The Filch Chronicles

A young Argus Filch felt the crackle of his magics as he strode up the path toward the large castle in the distance. Argus rolled his shoulders, readying the potent Filch family magics that had kept him and his ancestors on top of the magical world for hundreds of years. As he approached the castle he called out for its occupants, his magically enhanced voice thundering through the castle.

"Godric! Rowena! Salazar! Helena! Come out! Face me!"

Argus waited for a response, but none came.

With a frown on his aristocratic features he cautiously sent out fingers of probing magic across the castles wall, searching for any ward or traps, wether magical or physical.

Detecting none, Argus shrugged, put one long, slim finger to his lips and whistled sharply. A large grey and black cat, with eyes that glowed the yellow of phosphorus jumped our of the bushed before leaning its massive head against Argus' waist.

Argus grinned and stroked the Mrs. Norris' head, causing her to purr rapturously. Argus took a moment to collect his probing magics and stepped across the threshold.

As soon as his foot touched the castle's first paved step, a ward flared a brilliant ice blue and electricity coursed through Argus's body. He dimly heard Mrs. Norris yowling in pain. Argus struggled to stay conscious as four figures appeared before him. The first was a maternal looking woman in yellow and black. The next figure was a man who gave a noble, but somehow arrogant and greasy impression. Third was another woman, with what looked like a a pair of half moon spectacles perched on her nose, a few fat sparks were jumping of her blue and silver robes, marking her as the caster of the infernal circle he now found himself trapped in. The final figure was a man who had a wide smile on a face that blurred as electricity continued to surge through Argus's body.

The last thing he heard as he los consciousness was the sound of the four speaking as one.

"Welcome to Hogwarts, for you shall serve her forevermore."

Scenebreak

Argus Filch, caretaker and guardian of the grounds and students of Hogwarts for the last one thousand years woke with a curse. Every year, for the last one thousand years, the day of the 1rst years arrival had been marked by the same nightmare.

Filch frowned, his old and weathered face shifting in a way that would terrify the new students of Hogwarts. The nightmare was the castles way of reminding him of his duty.

He snorted.

Like he'd ever forget. The Geas that the founders had placed on him thrummed and resonated in every fiber of his being, every second of every day.

Each one of the couple dozen times he had failed to protect the students of Hogwarts had been the most painful hours of his long life. He shivered as he recalled the most recent and by far the most painful.

The death of Myrtle Warren.

Filch shuddered as he remembered the sheer mind destroying pain the stupid girls death had put him through. The damn Geas the founders had bound him with an incredibly complex series of blood and soul magics to the very life blood of Hogwarts, and as long as a single stone remained intact, he would remain bound to the accursed school. It had left him unable to use his magics unless in his or the students of Hogwarts defense.

He smiled slightly as Mrs. Norris pounced onto his chest. The cat was the only reason that he actually had remained sane for this long while being viewed as a squib, a ] member of the magic community, except without the magic. When he had been bound to the school, Mrs. Norris had been bound with him.

Filch grimaced. The 1rst years would be coming and he might as well see if there would be any new students that he would need to pay special attention too.

The ancient guardian of Hogwarts sighed as he left his room, already hearing the squealing of incoming students.

If he was ever free of this damn curse he would string up all these damn brats by their thumbs.