Dr. Linda Martin settled into the chair that had been provided for her by the owner of the Three Blue Flutes, deciding after a moment that it was good enough for today's session. She would have preferred her regular chair but hadn't had a chance to get it transported from her office quite yet. Not that she was sure if she would… quite a hassle to undo all her work in getting her office set up purely for one session that would occur twice a month. While Sirius Black and Remus Lupin had paid her good money to set up shop in Avalon for the year she couldn't live on just the money she was making off of helping Harry Potter. As such she'd begun taking patients in Galahad; a trickle at the moment, as the Avalonians were a clannish lot and it took a lot to get them to trust someone who wasn't a national, but she had managed to get a few clients who knew this would most likely be a temporary thing.

Still, she was glad the chair she did have was comfortable enough as this was going to be a longer than normal session.

"In order to help someone you have to understand them," Linda said, reaching up and adjusting her glasses. "And to understand them you have to move beyond them. Because I've realized in the last few years that you can't just talk with a person and believe that you know all there is to know about them. Sometimes they lie… even to themselves. Sometimes they only give you a part of the story or their own mental state causes them to twist history to fit the reality they believe it to be." She smiled as a face floated into her head. "I remember reading about a cartoonist who told his wife that he was always bullied and picked on in high school, that everyone hated him and abused him and he was a loner. And then she went to his reunion and discovered that everyone loved him and he was popular and in a ton of groups. He wasn't lying to her though… he honestly didn't see all that. He only saw the negative and twisted it to fit what he thought reality should be.

"Other times… I'm ashamed to admit… they tell you the truth but you don't believe them. You think they are lying or are hiding their pain by using metaphors. But they are trying to tell you the truth and you have only made things worse because of your own bias." She shook her head as she thought of one particular patient who had always told her he was really a Pokemon in human form… Lord of the Reversal World, son of Arceus himself… "The point," Linda said, shaking herself from that memory, "is that if I want to help someone I need to understand them. And to help Harry I need to talk to those that understand him perhaps even better than he understands himself."

Ron Weasley shifted on the couch. He hadn't laid down, saying that was awkward and his mum would kill him if he laid down while having a conversation with someone.

"I want you to feel comfortable talking with me Ron… and understand that I just want to help Harry."

"Sure," Ron said, a bit too quickly and Linda knew at once he was utterly uncomfortable and there would be no quick fix to get him to settle down. "I just don't get why you want to talk to me. I mean yeah, Harry is my mate-"

"He's more than that," Linda informed him. "And you are certainly more than that to him." She saw his confusion at that and moved to explain. "Children who have difficult childhoods tend to have several issues when it comes to interacting with others, especially trust. Which is sadly ironic because another issue they have is a longing for family. Because he didn't have parents, or even figures that could he now would consider parents, he has sought out a family of their own. Remus and Sirius have filled that need a little bit but because Harry spends much of his year at Hogwarts it is here that he truly sees as home; though I doubt he'd ever admit that to his guardians. The point though, Ron, is that he wants a family."

"And we're it," Ron supplied. "He said I was the brother he chose…"

"And he meant it," Linda said, pleased to hear that Harry had, at the very least, verbally admitted that fact. It was a big step and a good one. It showed that Harry was making progress on his own. "The problem that arises though is that children who come out of such childhoods can end up clinging to a select few, welcomed into their hearts before slamming the door shut on all others. It takes a lot for children like Harry-" Ron scowled at that and Linda quickly corrected herself, "-people like Harry-" That got a nod of approval, "-to welcome people into their hearts. To trust. Because they know that to trust someone is to give them the power to hurt you. But once they do they will hold them close and never let go. You, Ron, and the rest of Harry's friends, his true friends-"

"The Pride."

"Right. The Pride… you are his family now."

"Of course we are," Ron said defensively. "Harry is our mate!"

Linda made a quiet note in her notebook. "You have the power to make him… or break him. THAT is why I want to talk to you all."

~MC~MC~MC~

"Oh, I can completely see that," Hermione Granger said with an eager nod. "I've noticed that Harry is… well, my dad would say he is a hard nut to crack." Her eyes quickly went wide. "Not that he's standoffish. He isn't a sociopath! He makes friends easy enough. Last year we formed a group, it was the spiritual successor to the Order of Moltres… that is a group that his parents were a part of."

Linda nodded, jotting down yet another piece of evidence concerning Harry's obsession with his mother and father. It wasn't unheard of for orphans to desperately try and connect with their parents by mimicking them. She knew of reports of young people who had lost mothers or fathers and ended up being attracted to partners that resembled that lost parental figure. They tried to replace the love of a parent with the love of a husband or wife. It was dangerous and tended not to end well as the spouse was forever competing with the dead person.

"But how many of them is he truly close to?" Linda asked her. "Do you know if he talked with any of them over the summer? Went and visited their houses?"

Hermione shifted uneasily at that. "Well… no. But that's just Harry! He is a very private person. Nothing like how the papers play him out to be."

"Yes, I've seen what constitutes reporting in Avalon," the shrink said, thinking to back to a few of the articles Remus and Sirius had given her by one Rita Skeeter. She would have thought the woman had it out for Harry because she was a member of Nocturne but it seemed like there was no one that Rita actually liked in the entire world. Oh, she gushed about the Minister and Lucius Malfoy, but only when they were in power. The moment she didn't need anything she had been willing to turn on them. One article, concerning the death of Narcissia Malfoy, had been particularly brutal as it questioned why Lucius wasn't at home to defend his wife, how many enemies the family truly had, and even suggested that their son Draco might not be Lucius' son (and then, oddly, tried to claim the reverse that he was Lucius' son but not Narcissia's; Linda was still trying to wrap her head around that logic).

"They like to make Harry out as some fame seeker but he isn't really like that." Hermione twisted on the couch again, wringing her hands together. "Well… at the beginning of our 5th year he played it up a bit but that was only because he was trying to help the Pack."

"Yes, I am aware of them," Linda said, trying to keep her annoyance out of her words and failing. Not because she disliked the six; there was actually quite a bit she admired about them. More her annoyance stemmed from what always bothered her when dealing with others: seeing people in emotional and mental pain that were far too stubborn to get help. 'All of them have PTSD… not just the Kenways and Lance. And they keep covering it up and moving on with their lives instead of working through it…' She refocused herself on Hermione. "Does Harry enjoy the spotlight?"

"…yes and no?" Hermione said, her face twisting into a grimace. "I mean, I can tell that it bugs him when everyone is looking at him but if he wants to be the center of attention-"

"It's a matter of control," Linda told her, Hermione brightening all at once when she said that; the girl clearly had issues with authority figures and needing to feel that they approved of her and saw her worth. Just building off what Hermione had said had made the young woman's face light up like it was her wedding day. "Harry spent nearly 10 years without any true say in how to live his life. Every action was dictated to him. He lived little better than a slave sometimes. And then suddenly Mr. Hagrid arrives and whisks him away and he is given a chance to do what he wants… but people still want him to behave in a certain way. And he doesn't like that, even if what they want matches with what he wants. Because it still comes down to control and power."

~MC~MC~MC~

Ginny nodded lazily; it had been a fight to get the girl to put her dex down and actually focus on their conversation. While her brother had clearly suffered from an under achiever syndrome Ginny Weasley could focus… but only one what she wanted to do. Her mind moved quickly and if you didn't keep up then she wanted to find something to stimulate it. Thus why, save for her group of friends, she preferred machines over the living.

"Yeah, I can see that. Might explain why he's the way he is with his Pokémon."

"What do you mean?" Linda asked.

Ginny rolled her wrist as she sought the right word. "A lot of trainers just see Pokémon as servants, you know? The good ones see themselves as coaches that work with their team. But Harry sees Pokémon as being no different than him. He talks with them… asks their opinions, figures out their likes and wants, tries to keep them happy. No different than he would anyone else. I've never seen him boss one around or risk them needlessly… and he certainly doesn't throw them into situations he wouldn't go in himself."

It was a good point and made a lot of sense. Harry knew what it was like to be abused and mistreated by others and he wouldn't wish to become like the Dursleys. As such when it came to his Pokémon he gave them the chance he never got.

"But you get that Harry… a lot of his issues come because life keeps giving him crappy hands, right?"

"What do you mean?" Linda pressed.

Ginny sighed, flopping down on the couch. "You ever meet someone and think that they must have pissed off Arceus because they keep getting a raw deal."

'Considering how Giratina is,' she thought, her mind traveling to her most troublesome patient before shaking her head. "Yes, there are sometimes people who seem to have a bit more bad luck than others-"

Ginny cut her off. "This isn't a bit more bad luck." She raised her hand and began to tick off points on her fingers. "His parents are murdered, his godfather illegally locked away in the worst prison we have and told Harry is dead. Little Surrey pulling bullshit laws in courts to stay… that forces him with the Dursleys for a decade. Then he finally gets free only for in his first year to have his Battle Instructor try and murder him. Second year it is a student possessed by Voldemort that tries to kill him while the new Battle Instructor uses hypnotic suggestion to mind rape Hermione until she can't help but betray Harry to him all because the fake wants to use Harry as a means to get even more fame." She let out a sigh. "Third year… third year ended badly for us and then it didn't."

"What do you mean?"

~MC~MC~MC~

"I have a Celebi," Hermione said, releasing the Pokémon who let out a trill and zipped about the room, Dr. Linda trying hard to keep her jaw from dropping at how casually Hermione revealed the mythical Pokémon to her. "And its ability… well, the ability it had before the end of our third year… let it pull minds back 30 minutes into the past, to change the future." She held out her hand and her Celebi cooed and flew over nuzzling her fingers. "We burned out that power sending a bunch of us back into the past. Mr. Black's brother, Regulus, attacked Hogwarts. A… a lot of people didn't make it."

~MC~MC~MC~

"I died, apparently," Neville said with a shrug.

"And that doesn't bother you?"

"Not really… I have no memory of it." He paused, shaking his head. "I take that back, it does bother me but only because it bugs the others." He frowned, a small quiet look that spoke of deep turmoil he desperately tried to keep locked away. "I see it sometimes, when they look at me. They are remembering my death. How Regulus killed me in cold blood and they were powerless to stop me." He gave a full body shudder to dismiss though thoughts and looked at the shrink. "Anyway, that was third year."

Linda swallowed at that, making a few notes to quietly suggest to Neville's grandmother that she let the boy begin to see her as well. Not just from the weight of knowing he had died but the guilt he felt over something that wasn't his fault.

"There's more," Neville finally stated.

~MC~MC~MC~

"Fourth year for the most part was probably the best year," Luna said. Linda had been warned by everyone about the blonde, how the Veela was mad, insane, crazy… and yet she was sitting there, calm and collect, looking far older than her few years. "I'm startling you, aren't I? Not what you expected."

Linda jerked a bit at that and then gave her a critical look. "I wasn't aware Veela were mind readers."

"I am reading your emotions, not your mind. It not as precise… rather like looking over the blurb about a book instead of reading it. You get enough of an idea though on what is going on. You weren't expecting me to be like this, were you?" She smiled and folded her hands in her lap. "I am my… Luna self… around others because that is the best way to help myself. I like feeling the emotions I cause in others… confusion is such a wonderful spice. Truly fills me up like hot coco." Her smile fell and she grew serious. "But this is about helping Harry. He braved the Chamber of the Unown to save me when Cho-demort dragged me down there. He has always stood up for me, protected me. I never had a brother but I assume that is what it feels like to have one and I like it. For Harry… there are no jokes. No silliness. This is going to help him and for that you get the Mistress of the Veela."

"…fair enough," Linda stated. "Tell me about your fourth year."

"On one hand it was wonderful because it showed Harry that there were more people out in the world that he could trust. He didn't realize it but he kind of pushed us to the side at times to be with Gary and Fleur and the like. That was okay… the others were worried but I was thrilled because I knew that it meant he was growing as a person. He needed more friends." There was a flash in her eye, a maniacness that hadn't been there before, and in a perkier voice she added, "Also I was working on training a bunch of Zubats how to reenact Indiana Jones."

~Meanwhile…~

"Scree! Scree!" one Zubat declared to a female one that was tied up to a post with him, a little fedora on his head as other Zubats dressed in outdated Sinnoh war uniforms opened a miniature Arc of Arceus.

"Should… should we do something about this?" Lavender whispered, backing out of the 6th year girl's dorm.

"I'm just going to let this go," Katie muttered.

~MC~MC~MC~

"But it wasn't all good," Ginny said. "Because it also taught him just how dark and evil Avalon was." She set her dex down and locked eyes with the shrink. "The graveyard… that was a heavy blow."

"I can imagine."

"No, you can't," Ginny said firmly. "You really can't."

~MC~MC~MC~

"Imagine," Ron said, "seeing everyone you have interacted with in the past… the grocer, your next door neighbor, the guy that you wave to running the flower shop on the corner… line up and grin as you are beaten, maimed, and then tormented by your parents' murderer. I live here and…" he grit his teeth in frustration. "I'll never trust any of them again. Not a damn one. But I didn't actually experience it like Harry did. I didn't have to live in it, in the moment. I just got to hear about it second hand. So please… don't assume you know what it is like."

~MC~MC~MC~

"It gets worse," Neville said when Linda brought up what Ron had told her. "Because after you have all that happen to you and manage to somehow, someway, actually SURVIVE… you then have the people who have the power to actually DO something about what just happened pat you on the head and say, "Hey sport, would you mind looking the other way? Because this is going to cause some problems for us and it would be so much easier if you just pretended nothing had happened"."

"That affected all of you, didn't it? Taught you not to trust authority figures?"

"We'd already been taught that during our four years at Hogwarts. The graveyard just reinforced it." He stabbed at the couch cushion with his finger. "Lucius Malfoy kissed the hem of Voldemort's robes… and yet when he demanded, without evidence, to scan Hermione's mind not only did the Minister go along with it but all Dumbledore and McGonagall and all the rest of them did was give token complaints before caving. How can we ever trust anyone again when they have never shown us an ounce of trust? Stepped up to bat and tried to protect us? Harry learned that, like the rest of us… he just has taken it further… or maybe he's just further down the road."

"Ginger," the doctor said.

Neville merely nodded.

"I want to get back to the Tournament and how the staff handled it. From what Harry has told me no one banned him from participating… it sounds like they did try and find a way to get him out of it."

~MC~MC~MC~

"Oh, they did," Ron said with a quick nod of his head. "But that really wasn't the problem, not when it comes down to it."

"Then what was the problem?"

"Harry…" Ron searched for the right word. "We talked about how he likes to have choices, right? It's the reason why none of us ever give him real ultimatums unless there is no other option." He paused, tapping his teeth together. "And I really don't like doing it even then. Don't get me wrong, Harry is my best mate and I'll always have his back but he's not exactly the easiest guy to share an opinion with if you disagree on things. Its just… a vibe he gives off."

"But the fact that you still do press him and force him to consider your point of view is very good… for both yourself and for him."

Ron blushed at that. "Hey, it's no big deal. I just… everyone will tell you I talk without really thinking things through."

"I think you are selling yourself short." Now Linda really wanted to schedule some appointments with Ron; the young man clearly could use some boosting of his ego with how he was so quick to dismiss his own accomplishments and skills. "But let's get back to the Tournament. What happened with the professors?"

"They were fine with helping Harry when he was going to get out of the Tournament. But when he showed up declaring that he wanted to participate, that he was going to take the trap that Moody set and turn it against Nocturne by proving he wasn't scared of them and he was up for the challenge… they didn't react well. Mostly Prof. McGonagall. She… she was clearly disappointed in him."

~MC~MC~MC~

"She was cold to Harry," Hermione stated.

~MC~MC~MC~

"Didn't hide that she disagreed," Neville said.

~MC~MC~MC~

"She was a bitch."

"That's rather harsh words, Ginny," Linda said.

"But that doesn't make them any less true," the ginger-haired girl told her firmly. "The other champions had teachers to help them out, give them advice and all that. Stand by them if they were unsure or scared or needed a bit of guidance. But McGonagall just looked down her nose at Harry. If he talked back to her then she acted like she was the hurt party, not him. And when she finally did begin to wise up and tried to help him she didn't even apologize or anything like that. She just expected him to accept that she was now ready to assist." Ginny scoffed. "To little too late."

"Some would be rather… startled by you talking ill of the dead like you are."

"Just because your heart stopped beating doesn't keep you from being a-"

~MC~MC~MC~

"-county music is a genre of music I do not like," Luna stated. When Linda just looked at her the blonde let out a tiny huff. "Sorry, sometimes being like this," she gestured at herself, "makes my regular self begin to bubble over within my psyche. I have to do jokes like that in order to let off the pressure. You understand, right?"

Dr. Linda didn't and she made a note to ask Luna to see her 3 times a week as soon as she could; the girl needed therapy stat and Linda could be set for life digging into her mental problems.

~MC~MC~MC~

"You hold some bitterness for McGonagall, don't you?" Linda pressed Ginny.

The red head narrowed her eyes at that before letting out a huff of frustration and finally flopping down onto the couch, staring at the ceiling. "One of the first memories I have about Hogwarts is Luna being bullied by Cho Chang and her Ravenclaw goons. I got involved and it would have ended poorly if Harry and Neville hadn't come to our rescue." She let out a bitter laugh. "You know who showed the most concern about what had happened? Not my Head of House! Percy… my brother who never met a book of laws he didn't take back to his room at night to dry hump. He actually began to rant and rave and get really upset. McGonagall? She did hardly anything.

"Later on, I think it was in Second Year, I went to see her because I wanted some advice on where to focus my education. I mean… the main focus is going to be computers. Duh. But what else? Electives and all that. I went to her three times during her "open office" hours and each time she was too busy to see me. Dealing with paperwork or needing to hurry off to a meeting. I scheduled an appointment finally because I was getting sick of waiting for her to actually do her job and help me. Know what happened? I sat in her office for nearly an hour before she walked in, late, and all she could do is go, "Oh, Miss Weasley, I'm sorry. A meeting ran over.". Barely an apology. And then she was so unfocused on what I was asking her about I finally gave up. I asked my brother Bill and he was able to help me out. Far more than McGonagall did."

~MC~MC~MC~

Neville nodded as he heard from Dr. Linda what Ginny had said. "Yeah, that sounds about right. It was a poorly kept secret that McGonagall was stretched too thin and didn't actually have time to help out anyone in Gryffindor. In Hufflepuff Sprout would do her work in the Common Room. Snape was strict with when you could see him but from what Blaise told me when you scheduled a meeting with him he always made sure to give you his full attention. Flitwick was a bit harder as he liked people to work out problems on their own with him guiding them but at least he listened. McGonagall though… she was our Head of House and taught one of the core subjects and was Deputy Headmistress and I honestly think no one went to her because they knew she'd do nothing."

"And do you think that might also be the reason she didn't help Harry as much as she could have?"

Neville though shook his head dismissing that idea. "No… no that was something else. That was just her being… her. Being very hands off. But with Harry she was actively scorning him. She didn't hide how much she hated him competing and did nothing to offer him comfort."

"But do you think there could be more to it that than?" Linda pressed. Neville gave her a look, not quite getting what she was trying to lead him towards understanding and finally she sighed and removed her glasses. "Prof. McGonagall… I've done some research into her. Into a lot of people all of you interact with. And I mean no offense but you are all… young. Very young. And while no one is going to argue that you and your friends haven't been through many things… especially Harry… that doesn't mean you have all the experiences that your professors and mentors have been through.

"Prof. Minerva McGonagall was young during The Great War. Hadn't even begun at Hogwarts when it started. That does something to a child, to grow up during times of such tension when nothing can be truly held as solid. The sands always shifting… children are resilient and we like to say that they bounce back quickly but we have come to see how wrong that it. Children merely know how to suppress, how to hide even from themselves bad memories and thoughts. But it remains there… like a stinger that ends up stuck under your skin. It remains there, festering even if you don't realize it is there, but affecting you all the same. So many people are affected by what happened in their childhood… Harry is the obvious one because we are speaking about him, but your professor was the same.

"Did you know she was married? Never had children but she was married. Lost him though and that is when I think she truly decided to make all the children of Hogwarts here family." Neville opened his mouth but she held up her hand, asking for him to give her just a bit more time to explain. "She loved them. Each and every one of them. And the Civil War stole them from her. Harry parents… your parents… Ron's uncles… and countless others. That does something to a person. Changes them. When they know that because people they loved, who had such long lives ahead of them, are dead because of risks they took… it affects you. Don't you think it is possible… probable… that the reason why Prof. McGonagall couldn't help Harry, didn't want to help him… was she was scared for him?

~MC~MC~MC~

"But does that forgive betrayal?" Luna asked softly. "Does it forgive standing by while evil men do evil things?" She shook her head. "I'm sorry, doctor, but in this I do agree with Harry: the world is cruel and monstrous. If you could feel… understand just what evils lurk in the hearts of people… you'd have only two reaction."

"And those are?"

"Fight… and flight." She shrugged. "That's what Harry is doing. Fighting Voldemort… and fleeing all those who won't stand beside him." And then Luna's face twisted and she began to bounce on the cushion. "Is it true you have a patient who is really a Giratina that makes himself look human? Is his brother a Dialga?"

~MC~MC~MC~

"It didn't work out the way you thought it did, did it?" Linda frowned, looking up from her notes at the question. "You thought talking to them would be the key to unlock the mysteries that are Harry Potter and help you fix him. That though… was your first mistake."

"What do you mean?" Dr. Linda asked.

"You thought they could help you fix him. They can't. Have you tried to pound in a nail with a hammer that has no handle? Or cut a tree with a saw that has no teeth? You can't fix something that is broken with something that is also broken. And Harry's friends… all broken. Ron always got overlooked because he was spare of spare of the spare… you get the idea. So why bother trying when you feel like you can never be special… because someone else did it first? Hermione longs for respect from those of authority because it might prove that she belongs at Hogwarts. Neville never had power… it was stolen from him the moment his parents were driven mad and he is still trying to figure out what kind of man he wants to be. Luna… well… I think its obvious that Luna is in agony. She watched her mother die. More than that… she saw and felt the fear and pain… and then the nothingness. Just like Harry… who in his crib watched his mother die. Do… do you have any idea what that does to a person?"

"And what about you?" Linda asked, leaning forward. "What about you Jasmine?"

Jasmine Kenway sniffed back tears, a watery pathetic smile on her lips while self hatred flashed in her eyes. "When my parents died… my birth parents… I made a wish. And my dad fulfilled it. And it killed him. Destroyed the good and gentle man he was destined to be. My first night as his child saw me break him." She let out a bitter laugh. "We're all broken… and you can't ever fix us."

And then she pressed her face to her hands and sobbed.