Title: Flitterwochen im Schwarzwald (Honeymoon in the Black Forest)
Team: Caerphilly Catapults
Position: Chaser 1
Round: QL Daily Prophet Expelliarmus Competition
Prompt: Vipera Evanesca– [plot point] getting lost
Additional Prompts used: N/A
Word count: 1047
Betas: Dora, Bea, Lily
A/N I don't speakFrench or Spanish so I had to use Google translate, so I do apologise if there are any errors in the French or Spanish. My German is not brilliant either, so apologies if I've made a mess of them.
"Ein-Uhr-Portschlüssel aus Großbritannien kommt an," the Portkey Keeper called out. "Halten Sie Abstand von der Portschlüsselstation."
"Un Portoloin à une heure arrive de Grande-Bretagne. Tenir à l'écart de la station de Portoloin."
"One O'clock Portkey incoming from Britain. Stand clear of the Portkey Station."
"A la una Traslador que llega de Gran Bretaña. Manténgase alejado de la estación Traslador."
The announcement was repeated in French, English and Spanish as a punctured football appeared and six witches and wizards landed somewhat haphazardly in the International Portkey Station of the German Ministry of Magic.
"Alle internationalen Gäste müssen sich bei den Portschlüsselbehörden registrieren. Bitte begeben Sie sich zum Registrierungsschalter."
"Tous les invités internationaux doivent s'inscrire auprès des autorités portoloins. Faites votre chemin vers le bureau d'inscription."
"All International guests must register with the Portkey Authorities. Please make your way to the registration desk."
"Todos los invitados internacionales deben registrarse con las autoridades de traslador. Dirígete al mostrador de registro."
Luna and Rolf made their way towards the registration desk with the rest of the group from their Portkey.
"Sprache? Englisch?" the dumpy little witch at the registration counter said as Luna and Rolf approached her.
"English," Rolf said. The dumpy little witch pointed her wand at her throat.
"Documents, please," she said in English through the Translation Charm and Luna pulled their documents from her bag. "You're visiting for two weeks?" she asked, looking at the documents.
"Yes," Luna replied in her usual dreamy voice.
"Are you here for business or pleasure?"
"Pleasure," Rolf replied. "It's our honeymoon. We're going to the Black Forest."
"Congratulations on your marriage," the witch said, stamping their documents.
"We're going to look for Crumple-Horned Snorkacks," Luna said dreamily.
"I'm sorry, what?" the witch asked, reapplying the Translation Charm, as she obviously thought it had malfunctioned.
"Her father's the editor of the Quibbler," Rolf said quietly to the witch.
"I understand," the witch said with a bemused smile. "Enjoy your visit to Germany. You'll find a stand in the lobby just past this booth with pamphlets of many destinations you can visit. There are also pictures of safe Apparition zones. If you prefer to travel by Portkey to a destination, you will find the local Portkey office in the lobby."
"Danke schön," Rolf replied to the witch in German and she smiled appreciatively.
Forty minutes later, Luna and Rolf arrived in the Black Forest and set up their tent. They made some lunch and then set out on a hike to look for traces of Crumple-Horned Snorkack mating activity, since according to Luna, it was mating season for them. Rolf didn't mind his wife's eccentricities; in fact, it was one of the things he loved most about her. It meant she was open to holidays that didn't involve staying in expensive or luxurious accommodation but, instead, was happy to trail around the countryside documenting various magical beasts. After an hour of hiking, they spotted some tracks that Luna was certain belonged to a Crumple-Horned Snorkack. On closer inspection, Rolf thought it likely to belong to an Erkling and marked the spot with a Tracking Charm, making a note to inform the German Ministry of Magic as soon as he could get to either a Post Office or back to the Portkey Station.
Luna was skipping merrily into the forest following the Erkling tracks when she came across a large snake about ten feet long.
"Ooo, Rolf," Luna called happily. "I've found a Horned Serpent."
"Really?" Rolf said excitedly, running up to his wife. "They're supposed to have been hunted to extinction in Europe. We must document this and let the German Authorities know as soon as we get back. Where is it?"
"It slithered off among the trees over there."
"Well come on, we simply must find it and document it."
They spread out slightly and moved off into the trees in search of the serpent. After about fifteen minutes Luna spotted it again and Rolf hurried over excitedly. He pulled out some parchment and started making notes about its size and appearance. After noting its bright green scales in his notes, Rolf paused.
"I don't remember there ever being a documented case of a green-Horned Serpent," he said, scratching his head. He moved around to get a better look at its head and horns. The snake appeared to be sleeping and its eyes were shut. Instead of a horn, the large serpent had a scarlet plume on its head. His eyes widened. "Erm…Luna. I don't think this is a Horned Serpent."
"Look at these funny spiders," Luna said, bending over and watching several spiders scuttling away from the snake as fast as they could in a line. Rolf looked between the spiders and the large snake.
"It's a Basilisk! Someone has bred a Basilisk!" he exclaimed. Out of the corner of his eye he noticed the Basilisk moving towards them. "Luna, watch out!"
Rolf shouted to Luna who dodged out of the way just in time as the Basilisk lunged at her.
"Don't look at it!" Rolf warned as he pulled out his wand. "Run!"
Luna shut her eyes until they were only open the smallest fraction and ran off into the dense trees. Closing his own eyes most of the way Rolf pointed his wand at the snake shouting:
"Vipera Evanesca."
There was a flash of light and the Basilisk vanished. Casting another Tracking Charm, Rolf set out after his wife and quickly found her.
"We were very lucky not to have been killed," Rolf said, shaking his head. "Who on earth was breeding a Basilisk?!"
"We should probably head back to our tent," Luna replied. "What if there are more of them?"
"I've placed a Tracking Charm, so the German Ministry can find where we encountered it," Rolf said. "But I agree, getting back to the tent is a good idea, considering."
Luna looked about.
"Which way is the tent?" she asked. "I was so concerned with getting away I don't know where the path we followed is."
"I'm not sure."
"Well, that makes an interesting story for our first adventure as a married couple," Luna smiled dreamily. "We got lost in the Black Forest."
"The first of many adventures," Rolf laughed. "Hopefully the next one is a little more successful."