Matilda Dukelow
OOC
| Game | Journal | Portrayed By |
|---|---|---|
| Euphoria Lane | reversing_logic | Kimberly Williams-Paisley |
Basic Stats
Full Name: Matilda Julia Dukelow
Nickname(s): Mattie
Gender: Female
Age: 33
Date of Birth: April 20, 1971
Zodiac: Taurus
Sexuality: Straight
Relationship Status: Single
Bloodline: Pureblood
Hometown: Amlwch, Anglesey, Wales
Residence: 239 Euphoria Lane, flat 4B
House & Year: Ravenclaw 1989
Occupation: Accidental Magic Reversal Squad
Pet: Black kitten (Kitty); brown fish owl (Brambert)
Family
Father: Julian Weyland (wizard; Ravenclaw 1963; charms expert) - disappeared in 1978
Mother: Tesni Dukelow (witch; home-schooled; co-owner: The Griffin's Wing)
Daughter: Gwendolyn Dukelow (witch; b. August 4, 2001)
Maternal grandfather: Geraint Dukelow (wizard; Gryffindor 1945; co-owner: The Griffin's Wing)
Maternal grandmother: Seren Dukelow (née Argall; witch; Hufflepuff 1945; co-owner: The Griffin's Wing)
Paternal grandfather: Nicholas Weyland (wizard; Ravenclaw 1940; mostly-retired spy)
Paternal grandmother: Janette Weyland (née Brambert; witch; Ravenclaw 1941; mostly-retired spy)
Paternal great-grandfather: Lucien Brambert (wizard; Beauxbatons 1915; retired cursebreaker)
History
In the summer of 1970, a young man by the name of Julian Weyland was traveling around the British Isles (after having spent several years traveling continental Europe) when he ended up in The Griffin's Wing, a wizarding pub in the town of Amlwch on the island of Anglesey in Wales. It was in this pub that he met a beautiful young woman whom he only knew as Tess. Tesni Dukelow (Tess) was the daughter of the pub's owners, and she was fascinated by this charming wizard who spoke French to her, though she did not understand the language. Mutual fascination, fed by abundant amounts of alcohol, led to Julian and Tess spending the night together. The next morning, Tess' father gruffly "suggested" to Julian that he make himself scarce, and Julian left, returning to his family's home in England.
Tess was heartbroken when she found that Julian was gone, though her father did not admit to his part in Julian's departure. Six weeks later, however, when Tess was found to be pregnant, Geraint Dukelow admitted to his daughter that he had sent Julian off. Tess was upset by the news, but was fascinated by the life growing inside of her, her only tie to the charming stranger whom she felt she could love. On the twentieth of April, 1971, she gave birth to a baby girl whom she named Matilda Julia (Mattie).
As a very young child, Mattie was happy to totter around behind her mum and grandparents at the pub, but Tess longed for her daughter to know her father, as well. Finally, when Mattie was four years old, Tess located Julian and sent him a letter, identifying herself and telling him about their daughter, including a picture of the young girl. Julian, struck by the resemblance between the child and himself, made arrangements to return to Wales and meet Tess and Mattie. At the time, Julian (a Charms expert) was dating a colleague, and though Tess was saddened to learn of the other woman, she was just happy that Mattie would get to meet her father.
Julian began visiting for the weekends, spending time with Mattie and Tess. Shortly before Mattie turned five, Julian's girlfriend died in an accident, and he relocated to Wales to be near Tess and their daughter. His daughter's bright smile and Tess' reserved warmth went far to heal the wounds left by his girlfriend's death. Although Julian and Tess never married, they did become something of a family with Mattie. Along with a father, Mattie also gained more of an extended family: she met her paternal grandparents and her great-grandfather, Nicholas and Janette Weyland and Lucien Brambert. They welcomed Tess and Mattie with open arms.
The happy little family-ette only lasted for a couple of years. In 1978, when Mattie was seven, Julian disappeared without a trace. Geraint swore that he had not sent Julian off again, and even Julian's family knew nothing. After that, Tess and Mattie never heard from Julian again. They did not know where he went, but Tess feared that Julian's disappearance was a result of the war that had been brewing in the wizarding world for the past few years. Away in The Griffin's Wing, however, Tess and Mattie were safe. If things ever appeared too dangerous for Mattie, Tess was prepared to pack her up and send her to stay with the Weylands. That was never necessary, and when the war ended in 1981, the pub was overrun with people celebrating, Tess and a ten-year-old Mattie among them, but everyone had seen some kind of tragedy during the war.
The following summer, an owl came for Mattie, inviting her to Hogwarts. The Dukelows had received one years ago for Tess, but opted to teach her at home, instead (the pub had been on hard times and they couldn't afford the school supplies, and they needed Tess around to help out in the pub). Tess wanted Mattie to have the school experiences she never had, and with the Weylands' help, they could afford all the supplies that Mattie would need. On September 1, 1982, Tess kissed her daughter goodbye on the train platform and sent her off to Hogwarts.
At Hogwarts, Mattie was sorted into Ravenclaw, her father's former house. During the years that her father had been around, he'd impressed upon her a love for Charms, and she picked the subject up quickly at Hogwarts, along with History of Magic. The class she struggled with the most was Transfiguration. In her third year, she added Arithmancy and Care of Magical Creatures to her class schedule, fascinated as she was with numbers, logic, and animals. She was also a member of the Charms club and the History of Magic club at Hogwarts.
In her fifth year, she was made Prefect, a position that she was thrilled to have and took very seriously. As much as she loved the sport of quidditch (her mother had passed along to her a fanatic love of the Holyhead Harpies team), she was something of a klutz on two feet, so she didn't want to see how she would be on a broom, way up in the air, so she just watched the game and cheered her fellow Ravenclaws on. In her seventh year, Mattie was named Head Girl, to her amazement and delight. Shocking her friends, mother, and even herself, Mattie announced at the end of her seventh year that she would not be immediately pursuing a career in the ministry, as she had planned since fifth year. Instead, she would take a few years off after school to travel around Europe, like her father had done.
After finishing school in June of 1989, Mattie backpacked around continental Europe for three years, visiting all manner of places, mostly ones that her father had told her about from his own travels. It made her feel more connected to her father, in doing so, like they had shared something, even though it was twenty years apart. She visited both wizarding areas and muggle areas, utterly fascinated by the muggles, though she stayed mostly in wizarding areas, as she didn't quite know how to fit in with the strange muggles.
In 1992, she returned home from her travels and after spending some time with her mother and grandparents at the pub, Mattie applied at the Ministry for the training program for the Accidental Magic Reversal Squad. She was accepted and, after completing her training, began excelling at her job.
When the second war began to brew, she saw an increase in her work. She did her work quickly and efficiently, though she was spending more and more time working and less and less time at the family pub or with her friends. She tried to avoid "choosing sides" in the war, but she was definitely anti-Voldemort. If pressed, she would state her alliance as being with the Ministry, as she worked there, but she was glad for Harry Potter. During the war, Mattie mostly just kept her head down and kept quiet.
After Harry Potter defeated Voldemort, she went out for celebratory drinks with friends and co-workers. Because history has a tendency to repeat itself, Mattie had too much to drink and ended up spending the night with a handsome stranger. Her daughter Gwendolyn (named after Gwendolyn Morgan, the former captain of her favourite team) was born nine months later on the fourth of August, 2001. Mattie still doesn't know who her daughter's father is. When Gwen was born, Mattie moved back home to live with her mother, so that Tess could help her take care of Gwen and Mattie could still work. As Gwen grew older, though, Mattie became restless and wanted to move somewhere different. Closer to work, perhaps, and somewhere that Gwen wasn't growing up around the pub, like Mattie herself had. So Mattie packed her daughter up and moved her to the heart of the wizarding community around Diagon Alley, getting a flat on Euphoria Lane.