A/N Today I had a day off. This happened.
This chapter contains a whole lot of psycho-babble that is partially made up and very loosely based upon freudian psychoanalysis... Yes, I am fully aware that Freud's methods of experimentation were questionable at best, and during a time where peer-review (if it existed at all) was small boys hurling insults at each other... That being said, please don't take any of the psycho-babble seriously, I needed an explanation for Hermione being... extra special, as it were, and this seemed as good an explanation as any.
As she had promised, Minerva made her way to the Hospital Wing, having successfully convinced Kingsley that, naturally, she was right, and of course he agreed that disturbing a patient, especially one in her delicate condition simply isn't the done thing.
Arriving, she strode directly towards Poppy's office, wanting to discuss the strange phenomenon she had witnessed that afternoon.
"Well, Minerva, I do have some idea of what could have caused this. Have you ever heard of the muggle neurologist, Sigmund Freud?"
At Minerva's negative response, Poppy continued.
"He came up with the idea of psychoanalysis, wherein a person has a psyche, which for our purposes we will say is a mental representation of the soul. The psyche is separated into three separate parts: id, ego and superego. The id is the disorganised, uncoordinated part of our psyche. The purpose of the id is to seek pleasure, it seeks to avoid pain and unpleasantness, the wants, if you will. The ego is the realistic counterpoint to the id. It regulates the unconscious desires of the id, within the constraints of reality. The superego is the moral guidance, the conscience. It is the regulator of guilt."
"I'm certain you will reach a point eventually Poppy, fascinating as all this is."
"I'm getting there. Don't interrupt. Now, obviously, as a muggle, he had no comprehension of magic, and where that would fit in with his theory of the human psyche. If we take accidental magic, and look at it from Freud's perspective, it becomes obvious that – in young witches and wizards, at least – the id is closely tied in with one's magical core. If we take the view that as a child learns more control over their magic, whilst the core is still relatively small, it becomes regulated by the ego and superego, and must therefore be channelled through conscious thought and behaviour, it follows that as Hermione became more and more dependent on that drug, the control of her magic slipped from the regulator and moral inhibitor, back into the control of the id. That could account for the growing bursts of magic the Ministry was picking up in London, in the months before you found her. Because of the drug she was addicted to, the unconscious desires have become separated from the ego and superego. And because she is so magically powerful, the regulators cannot fully take back control, as the id has – at least somewhat – fused with her magical core, in order to achieve the basic desire of every human – live. This will affect her magic performance, I imagine wordless and wandless magic will come as naturally as breathing, whilst control of her magic will take an unprecedented amount of work."
"So her eyes glow blue…"
"Because the id wants something, and as its combined with her magic… well, what would ordinarily be seen as a flash of desire in another's eyes, is seen as a flash of glowing blue in Hermione's."
Poppy stood by as Minerva digested this information.
"It's as good an explanation as any, I suppose... What about her getting confused when I went to see Kingsley as Professor McGonagall? She must have known my first name when she was a student here."
Poppy frowned.
"I admit that is somewhat more difficult to explain. However, I believe it is based in how closely her id is connected with her magic. Because her id and magic are so closely intertwined, they've become an almost-sentient entity, which operates following the directives of Hermione's desires. It would appear that since you've struck up this friendship with Hermione, what she most desires is… you"
"wh- … bu-"
"Don't interrupt, I'm not yet finished," Poppy snapped.
"She knew you when she was a student, as Professor McGonagall. Since she has been here recovering, she has known you as Minerva. The two have different outwards appearances, and as Minerva, you are much more approachable and… appropriate as a potential love interest than Professor McGonagall would ever – could ever – have been. She wantsyou, so the id-magic entity intentionally causes her to forget that you are the same person."
Sorry it's so short. I had intended to make it longer, but you know what they say about good intentions... And this seemed a fair place to stop. Next up, a more coherent reaction from Minerva (I hope).
