This is a Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality fan-fiction which contains spoilers. If you haven't, you should read or listen to Eliezer Yudkowsky's original work before reading this.

Chapter 2 >>

“The wizarding world has magical healers. So are there magical equivalents to muggle psychiatrists?”

Deputy Headmistress Minerva McGonagall was sitting in her office riffling through a thick pile of ministry paperwork. When the question registered she stopped and lifted her head to face Harry.

“Harry you poor thing. If there’s anything you need to talk about – anything at all – you can always come to me.”

Harry interrupted, “No, it’s not that. I’m fine. I really am. I just need to know, are there healers that specialize in illnesses like depression, addictions, phobias, those kinds of things?”

“Well, not as far as I know,” she replied. “Let me think... Healer training is 3 years and then another 3 working as an apprentice in Saint Mungo’s but the curriculum is the same for all healers. We have several Hogwarts alumni who started healer training just last year. I could put you in touch if you want? Are you sure you’re okay Harry?”

It was just as he had feared. If there were psychiatric spells as powerful as the healing spells he had seen you simply wouldn’t ever see an unhappy witch or wizard – and that wasn’t the world Harry saw around him.

“But do spells like that exist?” continued Harry.

“Well there’s a spell called Mulceo which can be used for students with phobias. We sometimes have first year students with, say, a crippling fear of spiders – and that’s a problem because they won’t turn up to Care of Magical Creatures class.

“I would have them imagine a spider in their mind’s eye and as they’re doing that, cast the spell. What it does is flood their mind with warm happy memories. Then you repeat it whilst they look at a muggle photograph of a spider, a moving magical photograph, all the way up to petting one of Mr Hagrid’s acromantulas. It’s a way for them to gradually get comfortable with spiders you see.”

Harry suspected that this would work even without magic involved. He couldn’t be entirely sure that the spell did anything. But it was a start.

“You have to understand, even these kinds of weak mind magic are delicate and dangerous. And they’re not taught to students because you can get addicted to using them.”

The night before, Harry had compiled a li...

Methods of Psychomagic