Hey! Please R&R! By the way, Bianca is going to be sorted in this chapter! Woohoo!

Chapter 7

Bianca's POV

After I managed to get over the initial shock of having a talking hat on my head, I slipped my emotionless mask back on.

Well hello there, didn't expect such an old student to try me on. The hat chuckled, obviously amused.

Watch who you're calling old, I bit back, scowling, ignoring the curious stares that were burning holes into me. I guess that was expected; after all, there aren't always exchange students from America, who are 4 years older than most first years, who argues with the sorting hat.

A rather feisty one at that, the hat said, you need to control what you say, especially this year, with the Ministry running our lives, and didn't you hear what the headmaster said? (A/N I know, he says the speech after they eat, but lets just say he said it before. XD)

I snorted mentally. The start of term speech had been particularly dull, no entry to the forbidden forest, the toad speaking, the stuff about me being an exchange student, blah blah blah… I rolled my eyes. Duh, everyone did, whether they actually listened to it is another matter though.

Hmm, witty aren't you? The hat remarked.

Well, yes. Thank you! I retorted sarcastically.

That would prove you well as a Slytherin…

Honestly? I asked, my thoughts returning to what Hermione had said during the short carriage ride to Hogwarts.

"Slytherins are normally quick witted and cunning." She explained. "Most of them are pure-blooded, so they hate muggle-borns, like me." Hermione said miserably. I understood what she meant, being called filthy, was something I always had to live with, and guess what? I didn't like it. I smiled reassuringly at the girl, and that was how I met my first friend at Hogwarts.

Hmm… Interesting… The (annoying) voice of the hat echoed in my mind, somehow it had taken the trip down memory lane with me. Befriending the Brightest Witch of her age immediately?

Shut it hat, I hissed (mentally).

All right, very well, I'll 'shut it' as you said, as long as I look into your memories…

What? No! I retorted, shutting my mind off, denying it access. You can't just barge into someone's mind!

Technically I can, the hat responded, obviously irritated. It's my job. With that, it delved into my memories, pushing itself deeper into my mind. Random memories were triggered, throwing my mind into complete disarray. Wham, I had just smiled at Hermione. Wham, I had just scared the crap out of Malfoy (I smirked). Wham, I had just gotten my wand. The hat stopped abruptly, stopping the stream of memories and I felt a sense of relief.

Hmm… Seems as if you've got a memory block inside your mind. The hat announced, puzzled.

Wait are you actually being helpful? I retorted sarcastically. "You're saying that my memories are blocked, and I never noticed anything."

"Well yes." The hat replied sounding even more surprised. "Never mind I can fix it for you."

"Wait what? No, no. I'm good, thanks. I'm fine. I protested, but it was no use. I felt a searing pain in my mind, more painful than anything I had ever imagined. It was as if someone had cut open my mind, and stuffed a searing red-hot piece of iron into it. I opened my mouth to scream but no sound came out. Instinctively, my hands grasped the sides of the chair, willing myself to stay on. My eyes squeezed shut, trying to prevent the tears from cascading down my face.

The darkness made things even worse. All I saw were images of blood, death and more death. In my mind, I struggled desperately, breaking free of the darkness. It opened up into an open space, where teenagers, presumably older than me circled me protectively, and instinctively I knew they were my friends. One looked like a Persian princess, with a similar silver bow that I had. Another one was either wearing hairy pants, or had really hairy legs. A third looked a bit like Harry, with messy black hair and green eyes, except his was more of a sea green. The other one was a punk girl, who had spiky black hair and blue eyes. As I watched, a young boy, maybe 10, ran towards my friends. Even then, I knew he was different. His eyes were dark, which was the same colour of his hair. His skin was pale, reminding me slightly of Edward Cullen, without the sparkles (of course). There was a tinge of sadness in his eyes, and a hollowness that shouldn't belong in such a young boy's eyes.

As I watched, he reached forward, grasping my hand. He grinned, but I saw sadness behind it. He squeezed my hand protectively, and I returned the gesture. My lips then moved without me willing it to, forming the words of: I'll be with you, forever. I then reached forward and hugged the boy. I'll protect you.

The image faded and the scene changed. I was walking through a desert, littered with bits of machinery. Though broken, they were still beautiful and deadly at the same time. My eyes caught on a small figurine discarded under a beautiful crescent bow, wrapped in a cape, giving the 'I'll-kill-you-if-I-could' look. I cautiously picked up the figure, and then pocketed it, hoping nothing would happen.

Right after the figure entered my pocket, a giant robot loomed over us, casting a long shadow over what had happened. Harry-look-alike screamed at me, but I couldn't hear anything. My mind was set. I charged towards the monster's foot, reaching it, I climbed in. In that instant, my vision turned black, the image fading away. I felt pain, ripping through my body. It was like being hit by lightning, again and again.

The sorting hat on my head screamed aloud, and it wasn't a pretty sound. Trust me, it sounds even worse when it's in you head. "What is this?" It screamed to the whole hall, it's hollow 'eyes' filled with horror. "How is it you're still alive?" The hat struggled on my head. "Get me off, now!" With shaking hands, I pried my fingers off the stool and reached up, pulling the hat off, but not before it wheezed: "Gryffindor, for staying sane after all that."

There was no applause, just shocked silence as I made my way to the red table. I felt many pairs of eyes trained on me, mostly filled with awe or shock. Some even looked suspicious. Perching on the edge of the bench next to Hermione (who smiled reassuringly), the whole table swiveled round to face me.

"Now!" Dumbledore clapped his hands to regain attention from the students. ""Welcome," he said, as if nothing had happened, but I did detect a tone of uncertainty in his voice. "Welcome to a new year at Hogwarts! Before we begin our banquet, I would like to say a few words. And here they are: Nitwit! Blubber! Oddment! Tweak!" A few students clapped half-heartedly, but most were too focused on me, or the feast that had just magically appeared out of nowhere.

"Bloody hell!" Ron, who was sitting opposite to me, practically yelled. "What happened?" He stuffed his face with the food that had just appeared. "You must've seen something bloody horrible to make the Sorting Hat scream like that."

"Ronald!" Hermione scowled, "How can you be so insensitive?" She turned to me rolling her eyes. "Sorry." She smiled apologetically. I shrugged, before tucking into my plate of pork chops.

"But," Hermione continued, persistent, but caring. "Really, are you all right? I haven't seen anyone sit there for so long." I nodded into my food. "I'm fine." I replied. "The sorting hat just saw some things about my mother's death." I hastily made an excuse when I saw their shocked and dubious faces. "She was blown up by one of my father's rivals." The story slipped on my tongue, I wasn't sure how I knew, but I did.

"I'm sorry about that." This time, it was Harry who spoke. "I know how that feels." He lowered his gaze, submerged within the memory. I felt sympathy for him, knowing they probably died some horrific death. We spent the rest of the meal in awkward silence, shooting glances at each other whenever we thought no one was looking.

"So…" I said, breaking the tense silence. "School of Magic eh?" I laughed nervously, unsure of what to say. Hermione brightened, obviously relieved. "Well yes, Hogwarts has always been an extensive school for magic, one of the best in fact!"

She blabbered away, talking about the history, architecture and things I didn't understand at all. I did my best to look entertained, which just made me look pained. I noticed Harry and Ron stifling a laugh, and I shot them a glare, though I was more amused than angry. They immediately shut up.

I turned back to Hermione, who was blabbering away about one thing or the other. "…And the ceiling, I can't forget about that, it's been enchanted to look like the sky." She turned to me, her eyes gleaming. I read about it in Hogwarts, A History."

Harry and Ron couldn't help it; they burst into fits of laughter, drawing the attention of everyone in Gryffindor. "Honestly, 'Mione," Ron chuckled, wiping a false tear from his eye. "Any normal person would've thought that you were trying to suffocate poor Bianca with too much info." The boys burst into another fit of laughter, causing Hermione to blush deeply, before burying her face in her food, which soon disappeared as quickly as it had come.

I smiled at the scene before me, envying their innocence as Ron shrieked when the food disappeared. Hermione sighed before slamming a large book (that looked more like a brick) onto him. Harry just sat there with an amused smile, watching absent-mindedly.

The hall suddenly quieted, and I realized Dumbledore was waiting to speak. "Now" Dumbledore started as soon as he received everyone's attention. "As everybody in this Hall knows, Lord Voldemort and his followers are once more at large and gaining strength. I cannot emphasize strongly enough how dangerous the present situation is, and how much care each of us at Hogwarts must take to ensure that we remain safe. The castle's magical fortifications have been strengthened over the summer, we are protected in new and more powerful ways, but we must still guard scrupulously against carelessness on the part of any student or member of staff. I urge you, therefore, to abide by any security restrictions that your teachers might impose on you, however irksome you might find them-in particular, the rule that you are not to be out of bed after hours. I implore you, should you notice anything strange or suspicious within or without the castle, to report it to a member of staff immediately. I trust you to conduct yourselves, always, with the utmost regard for your own and others' safety."

The headmaster looked around at his students warmly and appraisingly.

"But now," he said, "your beds await, as warm and comfortable as you could possibly wish, and I know that your top priority is to be well-rested for your lessons tomorrow. Let us therefore say good night. Pip pip!"

The hall slowly drained of people, and I followed Hermione and Ron, who were leading a bunch of first years to the dormitories.

"Ah… Ms. Di'Angelo, may I have a few words?" Dumbledore called. A few students shot me questioning looks, and some (A certain blonde idiot and his goon squad) even glared. I hurried over to Dumbledore, who along with the rest of the staff, were waiting, some impatiently (a certain sallow skinned teacher).

I stood in front of the teachers' table, where a couple of them were eyeing me appraisingly.

"She's the one?" A green robed witch, Mcgonagall, I think, asked. Dumbledore nodded.

"Yes."

"Are you sure?" The greasy haired teacher curled his lip. "She looks… a bit too young to me."

I snapped my head round to glare at him. "Young?" I whispered dangerously. "I'm older than all of you." I wasn't sure how I knew that, but something told me it was true, a fragment of my past. I huffed and crossed my arms in disdain.

The teachers, apparently not used to students treating them with disrespect, looked quite surprised. The pink toad, however, just smiled in a sickly sweet way.

"Young lady," She trilled (I growled), "here at Hogwarts, you must treat all your professors with respect, which means-"

"I don't give a damn." I retorted, my eyes boring into hers. "If you want my respect, you must earn it."

The teachers gasped as one. Dumbledore just looked mildly amused. "Perhaps we should continue this conversation elsewhere. Privately." He added when the toad rose from her seat. She opened her mouth to speak, but Dumbledore's tone made it clear there was no room for any arguments.

"Come Bianca."