The Tear Collector (a Harry Potter fanfic)

Chapter Five: Filch's Fury

Argus Filch the Squib stomped down the corridor of Hogwarts, grimacing demoniacally at every student he laid eyes on. All they wanted to do was make his like a misery, all they insisted on causing was trouble. And the worst part was, he wasn't permitted to give them punishment. They got their detentions, yes, but he was talking about real punishment.

If he could take those chains that he polished every day out of his office, he knew who he would start off with. Those wretched red-haired twins. The soon he could get them, the better.

He swung round the corner, feeling his precious cat, Mrs Norris, rubbing against his legs as she caught up with his stride.

The first thing he saw when he looked up was trouble. The twins were at it again. He'd had enough, he was ready to murder them. His walk began a jog, which became a run, which became a sprint. He raised his arms ready to grab them by the scruffs and... Everything went black. It was like all the lights in the world had gone out.

'Where are ya'?' Filch screamed through the blackness. 'Where are ya'?!' After several seconds, the darkness seemed to fade, and turned into an aimless powder that eventually disappeared. The twins had used that Darkness Powder again. If he could shut down every shop that sold things like that...Through the coughing students, he saw the twins at the other end of the corridor, getting away.

'Not this time! Not this time!' He began to run, picking up speed, Mrs Norris keeping up with him.

'I'll get ya'!' he yelled. The twins were out of view, they had vanished around the corner. But he was keeping to his word, they weren't getting away this time. Not if he could help it.

His determination gave him speed like someone much younger, but he could feel his legs tiring. He forced himself on, hardly aware of the surrounding pupils laughing at how ridiculous he looked.

He swung around the corner, only moments behind the twins. But they had a few more tricks up their sleeves. One of them dropped a small black shell that multiplied into a few dozen others. Suddenly a horn popped out of each one and began to jump at Filch, belching and protruding several clouds of bright brown smoke. They were Decoy Detonators, he had seen these before as well.

For a moment, he stood swatting at them until they eventually dropped as if dead. Filch looked up. They were gone, through the door that led to the Grand Staircase. They could be anywhere by now, they almost knew the school better than him. He shook a fist, screaming at them. One of these days he would get them, and they would find out who they had been meddling with.

Filch turned, his tense shoulders dropping in disappointment, his face reddening in fury. He looked down at Mrs Norris, who seemed equally angered, her tail crooked like a question mark. Filch began to head back to his office feeling more than ever the need of a wand. He knew the Cruciartus Curse was illegal, but if he could get them on their own...

He unlocked his office door with the large iron key he always kept close in his pocket. Quickly admiring his collection of odds and ends, he slumped to his seat resting his weary legs. Mrs Norris leaped elegantly on to the desk, purring in affection.

'I'll get them one day, my lamb...' He stroked her fur fondly, then reached over to the drawer on his right hand side. It was a habit now, pulling out his Kwikspell papers. He read through them every day, suspecting it a fraud but hopeful nonetheless.

He arose from his chair, finding the cabinets that contained all of the Zonko's joke shop items. He took out a fake wand, giving it a little wave. He pointed it at Mrs Norris.

'Look, my lamb. I'm a wizard now.' Something escaped his mouth that was close to a chuckle. He felt the wood in his hand. It seemed to give him power, authority. He gave it another little wave and was then startled as it turned into a mouse, scurrying away. Mrs Norris sprang from the desk and dashed after the mouse.

Filch was in a better mood now, for those few seconds, he knew what it felt like to be a Wizard, to have freedom. But then there was knock on the door. Likely a teacher, he thought, needing my assistance. He snapped out of his good mood, slouching as he reached for the door handle. Mrs Norris then bounced to his side, having caught the mouse and attempting to chew its tail. The door swung open and for a moment Filch stared into the opposite wall; nobody was there. But then-

WHOOSH!

Out of nowhere flew a small rocket. He ducked as it shot into his office and burst into a colony of smaller rockets. Suddenly, the room of full of whizzing blurs of red, blue and purple. He screamed in anger, the twins were at it again. After minutes of dodging and ducking the rockets exploded into fireworks sending sparks everywhere. Filch managed to take cover under his desk but Mrs Norris was not so lucky. A cloud of sparks collided with her head. There was a whine of pain as Mrs Norris dropped to the floor.

'Mrs Norris?' filch mumbled, half-crawling the where she lay. At first, the cat didn't appear to move, but then Filch noticed her slow breathing. He jumped to his feet, zooming out the office.

'I wanna know who's responsible!' he screamed. 'I wanna know who's hurt my cat!' the corridor was empty, he may as well have been calling to the statue of the one-eyed witch. He stormed back into his office, raiding his drawers and cabinets. Once he found what he was looking for he sank to Mrs Norris, still on the floor.

'Don't worry, my lamb. I'm gonna finish this. I'm gonna finish this. Even if it means I had to kill every single student in this school!'