Skip to main content

harry potter - How could Argus Filch clean up the whole castle by himself without magic?


Hogwarts castle is quite big as far as I know (7 or more floors plus all the Towers). How could Filch alone clean up the whole castle provided the fact that he is unable to use magic? Maybe Mrs. Norris helped a bit (joke)?




Answer



He couldn't have done, but that's not an issue because he didn't have to take care of the entire castle by himself. He was the caretaker of Hogwarts school, and some of that included janitorial type duties, but he wasn't the only person responsible for keeping the castle clean. So, who else was involved?


House Elves


It's revealed in Goblet of Fire that House Elves were responsible for cleaning the Gryffindor common room and dormitories, in addition to their cooking and cleaning duties in the kitchens. I think we can reasonably assume that this applies to the other three Houses, at the very least. They may also have assisted with cleaning duties in other areas of the castle. Staff may not necessarily have wanted Filch bustling around cleaning their private studies, but an almost entirely unnoticed House Elf wouldn't have been an issue.


Students


Ron serves detention with Filch polishing trophies in the Trophy Room in The Chamber of Secrets. There are other examples of relatively menial tasks being delegated to students who have received detentions. With at least 200 students enrolled at the school during any particular year there'd likely be a reasonably ready supply of free labour during detentions.


Teachers


For the messes that simply couldn't be removed using non-magical methods - the swamp created by Fred and George before leaving the school in Order of the Phoenix, for example - he would have had to request the assistance of a member of staff.


Mrs. Norris


I know you were joking about it, but having thought about it I'm not sure it's that far-fetched. If you consider the weird bond Argus Filch has with his cat it's not entirely implausible that she'd be able to assist with identifying areas of the castle that need particular attention. If she's capable of alerting him to troublemakers and those making a mess in the hallways (e.g. Harry coming back from Quidditch practice) then I don't see why she couldn't also communicate that there is, for example, a leaking toilet in one of the bathrooms.



Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

harry potter - Do the Kwikspell courses work?

In Harry Potter we are introduced to Kwikspell course in The Chamber of Secrets (and never hear about it again). We see Filch taking courses, presumably by mail. The descriptions of Kwikspell make me think it is for people who are weak in magic (kind of like how Neville was supposed to be when he was younger), but had magic in them nonetheless. However, Ron's comments later in the chapter make it sound like it is mainly for Squibs to learn magic. However, it is strongly implied through out all the books that Squibs are essentially Muggles, and will never be able to do magic. How then is a Kwikspell course supposed to work? Do we have any information to know if it works at all? Is it a scam? An answer from any level of canon is welcome. Answer Kwikspell courses are (probably) useful to some wizards, but not to squibs. The Kwikspell course literature comes with two testimonials. Madam Z. Nettles of Topsham writes: ‘I had no memory for incantations and my potions were a family joke...
Post a Comment
Read more

futurama - How much time is lost in 'Time Keeps on Slippin''

In time Keeps on Slippin' , Farnsworth creates a basketball team which he matures by abusing Chronitons. This leads to time skipping forward by random, but ever increasing amounts. How much time was skipped in this way? Answer Unfortunately, I don't think a good estimate can be made for this, for two reasons: Many of the time skips move forward by an indeterminate amount of time. At one point, the Professor mentions localized regions of space skipping forward much more than others. We then see two young boys on the street below complaining about having to pay social security, only to suddenly become senior citizens and start complaining about wanting their money. Thus, each individual could have experienced a different amount of time skippage.
Post a Comment
Read more

tolkiens legendarium - Difference between elves and dwarves blacksmithing in the Lord of the Rings

Both the elves and the dwarves were famous for their metal work in the Lord of the Rings trilogy, but what is the difference between what they made, and which one had the better skill of making amours and swords? Answer James Christopher's answer sums up the second part of your question well, but as to the difference in what they made, a little more detail is needed. Once the Elves learned to forge with steel, the shape of the sword changed, now being able to take on the form of a great broadsword or a light and agile curved sword. Additionally, they took great pride in decorating their swords. As we see in the Lord of the Rings , some swords like Sting had magical properties such as glowing blue when orcs are near. As far as the use of Mithril, lotr.wikia has two contradictory passages: Thus, Elven blades became renowned as great weapons, capable of performing deeds beyond the skill of their handlers and were even more glorious when the use of Mithril was allowed to the Elves. ...
Post a Comment
Read more

game of thrones - Is Syrio Forel dead?

In the episode 'The Pointy End' (Season 1 Episode 8) when Arya runs from the Lannister guards you hear the sound of a sword being dropped (around 4:56): [embedded content] After that neither Syrio or Ser Meryn Trant is never mentioned or seen in the show again, except when Arya mentions to the Hound that Ser Meryn Trant killed Syrio. Is there any mention in the books that Syrio actually dies?
Post a Comment
Read more