A/N: This all started because I was re-familiarizing myself with the Harry Potter universe, browsing some fanfics, and got very annoyed at how incompetent the adults were. Yes, it's a young adult action-adventure series, so it was something of a necessary weasel, but I figured why not break that? Expect a lot of alternate timeline stuff, and excuse some of the missing bits – this is the first time in over a decade that I've taken fanfic-writing seriously. Constructive criticism is very welcome.

This fanfic has several inspirations, but unfortunately a few of them could spoil major plot points. One that I will absolutely bring up is Petunia Evans, Tomb Raider by Starfox5, which was a significant influence on a few characters.

DISCLAIMER: I do not own the Harry Potter franchise, nor anything related to it. Vanora, Rao, Fergus, and Damian are OCs, so please ask permission if you want to use them.

Ministry of Magic prison cells, 1981

Sirius Black frowned as a woman approached his cell… Millicent Bagnold, the current Minister for Magic. This, he suspected, wasn't going to end well. "Come to gloat?"

"No, to let you out." Bagnold had a nasty grin on her face, but one that wasn't directed at Sirius. "An Auror picked up one Peter Pettigrew when he saw him transforming from a rat to a human – definitely an unregistered animagus. Arrested him and, wouldn't you know, he starts confessing to a completely different crime – selling out Lilly and James Potter! He thought the gig was up right then and there, and his nerves got to him."

Sirius actually lost his poker face and looked downright shocked. "… and here I thought you were going to have me sent to Azkaban without a trial."

Minister Bagnold let the warden unlock the cell door. "No, I was planning to have you testify under Veritaserum. Doing otherwise would have been deeply illegal, immoral, and a blatant abuse of power that I don't even have. I suspect I could have simply ignored those, but I beyond the rules I also have standards." She motioned for Sirius to get out of the cell; the Black hardly needed to be told twice. "We'll be compensating you for the false arrest, and all charges have been dropped. You're free to go, Mister Black." She considered saying something about Black potentially being an unregistered animagus, but decided against it; she knew they couldn't possibly get every Death Eater. She suspected that the registry might be used as a weapon against certain people, and Sirius Black was very high on their 'kill' list from what she could gather.

Sirius nodded. "Thank you, minister."

"Appreciated, but I'm just doing my job. Now go on, I have some trials to preside over, and you have a godson to raise." She smiled a tiny bit as that got Sirius hurrying down the hall; the man might be a lech, but she suspected he was a good person under it all. Harry Potter would be fine.

With his freedom, Sirius Black made good on his promise; while he was a single parent to Harry Potter, he would do his best to raise him right. He also made a point to try and understand the Muggle world, even figuring out how to get a TV working (and how to pay for a TV license).

12 Grimmauld Place needed a lot of work, but with some help from Remus and a few other friends he managed; the dark artifacts were cataloged and removed, as he didn't want them anywhere near his godson. He even got a nice 'finder's fee' for surrendering them to the ministry, which helped make up for the cost of renovating and repairing. Much to his frustration, somewhere along the line his mother had offed Kreacher… that made things trickier, even if he despised the little git. The old family tapestry came down as well; he'd have to see about getting it restored, as much as it could be with all the holes burnt in it.

Platform 9 3/4
September 1st, 1991

Sirius waved goodbye as the Hogwarts Express started moving, smiling. Sure, it was hard to let his son go, but the school was a great place to, learn things, make friends… and get into all sorts of trouble, which was the really fun part.

A brown-haired man was also waving nearby, then paused a moment. "I don' think we've met, sir." He was perhaps a centimeter taller than Sirius, though not enough to be imposing.

Sirius turned to him; he could see in the man's eyes a sort of seriousness that belied experience in difficult situations. "No, we haven't. Sirius Black." He held out his hand to shake.

"Fergus McKenzie. First-generation wizard." The man's Scottish accent was definitely there, but not overwhelming. His handshake was reasonable, firm enough to imply some strength but gentle enough to show respect; he was on the slimmer side, though clearly quite strong, the sort of thing you saw from an athlete and not a bodybuilder.

And then Sirius saw the woman next to him and had to do a double-take. She had roughly European features – he suspected Italian and Spanish, perhaps German – but the thing that made him completely ignore her not-insubstantial breasts and rather shapely (but athletic) figure was the pair of fox ears peeking out of her black hair. "And… you are?"

"Rao McKenzie." She held out her hand to shake as well; Sirius noticed she was definitely on the smaller side – half a head shorter than Fergus – but clearly no less dangerous physically.

Sirius took that hand and shook it as well, definitely confused. "… excuse me if I'm speaking out of turn, but why-?"

Rao gave him a dashing smirk that also somehow looked ever-so-slightly sultry; Sirius wasn't about to hit on another man's wife, so it had no real effect. "Because I'm a kitsune, of course." Sirius finally noticed the pair of tails waving behind her softly.

"… okay, I think we might be better served by finding somewhere to sit down and talk, because now I have more questions."

Sirius sipped his tea a little; Cafe Oberth was one of many small cafes in Diagon Alley, a quaint place that probably hadn't changed in decades. "So if you don't mind me asking, how exactly did a kitsune end up in Britain?"

Rao shook her head, dismissing his concern. "My family moved to Europe about fifteen hundred years ago, fleeing from 'monster hunters' – somewhere along the line, people kept mistaking us for kumiho."

Sirius raised an eyebrow. "Aren't kumiho the very unpleasant Korean variation of kitsune? The ones that rip men's livers out and eat them?"

"Yes, though it only being men is a misconception, and some don't. My ancestors weren't the only victims, but my great-grandmother wanted us to go 'so far that they will never have heard of our kind'." She sipped her tea. "And so we ended up in Europe. Of course, some information had followed along the Silk Road, but even the magical society of the time thought kitsune were 'nonsense myth', and hadn't heard of kumiho at all."

Fergus leaned back slightly. "If you're wondering how we met, well… we're both curse-breakers, and about eighteen years ago we ended up partnering on a job."

Rao chuckled. "And I nearly shot your hat off."

Fergus rolled his eyes and took a sip of his coffee. "You didn't actually fire though. And to be fair there were freakin' zombies all over the place, which is important because the next thing she did was take her two pistols and headshot one zombie each." He shrugged. "I prefer shotguns for the undead. Less chance of them getting back up later."

Sirius blinked for a moment, caught off-guard. "You… use guns."

Rao shrugged. "They're effective. Most things die to bullets, physical wards can't take too many before they break, and ancient physical wards are mostly designed to stop arrows; those don't even trigger for bullets."

Sirius knew that kitsune could lie very well, but none of that seemed implausible or illogical. "What about bigger things?"

Fergus chuckled. "One of these times I should show you what a High-Explosive Anti-Tank rocket does to a snow drake – I have pictures of the aftermath. It's not pretty." Snow drakes weren't the most dangerous of dragons, but they definitely weren't pushovers in the durability department.

Sirius looked over at the latest Daily Profit, noting with his surprise a story about muggle-repelling charms not working as well. He filed that away for later investigation. "Sounds like you get into a lot of trouble."

Rao giggled. "That's quite an understatement. But we're very good at getting back out." She noticed the article as well. "… huh, looks like the Daily Profit has something genuinely interesting to report." She went over and grabbed the paper, sitting down and opening it up so they could see the whole article.

…

MUGGLE-REPELLING CHARMS GETTING WEAKER; CAUSE UNCERTAIN

A recent spate of breaches of the Statute of Secrecy have had some questioning the effectiveness of the Aurors, but research has revealed that it is in fact muggle-repelling charms that are the issue.

Many theories have been put forward. Professor Kleiner of the German Institute for Advanced Spellcraft – famous for his work on the charms around the newer sections of Diagon Alley – suspects that it may be a cultural thing. "As muggle technology and society have advanced, the more 'mundane' parts of magic society are becoming less and less outlandish to muggles; further, we have increasingly adapted useful items from muggle society, such as typewriters and the printing press. As the cultures become closer and closer, the charms may not be able to distinguish 'muggle' from 'wizard' anymore, and thus go dormant."

We reached out to several other prominent names in the Charms community, but all have declined to comment for the moment…

…

The rest of the article was the usual baseless or nearly-baseless speculation, much to Rao's visible frustration. Fergus raised an eyebrow; Sirius had been reading over their shoulders, and all of them had been getting increasingly alarmed. "… that's a little worrying. Not that I'm a huge fan of the Statute of Secrecy, but a sudden failure would cause a massive panic."

Sirius blinked. "Not a fan? Why?"

"Have you heard the term Apartheid? Not an exact parallel, but the Statute reminds me too much of that." Fergus leaned back, watching Sirius process that. "And as someone who's used 'muggle' weapons, the only problem they have is not killing things. Heck, if someone could develop a Taser that hits people with stunning or knockout jinxes, it'd save a lot of lives. People wouldn't have to resort to lethal force to defend themselves from violence."

Sirius sat back down; he'd have to think over Fergus' words some more later. Rao just sighed as she dropped the paper on the table. "… I hate how terrible this rag is. Only thing worth it is the crosswords."

"Could be worse, could be the Quibbler." Sirius chuckled a little as Rao looked like she'd just sucked on a lemon.

Vanora McKenzie sighed quietly as she walked down the hall of the Hogwarts Express. She was turning heads for sure, and it frustrated her; it all had to do with the fox-like tail and ears she was sporting, the latter of which poked out of her brown hair and swiveled whenever they caught a particularly interesting noise. She was a kitsune, the first to ever attend Hogwarts, and stuck out like a sore thumb for it. Her salient green eyes tracked down the hall, hoping to find a compartment where she could spend the ride in relative peace; she'd heard talk about 'the boy who lived' being on the train, and wondered how he was handling it.

Draco sneered as she passed by. "Oh, look, it's the bitch!"

Vanora rolled her eyes. "How unoriginal." She just walked it off; the best way to deal with people like that was not to give them any satisfaction. That was her dad's advice, at least.

Draco blinked in surprise; he'd never gotten that kind of reaction before, and it wouldn't do – there had to be something to get a rise out of her. He thought back to what his dad had said about the McKenzie family…

Vanora looked into one of the compartments and stopped; that was him – Harry Potter himself, the Boy-Who-Lived. The more she thought about that title the lamer it sounded, now that she thought about it. She came over and knocked on the door slightly, pulling them away from a discussion about chocolate frogs. "Hey, mind if I join you?"

Hermione couldn't help but stare. A kitsune, that was a kitsune! A kitsune first-year student at Hogwarts! "I… uh…"

Harry wasn't especially star-struck – he could see the frustration in those eyes, the endless attention that was entirely unwanted. A kindred spirit of a sort. "Sure." He fiddled with the little silver ankh necklace that Sirius had given him; a reminder of his stepfather, something to remember that he'd always be there if he needed support.

Vanora looked over to Hermione, then shook her head a bit. "I just… everyone keeps asking questions, wondering if I'm a hundred years old, that sort of stuff." She came in and sat down. "And no I'm not one hundred years old, why would I be going to Hogwarts if that was the case…"

Ron opened his mouth, then shut it; the poor girl was in the same spot as Harry. "Alright, we'll try not to." Hermione nodded a little in agreement.

Vanora shrugged. "Hey, I'll let you ask a couple questions, I get that you're curious, but-" She was cut off as Draco walked over to the compartment.

"Oh, so the bitch is talking to losers, just like her manwhore dad did with her mum?" Draco looked so very smug for thinking up that insult. Meanwhile, everyone but Vanora looked baffled. "You lot aren't even worth insulting!" He started walking back to his compartment.

Vanora would have ignored it, but the blond had to bring up her dad. "Excuse me." Her voice had become quite terse, tail fluffed out a bit as a threat display as she stalked over to Draco. "I'm sorry, you said what?"

The Trolley Lady glared at Draco. "You best apologize to her, young man!"

Draco rolled his eyes as he turned toward them. "What, or she'll tell her mudblood dad?" He might have noticed that the Trolley Lady looked even angrier now – if it hadn't been for Vanora punching him in the gut, making him double over in pain before tumbling backward, inelegantly crashing to the floor. He wheezed a little, vision blurry and head swimming – she'd hit hard, especially for a girl her age. It didn't help she'd delivered it right to his liver.

Vanora was barely resisting the urge to kick him while he was down; she had heard that insult directed at her dad before, and she knew what it meant. "Don't. You. EVER. Insult my family!" She turned on her heel and walked back to the compartment where Harry, Ron, and Hermione were sitting.

The Trolley Lady came over, helping Draco up; she had very little sympathy for the prejudices that some students brought with them. "Get back to your compartment. I do not want to see you going anywhere near her for the rest of this trip, do you understand me young man?" She was thankful he nodded; it made things a lot easier for her and that young kitsune.

Vanora dropped back into her seat in the compartment, letting out a sigh. "… I'm so gonna get in trouble for that, but he deserved it." For some reason, she was getting a hankering for liver, but brushed it off.

Ron beamed. "He really did! Nobody should ever get called…" He trailed off a moment, unable to even bring himself to say 'Mudblood'. "… those things he called your dad!"

Harry's opinion of Vanora was going up rather quickly. "I'd heard a bit about the Malfoys from my dad, and it was mostly 'stay away'. I can see why."

Hermione was a little surprised that Vanora had admitted she was going to get into trouble; at the same time, she had to admit it was a little satisfying for a bully get what was coming to them. "Uh… so your dad's a human?"

"Yep. Kitsune children are always kitsunes! And before you ask, yes I can hide the tail and ears. It's annoying and gets really itchy, so I don't like doing it if I can get away with having them out." She shrugged. "Besides, I can hear better and balance better with them!"

Ron nods. "Um… so what do your parents do?"

"My mum and dad are curse-breakers!" That got a look of confusion Harry and Hermione. "They go into old, magic ruins and disable all the traps and curses! Ya know, so people can study the places and recover stuff!" She grinned. "I should show you some pictures sometime, they've been all over the world!"

The rest of the train ride was silly drivel, a little chat about sports (Vanora had tried to get into Quidditch but 'bounced off'), Harry talking about his stepdad Sirius and uncle Remus… by the end of it, they were fast friends.

Vanora gaped a little at the main hall of Hogwarts; she'd never seen anything like this before! She kept close to Harry, since it seemed people were a little less likely to gawk if they were together. After some ceremony, the Sorting began, and she was called up… with Malfoy sorted into Slytherin, her only hope was that she didn't have to share her House with that jerk.

The Sorting Hat hummed a little on Vanora's head. "You are a tricky one! Well, I should expect no less from a kitsune, but more than I anticipated. You thirst for knowledge, that is for certain. A natural talent for trickery; you'd make a devious Slytherin! And you have a strong desire to help those in need. Yet in none of those places do you belong." The Hat paused. "Though to be fair, Draco is not a good introduction to the house of the snake," it grumbled somewhat angrily; Vanora glared up at the hat. "But I think there is no doubt whatsoever where you stand, brave little fox. GRYFFINDOR!"

The opening speech went as expected, for the most part – there was mention of a corridor on the third floor that was expressly forbidden to everyone, alongside the usual warnings about the Forbidden Forest. Albus Dumbledore looked across the crowd, figuring now was time to bring up what had quickly become the talk of the student body. "I am fairly sure you have all heard about the altercation on the Hogwarts Express earlier today. I will not condone violence among the student body, but neither will I tolerate slurs and hateful speech. The offender had understandable reasons to be angry, but that does not mean they did the right thing. Both of them will be getting detention; two hours for the one who used the slur, and half an hour for the one who punched them. I will not name names, though I suspect many of you already know who they are."

Vanora let out a tiny sigh of relief… and smirked a bit as she saw Draco fume. She understood why she was getting punished – she really shouldn't have flown off the handle like that, especially since the Trolley Lady was clearly just as angry with the blond. But seeing him get taken down a peg for being such a jerk was satisfying. "… I'll feckin' take it."

The Headmaster had noticed Vanora's reaction and was rather pleased; she was going to be far less of a problem than Snape had anticipated. "Now, to something that concerns all of you: the lack of the House Points hourglasses." He made a vague motion towards where they would normally be located; indeed, they weren't there. "Many of you are in your first year, but the older students are probably expecting me to announce the beginnings of the House Cup. This year, we have decided to forgo it." He shushed the crowd before the protests got beyond a murmur, though he almost didn't need to. Almost. "For those who are new, last year had the first-ever case of a house ending with zero points due to an especially vindictive teacher. After some discussion between myself and the Heads of House, we came to the conclusion that the House Cup does not foster an attitude of healthy competition, and encourages overlooking rule-breaking if it would aid their House. It may, eventually, come back – but we want to see how the year goes without it." He gave the assembled class a stern look. "That does not mean there will be no punishments for misbehaving, or inflicting distress on your classmates, so do not take this as an excuse to cause trouble."

Minerva McGonagall looked Vanora in the eyes as the rest of the first-years filtered in; Vanora looked back. "Miss McKenzie, I have heard what Draco called you and your father; while your reaction was out of line, he certainly should have known better than to continue his insults. I will be speaking with Professor Snape to ensure it doesn't happen again." She frowned slightly. "In fact, Draco still appears to believe he did nothing wrong."

Vanora looked incredulous. "Hold on, what? How on earth does he think that was acceptable?" That actually caught McGonagall off-guard a little – she was expecting Vanora to try to bargain her way out, or at least take it in stride and merely acknowledge what she said. "Yes, punching him was dumb, but how…?"

Professor McGonagall's smile got a tiny bit larger. "I think he expects his father's name to carry enough weight to get him out of any trouble he lands in. Now, to the Gryffindor tower."

The kitsune sighed and shook her head. "Steigte suas amadan…"

Professor McGonagall snorted very slightly. "An apt description, but please remember that some of us can understand the native language."

Vanora chuckled slightly. "Yes, I figured as much, but I doubt Draco does…"The Weasley twins, however, were rather impressed with the girl's nerve; perhaps they had a new student in the art of pranking?

"I'm Fred, and this here's George."

"Nah, I'm Fred and he's George!"

Vanora looked between them for a moment before shrugging. "If you two are going to swap names all the time, then does it really matter which name I use for which?" If only they'd been girls, then she could've added a bit of wordplay.

Fred and George paused and looked at each other. That was new; usually first-years insisted on figuring out their names (for what little good it did). "… unexpected," they said simultaneously.

"You're trying to play mind games with a kitsune. I'm young, yeah, but come on." She just shook her head and walked past the twins. "Put some effort in!"

Vanora was impressed with Professor Flitwick so far; he seemed to be an excellent teacher, and immensely fair. The Levitation charm was simple enough for her to understand, but that didn't seem to be the case with the others. "Wingardium Leviosa!"

Flitwick raised an eyebrow. "Most exemplary, Ms. Granger!" He looked to the side. "And Ms. McKenzie too it seems!"

McKenzie muttered something. "… not… stable… oops." The feather she was levitating dropped, while Hermione's remained in the air.

"Still excellent!" Professor Flitwick suspected Vanora had something of an advantage; kitsune were well-known for both their physical and magical charms, after all. He'd have to keep an eye on her progress, since that also meant she might hit a brick wall past a certain point.

A Slytherin smirked as she saw Vanora leaving Flitwick's class. "Oh, look. It's the bitch."

Vanora rolled her eyes. "Unoriginal. Also, I'm not canine." She casually walked off as the Slytherins were left trying to process that.

Damian Argus shook his head; his black hair was neatly combed, and everything about him was nearly picture-perfect. "You people are really petty." The first-year Slytherin was the first heir of the Argus family, who were notorious among purebloods for somehow staying completely neutral during You-Know-Who's reign of terror… supposedly. There were rumors that they'd been spies for one side or the other, or even double agents, but there never was anything substantial behind that.

"Oh please-"

Damian shook his head and headed to his next class. "Remember what she did to Malfoy next time you open your mouth!" He wondered how on earth Slytherin ended up being a mass of bullies and morons, and how exactly he'd ended up sorted into the house.

Potions class, Harry figured, was going to be terrible. His stepfather and Snape went to school together, and the Professor was caustic and unpleasant to nearly everyone to begin with… but it seemed that the waxy-haired man actually was trying his best to remain professional. The malice towards him was only thinly-veiled, but he might actually learn something here.

Professor Snape scowled as Vanora grabbed something out of Neville Longbottom's hand. "Ms. McKenzie, what are you doing?"

"Preventing an accident." She held up the bottle for Snape to see.

The crotchety potions professor raised an eyebrow, looking slightly less crotchety for a moment. "… indeed. That would have made Mr. Longbottom's cauldron erupt in chlorine gas."

"Yeah, I'd rather not be breathing a cloud of poison." Vanora set it down out of Neville's reach.

Snape nodded slightly. "Class, do not be a dunderhead like Mr. Longbottom here. Always read the warnings, check your labels, and never add something not called for; you are learning the fundamentals, not experimenting. And wear your safety gear, Malfoy!" He was relieved as Draco put his goggles back on.

Ron had been interested in the Magical Creatures class ever since he'd heard that Professor Hagrid had a dragon – sure, a young one, but how often do you get to see one up close?

"… what an ugly half-breed ba-" Draco yelped as the young Hungarian Horntail let out a little puff of flame in his direction – one which evidently had a good sense of hearing, and understood when Hagrid was being insulted.

Fortunately for him, the half-giant teacher was quick on the draw with extinguishing charms. Hagrid blew the slight wisp from the tip of his wand… in the back of his head, he wondered how close he'd gotten all those years ago to being framed and losing it. He mentally chastised himself for thinking of 'could-haves' like that, and focused on the class. "Norberta 'ere imprinted on me, and dat's the ONLY reason I'm raisin' 'er! Found 'er egg out in the forest, couldn't find 'er mum, and she 'atched on me. I'm gettin' help from Professor Kettleburn to do it right."

Norberta was a smart little dragon; that much both Vanora and Hermione had figured out. "… I wonder if they're like us…?" Vanora whispered to nobody in particular.

Vanora steadied herself. The troll was right outside the girls' bathroom… but one thing that kitsune knew how to do was hide. Too bad Hermione was there with her. The poor girl was very nearly breaking down in a panic, and understandably so; Vanora put her hand over her mouth. "Be. Quiet." the kitsune whispered, saying it into Hermione's ear, covering the sound up by speaking when the troll took a step.

After a very tense minute or so, she heard a barrage of stunning hexes that rendered the troll unconscious. Someone had done a headcount and noticed they weren't there; Hermione let out a small gasp as Vanora pulled her hand from her mouth. "Oh thank M-Merlin…!"

Professor McGonagall came over to the stall they'd crowded into, sighing in relief. "They're okay! You two gave us quite a scare."

Vanora got up, wobbling slightly. "How… how did a cave troll get into Hogwarts?"

"That is a very good question, Ms. McKenzie. And we intend to find out." McGonagall helped Hermione stand. "To be absolutely clear, neither of you are in any sort of trouble. I'll escort you to the infirmary, just to be on the safe side."

Harry smiled like a loon as he tore open his first present. While his stepdad had said his new broom was an 'early Christmas present', apparently he had something else to give him.

…

Merry Christmas, Harry! While your dad entrusted this to me, I figure it's about time you get it. It should help you stay out of trouble (hint).

Love, Sirius.

PS: No I don't know why it still works after all this time.

…

Harry gaped. An invisibility cloak! And it was very invisible too. "Oh wow…! My dad had this?"

Ron looked incredulous. "… shouldn't it have gone opaque by now?"

"Maybe it's… really high quality?" Hermione offered.

Vanora was enraptured by it for a bit, then got her bearings back. "Probably not, if it's a traditional one. I think my dad said there's some invisibility charms that can stay in effect for hundreds of years." She looked at her card; it was a bit of a simple one, really.

…

Merry Christmas, little kit! I figured it was about time you got some of these.

Love, mum and dad

PS: They are registered, so no magic outside of school. Sorry.

…

The kitsune was a little confused, tearing open the present… and grinning like a lunatic as she pulled out a long string of sandalwood beads, carved with arcane runes. "Meditation beads! Neat!"

Hermione looked over. "What's so neat about those?"

Vanora took them out, wrapping them around her wrist. "Let's see if I remember how mum does this… there." She pointed to the card and made a motion. "Wingardium Leviosa!" The levitation spell worked, causing the card to hover upwards. "It's a focus! Kinda like a wand, except less obvious and has issues with certain spells that really need one."

Ron was enchanted. "Your mum uses them?"

"Yeah, but she also can use a few spells without anything." Vanora remembered when her mom – without a focus, words, or even a motion – countered and dispelled one of her accidental magic jinxes; she knew her dad could do that too. One of these times she had to learn that, it seemed like it could really come in handy.

Vanora frowned as she noticed Harry, Ron, and Hermione sneaking out under Harry's invisibility cloak. They were good, sure, but they were kids; she was a kid too, but she was also a kitsune, and they hadn't noticed her. What are they UP to? She hadn't done this yet on school grounds, and it was still a bit tricky for her, but this was as good a time as any. She shrank down rapidly, hands and feet becoming paws as she went fully fox, glancing about as she slipped out behind them – keeping her distance. They were doing a very good job of sneaking around, that was for sure.

And then they entered that third-floor hallway. Amaterasu Okami! They're going to get killed! She scampered off as fast as she could; she had to get someone's attention!

Minerva McGonagall was not one to be surprised, but Vanora running toward her in the middle of the night was definitely out of the ordinary. "What are you doing, young lady?" she asked kindly, recognizing that the girl was panicked.

"They went to the third floor hall! The forbidden one!"

"Who?!"

"Harry and Ron and Hermione! I saw them sneaking out and followed them! I can deal with detention but they're gonna get themselves killed!" The foxlike girl was almost hyperventilating.

Minerva McGonagall recognized something in that young girl; instead of trying to stop them – which would have likely failed – she'd gone out of her way to get help. Bravery tempered with knowing limits and responsibility… clearly more brave than responsible, though. "Come with me. We're getting the Headmaster!"

Vanora shook her head as she came into the infirmary the next day. "… you bunch are morons. Brave, but morons."

Ron stared daggers at her from the infirmary bed. "What would you have done, smarty-pants?" he muttered.

"I'd have still gone after it… after making sure Dumbledore knew. You are so, SO lucky that… bastard didn't land a killing curse or something!" Vanora swearing made everyone's head turn; they also noticed Sirius standing in the doorway. "You had ZERO idea what you were getting into and only got out because you bunch are the luckiest feckers I've ever seen!"

Sirius Black smiled; apparently, Vanora hadn't noticed him enter. "Language." His smile became a grin as Vanora went white as a sheet; he walked over, grabbing a chair along the way. "Points for calling him what he was, though." He put a case of butterbeers down on the nearby end-table before sitting down himself. "Now, you lot are still in trouble, but I can't exactly complain that much after what I got up to back in the day." He handed one out to each of them, including Vanora. "But she's right, that wasn't the smartest thing you've done, and you got yourselves neck deep in some very real and very lethal danger."

Vanora looked skyward for a moment. "Thank Amaterasu, someone's talking sense…" she stage-whispered.

Hermione sighed. "Like anybody would've believed us…"

Sirius, for once, looked deadly serious. "Dumbledore absolutely would have, miss Granger. As, I imagine, most any Professor… except maybe Snape."

"Indeed, I very much would have believed you, miss Granger." Dumbledore walked in, looking a little frazzled. "Miss McKenzie here seems rather wiser than most first-years… reaction to slurs notwithstanding."

Vanora took a swig of butterbeer, leaning against the wall a bit. "I'm never going to live that down, am I?"

Dumbledore noted that she had a resemblance to some of the Marauders back in the day – though she definitely respected him more than they did. "It made quite the impression, though I suspect it will fade over the summer."

Sirius' eyes narrowed. "I haven't actually heard the details of that. What did he call your father, Vanora?" he asked.

"He called my dad a manwhore and a… mudblood."

Sirius Black looked VERY displeased. "I can understand why I'm only hearing about this now. Harry had mentioned a 'slur', but I'd expected… well, something more canine-related."

Vanora rolled her eyes. "Oh, he called me a 'bitch' too. Told him to be more original and just walked away." She swore Sirius looked like he wanted to strangle his butterbeer.

Harry coughed a bit. "So, um… am I grounded?"

Sirius calmed down slightly and looked to his stepson. "Yes. For two days. You still did good, Harry, you just need to be smarter about it. And try not get into confrontations with dark wizards that are way out of your league."

Ron groaned. "… mum's gonna kill me…" he mumbled.

Sirius gave Ron a sympathetic look; nothing could stop Molly Weasley when she was on a tear. "I'll try to get her to calm down a little once she stops lecturing, but no promises."

Dumbledore had, to everyone but Sirius' surprise, picked up a bottle of Butterbeer for himself; he cleared his throat to get their attention. "If I may? I propose a toast: to understanding your limits, and knowing when to push past them."

They could all agree to that.

A/N: And that's the first year! This grew quite a lot in the writing – I was thinking I'd end with maybe 2k words. That said, I'm aiming to keep this short and sweet; by extension, a lot of the canon Cast Herd are going to be out-of-focus. My answer to what happens to them is just that they follow roughly their canon paths, adjusted here and there.

Killing the House Cup is the beginnings of change. Not everything is going to be undone with a short bit of backstory and a sweeping motion; some of it will take time.

And if anyone is concerned that this is going to become OC/Harry, no, I've got something entirely different in the cards for Vanora. Besides, she'd only show interest in him if he turned into a girl, and this isn't that kind of fanfic.

Special thanks to Lambda for giving me the reason Muggle-Repelling Charms are failing. This isn't hugely important yet, but will be important background information later.