The Story of Argus Filch
"Argus!" He sat up in his bed at his mother's screech and groaned. What did she want now? "Get downstairs this instant!"
"I'm coming," he answered back. Donning a robe on, he made his way downstairs. "Yes, Mother?" It was then he noticed the presence of two official looking wizards in the room.
"Where were you this morning?" she asked, crossing her arms.
He suppressed the urge to yell. She knew the answer very well, so why was she even asking? "I was cleaning my room," he answered in a monotone.
His mother's face turned red in an instant, and he wondered what had he done now. "Don't lie to me. You stole candy from the store and gave it to the Muggle kids in the nearest village."
"What?" Argus yelled. "You know very well mother that I was upstairs. And it is not like I can apparate or anything. I know very well that it was Ambrosius who took the candy — you don't even let me into the shop — and in fact, he told me he and his friends were going to have some fun pranking the Muggles."
"Shut up, you lying Squib! Don't you dare blame it on your brother." She then pointed to the people who were standing there. "These people are here because you broke the Statute of Secrecy. They'll take you away now."
Argus felt his heart fill with dread. "What?" he asked again, but his voice was cracking. Why were they doing this?
"C'mon, lad," one of the men said, grabbing his arm. "Can't snap your wand 'cause you don't have one." He laughed at his own joke. "But 'course we can put you in a Ministry holding cell while you await your trial."
Argus started to struggle, and the second man grabbed his other shoulder. "Mother!" Argus called out in desperation, but the woman had already left the room. He felt a weird sensation of being squeezed through a tube, and the next he knew, he was kneeling on a sidewalk, emptying his stomach.
So this was Apparition.
The Ministry-men walked him to an elevator, through the Ministry atrium, and onto another elevator. They guided him through several halls and a couple of stairs, making him lose track completely until he found himself in a small, dark room with no windows as the door closed behind him.
It had been twelve days since Argus was locked up, and though he had nothing to do all day, there was a plus to it. At least he got full meal three times a day. At least—
The sound of door opening stopped his train of thoughts.
"Get up," a man told him. "The Wizengamot's waiting for ya."
For some reason, the hope that had been building inside him for the past few days died out on hearing the name of the wizarding court, because that was what it was—a court for wizards. What was the hope of getting justice there for a Squib like him?
Feeling resigned, he followed the man to his awaiting doom.
When he entered the courtroom, for a minute he was stumped by the size of it, especially considering the fact that it was full of people. He had never been in a crowd before, and he decided this was not a good time to find out that he was afraid of crowds. So, suppressing his urge to cower, he followed the man's directions and took his place in the chair assigned to him, hoping against hope that the menacing looking shackles didn't spring to life to bind him.
He got his wish as he would find later that they were magic-suppressing equipment. He didn't need them because he didn't have any magic at all.
Argus looked up at the filled seats. There were about fifty witches and wizards wearing plum-coloured robes with an elaborate 'W' on the left-hand side of the chest, almost all staring at him in disgust.
In the very middle of the front row sat Albus Dumbledore, the Chief Warlock. To his right sat Minister Bagnold and to his left sat the court scribe.
"Very well," said Dumbledore. "Are you ready for the hearing, Mr Flume?"
Argus nodded.
"Disciplinary hearing of the twelfth of August," said Dumbledore, and the court scribe began taking notes, 'into offences committed under the Decree for the International Statute of Secrecy by Argus Flume, a resident at Honeydukes, Hogsmeade.
"Interrogators: Albus Dumbledore, Chief Warlock; Millicent Bagnold, Minister for Magic; Bartemius Crouch, Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement; Graham Mcnair, Senior Undersecretary to the Minister. Court Scribe: Oswald Cattermole. Chief witnesses: Daisy Flume and Ambrosius Flume."
Argus felt his heart drop when he heard his mother's and brother's names. They were here to blame him, obviously.
Taking out another piece of parchment, Dumbledore read, "The charges against the accused are as follows:
"That he knowingly deliberately and in full awareness of the illegality of his actions, which constitutes an offence under Section 13 of the International Confederation of Warlocks' Statute of Secrecy.
"You are Argus Flume?" Dumbledore asked, his gaze kind, for some reason.
"Yes," Argus replied.
"You gave wizarding sweets to Muggles, knowing this was against the Statute of Sorcery?"
"No," said Argus, trying but failing to keep his voice steady.
"This is an outrage!" his mother cried from where she was sitting. "Ambrosius saw you stealing the sweets from the shop, and—"
"Mother, you know I was in the house all day. It was Ambrosius, I swear!"
"Don't you dare put the blame on your brother. Ambrosius is such a good boy; he would never do such a thing."
Argus started to reply but Dumbledore cleared his throat. "Does the accused have a witness to defend him?"
Argus hung his head. "Mother knows I was at home. But—no, I don't have any other witness."
"Chief Warlock," his mother spoke, "I would also like to add the crime of stealing in the charges against him."
Argus clenched his eyes shut. He didn't know why she hated him so much. Just because he didn't have magic? He tuned out rest of the trial, not that anyone was asking him anything. It was as they were nearing the verdict that it suddenly dawned on him that he might be sent to Azkaban.
"I'm not guilty," he said out loud, "I can prove it under Veritaserum!"
Dumbledore looked at him sadly, his bright blue gaze piercing. "I'm sorry, my boy, but Veritaserum needs magic to work, and you are—"
"—a Squib." Argus snorted. "Why are you even doing this formality, then? I'm a Squib, and I'm going to be charged guilty regardless of the fact that I'm innocent."
The last of his hopes shattered when Dumbledore didn't meet his eyes.
It was a few minutes later that the Chief Warlock spoke again. "Mr Flume, you have been found guilty of stealing and for breaking the International Statute of Secrecy.
"I propose giving Mr Flume the job of Hogwarts caretaker for fifteen years. That way, he will be under observation of the wards at all times."
Dumbledore was giving him an easy punishment. Argus let out a shuddering breath.
"Oh, come on, Dumbledore, the Accidental Magic Reversal Squad and the Obliviators were busy for days clearing up the mess caused because of this Squib," Minister Bagnold said. "I propose three-month sentence in Azkaban along with the Hogwarts job."
Azkaban? This could not be happening!
"I agree," the Head of DMLE said, nodding. When Graham Mcnair gave his agreement, too, Argus knew it was final. He was going to Azkaban for something he hadn't even done. His only fault was he didn't have magic to even defend himself by drinking up the truth potion.
Dumbledore confirmed it when he announced the sentence, though his eyes said he was sorry. Argus didn't care—it wasn't as if Dumbledore put a stopper to an innocent being thrown in Azkaban.
He was seven. Argus had just walked into the shop, trailing after his elder brother Ambrosius. As he reached out for a sweet, someone swatted his hand away. "No sweets for you until you show you can do magic, you worthless piece of scum!"
It was his mother. As Ambrosius started laughing and poking fun at him, Argus ran away.
.
It was his eleventh birthday. Night had almost fallen, yet no owl had come telling him he was wanted at Hogwarts. His mother had told him this was going to happen—after all, he hadn't had a single bout of accidental magic, yet. As he sunk into his bed, Argus let his tears fall.
.
Argus watched from his room as the Hogwarts kids went into the shop—where he was forbidden from even entering—and came out with bags full of sweets. He caught a glance of his brother talking and laughing with his friends, and he looked away.
.
His father entered the house after another day at the shop. His face was contorted in anger. For the first time, the man didn't look past Argus like he always did. Instead, he took a step closer and backhanded Argus. "Why don't you die, scumbag? Why did you have to grace us with your worthless presence, Squib?"
.
Argus pressed a hand to the welt on his face where the whip had cut him as he stared from the corner of the street. He felt something clench inside him as his father smiled at some third-years from Hogwarts as he handed them the bag of goodies. The man reached over and ruffled a boy's hair. Argus couldn't take anymore. He turned and ran.
He came to senses once again as the Dementors moved away from the prisoners to give them a short respite from the memories and time to eat. It had been a month since he was chucked in this place. He couldn't even see the creatures which caused his body to freeze and his mind to play all his memories, sometimes turning his mother into a hag or his father into a monster. He didn't know for how long he could bear this torture.
As he exited Azkaban for good, Argus was a changed man. A week later, he entered Hogwarts, a stray cat dubbed Mrs Norris that he had picked up on his way here in tow. He announced himself as Argus Filch.
The very next day, he came to a conclusion. He hated magical kids for having what he had been denied to him, and these fifteen years of imprisonment were going to be worse than Azkaban.
Fun Fact: Flume family owns Honeydukes. In Harry Potter's time, Ambrosius owns Honeydukes along with his wife.
Word Count: 1759
Prompts used:
From Hogwarts Assignments
• Magical Law and Government — Write about a trial in front of the Wizengamot.
• (object) Shackles
• (creature) Dementor
• (dialogue) "This is an outrage!"