Erasmus Wilkes

***“I was one of the few privileged enough to call our Lord by his birth name. Just as I was one of the few privileged enough to become part of his Pantheon—his True Inner Circle—and be made privy to The Goal.”***

- *The portrait of Erasmus Wilkes, revealing to Harry Black how trusted he was by Voldemort*

**Erasmus Lord Wilkes,** was a Death Eater known as Mr. Toymaker who was high in the Dark Lord Voldemort’s Inner Circle and served as one of his closest confidants and his chief weapons-smith. He also served in the Wizengamot as Harry Black’s predecessor to the title of Lord Wilkes

## Biography

### Family Lineage

Erasmus was descended from House Wilkes on his father's side. House Wilkes is an Ancient and Noble House that came to England sometime in the 5th or 6th century, along with 16 other notable Roman wizarding families of the time. Though they are not a member of the Sacred 28, the Wilkes family has held a Wizengamot seat since its inception in the late 11th century. House Wilkes is also a patrilineal, meaning only a male heir can claim Lordship of House Wilkes.

### Early Life

When he was a child Erasmus accessed the Wilkes copy of the Anathema Codex and learned some of its spells with the intention of using them for “pranks”. When his Grandfather, the then Lord Wilkes discovered him, he sealed away the Wilkes’ Codex so his psychopathic grandson would never abuse the spells within. When Erasmus was 12, he killed his parents and framed his grandfather for the murders because his parents “took some of (his) toys away so (he) had to retaliate.” When he turned 17 he became Lord Wilkes.

Erasmus may have attended Hogwarts at the same time as Severus Snape and the Marauders, as a Wilkes is mentioned to be present when Snape called Lily Evans a Mudblood near the end of the 1974-1975 school year, and Erasmus was the last member of House Wilkes at the time of his death in 1980, but this seems unlikely as it would make him twenty-four at most when he died.

### First Wizarding War

During the First Wizarding War, Erasmus offered his services to the Death Eaters and Lord Voldemort. Using his skills as an artificer, he began collecting Muggle items (including toys), placed curses on them, then released them back into the Muggle world as an extreme form of Muggle-baiting. Due to this tactic, he soon gained the Death Eater code-name "**Mr. Toymaker**". His accomplishments impressed the Dark Lord who promptly made Erasmus the chief weapon-smith amongst the Death Eaters.

He eventually gained enough of Lord Voldemort’s trust to induct Erasmus into his Pantheon and told him his true name and goal. He became a Secret Keeper to the location of the Gaunt Shack where the ring was hidden and installed the security measures with the help of Tom Riddle and Boruslav Lestrange. He also met Mr. Nemo’s Protégée Peter Pettigrew, who impressed Wilkes enough to gift him with several of his cursed toys.

However, the Dark Lord wasn't the only one to notice Erasmus. A young Arthur Weasley painstakingly tracked several cases of unusual Muggle deaths back to Erasmus. This led to the Ministry of Magic launching a raid on Wilkes Manor in December, 1980 in an attempt to capture Erasmus. Unfortunately, the raid led to the destruction of Wilkes Manor and the death of Erasmus himself at the hands of the Auror Alastor Moody.

### Legacy

Due to his part in the death of Erasmus Wilkes, Arthur Weasley was given an Order of Merlin (Third Class) and was promoted to Head of the Misuse of Muggle Artifacts Office.

Prior to his death, Erasmus conceived a daughter with his wife, Linnea Wilkes, but was likely unaware of her existence before his death. His daughter, Amaryllis "Amy" Wilkes, would later be born into a Ministry holding cell. After being named, she was given to Lucius and Narcissa Malfoy. At the time of her birth, Lucius had only recently been released from Azkaban on suspicion of being a Death Eater and didn’t want the stigma of raising The Toymaker’s Daughter, so they passed the godparent job and guardianship of the child to Lord Gregory Goyle and his wife(who didn’t have a choice in the matter) whilst Linnea would later die in Azkaban. However, Lord Goyle didn't treat Amy as a daughter but as a method through which he might access the Wilkes Inheritance. Since Amy was a woman, she was unable to claim Lordship of the patrilineal House Wilkes, but any son of her's could. As such, Lord Goyle plotted to marry Amy to his own son, Gregory Goyle Junior, and then later Lord Tiberius Nott of House Nott, have Amy fall pregnant with a son, then access the Inheritance through Regency. However, this plot was foiled when someone else claimed Lordship of House Wilkes before Amy was married.

Erasmus' direct family weren't the only ones affected by his death. Through  Lord Atticus Wilkes and his Squib daughter, Hyacinth Wilkes, another branch of House Wilkes was found. Lily Potter was aware of her Wilkes lineage at a young age, however due to their public prejudices and Lily's status as both a Muggle-born and a woman, Lily held no interest in House Wilkes due to Erasmus’ disturbing reputation. However, her sons, Harry and Jim Potter, were also descended from House Wilkes, through her. When Harry discovered this connection, he began plotting on how to best use the information to ruin House Potter, who had abandoned him at a young age. In March, 1994, Harry was removed from House Potter as part of an Unbreakable Vow with his father, Lord James Potter. Due to being an emancipated minor, Harry was then able to claim Lordship of House Wilkes without issue. This allowed him to save Erasmus' daughter, Amy, from Lord Goyle's before-mentioned plan.

## Physical Appearance

Erasmus Wilkes was a man with short and thin with close-cropped brown hair, a thick handlebar moustache, and dark-grey eyes. However, whenever he smiled, although the he may amiable, his eyes revealed his dangerous and chilling nature.

Erasmus' style was slightly eccentric, but wouldn't look terribly out of place among Muggles. In his official portrait, he wore black trousers, a green velvet smoking jacket over a white shirt, and a slightly oversized yellow bow-tie. He also elected to wear snake-themed house slippers. The Wilkes Lord's Ring was visible on his finger, demonstrating his Lordship of House Wilkes. However, Erasmus' humorous side still stood out in the portrait, as his position wasn't a typical dignified pose, but instead one of him reclining on a couch whilst holding a Meerschaum pipe that emitting large bubbles.

## Personality & Traits

Erasmus Wilkes is a genuine sadist and psychopath who relished in the death and misery he caused. He has absolutely no sense of empathy or remorse shown when he admitted to Harry Black(whom he thought was his son at the time) that he wouldn’t have cared for a second if he died trying to resurrect Lord Voldemort. He displayed homicidal tendencies from as young as 12, when he killed his parents and framed his grandfather for it. He only grew worse as an adult, his Death Eater career was saw hundreds of casualties at the hands of him and his cursed objects, including 5 babies who he’d killed in order to harvest their final breaths. He also displayed an utterly juvenile sense of humour warped by his sadism, with his cursed artifacts taking the form of children’s toys and calling Wilkes Manor “The Funtime House”.

## Magical Abilities & Skills

Erasmus Wilkes was a true genius in magic, displaying an exceptional knowledge of runes, which he used to become a master artificer that could create untraceable cursed objects with effects that cannot be removed by even the most experienced healer. He was a potions prodigy, he brewed an untraceable madness inducing potion at age 12. He was also a Parselmouth, a gift he inherited from his ancestor Salazar Slytherin and was highly proficient at parselmagic, incorporating it into the rune schemes of his curses to make them incurable by all means except parseltounge.

It is known that Erasmus was an expert in transfiguration, managing to evade one of its limits. It is impossible to transform magical objects that are not designed for shapeshifting; the object either does not transfigure or loses its magical properties, but Wilkes managed to develop a method that allowed him to transform any magical object into rubber ducks small enough to fit in a pocket, this without the object losing its magical abilities.

He was also knowledgeable in Wild Magic, displaying familiarity with the functions of horcruxes. Although fortunately, he does not know the entirety of the secrets within the Anathema Codex.

## Behind the Scenes

According to TSM Erasmus Wilkes is portrayed by Simon Pegg as he appears in "Kill Me Three Times".

## Canon Divergence

The Death Eater Wilkes was a character mentioned once in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, by Sirius Black. However, everything else about him, including his first name and House Wilkes in general, is a product of the Sinister Man.

## References

Book 2 - HP&TSE - Ch. 52 - Team-Building Exercises (Pt 2),

Greg Goyle explains the Nott-Wilkes Marriage Plot to Harry and Marcus.
Book 1 - HP&PoS - Ch. 32 - The Death Eater Snape,

"[W]hen you called Evans a Mudblood... ...You were looking off to the side, over to where Mulciber, Wilkes and Rosier were watching..
Book 2 - HP&TSE - Ch. 43 - The Birthday Party (Pt 2),

Erasmus' history is briefly explained during the DMLE's cleanup.
Book 2 - HP&TSE - Ch. 43 - The Birthday Party (Pt 2),

"For that, Arthur was awarded an Order of Merlin (Third Class) and promoted to head of the Misuse of Muggle Artifacts Office.".
Book 2 - HP&TSE - Ch. 48 - Ginny's Day (Pt 1),

Ginny thinks about Amy's birth.
Book 3 - HP&DEM - Ch. 132 - Lords of the Wizengamot,

Harry becomes Lord Wilkes, saving Amy.
Book 3 - HP&DEM - Ch. 133 - Potters and Blacks,

Lily Evans and Dorea Potter discuss Lily's lineage.
Book 1 - HP&PoS - Ch. 33 - The End of the Beginning (Pt 1),

Harry discovers his Wilkes lineage.
Book 3 - HP&DEM - Ch. 133 - Potters and Blacks,

Harry sees Erasmus' official portrait.