Albus often found himself wishing that he could thank whichever former Headmaster or -mistress it was that had come up with the idea to have a chime sound in the Head's office and private quarters whenever the correct password was given to the gargoyle guarding the entrance below. Of course, he could always thank them indirectly by conveying his gratitude to the appropriate portrait, but no less than five of them had claimed in the past the distinction of being the first to implement it for their former selves and Albus had never been able to get to the bottom of the matter. In any case, it was exceedingly useful to have the extra minute's warning so he could put aside whatever he was currently working on, or return to his office from his attached chambers if need be.

This advantage was occasionally further compounded by the tendency of the portraits of the castle to gossip like a gaggle of maiden aunts, keeping Albus up to date on the goings on in the castle that he was not directly present for. Well, not like Aunt Annabelle who, from what Albus recalled of her, had been a rather shy woman who had kept to herself, but he had met a fair number of other maiden aunts in his time and the comparison did seem reasonably apt. Former Headmaster Vulpus had even confessed to using the portraits as his own personal spy network on the students, though Albus couldn't for the life of him imagine why he should care which young woman's heart Jason Morgan had broken this week - though he did sometimes wonder if Mr. Morgan realized his life was being treated as a soap opera by the castle's bi-dimensional inhabitants - or when Vulpus could have possibly found the time to keep up with it all. Of course, by all accounts Vulpus had been a less than exemplary Headmaster, and Albus supposed it would be easier to find the time to get up to things you weren't supposed to be doing when you didn't care about accomplishing the things you were. Still, in general the portraits did a good job keeping Albus abreast of the important issues while keeping their own noisy interests out of it.

What all this meant was that when Severus barged through his office door without so much as a knock, Albus was sitting calmly at his desk waiting, unsurprised by his sudden appearance and already somewhat appraised as to what he was here about.

"I told you this would happen," Severus snarled as he came in.

Albus raised his eyebrows in a look of mild surprise. "Did you? I remember a well-made point about not rewarding his misbehaviour in flying lessons - which is why he also served a detention for the incident - and I remember thinking that there was maybe some, well-justified as it turns out, worry that Slytherin might lose the Quidditch Cup this year, but I recall no mention of the possibility of Harry's broom going crazy and trying to buck him off when you raised your objections over my giving Harry special dispensation to join the team as a first year. Perhaps you could be a bit clearer next time."

"I was referring to the incomprehensible decision you made to keep Quirrell on staff this year," Severus corrected. "Especially after the incident on Halloween."

If Albus was surprised by this abrupt departure from the topic he had been expecting, he didn't show it. "Despite the general ineptitude of the planning of that entire episode" - given how much more time it must have taken to sneak out of the castle unnoticed, track down a full-grown troll, capture it, and sneak it back into the castle unnoticed than he could have ever possibly hoped to gain in the confusion of the staff trying to track down a troll roaming the halls, Albus could only assume that Quirinus had guessed, correctly, that Albus had placed wards to alert him when someone reached his as of yet incomplete defences around the Stone, and believed, incorrectly, that Albus would be to distracted trying to chase down the troll to notice or care when those wards went off - "he was able to keep from leaving any definitive evidence that he was responsible for it." Albus knew that he was for a certainty, especially given that Quirinus's own defence for the stone was yet another troll, a sloppiness that very well might have made Rowena Ravenclaw cry with shame at the lack of thought from one of her own House had she known, but he lacked anything that could be considered real proof.

"While Quirinus may not be the best Defence Against the Dark Arts professor one could hope for under ideal circumstances, under these circumstances..." Albus trailed off. Having worked through thirty-four different professors in the same number of years would likely have him sorting through the dregs and calling in favours by now even if it hadn't managed to scare off most of the more promising candidates. "Aside from his thus far unprovable attempts to steal the stone, the only complaint I can level against him is the sudden surge in his meekness this year, and a lack of confidence is hardly a fire-able offense."

"What about attempting to murder a student, is that a ‘fire-able offense?'" Severus asked silkily, and Albus found himself half out of his chair before he realized he had moved.

With a slow deliberateness, Albus made himself sit back down. If Harry were still in any danger, and there was no doubt in Albus's mind that Harry was the student in question, then Severus would hardly be here chatting with Albus; at most he might have paused to send a Patronus to come fetch Albus before diving in to save Harry. "Perhaps you better tell me the whole story."

It was fairly short in the telling, Severus noticing Harry's broom suddenly behaving oddly, leading to a curse and counter-curse struggle between Severus and Quirinus that concluded with Harry being completely bucked off his broom. Luckily, Severus's efforts meant enough time had passed for other people to notice Harry's plight and as soon as he fell from the broom Madam Hooch had grabbed him mid-air with a hover charm. The boy had then drifted gently into the arms of the Weasley twins circling directly below him before revealing that he had somehow caught the Snitch in his mouth during all the pandemonium. However, Albus suspected the incident had seemed interminably long for those living it, and, since it had concluded relatively happily even without his involvement, Albus had to ashamedly admit to some selfish relief that he hadn't been present for it.

"Well, that certainly is cause for concern," Albus said once Severus was done.

"Cause for concern?" Severus repeated incredulously. He wasn't actually foaming at the mouth, Albus noticed with some disappointment since that would brought his number of looks up to a nice round 25. Ah well, Severus had been ever so much more lively since Harry had reappeared and Albus held out hope that they would get all the way up to thirty by year's end. "A professor at this school, one who is almost certainly in league with one of the former Death Eaters if not the Dark Lord himself, has tried and very nearly succeeded in killing Harry, the bloody Boy-Who-Lived, and you think it's just cause for concern?"

"Under other circumstances it might be cause for full-on alarm, but as it is I think you're blowing things a little out of proportion." Albus said calmly. "While admit that this latest attack on Harry is compelling evidence, we do not as yet have any proof that Quirinus is working on Voldemort's behalf or that Voldemort is even still alive. And while I understand that this episode has been quite upsetting for you," - an accusation that Severus made no attempt to deny, which was as good admitting to it. How delightful! - "you know as well as I that Harry was in no real danger of dying because of it. Even if he had fallen off his broom completely unnoticed by the other players, Madam Hooch, and the faculty in the stands, the wards on the pitch wouldn't have let him get away with anything more than a couple of broken bones." There were parents that argued that those wards should be strengthened to the point the children couldn't get hurt at all while playing, especially the Muggle parents who had yet to fully grasp how what would be considered major injuries to them were fairly trivial in a world with healing magic, but as the majority of the parents of the children who actually played were appalled by the notion - trying to gain an advantage by getting your opponents roughed up a bit being a time-honoured tradition in Quidditch - the wards stayed as they were.

"Additionally, I have to say I would find Quirinus's plots far more worrisome if they weren't so consistently ill-conceived, ill-thought out, and ill-planned. Their execution leaves something to be desired too, I think."

"I grant you that his actions have lacked a certain degree of cunning, or even general intelligence, but I find the foolish adversary to be far more worrisome than the cunning one," Severus countered a sentiment that Albus judged to be so un-Slytherin, that it wrapped right back around again on itself. "A cunning adversary you might be able to outthink, but a foolish one you have no hope of predicting."

"Perhaps equally worrisome," Albus conceded. "At any rate, firing him is simply not an option at this point."

"He tried to kill Harry!" Severus said.

"An action for which we have no evidence save your word," Albus rebutted.

"Are you saying you believe me to be lying?" Ah, look number 16: it had the outward appearance of number 7 ‘How dare you doubt me,' but this version was merely a thin veneer masking real hurt underneath.

"Have I ever, since the night you first came to me seeking help, given you cause to believe that I doubt your competence or loyalty?" Albus asked gently. He let the question hang in the air for a moment, and while Severus offered no verbal response, Albus saw his message had gotten through when some of Severus's pain, though not all for Albus suspected it may well be the work of a lifetime making up for the ways in which he had failed this man in his boyhood, receded. "If you say Quirinus is to blame for today's incident, then he is, but keep in mind that this is no light accusation you are making, and there are certainly people out there less inclined to believe your word than I. Furthermore, I may have been understating how very thin of ice I am on with the sheer number of Defence Against the Dark Arts professors I have gone through these past years. I do not believe I could get away with firing a well-respected professor who has been a member of my staff for years immediately after he took the post on nothing but the word of a man who is, please excuse my bluntness Severus, less than well-respected in the Wizarding World, not without some severe consequences. Not to mention the very real concern as to whether or not dismissing Quirinus will put a stop to the attempts both on Harry's life and to steal the stone."

"It would be enough to stop Quirrell himself, but not whoever is pulling his strings," Severus stated, and on the matter of the likely actions of Voldemort and his followers, such as they remained, Albus had to agree with Severus as the expert. It need not be said that in that case it would be far safer for all to keep Quirinus, the foe they knew about and could monitor, rather than risk the introduction of some new mole they were unaware of.

"I'm still not pleased with the situation," Severus said with a piercing glare that seemed to suggest the whole thing was Albus's fault, "but since there is no point in sitting around wishing, rest assured I will be keeping a very close eye on both Quirrell and Harry."

"I would expect no less," Albus replied. Severus then took his leave looking less incensed, if not any happier, than he had been when he came in.

That left only the question of what Albus was going to do now. He had originally been keeping quiet about his suspicions regarding Quirinus, believing that any help that he might have received to be far outweighed by the possibility that Quirinus might then be tipped off to the fact Albus was on to him. What was that old saying, two people can keep a secret if one is dead? A bit extreme, perhaps, but it certainly underscored the prudence of discretion. But now there was more than just the Philosopher's Stone at risk should Quirinus succeed, Harry's life hung in the balance as well. While it would still be too risky to inform all the rest of the staff of Quirinus's duplicity, Albus trusted Minerva, and indeed all his Heads of Houses, absolutely, so perhaps he should at least alert them of the true danger. On the other hand, if Quirinus not only had no compunctions about hurting Harry, but actively wanted him dead, then the potential consequences should he discover that he had been found out and panicked were also exponentially higher. Clearly, the matter required a good deal more consideration; the possible repercussions of the making the wrong choice meant this was not a decision to make lightly. In the meantime, there was no harm in advising all his staff to keep a closer watch on Harry, if he even needed to after the blatant public display today.

Above all, Albus must make sure he did not fail Harry again.