With Nergal dead and Astra seemingly lost in Hell for all eternity, it became clear that their only hope was to persuade another demon to help them. It was risky, but they had little else to go on, and so their search of the Hogwarts library had begun.
As the months dragged by, Minerva and John slowly yet meticulously worked their way through the seemingly endless piles of books in the library's Restricted Section. The sheer volume and variety of books on the Occult made her head spin - there were texts dedicated entirely to the practice of sex magic, Minerva had learned more than she ever wanted to from those books. There was a particularly fascinating one which taught the reader not only how to invoke demons, but angels and creatures from other dimensions. Fascinating, but dangerous in the wrong hands, she mused. This would probably be the sort of book that would pique young Severus' interests and she made a mental note to hide it thoroughly after she was done reading it over. There were a lot of books dedicated to divination spells which purportedly allowed one to 'see' into the future, but Minerva tended to skim passed those. Some of the books were very disturbing - one included recipes for concoctions mixing blood, urine and other bodily fluids with opium to achieve various magical results. John thought it was fascinating while Minerva thought it was disgusting. Minerva almost threw in the towel when she picked up one book from the shelf and realised to her horror that it was bound in human skin. It had taken quite a bit of persuasion on John's part to convince her to come back to the library to continue the search after that, but eventually she had relented.
Come Easter, they hadn't made much more progress, but they remained optimistic that they would find something eventually. They had to keep positive under the circumstances - as far as John was concerned, this was his last chance to 'set things right'. Minerva wasn't sure that this situation could ever truly be put right, but she was more than willing to try - for John's sake and the child's.
Taking a moment to massage her sore neck she looked over at John, nose deep in yet another ancient tome. Every spare minute they had was dedicated to searching the library. More than once Minerva had retired late into the evening, too tired to take in another word, but John had remained a little longer, determined to check one more chapter before giving up for another evening. For all his faults, his endless drive to find a solution was admirable, his determination to succeed, infectious.
To Minerva's immense surprise, John's tenure at Hogwarts had passed without incident. Granted, John still drank more than she thought was good for him, and she still had to remind him every so often that he couldn't smoke at the dinner table - she had even caught him on more than one occasion lighting up in a secluded corridor. The threat of detention with her only seemed to encourage him, so she relented and asked him at the very least not to get caught in the act by students.
That said, he had turned up to meals and all of his classes on time as promised, and the feedback from students had been very positive. She wasn't surprised to hear that he was popular with the students - she wasn't blind to John's good looks or his charms - but it was evident from the from students improved class performance that he was, in fact, a good teacher.
"John..."
"Hmm?"
"Have you thought about what you'll do with yourself after all of this?" she asked curiously. "If you succeed in rescuing Astra, what then?"
"I haven't really thought that far if I'm honest," he said stretching out his arms and yawning. "Why do you ask?"
"I know that you intend to leave once you have completed your mission, or have exhausted all of the library's resources. But have you considered staying on?" she asked tentatively. John raised his eyebrows.
"You want me to stay?" he asked, surprised.
"Despite your unconventional style, I think you're an excellent teacher," she said firmly. "You do a lot of good here. If you have nothing else planned, why not consider it?"
John laughed and gave her an affectionate smile, "While I appreciate you complimenting my teaching ability - seriously, coming from you that is a massive compliment - I think we both know that I won't be around to teach next year."
Minerva frowned, "Why not?"
"Well, we all know the job's cursed," he shrugged.
"Don't be ridiculous!" she scoffed.
"Nobody's lasted more than a year in the job for Merlin knows how many years - maybe since the school first opened," John pointed out calmly. "I was well aware of the time limit and the possible dangers that came with taking the position of Defence Master, but the potential benefits outweighed the risk. I just hope that I survive long enough to find what I'm looking for. Tell me - are the staff still running the annual death pool?"
"How do you know about that?" she asked accusingly. John laughed.
"Slughorn is a terrible old gossip," he explained. "He told me about it when I was at one of his parties in sixth year."
Minerva frowned disapprovingly, "Of course you'd be in the Slug Club. You seem his type."
"Yeah, well you don't see my face on his little shrine of success, do you?" he smirked. "Who wants to brag about knowing a failed punk rocker and occultist?"
"Yes, you look quite bereft at your exclusion from his creepy wall of by proxy success," she drawled. John snorted.
"I'll learn to cope with the snub. So, how long do the other professors reckon I'll last in the job?" he asked interestedly.
Minerva folded her arms then replied nippily, "Kettleburn thought you'd be gone by Christmas. Binns reckons you'll hold out until after the Easter break."
"And you?" he asked, leaning closer to her. "How long do you think I'll last?"
"I thought you'd be gone by the end of the first week," she smirked. John laughed.
"Well, I'm glad I proved you wrong."
"As am I," she replied truthfully. She picked up her book again and silence fell between them as the search continued. Her eyes scanned the illustration of a bearded man carrying a scythe. She rubbed her tired eyes and read the inscription underneath the drawing when she read something that made her gasp.
"John..." said Minerva tentatively. "I think I found something."
"What's that?" he asked distractedly. Minerva slid the ancient tome across the table to him. John took the book and his eyes narrowed as they flicked back and forth across the page. He began muttering the passage aloud to himself.
"Forcas - a Fallen Angel and thirty-first of the seventy-two Spirits of Solomon, he is a Mighty President that appeareth in the forme of a stronge man, and in humane shape, he-" John's eyes widened in surprise. "He recovereth things lost, and discovereth treasures." He looked up at her, his mouth slightly ajar.
"I don't believe it," he whispered. His face broke out into a wide grin. "Minnie, you beautiful, wonderful woman, you found it!" John clambered over the table and wrapped his arms around her in a tight embrace, smothering her cheeks with kisses. Minerva hugged him back and laughed.
"Alright, that's quite enough of that," she giggled, blushing furiously. John finally released Minerva and sank back into his chair, hugging the book to his chest as though it were something precious. Minerva supposed it was precious to him - the book hopefully held the key to both he and Astra's salvation.
John looked at the title of the book, "The Pseudomonarchia Daedonum,'" he read aloud. "A catalogue of the sixty-nine noble demons - prominent members of Hell's monarchy. I didn't think any copies of this were still in existence. After months of searching, I must admit I that was beginning to lose hope of ever finding an answer..." He gave Minerva a warm smile, his bright blue eyes shining with tears. "Yet here it is. Thank you, Minerva. You don't know what this means to me."
"So, what now?" she asked, unable to contain her excitement. "If this Forcas fellow can discover lost things, do you think he'll be able to find Astra? How are we going to convince him to help us?"
"'We'?" he joked, grinning mischievously at her. "Who said anything about 'we'?"
"Don't you shift me aside now, John," she said warningly. "I've spent too many nights in this bloody library not to see this through to the end. So tell me, how are we going to persuade this git to help?"
"Well, based on the text, he seems quite amenable to persuasion by mortal men..." said John slowly, his head bowed over the book again. "He teacheth the Arts of Logic and Ethics in all their parts, blah blah blah...Hmm." John snapped the book shut and grinned at her, "I may have an idea. But before we put our plan into action, I better clear away these books. Irma's already threatened my life on more than one occasion for forgetting to put them back on the shelves."
"Very wise, John. We can't have members of faculty being barred from the library," she smiled. "I'll take our notes and I'll meet you back in your office."
John gathered an armful of books and disappeared from view between the bookshelves. Irma hadn't been keen to let John back into the library. He'd already been barred in his sixth year because of the number of books he had 'borrowed' from the Restricted Section. She had only relented when Minerva had promised to supervise him at all times.
Minerva gathered the last of their notes and was about to leave the library when she paused. A chill ran up her spine as she heard the unmistakable sound of someone crying. She discarded her books and parchment on the desk and hurried in the direction of the crying.
"John?" she called out. No answer. She weaved through the labyrinth of bookshelves, her eyes slowly adjusting to the dim light. Panic began to rise in her - why wasn't he answering? Then she heard a sudden, piercing scream and she broke out into a run with her wand drawn, the cries growing louder as she drew nearer.
She turned a corner and she gasped at the sight before her. A little girl stood with her back to Minerva, she couldn't have been any older than seven or eight. Her entire body was engulfed in yellow flames and she was shrieking in pain.
"Help me, John! Help me! Why did you leave me?"
John sat crouched on the ground, the books he had been carrying strewn across the ground where he had dropped them. He had his hands over his head, sobbing and groaning pitifully, "I'm sorry, I'm sorry..."
It took Minerva a few seconds to realise what was going on. She strode towards the little girl, grabbed her by the shoulder and forced her to face her instead. The child looked up at Minerva and she stopped screaming, her big brown eyes wide with fright. Very quickly, her appearance began to change - the flames were extinguished and her body stretched until she was a head taller than Minerva, the face transforming from a pretty little girl into a pale, snake-like figure. Suddenly, Lord Voldemort stood over Minerva, his red eyes glinting dangerously. He hissed and reached out to grab her...
"Riddikulus," she cried and the terrifying, looming spectre of the Dark Lord began to shrink, growing smaller and smaller until he was miniscule in size. Minerva smirked at the miniature Voldemort waving its tiny fist angrily at her, slashed her wand through the air again and the Boggart was gone in a puff of smoke.
John remained cowered on the ground, shaking. Minerva knelt down beside him and gently rested a hand on his shoulder and he jumped at the slight contact. His gaze remained fixed on the place where the flaming child had stood tormenting him only moments before.
"It was a Boggart, John," Minerva explained gently. "Dark, confined spaces like these narrow shelves in the library are the perfect place for them to hide. But it's gone now, alright? I got rid of it."
"Astra's burning," John stammered. "She's burning and it's all my fault."
"The boggart is merely a manifestation of your greatest fears," she reminded him more firmly. "It wasn't real."
"It was," he replied in a shaky voice. "That's what's happening to her right now and it's all my fault. All my fault..."
"You are going to fix this," she assured him, tightening her grip on his shoulder. "You're going to bargain with this demon and you're going to rescue her. The longer we sit here, the longer she's stuck there."
John closed his eyes and took several deep breaths to calm himself. He nodded vigorously and struggled back to his feet, still a little shaky but focused on the task at hand. Minerva helped him to his feet and patted him on the arm.
"Come now," she sighed. "Let's get this over with."