Chapter One: Rik
"There's a new sixth year that transferred to Hogwarts this year," Hermione said and bit into a chocolate frog. She was on the train to Hogwarts with Ron and Hermione.
"Really?" Harry said. "How do you know this?"
"We received a letter from Dumbledore telling us," Ron answered around a pumpkin pasty. "He says as Gryffindor's prefects to make him feel welcome."
"What's his name?" Harry asked.
"That's the funny thing," Ron said. "Dumbledore didn't really give us a name. He mentioned Rik and said that he has a record taller than him and that he can be a bit aggressive."
"Did he mention the kind the things he's done?' Harry asked curiously.
"He's gone as far as to sabotage the headmaster of his last school, nearly drowned a girl and has gotten into uncountable amounts of fights," Hermione said and shot an uneasy glance at Ron. "You don't think he'll give us trouble, do you?"
Ron shrugged uncomfortably. "I don't know," he said and then grinned. "But think of the grief he'll gibe Sytherine if he's on our side."
Suddenly the door of the compartment slid open and there stood Draco Malfoy along with his cronies, Crabbe and Goyle.
Hermione groaned and Harry stood up. "Leave, Malfoy!" he said in a low voice.
Malfoy tisked. "Not even a proper hello, Potter?" he said and made a move to enter the compartment.
Suddenly, a leg shot out in front of his nose and the heel of the boot attached to the leg splinted and sank deep into the wood of the entrance. Malfoy stared cross-eyed at the leg before he turned to look at the owner. It was a slender girl, not even eye-level to him; her leg was a few inches up her head. She leaned languidly against the opposite door post. "I believe he told you to leave," she said in a low voice.
"Who are you?" Crabbe asked.
The girl turned to look at him with stony hazel eyes. "You can call me Rik," she said in the same low voice. Those around blanched. All except for Malfoy who just stared at Rik, completely speechless. "Do I need to repeat my self?" Rik asked. "LEAVE!"
"Let's go," Malfoy ordered and he and his body guards sauntered off.
"You're Rik?" Hermione asked. "I said that, didn't I?" Rik said, watching Malfoy disappear into his compartment.
"You're a girl!" Ron blurted.
Rik chuckled. "You better believe it, toots," she said and pulled her boot out of the wood work. She waved her hand over the splintered wood, muttering a charm to repair it. "You two must be the prefects of Gryffindor," she said to Ron and Hermione. "You guys must've already heard of me, judging the fact that you were surprised that I'm a girl. Don't worry I won't cause you any trouble." She motioned to an empty seat. "Do you mind?"
"Not at all," Harry said.
Rik smiled and sat down. "Rik, "Hermione said.
"A peculiar name for a girl."
"My real name is Erika," Rik said. "I hate the name. It sounds like some airhead from the south. So I shortened it to Rik. When people hear my name and then my reputation, it scares the bejeebies out of them."
"So, is all that stuff that Dumbledore told us true?" Ron asked.
"Yes," Rik answered without hesitation. "The headmaster of my old school was being a little pain so when he had an important meeting, I switched the papers in the file he had to turn in to the board. Instead of reading the figures of the school's process, the head of the board ended up reading memos between the headmaster and one of the councilors. And let me tell you right now, that was no PG-13 material."
"What about that girl you almost drowned?" Harry asked. "Oh, that was blown out of proportion," Rik said with exasperation. "This one ditz, Heidi, I told her her necklace was at the bottom of a pool. When she knelt at the pool side to look, I barked like a dog. Scared the living hell out of her and she fell in. Turns out she can't swim. Her boyfriend pulled her out though." "
And you weren't expelled?" Hermione asked in wonder.
"They couldn't pin the pranks on me," Rik said. "The adults could only speculate and the students, those who were loyal to me wouldn't rat me out, and the others were too damn scared."
"How did Dumbledore find out?" Harry asked.
"I don't know and I don't care," Rik said. "From what I hear, he is a very strange man."
"That's true," Ron agreed. "You can't really hide things from Dumbledore." "
I bet," Rik said. "He's been nice to me so I'll be sure not to give him any grief." She grinned wickedly. "At least, not too much."