"Hey, guys," said Annick when they approached the Commons.

"What?"

"How about you running in and calling Elwin out? He can even bring a paper along if he wants."

Charlie snickered. "You want him to document you?"

"Besides getting a stroke you mean," mumbled Matt under his breath.

"Something like that," laughed Annick. "I'm quite astonished actually that he didn't force me to transform the minute he found out. I'll just wait for you here, as well-trained as ever, OK?"

"Fine," Charlie disappeared inside.

Annick transformed and layed expectantly down. Her green-blue eyes glanced towards Matt in silent question. He was shaking his head.

Charlie ran into the living room and saw Elwin, Albus Dumbledore, and the other Hogwarts Professors indulged in companionable talk. He smirked.

"Hi, Elwin," he exclaimed jauntily.

Elwin looked around.

"Hello, Charlie. You all back already?"

"Yea. We brought quite an interesting specimen back. Do you want to see? I don't know how long the others will hold themselves before launching on it."

"A specimen? What kind?" his eyes gleamed and he stood up. He went straight to collect his quills, ink and parchment.

"It will be better to see for yourself," Charlie smirked again. "I actually fell over today when I saw it."

"Aw," gushed Elwin happily.

"Can we perhaps join you?" asked Albus.

Charlie gave a quick nod, ready to run away again. "Of course! I bet you never saw something like this."

Elwin hurried out, with Charlie right at his heels, his smirk wider than ever. His task was accomplished; now he just wanted to see his expression when he sees the 'specimen'.

Matt's POV

Matt waited silently to the side from Annick, trying hard not to stare at her. A hybrid like that was definitely worth the looks, despite not being real. Everybody else stared at her, while trying to watch the front door at the same time. It seemed that everyone had Annick for a nice person and enjoyed her shocks wholeheartedly. It seemed they accepted her immediately, along with her personality.

That was the stumbling block if you asked him. They accepted her as she was without really knowing her. Maybe Charlie was right; he was too serious and thoughtful than was good for him. However, he did realize a couple important truths in his lifetime: the first impression might not be the true one and no one really was as they seemed.

The first impression Annick made was a lively and cheerful person, optimistic, with a little uncomfortable habit of surprising others. The problem was that such a person would love attention. Annick liked to joke and shock, but she always averted attention to others. She used him to announce her animagus form, so the attention fell on him, too. Elwin hit the bull's eye when he said she used to stay under the radar, against all odds. She attracted attention, but everyone who ever met her remembered her by her jokes, not her face. Annick herself was disappearing in the shadows and all that was left were faceless tales.

He watched as she stretched on the ground comfortably. She made sure her clawed front paw was outstretched and her tail was turned to point forwards as well. Even after this, people would remember her form and its antics, but not the human Annick.

He liked the first impression he had of her - the happy-go-lucky, confident girl with a penchant for jokes, shocks, and dragons. He was starting to see a different side of her, now; a very different side of her that was kept secret from anyone else. Why was it kept secret? Why did she lie to everyone around her, making them see she was someone else? What was her plan? What were her intentions?

Elwin liked her. Martin liked her. Presumably, she was a good dragon-tamer and dragon-animagus to boot. An unexpected and extremely rare feat, becoming a magical creature. But that other side of her... it wasn't a cuddy puppy. He haven't seen much of it yet, but it gave him uncomfortable creeps, and a sense of danger. The Reservation was full of people he called friends. He couldn't afford having someone around he couldn't trust.

She never really introduced herself. Elwin introduced her as Annick. When he and Charlie introduced themselves, she answered with that word again. According to what she told Charlie, 'Annick' was a combination of a first name and surname. Maybe she had more first names, too. The fact she didn't want to say her true name might not mean anything. She could have loads of reasons. He would never even consider it if he didn't stand right before her when she gave that comment on George's words from the Graphorn Day.

The strange quality of her eyes disturbed him then. Even now he was uncomfortable when he thought of it. The disturbance was more pronounced now, because now he knew she never looked at anybody like that. That meant she wanted to hide that part of her identity. Maybe she felt ashamed of it, maybe it was a too personal part of her, that didn't matter. That look might have been atypical when he looked at Annick now, but it implied one thing – a danger. That look was giving a serious, cold-hearted warning and the fact it was attached to a seemingly spontaneous and happy person Matt understood as a warning all by itself. That look wasn't a fluke, that he knew. It was a part of her. He would have to watch Annick, because she wasn't who she seemed to be. Her name and her past didn't matter – yet. Her acting and intentions did.

He saw Elwin bolt out of the house, almost falling over when he saw her. His eyes bulged and his chin fell low enough for his mouth to accommodate for a smaller rodent. Not that any tried to enter.

'Elwin could know more about her,' he mused internally, watching as the elder dragon-handler approached the dark-green lizard. Others were enjoying themselves, preparing to get to work slowly. They didn't get to study Annick's form yet, and they weren't about to let this opportunity pass them by. 'He knows her long enough and when he talked about her he seemed to think of her as his daughter or something like that. That would mean she wasn't evil. Elwin wouldn't waste his protective traits on someone who didn't deserve it. However, even if she wasn't evil, she could still be dangerous. Doubly so if she hid the true danger behind a mask of happiness and spontaneity and let the others around her continue on in ignorance.

'It seems Karl was right,' he concluded, watching Elwin. He was currently gushing over her sparkling golden horns. 'I will definitely have my hands full.'