Richard Beasley

**Richard “Ritchie” Beasley** (born 25 November, 1980) was a pure-blood English wizard who began attending Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry in 1992. He was the younger son of Domhail Beasley and Alice Beasley (née Rutter), born late in their lives, and the younger brother of David Beasley. He was born in Wolverhampton in the East Midlands.

On his mother's side of the family, he was the grandson of Ogden Rutter, an internationally-renowned Quidditch player who played Keeper for Puddlemere United and the Tutshill Tornadoes, as well as for England's international team on three occasions. He was also the great-grandson of Alice Seymour (née Hitchens). His second great-grandmother was Iola Black, who had been disowned for marrying his muggle-born second great-grandfather, making Richard a descendant of the Noble and Most Ancient House of Black.

He was a member of Ravenclaw House at Hogwarts, and despite that, he did not consider himself a studious person, and would have rather been on the Quidditch Pitch. He began playing Keeper for the Ravenclaw Quidditch Team in his fifth year of school. In his sixth year, his father was murdered, for unknown reasons, but likely on the orders of Lord Voldemort. For about a month of that same year he dated Aquila Black, his fourth cousin.

Richard was a member of Dumbledore's Army and he fought in the Battle of Hogwarts, being a willing student who was of-age when Lord Voldemort and his Death Eaters attacked the castle. He survived the battle.

## Biography

### Early life (1980-1992)

He was supposedly born in Wolverhampton, a relatively-muggle area, on 25 November, 1980. His father, Domhail Beasley, was a high-ranking Unspeakable for the Ministry of Magic, and his mother, Alice Rutter, had been one of his secretaries. The two of them already had a son, David, who was ten years old, when Richard was born, and they had gotten married in 1978, two years earlier.

Most curiously, Richard's mother became a casualty of the First Wizarding War on 19 January, 1981, only a few months after Richard's birth. As a result, he never knew her or had her in his life. His father became his only influence.

He supported the Tutshill Tornadoes and enjoyed playing Quidditch with his brother, at least, in his early life. His childhood dream was to play Keeper for England like his grandfather, Ogden.

His father, Domhail Beasley, however, was an Unspeakable, and they are well known for their inability to tell anyone, even their families, about their work. Very little is known about what an Unspeakable actually does, due to a high level of secrecy surrounding the Department of Mysteries. As a result, Richard had an almost cold, if distant relationship with him, even after he retired in 1985.

### Hogwarts years (1992-1999)

Richard Beasley received his Hogwarts letter during the summer of 1992. Sometime before attending, he purchased his wand, which was made of English Oak with a phoenix feather core, in Diagon Alley, London, along with the rest of his supplies which he would need for school.

#### First few years

He boarded the Hogwarts Express for the very first time on 1 September, 1992, and was sorted into Ravenclaw House later that same night. He was surprised by his sorting, because he never considered himself the academic type, but he soon discovered that studying really wasn't all that Ravenclaw was about. He made friends with Bruce Britton, who seemed the friendliest out of his dorm-mates at the time. However, as the years progressed, he came to know Antoine Mathers as well.

By his third year of school, he had made friends with the boys in his dormitory as well as a few of the boys from Hufflepuff, George Stebbins and Evander Bourdillon, and they all were observed by Aquila Black on a summer's day as *"...a group of handsome boys, wandering the shore, seemingly with no aim at all... three of them fell in the lake..."*

#### Fourth year

He, like Antoine Mathers, 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, and wanted a little fun. 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.

#### Fifth year

In his fifth year of school, Richard Beasley sat his O.W.L.s. He presumably passed the core subjects seeing as he was present in the N.E.W.T. classes when it came time to join them in sixth year.

#### Sixth year

In autumn of 1997, during the first month of his sixth year of school, his older brother David, who he admitted to having a poor relationship to, visited the school to deliver him some news. Their home had been targeted, for reasons unknown, and their father, Domhail Beasley, had presumably been murdered by Death Eaters. They had left the Dark Mark over the sky of Richard's house, which he still lived in with their father. David had been only visiting and had been the first to discover the scene.

He had a short discussion with his brother, David, of the reasons why their father had been targeted: the brief conclusion that they had come to was most likely because of his position as a former Unspeakable, in the Department of Mysteries. *The Daily Prophet* later reported that along with the Dark Mark above the house, it appeared that his father's murder had seemed like an absolute act of revenge: A strange message was found inside the home beside Beasley's body, written in crayon, "*we have come for you"*.

Richard Beasley once informed Aquila Black, his girlfriend at the time, that he had never really been that close to his father. Domhail's murder did not affect Ritchie as Aquila had expected it would. Rather, he seemed apathetic and tired. Richard began dating Aquila in September, 1997, and their relationship was incredibly brief: they broke up in late-October, after the death of Antoine Mathers, Aquila's ex-boyfriend, was announced on *Potterwatch*. Aquila also only had just realised that Richard was a (although distant) descendant of her family, which put her off slightly, mainly because she realised that the reason she had liked him so much was because his looks had reminded her of her father. They were only 4th cousins, 1x removed however.

Richard had not looked too affected by their breakup at the time, but Bertram Aubrey Jr. (who had always been somewhat of a sardonic and unfortunate individual), openly challenged her in the Room of Requirement for dating Richard when Antoine was on the run. Aquila then hexed him (in a moment of intense anger, rising to his bait)- after which a brawl broke out between Richard and Bertram, who did not even attempt to fight back. It took Neville Longbottom and Evan Bourdillon to wrestle Richard away from Bertram, whose nose was broken in the scuffle. Later it had been determined that all three individuals involved were suffering from intense stress as a result of the Carrows and the war, and that the provocation was almost was fated to happen when it did.

Richard, being of age as of 25 November, 1997, fought in the Battle of Hogwarts on 2 May, 1998, on the side of Dumbledore's Army. He survived the battle, and reunited with his older brother, David, at the end of it, but Aquila found their reunion slow and slightly awkward.

## Physical Appearance

Richard Beasley was handsome, in a supposedly (boyishly) rouge way. He had brown eyes, and dark brown hair, which was always coiffed and styled, but he didn't seem to take much care in his uniform- even though he didn't manage look scruffy. His ties were sometimes loose, but that seemed to be about it.

## Personality and Traits

"*I didn't say nothing, did I, Smith? We're here to hear him out, aren't we, that's why we're here? So let's hear him out, huh?*"
—Richard Beasley in the Hog's Head to Zacharias Smith after being challenged for his belief in Harry
When he was younger, Richard was considered a very approachable person, but one with an intensely driven, competitive personality- especially on the Quidditch field. Although he could be fair-minded and approachable, Richard appeared to struggle with interpersonal skills, as he often seemed oblivious to the way in which he came across to people: he appeared to act very nonchalant and blasé to the point of being overconfident, until he would appear to remind them that he was not much of a leader.

Richard joined Dumbledore's Army in his fourth year with his fellow Ravenclaw Antoine Mathers, wanting to see what all the fuss was about. He was one of the first people, outside of the fifth year Gryffindors, who appeared to believe Harry Potter that Voldemort was back, but he seemed to retract this when he was challenged by others, including a Hufflepuff from the year above him, Zacharias Smith.

Richard was also prone to attacking the muggle way when provoked, especially under times of stress. He once physically beat up Bertram Aubrey Jr. after he insinuated that Aquila Black didn't care about Antoine Mathers being dead because she was dating Richard, and she had clearly moved on. After he threw the first punch, Bertram began provoking Richard, but did not fight back- leading to Richard continually beating him up, until Neville Longbottom and Evander Bourdillon could wrestle him away.

He fought in the Battle of Hogwarts and survived, which is surely not only a testament to his skill of martial magic, but his headspace in the face of a conflict.

## Magical Abilities and Skills

* **Duelling**: Richard was taught various offensive and defensive spells while attending the meetings of Dumbledore's Army, under Harry Potter's masterful instruction. Richard, along with many other Hogwarts students fought bravely in the Battle of Hogwarts against Voldemort's army and survived, showing him to be a very skilled duellist indeed with considerable and impressive skills in martial magic.
* **Flying**: Richard was very talented at flying and playing Quidditch. Richard showed immediate command of a broomstick in his first year, which made him a naturally good Keeper. Even though he'd been flying all of his life, he was really one of the best in the class. The rumour was that Roger Davies approached him and asked him to join the reserves straight after, but Richard only joined the Ravenclaw Quidditch Team Reserves in his second year. He later became Keeper for Ravenclaw in his fifth year.

## Relationships

### Family

His father, Domhail Beasley, was a high-ranking Unspeakable for the Ministry of Magic, and his mother, Alice Rutter, had been one of his secretaries, when they had his older brother called David, who was about ten years older than him, in 1970. They didn't marry until a few years before his birth, however.

Richard never got the chance to know his mother, and after her mysterious death during the First Wizarding War only a few months after his birth, his father became his only influence. His father, however, frequently acted cold towards him as a child, as he wasn't allowed to talk about his Unspeakable work, or his experiments deep within the Department of Mysteries.

When Richard's father, Domhail, was murdered in 1997, he informed Aquila Black, his girlfriend at the time, that he had never really been that close to his father. His own father's murder did not affect Ritchie as Aquila had expected it would. Rather, he seemed apathetic and tired. This was thought of as very strange, leading Aquila to wonder whether they ever had a relationship at all, or if Richard knew the true cause of his father's death and just wasn't telling her.

*The Daily Prophet* later reported that along with the Dark Mark above the house, it appeared that Domhail Beasley's murder had seemed like an absolute act of revenge: A strange message was found inside the home beside Beasley's body, written in crayon, "*we have come for you"*. The thought of this disturbed Aquila quite a bit and she didn't bother asking Richard whether it was true. After all, she had been inside the Department of Mysteries in 1996, and had seen quite a few strange things- she went so far to wonder whether they had done human experiments in there.

### Aquila Black

Richard began dating Aquila in September, 1997, and their relationship was incredibly brief: they broke up in late-October, after the death of Antoine Mathers, Aquila's ex-boyfriend, was announced on *Potterwatch*. Aquila also only had just realised that Richard was a (although distant) descendant of her family, which put her off slightly, mainly because she realised that the reason she had liked him so much was because his looks had reminded her of her father. They were 4th cousins, 1x removed however, which was far outside of what was considered taboo.

Richard had not looked too affected by their breakup at the time, but Bertram Aubrey Jr. (who had always been somewhat of a sardonic and unfortunate individual), openly challenged her in the Room of Requirement for dating Richard when Antoine was on the run. Aquila then hexed him (in a moment of intense anger, rising to his bait)- after which a brawl broke out between Richard and Bertram, who did not even attempt to fight back. The fact that Richard engaged with Bertram and rose to his bait displays that he really did care for Aquila, as he wouldn't have bothered defending her otherwise.

### Antoine Mathers

Richard Beasley shared a dormitory with Antoine Mathers and the two of them joined Dumbledore's Army together- they were the only fourth years from Ravenclaw to do so. The two of them appeared to be friends, but since Richard began dating Aquila just after Antoine was forced to leave Hogwarts, it's possible that they had a falling out. That being said, when Bertram Aubrey began attacking Aquila for moving on so quickly, Richard became almost more angry than Aquila, showing that he cared for his death.

### Bertram Aubrey Jr.

Bertram Aubrey shared a dormitory with Richard. Bertram Aubrey, as known by nearly everyone in their year, was a darkly humorous, apathetic, cynical "conscientious objector" with a quick temper and a lot of secrets, and they had eventually just learned to ignore him and leave him alone. That being said, Bertram's detachment from others at Hogwarts lends itself to conflict with those who dislike him. That was most likely why Richard had such a reaction to his comments about his girlfriend, Aquila, and beat him up.

## Etymology

The Germanic first or given name Richard derives from the old Germanic words "ric" (ruler, leader, king, powerful) and "hard" (strong, brave, hardy), and it therefore means "strong in rule".

The surname Beasley comes from the name of a place in Lancashire, from Old English *beos* "bent grass" and *leah* "woodland, clearing".