Chapter Fifty-Three
The next two weeks went by quickly and Hogwarts moved on from Argus' attack. As each house was too focused on quidditch now. The Slytherin captain Winky Crockett had called a meeting in the locker room. The now much more forlorn Geoffrey Nott was sitting in the corner, barely paying attention to what Crockett was saying. All he could think about was Tom (or Lord Voldemort as he now calls himself) and what he would have them do next. He hated how everyone just presumed he was close to him because they shared a dormitory. He was regretting ever entertaining him now but he felt it was too late. He barely noticed when the team got up, ready to have a practice session before the game tomorrow. That was until he felt a light hit around the back of his head. He looked up...
"Nott! Get moving!" Crockett shouted just before he left the locker room.
"Don't tell me what to do" Nott muttered back as he remained sitting.
One of the older team members shouted they would catch him up. The sixth-year (and chaser) Walter Pucey plonked himself down besides Nott. Wondering what's gotten into him lately. He was a good beater and they needed him, they didn't have time for this; whatever this was. Nott avoided his eye contact as he just looked towards the blackboard. Then his eyes went towards his own broomstick and he hated it. A gift from Tom. He chucked it onto the ground in slight disgust as he hated it and he hated him.
"What is going on?" Pucey asked him as he knew something was up.
"Nothing I can tell you. Unless I want another lecture from Lord Voldemort" Nott spoke with a mocking tone of voice.
"Who?"
"Nobody you know, Walter. Why would you? He's too deep in thought to come to the quidditch matches. Too deep in thought to talk about anything that isn't to do with the wretched cause...I thought he wasn't too serious until he..." Nott paused as he put his head down before admitting..."Before he sent a little muggle girl to her death"
Pucey soon joined up to the dots and knew that he was talking about Tom Riddle. The lad felt slightly disturbed himself. He knew Tom had something up with him but he didn't know what as he didn't let anybody outside his close circle know the ins and outs. Nott was in the circle but he wanted out, he wanted things to go back to how they were before Tom came into the picture. When Abraxas Malfoy and Eileen Prince were still popular and around. Both of his old friends have been taken out of the picture in one way or another.
"Why do you think Abraxas moved schools? Because of him. Why do you think Eileen suddenly hates magic? Because of him!" Nott shouted as if he didn't get through to Pucey the first time.
The lad could see Nott was really torn up. Though before he could question him further. Nott picked up his broomstick again and walked outside as he wanted to try and vent his anger out with his beater's bat. He got on and ignored the sarcastic "finally" from his peers. Pucey soon behind him as he too got on his broomstick and stared right at him. The sound of the whistle began as they had began their practice session but all words that weren't his thoughts went out of Nott's head. As he solely focused on the bludger. He imagined it was Tom's head every time he hit it and it thus went everywhere and anywhere.
"Pucey! Get moving...Olive Hornby could beat you at this rate" Crockett jested.
The lad thus began to take the training seriously. Nott was still violently hitting the bludger every chance he got. His teammates found themselves having to dodge it every few minutes as Nott wasn't bothered where he swung it. The shouts of Crockett commands just made him more angry. He thus hit the bludger with a purpose and it landed right on the captain's broomstick as intended. Making the lad yell out as he quickly flew down and landed just before the broomstick shattered beneath him. The whole team went silent for a few moments in shock...
"Leave now!" Crockett shouted to him when the shock worn off.
"I quit anyway. Can't play stupid games when the cause is the only thing to live and breathe!" Nott snapped.
Breaking his own broomstick when he landed on the pitch. He got more shouts from his team as they watched him storm away. The lad shoving past anyone and everything in his past as he stumbled through the castle. He felt himself about to tell somebody to move until he realized who it was. A very concerned looking Horace Slughorn. The lad paused and he wanted to tell him everything and get Tom expelled or something but he said nothing. Just a meek apology as he claimed he just had a bad game of quidditch. Slughorn giving him a small look as he didn't think that's all it was.
"Nott. You can tell me anything" Slughorn assured him as crossed his arms.
"Well there's nothing, Sir. Nothing" Nott replied.
Excusing himself and moving past the worried professor. He retreated to the dungeons and shouted the password out. Making his way in and sitting down on the nearest empty chair in the common room. He just stared into the burning fire, trying to calm himself down. The Black first-year cousins briefly looked over at him, Orion wondered what was the matter with him. Though he knew it was better to not bother him when he was angry.
...
"The witch-hunts were a frightful time in our history. Even more so when the muggle King James released that dreaded book" Professor Binns began.
The sounds of scribbling on parchments being the only other sound besides his lecture. Tom briefly looked at Eileen, wondering if this stark reminder of what muggles had done to her kind was having any effect. Apparently not as she seemed disinterested. Lucy meanwhile was fully alert as she wrote down every information she was hearing, showing she inherited the love of history from her great-grandfather Silas.
"Are you hearing all this, Nott?" Lestrange asked his friend quietly from a few desks down.
"Yes. Muggles are dreadful creatures I understand" Nott replied.
"Not all of them are. Did you not hear the part where certain muggles hid them from the witch-finder generals?" Eileen dared to ask.
"I heard that part alright. I also heard the part where they burned our children at the stake" Nott hissed at her quietly.
Eileen just tutting before going back to her parchment. Tom giving a small smile to himself as he knew that meant Nott still agreed with the cause. Lucy overheard the small spat and felt very exposed again. The muggleborns knew how much hatred came from the purebloods regarding their muggle heritage. Now they were learning why. Binns kept droning on and on meanwhile and the argument died down again as all put their heads back down. The grisly details being laid out to the entire class as stories of burnings and drownings were retold.
"Magic is might. That's what certain wizards and witches began to tell one another at the height of the witch hunts in the 16th century. We discovered our magic was indeed might and some began to fight back. Though this was lost to muggle history when we began to go into hiding-" Binns further spoke.
"Magic is might" Tom muttered under his breath as he wrote that sentence down.
Lucy's hand began to shake slightly and she felt certain Slytherin eyes had fallen upon her. The stupid 'mudblood' who can't even brew a potion. Her like would be the first to go they thought. They had little time for mudbloods, even less time for those they deemed 'stupid' or 'inconvenient'. Myrtle giving Lucy a small tap on her hand and said quietly...
"Magic is might and we have that too"
The girl just gave a nervous smile to her bespectacled friend. She didn't want to be involved in the infighting. She had no problem with purebloods, it was they who had a problem with her after all. Lucy had other things she wanted to focus on anyway as she knew not everybody in the wizarding world was opposed to the other as they were.
...
"Argus. I hope you don't mind me asking but what do you think about how your lot is treated?" Lucy asked Argus during the break.
As she followed him to the trophy room. He paused before dusting the next trophy, he didn't really think about it at all. He was use to it and it was just something he learned was a fact from the moment he knew he was a squib. Lucy however felt it was very wrong that they were ignored or ostracized from the wizarding world. Argus being one of the few that had integrated but that was only because he was passive and accepted his so-called place in the magical society.
"I don't think 'owt. I'm sad about my parents but I don't care about strangers" Argus responded.
"Angus Buchanan has proved squibs are not just glorified muggles. Have you read his book?"
"No. I don't care to either"
"Oh. I really wish I could do something. The fact you aren't even on public records is awful-"
"Quiet Lucy! I don't want to hear you babbling!" Argus snapped.
Lucy seemed surprised at his hostile reaction. She didn't understand why he wasn't more keen to try and fix his predicament. Surely anybody would wish to do anything they could to make life easier for themselves. She watched as the lad turned back around in fury and began dusting quicker and harder as if he was trying to get out some anger.
"I don't understand-"
"You don't understand anything, Lucy. That's why you're in the special potions class and that's why you couldn't even get on the Hogwarts Gobstones Team. It's difficult to get anything through to you" Argus spoke rather harshly.
"Explain it to me then. What's wrong with me wanting to talk about making things better for you and for other squibs" Lucy pleaded with a tear falling down.
"Because I don't want to be a squib! I want nothing to do with other squibs, not Angus or anybody! It's bad enough that the whole castle knows I'm one without you always bringing it up like it's a badge of honour!"
"Argus-"
"Just go away, Lucy. Come back to me when you want to talk about things that actually matter. Like getting rid of Peeves...That would be much more useful for me than this"
"So you're fine with things?"
"Yes! I'm fine with things. I accepted my place a long time ago...Why don't you? I'm not some poor soul you can rescue. I'm Argus Filch. That's all I am and I keep myself to myself" Argus answered firmly.
Lucy still looked as if she wanted to say something else. That response just further confirmed her notions that squibs were treated unfairly. Even the squibs themselves don't want to admit it or bring attention to their status. That's why most of them accepted defeat early and went to the muggle world. The ones that did stay were either highly interested in the 'Society for the Support of Squibs' charity or hated it as much as the purebloods did.
...
Lucy had thought she best not talk to Argus again about squibs' rights. Though that didn't mean she had forgotten about it. For the next couple of days, she was secretly reading about squibs and reading their testimonies. The thirteen year old girl had discovered the 'Society for the Support of Squibs' after searching through the wizarding causes. Idris Oakby was the witch which founded it and she began to read her reasons for it. Their meetings took place in the 'Hog's Head Inn' mostly as that was where most of the unpopular meetings took place. The girl was sat on her bed with a pamphlet she had asked to purchase from 'Diagon Alley' from a shop called 'Papers, pamphlets and parchments'. It cost her some of the money she was keeping for the upcoming Hogsmeade trip. This was about becoming a member, a 'beginner's pamphlet'.
"Lucy. Please don't do this" Ruth begged her friend as she could tell her friend wanted to become a member.
Her other Hufflepuff friends Victoria and Poppy did agree due to how unpopular it makes people. Nobody really cared for squibs and those that did got mocked. Even more than 'muggle-lovers'.
"Why ever not? People grew to love Angus Buchanan" Lucy insisted.
"Angus was an exception. Squibs aren't worth it, Lucy. They aren't...I know you are friends with Argus but that doesn't mean you should make yourself unpopular for his sake" Ruth responded.
"Argus doesn't want me to do this actually. He's ashamed. Which tells me something needs to be done when the squibs themselves dislike themselves for it. It's unfair, Ruth" Lucy explained as she turned towards the other girls.
Though she wasn't getting the reaction she wanted. Her friends were totally against her joining this. She didn't quite understand how far the stigma went against squibs but she would soon learn. As even her tolerant Hufflepuff friends acted as it was something totally ridiculous to even try and remedy it.
"Squibs are a blight on our world, Lucy. I don't hate them or anything but they have no use. The best thing for them is to leave and go to the muggle world" Poppy spoke up gently.
"They aren't useless. They could teach history of magic or muggles studies. Work in the magical shops. They could introduce muggleborn's families to our world...Idris Oakby has said all this" Lucy replied as calmly as she could.
"Idris Oakby is silly. Listen, Lucy. You do this and I can't be friends with you anymore. I put up with a lot already-" Ruth began.
"Ruth. Don't say that to her...Let her come to her senses" Victoria quickly chimed in.
"Well she won't come to her senses unless we make a stand. You do this, Lucy and you can join Eileen Prince and Myrtle Warren in the misfits group" Ruth hissed from her bed.
"And you two think this as well?" Lucy asked Victoria and Poppy in disbelief.
They didn't say anything but they did nod. Lucy scoffed as she picked up her pamphlet. Storming out of the room in a teenage strop but she also didn't want them to see her about to cry. As she went towards the common room and sat down on the nearest chair near the fireplace. A couple of seventh-years were still up studying. Lucy just turned towards the fireplace with tears falling down as she had to decide between her conscience and her friends. After all, Argus didn't want her to do this either.
...
TBC