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Chapter 7 - Travels VI

I left Japan after spending time mastering the martial arts I wanted. After spending so much time in the non-magical world, I also visited the magical side of Japan to learn from them as well. But that didn't take all that long and it wasn't that interesting overall. I liked the Japanese culture and its strong discipline. You could learn a lot from them. 

After Japan, I travelled south towards Papua New Guinea, I wanted to get myself a Lethifold if I could find one. They were dangerous and an XXXXX-class magical beast. Lethifolds were carnivorous and extremely dangerous magical beasts. They were also considered a Dark creatures because of their extremely aggressive and violent nature. But I was collecting them all and didn't care what others thought. 

The Lethifold was a very rare species and was found only in tropical climates. The only known survivor of a Lethifold attack was a wizard named Flavius Belby. In 1782, Belby would be on holiday in Papua New Guinea, where he would manage to repel the attack because he was not fully asleep at the time. After unsuccessful repelling attempts with various spells, Belby will manage to conjure a Patronus at the last second, causing the Lethifold to release him and slink away. Previous victims had apparently been unable to do this because they were either asleep, were Muggles, or unable or did not think to cast a Patronus Charm.

My plan was simple. I would replicate this and go to the tropical climate of Papua New Guinea. There I would live alone while gathering magical creatures and plants and wait for a Lethifold to try and capture and consume me. I already have a spell in mind that might help me capture it. But it's not necessary, since I can just transfer the Lethifold to my home. 

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My travels continued this way. I took full advantage of the lack of globalisation and phones as well as documents, there was no way for someone to recognise me when I moved to a new location. I could stay somewhere for as long as I wanted and with the use of magic, I never had a problem. After doing it in China and Japan, I decided to learn from the non-magical side of the world as well and not only from the magical side. 

I learned thousands of new cooking recipes which I asked my home to create for me. I started doing this in Japan and after I left Japan, I continued doing this for the rest of my travels. I went south, just as I had planned and got myself a Lethifold in Papua New Guinea. I used the Patronus Charm, 'Expecto Patronum' to scare it and then a variation of the Patronus Charm, that I created myself to bind it and capture it. 

What I did sounds simple, but is actually a marvel of Arithmancy and intent. I managed to change the Patronus Charm, to not only protect the user, so me, and dispel Dementors and Lethifolds, but to actively seek out sources of darkness or evil. It can sense malevolent energies and track them down. When the Patronus encounters a dark creature or entity, it engages in a magical battle, using the power of positive memories to counteract and purify the darkness. The Patronus is drawing strength from the caster's joyful recollections to overcome the negativity. 

I used this to capture the Lethifold and then brought it to my home. It was a rather brilliant use and change of the Patronus Charm, in my opinion. 

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After leaving Papua New Guinea, I went further south to Australia. This continent was untouched by the British Empire and held only the Aboriginal hunter-gatherers. I was at first hunted down as they saw me as some form of abomination. But they changed their view of me when they saw my magical prowess. 

The Aborigines didn't hide their magic from the non-magical population. The wizards and witches were seen as the spiritual leaders and guides of each tribe and held the most authority. I was taken in as a guest of honour in a way. They saw me as their equal, especially after I learned their language in one day of being there. 

I told them about myself and showed them what I could do with my magic. Over the years, I have made tremendous progress in many different fields of magic. I showed them the mountain load of wands I had created. At first, they were sceptical towards the wands, but then they began to really enjoy them. 

It was easier to use magic if you had a magical foci. I told them about the process of creating magic wands and even gifted them some of the saplings needed to plant the trees. Whether the trees would survive there, I wasn't sure. 

I acquired quite a few magical creatures and plants in Australia thanks to the Aborigine's deep knowledge of their lands and their close connection to nature. Among those was the Billywig for example. 

The Billywig was a magical insect native to Australia. It was rated XXX, and was around half an inch long and of a vivid sapphire blue colour. The Billywig also had a long, thin stinger at the bottom of its body. Anyone stung by a Billywig would suffer giddiness, followed by levitation, which is what gave the Billywig its rating of XXX. 

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I left Australia after years of travelling all around the continent. I liked it there, even though it was rather dangerous to live there. But if you had magic and or were as powerful as I am, then there was no problem. From Australia, I made a long way across the Pacific towards North America. 

As I crossed the Pacific Ocean, I met a giant Sea serpent, which was a XXX-class magical beast. Reaching over a hundred feet long with a horse-like head and snake-like body, the sea serpent was a fearsome-looking creature. Despite this, no Sea Serpent had ever been known to hurt a human, despite Muggle's stories of encounters with the beasts. It rose in humps out of the water as it swam.

After crossing the Pacific, I reached North America. Similar to Australia, I spent many decades in North America. I made contact with the Native Americans and learned their language and their culture. There were of course many different Indian tribes, like there had been with the Aborigines. 

I started the same process as I did with the Aborigines. They were very similar to the Native Americans in the way that both practised magic openly. I took my time travelling across North America and gathering magical creatures. Among them were Hodags, Doxy, Dugbog, Gnome, Jarvey, Jobberknoll, Knarl, Nogtail, Wood Nymph.

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But those weren't the really good ones. The reason for coming to North America was mainly two magical creatures. These two were the Thunderbird, which was native to the future Arizona and the Wampus cat, which was native to the Appalachian Mountains. 

The Thunderbird was a close relative of the phoenix, the Thunderbird could create storms as it flew and was highly sensitive to danger. The Thunderbird has a head that is "similar to that of an eagle"; or, in the wizarding world, "similar to that of a Hippogriff". They possessed three pairs of powerful wings and had feathers that shimmered with cloud-like patterns.

The Thunderbird was known to change colours as it summoned storms, its iridescent feathers shifting from various shades of gold to electrifying blue, to grey and silver, to white, and even to deep navy.

The Sioux believed the Wakinyan to be the mortal enemy of the Unktehi, the Horned Serpent, which I could confirm. I have seen them both together and saw the Thunderbird and the Horned Serpent fight against each other. 

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The Wampus cat was a magical cat native to the United States, specifically Appalachia. It is a XXXXX-class magical beast. I came to really appreciate the Wampus cat and the Thunderbird. 

Somewhat resembling the mundane mountain lion or cougar in size and appearance, the Wampus cat was native to the Appalachian Mountains. It could walk on its hind legs, and outrun arrows, and its yellow eyes were reputed to have the power of both hypnosis and Legilimency. The Wampus cat was fast, strong, and almost impossible to kill. I had a lot of fun hunting the Wampus cat and getting to know it over many months. 

The Cherokee had most extensively studied the Wampus cat, with whom they shared their native region, and only they had ever succeeded in procuring Wampus cat hair for use as a wand core ... until I came along. I learned from the Cherokee and got even better than them in the art of hunting and capturing Wampus cats. 

The tears of Wampus cats had strong degenerative properties, and drinking these tears could cause its drinker to rapidly lose their memory. 

(Flashback)

The Cherokee and I had located the Wampus cat and had prepared traps. The two shamans, as they called themselves were speaking in a low voice, preparing their spells. I was getting into a position as well. Today I would capture this Wampus cat and send it to my home. When I told the Cherokee what I wanted to do, they were very displeased. But when I showed them my home and the seemingly endless open wild, they changed their position and agreed to help me catch a Wampus cat. 

As we lay there in wait, I observed the Wampus cat. It was a female. Truly a wonderful magical creature. The grace and power it contained within her body was a magical miracle. And the power of Leglimency is also impressive. It might be some of the most powerful Leglimens on the planet. 

Then, the sign was given and the Cherokee started to yell and run towards the Wampus cat. No matter how powerful the Wampus cat was, it was still a cat, so its natural response to the yelling and screaming, was to run away initially. The Cherokee tried to run after it, but they stood no chance. That wasn't the plan though anyway. 

From different sides, the Cherokee were lying in wait and would jump out of their hiding to scare the cat and make it run in the direction they wanted. It seemed to work at first and just as it looked like a flawless capture, the Wampus cat showed why it was so dangerous. It changed its tactic from running to attack. The Cherokee tried to defend themselves, but with the speed and strength of the Wampus cat, they stood no chance. 

I decided to intervene. I jumped in, just before the Wampus cat could deliver the finishing blow to one of the Cherokee. 

'Protego Recrepo'

An invisible shield formed around me and the bloodied Cherokee, creating a protective barrier between us and the Wampus cat. This shield could block and reflect a multitude of spells, such as most jinxes, hexes, and minor curses, as well as block physical forces. Exceptionally powerful Shield Charms were even able to knock people off their feet. Mine was such a spell. I had changed the normal 'Protego', to have a strong rebound and reflective property. 

The Wampus cat hit the barrier and all of its momentum was rebound, hitting it back and confusing it. I then used another one of my modified spells at it. 

'Immobulus Totalus'

This is a rather dangerous version of both 'Immobilus' and 'Petrificus Totalus'. Immobilus is a charm which immobilises and stops the actions of the target. With the use of this charm, the movement of living or animated targets is stopped. Add to that the paralysing effect of the 'Petrificus Totalus' and you get quite a dangerous spell. I use this spell mostly to stop the actions or potential fleeing of my targets.

'Stupe-'

Just as I am about to stun the Wampus cat, our eyes lock and a powerful attack is launched on my brain. We're both brought into my mindscape, which I have had almost two centuries to create and perfect. I am constantly adding more and more things to it, to add to the theme of it. 

A moment later, the Wampus cat screeches in pain and falls unconscious. I feel pity for it because my mind is not a nice place to go. Not since I created it after Warhammer 40k. I recreated an entire Universe and even added the Immaterium to my mind. The entirety of the Imperium of Man is in my head, spread across my mental Universe. Although it is not a real war going on, it turns very real, as soon as someone tries to enter my mind. Suddenly all the fighting stops and every being, creature and machine starts harassing and attacking the intruder. It is the single worst experience that a Leglimens can have ...

And just to be clear, everything in my mind is under my control and a part of my will. There is no real war going on, if no one is inside my mind. I am all of the parts of the Imperium of Man. Every single soldier is part of me and all the forces of Chaos are only illusions. 

Yeah ... my mind is not a nice place to be, except for myself. 

'Stupefy'

I remove the 'Immobilus Totalus' and then bring the Wampus cat to my home, where it can find itself a new home as soon as the spell is over and it wakes up again.