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Siberian Taiga
–Damian Hawthorne–
Planetary teleportation was still out of his reach for now, especially with just the apparition spell, but he could do the next best thing with ease. Chain teleportations, without authorisation, were quite dangerous for most wizards, as the larger your chain of apparitions, the more the chances of someone slipping up, no matter how talented or experienced, and then came the splinching, leaving behind a limb in the best case scenario or your head in the worst.
The former was treatable, quite easily in fact, the latter? Not so much.
The reason for that was because apparition, as a method of transportation was inherently rough on wizards' minds and bodies. One or two were unnoticeable, especially if people were used to it, but after that, each successive jump stressed the body in ways that are not apparent immediately to the wizard. That stress then manifests in the form of their magic not being as easy to control or the control slipping away, resulting in splinching.
Now, most powerful wizards could do a dozen jumps a day without any issue whatsoever, provided they were not taken back to back, all at once. Wizards on the level of Dumbledore, with their inherently superior magic and any improvements they might have made to the original spell, could get past that, but he saw no reason why they would.
There was also the point of more powerful wizards, with the ability to supercharge a spell with more magic, capable of traversing longer and longer distances with a thought, thereby needing fewer overall apparitions.
All that boiled down to his current situation, which was him sort of fleeing his Lair, because he did not want to confront the fact that all his plans might just be meaningless if he could not find the source of the compromised mind he was feeling lately, and going to the Siberian Taiga on a whim.
Now, it was completely different from a non magical doing this on a whim, as in he was totally capable of doing that, as he did a chain teleport right up until he arrived at the same spot where he fought the Vampire who wanted to do something nefarious to the Baby Unicorn, likely with a ritual involved somewhere.
Did the wizards not have someone who could pummel some sense into their thick heads and explain to them that doing so will quite literally have the entire planet's magic turn against you? Effectively destroying you in the long run.
Hell, he was sure that powerful wizards who did sacrilege on magic were destined to lose, no matter their goals, overall power level, allies, desperate attempts to ward off magic, or more.
Or, Magic sent in someone who would end them.
The thought hit him with a sobering clarity, making him shiver as he sat down on the rough ground below him, uncaring of the slight tremble in his hand as he pondered on the sudden thought that came surging forth.
His mind ran in circles as he pondered the implications of that statement.
Was he a sleeper agent, installed in the world by Mother Magic herself? To what end, though?
It couldn't just be hunting down people who performed crimes against Magic. His power was wholly overpowered for that sort of thing, as he could do that now. Sure, in a straight fight, him against Dumbledore or Voldemort might be iffy, especially with their tendency to pull something out of their asses at the last moment to tilt the odds slightly in their favour, but if he was doing it right, they would never even see him coming.
A magical Rod of God equivalent weapon that would just delete the area around them. With stealth enchantments placed on the Tungsten, a mental that was shockingly compatible with enchantments, would mean that no wizard would see it coming.
Or maybe he was meant to deal with threats beyond just the wizarding world? Maybe the overarching magical world was meant to fall under his purview?
Kamar Taj. Alternate Dimensions. Magical Hotspots on the planet. Magical creatures in the wizarding world. Hell. Dormammu. Mephisto and more.
His eyes glazed over as he thought of all the threats to the magical world, and in the magical world, the thought of having to find those threats endlessly, over and over again, for his entire life simply because there was no end to those threats had him shivering on the ground.
He would have to–
A resounding slap hit him right in the face, the forcefield enchantment stopping all the kinetic energy from ever reaching his face, but the mere action was enough to break him out of his stupor. Looking all around himself, he saw the dark sky with nothing for miles on end.
Shaking his head, he floated up, dismissing the absurd thoughts that continued to swirl in his mind, deciding to focus on the here and now, to do what he came here to do. To satisfy the sudden bout of nostalgia he had over his first ever accommodation built by his own two hands.
Ignoring the disturbing thought of how this wish came rushing only when he was beginning to note down and create a log of all the changes in his behavior.
He did not want to second guess his actions at every turn, so he just sighed and disappeared from his spot, appearing right in front of the clearing that was warded off against animals, non magicals, and even magicals.
Taking a look around, he waved his hand, taking control over the wards, his eyes twitching a little as he saw that no less than 30 attempts had been done on the ward matrix, in a bid to dismantle it, signalling that someone had done it deliberately.
Cautiously, he stopped inside the warded area, ready to take on any ambush someone might have sprung for it, but nope, nothing of that sort. It was just the cave, smooth and made up of stone, with the marks of his years lived here still visible. The temperature wards were up and running, adjusting the weather to his suited parameters.
Though, the parameters had changed over the years. He preferred it a little warmer now, not as cold as before. Making the adjustments with a mental flick, he took a look around the cave that, at the time, felt more than enough, but now? He struggled to understand what he could have accomplished with just this much space.
Hell, his washroom in the Lair was bigger than the cave, full of top tier enchanted stuff that would make a 7 star hotel chain owner weep with envy. The warded area was much bigger, though.
Getting out of the cave, he came to a halt in front of a large hole in the ground, with a hole in the middle, a forcefield covering its entrance. With a thought, the forcefield popped, both here and on the other end, and just a few moments later, water gushed out of the hole, pumped here straight from the nearby Lake.
He leaned out of the way, as some suspicious material came first before the water, pure and cold, gushed out, showering around him. After a few moments, the automatic pressure adjustment wards came to life, restricting the flow of water, as the hole was filled with water just below the surface level. The kinetic absorption enchantments came next, removing any turbulence from the water, creating a smooth, mirror like surface. His face reflected on it, having taken down the cloak when he entered an area that was his safe space for years.
Taking a look at all the systems that activated on command and worked just as well as they did when he left, he smiled and, after deactivating everything and putting the wards in a dormant mode, left the cave clearing, heading to the place where he first encountered enchantments of Kamar Taj.
The Demon Seal.
He glided on top of the soil, reaching silly speeds quite easily, dodging the trees and rocks in his way with ease, almost on autopilot as he soon reached the place where the Demon was supposed to be sealed.
Keyword being supposed.
Because he could no longer feel the Demon inside. His wards were still in place, with all their functions intact. They were there to constantly create an icy hellscape for the demon, keeping him sealed and weakened, up until a more permanent solution could be found.
Atleast that was what the situation had been when he left. Now, though? The wards were powered down, the minor function of syphoning off excess heat and magic to power the freezing wards, along with all the others, dormant as their target was nowhere to be found.
With a sigh, he realised his theory had just come true.
It made sense why Kamar Taj just sealed such a weak demon, comparatively anyway, instead of just killing or banishing the demon and being done with it. The enchantments used to keep him sealed were really basic tier anyway, with no real punishment, just in case someone broke into the clearing.
All of it pointed to the hands of one person and one person only. Someone who could foresee him landing in this specific forest, with a specific powerset, with an innate ability to understand enchantment, and acted to conveniently place a demon with enchantments were not even encrypted like the ones back in the Sanctum.
All so someone could easily make use of that knowledge.
He sighed and waved his hand, breaking down all the wards and enchantments before turning around, grinning at the rather familiar visage of an unfeeling man, accompanied by a feeble old man, leaning on a stick, someone who mirrored his grin.
"Fancy seeing you here, Mr.Scamander."
If you would like to read ahead 12 chapters ahead, you can head to my P*treon.
A/N - Rod of God is orbital strike using Tungsten Rods.