A/N: Howdy folks! Ch. 3 Misfit Housemate is finally up! I can't believe it took a week to do, but I've been having major writers block. I hope you enjoy! Please read and review!
The carriages slowed to a stop in front of the main doors of Hogwarts School for Witchcraft and Wizardry. Bella couldn't help but gasp at the sheer size of the massive castle. She had seen plenty of ancient buildings during her travels – including the Taj Mahal, the pyramids of Giza, and the Mayan temples – but nothing compared to the majesty of the Hogwarts castle.
Climbing up the front steps, she heard a female voice calling to her. "Miss Vito, Miss Vito."
Turning, she saw a stately older woman making her way towards Bella. Isabella stopped and waited expectantly for the woman she assumed was one of her professors. Her suspicions were confirmed withing a few moments.
"Miss Vito, my name is Professor McGonagall. Dumbledore has asked that you come to his office before the Sorting and the feast begin. Hurry along now."
Isabella followed Professor McGonagall through what seemed like a maze of corridors to a statue of a griffin.
"Nosebleed Nougats," Professor McGonagall said, the most serious look on her face.
Bella felt like laughing. Here she was, with one of her teachers, standing in front of a statue that had to be at least a hundred years old, and her professor randomly spouts nonsense like it was perfectly normal.
Normal? Bella thought. Nothing has been normal in my life for the last year. Why would I think that it would start now?
When the statue started to move however, Isabella realized that the phrase Professor McGonagall had used had been a password, kind of like open sesame in that old Arabian tale. A spiraling staircase was revealed, and Bella was instructed to climb to the top.
"That is where you'll find Dumbledore. Just go through the door at the top of the stairs, he is expecting you." And so saying, she turned around and headed back to instruct the first years on the order of events for the evening. Bella heard her mumbling something along the lines of: "Of all things for a password...can't believe he finds those boys amusing. But he is the headmaster I suppose..."
With a bit of nervousness, Bella mounted the steps; wondering what on earth the headmaster would want to speak to her about before the school year had begun? Then her thoughts zeroed in on her actions earlier that afternoon. Could he have heard about her little incident with Malfoy? Surely not.
The further she climbed, the more anxious she became. Stop it! She told herself. Wigging out isn't going to help, and it won't change what is going to happen anyway.
She finally reached the top of the stairwell and approached the door. She knew that the headmaster all ready expected her arrival, but courtesy drilled into her since birth made her knock lightly and wait for permission to enter.
"Come in, Miss Vito," came a soft voice.
Bella opened the door and was greeted by a veritable treasure of moving objects, gadgets and gizmos. On one crowded table there was a working model of the solar system, which to her new acquaintance with magic seemed marvelous, that each planet moved independently and without any visible means of structure.
Sitting behind a desk that was equally crowded as every other surface of the room was a man with a long crooked nose. He sported half-moon spectacles and a beard that was longer than any Isabella had ever seen. He wore purple robes that were so dark as to seem almost black, and a glove covered what she could see of his right arm.
"Welcome to Hogwarts, Miss Vito. What do you think so far?" He asked with a kind smile lighting up his aged features.
"If you please, Headmaster, I would prefer it if you would call me Isabella. Coming from America, being addressed by my last name by anyone feels extremely strange," Isabella returned with a smile of her own. She liked her headmaster immediately; her instinct told her that he was a man that could be trusted, and Bella always followed her instincts. "I like what I have seen so far of the castle, it is very impressive, but I am reserving judgment until classes are actually underway."
Dumbledore smiled. "A very diplomatic answer my dear. Very American. I'm sure you are wondering why I wanted to see you before the feast starts." Isabella nodded. "At Hogwarts our students are divided up into houses according to our four founders: Godric Gryffindor, Rowena Ravenclaw, Helga Hufflepuff, and Salazar Slytherin. Since you are joining us at a time when the other students of your year are all ready established in their respective houses, we must place you in the house where you will be most suited."
He gestured to a very tattered conical hat that sat on the desk beside him. "This is our Sorting Hat. I think its name implies its purpose, and after we join the rest of the school in the Great Hall, this hat will be used to sort out the first years. Now if you would oblige by putting the hat on..."
Bella picked the hat up off the desk, eyeing it like one would a rattlesnake. Slowly she placed it on her head. As soon as she did so, she heard a small voice speaking into her ear.
"Ah! So you've come at last. Let's see here, where should we put you? Your avid learning would be respected in Ravenclaw, but your kindness belongs to those in Hufflepuff. Your courage and loyalty are marks of those in Gryffindor while Slytherin is where those who share in agile thinking and high ambitions. Therein lies the dilemma young Isabella. Your future is shaped by those around you...that's it! The future! In the interest of what lies in the fog of time, that which is rarely seen by mortals yet can be changed drastically by a small disturbance, the house you belong in is...
"Slytherin!" The hat announced out loud, and Bella knew that it was no longer speaking to just her.
She pulled the hat off to see that Dumbledore was eyeing her speculatively. His fingers were steepled and Bella thought that she detected a bit of triumph now in that kind smile. "Interesting," was his only comment. They continued to study one another for a few moments before Dumbledore rose and gently extracted the Sorting Hat from her suddenly tense fingers.
"Shall we go downstairs? I believe all the carriages should have arrived by now and the students will probably be eager to start in on the delicious meal that the house elves have prepared."
Bella nodded and followed Dumbledore down the spiraling staircase. He lifted up a tapestry to reveal a hidden passageway. It lead directly down to the entrance of the Great Hall, and Dumbledore was correct that the students had all arrived. At present, most seemed impatient to start the welcoming feast. When Isabella walked in with Dumbledore, curious glances were sent her way. A transfer student was a revelation for the present students; the last transfer student had been eleven years ago.
She made her way over to the table where Dumbledore said the Slytherins were assigned and sat beside a good looking boy with a mop of chocolatey hair reminiscent of her own. She didn't try to make conversation with him, his look of superiority was immediately met with her own. She wasn't about to back down to a boy who obviously hadn't been clued in that he wasn't about to be crowned emperor of the world.
A shiver ran down her spine as the feeling of being watched crept over her. Bella looked across the table to see none other than Draco Malfoy. Inwardly she groaned. What did I do to deserve to be stuck in the same house as that egotistical man? Outwardly she sent a cocky grin his way.
"How was life as a duck, Malfoy? I hear it is incredibly boring as ducks only have the want to swim all the time. That and fly south for the winter."
If looks could kill, Bella would have been another one of the ghosts flitting about the Great Hall. Malfoy made a noise that sounded a bit like a growl and replied, "Just wait. I'll get you back for that you mudblood."
Bella cocked her head to the side questionly. "Mudblood? Is that supposed to be an insult? I can't be insulted when I don't know what something is supposed to mean. But you know what they say. Insults are used by those who don't possess the brain capacity to develop a vocabulary or the ability known as wit. It suits though."
So saying, she turned away from Malfoy and focused her attention on what Dumbledore was saying to the students. She was congratulating herself on not losing her temper. She knew what a mudblood was; she'd read it in one of the books she had bought in Diagon Alley, but she wasn't all that effected by it. She'd been called much worse.
"Hey mate, whose the bird sitting with the Slytherins? I've never seen her before." Harry and Ron overheard Seamus' remark to Dean. They both looked over out of curiosity and their jaws nearly dropped in shock. It was the girl from the train!
Ron looked back at Harry. "She's in Slytherin! She seemed so nice on the train, and Slytherins are not nice people."
Harry shrugged his shoulders. Then he saw that the new girl was talking with Malfoy; he nudged Ron and told him to look. Malfoy's gaze became colder and colder, then his face started to flush with obvious anger, while the girl's grin became more and more mischievious. Harry sniggered as Malfoy looked about to explode.
This will be a fun year if Malfoy has finally met someone who can rile him up as much as I can, he thought. Maybe, just maybe, this year wouldn't be as dismal as he thought it would be with Voldemort and the horcruxes out in the world to destroy.
Dumbledore had finished speaking and the first years were finally all sorted. Food appeared in the dishes in front of them, Ron and Harry piling their plates high.
"You know mate, we should find out about her. I mean, who knows what kind of person she is," Ron said, an ill-disguised attempt to learn the name of the pretty brunette. Hermione, who had up until that point stayed out of the conversation, sharply elbowed Ron in the ribs.
When he yelped in pain and glared at her, Hermione glared back. "Serves you right," she said and turned back to her food.
Harry laughed at the look of outrage on Ron's face. Nope, there would definitely be entertainment to brighten life a bit.