Chapter 4

Two lines of first years trailed behind a very stern looking Professor Mcgonagall. The Professor was a tall thin lady with brown greying hair pulled up into a very tight bun that didn't leave a single hair out of place, she wore long green robes made of a very soft velvety material.

Lessa, even though she was in the middle of the crowd of first years, stood out; her white hair seemed to illuminate amongst the sea of brunettes, black and red heads, with very few blondes in between.

Hundreds of eyes were locked on the first years, some with curiosity, some with boredom and others with cruel malice.

As the first years approached a very old looking stool, which sat in front of the teachers table, they all noticed an old fraying hat on top of it, it had stains and patches sewn into it and looked like the last thing anyone would want to put on their head.

"When I call your name, you will come and sit on this stool, I will place the hat upon your head and it will sort you into one of four houses, Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw or Slytherin" Her voice was very prim and proper.

And then out of nowhere the hat opened it's mouth and burst into song;

"Oh, you may not think I'm pretty,

But don't judge on what you see,

I'll eat myself if you can find

A smarter hat than me.

You can keep your bowlers black,

Your top hats sleek and tall,

For I'm the Hogwarts Sorting Hat

And I can cap them all.

There's nothing hidden in your head

The Sorting Hat can't see,

So try me on and I will tell you

Where you ought to be.

You might belong in Gryffindor,

Where dwell the brave at heart,

Their daring, nerve, and chivalry

Set Gryffindors apart;

You might belong in Hufflepuff,

Where they are just and loyal,

Those patient Hufflepuffs are true

And unafraid of toil;

Or yet in wise old Ravenclaw,

If you've a ready mind,

Where those of wit and learning,

Will always find their kind;

Or perhaps in Slytherin

You'll make your real friends,

Those cunning folks use any means

To achieve their ends.

So put me on! don't be afraid!

And don't get in a flap!

You're in safe hands (though I have none)

For I'm a Thinking Cap!"

Cheers and applauses came from all over the hall, with the exception of the slytherins, who merely clapped their hands together looking rather regal and perfect.

"Abbott, Hannah" Professor Mcgonagall called out first and a short and adorably chubby blonde girl skipped up to the stool where the Professor placed the hat upon her head, there was a moment of silence and then "HUFFLEPUFF!" The hat yelled and the hufflepuffs roared in delight, the Gryffindors too cheered for the Hufflepuff house, the Ravenclaws clapped but Slytherin house just watched and sneered.

It went on like this for a while, the first Slytherin was Millicent Bulstrode, but judging how long it took for the hat to decide, Lessa had a feeling that she had to put up a bit of a fight to be in Slytherin.

Lessa only listened out for the important ones, if they weren't the 7's or one of the four-horsemen then Lessa didn't care.

Justin Finch-Fletchley was in Hufflepuff and Seamus Finnigan ended up in Gryffindor, Lessa practically scowled at them, of course they couldn't see her but they certainly felt the burning stare of one of their fellow first years.

"Granger Hermione" Lessa smiled as she saw Hermione walk towards the stool, her head was held high and she sat down looking as graceful as any trained pureblood.

"RAVENCLAW!" There was loud clapping and even a few whistles as Hermione walked towards the table, everyone clapped, even the Slytherins.

Daphne was straight after Hermione and, as expected, she ended up in Slytherin. Neville went to Gryffindor, but that didn't surprise Lessa, although she hadn't seen him until the sorting ceremony she could smell that Gryffindor stench from a mile away.

No one else important came for a while afterwards and Lessa just stared at the enchanted roof, she could make out the outline of rain and lightning which flashed across her sight.

"Malfoy, Draco" before the hat had even been on his head for a second, it shouted "SLYTHERIN!" Lessa clapped for Draco and smiled at him when they made eye contact, well sort of.

A few more names were called out and then;

"Patil, Parvati" Professor yelled out.

A dark chocolate haired girl walked up to the stool with a big smile, she was very beautiful, had skin of mocha colour, soft shiny dark hair, her eyes were almond shaped and honey brown colour, she looked rather exotic. "GRYFFINDOR!" The hat shouted.

Her identical twin Padma, followed directly after Parvati, she was just as beautiful but her eyes were a dark brown, almost black, opposed to Parvati's light honey brown eyes.

"RAVENCLAW!" The hat yelled and there was loud cheering and clapping.

"Potter, Alessandra" The Professor called out, the hall fell into a hush and small whispers broke out, 'Alessandra Potter?' 'Is she really a seer?' 'I heard she was raised by wood elves' 'She looks pretty odd' 'I was told she was raised by trolls and would be very uncivilised' 'Trolls? Don't be stupid!'.

Lessa walked up looking much more graceful and elegant in her new dress, it was the same one she wore when she first met Tom but now it was as white as freshly fallen snow and stood out against the dark navy coloured robe with the hogwarts crest sitting on the right side of her chest.

She seemed to float to the chair, sat down on the old rickety looking stool and waited for Mcgonagall to place the sorting hat on her head.

As the hat covered half her face, her vision glowed, everything was a bright blue and purple hue like her normal vision but to an extreme.

"Ahhh, Alessandra Potter…" An old whispery voice echoed through her mind. "Little Alessandra Potter" The creepy, raspy voice seemed to sing.

"Aren't you a rarity" He wheezed out a laugh. "I've met many who could belong to more than one house, lots who could belong to all of them, but rare are the ones who belong to none, not even old Helga Hufflepuff could take you"

"Well you have to sort me, do you not?" Lessa spoke but the hat seemed to laugh at her question.

"Do I have to sort you? Haha!" His voice turned to a snarl "Of course I have to sort you! Don't be stupid girl" Lessa had the confirmation, hundreds of years left to recess of his own mind had turned him crazy, but who wouldn't if they came out only once a year to sort a bunch of eleven year olds and the only thing to do in between sortings to make up songs.

"I'm sorry" The hat seemed to sneer at her-or it seemed like it-despite her apology "Bah! Don't be sorry, you brats are all the same, ignorant and always asking the dumb questions, although...I wouldn't call you ignorant."

"Should you decide my house?"

"I suppose…" The hat replied.

"Well, Hufflepuff won't do, you don't feel enough emotions to become loyal to anyone not even yourself, not Gryffindor either, you're not chivalrous and I wouldn't call not having the emotional range to feel fear 'Bravery', Ravenclaw...well you are smart, but you don't thirst for knowledge and from seeing your mind I can tell you'll be crap at magic, and Slytherin...well you just won't fit in, although you hold the potential for Slytherin qualities…" Her mind went silent as the Hat seemed to contemplate all it had said "Well you have two brothers in Gryffindor, but your Guardian and Lover reside in Slytherin so I suppose it better be…

SLYTHERIN!"

People clapped, if a little hesitantly, Draco and Daphne clapped the loudest, although Lessa couldn't tell.

Getting to the table proved more difficult than Lessa anticipated, Professor Mcgonagall helped her to the table, everyone was whispering, 'what was wrong with her?' some scoffed and made snide remarks about her status as a celebrity and her intelligence but Lessa took it all in her stride.

She was helped down onto the seat by two pairs of smaller hands, she assumed it was Daphne and Draco as they were the only Slytherins that would help her because they knew why she couldn't do it herself.

"Hello Lessa" Daphne said brightly, "Hi Lessa" Draco said.

"Good evening, Draco would you mind helping me with the food?" Lessa asked.

"Sure" Draco said, he grabbed what Lessa assumed was her plate and began filling it with different assortments of foods he then put it back in front of Lessa and shoved a spoon in one hand a fork in the other.

"I don't trust you with a knife" He said in a deadpan tone, Lessa smiled in what she assumed was his direction "I don't trust myself with one either, a fellow orphanage child once gave me a knife and I ended up slicing my wrist, I don't remember how it was, all one big blur but there was blood, lots of blood, I woke up in hospital with stitches in my wrist. I was 5 but I still have the scar" Lessa lifted her wrist as if to prove a point.

"Let's change that conversation topic!" announced Daphne after an uncomfortable moment of silence.

"So Lessa, have you predicted anything yet?" Lessa couldn't quite understand Daphne's insatiable curiosity, or really anybody's need to understand the truth, she supposed that not everyone was just okay with what they were given at face value. Of course, Lessa would never understand, because she had no need for curiosity, or a desire for truth, not when the truth was simply given to her.

"I'm no prophet Daphne, I'm a seer" she explained patiently, but Daphne was still confused.

"What's the difference?"

"A prophet gets prophecies, in 1 or 2 moments in their life when the Oracle will give them knowledge of the future in hopes to evade lady Fate, a prophet is in a sense my opposite, they gain knowledge and the tell people just as the Oracle predicts and then people will attempt to stop to prophecy" she paused to let this sink in "The Oracle is Lady Fates enemy, the Oracle is depicted as the light, the good and just, while lady Fate is seen as the darkness or the evil, but this is incorrect, Lady Fate is also seen as a sort of female version of Comus the deity of chaos and anarchy, but I assure you that the only thing Lady Fate does is her job, and part of that job means not being able to tell people about their future, she simply carries the burden of life"

"But then, why do you exist? If lady Fate isn't allowed to pass her knowledge around, why would they create someone like you who could potentially go against this very rule?" Draco asked now joining in the conversation.

"I am a representative for Lady Fate. My kind was originally meant to preach about Lady Fate not for Lady Fate, but no one worships deities like Lady Fate anymore, now we have no purpose but we cannot be uncreated and so we are a liability. Once upon a time we lived for an eternity and the only way for us to die was for someone to kill us with magic but Lady Fate took that from us when we became a nuisance and stopped preaching about her, now we are cursed to live a half-life and then die young" Lessa shook her head mournfully.

"How-" Draco paused "How young is young?" he asked the question apprehensively.

"No older than 17"

"That's awful! How can you sound so full of respect when you talk about her, when that's the fate she bestowed upon you?" Daphne cried indignantly.

"Because I will gain her favour and then I intend to be her last seer" it was the only thing that Lessa had ever said with conviction but Lady Fate was something that she felt as strongly as she could possibly feel about something.

"How?" Draco asked.

"With immorality of course. The only way to gain what we once lost is to gain true immortality on our own, not through some diluted form of the vampiric disease, or by tearing up my soul but by fixing my mind and using the only thing that can give my immortality" Daphne and Draco waited for Lessa to elaborate on this apparently incredible way to get true immortality "The Philosopher's stone" she breathed out.

"Ok even if you could get the philosopher's stone, what's the difference between that immortality and a vampire's immortality? What makes the philosopher's stone true?" Draco asked.

"A vampire can be killed, with the philosopher's stone you can't be killed by anyone or anything other than Lady Fate herself" Alessandra replied.

"So you're saying that if you find the philosopher's stone tonight you could be immortal and have Lady Fates favour?" Daphne asked in wonder.

"No, of course not! I would have to compete my trials" Lessa said.

"Trials?" they asked.

"Well, I of course have to prove I'm worthy, finding the stone is part one, I could merely stumble upon the stone and, in which case, it wouldn't indicate if I'm worthy so I have to complete two more trials"

"Like what?" asked Draco.

"I must fix my mind, and bring together the Four Horsemen and the Seven Soldiers"

"Arrgh! This is too much for brain! Do I even wanna ask about the Four Horsemen and Seven Soldiers?" Daphne complained.

"Hmm perhaps you're right, this is a lot of information to take in, it looks like the feast is almost over anyway, maybe another time" Lessa said in a thoughtful tone, like she was contemplating her reason for existence in life.

"First Years! First Year's line up here!" The fifth year prefect Nathan Lubbock-Smith was calling for the first years from the entrance of the dining hall.

"Help me up, would you?" Lessa asked, of course she could probably get out of the seat on her own, but she wasn't so sure how long that process might take so she decided to ask her two new housemates.

There two hands reached out to grab an arm each and as she stood up and stepped out they supported her.

They all walked off to met the fifth year Slytherin prefect and Daphne and Draco's hands never left hers.

They came to a stop at a very large circular door in the dungeons, it was made of stone and patterns of snakes were coiled around the door with one large snake head in the middle.

"Pure" As the prefect whispered the word to the door, the mouth of the snake in the middle opened and whispered the word back in parseltongue, black smoke coming from it's mouth.

"Ok as you can see the Password is Pure and that won't change, we don't change our passwords because other houses do and so if by chance they found out our password they would eventually believe it had been changed. But be warned, if the password gets out you will be dealing with our head of house Professor Snape and I assure you, it will not be pleasant" The prefect said this all very sternly, with the responsibility of someone who had just gotten a promotion.

"Mister?" One slytherin girl raised her hand to get the attention of the prefect.

"Yes" He moved his head from side to side until his gaze landed on a little brunette girl.

"Why is the password 'Pure'?" She queried.

"Because our forefather Salazar Slytherin, believed in purity." He hoped that would answer her question but she then asked "But I'm a halfblood. I'm not pure of blood"

He smiled a little at her and replied "Yes. As slytherins we believe in Purity, not of wizarding blood but purity, power purity. We appreciate power, show us yours and you will have Slytherins at your side forever." The girl looked like the weight of the world had just been dumped on her shoulders, in fact, it was the expression that all first years took. That is except for Lessa who was only half listening, preferring to stare at the brick wall.

The first years piled into the common room, none too gracefully either.

"This is the common room. You can study in here, mingle with the opposite gender, as I'm sure all you hormonal little monsters want to, and relax free from prejudice." A new voice spoke, the voice was low and deep and full of expectation.

"I am professor Snape and I am the head of your house, I will also be your potions teacher. If you have issues I suggest talking to me about them. If you have an issue with a housemate, I suggest you either keep it to yourself or I will personally help you deal with it and you will not like how." He sounded very stern, perhaps even mean in the ears of some.

"You will find the girls dormitories off to the right and the boys off to the left. If you are caught in the dormitory of the opposite gender you will be suspended. If you are caught performing any sexual acts in another genders or your same genders dorm I will see you suspended. If you show anything outside the Slytherin house that isn't house unity you will be suspended." He paused to let that sink in "I don't care who you are. Your power, wealth or status will get you nothing" Lessa got the feeling he had specifically aimed that at her and she wasn't sure how to react to that. "You will get special treatment from me, but if you step one toe over my line I will suspend or expel you. Do I make myself clear?" Lessa could admire his honesty and the way he said exactly what he meant without being ominous or beating around the bush so to speak, it was in some aspects the opposite of Lessa.

"Yes Professor Snape" The first years said in unison, including Lessa. He had an issue with Lessa, of that much she was certain, it was frustrating to not understand something but she was sure that once she got to talk to him or have some sort of personal interaction with him she would get to understand what was wrong.

"Come on Lessa I'll help you unpack and we can gossip!" Daphne's said, she grabbed Lessa by the wrist and began dragging her off to the girl's dormitories.

"Gossip!?" Lessa said partly confused, partly incredulous and a small part of her brain was actually kind of afraid.

Long time no see!... I'm sorry, there is no excuse, I was just lazy and procrastinating. Also I'm sorry if your getting sick of all the explanations and talking but hopefully the action and plot will start to pick up within the next few chapters, also I'm sorry for the lack of Tom, but he will definitely be in the next chapter.