So, I’ve been wondering recently about what it might mean for someone to be a Seer. Now, obviously, there’s the fact that Seers can, well, See. As in, they have visions (possibly amongst other things). Which, all right, yes, we know that. But what I wonder is whether these visions can affect a Seer’s mind and their mental state.
Now, straight away, I want to say that I am not basing this off anything that we see or read in canon, it’s pure speculation on my part. But I feel as though being a Seer is not as simple as having visions - not for the person, at least. I feel as if these visions would, especially the darker and more violent ones, would certainly start to take a toll on the mind of the Seer, and would cause him or her a lot of stress and, potentially, trauma.
Personally, I have a headcanon that Seers can be affected by what I like to call ‘vision detritus’, for lack of a better word. (By the way, if anyone has a better word for that, give me a shout!) When I use this term, what I mean is that a Seer will experience certain after effects of visions. They could be different, depending on the Seer. However, these effects can fluctuate in their intensity, depending on several factors, one of which is the surrounding environment, but they will never fully go away. I suppose I equate it, in a way, with my own experiences with anxiety. It’s always there, I know it’s always there, but I often feel it worse in certain environments and situations compared to others.
Anyway, my idea is that this vision detritus can build up over time - with especially high concentrations if a Seer experiences highly traumatic visions - and can affect their minds in varying, but equally traumatic and potentially destabilising, ways.
Firstly, let’s look at Professor Trelawney. I admit that my first thought upon being first introduced to her in Prisoner of Azkaban, was that she was rather, shall we say, out there, and a touch melodramatic. At this point, I was never entirely sure whether her behaviour was an act and she was playing the part of the stereotypical eccentric fortune teller with her crystal balls and everything. Now, especially noticing the heightening of her emotional distress in Order of the Phoenix and Half-Blood Prince, I’m wondering if this might have been what was happening to her; if her mental deterioration was being exacerbated by the stress of her visions, not to mention the after effects. Admittedly, Umbridge in OotP did not help things for her, but she could easily have been the catalyst that would have triggered a shift in her mental (quite possibly already fragile) mental state. Add that to the increasing atmosphere of danger and fear brought on by Voldemort’s return, and, well, I think that would certainly add to her mental stress, which was already not being helped by her being a Seer in the first place.
Then, of course, in Fantastic Beasts, we are introduced to a second Seer in the form of Gellert Grindelwald. We don’t really see very much of his visions (pun noted, but not intended), save for the one of, I presume, World War 2 that he shows to the crowds at the Paris rally. However, I’m going to speculate that, while he too struggles with vision detritus, it manifests very differently to how it does with Trelawney. It does cause him a great deal of mental stress and trauma, but while it manifests in Trelawney as, for lack of a better word, almost wild spaciness, in Gellert, it comes out as an obsession and a drive and determination to achieve his goals, no matter what. Now, we can tell that Gellert is a very driven and determined man, so you might be wondering what the downside of this could be. However, it would still take a severe toll on his mental state, and cause him a great deal of emotional stress. It’s also my headcanon that, when he was young, his visions were much harder for him to control, because his mind, like his body, was still developing - yay, puberty! As a result, this extra ability added even more of a burden to him, and could often cause him severe anxiety, especially when his visions showed something dangerous or destructive. Things got easier as he got older and learned better how to cope with them, but the damage was already done in his youth, and the fact that the detritus never goes away, but in fact continues to spread as the Seer keeps, well, Seeing, didn’t help.
As with Trelawney, I believe something also happened to Gellert that triggered a shift for the worse in his mental state. It could have been his expulsion from Durmstrang, but, while I do believe that this would have had a detrimental effect on his mental health, I don’t think it would have been enough to push him completely over the edge. Instead, I think that his triggering event was the threeway duel and him subsequently losing Albus. It’s my head canon that, during the time he spent with Albus in Godric’s Hollow, he would still carry the effects of his visions (and he will for the rest of his life) and his visions would still leave him shaken. But he would have had Albus’ love to lean on and keep him safe - possibly even to calm the permanent side effects a little. (I think of it as a constant whispering echo in his mind, but an echo that feels like shards of ice tearing at him. Actually, I think I also wrote that in a fic…) Anyway, then, when everything fell apart and he didn’t have that support any longer, the effects returned with a vengeance and he found himself pushed back towards the edge, only this time, he couldn’t pull himself back, because he lost his best friend, his love, and his anchor all at once. Which, let’s be honest, that’s not going to end well.
Side note, but I genuinely believe that, had they stayed together, Albus and Gellert would have found a way to make their plans work and they would have been successful in their revolution. It wouldn’t have been easy - making change never is - and they might not have always been able to do it completely peacefully, but I think they would have found a way to compromise with each other. (I’ve always believed that Albus was the only one Gellert would have compromised his methods, if not necessarily his beliefs, for, because they understood and accepted each other.) But, even though I think he has the right ideas about making changes and not having to hide, Gellert is something of a loose canon without Albus’ grounding influence - and, let’s be honest, without his love. (And Albus is totally miserable without Gellert, without the only person who understood him, but that’s another kettle of fish!)
As I said, I’m not really basing this off anything we get in canon and it’s probably a total ridiculous mess of my random musings (I’m not even sure I explained it very well, come to think of it), but I genuinely thought it was a rather interesting thing to muse on, perhaps? (Or maybe not? Maybe just me? I don’t know…)
Is it possible, do you think? Can visions have after effects and side affects that can affect a Seer’s mind?
