Days at Hogwarts

Chapter 786 Argus Filch

February 6th, evening.

The snow has melted, and the spring chill is still in the air.

Loren dawdled over dinner for a long time.

Today is the first weekend after the start of the school year. Tonight, I have to report to Mr. Filch, the administrator. Although it is called confinement, it is actually volunteer work, which consists of odd jobs such as cleaning the prize display room, cleaning the washroom, and sweeping the yard.

Mr. Filch no longer advocates corporal punishment and even works alongside the students who are being punished.

It is said that the administrator used to leave students to work alone in their rooms while he went to do other things elsewhere, and would come back to check on them afterward. That is, until he ran into George and Fred, who took advantage of the administrator's absence to deliberately steal contraband. After that, Filch changed the rules.

Hogwarts' solitary confinement assignments aren't fixed. If a professor needs free labor or wants to bail out students from their own house, they'll volunteer for solitary confinement management, assigning subject-related tasks like handling potion ingredients, managing greenhouse fertilizer, or even helping with exam papers. Unfortunately, this time no one was willing to help Loren; they all thought he deserved it.

Loren smacked his lips after swallowing the pumpkin pie, savoring the sweet taste. He said goodnight to Hermione in advance, resolutely walked out of the Great Hall, and went alone to the office at the end of the first-floor corridor, where he knocked on the door.

"Who?"

"Loren Morgan."

"Enter."

Pushing open the door, a dim yellow light came into view. There was only an oil lamp on the ceiling, and there were no windows on the surrounding walls. The room was filled with the aroma of frying fish.

The room gives the initial impression of being cramped and crowded, but upon closer inspection, it turns out to be quite spacious. However, the walls are lined with numerous wooden filing cabinets, taking up too much space. This is the administrator's office, which also serves as the Hogwarts problem student archive. This archive contains detailed information on all the students who have been punished.

Upon closer inspection, one of the drawers on the right side of the wall is labeled with the name Weasley.

The filing cabinet near the desk was labeled "Confiscated Items, High Danger," and it contained contraband seized in previous years. It was in this cabinet that George and Fred found the Marauder's Map.

Good evening, Mr. Filch.

"Loren Morgan..."

Argus Filch was old, and as a Squib, he had no magic to nourish his body, making him emaciated. Several professors at the school were even older, yet none of them looked so aged. He was hunched over, his sparse hair was messy, his face was pale and bloodless, his cheek muscles were atrophied, his skin was sagging and the veins looked twisted, and his light-colored eyes bulged out.

Mrs. Lorris was curled up in a cotton cushion in the corner of the room, next to a small porcelain bowl with a few fish bones left in it and oil stains on the bowl.

That's the source of the smell from frying fish.

The elderly administrator sat behind a dark-colored square table, his bony hands flipping through documents handed out by the professor. He squinted as he strained to read them, his chin trembling slightly. "Unauthorized placement of alchemical items on campus: confinement."

"Yes, I'll be there on time for the next two weekends. Just let me know if you need anything." Loren nodded to Filch, his eyes reflecting the flickering oil lamp.

The notification document was distributed before the Christmas holidays. Filch didn't pay much attention when reviewing it, and just avoided making eye contact with Loren.

Having experienced the previous nighttime stroll incident, this move carries a sense of deliberate distancing.

Was Filch worried that he would take the opportunity to close the gap and evade punishment?

"The next two weeks?"

Filch muttered to himself as he pretended to flip through the schedule: "The new semester has just begun, the snow in the yard has thawed, making it inconvenient to sweep. The washrooms were already cleaned before the start of the semester. There's nothing else to do, except for wiping and cleaning the prize display room..."

"Let's go, I'll go with you."

As Filch spoke, he got up and walked out, with Mrs. Lorris stretching out her four paws and following behind with light steps.

Loren had no choice but to follow behind Mrs. Loris.

Filch walked with a slight limp, dragging his feet and moving slowly. Loren could hear him panting heavily, and without the smell of fried fish masking his odor, he could smell the strong scent of an old man on him.

In a sense, he always acted tough and irritable in front of the students, perhaps to cover up his own weakness, especially since he was a Squib without magic in this magic school.

Loren followed quietly behind Mrs. Loris, many thoughts flashing through his mind, and he no longer had the resistance he had at the beginning.

Go up the stairs to the fourth floor of the castle, pass through a corridor full of armor, and turn left to find the prize display room. This room is for display purposes, so it is never locked.

The room is filled with crystal glass cases displaying various trophies, shields, medals, and statues, as well as a list of past student council presidents.

In fact, these things don't look dirty or messy. There are no obvious stains on them, only some dust on the glass display cases, while the exhibits inside are still clean and bright, even cleaner than Filch's office.

Filch seemed to particularly hate students getting the castle dirty. Even when the Quidditch team came back from training in the rain and the floor was wet, he would scold them. However, he himself was not a clean freak. He was perfunctory about the cleanliness of his office and always wore a worn-out robe.

This Hogwarts Castle was a sacred place in his heart.

A flawless version after careful inspection!

"Let's begin."

Filch retrieved cleaning supplies from the corner; a metal basin contained several clean towels. He pulled a fake wand from his sleeve, pointed it at the basin, and chanted in a seemingly serious manner, "Clear Water Like a Spring."

Clear water suddenly gushed out and fell into the basin, wetting the towel.

"Start wiping from here, stop ten minutes before lights out. Come in on time for the next two weekends, no need to come to my office to let me know." Filch wrung out two towels and handed one to him.

"Yes, sir."

Loren took the towel and glanced at the fake wand. The wooden stick, of unknown material, gleamed with the luster of tung oil, indicating that it had been carefully maintained. However, the magic within it had weakened and would malfunction after a few more uses, turning it into an ordinary wooden stick.

Loren didn't say anything more and just wiped the medals himself.

The prize display room fell silent, with only the sound of the crystal display case doors opening and closing, the slight clinking of metal trophies and medals on their bases, and the splashing of water as towels were wetted and wrung out.

"Mr. Filch"

"you say."

"How many years have you worked at Hogwarts?"

"About twenty years, I can't remember exactly."

"Twenty-odd years, that's a really long time..."

Loren looked up at the old man not far away, paused briefly, and said, "Having guarded this castle for so many years, watching the magical spell so close yet always unable to approach it, does Mr. Filch feel despair?"

(End of this chapter)