This was just nifty. I appreciated the idea of 'putting the safety on' just ahead of the trio in the first year, though he might have actually had McGonagall assisting him in some way. More importantly, I would think keeping Harry and Riddle apart would have been the smarter plan, but this works as a 'had to shoot from the hip' answer to the argument.
I love the 'generic rebellious girlfriend'- it puts a nice bow on the interchangeable pairing situation in non-Harmony Independent!Harry fics.
Some mention should be made about the times Albus was away from the castle and unable to aid Harry directly, which would be neatly summed up as "Harry, I actually am a busy man even without you to worry about."
As for the final two words: it's either "Teach me." or "Obliviate us." For some reason, that moment reminds me of the first Men in Black movie, but it arrives too fast in the story- if you edit it, spend a couple paragraphs where Harry mulls it over.
Just my thoughts. Thanks for writing this.
Author's response
I don't check into this site that often, but I just saw this review and wanted to say thanks!