Seeking Help

[Asaiah Murphy]

For some time now, Asaiah had been thinking of seeking out guidance and advice from one of the counsellors at the school. He still wasn't doing well even though it had been ten months since his parents and sister died in a plane crash. He didn't know what to do with all the emotions he's feeling ever since that moment, and while talking about it with his friends had sort of helped him feel a little better continued to crop them up rather expressing these emotions. The Slytherin had hoped that everything would be back to normal by now but after almost a year was still experiencing panic attacks at times as well as nightmares whenever he'd fall asleep, which wasn't often because he didn't want to be dreaming about his parents and sister. He thought that by asking a professional's opinion and advise on these matters instead of going to his friends with this - because he could already guess what they would say to it all - that perhaps it would help him to deal with this better. He knocked on the woman's door three times and waited for a response before he would enter her office.

 

[Maria Madison]

The counselling office had been surprisingly quiet this year, but Maria had heard about quite a lot of controversy in the school, and she was anticipating a rush of unscheduled visits. She had made sure to stock up on tissues and pamphlets, and had rearranged the chairs in her office into what felt like a more soothing layout. She was going through some old case files to return them to storage when she heard a knock on the door. "Come in!" She called out, not surprised at the unexpected visit. She pulled a fresh notepad out of her desk, ready to take notes.

 

[Asaiah Murphy]

Asaiah opened the door and entered the counsellor's office, smiling weakly at the woman after he had closed the door behind him. ''I was wondering if you had time to... talk about something?'' the Slytherin asked a little uncertain. Talking about his problems with someone that knew what to do seemed like the right thing to do but now that he was standing in front of the woman he wasn't so sure anymore if he wanted to bother the counsellor with his problems. A part of him would be relieved if she wouldn't have any time for him right now because he didn't want the woman to think that he was pathetic for still struggling with the death in his family even after months.

 

[Maria Madison]

When the boy entered her office, Maria gave him a reassuring smile in return. "Absolutely, I'm free right now. What was your name?" She asked gently, gesturing to the chairs in her office. "Make yourself comfortable. I'm Maria Madison, as you know I'm the counsellor here at Hogwarts. I'm just here for you to talk to any time you're having issues and need a bit of help or guidance. Nothing you say here will ever leave this room, unless I'm worried you're in immediate danger of harming yourself or someone else, at which point I legally have to notify someone. But you can feel free to say anything you want here without any judgement, or risk of rumours, or anything else. School can be a stressful environment, and I'm here to make sure you're feeling safe and able to focus on studying and growing up healthily." She gave the boy a reassuring smile. "Now, what's brought you here today? You can say as much or as little as you're comfortable with."

 

[Asaiah Murphy]

Asaiah walked over to one of the chairs and sat down in it. ''It's not school's that is on my mind, actually. I couldn't care less about school,'' the Slytherin told the woman. He found himself skipping more classes lately just so he could stay in bed and catch up on some sleep during the day as he was no longer able to sleep during the night. He sighed deeply before going on to say, ''I've just had some trouble dealing with stuff I guess.'' He didn't quite know how to tell the woman that half of his family had died so thought that if he would tell her about his problems first then perhaps later he would be able to tell her the reason for these problems, as he was sure it was all linked together.

 

[Maria Madison]

Maria nodded, listening to the boy talk. Not caring about school concerned her, but it felt clear that there was a deeper problem behind it. She nodded again when he talked about having trouble dealing with stuff. "Well, what kind of stuff are you dealing with?" She asked gently. "You don't have to say anything you aren't comfortable with, but I need a bit of a starting point, even if it's just very general." Maria didn't want to push the boy, but she could tell something was unsettling him a lot, and general advice could only go so far.