Filch has a cat named Mrs Norris to whom he has a particular and possessive attachment. She acts as a hallway monitor or spy for Filch. If she observes students engaging in suspicious activity or out of bed after curfew, she finds Filch and he arrives in seconds. She has been known to follow Hagrid everywhere he goes in the school, apparently under Filch's orders. According to J.K. Rowling, there is nothing particularly magical about Mrs Norris, other than her being "just an intelligent (and unpleasant) cat." It's the ambition of many Hogwarts students to "give her a good kick". In the "Chamber of Secrets" incident, Mrs Norris is temporarily petrified by the Basilisk, which causes Filch extreme distress.