AN: Once again, an early chapter because I'll be out of town on Monday.

-hp-hp-hp-hp-hp-hp-hp-hp-hp-

It was Alduin's firm belief that all was not well at Hogwarts this year, and with that belief, he headed to the first Quidditch match of the season.

He'd told Dumbledore that he simply wanted to see his cousin fly in his first match. He did not think the old man fell for it, but it was allowed, even though it wasn't usually done, and so he couldn't quite do anything against Alduin's presence.

Not that Alduin had given him much of a chance to protest.

Quidditch was a dangerous sport, and besides a prime opportunity for accidents, it was also the occasion when the entire school gathered. There were many suspicious things going on this year, and after that troll, Alduin was not taking any risks. Dumbledore had been unable to give him any assurances, or any explanation beyond 'someone apparently wishes to harm the students of this school', and if that someone decided to try that again by releasing Stymphalian birds among the players or something like that, Alduin wanted to be present to make sure that Harry, as the youngest player, didn't become the first victim. The idea of his cousin playing worried him enough even without any particular danger – Quidditch could be brutal – and this tipped the scales.

He was very glad for this approach the moment Harry's broom started to jerk uncontrollably in the air.

He had taken the trouble of finding Quirrell in the stands before the match started, and now his eyes went directly to the man. Sure enough, he was jinxing the broom. Furiously, Alduin's eyes snapped back to Harry as he started muttering the all-purpose counter. He needed someone else here, someone who would get rid of Quirrell, otherwise this threatened to be a stalemate. Especially as he didn't know what jinx precisely was being used, so his efforts were weaker than they could have been. They could be at it, jinxing and anti-jinxing, indefinitely, or he could simply lose. He really should have taken Alexandra with him.

Or at least he had thought so, but it turned out to be ridiculously easy. Harry's broom was right again with almost no effort on his part. Could Quirrell be that weak? Impossible. No one who was even capable of jinxing a Nimbus at this distance could be overpowered that easily, especially not by an all-purpose counter. Which left only one other option – someone else was onto Quirrell.

He scanned the teacher stands quickly. No Dumbledore there, and McGonnagal didn't even seem to have noticed what was going on, but...yes! Right there, Severus Snape was fixing Harry's broom with his eyes, muttering under his breath.

Relief flooded Alduin. He gave another boost to the counter and started to work his way through the stands to have a clear shot at Quirrell from behind. Pausing several times to add more boosts, he was finally there, and with a non-verbal stunner from close distance, sent Quirrell out of consciousness. Then he returned to his seat before the commotion even started, and calmly watched Harry catch the Snitch.

He congratulated his ward once he was free of his friends, but did not attempt to keep him from celebrating with them. Instead, he headed to Professor Snape's office.

"Enter," came his voice from the inside once Alduin knocked.

"Good morning, Professor Snape."

Snape seemed surprised to see him – apparently, he hadn't noticed him in the stands. No wonder, his attention had been otherwise occupied. "Mr. Travers. Please, take a seat. What can I do for you?"

"I will attempt not to take up too much of your time, but I wanted to thank you on behalf on my ward."

Snape kept his face impassive. "I am a teacher at this school," he said. "The well-being of students is my responsibility."

Well, at least he learned from their last meeting and was not treating Alduin like an idiot pretending not to know what he was talking about. "And yet," the younger man said, "you were the only teacher intervening."

Snape's lip curled. "With Dumbledore not there, I'm the only one who knows enough abut Defence to do so."

"You are probably right, sad as it is, but I looked them over when I was looking for the source of the counter. None of them even noticed there was something amiss. Your presence of mind might well have saved Harry's life, and it certainly made it possible for me to deal with Quirrell. I wouldn't have dared to take my eyes off Harry for a moment otherwise, and I had no one with me to signal to take action. So, thank you. Do you know what Dumbledore is about to do with Quirrell?"

Snape's expression of disdain deepened. "As far as I understand the plan," he said, "he is going to pretend nothing happened."

"I see." Alduin tapped his crossed legs with his index finger, thinking. "Well, do you believe the threat of pulling Harry out of Hogwarts would do the trick?"

"Can you make it convincing?"

"With a troll, a Cerberus and an attack on Harry's life? Oh yes."

"I see Mr. Potter has gone exploring, and informed you of his findings," Snape sneered. "No doubt under that cloak of his father's."

"Not at all. I sent him to listen at the forbidden door, and then I found an excuse to get to school and see what is beyond it. I was not about to leave Harry in school with unknown danger."

Snape's sneer cleared and he nodded thoughtfully.

"Anyway," Alduin continued, "I have the great advantage of not being a Gryffindor. That means that, one, Dumbledore doesn't trust me and will do a lot to prevent me from homeschooling Harry, and two, it will be believable to him that I am so scared for Harry' life that I would refuse to leave him here. You see, I do not have the bravery required to deal with this." He paused. "Incidentally, he is right, insofar as risking someone else's life might be called bravery."

Snape nodded again. "I warn you, however," he said, "that whatever you threaten him with and whatever concessions you manage to gain, he will not let Quirrell leave the school."

"Why? What is so important about him?"

Snape's face was stone once more. "I couldn't possibly say."

Alduin frowned, thinking fast. "I was inclined to see the three-headed dog and Quirrell as unrelated," he said slowly, "but not any more. It is a trap, isn't it? The dog is a decoy, and behind it, whatever Quirrell is looking for is hidden, and once he gets there, the trap will spring." He paused. "But no, there is more. If it was only this, there would be no reason for you not to tell me, and no reason for Dumbledore to be so elaborate. He could simply capture the man and give him some Veritaserum and then it would be off to Azkaban with him. What is behind this?" Alduin got up and began pacing in front of Snape's desk. "It is something very secret, and someone Dumbledore cannot capture or imprison easily..." Suddenly, he froze and turned to Snape very slowly. "Riddle," he said. "He's in cahoots with Riddle, isn't he?"

Snape didn't move a muscle, but there was a slight hint of confirmation in his eyes.

Alduin raised his eyebrows. "Has Dumbledore gone fuckin' crazy?" He asked conversationally.

"I confess I have been asking myself the same question this year," Snape replied.

Alduin took a deep breath. "All right, so this is what I'm going to do. I'm going to threaten to pull Harry out of school unless Dumbledore puts a time-frame on this thing. Let's say he informs Quirrell that the thing will only be here till the end of November. Then Riddle will make a move, and it will all be over and done with, Dumbledore will be happy and Harry will no longer be in mortal danger. How does that sound?"

"Prepare for some hard bargaining, that is all I can say to that."

Alduin's eyes gleamed. "A good thing I'm a pro."

He headed do Dumbledore's office directly afterwards, and travelling up the stairs, he raised the strongest Occlumency shields he was capable of. This was not going to be easy.

"Oh, Mr. Travers," Dumbledore welcomed him, his eyes twinkling. "Back in my office so soon?"

"Given what happened at today's match, you can hardly be surprised to see me," Alduin replied, not bothering to hide the hardness in his voice.

"Oh yes, the malfunction of Harry's broom was very unfortunate."

"Please, spare me. We both know it was no malfunction. I am here with a proposal, Dumbledore. Unless you want me to pull Harry out of Hogwarts, you will tell Quirrell that whatever it is you are hiding here will be gone by the end of November."

The twinkle was gone from Dumbledore's eyes. "Surely you would not take Harry from his friends?" He asked.

"To save his life? I certainly would."

"First from his relatives, then from his friends...this could be made to look very bad to the wizarding public, Mr. Travers."

So that is the way you want to play it, Alduin thought. Not well chosen at all. "Not as bad as reading about the security at Hogwarts this year," he said. "It is strange, isn't it, how no articles about that appeared in the Prophet yet? And in case that wouldn't be enough, I could always have Harry give a single interview about the way his relatives treated him when he still lived with them. I assure you that would look very bad."

Dumbledore's eyes flashed. "Would you really risk anti-Muggle moods over this?"

"Why not? You seem to be perfectly willing to risk the lives of hundreds of students at this school."

They stared at each other for a long time, unflinching, before Dumbledore sighed. "I need at least until the end of January to finish the trap."

Alduin stared at him. "You mean to tell me," he said, "that you let this game start without the trap being finished?" He shook his head. "Sometimes I think you have your little gang of followers under the Imperius. There is no other way they could ignore your blunders. Until the end of the year, and that is my final offer. If both Quirrell and the forbidden corridor are not gone when Harry returns after Christmas, I'm pulling him out of here. Good day to you."

Internally fuming, he returned to the dungeons to inform Snape of his bargain with Dumbledore. "I do not want to offend you by implying you wouldn't do it in any case," he said, "but I still cannot help but ask you to keep an eye on Harry. Two eyes, if you can. I know you have enough work of your own, and I will warn him about Quirrell, and to stay out of trouble, but still."

Snape gave him a neutral look. "I will see what I can do," he said.

"Thank you," Alduin replied, and went in search of some Gryffindors that could bring him Harry from the common room.

He walked with his ward to the gates of Hogwarts once more, and this time, their conversation was even more serious. Alduin told Harry everything he knew. Then, he stopped to look Harry directly in the eyes and said with solemnity: "So first, Harry, just tell me: do you want to leave Hogwarts?" He didn't want that to happen, not only because of his deal with Dumbledore but also because he was afraid that it would somehow tip Riddle off that something was wrong, but he was not quite callous enough to ignore that Harry just had an accomplice of a wizard who once tried to kill him try it again. Trauma of this scale should not be just ignored.

"I thought you made a deal with Dumbledore saying I wouldn't," Harry replied.

"I did," Alduin agreed, "but I was working with the assumption that you'd not want to, in fact. If you don't want to stay in a school containing a teacher who wants to kill you – and even saying that sentence is so incredibly absurd I can hardly do so with a straight face, because I mean, who would? - then I'll take you home with me right now. It seems to me that there is not immediate danger, that Quirrell only tried his luck because he thought he could get away with it without anyone being the wiser, that he won't make a direct attempt...and please believe me that if I did not think so, I would absolutely pull you out without trying to get any compromise out of Dumbledore...but this is, first and foremost, your choice. It's your life that's in danger. If you don't want to stay, just say the word and you'll go back to being homeschooled immediately."

Harry considered it for a moment. "No, I'll stay. I think you're right, if Quirrell just wanted to kill me, he'd have done so a long time ago. I've been here over two months. And I like being at Hogwarts. I'll be with my friends or in the common room, and there are no more Quidditch matches until Christmas. It's going to be fine, I'll be safe."

Alduin nodded. "Well then. If you're sure. There should still be some changes, though. Ideally, you would no longer go to his classes, but as frustrating as it is, we really cannot afford to tip him off that something is wrong. But skip as often as you think you can without it becoming obvious. It is only six weeks more. Never be alone with him, Harry, that is the basic rule. Warn your friends, too, those you can trust. You will need them to make sure you are not left with him. I know it is a bother, but it would be best if they accompanied you everywhere. As I said, it is only for six weeks, and this is no joking matter. Give me your word you will be as careful as possible, or I will pull you out no matter what you say. Your life is more important."

"Yes, cousin," Harry replied, his eyes wide. "I promise."

"Very well. Be careful about leaving the castle, too. We do not know where Riddle is hiding, but Forbidden Forest is the most likely place. Do not as much as approach it."

"I understand."

"Good. I will be calling you every evening from now on. Again, I know it might be a bother, but I want to know you are safe, and I will also be asking you lots of detailed questions about your days, to see if there is anything off going on. I ask for your understanding."

"It's fine." Harry smiled.

"Good bye then. Take care."

"Good bye, cousin!"

Harry was thoughtful for the rest of the day. It was terrifying that a teacher at his school tried to kill him, and that he was in league with the wizard who killed his parents, but it was an amazing feeling that someone was looking out for him so much. It was a little disappointing that Dumbledore clearly wasn't one of those people, but his cousin was doing so much for him! And Professor Snape, in spite of really not liking his father and being so mean to him in class! Alduin warned him not to say anything to the strict teacher and not to change his behaviour towards him in any way, and Harry resolved to do his best, but it was hard not to feel fuzzy inside knowing that the Professor saved his life and almost broke Dumbledore's confidence to help protect him. It was also difficult to reconcile it to the way he acted in class, especially towards Neville, whom he still criticized just as harshly for his badly prepared ingredients and unimpressive potions that resulted from them. No class went by without Neville losing at least some points, to Harry's frustration.

He told his friends about Quirrell's attempt to kill him, and they were scandalized on his behalf, and he had to talk Neville out of writing to his grandmother. In the end, he convinced him by saying that if his cousin thought his grandmother needed to know, he would tell her.

They sat in the common room and talked well into the night, but it was not over yet. Coming to his bed, Harry found a mysterious package on it. He called the others, and fearfully, he poked it with his wand. Nothing happened. It seemed to be something soft, perhaps some kind of fabric.

Harry burned off the string with his wand and unwrapped it, still without touching it. The material was silvery and nothing like Harry had seen before, but Neville gasped. "It's an invisibility cloak!" He said, astonished.

"Wow," Ron commented. "Who sent it to you?"

Harry poked it again and a note fell out. It said: "Your father left this in my possession before he died. It is time it was returned to you. Use it well." There was no signature.

Harry thought for a moment, then grabbed the cloak and the note and dashed into the bathroom. "Sorry, I need to make a private call," he called to Neville and Ron.

Once there, he took out the mirror and called his cousin's name. It took a while before he appeared, and he looked a little dishevelled. "What is it, Harry?" He asked urgently.

"I think I just received one of the Deathly Hallows."

"What?"

"I came to my room and there was the Invisibility Cloak, tied in a bundle. There was this note in it, too," and Harry quoted its contents.

"Hmm...may I see it?"

Harry showed it at the mirror.

Alduin frowned. "Could you send me the note by owl, Harry? I want to make sure, but I'm almost certain it's from Dumbledore."

"But...why is Dumbledore giving it to me only now? Or just now? And why did my father leave it with him at all?"

"As for your last question, I would say that Dumbledore almost certainly knew it was a Hallow, and he wanted to examine it in detail. If he really has the wand, then perhaps he hoped he could collect the whole set. And as for why he is giving it to you now...well. There may be many reasons, but given the note, I am afraid there is something he wants you to do with it. I do not like it at all." He frowned.

There was a pause, and then Harry said: "I want to find out what it is."

"Harry..."

"No, really. Dumbledore's behaviour in this all has been strange, and I still feel I should try to give him the benefit of the doubt. Given that my parents liked him so much. Please?"

"We've just talked about how you should never be alone, and you want to-"

"But Quirrell won't see me!"

Alduin gave him a long, intent look, then sighed. "Fortunately," he said, "you will be very well protected under this cloak. Truly no one can find you when you have it on and you don't want them to. But Harry, be careful. As soon as you see Quirrell, just get away, all right? And no approaching that corridor."

"All right. What should I be looking for?"

"Anything strange or out of the ordinary. New rooms, rearranged rooms, new corridors, tapestries, strange objects...it can be anything. Do not worry, Dumbledore will bring it to your attention in time, even though he might take a while. But...no. I forced his hand, and he is operating on tight schedule now. It shouldn't take too long. Just promise me to be careful, and to call me before you do or touch anything!"

"I will."

Alduin severed the connection with a very troubled expression and with an order to report back to him every time he returned from his night wanderings.