Antioch Peverell

> "*So the oldest brother, who was a combative man, asked for a wand more powerful than any in existence: a wand that must always win duels for its owner, a wand worthy of a wizard who had conquered Death!*"
> ― *The Tale of the Three Brothers* by Beedle the Bard[source]
>
>

**Antioch Peverell** (fl. 1214) was a pure-blood wizard, the eldest of the Peverell brothers. Antioch, like his brothers, was skilled in the magical arts, but personally was described as being a "combative man". Antioch and his brothers were the inspiration for the *The Tale of the Three Brothers* and thus the original masters of the Deathly Hallows. Antioch was said to have possessed the Elder Wand, though beyond Dumbledore's theory that he had crafted it himself and the story saying he had been murdered in his sleep for it, the exact circumstances of this are unknown.

## Biography

### Meeting Death

In the *The Tale of the Three Brothers*, the Peverell brothers are described as having received the Hallows from Death himself, after using their magical talents to cross a treacherous river that would have assuredly killed them otherwise, and Antioch, for his prize, asked for "a wand more powerful than any other in existence: a wand that must always win duels for its owner, a wand worthy of a wizard who had conquered Death!" and so Death crossed to an elder tree on the banks of the river, made a wand from a branch, and gave it to Antioch.

### Ownership of the Elder Wand and Death

Later, the three brothers separated. Antioch travelled towards a distant village, and met a wizard with whom he had a quarrel. With the Elder Wand as his weapon, Antioch easily won the duel that followed and killed his opponent. Leaving his enemy dead, Antioch lodged in an inn to celebrate, where he drunkenly boasted loudly of the powerful wand he had snatched "*from Death himself*", and of how it made him invincible. That night, as he slept, another wizard crept upon him, stole the wand, and slit his throat to make sure Antioch was unable to come after the thief afterwards.

### Post-mortem

Following his death, Antioch was laid to rest in the churchyard by the Parish Church of St. Clementine, in Godric's Hollow, along with his brothers Cadmus and Ignotus.

Antioch was a distant relative of both Tom Marvolo Riddle and Harry Potter, as each was descended from one of his brothers, Cadmus Peverell and Ignotus Peverell respectively.

## Personality and traits

According to *The Tale of the Three Brothers*, Antioch was a man who desired beyond everything to be an all powerful wizard. Although he was already very powerful, he was not satisfied and immediately took his chance to gain a wand from Death that would make him unbeatable.

Antioch's desire for such power made him blind to Death's true intentions, however, and he later proved to be very self-indulgent and weak-willed when he boasted about how powerful his new wand was to the public. Antioch was very irresponsible and unwise in this manner, consuming a dangerous amount of alcohol then leaving his wand and himself unprotected on the night of his murder. Antioch's recklessness and egotism caused him to be the first of the Peverell brothers to fall into Death's cunning hands.

## Magical abilities and skills

* **Transfiguration**: Antioch and his brothers were capable of using Conjuration, a highly advanced form of magic to create a bridge stable enough to walk across (in the tale).
* **Duelling**: Antioch was very skilled in martial magic and was capable of killing an opponent in a duel and coming out of the battle unscathed, though this was mostly due to his wielding of the Elder Wand (according to the tale).
* **Mastery of the Elder Wand**: Antioch was the first wizard to own and tame the Elder Wand, the most powerful wand ever made. However, at least in Beedle's tale, he was portrayed as a person unworthy of possessing such a wand. Albus Dumbledore and Harry Potter were qualified to own the Elder Wand because they would never use it for seeking power or murder. Antioch had done both (according to the tale).
* **Wandmaking** (possibly): No one knows for certain how Antioch came to posses the Elder Wand. Although *The Tales of Beedle the Bard*  claimed that the wand was given to Antioch by Death, however others, such as Albus Dumbledore, theorised that Antioch created the wand himself.

## Etymology

* His name may be a reference to the city of Antioch, a chief centre of early Christianity.
* "Antiochos" was, among other things, the name of several kings of the Hellenic Seleucid Empire.
* The name "Antiochus" may refer to a number of figures in Greek mythology.