Once the sorting ceremony was complete and the food appeared in front of the students, Desiree immediately began to eat.  She'd been on a plane for a long time, with very little to sustain herself except airline food (which she really didn't eat much of) and pretzels (which she enjoyed, but had eaten enough on the flight to satisfy her cravings for them for the rest of the school year).  She felt like such a ravenous little pig as she ate without really socializing with the other students.<br/><br/>A new Astronomy teacher?  Did Desiree even have Astronomy class this year?  Meh, who knows, plenty of time to sort that out once classes start tomorrow.  Come to think of it, what classes did she have?  She absolutely<i>had</i>to have Charms.  She would jump off of the, ironically, Astronomy tower if she didn't.  Maybe she should check her schedule.  Of course, that could wait until after dinner.  Everything could wait until after dinner.  That being said, some things never waited.  One was Quidditch.  Some of the first and second year students were dared by other members of the team to interrupt Desiree's meal, asking some ridiculous question.  She would smile and say something along the lines of, "Well, darlin', I<i>do</i>admire your enthusiasm but do me a kindness, sweetie...tell my team that if they keep botherin' me, I'll replace 'em all with<i>dyslexic Boggarts</i>."  And so it went.<br/><br/>Ooh, and a ball this year.  Might be fun.  Dancing, hanging out with...wait, did she say "unify the houses"?  What.  The.  Hell.  She could barely stand to be around a bunch of nerdy do-gooders in her classes, now she was going to have to hang out with them on her own time?  Great.  Not only that, she had classes, homework, Quidditch practice, and Quidditch games.  And it was improper for a lady to ask a man to a dance.  Oh my god...what if nobody asked her?  Her life would be over!  Think about it...due to her social standing in her own house, there probably wouldn't be a Slytherin that would ask her.  Ditto for the other houses, no Ravenclaw (gross), no Hufflepuff (grosser), and certainly no Gryphonwing (absolutely the most grossest).  The pedestal that she stood on<i>had</i>to be an intimidating one.  Not going to a ball would be social destruction, and going to the ball with just anyone would be social suicide!  No, no.  There had to be someone worthy of her status and her, as she was always ready to admit, beauty, that would ask her.  Desiree felt her skin get hot, and she downed her water before loosening her tie and unbuttoning the top button of her blouse.  The person next to her had their water stolen and drank as well.<br/><br/>"No, no, no.  This is not good.  This is not good at all," she said, fanning her face with both of her hands.