A/N: I got a comment regarding the amount of money Zack is given for his scholarship. I'll use the Weasleys as an example. Arthur Weasley is head of one of the most important departments for keeping the stature of secrecy. Making sure that muggles don't get there hands on magical items. Arthur must get paid a boat load of cash, he is an important man and as probably single-handedly helped hide wizards from the muggles many times. So, Picture Hogwarts. One of the most, if the the most premier wizarding school in the world. The tuition fees will cost a shit load. Now imagine trying to send your 7 children through this expensive school, Is it any wonder that they struggle for money?

Thanks for the comment though, i appreciate the input! 3 Enjoy!


Chapter 29: The Filches

I blink my eyes as I begin to wake up. So bright. I try to bring my hand up to cover my eyes, but it's trapped under something. Thankfully my right hand is free to shield my eyes.

After another minute of squinting, my pupils constrict enough to actually see where I am. It's a wooden room. There is a light and a very big window. I'm not sure how I got here, nor where here is.

The last thing I remember was lots of drinking. It's blurry but I think Tonks convinced me to show Rosmerta my "allure". That can't have gone well.

I hear breathing to my left, rotating my neck is a chore. Rosmerta, or should I say a very naked Rosmerta I currently asleep on my left arm. I panic slightly and look to my right. An equally naked and asleep Tonks.

I don't know what I did to deserve this, but I'm glad I did it.

I slowly begin extracting my arm from beneath Rosmerta, I tricky task, but I manage to get free and off the bed without waking them. I put some clothes on whilst trying to piece together what happened the night before. Drinking. Lot's of drinking. My allure, followed by more shots of firewhiskey, it's goes blank after that.

Tonks rolls over, looking for the cause of the lack of heat, she pulls Rosmerta close to her. I find my wand inside one of my boots as I put it on. I wipe the residue off, telling myself that it's only some sort of alcohol. I head downstairs to get breakfast.

"Mornin' Zack." The barman grins at me. I don't know his name.

"Er, Morning." I offer him a smile. "Breakfast for … five I suppose." Knowing that Tonks probably eats the same amount that I do.

"Already got em ready, you paid for them last night." His grin is plastered on his face.

"Er, thanks." I take the tray and head back up the stairs to our room. Room 666 of the Three Broomsticks. Apparently we were tempted last night and lord did we sin. I push the door open.

"Rise and shine, girls." I call to them as the table rises out of the ground. They grumble and roll around for a minute. "I brought food." That got Tonks' attention. She crawls over Rosmerta and sits at the small table. "Apparently we ordered all this last night." I motion to the food.

"Forward thinking." Tonks grins. "Do you remember anything?" She asks after a minute.

"Drinking. A distinct lack of clothes. That's about it, I'm sure it'll come back." I tap the side of my head and begin eating again.

"Lot's of drinking." Rosmerta laughs as she joins us for breakfast. "It's really hard to get metamorphs drunk. You two drank at least 5 times what I did, and I drank a lot."

"I remember most of the drinking." Tonks says.

"After we started getting barrels it gets a bit hazy." I added.

"Metamorphs are apparently tougher than us normal folk." Rosmerta laughs again. "Hell, If Tonks wasn't here to wear you out, we'd still be going at now. You have insane stamina."

A grin covers my face as I begin to remember parts of the night.

"This is really good." Tonks says. "How did we pay for this? I know my paycheck wouldn't cover what we drank." She looks at Rosmerta. She shrugs.

"I don't have to pay for food or drinks because I work here. My pay isn't super high."

"Maybe we could take advantage of that again some time." I don't think I'll ever stop smiling now. "I should probably be getting back to school, I don't think even being a champion exempts me from actually staying on the grounds." I get up and put my boots on. "I'll leave you two to cool off."

"Cool off?" Tonks says.

I burst the room full of my allure and quickly exit before I get dragged back in.

"See ya, er, Michael was it?" I say to the barman as I left.

"I see you remember last night then." He says, grinning at me.

I wave at him as I leave and head back to Hogwarts.

The doors to the Great Hall are shut. I love doing this. I pull my wand out and cast the sonorous charm, I then push the doors open as hard as I can. The bang was satisfying, but nothing could top my grin. I sit down opposite Harry and Hermione at the Gryffindor table.

"What are you so happy about?" Hermione asks me with an arched eyebrow.

"Life, Mr dear Hermione, Is a fantastic thing." She looked like she wanted to question it, Fred and George swoop in and sit either side of Hermione.

"This, Hermione." Fred starts, pointing at my face. "Is the face of a very happy man."

"And it seems that our Hogwarts champion is now a man," George says.

Hermione blushes slightly whilst shaking her head.

"I don't know what makes me a man, but if it's going by your rules, then I am two men now." I enjoy their shocked expressions. Fleur enters the hall and sits beside me.

"Bonjour." She says simply, rubbing her eyes. She stops suddenly and sniffs the air. She looks straight at me and grins.

"Someone 'as been a naughty boy." She leans closer and sniffs again. "Oui. Very naughty. Does the other one know?" She smirks at me.

"I'm sure they couldn't miss the other in the room."

Her eyes widen slightly before returning to normal.

"Both at ze same time?" She arches an elegant eyebrow.

"A gentleman never tells." I grin at her. "I should probably go and see Filch soon."

"Why did you bother coming to breakfast for 2 minutes?" Harry asks me.

"To gloat." I get up and head for Filch's office. Quite a sturdy door on it. I knock thrice and wait.

"Come in." I hear his voice. I push the door open.

"Morning Mr. Filch." I say, taking a seat.

"Just Argus."

"Morning, Argus." I amend.

He stares at me for a long time.

"Tell me, Zack. Do you know what happens when the killing curse hits a witch or wizard?"

"To my knowledge it stops the heart, killing the person swiftly. Maybe something speed up the brain dying, but when the heart stops the wizards soul starts to depart."

"Adequate." He says and watches me for a while again. "Do you know much about the animagus transformation?" Where did this Filch come from?

"I think you have an animal locked in your mind somehow, I've not read up on it. Sorry."

"It's alright." He chuckles. "When an animagus is struck by the killing curse in their human form, the heart stops. There is a rare type of animagus that doesn't use direct transfiguration to transform." He lets that hang for a second. "They hold the body of your animal in a pocket dimension, and your consciousness and soul transfer between the two. Not all animagi are like this bare in mind. Almost all of them change their body via transfiguration. My daughter did not fit into the normal group. No, she stored her form away in stasis for when she wanted to use it. When Grindlewald struck her dead with a killing curse, she transferred her soul and mind into her only living body. Her cat animagus form."

Mrs. Norris makes a noise from the side of the room. I look at her.

"Your daughter?" I ask.

Argus nods. "Janet Filch."

I don't even know what's going on any more.

"Dumbledore is the only person alive, besides Grindlewald, that knows the truth."

"Ain't that something." I let out a low whistle.

"Why did you choose me?" He asks.

"I figured you would be the best man to torment the press. They would have to listen to you if you are my mentor."

He grins at this. "I wouldn't mind tearing that Skeeter bints fingers off." He looks positively delighted at the thought.

"I'll leave the press to you." I stand up. "If I need anything, I'll let you know. Oh, maybe a library pass for the restricted section?"

He quickly writes out a note and sends me away.

I was wandering through the castle when I came across Dumbledore in an outside place I'd never seen before.

"Good afternoon, sir." I say to him.

"Ah! It's unusual for me to see anyone else here." He looks at me over his glasses. "I trust you visit to Argus went well?"

"The man has been through a lot, but of course you already know that."

"Yes." He says sadly. "Truly horrific what happened to his family. Sadly his wife did not have the safeguard as young Janet."

"I was looking for the library." I tell him. "I figure runes might help me in the tournament. Perhaps a restricted books or two might hold something of value on other subjects."

"Door mice tend to find their way through doors, cabinets tend pop open." He says with twinkling eyes. "Have a good day." He gets up and leaves. Was that a way around his oaths?

What to do on a Sunday? I think the carts leave for Hogsmeade in about 10 minutes, maybe I can get there if I leave now. I set off at a brisk pace. Ice mice for the door and blood pops for a cabinet?

I'm apparently on the list for Hogsmeade, as McGonagall let's me on the cart. Harry and Hermione are inside, along with Kingsley Shacklebolt.

"Wotcher." I say as I take a seat beside him. "Stuck on carts, Shack?"

"You are eerily similar to Tonks." He looks at my boot and shakes his head. "I'm the bodyguard for 'Champion Potter'. Yours went ahead to Hogsmeade as they knew you'd head there today."

"Who do I have?" I ask him.

He shrugs. "I can only guess."

"How'd it go with Filch?" Harry asks with a barely suppressed smile.

"He's different to how I thought he'd be." I pause, It's not really my story to tell. "The man's been through a lot, but I reckon he'll have fun with the press." I grin at this.

"I'd almost feel sorry for them, but they did make me out to be the heir of Slytherin a couple of years ago."

"You probably are." He look affronted as I say this. "The wizarding community is so backwards here I wouldn't be surprised if they had a stupid archaic system like "Right of Conquest" If you beat someone you that tried to kill you after, y'know attacking your family." I try and put it softly. I figure he's not the type to get offended by it.

"Heir of Slytherin, eh?" His eyes sparkle at this. Hermione groans.

"Know anything about it, Shack?" I ask the Auror.

"The Shacklebolt family is from Northern Africa." He explains. "The laws are very different there. If you end a wizarding line you get almost everything they own, and as the word wizardis specified, you don't have to kill the women, they come along with the spoils." He say with a frown.

"That's barbaric!" Hermione pipes up.

"To some it may seem that way." Kingsley counters. "But it is how the culture is."

"What are the laws about flying carpets in Africa? Is it the same all over?" I ask.

"Britain and Northern America are the only 'big' countries to not allow flying carpets. Perhaps they will do away with those laws in the future." He shrugs as the cart stops. He looks at Harry. "If you stay in the open streets I can be further away from you, I won't interrupt your … date." He grins at Harry, who grins back.

"Stay out in the open, gotcha." He replies.

Hermione, who had left the cart before this was said, stick her head back in. "I'll be in the bookshop."

I exit the cart along with the other two.

"Wotcher." I hear Tonks say from beside me.

"Ah, my very own bodyguard." I throw my arm around her shoulders. "I'm going to get some books, then I'll go get some food and maybe a drink at the Three Broomsticks." She smiles evilly at me.