Of course.

Cursing at herself for not casting Duro on the vines and stems of the creeper like she had initially been inclined to, the runespoor was temporarily blocked from view by the blizzard of flowers. Of course that had not work. A part of her had known that floral seduction and leafy binding would not be enough. Her Permanent Sticking Charm had not even kept the beast at bay so how in her dizziest daydreams was she to expect that fragile flora would be any better. Her mind was exhausted and body wearing by this point. Valerie was not the type of witch who believed in excessive spellwork. Why cast spell after spell when one could potentially scrap by on a choice one or two? But the task was wearing on her and she could feel it in every joint in her body. She only had one or two potent spells left in her, three at best, and it was clear to the Wampus that she was going about this entirely wrong.

A few petals catching themselves in her mouth, Valerie had just barely spat them out when the beast was towering over her and she found herself snarling at it with her wand gripped tightly between her fingers. Her knuckles were sore, throbbing, and adrenaline was once more fueling her movements as her arm raise to cast not just Bombarda but Bombarda Maxima as she had promised herself she would should her attempt fail.

What the hell was she supposed to do against a seemingly impenetrable snake (physical attacks being completely worthless in nearly every sense of the word) when she could not speak a lick of Parseltongue? Did she need to conjure a damn flute and pretend to be a snake charmer? Just play it a bit of music to lure it to sleep? She had precisely zero aspirations in her life of becoming a snake charmer and knew not how to play a single instruments. What was more, many speculated that she likely could not charm anything or anyone with whatever feminine wiles she possessed out of a wet paper bag even if she tried.

So unless there was a charm that could translate her speech into Parseltongue (which she knew full well there was not) she saw no other option but to blast the creature to pieces.

“Bombar---” But something in her mind (the sane logical part that had been drowned out since the appearance of the venomous creature) sent a piercing chill down her spine that rattled her core more than her Isa run had done the entire task. Even going so far as to cover her skin in goosebumps.

She did not need to speak Parseltongue to get the serpent to show loyalty to her.

Hell hath no fury like Valerie Gray had at herself presently.

Perhaps it was the heat and humidity. Or perhaps it was her cumulative frustrations at what all she had endured since the beginning of the the task. Or perhaps it was the runespoor itself. Or perhaps all three were to blame. Of all the times to take wording literally, to not pick apart and analyze each minute syllable, this had been the one she ought not to have. Her overthinking had shut off with her evaluation of the door and all the wasted effort there. Energy that she so desperately needed now. But of all the times to not pay attention to detail, the seventeen year old had picked the absolute worst. How could she have been so stupid to overlook such a basic concept? How could she not have seen and read the different connotation that ‘in’ in the riddle meant?

Not nature as in the coastal forest around her. Nature as in the creature’s disposition.

Subdue the nature of the beast.

---da Maxima!” she finished with a fury more at herself than the runespoor. At the last second her wand twitched in the direction of a nearby tree and blasting its trunk to smithereens. Maybe if nothing else it could fall on the lower half of the serpent and pin it to the ground should her change in tactic fail.

Heart pounding with a renewed sense of resolve, Valerie ignored the strain in her muscles and dizziness that had taken over with her swift movements as she leapt back in case it lunged at her with the explosion. Wincing and yelping as her shoulder came in contact with a rock and cheek scrapped the dry ground as she rolled out of reach, she scrambled back to her feet and wiped some blood from her face with the back of her hand and thrust her wand at the runespoor with everything she had left.

Narrowing her eyes, the Wampus allowed her desperation to fill her. To push her. To focus her.

“Animalis Fidelis!” she called out, ensuring that her grey eyes locked on all six of the runespoor’s hungry eyes as she rolled her wand between her fingers and ended with an upwards flick. It was a charm Valerie had used several times while collecting potions ingredients seeing as it was much easier to harvest and collect creature based ingredients when they willingly came to and fell into your lap, thus her embarrassment for not thinking of it sooner. But it would suffer her. Suffer her and perhaps even indulge her with an egg or two from its mouth which was another thought clawing at her subconscious and driving her intent for a successful casting.

This had to work.