Just went back and checked out the flashback scene from the movie (chapter 21 on the DVD for those of you playing along at home), and here's what is said...phantomess wrote:Ah, see, I never realized that naming the father could make Alessa normal in their eyes. I figured they considered Alessa a witch because they somehow realized she "could hurt people just with her mind." Everyone calling her a witch and throwing stuff at her seems a bit harsh to do just because her father is anonymous, but with those people, isn't entirely surprising, I suppose.
SCHOOL GIRLS: Burn the witch! Burn the witch!
DARK ALESSA: Their parents told them she was bad. She didn't have a father like they did.
(Alessa runs into the toilet to find Colin there, mopping the floor.)
Alessa was alone in the world.
There's no flexing of Alessa's mental muscles at this point, so the only reason the kids have for persecuting her is her illegitimate birth. As Christabella says, also in this scene, "We know. Even the children know it. Your daughter... Why you won't just name the father...?"
Also, upon close viewing of this scene, I believe that Dahlia expected to be punished as she headed to the hotel with the rest of the cult. Or at least, she expected there to be some procedure of judgement.
The first sign we get that Alessa may possess some kind of power is when the chains break, causing her to knock over the censer and start the fire, but then it's more likely still that her powers only manifest in the hospital, when her hate starts to take over.
So the only reason the girls at school call her a witch is because Dahlia refuses to name the father. (Just to be entirely sure -- I was feeling a little insecure that I may have provided some bogus information.)