Post by Julia Wong on Oct 17, 2008 18:25:35 GMT
It was all an illusion.
And yet what a beautiful illusion it was and how little did it affect Julia to know that indeed it was just that. For in the moment when the charm produced by your own wand removed some terrible affliction or brought back hope into a terminally ill patient the high, the rush of triumph was liberating, intoxicating, better than any pleasure she had known. And yet that could only mean one thing. That the next operation had to be of greater complexity because the high she was rushing for was now even higher. The moments she spent in St Mungo’s closed doors to everything else but the moments in which the magic she performed changed people’s lives. And that was addicting.
But she was no fool, Julia. She knew that they performed operations on everyone who walked through their doors without getting to make a moral decision as to who they got to heal. Criminal or victim; Auror or Death Eater; man, woman, or child, they were obligated to help him or her and many a time Julia had wanted to say something to a family that walked into St Mungo’s and made a decision she knew had to be the wrong one. And she had no right to do so. And so that, in her opinion, was their profession - a paradox – you healed a person but to think you were better than anyone else was stupid. Healing wasn’t the noblest profession, and she hadn’t chosen because it was her calling, or anything of the sort. You could say the person you healed would later redeem themselves or chose to abuse the life that had been given and that you were doing nothing but giving them a second chance, and maybe that was true. But how likely was it that a person would change after a few hours under wands and most likely a combination of Numbing Charms?
She was cynical to the core and so she chose to disengage. So often people came to St Mungo’s looking for deep answers and while other doctors felt they should give them Julia knew they were just deluding themselves. They were here to do one thing and one thing only: cut, suture, and close, thankyouverymuch. And she was very excited about that. Knowledge and magic was all she needed in life. It was nice to have people around, but a small circle, and to have boundaries. The first month at St Mungo’s had been so exciting, and she’d thrown herself completely into it with regards to nothing else. Her life had never been better.
Ah, but alas for poor Julia no happiness was everlasting. She’d forgotten to pay her rent and when she got home she found her landlord smirking on the threshold of her apartment and telling her to pack and leave. Julia offered to pay double her rent but her landlord wasn’t hearing any of it. She told Julia that she’d turned the apartment into a dumpster in record time, quite a remarkable feat considering how little time she spent in it. The landlord in question was an old lady whose husband had died leaving her no source of income but this apartment. Julia would never have imagined the lady had it in her to kick her out. All she wanted to do was run to St Mungo’s but her sanctuary was off limits for now.
And that left her standing at the door of the last man she thought she would ever need to ask a favour. But she was here to bargain, not beg. Because she had knowledge, she thought smugly. “I need a place to stay for a few days,” she said, looking at Benji. “Yeah, I know you haven’t quite yet fell in love with my many endearing and teddy-bearish qualities. But you let me stay and I throw in a good word for you with that Healer in the Artefact Accident’s department that hasn’t asked you to operate with him yet. And you get to pick a Charm of the many you are struggling with and I help you,” she said, with the air of one offering him a great service.
And yet what a beautiful illusion it was and how little did it affect Julia to know that indeed it was just that. For in the moment when the charm produced by your own wand removed some terrible affliction or brought back hope into a terminally ill patient the high, the rush of triumph was liberating, intoxicating, better than any pleasure she had known. And yet that could only mean one thing. That the next operation had to be of greater complexity because the high she was rushing for was now even higher. The moments she spent in St Mungo’s closed doors to everything else but the moments in which the magic she performed changed people’s lives. And that was addicting.
But she was no fool, Julia. She knew that they performed operations on everyone who walked through their doors without getting to make a moral decision as to who they got to heal. Criminal or victim; Auror or Death Eater; man, woman, or child, they were obligated to help him or her and many a time Julia had wanted to say something to a family that walked into St Mungo’s and made a decision she knew had to be the wrong one. And she had no right to do so. And so that, in her opinion, was their profession - a paradox – you healed a person but to think you were better than anyone else was stupid. Healing wasn’t the noblest profession, and she hadn’t chosen because it was her calling, or anything of the sort. You could say the person you healed would later redeem themselves or chose to abuse the life that had been given and that you were doing nothing but giving them a second chance, and maybe that was true. But how likely was it that a person would change after a few hours under wands and most likely a combination of Numbing Charms?
She was cynical to the core and so she chose to disengage. So often people came to St Mungo’s looking for deep answers and while other doctors felt they should give them Julia knew they were just deluding themselves. They were here to do one thing and one thing only: cut, suture, and close, thankyouverymuch. And she was very excited about that. Knowledge and magic was all she needed in life. It was nice to have people around, but a small circle, and to have boundaries. The first month at St Mungo’s had been so exciting, and she’d thrown herself completely into it with regards to nothing else. Her life had never been better.
Ah, but alas for poor Julia no happiness was everlasting. She’d forgotten to pay her rent and when she got home she found her landlord smirking on the threshold of her apartment and telling her to pack and leave. Julia offered to pay double her rent but her landlord wasn’t hearing any of it. She told Julia that she’d turned the apartment into a dumpster in record time, quite a remarkable feat considering how little time she spent in it. The landlord in question was an old lady whose husband had died leaving her no source of income but this apartment. Julia would never have imagined the lady had it in her to kick her out. All she wanted to do was run to St Mungo’s but her sanctuary was off limits for now.
And that left her standing at the door of the last man she thought she would ever need to ask a favour. But she was here to bargain, not beg. Because she had knowledge, she thought smugly. “I need a place to stay for a few days,” she said, looking at Benji. “Yeah, I know you haven’t quite yet fell in love with my many endearing and teddy-bearish qualities. But you let me stay and I throw in a good word for you with that Healer in the Artefact Accident’s department that hasn’t asked you to operate with him yet. And you get to pick a Charm of the many you are struggling with and I help you,” she said, with the air of one offering him a great service.
