Her Lamp-like Eyes
By Lil' Crabapple
A OS Filch/Mrs. Norris
That Potter! At this time, he must be exposing his secret to the whole school, no doubt. But hopefully it was as the boy said, and he hadn't understood the meaning of the Kwikspell packet. The silent shame that he couldn't curse the students into line was his burden to bear, but he wouldn't be able to stand it any longer if the students knew. Why, they'd probably curse him into oblivion, and then the only person they'd have as caretaker would be that complete oaf Hagrid. On his first day on the job as caretaker, Hagrid had unwittingly destroyed the trophy room. One case was bumped, and the whole room fell like dominoes. It took hours for Filch to clean up. Ever since, he made sure Mrs. Norris kept an eye on him…
Ah, Mrs. Norris…
Argus hadn't always been a squib. He looked at his darling Mrs. Norris, and put his head in his hands. "I'm so sorry, my sweet…" he croaked, as he put out a hand to stroke her head. Mrs. Norris purred, as if to say that all had been forgiven years ago. As Mrs. Norris fell asleep, Argus mustered his courage, and whispered in her ear the name she had used long ago, before Argus had ruined her life, before his magic had gone out of control. "Elaine, dear," he whispered in his scratchy voice. "I wish you could speak to me once more."
For Elaine Norris had not always been a cat. No. She had once been a witch, a very pretty witch, in Argus' opinion. She had had dirty blonde hair that was always mussed, was very thin, with a simple face and large, shining eyes. Her eyes were the most beautiful light brown, and glowed with a honey gold color whenever she was particularly happy. Argus had loved her at fist sight. But they were kids. Argus had been only sixteen. She was on her sixth year at Hogwarts, and, unfortunately, Argus was not permitted to come. He showed no magical talent. At least, that is what everyone thought.
Argus could feel great power welling inside him, ever since he was little. It frightened him, hurt him. This power wanted to be released in a flood-like torrent. Every time his floodwaters rose inside him, Argus would clamp down, forcing his power back, confining it. He was afraid of letting this power go, even a little bit. As more and more power gathered inside him, hurting his insides, he only clamped down harder. He was afraid that if he released this power, he would end up hurting others with it instead of himself. In hindsight, he realized that if he had just focused himself, if he had let out a little bit at a time, his floodwaters would have receded. Then maybe it wouldn't have gone so wrong.
Elaine tried to help Argus. She was the only person he confided in about his hidden powers. She tried to tell him to just do it, just use his power, just let go. But Argus could not get past his fear. Finally that fated day happened. It was two days after Christmas, and the Filches and the Norrises were saying their goodbyes after spending the holidays together. Argus was struggling with a painful wave. Elaine pushed him and pushed him. "Just use it!" she said exasperatedly. "Then you can be a true wizard."
Her statement flared his temper, and his control slipped. "If it's that easy, why don't you pull it out of me, huh? It should be easy, right? Like a cat pulling at string!"
For a moment, the outburst seemed almost to calm him. He felt light and free, a soothing release. Suddenly he realized why. He had released his floodwater. He watched in horror as the torrent of power enveloped Elaine and followed his last train of thought. Elaine yowled in horror, but it was too late. The thin, lanky girl with a mass of dirty blonde hair, and honey colored eyes had become a cat. The left over power, crackling with energy swirled in the air. Elaine's parents ran over, murder in their eyes. "Stop!" Argus shrieked in fear. "I can expl-"
But before he could finish, the magic blindly followed his next order in the easiest way possible. The rest of the power was used in a vast explosion that literally stopped everyone in their tracks. Argus was blown off his feet. When he came to, he saw the rest of the Filches, and the Norrises, lying in an ashy heap. A cat, trembling and covered in soot, sat on his lap.
"Oh, Elaine," he sobbed. "What have I done?"
Argus brought Elaine to St. Mungos, but, though twelve different healers looked at her, including a professional curse breaker, none could reverse her condition.
"The only way she could turn back now is if you yourself undid the magic," The Cursebreaker said. "The curse is tied to you in some way, and not I nor any other wizard can touch magic that has anothers essence tied to it."
But try as he might, Argus could not lift the curse. He felt no magic in him anymore, no pain, no floodwaters. For the first time in his life, he wished he could have more magic within him. Unfortunately, it seemed as if all of his magic was somehow held inside Elaine the cat.
Try as he may, Argus could never turn her back. He kept her by his side, and took good care of her. He soon realized she still understood words, and her new senses far surpassed his own. Having Elaine near him was somewhat like having his own little magic familiar, something to give him warnings, and to aid him in his life. Yet he couldn't simply give up. He had to try to change her back.
That January, Argus went to the headmaster of Hogwarts, Armando Dippet, and asked if he could stay at Hogwarts.
"Maybe, if I'm near magic, some will rub off on me. I wasn't always a Squib you know," Argus implored. He hadn't told Professor Dippet about Elaine, only about the incident where he killed his parents and the Norrises. "Please, I'll scrub the halls, I'll run errands, I'll clean out bathrooms, anything! Just let me stay!"
And Professor Dippet had decided he could stay. True they had the house elves to clean everything, but they only came out at night. Someone had to keep the halls clean during the day, and the house elves certainly couldn't do the laundry. Argus moved into the castle, and Elaine moved in as well. Argus had redubbed her Mrs. Norris, because it seemed a more catlike name, and because to him, her name was a constant reminder that he was the reason he would never hear her laugh, or her voice or feel her hand around his. Sometimes he still dreamed about her, an older wiser Elaine Norris, her hair a bit greyer, her face a bit more wrinkled, but her eyes still as beautiful as ever, stroking his cheek. But then he would wake, and see Mrs. Norris the cat, her eyes staring intently into his, as if she wished to tell him something, but could only meow.
Argus shook his head. Not a good time to be thinking about this. Mrs. Norris meowed loudly, and Argus gave himself an internal shake. "You're right, my sweet, we were going to report to Dumbledore about that awful Peeves weren't we?"
. . .
That night, Argus fell straight asleep, exhausted from his fourth cleaning of that muddy hallway. Mrs Norris jumped lightly onto his chest and breathed in close to Argus's face. Suddenly, she disappeared, to be replaced by an old woman. The woman sat on the edge of the bed, and in a creaky voice whispered, "Oh, Argus."
How Elaine wished he knew. For, every night after they first came to Hogwarts, Argus had been sucking in magic. While he was awake, he was too tense, too involved. But at night, when he opened his mind and closed his eyes, his reserves filled, drawing power from the closest magical object. That object was usually Mrs Norris. But every time Elaine tried to wake Argus, the magic would flood out, and Argus would open his eyes to see an extremely frustrated cat.
"Until you can do permanent magic in your sleep, my darling," Elaine whispered, her aged lips cracking, "I will wait for you."
All through the night, Elaine Norris stared at her love and her curse, with warm, golden, lamplike eyes.