Argus Filch - a character from the world of Harry Potter

2024 Author: Leah Sherlock | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 05:25

For more than 10 years, the tale of Harry Potter has been among the most read and translated books. Based on this work, 8 films have already been shot, a play and one prequel have been written. In this article we will talk about a minor character - Argus Filch. All fans remember him as the old and bilious caretaker of the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. In the films about the adventures of Harry Potter, he is played by film and stage actor David Bradley.

Was Argus Filch a wizard

A squib is a person who was born into a family of wizards, but did not inherit magical abilities from them. In the wizarding world, squibs are born very rarely, and in the Harry Potter book there are only two such characters - Argus Filch and Arabella Fig. At the same time, Squibs know everything about the magical world and can even do some work in it, but due to the lack of magical abilities, they cannot fully live in it. For example, Filch Argus works as a caretaker at Hogwarts. Simple Muggles (that is, people without magical abilities) see Hogwarts as an uninteresting ruins of an old castle. Due to the fact that Filch is inaccessible to magic, he feels envy and hatred towards the students of Hogwarts and rejoices when he scares them with expulsion orpunishes.

One day Fred and George, while serving their sentence at Filch's, found the book "Speed Magic" in his office. So they realized that Argus Filch tried to learn magic, but he still didn’t succeed.

Working at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft

Perhaps all Harry Potter readers know who Filch Argus is. This is, of course, the right hand headmaster of Hogwarts School of Wizardry. His task is to restore order and cleanliness in the school. It is Filch who manages all the mops, brooms and brushes. But apparently, only part of the castle is under his supervision, since he alone would not be able to clean up such a large area. Indeed, in one of the books it was mentioned that more than a hundred house elves live in the Hogwarts building, whose duties include not only cooking food for teachers and schoolchildren, but also cleanliness.

Most of all, Argus Filch liked to punish students. He was very pleased when Dolores Umbridge took over as headmaster of Hogwarts, as he considered Dombledore's methods of work to be too soft. As he believed, Umbridge would definitely succeed thanks to her strict methods. He even asked her permission for the punishment of hanging the offenders for the big toe. But fortunately, he received permission only to use the rod. When the unloved Umbridge left the school, Mr. Argus Filch constantly insisted that she was the best thing that could happen to Hogwarts.

Argus Filch, in his zeal for keeping order, sometimesreached the point of absurdity. For example, students who returned from the magical village of Hogsmeade, he checked with a metal detector, and even sniffed some. And shortly before the start of the Triwizard Tournament, he brought several first-year girls to tears.

Argus Filch (actor - David Bradley) also worked at night. All readers probably know that they were not allowed to leave their rooms at night. But often the students broke this rule, and sometimes they were caught by Argus Filch. It was he who caught Harry, Hermione, Ron and Neville when they descended from the astronomical tower, caught Harry when he agreed with Draco Malfoy on a night duel.

Mrs. Noris is the only friend of the warden of Hogwarts

Even such an obnoxious character has a creature he loves. This is Mrs. Norris's cat, which can be seen in the Harry Potter films. Notably, in the second film, his cat was attacked by a Basilisk. She did not die just because she saw the look of a huge snake in the reflection of the water near the children's toilet.

Mr. Argus Filch's office

Filch's office was stuffy and gloomy, with no windows. It was lit by a single kerosene lamp hanging from a low ceiling. It was in this office that Harry Potter served his sentence on the orders of Professor Snow in the sixth book.

Along the two opposite walls of the office were boxes for documents and other papers, which kept records of all punishments ever imposed on students. On the boxes themselvesthe names of the offenders were pasted on. A separate box was opened for the Weasley twins - Fred and George. On the far wall hung shackles with chains, polished to a shine. In the first book, Argus Filch told Harry Potter that he regularly polished them in case the punishments suddenly got tougher. In a separate large box, Argus kept a variety of magical items taken from the students. On it was the inscription "Very dangerous, confiscated." It was from this box that George and Fred Weasley took out the Marauders map while serving their next sentence. In addition, the office had an old, moth-eaten chair and a desk.

Interesting facts

In Greek mythology, the name Argus belongs to the hundred-eyed guard who never slept. Rowling, calling Filch by this name, apparently wanted to show his ability to share behind everything that happens at the school of magic.

Argus Filch is loyal to the Slytherin House. This is especially evident in the Slytherin-Gryffindor Quidditch match in the first film about the Philosopher's Stone, when, after the second goal in favor of Slytherin, he begins to actively rejoice.

Childhood and youth of Argus Filch

Nothing is written about the childhood and youth of Argus Filch in the books about the wizard Harry Potter. It is only known that Filch was born a squib, that is, a person devoid of any magical abilities. We hope you enjoyed this article and found out who Argus Filch is.