G, HARRY POTTER, ARGUS FILCH
§ dictionary secrets §
argus filch
what did this name mean? he asked himself, the wisdom of a ten year old did not suffice. the dictionary, heavy and dusty, was seldom used.
filch; verb: To take (something, especially something of little value) in a furtive manner; snitch.
this is something bad, he knew, and truthful. there was a small chest in his dresser drawer, underneath graying undershirts sloppily folded, in which were trinkets pilfered from the unneeding pockets of richer relatives and hapless strangers. he allowed himself a short moment of guilt, quickly buried in the excitement of the thrill of pride, a quick hand who was never caught, a juvenile Robin Hood, he was.
argus; noun:
Mythology. a giant with 100 eyes, set to guard the heifer Io: his eyes were transferred after his death to the peacock's tail.
2.a son of Phrixus and builder of the Argo.
3.(in the Odyssey) Odysseus' faithful dog, who recognized his master after twenty years and immediately died.
observant or vigilant person; a watchful guardian.
5.(lowercase) Also, argus pheasant. any of several brilliantly marked Malayan pheasants of the Argusianus or Rheinardia genera.
the fourth, then, as he was mostly certain he was human. he had entertained fantasies in which he was not; perhaps a creature left by the centaurs or some sort of fleshy dragon lacking scales, he had been disappointed to find a lack of both hooves and fiery breath. in which case it was a paradoxical name, perhaps, as he would not think to connect 'guardian', with its positive connotation, with anything so low as stealing--- ⌠stealing guardian■ was not a good name, even as a secret club house codename. his family was an oddity, then, and brought again the idea that he was not of their kin, for he had straight-forward thinking which did not appreciate riddles. and it was certain he was not a chicken, because he knew that pheasant was the same as chicken, no matter how "brilliantly marked".
he left the mystery in his boyish excitement, moving off with distraction. in his drawer lay his treasure chest, cheap jewelry and glass baubles gleaming in the dim lighting of his room. greedily, he counted his prizes---
(as a man, he would see his folly. but by then, his little childhood treasures impossibly lost in the passing of time, he would count his new treasures--- precious little witchlings in a stone tower, secreted off away from their parents by the seduction of magic and knowledge. it was his job to watch them, to play as guardian, keeping his chicks away from the snapping mouths of the dogs who wanted so badly to snap them up with his watchful 100 eyes.)
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27.3.2009
AN: Looking things up in the dictionary is fun.
OTL please review?