Disclaimer: I don't own any Harry Potter characters.
Written for Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry (Challenges and Assignments)
Lesson: Geography - Spooky Landmarks
Task #6: Leatherface's House (Grand Central Cafe in Kingsland, Texas) – Texas Chainsaw Massacre: Write a fic featuring a Squib as the main character.
Side note: Do know how hard it was to pick one? I love Halloween and horror movies. I'm currently wearing my Hocus Pocus sweatpants as I type.
Argua Filch will never forget the day he arrived at Hogwarts. He was a bright eye, bushy tail young kid eager to be a part of the magical world just like his parents. The anticipation of possibly being sorted into Gryffindor like his father, or Hufflepuff like his mother, kept his up until the late hours of the night.
"Filch, Argus!"
Shaking in excitement, the young boy sat on the stool and waited as the Sorting Hat fell over his eyes.
There was silence as the Hat picked into his mind. Argus was nervous, was he brave? Was he smart? Loyal? Ambitious?
The seconds, which seemed like minutes, ticked by, causing Argus to get anxious.
"There must be some mistake," the Hat declared. "There's not a single magical gene within this boy."
'What?' Argus thought nervously. 'But-"
"I'm sorry," the Hat told him sympathetically.
"This can't be," the young boy mumbled as the Hat was taken off his head. "My family..."
This made him think about why his wand didn't really want to work for him, which he had just chalked up to it being a hand me down. Or why strange things never happened to him like his cousins.
'I can't be a squib!' Argua thought to himself, wringing his hands. 'Magic is in my blood.'
He couldn't go home, he just couldn't! He'd be an embarrassment to his family.
A warm, gentle hand laid upon his shoulder. Arugs peered up to see the headmaster, Albus Dumbledore, looking down at him warmly.
"Don't worry, Argus," Dumlbedore stated with a smile. "We will find a place for you here."
Always a man of his word, Dumbledore did find a place for Argus.
Argus Filch was now the new caretaker. He rode the train with everyone else and would go to his own private room with his cat, Mrs. Norris.
However, he couldn't help but feel jealous, maybe even hatred, for the magical students and adults roaming the castle. If a student made a mess, a simple flick of a wand would clean it up. He had to spend hours cleaning some of the bigger messes.
AS the years passed, so did his hatred for those who were privileged to use magic.
"Can't we hang the students with shackles?" Filch whined to Dumbledore after yet another dungbomb was set off in the potions classroom.
The headmaster simply shook his head with a smile. "I'm afraid not."
Grumbling under his breath, the Squib got to work scrubbing the floor.
"In another life, I'd be a lord," he muttered.
"Squib!" followed a crash.
"Peeves!" Filch roared. How he hated that poltergeist.
At times, he wish he was merely a muggle and never know about magic or the wizard world.
There was some work he didn't mind doing, not that he would admit it out loud.
For example, he had a pleasant conversation with the Fat Lady as he fixed up her portrait. He delicately threaded the needle in and out of the canvas as she sang arias.
"Thank you!" She praised sincerely from the sideline. "Oh, my canvas! Such hand work."
A few years later, the caretaker stood at the entryway to the Great Hall, a broom in hand. The castle had been badly damaged and there was rubble, dust and more everywhere.
"This is going to take days," he moaned miserably. He picked up a stone before tossing it off to the side.
Maybe it was time to retire.
A/N: Thanks for reading. Hope you enjoyed.
*For those who didn't catch the reference about him being a lord in another life, Argua Filch's actor, David Bradley, played Lord Walder Frey in Game of Thrones.