Halloween Gift for Magnetic_pole
Gift for: magnetic_pole
From: westernredcedar
Title: Enough
Character: Argus Filch
Rating: Gen
Summary: Being a squib is difficult...except one day a year
Notes: So happy to write for you, Maggie! This is based on your prompts: The quirkier aspects of a minor character, what's different about Halloween for wizards, and the fine line between dead and living. *hug*
Argus Filch loved Halloween. As a child, he'd kept a calendar at his bedside, and each night of October he drew a dark X through the day, counting down. His mother, overworked and bitter since his father had left, would smile at his efforts, rumple his hair, and ask, "What do you want to be this year, my boy?" He always answered the same.
Witches and wizards stayed in on Halloween, as a rule. They tended to lie low, let the Muggles have their fun. But not Daeda Filch. She would spend every last sickle on pumpkins to carve, costumes for Mischief Night, decorations, a mountain of treats. Enough to make up for all the other things.
As an adult, Argus thought about his mother a great deal in October. She'd raised three squibs on her own using nothing but her own iron will, herself barely magically powerful enough to hold a job. When her spirit was close on Halloween, he'd feel a ghostly touch in his thin hair, and hear her voice whisper, "What do you want to be this year, my boy?" He always answered the same.
"A wizard, mum. This year, I want to be a wizard."