I do not lay claim to Harry Potter
"It'll be a cold night."
Genevieve didn't answer him. She sat by the fire place, one hand absentmindedly rubbing her swollen belly whilst she gazed at herself in the mirror. Angus waited for a reply. When he didn't get one, he continued.
"The Johnson's cow is birthing tonight. I'll go over in an hour, see how things are doing."
She nodded.
"I'll light a fire, shall I?"
He moved to the fireplace and bent down in front of it, starting to rub two sticks together.
"Incendio."
Instantly a crackling fire appeared in the grate, spitting orange sparks out onto the carpet. Angus blinked, then looked at his wife. She remained seated, not looking at him, her hand loosely grasping a thin stick of wood.
"None of that, please, Gen," he said, "let's do it naturally, hmm?" Then, after a pause, he smiled. "And how's our little tadpole?" He crossed over to her, kneeling at her feet and placing both hands on her stomach.
"Can you hear me, baby?" he cooed, "This is Daddy, and he loves you very much. Very, very much."
She moved slightly, facing away from him. He frowned, and looked up at her, a stern expression crossing his features.
"You're looking after the baby, aren't you?" It was more of a warning than a question. She made no move to suggest she heard him.
"Genevieve."
She nodded slowly. He smiled, relieved.
"And you're sure there's no way to- no way-?"
She shook her head.
"But you don't know? I mean, the baby could be-?"
She nodded. Angus let out a sigh.
Silence resumed in the small room. Angus sat down on the large squashy armchair, picking up a book. He started to read.
Minutes passed.
"I should go. The calf'll be coming soon."
Genevieve nodded.
"Take care," he said, briefly kissing her on the cheek before leaving the room.
Genevieve smiled softly, fingering the pendant around her neck. It was an ugly thing, a large, silver locket decorated only by a large 'S'. She waved her wand experimentally, as if testing it for the first time. Then she stood, stowing the wand in the folds of her dress and left the room after her husband.
"What's it like not to have a dad, Dolores?"
"Don't be so rude, Argus."
The two children lay side by side on the riverbank, staring up at the clouds. Several apple cores lay scattered around them.
"I'm not being rude, I just want to know."
"You are, you just can't see it 'cause you can't do magic."
The boy sat up, indignant.
"Magic's got nothing to do with it!"
"Does so."
The boy lay back down grumpily, not attempting further argument.
"Can do magic," he said sulkily.
"Go on then," the girl said lazily, whilst searching with her hand for more apples, "do some magic."
"No."
She shrugged. "Fine. But my mother says you're a disgrace."
"Am not!"
She looked at him, an eyebrow raised. He scowled.
"Your mum doesn't know anything."
She sat up instantly, glaring at him with such ferocity that he was slightly taken aback.
"My mother's a Selwyn! She says that Selwyns know everything, and that it's people like you who shouldn't be allowed outside!"
"Everyone says your mum hated your dad, and killed him, and that's why you don't have a dad anymore!"
She turned purple.
"That's not true!"
"Is so!"
She stuck her nose in the air. "I don't want to talk to you anymore, Argus Filch." She ran away, leaving the boy staring after her. Not wanting to let her get away without having the last word, he shouted the first thing that came into his head at her retreating back.
"You look like a toad!"
"I don't like my wand."
Genevieve didn't spare her daughter a glance, continuing to stir the cauldron in front of her.
"Tough."
"Can I have a new one?"
"No."
"Argus says it's too short."
"Who?"
"Argus. Argus Filch."
"The squib?"
"Yes. He says it's too short to do magic with. And he keeps saying I look like a toad."
"The Filch's are a tiny branch of a long line of half-breeds and mudbloods. I'm not surprised the boy has no magical ability."
Dolores nodded, satisfied. She turned to go, but her mother's voice stopped her.
"Take off the bow."
"Why?"
"He'll stop being rude if you take it off." Delores hesitated, but reached up and pulled the black bow from her hair.
"Thank you, mother."
"So you're really going?"
Dolores and Argus sat at the bottom of a large tree. Argus had tried to convince Dolores to sit in the branches, but she had flatly refused.
"Yes," she said with pride, "I'm really going."
"Tell me about it again," Argus said.
"Why? You don't need to know, you're not going."
He turned pink. "I just want to know."
"Well, there're four houses, but only two are really worth something."
"Slytherin and-?"
"I thought I was telling?" She said with a glare. "Slytherin's the best, where all the powerful go- I'm going there-" He laughed.
"What?" She asked, irritated.
"You won't get in there, you're not powerful, your wand's tiny!"
"And you won't get in there because you don't have a wand at all!" She retorted. "Anyway, then there's Ravenclaw, for all the clever people who aren't good enough for Slytherin, and Gryffindor, for all the people who act before they think and are generally stupid."
"I thought there were four houses?"
"Well, yes, there's Hufflepuff too, but they aren't worth mentioning. That's where all the people who can't do anything go." She looked at him appraisingly. "That's probably where you'd go if you could."
He replied with his standard insult.
"You look like a toad."
"I don't," she said triumphantly, "I'm not wearing the bow!"
He grinned. "The bow hasn't got anything to do with it. You just look like a toad."
She frowned.
"It's tomorrow right? You're going tomorrow?"
"Yes."
"Will you miss me?"
She ignored the question. "Want to see what my mother gave me?"
He nodded eagerly. She fished a silver necklace out of her pocket, and showed it to him.
"A necklace?" he asked, revolted, "she gave you a necklace? That's so stupid."
"It's not a necklace, it's a locket," she said primly, "it belonged to the first Selwyn."
"Still stupid."
She sniffed.
"Will you write to me?" he asked.
"No."
"Go on, I bet you won't make any friends. You'll need someone to talk to."
"Fine," she relented, "if I remember. But I bet I'll have so many friends that I'll forget who you are."
"Wingardium Leviosa."
Argus watched as the stone rose an inch off the ground, wobbled, and dropped down again.
"I'm the best in the class," Dolores said smugly, "everyone says so. The teachers love me." She waved her wand again, jabbing it at the air randomly.
"Can I have a go?"
"No," she said sharply, "Only magical people can have wands. You're not magic at all."
"That's not what Mrs Norris says."
"Who?"
"She just moved in, she lives down the road. She says I can't have magic parents and not be at least a little magical. She says she'll teach me."
"She sounds stupid," Dolores scoffed, "it won't work."
"Will."
"It won't. Besides, I bet there's something wrong with her. She's probably a werewolf or something, all werewolves too thick to see what's in front of them."
"She's not a werewolf!"
"Too thick to see what's right in front of her nose," Dolores said in satisfaction, "but you wouldn't understand. You're just a squib, after all."
"I'll be able to do spells soon."
Dolores looked up from her book.
"What?"
"Mrs Norris says-"
"Yes, I heard that."
The two were sitting on the riverbank, Argus pulling up grass aimlessly, Dolores engrossed in her book. They were fifteen now, Dolores was one holiday away from starting her fifth year at Hogwarts.
"Mrs Norris is filthy," Dolores said idly, turning a page.
"You say everyone's filthy. You say I'm filthy all the time."
"That's because you are."
"So why do you talk to me, then?" Argus said triumphantly, leaping upon the flaw in her argument, "if I'm so filthy?"
"Even the useless can hope for rehabilitation."
He scowled at her. She sighed and put down her book.
"Listen, Argus," she said, sounding exasperated, "can't you see how much better it'll be when the world's cleaned up? When all the people who don't deserve magic don't have magic? When all the halfbreeds and the scum are rounded up and disposed of?"
"Who says they need to be got rid of?"
"Me," she said, and her eyes gleamed, "do you want to hear a secret?" He leaned in closer warily. "My mother says my father was bitten by a halfbreed, a werewolf. She says that she was there, and she had to kill him, there on the spot, to keep me safe. My own father. She says that if she hadn't, father would've murdered her, even though they were married, even though he loved her. That's why we need to get rid of them, the werewolves, the vampires, the merefolk. They don't know their own minds. They're dangerous. And if they could hurt us, who's to say that it won't be the mudbloods next? They don't know anything about us, they don't understand it at all, what's to stop them rising up against purebloods? And the muggles! Have you heard what they do? They have these wars where they just attack each other mindlessly! They need to be put down before they start hurting us!"
He went quiet. After a few seconds, he spoke.
"What about me?"
"What about you?"
"I don't have magic."
"Well, obviously. That's the point. Your parents have magic, don't they?"
"And?"
"So you should, as well. You deserve magic. When we get rid of the unworthy, they'll have to give back the magic they stole from people like you. I mean, that's got to be the only way they have magic, right? It can't appear out of nowhere. But when they're gone, you'll have your magic back, and you can be a wizard, a proper wizard."
"But what about Mrs Norris?"
"You know what I think? I think she's one of those jealous sort of people. She's not content with having magic, she wants to be the only one who has it. She's trying to stop you from ever having magic, ever."
"I- but, I thought-"
"I know. She's sneaky. But I have an idea. What if we made her give you her magic, to pay for her crime?"
"You mean- kill her?"
"Do you want magic?"
"Well, yes, but-"
"Then let's get it. Come on." She stood up, and started to walk away. Argus paused, unsure of whether to follow her or not. Then he stood up too, and started to walk beside her.
"How are we going to do it?"
"I don't know yet. We could try the killing curse, I suppose, but it is illegal. We should probably try to get her to give you her magic willingly first."
The two walked down the road, passing the pastel coloured houses as they went. They stopped in front of the end one. It was pink, with a neat little garden in front of it, a rose winding around the gate.
"Is this it?" Dolores asked. Argus nodded. She marched determinedly up the path and rapped smartly on the front door. After a few seconds, it opened, revealing a small old woman with dark brown hair.
"Hello?"
"Are you Mrs Norris?" Dolores said briskly.
"Yes," the woman said, before catching sight of Argus. "Oh, Argus! Hello! Would you like to come in?" Argus glanced at Dolores nervously. She nodded.
"Yes please," Argus said. Mrs Norris opened the door wider and Dolores walked straight through into a small hall.
"Now, how can I help you two?" Mrs Norris asked, smiling kindly. Dolores cleared her throat importantly.
"We- that is, Argus and I- have reason to believe that you have stolen his magic. We are here to request that you give it back."
"What?" Mrs Norris said, completely taken aback.
"Oh, come now," Dolores said sweetly, "I'm sure you didn't mean to take it, just like you didn't mean to attempt to prevent him from ever having magic."
"I- I don't understand-"
"Now, Mrs Norris, please, don't make me use force," Dolores said, pulling out her wand.
"Now look, young lady, I don't know what you're talking about-"
"I'll give you one more chance, dear." Dolores raised her wand high, preparing to curse the little old woman.
"I-"
A jet of bright light burst out of the end of Dolores' wand and hit Mrs Norris right in the stomach. The woman fell back and started to convulse, her eyes rolling back into her head.
"What did you do?" Argus yelled, panicked.
"Making her give up her magic!" Dolores said, a maniacal glint in her eye, "you'll be a wizard any second!"
"Dolores, what- Dolores, she's growing hair!" Mrs Norris had ceased convulsing, and large brown patches of hair were sprouting up all over her body.
"This is just a step," Dolores said, sounding panicked, "she's submitting, you'll see!"
"Dolores-"
"Be quiet, Argus!"
"Dolores," and he sounded definitely frightened now, kneeling by the old woman's side, wanting to help but too scared to touch, "she's shrinking."
"What?" He was right, she was shrinking quickly, getting smaller and smaller until she was the size of a small loaf of bread. The two watched in silence- Argus horrified, Dolores fascinated.
"Dolores, she's- she's- she's a cat."
Dolores frowned. "That wasn't supposed to happen."
"Dolores, she's a cat."
"Mmm," she said, nodding slowly, "I wonder how."
"You turned her into a cat."
"Yes, Argus," she said, rolling her eyes. She bent down and picked the cat up, thrusting it into Argus' arms. "Take it."
Argus clutched the cat, which had started to yowl. He stared at it, as if trying to find a trace of his magic teacher there. It started to struggle, and he cooed at it, trying to calm it down.
"Good cat, there's a good cat, there, calm now, good cat-"
"Oh, put it down," Dolores said irritably, "I want to see if it worked!" Argus put the cat down reluctantly.
"I haven't got a wand."
"Use hers." Argus picked the wand up from where it had been lying on a small rounded table. He waved it sluggishly before looking back at Dolores.
"I don't know any spells."
"Oh, for Heaven's sake!" Dolores snapped, "just make something up!"
He shrugged, one eye still on the cat, then shouted loudly, jabbing the wand at the ceiling. "Anassi!"
Nothing happened.
He dropped it, and picked up the cat again. "It didn't work."
"Yes it did," she said impatiently, "you just didn't try hard enough. It wasn't even a real spell!"
"You said make something up!"
"I meant- will you put that cat down!"
"I don't think it worked," he said, still holding the cat, "I don't feel any different."
"Maybe it's because she's not dead," Dolores suggested, "maybe we have to kill her." She advanced on the animal. Argus held it close protectively.
"You can't kill her," he said mutinously, "it's animal cruelty."
"She needs to die, Argus," Dolores said patiently.
"I like her."
Dolores scoffed, "She won't live very long, anyway. She was old."
"Not anymore," Argus said, examining the creature, "it's only a baby."
"How can you tell?"
"It's small."
"Well done," she said, "you can tell. Squib," she muttered under her breath.
"I'm going to keep her."
"Alright," she said, "it's your magic." She walked out of the door, back into the street. Argus followed her, still holding Mrs Norris.
"Do you think anyone'll realise she's gone?"
"Doubt it," Dolores said, "she's only a mudblood."
"Dolores?"
"Hmm?"
"What are you going to do? After school, I mean?"
She straightened up. "I'm going into the Ministry."
"Oh. For how long?"
"For as long as it takes. There's only a month until I can leave Hogwarts, and then I can get started."
"On getting me magic?"
"Well that, and cleansing society in general. Once I'm done, there'll be no more werewolves, no more vampires, no more mermaids. No more mudbloods."
"How long will it take, though?"
"I don't know. Does it matter?"
"No, I suppose not." He threw a pebble into the lake, and ripples spread out around it, ruining the still water.
"I won't be gone long, though."
"No."
"And when I'm back, everything will be better."
"Yes."
"Argus?"
"Yes?"
"You won't- I mean-"
"No, I won't."
"Good. Because, you know, I- good." Her expression turned fierce. "Those half-breeds won't know what hit them."
"You really are going, then?"
"Yes."
He nodded, and grinned, before reaching out and shoving her into the water. She landed with a mighty splash and a scream of outrage.
"FILCH!"
"You look like a toad!" he called after her, laughing. She stood up, dripping wet and shivering.
"Cold, Umbridge?"
"No!" she shouted, "I'm going to change the world! I'll never be cold again!"
"I'll come," he said eagerly, "I'll come too!"
"They won't forget me!" she screamed at the sky, "you'll see! Everyone will know my name!"
He leapt in as well, spattering her with water droplets. She yelped, and kicked out at him, sending a wave gushing over his knees.
Mrs Norris watched calmly on the river bank as the two humans started to spin clumsily in the water, half laughing, and half crying. She stretched, hissing as the water almost touched her paws. Dolores collapsed onto the bank, staring at the clouded sky, and Argus fell down next to her.
"They won't forget us," she said dreamily.
He twisted his head to look at her.
"No," he said after a moment, "I don't think they will."