AN: Prompts will be displayed at the bottom to avoid them potentially giving away things.
delusions and disorders
AlwaysPadfoot
The date is the third of August 2018. I have taken a new psychologist in residence position at a mental health home for young people today.
This afternoon I have just two appointments — Luna Lovegood, a sixteen year old girl who suffers with detailed delusions following the death of her mother, and James Potter, a twenty-one year old with suspected dissociative identity disorder. I'm told that the reason behind simply having only two appointments today is to ease me in. Poppycock in my opinion — I would much rather get stuck in — I am in residency after all. Rumours are rife in institutions like this; they spread like fire on a dry day.
Miss Lovegood is due first. Unlike my other patient, Mr. Potter, Luna is unaware of her change of psychologist, so I am expecting a more jarring response upon her arrival. That being said, I'm told that she is fairly open-minded and trusting, therefore, hopefully there won't be too much awkwardness.
There was a soft knock on the door of Minerva's new office.
She hadn't gotten around to decorating it to match her personal preferences yet; she was hoping that she would have some time this evening to do so.
"Come in," she called.
The door creaked open and a short, blonde girl with wide blue eyes entered the office. Minerva noticed immediately that the girl was fond of pink — her shoes, hoodie and earrings were all varying shades of it. The next thing she noticed was glitter on the girl's face. Minerva stood with a smile.
"Miss Lovegood, welcome," she said. "I'm Minerva McGonagall, your new resident psychologist."
"You can call me Luna, Miss McGonagall," she said, sitting in the chair opposite her. "Do you like pink?"
Most would perceive this as an odd question, however, Minerva had been asked all sorts of extremely strange questions over the duration of her career — this one could not be considered one of them.
"I do," Minerva replied, taking a seat and crossing one leg over the other. "My first car was pink."
Luna's eyes lit up at that, bright with excitement. Minerva let her talk a little about how exciting and happy she found the colour, but before Luna could extrapolate into the other colours she had strong feelings about, Minerva decided to pursue another topic. One that would allow her to actually do her job.
"Luna, I was wondering if you could tell me a little bit about yourself, and why you are here speaking to me?" Minerva asked.
"Oh, well, that's a long story, and it starts with my mum dying," Luna said, slight smile on her face still despite the topic.
Minerva listened intently, asking a few probing questions along the way, as Luna recounted her life in great detail. The delusions were described as her 'saving grace' and Minerva noted that she had most likely used it as a form of escapism — as something to focus her attention on to dissassociate from the world.
"But then my head filled with black cloud and shadows," Luna said, a sharp contrast to her previous descriptions. "It was like I was hypnotised and I couldn't do anything about all the destruction they were causing. Then the next thing I knew, there was venom in my veins, like a snake bite, and my hands were around her neck. I didn't know what was happening; it was innocent."
"It doesn't sound innocent."
Minerva wanted to make sure that Luna was aware of that.
"I know," Luna said, her legs crossed on the chair — a position Minerva would never find comfortable. "I lost enough; I belong here."
Minerva was not sure what Luna had lost, but there was time to unpack that in future sessions. This was merely an introduction. It was the first time that Luna had looked genuinely sad. It was only for a split second though, before she began talking fast about the pottery class she was taking.
Minerva did eventually manage to get Luna to concentrate on techniques for realising when she was having a delusion. The young girl was very easily distracted however, occasionally pausing to watch nothing in particularly outside, or starting another topic of conversation entirely. All in all, she was a pleasant patient and the hour of their scheduled time together was over before Minerva knew it.
"Oh no, I really enjoyed talking to you Miss McGonagall," Luna said dejectedly.
"And I you, Luna, but I have other patients," Minerva responded as she stood and gestured to the door. "I look forward to seeing you again soon — Thursday I believe it is."
Luna nodded. Minerva saw her out, closing the door behind the blonde and then returned to her desk where her dictaphone was lying. She pressed record, leaning against the desk.
My first meeting with Luna Lovegood went well. As I was told, she was very pleasant and trusting. However her attention span is extremely short for a girl her age. She displayed some obsessive tendencies and appeared to mix reality and delusions on the odd occasion. This is something we will explore in the future.
My next appointment is with a young man called James Potter. Unlike Miss Lovegood, James was referred to the home by his parents. They were concerned by his sudden shift in behaviour and personality, and also by the fact that James couldn't — on most occasions — recollect the episodes of bizarre behaviour that his parents were bringing up following these incidents.
Dissociative Identity Disorder itself is exceptionally rare, but the collection of notes that I have been given to review does seem to suggest there's a strong probability that this is the diagnosis.
Naturally, I would like to hear his personal experiences when he arrives for his appointment.
In Minerva's opinion, James Potter was just about as happy to be here as a child in a horror film. Not that his facial expression, or even body language gave that away. When he had arrived, Minerva had almost mistook him for a member of staff. He carried himself confidently; his attire was pristine, and the smile on his face could have easily been that of a man walking into a bar to greet his friends.
It made her suspicious, sure of his unease and unhappiness — he was all too calm and collected.
Minerva introduced herself as he sat down opposite her and he reached out to shake her hand. She obliged and James gripped her hand for a moment before retreating into the comfort of the armchair.
"How are you this afternoon, Mr Potter?"
"Well, thank you," he responded. "Yourself?"
"Yes, I'm very good, thank you," Minerva said.
She let the silence drag a little to see if James would speak first; he did not. She had to assume he was going to be stubborn and uncooperative. That was fine by her; Minerva could deal with that as she had multiple times before with other patients.
"I was reading through the notes given to me by your previous psychologist," Minerva continued. "You've been here four months, am I correct?"
"You are."
"And before that, you worked for Cambridge City Council?"
James smiled. "You moon the wrong person at an office party, and suddenly you're not 'professional' any more."
Minerva pressed her lips together to prevent herself from smiling. "Tell me, how did that come about?"
"Sirius thought it would be hilarious, and he drank far too many G&Ts," James responded. "I'm a highly impressional guy."
"And Sirius is a… friend?" Minerva asked.
"You could say that, he's practically my brother."
Now she understood why no official diagnosis had been made. James was both uncooperative and vague when he answered her questions. Minerva made a mental note of this; she never took physical notes. It was a proven fact that it made patients unnecessarily paranoid, or at the very least, somewhat uncomfortable.
"How about you, Doc?" James said. "Tell me about yourself; tell me, what happened to Doctor Dumbledore?"
"So many questions, anyone would think that you were deflecting."
"How am I supposed to trust you as my psychologist if I know nothing about you?" James replied, spreading his arms out as though it were obvious. "You only mentioned your name."
Minerva studied the smirk on his face. Obviously, he — or some part of him — was a joker, a marauder. Sitting back, she took a sip of her water and cleared her throat. "Dr. Dumbledore has retired, which I am certain, he must have mentioned multiple times previous to him leaving."
James nodded to confirm. "I just wanted to be sure."
"Why do you think he would lie about retiring, James?"
"So many questions, anyone would think that you were deflecting." The black-haired boy parroted her words back at her, apparently very content that he was giving her no viable information at all. "You will have to try harder than that, Doc. I don't really care much for therapy."
To Minerva's surprise he stood, brushing imaginary dust from his trousers, and then put his hands in his pockets.
"Are we done?"
If he wasn't going to cooperate then he might as well come back next week. Minerva cocked her head to the side slightly. "We as in you and me, or we as in just you?"
James lips played into a scowl momentarily before he smiled. "I like you, Doc."
James left, seemingly pleased he'd had the last word and closed the door firmly behind him. Minerva listened to him walk away, and then hit record once more.
Mr. Potter is going to be a thorn in my side; I can tell already. He clearly has no desire to really acknowledge to anyone that there is an issue, although I suspect he himself, is aware.
I noticed that in my predecessors notes, Sirius was mentioned multiple times, and because of James' elusive behaviour surrounding this 'Sirius' I am inclined to believe that he might be one of Mr. Potter's alternate identities.
It's going to be tough, but if anyone can handle it, it's me.
Comp/Challenge & Prompts:
- Assignment #2: Gardening: Task 1 - Write about someone that has a split (or multiple) personality.
- Insane House Challenge: 653. Dialogue - "It was innocent." / "It doesn't sound innocent."
- 365 Prompts Challenge: 347. Word - Glitter
- Scavenger Hunt: 7. Write an AU set outside of the wizarding world (no magic - squibs are acceptable)
- Writing Club [Character Appreciation]: 17. Snake Bite (word)
- Writing Club [Disney Challenge]: 6. Character - The Sultan: Word set: hypnotised, short, happy
- Writing Club [Book Club]: Trashcan Man: (character) Bellatrix Lestrange, (word) fire, (au) asylum, (word) destruction, (color) black, (plot point) attempt at redemption
- Writing Club [Showtime]: 16. Attention (word)
- Writing Club [Days of the Month]: Pink Day - Write about someone who likes pink + BONUS
- Writing Club [CYB]: 4. Neck (word)
- Writing Club [TV Show of the Month]: Dr. Lance Sweets: (AU) Psychologist, (dialogue) "I think I pulled a muscle.", (item) video game. (action) giving advice, (character) Minerva McGonagall
- Writing Club [Liza's Loves]: Ward 8 - Write about someone in a hospital/institution ward
- Writing Club [Jenny's Jovial Quotes]: 7. "You moon the wrong person at an office party, and suddenly you're not 'professional' any more."
Word Count: 1650 — not inc. notes, titles, or ANs.