Argus Filch's story:

Chapter 1 The End of the World

Argus Filch was an apparently normal 11 year old. He had three best friends who he was practically inseparable from, one loving parent that adored him, one parent that didn't, a little brother who annoyed him all the time and his pet/ very best friend- Mrs Norris the cat. However, there was something very abnormal about him; he was a wizard! Or so he thought. It started with the letters...

"Mum, has the post come yet?" shouted Argus down the stairs.

Today was the day he'd been waiting for for 11 years. Today was the day he would finally get his acceptance letter for Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. He was going to be a top class wizard and get full marks on his O.W.L.s and N.E.W.T.s and then, one day, he was going to be minister for magic. Urg! That made him sound like he was going to be in Slytherin! Well, mum would be pleased. He remembered the conversation about which house he would be in with his parents...

"You will of course be in Hufflepuff, just like me! Best house there is at Hogwarts!"Dad had told him, which mum had responded to by giving Dad one of her infamous glares. "Well, Slytherin's a great house too." dad had said to please her, "But you can never be 100% certain until you're sorted."

"How do you get sorted, Dad?" Argus had asked.

"You'll just have to wait till you get there to find out" Dad had replied...

"How should I know, I've only just got up Argus!"

Mum's response ending Argus's daydreaming, he called "Dad is the post here yet?"

He supposed he should have known better than to ask his mum, she was always grouchy, especially in the morning.

"Not yet, Argie, but it is only 9 o clock in the morning!" Dad shouted up jokily.

"Ok, thanks!" replied Argus, "I'm going over to Gary's," Gary Longbottom was Argus' best human friend and Argus wanted to see if he had got his letter yet.

"Ok, but just be back in time for brunch, the post should have come by then!"

"Bye!"

Argus raced over to Gary's house and as soon as he knocked on the door, was greeted by him.

"Hey Argie!" he said, when he saw Argus, "I was just going to go over to your place, come in!"

As soon as they were in Gary's living room, Argus asked, "Have you got your acceptance letter yet?"

"No," replied Gary, "But the post's not come yet, right? You haven't got yours yet have you?" Gary added nervously.

"No," said Argus, as both boys breathed a sigh of relief.

"Oh, hello Argie!" called Mrs Longbottom as she walked into the living room, "Gary, you should have told me that we had a guest! Are you hungry dears? Do you want me to get you anything?"

"I'm fine thanks, Mrs Longbottom, I just came over to see if Gary had gotten his acceptance letter yet. We both haven't so they must be coming with the post. Anyway, I'd better be getting back to feed Mrs Norris and to have brunch. Goodbye!"

"Goodbye, Argie dear. I hope to see you again later!" she responded. Argus liked Mrs Longbottom a lot, he sometimes thought he liked her more than his own mum. She was always so nice to him and Gary . He was so lucky! He had a lovely mum as well as a lovely dad and he was an only child!

"I dare say you will, Mrs Longbottom, as I'll probably want to talk to Gary about the equipment we need. See you later!"

As Argus got up to leave, there was a knock at the door. Argus got it, and outside was Augusta, another of Argus' friends.

"Hi Argus!" Augusta greeted him, obviously not surprised to see him there. "Oh, hello Gary!" Augusta blushed as she addressed Gary, as it was obvious to everyone except him that she had a huge crush on him.

"Hi Augusta!" they both replied.

"Well, I'll be going then, bye guys!" Argus said in a hurry, as he was too excited to stand one of their awkward conversations.

He raced home to find Mrs Norris waiting patiently for him on the porch.

"Hello Mrs Norris!" Filch greeted his beloved cat, "Are you hungry girl?"

Mrs Norris meowed softly indicating the affirmative. The story of how Argus found Mrs Norris was a remarkable one. Argus had been walking back from the local park one foggy night just after his family had moved here. It had been a cloudy night and Argus was barely able to see with the street lamps on as the stars and moon were hidden by the clouds. Ironically, it had to be the night when there was a power cut and the street lamps went out. Argus had started to panic then, after all, he didn't know the area very well and could not see his way back to his house. When, all of a sudden, he saw two beams of torch-like light from nearby, which he soon realised belonged to the eyes of a very thin, dusty coloured cat. He could swear he heard her say "follow me!" so, without any other good alternatives, Argus had decided to follow the cat and, miraculously, she led him straight to his house.

This was also the night that Argus had found out his biggest secret; he was a felitongue! He could speak to cats! He hadn't told anybody, not even Gary or his Dad, as he didn't want anyone to think he was a freak! Besides, he knew that parseltongues we associated evilness, so perhaps felitongues were too!

He had been allowed to keep Mrs Norris that night, even though his mother didn't think much of having to share her house with a "mangy stray"!

"So, how was going to Gary's house?" Mrs Norris asked Argus as he got out her bowl and dried cat food.

"Ok, Gary hasn't got his letter yet either so that's a good sign. But then Augusta came just as I was leaving, and it was really awkward!"

"Ah, so you like Augusta?"

"No! It's Gary that likes her and she likes him, but they just make awkward conversation every time they see each other as if they're oblivious to the way the other one feels and it can get so frustrating!"

"So, what about you're other friend, Lucy Fairfield, that muggle from over the road?"

"Her? She's ok I guess, but I like you more than her so that can't be a good sign for a romantic relationship, can it?"

"Indeed,"

Argus, Gary and Augusta were all friends with Lucy, although they had never told her about Hogwarts as she would feel terribly left out when they all got to go and she, being muggle, didn't. It suddenly occurred to Argus that while he, Gary and Augusta were impatiently waiting for one of the most important letters they'd ever receive, she was probably sitting at home, watching TV and eating cereal on the sofa with her parents! Strange!

"Argus, brunch is ready!" called mum from the kitchen, "Hurry up or I'll give your food to Dennis!"

Urg, how much Argus hated Dennis, his little brother! He constantly teased Argus about everything and, as Argus was the older child, he either had to take it, as his parents would not believe that his little brother Dennis would bully him, or hit him to teach him a lesson, and get grounded for it. Life wasn't fair sometimes! How soon he would come to realise this fact on a much bigger scale.

"Coming mum!" he called back, and bade goodbye to Mrs Norris as he dashed to the kitchen.

"Finally!" mother cried as he reached the kitchen, "Here's your brunch!"

They never had breakfast in Argus' house, they had "brunch".

"Hey Argus Fargus, got your letter yet?" asked Dennis.

"None of your business!" replied Argus.

"Argus, don't talk to your brother like that!" mother chided him.

"Fine then, no."

"Ha ha! You're going to be a dirty, rotten squib! Squidy squib! Squidy squib!"

"Dennis, do not talk like that! I am of the house of Black and we would never produce a squib, we are too pure of blood! Now sit down and eat your brunch quickly, both of you!"

After a brunch of glaring at Dennis and giving him the odd kick under the table, Argus ran along to his father in his study.

"Dad, has the post arrived yet?" he asked before saying hello.

"Yes Argie it has, but your letter wasn't in it. But the letter doesn't always come in the post; in fact, it usually comes with a Hogwarts owl that comes at the same time as the post!"

"But it's still the same thing, isn't it, I haven't got my letter!"

"No, but perhaps you got a dodgy owl that will arrive late. One of my friends at Hogwarts, Hector Macmillan, had to wait an extra three days to get his acceptance letter! Don't worry! Just wait a little longer" Mr Filch had lied through his teeth to stop his son from bursting into tears. But, after all, his son's letter could be late, couldn't it?

So Argus waited. One day passed, two days passed, three days, four days, five, six, seven...

But no acceptance letter came. No acceptance letter ever came...

To be continued...