It was the part Willow dreaded the most. Oh! She had loved the hat's song and she found the sorting ceremony quite interesting. But now, she just knew that she would be the center of everyone's attention while the hat tried to decide in which house she would be the best.

"Willow Rosenberg."

The redhead gulped when she saw all the heads turn toward her. She heard several whispers as students were amaze to see for the first time a transfer student at Hogwarts. She saw the Slytherins sneered at the sight of a new Mudblood, as they called it, making her way to professor McGonagall to probably become the newest Gryffindor and turn the terrible trio into the terrible quartet.

She sighed heavily, then sat down on the stool. She held her breath when the sorting hat was placed on her head. // Hum, interesting. It's been a long time since I've had such a challenge. You are a loyal chit, no doubts about that. And you are courageous, after all, you've lived on a Hellmouth. Oh! Such an interesting mind! You do know the meaning of cleverness. //

Willow tried to relax as the hat seemed to whisper to himself, thinking about where she could live. // Normally, it wouldn't be so tough, but you are *very* ambitious and, just between you and me, you possess *all* the prerequisites to be a good Slytherin. In your blood lies the truth. Remember that, child. Trust *your* memories and not those given by others. //

[Huh?] Willow thought.

"Slytherin!" the sorting hat yelled.

Willow startled when she heard the name of the house where she belonged. She could hear the furious whispers coming from the Slytherin tables. She wasn't a pureblood. It was impossible! But then again, the hat had put doubts in her head. He did say she had all the prerequisites and that the truth lied in her blood. [What did that mean?] She saw professor Snape stand and walk to his house's table, trying to calm down the angry students.

Suddenly, a teacher that hadn't been presented to her stood up after she gasped. She was looking like a gypsy or some kind of fortuneteller. Her eyes weren't focusing. "Trelawney, are you all right?" Dumbledore asked gently.

The woman floated up a couple of feet in the air and the wind blew up the candles' flame near. "She shall come from the land of the sun, different from all those around her. She who possess a power never before seen shall be the downfall of He who-must-not-be-named. In her blood lies the truth." The hall went silent and professor Trelawney fell on the floor, out of trance.

Willow squealed when she heard the last sentence spoken by the divination teacher. Her hands were shaking with fear. The hat had said that about her blood. "Oh. My. God."

"Willow, was is it?" McGonagall asked.

But the redhead was far too gone to hear the old woman. "No. It can't be." She looked up and screamed in rage. "Why can't I be just like anybody else? I swore to myself I would let behind me all this super power garbage and I meant it!"

"You can't escape your destiny, little one," Trelawney said suddenly.

"What destiny? I'm totally destiny-free! I'm just a normal witch!"

The divination teacher smiled mysteriously. "Trelawney, my office," Dumbledore said. "Minerva, I'd like you to be there also."

"Of course, Albus. Severus, I trust you to take good care of miss Rosenberg."

Willow looked up from the floor when she heard her name. The black haired teacher pulled her up and a shiver crept up her spine at the contact. She felt him tense when he felt it too. There was something strange about him, but she couldn't put her finger on what it was. There was a connection between him and her, no doubts about that. The problem was just to figure out what.

Dumbledore walked in the middle of the main hall. "Let the feast begin! Severus, I shall be back before the end of supper." He left, professor Trelawney and McGonagall following behind.

"Come on, miss Rosenberg," Snape said. "You sit here and try to calm down and eat something." He helped her sit with the other fifth year Slytherin. He shot them a cold glance, warning them to stay clear of the girl and not bother her. Then he returned to the teachers' table.

Soon, all conversations started again like nothing had happened. Listening to the potion master, the redhead ate something, not caring what it was. At least, she didn't have an empty stomach. It was bad for thinking anyway. She felt eyes on her and she looked up into a pair of grey eyes. "Can't keep your eyes off me, I see."

Draco looked surprise at her retort. He was used to see her shy away and blush, not answer back to him. He closed is mouth and turned back to his plate, trying to forget the red haired girl in front of him.

* * *

The door of the headmaster's office closed itself. Minerva sighed. "Well, who would have thought that Trelawney would one day have a true vision."

"I know," Dumbledore said. "It kind of happened at a bad time, though."

"We did tell her to keep it a secret, Albus. She won't reveal what Willow trully is. What worries me is that the hat thought it best for her to be in Slytherin. Do you think it wise? What if a Death Eater learns about what happened tonight? She'll stay in a house that many students would be happy to see the Dark Lord raise again and they all heard what Trelawney said tonight. They might not be sure that Willow's trully the one that could beat Voldemort, but us, we know the truth. She's the one. The land of the sun. Doesn't take a genius to connect it to Sunnydale, her hometown."

"We'll deal with it one day at a time, Minerva. She's safe at Hogwarts."

"I hope your right," she sighed. Then, she suddenly started to laugh. "Who would have thought? The only person that poses a treath to Voldemort is a young muggle-born girl in Slytherin."