Amy, Nora and Dolly made their way through the dense thicket, walking sticks in hand and Annovien trailing hopelessly behind. This was the third day the group had been together as they had set off on a mini expedition for a favour to the safari leaders. Their job? Collect an Erumpent’s horn. Easy right?
Not! This was probably the most dangerous and by far the most thrilling task the campers had experienced and at such a young age too! There was no sign of an Erumpent as of yet.
However, a soft crackling sound was heard to Nora’s left. She stopped dead in her tracks, causing Annovien to run straight into her.
“Nora!” He cried, only to be shushed by Dolly.
“It’s through there,” Nora whispered, pointing to an enclosed area, shut off by more thicket.
“How will we get it?” Amy breathed as the group attempted to stay quiet. Dolly rummaged through her backpack and extracted a chocolate frog trading card.
“Look!” She said in a high whisper.
“So? It’s a card!” Annovien said sarcastically and Dolly stuck her tongue out.
“I know!” Amy said excitedly, “It’s the man who was speared by an Erumpent!”
“Yeah, Wilfred Elphick and it didn’t explode!” Dolly replied.
“So we’re going to spear somebody on the horn? Are you nuts?” Annovien half-shouted and the group shushed him again.
“We’re not spearing anybody,” Nora declared, “But we can stun.”
“Stunning?” The other three replied in unison.
“Unless you would like to Avada Kedavra the thing, stunning is the best we’ve got!”
“Okay, say we stun it,” Amy said, “The horn will still explode and basically we will be shipped off back home in bandages!”
“We can’t stun it anyway, the hide will be too thick!”
“Make it drink something!”
“Or eat something!”
“Or just kill it?”
“ANNOVIEN!”
“Sorry,” Annovien whispered cheekily. “I say we go with drinking something. What have we got on hand?”
“Well considering we had to pack only a few items,” Amy said, “I’d say, we have nothing that will knock is unconscious for a few hours.”
“So we can stun it or make it consume something. Or kill it,” Dolly added before Annovien could open his mouth.
“The only thing I can think of is distracting it with something,” Amy said.
“The vuvuzela obviously,” Nora nodded, “We can still make it spear something.”
“Leaves,” Annovien whispered, looking at the collection of extremely thick, rather large African leaves above him and the girls glanced up, nodding.
Silently, they ripped the leaves down, creating a thick mesh of shrubbery, which they attached using two lengths of rope to a pair of tree trunks.
“Can you hold this still up in the tree?” Nora said pointedly at Annovien who paled but nodded.
“How are we going to get the horn though?” Dolly asked curiously.
“Severing charms,” Amy replied, “Hopefully it shouldn’t burst if we do it at the same time as it pierces the leaves.”
“And if it does?” Annovien asked.
“Then we get a disgusting substance over us,” Nora said, rigging up the leaves. “And possibly end up in hospital but we’ll give it a try.”
The three girls climbed up above the scene, while Annovien concealed himself on a lower branch on the other side, gripping the rope as tight as he could with both hands to keep it steady.
“Ready?” Dolly shouted, getting a better grip on the Vuvuzela.
“Ready!” Three voices replied and she blew into the horn.
The Erumpent charged at the sound of the Vuvuzela, snorting through its large nostrils and pawing at the dense thicket. Nora, Dolly and Amy pointed their wands down, ready to strike with severing charms. Annovien was praying over and over that the horn wouldn’t burst as he held the collection of leaves still. Dolly blew again and the Erumpent tore through the thicket, straight into the mesh of leaves.
“Diffindo!” The girls shouted at once, the force of the spells combined caused the trees to shake.
The Erumpent let out a high pitched wail and the four campers waited for the explosion. Their eyes were closed, faces scrunched up and hands over ears. The Erumpent snorted ferociously and stared down at its horn before running off. Nora was the first to open her eyes.
There is was, the thick ivory horn, sticking through the meshed leaves. She giggled at the sight of the other three before poking them.
“We did it?” Amy said in disbelief.
“But it’s impossible!” Dolly exclaimed.
“I didn’t die!” Annovien shouted, causing the other three to giggle. They climbed down, legs wobbling due to the sheer shock of succeeding.
“I suppose we should take it back?” Nora suggested, coming to her senses first.
“Why did Ulol have to want a horn? Of all the things!” Amy mumbled as they carried it together to the camp site.
They were quite a site, carrying the now sealed Erumpent horn, complete with an arrangement of leaves, back to camp. But they did it. Yes, they did!
