Nearly three decades ago, J.K. Rowling established the Harry Potter saga in the wild, and fans have been thoroughly grateful to her ever since. Through the Wizarding World of ‘The Boy Who Lived’, she perfectly caught hold of the readers’ attention, and soon enough, her magical lore was one of the greatest and world-turning ones ever told in the history of entertainment.
But while nearly every character was met with a happy ending by the end of the saga, giving fans the closure they needed, one character was still given such an arc that was irredeemable down to the very end. And, sadly enough, Rowling added fire to the fuel by writing one of the most dejected storylines in the entirety of the seven books for him: Argus Filch.
J.K. Rowling Gave Argus Filch One of the Saddest Character Arcs
Throughout the Wizarding World lore, perhaps no character has a storyline as incredibly sorrowful as Argus Filch. A squib who works as a janitor at the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, J.K. Rowling didn’t hesitate to make him one of the most loathe-worthy characters who was also painfully pitiful at the same time.
As a fan @cferg296 took to Reddit to share their respective opinions, while Filch has been portrayed as “a mean old grouch in the books and movies,” taking a closer look at him shows nothing more than “a squib who has likely spent his whole life being ridiculed for being a squib.” And, effortlessly enough, this is a fact many would find hard to argue with.
If that wasn’t enough, adding to his pain, “It’s hard for squibs to get jobs in the magical world, and the ONE job he was able to get is to be a janitor at a school where everyone, teachers AND students, are able to perform magic.” Of course, David Bradley’s character wouldn’t have been happy slaving away for hours doing something that a first-year could do at the wave of a wand.
This, of course, makes even his punishments understandable, as the Redditor pointed out: “No wonder he enjoys dishing out punishments so much, it’s his way of getting back at the students who have been tormenting him so much.” Then there’s the fact that he doesn’t have any friends besides his cat, which makes it even harder for him to rely on anyone for emotional support.
Further making him one of the most pitiable characters in the saga is the Kwickspell course letter Harry finds in his office, of which the Redditor said:
Honestly, when harry found that “Kwikspell” course letter in Filch’s office it was really sad for me. He desperately wants to do magic but no matter how hard he tries he will never be able to.
Needless to say, looking at the dark, gloomy, and incredibly depressing storyline Rowling had set up for him, Argus Filch still ranks as one of the most dejected characters in the entire Harry Potter lore. At the same time, what’s worse is that the author never really allowed him to redeem himself, leaving fans on the brink of whatever closure they sought for him.
Fans Still Find Argus Filch’s Arc Irredeemable in Harry Potter
Especially in the first four books of the novel series, Filch’s character held one of the most saddening details in his life as a squib. But instead of allowing him to redeem himself in the fifth book The Order of Phoenix, by choosing to be on the good side when Dumbledore gets sacked by the Ministry and Umbridge takes his place as the Headmistress, Rowling made his arc further take a toll downhill.
That said, fans can’t help but point out just why he ended up being one of the most miserable and irredeemable characters in the entire saga whom no one liked because of all the choices he made. Taking to the comment section of the Reddit post, here are the respective opinions of all those other fans on the squib’s character:
With all of this being put out there, following his sympathetic arc in the beginning, J.K. Rowling had the best chance to make his character redeemable at least one point in time. However, from the way she let it slip to show him as one who basically had no loyalty toward anyone, it seems he was meant to be seen as an evil character all along.
You can stream all the movies from the Harry Potter series on Peacock.
