Harry Potter and the Prince of Slytherin

Chapter 3: Blast-Ended What?!?

2 September 1994
(Harry and Ted Tonks)

Before heading to breakfast, Harry decided to bite the bullet and drop by Ted Tonks's new office, which was conveniently located adjacent to the Hospital Wing. As he knocked on the door, Harry briefly wondered if Madam Pomfrey had any reservations about a fully licensed Healer intruding into her domain. He'd never been entirely clear on what the difference was between a "Healer" and a "Mediwitch" or, indeed, which term best fit the Hogwarts Matron.

"Then again," he thought, "I'm sure Madam Pomfrey's professional enough to be fine with Ted's presence, especially if he sticks to ..." Harry suppressed a shudder. "counseling!"

"Come in!" said Ted from inside the office in response to Harry's knock.

The boy entered to find a surprisingly cozy office. Healer Tonks was sitting behind a desk with two chairs facing him. On the other side of the room were two additional stuffed chairs and an actual sofa. Harry had seen enough Muggle television to be familiar with the trope of patients lying on sofas while pouring their hearts out to psychiatrists. He fought down the urge to roll his eyes.

"Professor Snape sent word that you wanted to see me, Ted ... er, Healer Tonks, I guess."

"Ted is fine when it's just us, Harry," the Healer said amiably as he pointed his wand at the door. He uttered a word that Harry didn't recognize, and the door lit up in a bright flash.

"Privacy wards," Ted explained. "The Headmaster and Severus both assisted in setting up the strongest privacy wards we could think of. Most magical folk have no awareness of mental health counseling, which is more of a Muggle thing. And I doubt any Pureblood would ever agree to counseling unless they were assured that no one else could listen in. Please, take a seat."

With some trepidation, Harry sat down opposite him.

"Now then, the reason I asked you here is to discuss the counseling services I'll be providing. Basically, I'll be giving Hogwarts students the chance to speak to a healthcare professional in a safe and totally confidential setting, with all our discussion bound by a Healer's Oath of Confidentiality, which is one of the most powerful secrecy oaths in existence. My hope is that students who have suffered traumatic events that they're not dealing with properly will avail themselves of these services so that proper treatment can be provided, even if only in the form of someone with whom they can talk candidly about their feelings."

"Uh-huh," said Harry, who had absolutely no desire to talk candidly about his feelings to anyone.

"With that in mind, I asked you here today because I have a favor to ask of you."

"Oh?" Harry replied while bracing himself for Ted's request that he submit to a session.

"Yes, I was hoping that I could prevail upon you to speak to your friends Hermione and Theo and encourage them to come see me for counseling."

At that, Harry blinked in confusion. "Hermione and Theo?"

"Yes," Ted said. "As you know, both of them suffered harrowing experiences at the Quidditch World Cup barely a week ago. Hermione was forced to kill a werewolf in order to save her father's life, while Theo was responsible for causing his birth father, who had previously been abusive to him, to lose his magic and then die rather unpleasantly. They're both only fourteen years old. To have killed another person, even under completely justifiable circumstances, can be deeply traumatizing. Hermione's parents had concerns about even letting her return to Hogwarts, but the promise of counseling availability persuaded them that it was the best solution for everyone. And, of course, poor Theo suffered from abuse long before his father's unlamented demise. I think treatment of the sort I'll be offering will be of tremendous benefit to them both, don't you?"