…the entrance of the new Sunnydale High. Xander pulls up and lets Buffy and Dawn out, telling them he'll be around the construction site all day. Buffy and Dawn walk towards the school, and Buffy looks about suspiciously. Buffy decides to give Dawn some final advice, which in any normal town would be strategies for avoiding getting trash-canned or swirlied, but considering where they live consists of things like staying away from hyenas, athletes, and invisible people. All good points for everyday life, but Buffy is not making even the smallest attempt to be discreet in public. "I don't really think it's fair for you to try to scare me on my first day of high school," teases Dawn, "because it is so redundant." They continue walking, and Buffy grouses, "This place is evil." Way to keep the cover, secret-identity girl. "It's tough to let them go, huh?" chuckles a voice behind Buffy, and she and Dawn spin around in surprise. We see the ribbon-cutting guy from the teaser, who introduces himself as "Robin Wood, the new principal." Robin Wood? Oh, wow. There are so many places I could go with that. Most of which have already been explored on the boards, where Mr. (cough) Wood has made very good impression. Buffy introduces herself and Dawn and then tells Principal Wood she was expecting him to be more "aged." He laughs and smoothly replies, "You seem very young to have such a grown-up daughter." Buffy is totally flustered by this, insisting that Dawn is her sister and fluttering about her hair being "mom hair." As she dithers, Principal Wood admits that he actually has heard of Buffy, and then excuses himself to go deaden young minds. Hee. He's smoothly amusing. Dawn spots the opportunity to finally make her escape from Buffy's overly concerned clutches and hurries off, calling back, "Bye. I know. You never know what's coming. The stake is not the power. To Serve Man is a cookbook. I love you. Go away!" Dawn hurries off in a swirl of hair.