A/N: It's here! And only a few months this time! ^_^'

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[Present]

Edward marched swiftly through Hogwarts with the aura of a fiery tempest, Severus trailing more discreetly behind. More students were awake now and beginning to fill the halls, skipping out of the way in surprise when they saw their angry alchemy professor heading their way.

Edward paid them no mind, his thoughts set on the single task of appeasing his and his Stone's panic.

'Protect, protectprotectSAVE THEM!'

"Bertie Bott's!" Edward snapped at the gargoyle outside of the headmaster's office, the stone beast lazily growling and scooting out of the way. Marching up the stairs, Edward did not bother to knock, instead kicking the door open with a strangely desperate vengeance. "Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore!"

"Edmu-Edward, I will admit, I never expected to see you in my office this early, but I must insist that you please kno-" The Professor sat at his desk, eyebrows raised, and head still bearing a royal purple nightcap. Edward rudely interrupted, slapping the newspaper down atop his desk.

"Explain this! How did someone find out the vault number?"

Albus reached for the paper, grasping it in his bony fingers and adjusting his glasses accordingly. To Edward's satisfaction, he caught a brief flicker of shock cross the elderly man's face before it was quickly smoothed over by his cool countenance. The headmaster daintily placed the paper back down with a sigh.

"A successful break-in to Gringott's… It seems our adversary is more determined than we thought. Is the Stone currently safe?"

"You tell me." Crossing his arms, Edward frowned impatiently. "Does Nicholas know of the plan? What were you thinking? How was the information exchanged? And between you and Van Hohenheim too, at that! How much of a security breach do we have?!"

"...I understand your concerns all too well, Edward, and I will admit, I may have underestimated Voldemort's current influence."

"Really, now?

Albus held up a finger and continued, "It seems that our methods of communication may have been being tracked. Between Mr. Flamel and I, it was merely by owl. As for Sir Hohenheim… he and I have been in contact for several years. I made a personal visit to his home."

"I do not trust that man as far as I can throw him," Edward seethed, beginning to pace, "But he would not have revealed the Stone by himself. Your mail must have been intercepted in communications with Nicholas. What about the teachers? Did you even know of Quirrell's standing? He's been wandering the halls trying to find the Stone for weeks! A fucking death eater! Seriously, Albus? Did I teach you nothing?"

"No, you did not," Albus replied with the slightest hint of haughtiness. "I will admit, I missed the early warning signs with Quirrell. We were in desperate need of a Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher. However, now that he is in position, would it not be more revealing of ourselves to raise the alarm? We do not know how Voldemort is communicating to him, or how many more he has reached, and if he were to suddenly disappear, it may invite more trouble than we wish in his stead. At least here, we know where he is and can track his movements. For I can say with some confidence that this," he held up the newspaper, "Was of Quirrell's or someone equally reached by his request or doing. Voldemort is not strong enough to be communicating much more than this, nor has Severus, known for being one of his most loyal followers, been alerted upon. He has no body, and but a remnant of his soul left. I can nigh guarantee whomever is working for him is only Quirrell, or working directly through Quirrell"

"Be that as it may, might it be best practice to cease using his name? We all know that during the war that was but a flag for instant death. And if he is slowly gaining power, or talking to Quirrell, then what be the risks of keeping him in the castle, breaking our cover aside? For all we know, You-Know-Who may be residing in this castle at this very moment!"

"I believe that is where I may come into play." Severus finally spoke up. "For one, while your concerns are valid," he nodded at Edward, "If the name ban were put back in place, I would know immediately. However, I do think it wise to exercise caution for the general public. But, everyone already knows that Albus Dumbledore resides in Hogwarts. Two, Quirrell knows I am a death eater. I am perfectly capable of, shall we say, warming him up to some information sharing."

"Three," Albus spoke, "We should all keep an extra close eye on Harry. But do not make him aware. He may be in just as much danger as the philosopher's stone."

Severus looked like he swallowed a lemon. "Yes… Let us hope that the boy has enough sense to keep his head down, unlike someone I knew."

"Well," Dumbledore clapped his hands together, "Does that answer your questions?"

"No." Stated Edward, "No, I'm not done yet. What are we doing to stop Quirrell finding more information? He is already dangerously close to the source, and he is even helping make one of the traps! I don't call that a good idea. By the time your lovely pieces have been set up, he's going to know exactly where the stone is!"

"For now, I will pretend to be on his side and feed him wrong leads. The man is timid; simply me being aware of his presence has put him on edge, and when on edge, he is extremely sloppy. That stutter isn't completely from nowhere." Snape said with a self-satisfied tone.

"As for the rest, as I said, we must continue letting him believe he has a chance, if we wish to continue keeping a close eye on him. He will be one of the last putting his trap in line, meaning one of the first to be encountered. He will not have much chance to see the rest."

"But, if he has had a chance to break into your office as I have," Walking his fingers across the desk, Edward let his pacing take him around it to open a drawer, "Then he will thusly know the basic ideas of each puzzle and the order." Reaching into the drawer, he pulled out the list of puzzle ideas that he had peeked at ages ago. He made a face at it. "I will destroy this. If there are any other physical copies, you must get rid of them as well. You must stop thinking that Hogwarts is safe. It is never safe especially while the enemy resides in it." He lectured sharply, tearing the parchment to scraps and clapping them in-between his palms. The pieces burst into flames, and he let them turn to soot in his right hand. "Not one room."

"Your observations hold weight." Albus agreed grimly, "It seems our judgment has lapsed under the comforts of home. Thank you for the reminder. Severus, it sounds like Quirrell is in good hands. Please find out exactly how much more the professor knows than he should. We will also raise security measures at night. More patrols, although we will have to do our best to keep it subtle. Now, I do believe it is close to classtime and I still need to get properly dressed. Shall we?" Albus gestured to the door. Edward nodded, not feeling at ease, but slightly better at the reassurance of higher precautions. He and Snape turned to leave.

"Oh, and Edward?" Dumbledore called out before he was fully out the door, "Have you ever met an auror named Alastor Moody? I do believe you two would get along quite well."

"Fuck off. Damn wizards." Edward muttered too quietly to hear and closed the door.

It was with great self-restraint that Edward managed to make it to his classroom office without kicking a wall. His leg was already creaking dangerously from when he'd stamped it on the floor. It was almost funny; after six hundred years he'd never quite learnt to be as nice to his prosthetics as he should. He almost missed the wrenches to his head.

He had half a mind to send Nicholas a fucking howler, but with the possibility of mail being intercepted and the very nature of screaming letters it was an atrociously bad idea. Really, he should have just taken the stone and run the minute it crossed his fingertips, bargain with Albus be damned. But now that it was stuck in the mirror, he couldn't very well take off with it as much as he wanted to. Removing it was something he wasn't sure was even possible anymore.

"Hell to it all!" He muttered angrily towards himself. Stupid, stupid! It seemed like every turn he was taking was the wrong one, and now he had no choice but to eat the consequences once again.

Releasing a heavy sigh, Edward shuffled through his office for a cane. He'd have to suffer with it for the time being until he had time to fix his automail, which would likely involve removing the piece entirely. The souls in his chest writhed in discomfort and discontent. "I'm trying…" he murmured to them, equally disappointed but trying vainly to comfort.

Outside the room, he heard the quiet voices of students beginning to pour in and settle in the classroom seats. "One more round." He told himself. Grasping his cane firmly and taking a deep breath, he stepped out into the room, head held high.

"I'm telling you, I was there, Ron! I just know that the vault Professor Elric emptied was the one that got robbed!" Harry insisted as they walked back to the castle from Hagrid's hut, pockets filled kindly with unwanted rock cakes.

"I believe you," Ron affirmed for the second time, "But what was in that package? And who is desperate enough to try stealing it from Gringott's?"

"I don't know." Harry shrugged, "But when Professor Elric pulled it out of the vault, he got all pale and shaky and stuff. I thought he was going to be sick."

"That's gotta be some powerful dark magic artifact then," Ron said seriously, "My brother Bill's a curse breaker in Egypt. He's told me some terrible stories of evil stuff like that. It's not something you want to mess with."

"Then why would Hagrid and Professor Elric want it?"

"Beats me," Ron shrugged, "But Professor Elric is kind of a stick, isn't he? Seems like the type to get into some sketchy business."

"Yeah…" Harry frowned, "But I don't know, he really didn't seem happy about the package. I don't think he wanted anything to do with it. And there's no way Hagrid would help him do something evil. Maybe… maybe he knew it was going to get stolen so he was getting it a new hiding place?"

Ron nodded slowly, pondering. "Maybe. I wonder where would be more secure than Gringott's though? Maybe in Egypt, you think?"

Come morning, Harry still didn't have an answer. It was a chilly and rainy Saturday, and the boys didn't have much better to do than explore (and get very lost in) the castle. At some point, Ron had leaned against a tapestry and nearly tumbled through, which had subsequently led to them being even more lost (the passage the tapestry had been too tempting not to go through, but all they had found was a dark hallway and some spiderwebs).

Ron had screamed when a web scraped his hair and they burst out the other side of the secret tunnel, the red-headed boy frantically batting at his hair.

"There's nothing there!" Harry reassured lamely as his friend panicked.

"What's going on here?" In the middle of the panic, Harry and Ron had missed the tapping footsteps of Professor Elric rapidly approaching.

"Nothing!" Harry said, feeling guilty for he didn't know what. He eyed the silver Gothic cane that the professor wielded. Why did he have a cane?

"S-Spiders, professor!" Ron admitted, embarrassed and still smoothing down his hair with a shudder.

"Spiders?" Elric frowned, relaxing his shoulders a tad. Ron's ears turned red.

"I hate them…" he mumbled.

"There was spiderwebs." Harry added unhelpfully.

Shaking his head, Professor Elric leaned into his cane, slightly incredulous. "Spiders… I hate to break it to you, kid, but you're in an ancient castle. There is going to be spiders everywhere."

Ron paled.

"But," he waggled a finger, voice turning a little more gentle with Ron's apparent state, "if you stick to the main halls they are regularly cleaned. Should be pretty spider-free there. Now, care to tell me why you are so close to the forbidden 3rd floor corridor?"

"We, um, we got lost…" Harry admitted. Had they really wandered that far? He looked around the hallway where they stood, noting the fine layer of dust on the nearby suits of armor.

"We don't know where we are, I swear!" Ron added. "There was a secret passage…"

Elric pinched the bridge of his nose, seeming exasperated. "Yes, I can see that." He waved his cane toward the rumpled tapestry behind them. It was caught on the corner of the passageway. The two boys shuffled their feet guiltily.

"Well. You really ought to be more careful, should you not? Potter and… Weasley, was it? Never know where there might be more spiders lurking. Come, I will escort you back to civilization. And I never want to see you two dalliancing near the forbidden corridor again, hear? That shit's dangerous."

"Yes sir," they glumly replied. Harry felt immense relief they hadn't lost any house points from their accident, even though they had been sworn at, and glanced at his friend, who was looking at him in the same way.

"We never actually entered the corridor though, sir!" Harry defended belatedly. Ron elbowed him in the side.

"Close enough for me to care." Professor Elric disdainfully said, nudging them both in the legs with his cane. Now come on, git."

The two boys reluctantly let the professor herd them down the hall away from the spiderwebbed corridor, but Harry couldn't help but wonder a new thought.

"Professor… no-one ever actually said why the third floor corridor was forbidden… what's wrong with it?"

"Spiders. Giant hairy ones." The Professor said with such flat certainty that next to him, Ron nearly went white. "Don't think about it, you'll die a very painful death as your headmaster kindly explained during the beginning of semester speech. Here we are."

The boys found themselves in the suddenly familiar hallway of the alchemy classroom. "You two should know your way from here, yes?" The Professor frowned, leaning on his cane with a strange creak. The two boys nodded. "Good! Now, unless you want some surprise tutoring I recommend you take your recreational exploring elsewhere. Perhaps down some stairs. Take a hike outside. Climb a wall. I don't care. But don't let me see you near that corridor again or you'll have more to think about than a couple of spiders and sore ankles!" He waggled his cane threateningly for emphasis.

"Yes Professor!" Harry and Ron chirped nervously.

"C'mon, let's go." Ron murmured, plucking at Harry's sleeve when he didn't immediately part when Professor Elric turned away to unlock his classroom door.

Harry swallowed nervously, about to make his Saturday a whole lot worse. Thanks, curiosity.

"Actually Professor… can I take the tutoring?" Immediately, Ron shot him a look of are you insane? Elric simply stopped and raised one eyebrow.

"You said you'd tutor…" Harry retaliated Ron's look by stomping on his foot (don't make this worse!), innocently clasping his hands together behind his back.

Appraising him for a long moment, the Professor finally sighed. "Come inside." The door opened with a creak, and the blond man gestured for him to enter.

Harry looked at his friend for support as he followed the invitation, but Ron had not moved to follow. Instead, the redhead simply pursed his lips and scratched his hair. Fine. Alone, Harry entered the classroom.

Professor Elric did not move to follow Harry inside until he watched Ron walk away and disappear around the corner towards civilization. Finally, he left the doorway and closed the door with a quiet thunk that echoed forebodingly against the stone walls.

Harry was suddenly and distinctly reminded of one-one-one visits with the school principal he'd get regularly in public school for skipping classes. It hadn't been his fault that Dudley and his gang would force him to hide and miss lessons, but it had happened frequently. But the look in Professor Elric's eyes wasn't the exasperated and you're-going-to-be-suspended look that he expected from the principal. Instead, it was a strange glare that made Harry feel like the Professor could see right through him. He shifted uncomfortably.

"What questions did you have, Mr. Potter?" Elric shuffled over to his desk which was filled with a myriad of neatly organized jars and stationary and sat down, leaning his gaudy cane against the side of it.

"Oh. Um…" In his haste, Harry realized belatedly, he hadn't made a cover story for his surprise interrogation at all. "...I was wondering… could alchemy be used to create anything?"

"Were you listening in class?" Elric leaned his elbows on the desk, hand leaning against his cheek. "What kind of anything are you thinking about?"

"Well," Harry thought quickly, "you said alchemy is similar to transfiguration, right? Is there anything that alchemy can make that transfiguration can't?"

The Professor frowned. "...Yes. Alchemy makes its way with permanence. Transfiguration does not. In effect, everything alchemy makes is something that transfiguration cannot achieve and vice versa."

"But what about other things? …Bigger things?"

"Bigger?"

"More dangerous… things." Wilting under Elric's progressively sterner glare, Harry tried to hold his ground.

"What, exactly, are you getting at, Potter? Tell me honestly." Extremely displeased, Professor Elric laced his hands together, gazing sharply at Harry.

"The package from Gringotts," Harry blurted nervously, "It's an alchemy thing, isn't it? I think someone tried to steal it!"

For a moment, Elric looked stunned, then a litany of more unreadable emotions crossed his face. Finally, he sighed. "I suppose you read the newspaper today. Isn't that supposed to be too boring for you young folks?"

"I saw it at Hagrid's…" Harry admitted. Elric didn't look like he was about to hit him. Maybe he wasn't in trouble?

"For your information, it was not stolen. Nor should you need to worry about it any longer." the blond Professor told him smoothly.

"It's something bad, isn't it," Harry prodded, "Something dangerous."

"It is certainly something that is none of your, nor any students' business." He said firmly. "Now, if you don't have any questions about your actual homework, I suggest that you go off and do whatever you school kids do on a normal Saturday." Despite all of Elric's typical spice, Harry had never heard a tone so firm before. The conversation was obviously over.

"Yes, Sir," Harry acquiesced quickly, sensing danger, and booked it out of the room as casually as possible.

Ron was not far when Harry broke into a sprint after shutting the door behind him. In fact, he was just at the end of the long hallway.

"You're alive!" he said, "Are you mental?"

"It wasn't that bad, actually," Harry told him. Ron studied him dubiously.

"Wasn't that bad," he mocked, "So you run down the hallway like a ghost was chasing you?"

"Okay, okay, maybe I made him a little upset. I think. I asked about the package and he said it wasn't stolen."

"The newspaper told us that already." Ron moaned, "All that, and we didn't learn anything at all!"

"Maybe not anything new," Harry agreed, "But I think we can say for sure that that vault was the one broken into, and that Professor Elric knows who it is and is trying to keep it away from them."

"But then who tried to do the stealing?" Ron wondered. Harry shrugged.

"I have no idea."

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A/N: Ed, internally screaming: "Why didn't I just pull a Flamel and take the damn rock and run away?!"

Plot master, master of the plot: *rubs hands* Suffering :)

Also, as a side note, I don't know how much I will be digging into Harry's abuse at the hands of the Dursley's and co, but I don't like that JK mostly forgot about it unless it was being used for semi-comedic measure or plot convenience. This kid may be sassy and impertinent, and may think that shit was normal, but it is still going to affect feelings and thoughts and actions he has to some extent. If people would like a trigger warning for every one of these instances I am happy to oblige, but as it is still very mild (and may or may not stay that way, idk yet), and as this series already deals with generally dark subject matter, I have not felt the need to add one at the moment. Opinions?