Foray into the Unknown

Baby steps. Baby steps. You never knew when one of these massive stone slabs making up the corridor floor toppled after all. Rika had read all about it. You could never trust these magical places. They seemed to take a sadistic pleasure in hanging people by their ankles, and trapping them in minute rooms never to be found again, and turning them round and round in circles till they lost all their sense of direction, and overall making them look like smack-jawed idiots. And Rika had no wish of looking like a smack-jawed idiot on her first day. Not that it mattered much. It wasn't like she was actually going to stay with these witches and wizards for a long time. It was give the OWL's, then back to St. Francesca Higher Secondary School.

Walk faster, will you? Its a school, not a bloody volcano.

"But its a school for magic." Rika argued out loud, but hushed her voice at the last word. "You don't want me to be roasted on some spitfire do you?"

Rika could almost picture Brenda rolling her eyes. Wizards, you dumbass. Not cannibals.

"Same difference." Rika shrugged, but did quicken her pace. Now she was moving at the rate of approximately one feet per minute. But yes, she wasn't an idiot. Of course she knew wizards weren't cannibals, they would have definitely mentioned something about that in Hogwarts: A History, Special Edition for Muggleborns. But it never hurt to be careful.

That of course, didn't stop her from walking like a woman on a marathon on hearing footsteps. After all, she wasn't that anxious on her first meeting with a wizard apart from her great-aunt and....well, you know. Who cares if she was running away? Its not like the perso-

Oof. Erika fell with a thud on the floor. The person had been coming from in front. Damn.

Henri was displeased. Hogwarts went without transfer students for a decade, and then the year she transferred, it suddenly became a trend. She couldn't be too mad with the Australian girl - she had transferred BACK to Hogwarts, and she was Henri's supplier of Sugar and Spice, so she was forgiven. And the other boy - Issac? He was nothing. People didn't even know he was here, so he was nothing to her.

But this FOURTH transfer student, including herself of course, now she was already pissing Henri off. Henri had stationed herself on the grounds to watch the girl approach. Not only was she not hideous, she was weird. This was not going to fly - Henri was used to being the hot weirdo. No way was some new chick going to just waltz in and demand a share in Henri's popularity.

So, she had done the only sane and logical thing - followed her. Sort of. Henri had manged to stay ahead of her, taking alternate staircases, but always managing to come into sight with her. The girl was speaking to herself, spurring more anger in Henri, though she kept a calm exterior.

It was time to meet this new girl - give her a cordial welcome. Henri could pinpoint her destination now, and hurried to meet her head on.

And that was exactly how it happened too.

The girl fell - there were enough people in the halls for there to be a small gasp of surprise. But no one looked so shocked as Henri. "Oh, I am sooooo sorry!" she said, her voice dropping with pity. "I didn't even see you there!" A girl or two giggled nearby, embarrassed for the new girl. Henri stopped to help her up. "Let me assist you, honey, I'm so sorry about that."

She had knocked into a student. A witch, to be more precise. Well never mind, Rika didn't want to disturb anyone, she would just creep away and be on her merry way....

Ugh, the witch was talking to her. Secreting honey and nectar, more like. There were titters from the corridor-inhabitants, and Rika felt herself flushing lightly. Magical or not, teens were the same everywhere, all too eager to put one another down. The girl who had knocked into her seemed frightfully sincere though, and she proffered a hand to help Rika up.

Double crap.

Rika regarded the hand as if it were a snake. She twitched away slightly, inspite of herself, and propped her hands on the cold stone floor, hoisting herself up. Her tone was slightly nervous, but polite, "Um...I'm fine thanks. You needn't bother."

That wasn't very nice.

"I know that." Rika snapped aloud, then closed her mouth with a snap. If these students were indeed like her old classmates, then what she did couldn't possibly be regarded as normal. Mean and insane, that wasn't a very good combination. Looked like she would have to dilute the effect a bit. "I'm....Erika. Erika Dixon. Its nice to meet you." Rika's hands wobbled a bit in the air, hanging uselessly by her sides as they were. A handshake was out of the question. An Indian namaste would probably make people think she was wierd.....which she was not.

Oh, not at all. Heaven perish the thought. Brenda drawled lazily.

So a wave it was. Rika raised her right hand to the side of her head, wiggled her fingers vigorously, and dropped it down to her side. That obviously couldn't look more idiotic than it felt.......did it?

The girl denied Henri the pleasure of helping her up. Of course, Henri would have taken the opportunity to take the girl's hand, look at her nails, and make some comment. Either 'oh, wow, you have suuuuch long nails, I wish mine could grow like that. What big nails!' Or, if it was the way it worked out, 'Oh, so lucky to have short, stubby nails. They are sooooo much more practical.'

Henri had come from an all-girls school after all. She was skilled at turning any sort of compliment into a heart-breaking insult.

But the girl denied her the opportunity. And that was rude anyway. Was she saying she didn't need or want Henri's help? Henri's ego reared like an angry dragon within her, but she pushed it down. She needed a cool head to do damage.

She opened her mouth to speak, when the girl snapped. Henri closed her own mouth and took a step back, shocked. She quickly fought to gain control over herself - was it possible she had met someone who played her own game? Henri hated the idea, the idea of being one of others. If she was not special, she was nothing.

The girl introduced herself and Henri forced on the cheerful, welcoming-committee smile. "Hi! I'm Henrietta Finch, and you can call me Henrietta!" Ooh, she had not done that to anyone yet. The trick was, the girl was forced to call her by her full name, while everyone addressed her as Henri. The idea was to make Erika think that she was out of the loop, uninvited, because she was not treated with the same friendliness as others. It was to put distance between her and others.

Henri knew how to work women.

The girl waved and Henri raised an eyebrow, genuinely confused, before she let out a high-pitched giggle. "Ohmygosh, Erika! You are SO funny! We'll definitely be friends. Do you need any help getting anywhere? Where are you going now?"

I don't like her. And she definitely doesn't like you.

"Don't be ridiculous, Bren." Rika murmured, soft enough to be unheard hopefully. But her eyes couldn't help but note the tightness around the other girl's lips, as if holding back anger. And she did drawl so.....that high-pitched over-emphasized American accent was starting to get on her nerves. She looked like a rather typical 'bad girl'. Wannabe bad girl, supplied Brenda. Especially her eyes, lined with kohl as they were, gleamed rather curiously.

However, RIka did know what being judged felt like, and she wasn't eager to go around doing that to others. That didn't stop her from giving a rather restrained smile though, "Thanks uh....Finch."

It was perfectly acceptable to call people you had just met by their last name. Even if they HAD rather exuberantly told you to call them by their first. Erika didn't intend to get chummy with anyone though. She didn't want enemies, but she was perfectly fine without witch friends either. She was here to study, give exams, and then get back to her life. And if calling someone by their last name distanced them from her, she was all for it.

The girls standing in the corridor, rather blatantly eavesdropping, 'ooh'ed for some reason. RIka distinctly heard a 'Burn!'. She frowned slightly. Why did she have a sudden feeling that she had just gained one over the other girl, by a total fluke?

That feeling was quickly dimmed though, especially when Henrietta fussed over her 'joke'. Rika winced at the high-pitch onslaught, then gave a strained version of a smile again, "Um.....yay. Friends." Rika hoped she wasn't giving her 'constipated look' at that word. "I was sort of heading for the Ravenclaw dorms..."

Henri had three levels on anger. The first was minor irritation, the sort of stuff she could fix by responding with a threat or an insult. The second level was when she was so pissed that she would go as far as attempting to light someone's hair on fire - which she had done, and had not got caught for.

But Erika had surpassed even that level. She was on dangerous ground. On this level, Henri got quiet. She withdrew, closed off, and prepared. The people who made her this angry did not ever redeem themselves. She decided that her entire relationship with them would be characterized by her attempting to bring them down.

"Henrietta," she whispered, her eyes flashed. "You may call me Henrietta."

The girl was going to the Ravenclaw dorm. Henri flickered a small, dangerous looking smile. Her voice was now low, rumbling, dripping with artificial sweetness. "Goodie. I'm a Ravenclaw. Let me show you the way." She reached out, grabbing at Erika's hand to pull her along.

Rika suddenly felt like she had walked into a pit. A cold, black, yawning pit. A pit lined with dragon teeth and poisonous vipers at the bottom.

Being subjected to black looks tended to give you that feeling.

Indeed, if glares could kill, Rika would have been dead, buried, and singing with angels right now. The girl opposite her had suddenly morphed, and Rika realized uneasily that the person opposite you didn't need to be strong and burly to look utterly frightening. Cold glimmering eyes and malicious smiles were enough.

My mistake. She doesn't dislike you, she hates you.

Then the girl grabbed at her arm.

Rika shrieked, and wrenched her arm away as though burned. She was breathing heavily, her heartbeat was erratic from the fleeting touch that had been two seconds too long, and she needed to make up an excuse for her over-reaction. Fast. "Uhm...I..sort of got injured...here.." Her finger obligingly pointed to her- That's your head, you blasted idiot!- Rika hurriedly swiveled her hand around to point at her right arm. "Here. So it uhm....hurts."

Damage-control, and fast. Rika smiled hurriedly, "Say Henrietta-" She really couldn't afford to piss off the girl more, "Why don't you walk ahead to the dorm, and I'll follow you? Alright?" Hopefully the suggestion would appear submissive or whatever, and the girl would cool off. Rika didn't know what exactly she had done to piss off the girl, but she didn't care to repeat the experience. At least not until her spellwork was better. She didn't intend to spend the week as a frog courtesy of a black-eyed devil, thank you very much.

Rika obligingly slowed down, and fell into step behind the other Ravenclaw. And of course, a mutter to Brenda was absolutely justified, "And here you were telling me wizards aren't cannibals."

Henri did not think she was a difficult person - or, she didn't present herself as one, anyway; little did others know to really work her was a near impossible task. And yet this new student seemed to do it with an ease that made Henri suspect there was another Crazy running around, just like her.

She didn't like being nonexclusive.

And she didn't like being the one on the other end of being surprised and confused.

The girl shrieked when she grabbed her and, while it initially threw Henri off, her mind saw the opening and her instinct was to run into it and tear at it until she peeled all protection from this girl, leaving her vulnerable and exposed to the cruel world. That was all Henri really did - get people vulnerable and then trust the rest of the world would step up and screw them up the rest of the way.

Those standing by did not know who had gained the upper hand by that. They were considerably offput by this new girl's oddity, but Henri was not winning points either.

The girl's suggestion came and Henri moved to the other side of her, smiling. "So sorry to hurt you. I'll be sure to be gentle." She linked arms with her, making a point to grab the other arm. "To the dorm then?"
((Sorry it's so short! I'm trying to catch up!))

((No problemo)) Rika wondered if patience snapping was an audible sound. If it was, then the sound of hers should have echoed all through the corridor.

She stared, for a few seconds, at the pale fingers gripping her arm. She twisted her arm, slightly, and the grip tightened. Rika took a deep breath, placed her other hand carefully on the sleeve of Finch's arm, and pulled it off with a strength that she didn't know she possessed until those few heart-stopping seconds.

She turned to face the other Ravenclaw, and by now, the fine cracks in her smile were massive chasms. It flickered on her lips for a few seconds, before dying out completely. "Look, Finch, Henrietta.....whatever your name is. I don't like people touching my arm, or for that matter any part of my body, so you will not touch it. I don't want to make anybody mad, but this has gone too far, so I'll just have to go to Ravenclaw dorm alone, and you can keep your bloody mindgames and powerplays to yourself. Savvy?" And she whirled around and walked down the corridor.

And you added a touch of Jack Sparrow too. Why, I'm proud of you.

"Why, thank you." Rika would probably have smiled, if she wasn't concerned of the frog-turning spell that would be heading towards her back any second. As it was, the end of the corridor was just four steps away, and now she was faced with stairs, which were moving and headed in all directions. And lamentably, Hogwarts A History: Special Edition for Muggleborns did not include a map. Well, crap.

Henri did not look away, though she could feel a weird shift in the atmosphere of the hallways pedestrians. The girl ripped her arm away, but Henri immediately recovered, taking a step closer to the girl as she turned to face her. Henri drew herself close enough so she could peer directly into this new girl's eyes.

The girl walked away before Henri could say anything. She decided this was time to really show her power. "Belinda. Leslie. If you would, babes."

Two tall girls looked torn and upset, but they nevertheless obeyed and stepped in front of Erika. Henri approached them and waved her hand, dismissing those still around. The tension in the air indicated that no one was wise to remain behind. People quickly filtered away.

Henri turned to Rika and smiled, "It's Henrietta, dearie. And look - I'm a Ravenclaw, which means I can be very close if I choose too. Or I can back off. It all depends on how welcome you'd like me to be."