Triumphant Against the Erumpent
"We meet again." Rolf Scamander and Luna Lovegood had both just apparated in front of Madame Marigold's Magical Menagerie, a reserve in the south of Africa that specialized in preserving magical creatures that were nearing extinction. Rolf's grandfather, Newt, had helped Madama Marigold establish it, even going so far as to help her wrangle a few of the more dangerous of her charges. Rolf had been coming to Marigold's with his grandfather every year since he could remember. Now, he was here on his own and to his immense delight, so was Luna.
"Yes, we do," said Luna. "But then, it's not as though there are many wizards who enjoy studying magical creatures. I mean, if we are counting, I've seen Charlie Weasley more times than I've seen you."
"Oh? You visit the Romanian Dragon Sanctuary a lot?" asked Rolf.
"Not specifically. But I do go to Romania quite a bit, yes. Daddy says its the best place to find a Blibbering Humdinger."
"What's that?" Before Luna could go into detail about what a Blibbering Humdinger was, the door to Madame Marigold's burst open and Madame Marigold herself came billowing out. Margaret Marigold was, at least eight feet tall and enormously fat. She had short, cropped grey hair and happy, green eyes. The grey robes she wore over her massive frame gave her the appearance of a boulder, rolling down towards the pair before her.
"Rolfie!" called out Marigold, her large arms flung wide in welcome. "So good to see you!" Grabbing Rolf, she pulled him into a tight hug that knocked the air out of him, lifted him off the ground, and almost cracked his ribs.
"Hello Auntie Mari," said Rolf, once she'd set him back down and he'd regained the ability to breathe. "How's everything going?"
"Oh, everything is fine, just fine. In fact, I've had to hire a few more hands because everything is going so well. Nellie and Bessie just had calves you see."
"Really? Granddad didn't mention anything about that when he last visited."
"Oh, I told him not to tell a soul. Not even you. Can't be too careful when it comes to the birth of Erumpents you know. Oh, hello there my dear. I'm sorry, in my excitement of seeing Rolfie I didn't see you. You are?"
"Luna Lovegood," said Luna, holding out a hand. Marigold ignored it and pulled Luna into the same crushing hug she'd given Rolf.
"A pleasure to meet ya, my dear," said Marigold. "Lovegood, eh. So you'd be the daughter of Xenophilius and Pandora I take it?" Luna nodded.
"I always liked them. Xeno was always good for a laugh. And Panny, oh what a brilliant witch she was! I was so sad to hear about her passing. A tragedy and a waste. All that potential. Oh well, what can you do? The goods ones never seem to stick around for long, do they? Oh, but where are my manners? Let's get you both inside. You must be starving." Marigold grabbed both Rolf and Luna by the hand and dragged them into her house. Before they knew what was happening, they'd been seated at a large, oak table. Within seconds, two plates appeared in front of them, both laden with enough food to last a week.
"Make sure to clean your plates now," said Marigold as she set two bucket-sized mugs in front of them. The food was excellent but the portions were far too much. By the time Luna and Rolf had finished their repast, it was well into the night.
"Good to see such healthy appetites in young people," said Marigold once they had finished. "You two are far too skinny. It's a disgrace." As she cleared away the table, Marigold failed the notice the pained looks that crossed between Rolf and Luna.
"Now, off to bed, both of you," said Marigold. "Whatever business you have with me can wait until morning." Too full to argue, Rolf and Luna followed Marigold up to their rooms. The meal had been so sumptuous that they both fell asleep the instant their heads hit the pillow. They were awakened the next morning by a series of loud knocks on Rolf's door.
"What is it?" asked Rolf as he opened his door. Across the hall, Luna was sticking her head out of her room to see what was happening.
"I need your help," said Marigold frantically. "One of my hired hands accidentally left the Erumpent pens open last night. Now Nellie and Bessie are out and tearing everything up.'
"Right," said Rolf. He closed his door, quickly changed, and then stepped out into the hallway to find Luna already waiting for him. She had also changed out of her nightclothes and was holding her wand at the ready.
"You are slow," said Luna serenely. "And your socks don't match."
"I'm not a morning person," said Rolf. Together they charged down the stairs into Marigold basement to find a massive expanse of open fields. The two Erumpents were charging around, leaving devastation and debris in their wake.
"If you can find a way to corral Nessie, I can handle Bessie," said Marigold. "Every time I tried to subdue either, the other one would come help."
"No problem," said Rolf. "I've got an idea." As Marigold barrelled of towards Bessie, Rolf reached into a pocket of his coat and pulled out a stuffed rhinoceros and a small vial. After pouring a few drops of the liquid from the vial onto the toy, he set the rhino down upon the ground.
"Engorio." The stuff rhino expanded to the size of a true rhinoceros.
"Locomotor Rhino." The toy sprang to life and galloped towards the remaining Erumpent. Nessie's response was immediate. She charged after the giant stuffed animal, following it, as it cantered around the field and back into the pen.
"Colloportus," said Luna just as Nessie jumped upon the stuffed rhino. The gate to the pen snapped shut.
"That was very clever," said Luna.
"Thanks," said Rolf. "My granddad told me a story once, about and a friend had to capture an escaped Erumpent. I just give the idea a few tweaks of my own." Rolf and Luna watched as Marigold, who had managed to subdue Bessie, dropped the Erumpent over the side of the pen. She then tapped the gate several times before drifting over towards them.
"Thank you for your help," said Marigold. "Now that that's out of the way, we can have some breakfast and you two can tell me what you are doing here." Reluctantly, Rolf and Luna followed Marigold out her basement preserve, both wondering if it was possible to die from overeating.
Ravenclaw, Prefect, Standard, Stuffed Animal (wisdom), 1114