Bless his heart he was a rather pathetic character. Seems like Dumbledore liked to take in strays and abused characters heaven knows the school was populated with enough of them.

I think Dumbledore hired Filch because he felt bad for him. A Squib would have been an outcast in the wizarding society when Filch was growing up so i think Dumbledore just felt pity.

I love Filch, always a brilliant humorous touch and we all knew a Filch at school plus Bradley has some of the funniest underrated lines in PS. I can still remember people laughing their heads off in the cinema at each of his lines in that one scene:

“Was a time you’d find you hanging by your thumbs in the dungeon, God I’ll miss the screaming”

“You’re goin into the forest after all. Got to have your wits about ye”

“Oh there’s more than werewolves in those trees lad. You can be sure of that… nitey nite!”

MAN’S A GENIUS!

Since the end of the series, I’ve felt a bit cheated that Jo didn’t expound a bit more about the relationship between Filch and Mrs. Norris. There is a lot more going on there from the past than we know, and I’m keeping my fingers crossed that she will elaborate a great deal more in her Encyclopedia. Filch’s story must be much more complex than we know at the surface!

It’s too bad they didn’t hVe Filch super annoyed by Peeves in the movie!

Well said MissHorntail! Totally agree.

aw, i’ve never felt sorry for him before. but now that i think about it, it is a bit odd. <3

I always got the impression that Filch was around BEFORE Dumbledore was headmaster. He talked lovingly about how he was allowed to torture misbehaving students in the good old days, which was surely before Dumbledore’s time. Although Dumbledore likely kept Filch because he was sympathetic towards him, I can’t imagine Dumbledore deliberately hiring somebody so bitter and vindictive. I feel bad for Filch, and find him to be such an interesting character, but he is definitely a puzzle.

Aaaah now i’m in for some confusion.

My theory on Filch is that he was a child of one of the teachers in bygone years. Either his parent died or he was given a job at Hogwarts in order to stay close to his parent.

How do you get the Myleaky points for working on his page? I did a lot of work on it and i didn’t get anything

I agree that taking in Filch was probably similar to taking in Hagrid.
However, it is not similar to Trelawney, who was taken in not out of sympathy, but because she made the prophecy about Voldemort’s downfall.

I’d also like to point out that Molly’s caretaker was Apollyon Pringle, so Filch probably was hired by Dumbledore.

I like the above comments, and especially agree with Miss Horntail. I think that as a squib, Argus would be looked down on by the majority of the wizarding world. He was probably raised in a wizard family, and would have found it terribly difficult to adjust to muggle life. If he grew up with the Wizarding Wireless how could he figure out to use a muggle television or radio, for example? He couldn’t do magic or defend himself in one world, and knew next to nothing about the muggle world! I agree that Dumbledore gave him a job at Hogwarts out of pity and concern for him. Arabella Figg was another squib who Dumbledore liked and hired to keep an eye on Harry while he was at Privet Drive. Arabella seems to have figured out how to survive in both worlds. I don’t think Argus was as “bright” as her, and so the job at Hogwarts was a safety net for him. For example, he knew Harry had seen his quickspell letter, but didn’t really know what to do about it, and so he let Harry off. Arabella seems to have gotten along quite nicely in both muggle and wizarding circles, but Argus was too bitter about not being a wizard, to be safe anywhere but at Hogwarts.

I’m very fond of Argus Filch, he’s one of my favourite characters!!! I’ve always felt much sympathy for him because, naturally, he must feel jealous of the wizard students, and rather out of place. Also, no one seems to appreciate his hard work, or love him at all. He’s so lonely…! The only thing he has in the world is Mrs. Norris… I would like to know a lot more about him. If I were a Hogwarts teacher, I’m sure Filch and I would get on really well and share cat stories (my furry, fluffy friend in the photo was more than a match for Mrs. Norris, bless him…) Ok, he’s a bit grumpy, but a person who loves cats can`t be bad! We have never seen him actually hurting any of the kids, like that monster Umbridge did. And then, of course, Filch is played by the wonderful, adorable David Bradley…!

I guess no one really pays attention to Filch, becaus ein the books and movies he’s rlly just… there…JK maybe should have made a twist or conclusion why, I guess..