"Chocolate Frog," said Minerva brusquely. The gargoyle rolled its stony eyes before stepping aside for her.

"Someone's in a foul mood," it muttered.

"You have no idea," she grumbled, stepping onto the ascending circular staircase. The new Defence professor had succeeded in unleashing chaos upon the school before the first day of term had even begun. The feast had ended abruptly after his dramatic (and in her opinion, ridiculous) entrance to the Great Hall, and she had needlessly wasted most of her evening rounding up missing students who had scattered throughout the castle, convinced that the school was under attack from You-Know-Who. It was a terrible start to the new year.

Once she had succeeded in getting her remaining students safely into bed, she had headed straight for the headmaster's office to discuss the matter further. As the ascending staircase came to a stop at the entrance door, she gave it a brisk knock and entered before waiting for a reply. Dumbledore sat in his usual spot at the handsome oak desk, stooped low as he shuffled through large piles of parchment.

"Good evening, Minerva," he said brightly without looking up from his paperwork. "Please, come in."

It wasn't unusual to find the headmaster awake at such a late hour; he often worked late into the night, yet he always rose early every morning to join the students and staff for breakfast before coming back to his office to continue catching up on the endless stream of paperwork and meetings. While she had always admired his work ethic, she had on occasion wondered if the man ever had time to sleep. She thought the position of headmaster at the school was an unenviable one and wasn't sure if she would ever be fit for the job herself. But she wasn't here to talk about that - she had more immediate problems to contend with. Minerva strode into the office and paused by the chair in front of his desk, but she did not sit down. Instead, she stood to her full height and gave him an accusatory look.

"John Constantine," she hissed. "Really?"

Albus carefully rested his quill on the parchment he had been scribbling notes on before finally looking up at her, keeping his expression impassive.

"You don't approve?" he asked lightly.

"Of course not!" she snapped. "That boy is a danger unto himself and to others! Have you forgotten what he was like when he was a student here? Whatever possessed you, Albus?"

"He is no child, Minerva, he is a Hogwarts professor," he reminded her, ignoring the jibe. "And what I remember is a talented young man who is more than competent enough to take the role of Defence Master. You disagree?"

"It isn't a matter of competency," she argued. "It is a matter of decency."

"If you are referring to the incident that occurred during John's final semester at school-" he began.

"Oh, you do remember that?" she mocked.

"Vividly," he replied flatly. "John and I discussed the matter at length before confirming his appointment. He has acknowledged that his actions were reckless and assured me that there will be no repeat of such an incident."

"And you believe him?" she asked incredulously. She knew that she shouldn't interrupt the headmaster when he spoke, but she couldn't help herself. She was tired and irritable after spending half of the night rounding up her terrified students, and the headmaster hadn't even batted an eyelid. Albus gave her a stern look over the top of his half-moon spectacles.

"I do," he replied simply.

"Why?" she implored. "What has he said to convince you to ignore seven years of rule-breaking?"

"I believe everyone deserves a second chance, Minerva. This is John's chance to do just that," he replied evasively. Minerva's eyes narrowed.

"You appointed me as Deputy Headmistress, yet you keep the hiring of new and questionable members of staff from me," she fumed. "Why would you appoint me as your right-hand woman if you do not trust me?"

"I didn't tell you because you're having the precise reaction I knew you would," he replied. "I am sorry to have been deceptive with you, Minerva, but if I had told you, you would have spent the rest of the summer holiday trying to persuade me to reconsider. I felt that keeping it to myself would save both of us a lot of time and stress. And you are mistaken - I do trust you."

"Well, it certainly doesn't feel like it," she grumbled, crossing her arms. "You're not changing your mind on this, are you?"

"No," he confirmed shortly. Minerva sighed and sank into the chair in front of Dumbledore's desk, defeated. She had expected as much when she had come to his office to discuss the matter, but she was disappointed nonetheless.

"While I appreciate your trepidations, we desperately needed someone to fill the position," Dumbledore explained. "No-one else had accepted the offer, and you know as well as I do that he is more than qualified for the role. What was I to do?"

"Say no," she retorted.

"And drop Defence the Dark Arts from the curriculum?" he challenged.

"Well, no..." she mumbled.

"It is the single most important subject we teach here, especially now with Voldemort's rise to power," he continued. "We need to prepare our students for the dangers that they will inevitably face beyond the safety of these four walls. We cannot protect them forever, Minerva."

"I know," she sighed miserably. "I wish we could all of them here within the school; to keep them safe."

"As do I," he nodded mournfully. "John is an admittedly...unconventional choice, but he has invaluable skills that he can impart to the students. We must prepare them for the future."

The Wizarding War was in full swing - disappearances were now commonplace, and the climate of fear and paranoia was at its peak. Yet Hogwarts remained a place of safety for young witches and wizards across Britain; the last bastion against Voldemort and his secretive forces of evil. Minerva however, felt that adding John Constantine to the mix would only cause more trouble. Trouble seemed to follow him wherever he went.

Now trouble had come back to Hogwarts, apparently reformed and on his best behaviour, but Minerva wasn't convinced John had really changed. He had just entered the school through a flaming portal. Typical John, she thought irritably. She sighed and shook her head resignedly at the headmaster.

"John is undeniably talented," she grudgingly conceded. "One of the brightest students I ever taught. But his cleverness is eclipsed by his sheer arrogance. He was constantly breaking school rules-"

"I thought you had a soft spot for talented rulebreakers?" teased Albus. "Messers Black, Lupin and Potter come to mind..."

Minerva blushed, "That's different."

"Oh?" he asked lightly. "Is that because those rulebreakers are in your own house? Are you sure you wouldn't have given John the same leeway if he had been in Gryffindor instead of Slytherin?"

"Are you accusing me of favouritism?" she asked hotly. Albus smiled at her.

"We're all guilty of it from time to time," he said sympathetically. "It's been six years since John graduated from Hogwarts. I imagine he's matured somewhat since he left."

"I won't hold my breath," she muttered. "Despite his obvious talents in the subject, I'm still surprised that you sought him out. I didn't realise we were struggling so much to find suitable candidates for the position."

"I didn't seek him out," Albus admitted. Minerva gaped at him.

"You mean...surely he didn't ask you for the job?"

"He did, as a matter of fact," he confirmed. "I was as surprised as you when he turned up at my office over the summer."

"Why on earth would he want the job?" she asked curiously.

"Why don't you ask him yourself?" he suggested. "Despite your misgivings, John is actually quite fond of you. He was asking about you when he came to inquire about the position."

Minerva's blush deepened, "He's probably worried I'll try and give him detentions regardless of his tenure."

"Funnily enough he did mention that," Albus chuckled. "I assured him that teaching staff cannot be given detention. He seemed rather disappointed to hear that."

Minerva rolled her eyes. She had lost count the number of times John had served detention with her - more times than she cared to remember. His antics put James Potter and his friends to shame. Albus was shuffling through his paperwork again when he mentioned nonchalantly, "Of course, I'll expect you'll be keeping an eye on John while he's here? Making sure he doesn't get up to any of his old tricks?"

"Me?" she blanched. Dumbledore glanced up at her.

"Are you saying that you wouldn't be keeping tabs on him regardless?"

Minerva pursed her lips and said nothing. Albus' smile widened and he turned his attention back to his papers.

"Excellent," he said brightly. "I appreciate you acting as my eyes and ears, Minerva. If anything happens that gives you cause for concern..."

"Oh, believe me, you'll be the first to know," she assured him, rising to her feet. "I hope I'm wrong about him, Albus, but I still think you're making a mistake bringing him into the castle."

"Duly noted," he replied without looking up from his paperwork. Taking that as her cue to leave, Minerva turned on her heel and marched out of the office, feeling more ill at ease than ever before.