Harry Potter's Most Hated Side Character Holds Some of the Darkest Mysteries

Summary:

• In the Wizarding World, Squibs are ignored by the Ministry and don’t get accepted to magical schools.
• Argus Filch was a caretaker of Hogwarts despite being a Squib, which makes very little sense.
• The only way Filch could have ended up at Hogwarts is if he was a wizard once but then lost his abilities after a traumatic event.

Squibs are perhaps the saddest folks in the Harry Potter universe: being born into a wizarding family, a Squib gets to admire the beauty of magic since their childhood only to never experience wielding it. Often, their families are disappointed in them, too, making their lives more than just a bit miserable… But not all Squibs are alike.

In fact, not all Squibs are Squibs, if you pay attention to details.

Squibs Don’t Get to Live Their Best Lives

Unlike their parents, siblings, and cousins, Squibs do not possess any magical abilities. In the Wizarding World, this automatically renders them unimportant and invisible: Squibs are encouraged to integrate into the Muggle society, are not acknowledged by the Ministry, and (this is crucial!) don’t get Hogwarts letters.

Mrs. Figg is the textbook example of a Squib and the person that falls under all the criteria we just listed. But there’s another Squib in the Harry Potter books and movies who plays a minor, but a much more prominent role than Mrs. Figg. It’s Argus Filch, the caretaker at Hogwarts — and if you were paying attention, you can already guess where we’re going with this.

Squibs Don’t End Up at Hogwarts, Like Filch

Once again: the Ministry doesn’t keep any records on Squibs, and neither does Hogwarts. All the roads to the Wizarding World are cut off for Squibs as soon as their nature is revealed, which happens when they’re still kids. So, how could Argus Filch have ended up at Hogwarts while being completely unable to use magic?

Here’s the catch: Filch hasn’t always been a Squib, as in “Filch is not a Squib at all.”

Throughout the Harry Potter series, we see several examples of people losing their magical abilities over some trauma that happened to them: Meropa Gaunt, Ariana Dumbledore, Tonks (just Tonks!), some Azkaban prisoners… It’s rare and yet, it happens: those who could wield magic once can lose it, temporarily or for good.

Only wizards can end up at Hogwarts, and Argus Filch did. How bizarre would it be to assume that once, he was a young wizard himself? He was accepted to the school but then, something traumatic happened to him (and we have an idea what).

Despite losing his abilities, Filch was left at Hogwarts by Dumbledore’s graces and given a position — something the Headmaster also did for Rubeus Hagrid.

If you disagree, try explaining Filch’s presence at Hogwarts by other means!

Source: Reddit