Psycho-Babble

Dr Rei Faraday

Hogwarts School Counselor

Draco Malfoy looked at the words on the door of the new school counselor with disdain. He considered just going back to the Slytherin common room and skipping this whole pointless exercise, but decided it was better to face this than McGonagall’s wrath once she realised he hadn’t gone. Stupid Gryffindor, he thought to himself. How dare she say I have an attitude problem! Everyone knows that Potter deserves the curse I hit him with. I was doing everyone a favour. He knocked on the door unhappily. What a waste of time. But out of a choice of this or detention, he chose the softer option.

A pleasant voice said to come in, and he did so. The room he entered was warm and well lit. A young witch sat behind a desk, engrossed in a file that said ‘Draco Malfoy’ on the back. Intelligent eyes behind oval glasses looked up at him with a smile.

"Mr Malfoy. Come, sit down," she said, gesturing to a chair in front of the desk. Malfoy slumped into the chair, determined to be disagreeable. Faraday began to open her mouth, but he interrupted her.

"Look, if you think that I’m just going to spill all my innermost feelings and promise to be nicer to Potter, you can just forget it. I know all about you. My father is on the school board, he told me everything. You’re a Mudblood, and can barely do simple charms, you’re practically a squib, as low as a Muggle. And to prove how like a Muggle you are, you went to a Muggle university and got a Muggle degree. And now you come to Hogwarts expecting to impose all this psychoanalysis crap on us and tell us its good for us. My father tried to prevent Professor Dumbledore hiring you, but I guess he felt Dumbledore felt sorry for you. So, please excuse me if I don’t have any respect for you or your opinions."

He leaned back in his chair, arms folded, satisfied with his work. Take that, Mudblood.

If he was hoping for a shocked and hurt outburst, he was disappointed. Faraday raised an eyebrow but did appear to be angry or insulted. She leaned back in her chair.

"Well. If you don’t want to be here, I certainly can’t force you." She began to close Draco’s file saying, "I’m sure Professor McGonagall will be able to think of a suitable detention for you instead." She smiled.

Malfoy sighed irritably. "Fine, I’ll stay here." He glared at her. "But I’m not going to talk."

Faraday shrugged. "This is your time to use as you will. You can talk to me, or not, I won’t force you. But whatever you choose to do, you’re here for half an hour."

Malfoy pressed his lips together, determined to remain silent. Faraday watched him for a little while, then took up a pen and started writing something. Malfoy watched her suspiciously, and tried to see what she was writing. She looked up at him, and he quickly diverted his eyes and affected his usual haughty expression again. She said nothing and continued writing. Finally Malfoy couldn’t take the silence and the curiosity.

"What are you writing about me?" he demanded, leaning forward to see.

Faraday looked down at the unicorn she had been doodling. "Nothing," she said, tilting the file up defensively.

"You were writing something," he accused, "and I want to know what it is."

"I don’t see why you should care," she answered. "I am just Mudblood, what does my opinion matter?"

Malfoy had no response to that. He scowled at her for some time, then looked thoughtful.

"Okay, I’ll talk to you. It doesn’t matter what you tell people about me, you’re just a Mudblood, and my father will have you fired."

Faraday chose to let the insult slide in light of the minor breakthrough. "So… I suppose we should start with the reason you got sent here." She looked at a note in his file. "Apparently you hexed another student."

"That note obviously doesn’t tell the whole story."

"Well, then you tell me. How did it start?"

"Potter was insulting my family. I bet it McGonagall didn’t put that in the note, did she? Everything that Potter does wrong is always glossed over. I insulted him back. We both aimed hexes at each other, my aim is just superior to his, so he missed and I hit him with a fireball. Of course I got all the blame. Potter breaks all the rules, but the teachers just let him."

"So Potter… Harry Potter is it? He didn’t get punished by McGonagall at all? That does seem a little unfair."

"Well… not exactly. McGonagall gave him the same choice as me," he admitted. "He chose the detention. He said he preferred cleaning windows than having his brain picked apart and analysed," he continued, never missing a chance to poison someone’s (often misguided, he thought) opinion of his rival.

"Seems fair enough to me."

"Okay, maybe that wasn’t such a good example. But there have definitely been times when Potter has even been rewarded for breaking rules. He just thinks he’s above everyone else, that he can get away with anything just because he’s famous and a Gryffindor… what are you writing?"

Faraday finished what she was writing and looked up. "Just that you seem to hold a real grudge against Mr Potter. I would like to meet him sometime. By the way, how do you know what he thinks? Can you read his mind? Does he confess these things to you himself? Maybe you shouldn’t be so quick to judge."

Malfoy looked away, angry. "He judged me right from the start, why should I allow him a luxury that he didn’t allow me? Anyway, I don’t expect you to understand. Of course you side with him. Everyone except for Slytherins always do." He then smiled, as if an amusing thought had crossed his mind. "Maybe someday soon his luck will run out. Then we’ll see who’s laughing." He looked at the clock on the wall. "Half an hour’s up. I’m outta here." With that he left.

"Come back and talk sometime if you need to," Faraday said to his turned back. He made no sign to show he had heard her, and continued down the hallway, out of her sight.

So, what do you think? I think I’ll do Harry next. Suggestions and criticism will be gratefully accepted.