AN: The chapter cuts off somewhat abruptly because somehow 1/3 of my copy of HPSS got ripped out of the rest of the book, and so I don't have anything after page 124 with me atm.
Cinnamon was at once impressed by the severe-looking witch who led them all in. She noticed the other students shifting about nervously and resisted the temptation to smirk. Being a princess, albeit one from a land where nobody gave an owl's hoot about stature, she was highly accustomed to public speaking. She looked over at her sister and saw that Brassi wasn't bothering to hide her smirk. When the witch-- McGonagall, was she called?-- suggeswted smartening up, Cinnamon didn't budge. While she was here, she was just another student, not a representative of her homeland. She didn't have to posture for anybody.
Besides, except for her dripping hair, which she'd pulled into a bn before coming in, she knew she looked perfect. Her silver eyes shone with confidence. Brassi, on the other hand, was a whirlwind of primping. Apparently the blonde felt differently about the whole diplomat thing.
While listening in on Harry's and Ron's speculation, CInnamon somehow felt the need to say, "I hope it isn't a physical exam." She smirked when both boys paled. Ooh, she was a naughty one.
She smiled when the ghosts entered, noting that they glowed about as silvery as she did. When the one in the ruff and tights asked what they were doing, Cinnamon piped up, "Apparently we're all standing around. What about YOU?"
As the ruffled one turned red, the portly ghost smiled at them and asked if they were about to be Sorted.
"Sure, if that's waht you call it," Cinnamon called out. Just then, McGonagall reappeared and escorted them to the place where the Sorting or whatever would be held. Hermione Granger made a comment about how she'd read the ceiling was enchanted.
"Well, clearly," said Cinnamon. Hermione gave her a dirty look but didn't respond. McGonagall put down first a stool, then a pointy hat that looked like it belonged to a poor person. Cinnamon smiled and looked up at the ceiling, counting the stars. She was brought back to Earth when the hat began to sing, to a jolly old tune she recognised but couldn't name. Apparently the hat had a high opinion of itself because it could read minds and they had to put it on to see where they belonged. A little eccentric, but nothing she couldn't handle.
"When I call your name, you will put on the hat and sit on the stool to be sorted," announced McGonagall. Names were then called in alphabetical order by last name, starting with Hannah Abbott (Hufflepuff, poor thing). The portly ghost, who was apparently called the Fat Friar, waved at her as she went to sit at her table. Cinnamon rolled her eyes impatiently. As an S, her name was going to be towards the end of the line. Then again, that sounded like a fabulous way to make an entrance.
She almost laughed aloud when the Longbottom boy became a Gryffindor; she'd seen him find his toad and had expected him to be in Hufflepuff for sure. Also surprising was the fact that Hermione Granger ended up in Gryffindor rather than Ravenclaw. Draco ended up in Slytherin, which didn't surprise her at all, and so did a girl named Millicent. A pug-faced girl named Pansy Parkinson also ended up with them, and Cinnamon wondered why good breeding, in the Wizarding world, didn't automatically translate to good looks as it seemed to do with Muggle debutantes.
As expected, whispers erupted throughout the Great Hall when Harry Potter's name was mentioned. She felt a pang of sympathy for the poor kid, who probably had no idea what in the cosmos was going on here. She noticed him gripping the edges of the stool and wondered whether the Hat was telling him something unpleasant, or if he just had to use the bathroom very badly. Finally, it pronounced him a Gryffindor and McGonagall moved on. After, of course, everybody was done cheering for the mop-headed shrimp.
Next were the Starling twins. "Starling, Brassiletta Daisy" was called first, and she was placed in Gryffindor. She went to sit next to Harry Potter, immediately cozying up to the most popular student in school. Cinnamon rolled her eyes, then blinked, realising that she was up next. She hoped that her first five names were left off the roll. Yes, she liked attention, but she thought her mother had gone a little overboard in naming her. Peruru, after the village in which they'd grown up and the desmodus, or priest, who presided over it; Vendetta after the particular forte of the Maharus Illybrius, one of the melymae, or gods, who overlooked the land; Cupid after the Greek goddess Aphrodite's son; Titania to give her beauty and strength; Marialoha as a promise of richness; Cinnamon because it was customary to name the girls for plants and because it had been the color of her hair at birth; Alira was the Drakoste word for "charisma"; and Starling was the family name. Well, technically Starling-Crow was the family name, but once Setsuna had married Count Dracula, "Crow" was dropped and "Dracula" added in its place.
(Cinnamon also hoped that "Dracula" was left off her last name, as it would give students preconceived notions about her. Since it had been left off Brassi's, she assumed it would be.)
To her immense relief, the name called was "Starling, Cinnamon." Oh, that's right, she recalled. "Daisy" wasn't Brassi's middle name; it was part of her first name.
She walked to the Sorting Hat slowly, savoring all the eyes on her and the whispers circulating about her hair, her eyes, her skin. Seeing as how this hat presumably read thoughts, all she had to do to get her preferred house was to think real hard on it.
Slytherin, she thought firmly.
Are you sure? asked the hat, which seemed a bit reluctant.
Dude. My father was Count Dracula, and you're asking me if I'm sure I want to be a Slytherin?
Ah, but weren't you just relieved that Professor McGonagall didn't announce you as a Dracula?
Cinnamon treated the hat to a mental image of herself crossing her eyes and sticking out her tongue at it.
"SLYTHERIN!" the hat announced, probably deciding that it was best not to argue any further, because it was tired and wanted to get over with the last four people who needed Sorting. Cinnamon giggled and cantered over to greet Draco (a dance move she'd made up that was somewhere between a ball-change and a chase). A handsome boy named Blaise Zabini was the last to be Sorted, and also joined the Slytherin table, and then it was over with.
Albus Dumbledore, the headmaster, stood up and treated them all to his idea of a few words (Nitwit, Blubber, Oddment, and Tweak) before the dishes set on the table suddenly became laden with food.
"What's an oddment?" Cinnamon heard Millicent murmur.
"Who cares?" answered Draco haughtily.
"I'm hungry," said Cinnamon brilliantly, ending the exchange. She took a large amount of every type of meat and some of the pudding and humbugs, ignoring the vegetables completely. She noticed Pansy looking at her plate with a strange expression on her face.
"What?" asked Cinnamon defensively. "You've never seen a girl eat?"