#4 - Pumpkins and Post

It seemed other students had a similar idea because the Pumpkin Patch was quite neat and well-tended to. As searched for something that needed work, some leaves rustled near an unripe pumpkin -- that had been chewed through on one side.

It was just Kody's misfortune that his task would be the worst one: dealing with pests.

A loud croak was heard behind the  ruined pumpkin. It came from an ugly toad about as big as the pumpkins themselves, and it was not happy to see it had company.

Kody had heard of these things, known as a Gormtoad, before; one had gotten into their garden once, and Aubrey had been livid. So much so that she'd put a little anti-Gormtoad sign in the new garden; he hadn't realised it during his previous exploration of it over the summer, only remember now as he saw one with his own two eyes. He could almost hear his mother screaming at it, and thus remembered quite clearly why she'd told him to never befriend one or go near it.

Gormtoads were invasive creatures. They were destructive, harmful to all plants and other creatures, and would absolutely ruin the entire Pumpkin Patch by evening if Kody didn't do something.

But that came with a conflicting test -- because the only way to deal with a Gormtoad was to behead it. He hadn't seen his mother do that, as she'd told his older siblings to take him back inside while she "dealt with it", but the implication was clear. Having never seen it be done, nor done it himself, Kody would have to figure something out.

He just had to try and kill it, right?

The Gormtoad wriggled and croaked when it suddenly levitated -- a skill it did not realise it had, but it did not like it one bit. It's movements became more aggressive, but it was helpless to flee or attack as it was held in the air by Kody's spell.

But... what now? The soil was soft and fresh, and the pumpkins smooth.

Given the tears in his eyes, and an unwillingness to see what he was doing to the Gormtoad, Kody's aim wasn't the best -- but neither was the creature's ability to predict when it had to leap out of the way.

The first few whacks didn't even knock it out, but rather dazed it a little and made it slower to evade Kody's attacks. His hasty, emotional efforts caused nearby pumpkins to lose several leaves in the process -- and even kicked up some soil, though luckily nothing was too badly wrecked or disturbed.

The final act with his borrowed shovel wasn't the cleaned of cuts... yet indeed cut through the Gormtoad's weak neck. It would be ideal if the slice was clean and humane, but in reality it was rather gross. Kody was also rather close, so got some of the muck on his shoes.

The Gormtoad was dead; his task was done. Its head, about the size of a grapefruit, just sat there on the ground. It would be a shame to waste such a rare and useful Potions ingredient, so Kody was able to retrieve it -- even if it was too highly-rated for him to actually make use of yet, Potions Kits kept things fresh until they were needed; he could easily store it away to save for later. 

And now the pest was taken care of, the pumpkins were safe again.

There was a compost heap nearby for the remains of pest, and to dispose of any no-longer-viable pumpkins like the one the Gormtoad had snacked on before Kody came along. He'd need to make use of the compost box before doing anything else, as Hagrid wouldn't be pleased if he left the patch in its current state.

With everything tidied up, Kody was able to spot a ripe pumpkin near the back of the Patch -- tucked a little behind one that seemed too big to even be real. He had no chance of getting the big one, but the other was the perfect size for him.

It was nested in some leaves, ready for the picking -- though the stem would certainly be tricky to handle, in its resistance to giving up the pumpkin. Once he was able to sever the fruit from its viney plant, his reward was a lovely, ripe pumpkin which would hopefully be worth all the trouble he'd gone though to get it.