𝔇𝔢𝔳𝔦𝔩'𝔰 𝔖𝔫𝔞𝔯𝔢 (18+)

≿❈ 𝔗𝔥𝔢 𝔖𝔴𝔞𝔪𝔭 𝔬𝔣 𝔚𝔗𝔉 ❈≾

     Cypress trees draped in mossy white-green that tumbled down from its branches, covering the fetid swamp water at its base. Hyacinth choked the waterways and smelled of rotting dead things. I didn't care to dwell upon the source of them, especially since I was shin-deep in the midst of the quagmire.

     Splash - splash - splash.

     Something brushed past my leg. I froze, unsure if I should continue moving or pretend to be part of the vegetation.

     "What's wrong, Harry?" The red-spectacled Juniebee Jenkins asked.

     "I haven't ever been in a swamp before and had no idea it would..." Glancing around, I couldn't find the right words to describe the scents that made me never want to eat takwan again. "...smell so pungent."

     She scrunched her face, highlighting her freckles and wind burned skin. "Smell?"

      I shook my head, realizing that she had a unique body odor herself—due to her over-use of garlic and Nag Champa. "It's so full of life that there are a lot of things to smell."

     "Yes, you are so correct, young Potter. I'll have you know that this particular reserve is home to over..."

     A hawk screeched in the distance, cutting through the buzzing and chirping of the animals that call this place home. As we trudged forward, I scanned for things that would either infect me with some deadly disease, use one of my orifices as an incubator, or want to eat me for a late lunch.

     Juniebee kept talking, "...vast amount of magical plants and animals in this particular reserve is three times higher than other swamps. It's one of the only places in the world where they grow. Even in labs or enchanted greenhouses, they don't hold the potency the same way they do if they're grown here."

     "Is there something in the mud that does that?"

     "The biologists that work with this particular habitat have been trying to figure it out forever. And still, no one knows."

     "Too bad. I'm sure magical mud would be something that everyone would pay a good price for." What did I just say? Oh, Merlin! Draco would be so proud to know that I even thought that. He was changing me more than I realized.

     Juniebee gave me a disgusted look.

     Before she could lecture me on how big businesses were killing the planet, I asked, "Was there a specific plant I should have my eye out for? Or an animal?

     "Well—"

     A loud splash sounded off to my left.

     I froze in my tracks.

     Juniebee clutched my shoulder and whispered, "Turn your head nice and slow, Potter. There's a very rare, Ursus americanus kermodei, that hopped into the water."

     "A what?"

     She looked at me with the all too familiar look of disbelief I'd seen on Mione's face countless times. Juniebee shook her head. "Black bear."

     My eyes moved in that direction before my head followed suit. I almost laughed out loud at the small bear splashing in the water. "If it's called a black bear, then why is it white?"

     "The kermode is a rare subspecies of the black bear. What's odd about this sighting is that they are found in Canada. Since they are here, it leads me to believe that we are getting close to whoever is responsible for the drop in healthy lifeforms here."

     "Why?"

     "Throwing a new species into this environment changes the balance that nature supplied." Her face reddened. "This really gets my wand in a knot."