The C. and G. session

The C. and G. session

The scene is a mid-sized, well furnished office with several book shelves, nicely filled.

There is a knock on the door, and the man behind the desk reaches for his control panel, pushes the voice button, and says: "come in."

Two large young men come into the office, as the man of the office dims the lighting from the same panel he just used for voice. The boys are both dressed darkly, wearing the darkest of green robes. They shuffle silently over to a couple of chairs. After sitting, they wriggle slightly and look down at the arms of their chairs and the visible parts of the cushions, somewhat surprised at the comfort of their seats.

The man in the office is a professional, but we shall call him Reducto in lieu of his real name.

Vi: Well, I woke up inside a broom cupboard. It was dark...couldn't see a thing. I remember I was kind of dizzy, and then I noticed my shoes were gone. I thought I was in the dormitory, but it didn't feel right. Then I smelled a bit of this delicious pastry. I didn't really think: I just turned my head and opened my mouth, and sure enough, I tasted a little of that delicious chocolate.

Gr: That's not ALL you tasted, Cra...er, I mean, Vic-tor.

At this point, both boys shift uneasily in the shadows of their requested semi-anonymity yielding darkness. A few moments pass, and one can almost touch the tension in the air, from what could be perceived as a struggle between embarrassment and the need to let things out.

Reducto: Please, continue. I am not here to judge. I will, however much I can, help you deal with your problems and feelings.

Gr: You go ahead.

Vi: Right. Well, I didn't think or plan anything, I just went by instinct. So, when I didn't feel any resistance, I just kept kissing Goy...

Gr: HEY! Ga-ry, remember! (hissing thru clenched teeth)

Vi: Um....ahem! I mean, yeah, I kissed Gary. I sort of...it kind of...it, um, it felt natural actually.

Reducto: What about you, Gr...er, Gary, what do you remember? How did you feel?

Gr: Ruh-hem! (nervous throat clearing) I was asleep, wasn't I? So it felt...I mean, I was having this dream - the kind of dream that I was starting to have. Dead serious stuff, that filled me with shame and...whatchacallit? Annex-tity...

Reducto: (stifles a smile and near-laugh, covers with pretend cough) ahem...go ahead, go on...

Gr: Yeah, well, this time, I woke up and it was real, innit? I mean, I was kissing Cra...I mean, Victor, and I felt like this mad hunger, but I was repulsed at the same time. So that's when I started flailing at the buckets and kicking at things. I was...I woz confused.

Vi: YOU were confused? I though you were going to rip my head off! So I whispered to him, practically crying, that I swear I wasn't going to tell anyone.

Reducto: And you never told anyone.

Gr: Well, we've come to see you, haven't we?

Reducto: Yes, but I'm a professional (pauses a few seconds). Now, what did you need to do to conceal your secret?

Vi: We didn't really do anything for about two years, but then Go...er, I mean, Gary, well, he saw me sort of pogo-ing behind Krum.

Gr: Yeah, well he liked Slytherins mostly, didn't he? Krum did. And we all mostly got on well.

Vi: Yeh, but then...Guh, Gary...um, he thought I was keen on Krum, er, a bit too much at the Yule Ball, and we had this right nasty fight about it that night. I thought for sure Dra...ah, er, I mean, I thought "D" was on to us.

Gr: Right, but everybody was too busy snoggin' to notice, innit? So we talked it over the next day, and we decided to continue acting as though nothing had ever happened, yeh? I mean, it was right near impossible at school, and almost as hard to get together during holidays.

Reducto: But important things don't go away by pretending they don't exist, do they?

Gr: Well...no.

Reducto: So, was it very difficult, trying to maintain this façade, this idea that nothing had ever happened?

Vi: Well, we did have that holiday, the one after the Yule Ball. That was nice, that was...our dads were quite cheery, really - in their own world, really.

Gr: It was good, but at school it was back to the same routine.

Reducto: You mean, pretending?

Gr: Yeah.

Reducto: But that was difficult, wasn't it? You had to let out your frustrations by being aggressive, violent even, didn't you?

Vi: Yeah, I...huh?

Gr: Oh! You mean that's why it felt good to push people around, then? Having to hide things?

Reducto: Mostly, But, tell me, what do you believe was the next major thing to happen?

Vi: (still frowning slightly, then after a few seconds) it was our sixth year, it was.

Gr: Yeh...well, we...um, er...someone made us take polyjuice, and we were turning into girls loads of times.

Vi: Yeah.

Reducto: That must have been confusing and upsetting.

Gr: Yeh! Right, so there was that, and then there was...erm, "D" weeping in the lues, and, and actin' strange...so we just decided to stop pretending then...when the school year ended.

The boys shuffle nervously again, in and out of deep shadows, and then simultaneously reach for each other's hand.

The interview seems a bit clipped, but the boys were only willing (or able to afford) a half hour session.

Reducto jots down notes as the boys start passing thru the door on their way out. He recalls some sort of incident that rumor reached him about a "closet incident" the year the chamber of secrets was opened. Then he jots down his impression that the two youths aren't actually squibs; dim, maybe. But it appears to Reducto that the young men in question prefer the magic from wands that aren't expertly produced by Olivander. His last notes are: "Crabbe and Goyle: they're a good match...lots in common."