they slithered through the swamps. These magical creatures were Dugbogs that feed mainly on small animals and plants. They can inflict serious wounds on the ankles of human walkers, but their favorite food is Mandrake.

The Mandrake root looks like an ugly baby that can emit a harsh cry. Dugbogs feed on these roots, causing Mandrake growers to find nothing but a bloody mess when pulling up their plants. The Mandrake roots were gnawed by the Dugbogs and could no longer cry out.

In addition to the Dugbogs, Ivan also saw two Hinkypunks. They were hiding in the puddles on the side of the road, only the lanterns hanging from their front legs were exposed to the outside with a faint glow.

In this ever-misty swamp, this light can lure travelers or passing animals to follow them.

The Hinkypunks will give them wrong instructions and lead them to deliberately go to the bottomless swamp area or puddle. They wait for the travelers to die and feed on their decomposing corpses.

Moving forward, next to a large reed, Ivan saw something that looked like a giant firefly.

Its tail emitted a reddish or yellow glow of mist with sharp points. It was quietly floating a few meters above the water to capture plankton.

Before it flew away, however, it was devoured by a large fish with green scales and sharp fangs.

There were also gray, round flesh 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 green mucus.

It was as if Ivan was entering a new magical world, and what he was seeing was totally different from what he had usually known.

"The ancient ruins you spoke of are in this place?" Caresius frowned.

"This is where Hagrid met the Manticore, and we continued east," Ivan replied.

"I'm absolutely mad to come to a place like this with you! Be careful of Manticores that can appear at any time; that's definitely a problem beyond your imagination!" said Caresius, "And, I doubt the relics you spoke of have any exploration value. I've seen too many such ancient buildings, and inside was nothing but rubble. "

Being the place where the statue of the evil god was first discovered, even if only rubble remained, it was worth exploring.

"I have my own criteria. Just follow our earlier plan. I asked Hagrid about the habits of the Manticore. As long as there's no accident, there won't be any problem" Ivan said.

"Well, first of all, even if your plan and your trap work, I'll only be able to control the thing for an hour. You'll have to hurry." Caresius looked grimly at Ivan, "If you don't get out in an hour, I won't come in to save you."

"I know!" Ivan nodded and said, "I'll keep an eye on the weather."

Having long been in contact with dangerous magical animals, wizards have summed up and explored a set of effective methods of control, such as the use of the stun spell, special potions and herbs, as well as traps, and so on.

As for the looming Manticore, the skin of this monster repels almost all known charms. It is very aggressive and very dangerous and it is very difficult to defeat it head on.

Ivan wasn't sure if Caresius could defeat the beast, but it definitely wouldn't be without a cost.

Fortunately, they were not here to defeat the Manticore, but to trap it for a while, long enough for Ivan to scout the wreckage.

After consulting the relevant information, Ivan had chosen a trap tool that met his own requirements.

He had asked Sirius to help him obtain this trap and send it to Moody's office.

It was a magical object specialized in dealing with dangerous and magical creatures.

If activated, several chains could be quickly extended to entangle the trapped magical creature.

Under the mage's control, it was difficult to break the chains, and the duration was related to the magic of the mage controlling the trap.

Caresius' strength should be enough to control the Manticore for more than an hour.

Of course, he disliked being asked to do this sort of thing, but he had no choice. The current situation was that whatever Ivan asked for, Caresius had to try to satisfy it.

Besides, there was no danger in this matter; only that Caresius needed to consume some of his magic.

In recent years, from time to time, Hagrid had provided food for the Manticore, who lived in the swamp.

Ivan learned from Hagrid that the food the Manticore liked was the meat of the Colagancho's Tail.

The Colagancho is a magical creature that lives in rural areas of Europe, Russia and America. It resembles a stunted piglet, but with narrow black eyes, a thick stubby tail and long legs.

It often sneaks into pigsties and suckles from a normal sow along with its own young.

The longer the Colagancho goes unnoticed and the larger it grows, the longer it will plague the farm it has been introduced to.

Ivan also asked Sirius to get him a bunch of Colagancho meat and send it to Moody's office with the trap.

Now, all these things are packed in the package that Caresius was carrying in his hand.