I will give Kudos to everyone who recognizes who "Miya-sensei" is when I do chapter three. **Gives an evil cackle at inflicting a second version of her on the Soul Society/Magical Britain**

Dumbledore was not having a good year. It had started with the fact Lilianna Potter never showed up to Hogwarts and it only went downhill from there.

After the year started and things settled down slightly, he had gone personally to Privet Drive to investigate why she failed to show up.

It was only after the fact he would realize that no owls had been sent to the name "Lilianna Potter" when the acceptance letters were sent out.

Things were worse than he thought.

Arabella was gone, having been forcibly evicted from her home after several questionable herbs had been found in her house on top of having far too many cats to be healthy. The fact that the kneazles had breed to the point that some of the kittens had grown up feral had only made things worse.

The Dursleys had moved away after one too many nasty rumors regarding Lilianna came to light. Namely the speculation that they had possibly killed the girl and successfully hidden the body.

The teachers had been the one to report the girl missing when she failed to show up to school for over a month straight. By that point it became clear that Lilianna was no longer at Privet Drive, and that the blood wards that were so crucial to her safety had permanently fallen.

Dumbledore was so concerned about finding the missing girl that the fact the Granger siblings opted to attend a different school slipped completely past his radar.

Hermione had to admit, she rather loved their new school. Yes, there was a bit of awkwardness due to cultural differences, language barriers, and the fact that quite a number of students had been attending the school for four years now and had already formed their own cliques, but to be honest it was a refreshing change of pace compared to her old school.

The students took their studies very seriously, no one mocked her for her love of books and she was making actual friends who were willing to temper her usual bossy personality into something more socially acceptable.

Even her sister Anna had found her own place thanks to one of the instructors.

Miya-sensei was a no-nonsense and quite strong woman who was content to act as a quiet support to her husband Takehito when she wasn't teaching how to fight with a sword or running the unofficial club for the "Yamato Nadeshiko" in the school.

From what Hermione understood of the 'type', it was a gathering of girls who were more likely to find a suitable husband and quietly support them while running the house, and who specialized in more feminine activities like cooking, cleaning and raising children.

Unlike the stereotype she was familiar with, where a woman was only good for keeping house, the club encouraged the members to be active and to have a side job independent of their future husbands so that they wouldn't be completely dependent on the men. The fact it had a lot of traditional cultural practices such as a full Japanese tea ceremony and other little rituals made it a very popular club for women and the rare male.

Anna had taken one look at what it offered and immediately signed up. There was a rumor going around that Miya-sensei might even take Anna up as her apprentice, which was a highly coveted honor as she was a rather popular teacher.

Today was a big day for her sister...it was the monthly round-robin sparring match to determine the skill level of the class Miya-sensei was in charge of. Hermione might not have any interest in Iaijutsu (which was the style Miya-sensei specialized in and taught), but she was still supportive of her sibling.

She watched patiently as Anna went up. Her sister looked calm, composed and there was a hint of steel in her that was impossible to miss if you knew what to look for.

Hermione observed the same ritual that everyone used before the match. There was a polite, silent bow to each other, before they both took a stance. Anna's sword was slightly different from her opponents, but that was only due to the hilt which had a slight decoration.

Once a student proved competent the wooden bokuto would be replaced with live steel that had several charms on it to 'dull' the killing edge of the blade.

"Begin!" announced Takeshi, a senior member of the club and Miya's usual assistant.

Anna went first, her small but speedy stature allowing her to gain ground a bit quicker than her opponent.

While Hermione might not know anything about swords (aside from an odd bit of fencing due to Anna's interest in them) she could tell her sister was rather good at the art. However her opponent had more experience and soon regained the upper hand.

The match continued for roughly ten minutes before Anna's strength began to falter. While she was somewhat athletic, the simple fact was that she was still on a potion regimen to undo the damage done by her 'aunt' before she was adopted by the Grangers.

She was disarmed, and the match immediately stopped.

The two took a moment to catch their breath, before politely bowing to one another again. Anna reclaimed her weapon and went to the side to await the results like everyone else.

Just because one lost the match didn't necessarily mean they would get a bad score. After all, this was a sparring practice, not a live duel.

The two fought for a solid ten minutes, before Anna's stamina began to wane. She redoubled her efforts, but in the end failed to win as her sword was knocked from her grip.

Anna and her opponent stopped immediately, bowed politely to one another and left the arena once she reclaimed her weapon. They both sat to the side to await the results of their match, as winning did not necessarily guarantee a good score in the long run.

Considering she only had three months formal instruction, the fact she had survived so long was rather impressive. Especially since she was still on a potions regimen to undo the damage the Dursleys had done.

Anna was rather pleased that she was in the top twenty, as it meant her late night practicing was paying off. She was even more happy that Miya-sensei called her over and offered extra lessons to further improve her sword-skill.

It meant that there was a strong chance she could gain an apprenticeship later.

The teachers were all quite outraged after Anna finally revealed how she ended up adopted with the Grangers. While they wouldn't remove her from the family, they certainly were not going to allow the 'famous' Dumbledore to put her back in a home that was obviously abusive, regardless of what reasoning he tried to use.

Hermione was obviously upset learning the full details of what her sister went through, and her 'trust' in adult authority figures took a significant hit upon seeing the memories of how the adults failed her sister so spectacularly.

She had always believed in the systems designed to protect and help ordinary citizens and was always quite respectful of authority figures. After all, they were adults and knew best, right?

Something that had Anna snort, and comment about how politicians were only in it for themselves and would only help the common man if there was something in it for them whether it was monetary gain or 'popularity'.

It was beyond obvious that Dumbledore had some sort of ulterior motive for placing her with the Dursleys and insuring that the proper authorities never looked twice at the obvious abuse and neglect.

She had overheard her 'family' speak multiple times when she was younger and thought the children were sleeping or too young to understand how they couldn't simply dump her in an orphanage because 'they' were watching and would force her to return. How they had best be compensated for the 'trouble' they had raising her, because she was a 'freak' and therefor had to have "it" beaten out of her.

"It" being magic, as she had found out.

Marge had absolutely no idea about "it" and merely assumed they had taken her in out of some familial obligation, something she assured young Anna repeatedly that she would not have done in the least and would have happily drowned her the first chance she had if Anna had been dumped on her.

Anna had no doubt she would have done it too, if the way she raised that wretched dog of hers was any indication. Ripper was the sort of dog that was best put down, as he was too vicious and quick to harm humans.

At least Anna had cut any further influence from Dumbledore off.

By leaving England and choosing another school over Hogwarts, she had cut off any influence he had over her magical training. Dumbledore couldn't exactly make demands when she wasn't one of his students after all.

By impressing Miya enough to gain an apprenticeship, she cut off any influence he could have had as a 'magical guardian', as the old laws clearly stated that apprentices were surrogate 'children' of their masters, and Miya had followed all the proper forms with the Ministry.

Miya's husband Takehito was less than amused upon learning what a mess the Potter accounts were in, and there was a strong chance of a goblin audit being done.

Miya rather quickly curtailed any chances of a marriage contract, as the Master-Apprentice agreement she had with Anna meant she had full control over that aspect.

This was mainly because such agreements were usually made to pass on family magics or other secrets, and it wouldn't do for them to passed on to the wrong family or group. Blood feuds that lasted for several generations had started for less.

Ichigo Kurosaki was an oddity for a Japanese boy. His hair was naturally orange and he had a powerful psychic gift. One that, much to his dismay, had cost the life of his mother shortly before he was sent an admittance letter to the school.

Ichigo would have opted to stay with his sisters, but the simple fact was that his core was simply too powerful for any of the magical tutoring available.

Instead the Japanese ministry offered his parents a deal. Ichigo could attend normal school by day and use a special portkey that would allow him to take "cram school" lessons during the evenings and the majority of his summer vacation to insure that he was at least well trained enough not to cause any accidents.

After hearing a fraction of what warding could do to protect his family, Ichigo agreed to it rather than have his core sealed.

He had been attending classes for close to four years now, and he had to admit he had never met anyone like Anna Granger.

Sure, he knew that she was adopted, but the way she treated the other girl made it clear that she genuinely considered her a sister in all but blood. It was the way she acted as the older, more sensible of the two that had him gravitating towards her without hesitation during a paired exercise in Miya-sensei's class.

"Mind if I partner with you?" he asked hopefully.

While he did have some background in martial arts, he had gravitated towards swords instinctively the second he knew it was an option.

Oddly enough when his dad heard about his choice he had gained a strange look...before offering him with a more serious expression than he was used to in how to properly use a sword.

It was one of the rare times he actually respected his father, who normally acted like an idiot.

Miya-sensei certainly wasn't complaining.

Anna-san smiled at him, and something inside his chest loosened. This was someone who understood the purpose of an older sibling and embraced it.

"Sure," she replied with a smile.

And that was how the newly formed trio began. Hermione, once she realized that Ichigo's "punk" reputation was a side effect of beating the shit out of bullies and that he had an actual brain under his oddly colored hair, welcomed him as part of their group. The fact he had an equal love of Shakespeare and was rather happy that Hermione brought copies of plays he had trouble getting his hands on was a bonus.

Miya-sensei watched the trio interact with a smile on her face. Her soon-to-be apprentice Anna acted entirely too serious at times, and it was nice to see her act her age.

While she highly doubted there would be any possible pairing from the trio, she had little doubt that they would become steadfast and loyal friends.

Now she simply had to wait for the perfect time to test Anna to see if she had the...fortitude...to withstand being apprenticed to her.

There was a very specific reason the teachers and the higher-leveled students in her class called her the "Hannya Demon of the Sword"...