Antoine Mathers

**Antoine Mathers** (12 February, 1981 - 19 October, 1997) was a muggle-born English wizard who began attending Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry in 1992. He was the son of Danny Mathers, a construction worker, and his wife Sabine, who stayed at home. He grew up in Stoke-upon-Trent, Staffordshire. At school, he enjoyed the subject of History of Magic but not necessarily the professor who taught it. He briefly dated Aquila Black in his fifth year of school.

In his sixth year of school, he was forced to drop out of Hogwarts and go on the run, for refusing to register with the Muggle-Born Registration Commission, believing that they were trying to arrest and condemn as many muggle-borns as possible. It was also made illegal for him to continue getting his education, hence why he left.

While on the run, he camped and wrote letters to his ex-girlfriend, Aquila Black. Only one day, the letters stopped coming. He was killed by Snatchers in the Autumn of 1997. His body was discovered by muggles in Charnwood Forest in Leicestershire, and his death was announced and confirmed on *Potterwatch* seven days later.

## Biography

### Early life (1981-1992)

Antoine grew up in Stoke-upon-Trent, England with muggle parents. He grew up with quite a rural background. He liked to read adventure books and dream about where life would take him before getting his letter to Hogwarts.

His parents were Daniel "Danny" Mathers and Sabine Mathers (née Dauphin). His mother was from the South of France, and spoke little English. His father was an Englishman who worked in construction, and they made little income, but according to Antoine, they were able to make the relationship work. To Aquila, they sounded like inspiring people. Though he spoke sparingly of his parents, he did mention them achingly in a letter to his ex-girlfriend, saying that he missed them very much, in 1997.

### Hogwarts years (1992-1997)

Antoine received a visit from Professor Filius Flitwick in the summer of 1992. He was then informed about Hogwarts. Before attending, he purchased a wand made of rowan wood and unicorn hair.

He was sorted into Ravenclaw House on 1 September, 1992. He shared a dormitory with Richard Beasley, Bruce Britton, and Bertram Aubrey.

He became a member of Dumbledore's Army in his fourth year at school, having joined because he felt that Professor Dolores Umbridge was not an adequate teacher. Dumbledore's Army was a secret organisation initiated by Harry Potter, Hermione Granger, and Ron Weasley to teach their fellow Hogwarts colleagues proper Defence Against the Dark Arts in 1995. It was founded by Hermione, but taught and led by Harry.

This organisation was made necessary by the refusal of Dolores Umbridge, the subject's professor during the 1995-1996 school year, to teach anything in her classes other than textbook theory. It was originally founded with twenty-eight members. The group was disbanded during the 1996-1997 school year following the appointment of Severus Snape as Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher.

In his fifth year of school, he began dating Aquila Black. He liked her because she was egregious and funny. She came up with the nickname of "Titou" for him. However, they ended things in July of 1997, when it became apparent that he would have to go on the run.

### Second Wizarding War (1995-1998)

When the Muggle-Born Registration Commission was set up by the Ministry of Magic following Lord Voldemort's takeover on 1 August, 1997, Antoine was forced to go on the run, refusing to register on principle. The public goal of the Commission was to force all Muggle-born wizards and witches to register with the Ministry, then undergo interrogation as to how they "stole" their magical power from "real" wizards and witches. In truth, the Commission was a deeply prejudicial institution, that focused its resources on degradation and imprisonment of Muggle-borns. Dolores Umbridge was the head of the commission.

#### Death (1997)

The Commission in fact forced Muggle-borns to turn themselves in, sending Snatchers against any who tried to avoid them. Some people pursued by Snatchers, such as Dirk Cresswell and Ted Tonks, did not survive the encounter. Antoine was killed by Snatchers on the run on 19 October, 1997, and his body was discovered by muggles in Charnwood Forest in Leicestershire a few days later.

#### Post-mortem

On 28 October, 1997, his death was announced on Potterwatch. Neville Longbottom, Ginny Weasley, and Aquila Black heard the announcement and were stunned. Antoine had been a member of Dumbledore's Army, and his death was especially a blow to Aquila, who had, dare to say, loved him. Soon afterwards, a message was painted on the wall right below "DUMBLEDORE'S ARMY" and "STILL RECRUITING:" *"REMEMBER TITOU."*

Aquila Black had been dating Richard Beasley at the time of his death, but the two of them quickly split up. Richard had not looked too affected by their breakup, but their other shared dormmate Bertram Aubrey Jr. (who had always been somewhat of a sardonic and dark individual), openly challenged her in the Room of Requirement for dating Richard when Antoine was on the run. Aquila then hexed in a moment of intense anger- after which a brawl broke out between Richard and Bertram, who did not attempt to fight back. It took Neville Longbottom and Evan Bourdillon to wrestle Richard away from Bertram, whose nose was broken in the scuffle.

Antoine's death affected Aquila so much that she felt the need to visit his parents, Danny and Sabine Mathers, after the war. What she found there was not the family that Antoine had described: a happy father, who did all he could to support the family, and a humming mother who cooked and nestled about the kitchen, thinking of her homeland in the French countryside. Rather, what she found was a small, dilapidated little house, and a middle-aged, alcoholic father who offered her a drink when she walked through the front door. When the two got to talking, Aquila quickly discovered that Danny did not love Antoine as he had described. When she talked to his mother, Sabine, the woman broke down entirely, sobbing, and Aquila soon realised that the family that Antoine had come from was broken. She suspected that it was like her own, which only made things worse because she knew that Antoine had been in complete denial.

## Magical Abilities and Skills

* **Charms**: Antoine proved to be particularly talented in this subject. Under the teaching of Harry Potter, Antoine was able to conjure an extremely powerful corporeal beagle Patronus in his fourth year of school, as a member of Dumbledore's Army. This was a remarkable feat and yet another proof of his talent, given that many adult witches and wizards are often unable to cast this extremely difficult charm successfully, including many others.

## Etymology

*Antoine* is a French given name that is a variant of Danton, Titouan, D'Anton and Antonin. Its meaning: beyond praise, highly praise-worthy.

Mathers is an occupational name for a mower or reaper of grass or hay, deriving from the Old English pre 7th Century "moethere".