When I first finished healer training, my mum gave me a stethoscope as a congratulations gift. So, I am ashamed to admit that I had mixed feelings about it at the time. It was a thoughtful gift and it wasn't cheap but I didn't feel comfortable actually using it. The stethoscope is pretty much a universal symbol for a Muggle Doctor, for those of you who have never been or seen a Doctor before. Healers typically use listening trumpets which basically do the same thing, internal listening of the human body. At the time I remember thinking that if I walked into Mungo's wearing a stethoscope, I might get in trouble again for trying to incorporate 'barbaric muggle medicine' into my work again.
I had already gotten in trouble once for using stitches for a snake bite instead of simply using a spell to mend the wound. I think the only reason I wasn't really reprimanded was because the patient wanted stitches, and actually had been fascinated about how muggles did things differently. Regardless, as a young healer I'd already been worried about standing out. This was also in 1996 when people admitting your support for muggles and muggleborns could get you killed.
So, the more I think and help out with the Uplift/Pink Movement, I keep thinking about what changes I want to see and how I can help out more than just wearing pink at a Quidditch match. So, I've been doing an experiment since Tuesday. I found my stethoscope and I wore it to work and waited to see what happened. Of course I got strange looks, and a lot of curious questions about where I got it and what it was for. Some older patients looked at it like it was a dangerous creature around my neck ready to attack, but whatever. What was consistent was how I explained each time that my Mum, who was a muggle, gave it to me to use it like muggle doctors do.
Spell-o-Taped in
I also transfigured them pink. Just in case the muggleborn message wasn't clear enough. I think the colour goes well with the lime green robes. Maybe it will catch on, but at least I can support Uplift and friends at work too, and not just in the stands at a Quidditch match. Congratulations to the Kestrals.
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