childhood
1834	Matteo is born the second child and firstborn son of Duncan and Teresa Hughes. Despite the commonness of their surname, the Hughes family is a well-established lineage of wizardry, and Teresa, from the Italian Bianchi family, upkeeps that lineage well.
1835	Matteo's first brother, Bernardino, joins the family.
1836	And then another sister, Lucia, is born.
1838	Finally, another brother, Mariano, is born, and with his arrival comes the end of Teresa's willingness to bear any further heirs to the Hughes household.
1840	Matteo's first act of magic is subtle and almost insidious, as he turns his sister Zelinda's hair a bright pink without anyone realizing it was his doing for three days, before he expressed that she had stolen one of his toys, and thus deserved to be paid back for it.
1845	Matteo's acceptance letter to the castle arrives, and is broadly celebrated. He is gifted his very first owl.
hogwarts school of witchcraft and wizardry
1845-47 First Years	Matteo's arrival to Hogwarts is without incident. He is sorted into Ravenclaw, and quickly takes to the studious nature. He makes a few friends, of course, but is largely focused on his studies.
1847-50 OWL Years	When it comes time to select elective classes, Matteo takes up Muggle Studies, thinking it might be interesting. He's right, of course.
1850-52 NEWT Years	Seeing his OWL grades, Matteo decides, wouldn't it be fun to be an auror? And so he takes the courses required, plus Muggle Studies.
a wild youth
1852	Once Matteo receives his NEWT scores, he applies to the Ministry and becomes an auror trainee. In what free time he has, he attends balls he knows he shouldn't, and flirts with many a young lady (and in some cases, more than flirts)
1855	In early February, a young man approaches him with news — one of his recent dalliances, the young man's sister, has fallen pregnant, and isn't doing particularly well. Matteo makes a reckless promise — that should anything happen to the young lady, he will take in the product of their union and raise the child as his own, giving them his name and everything. By year's end, the man returns, with a baby girl in his arms and tears in his eyes. Matteo makes good on his promise, but is read the riot act by his mother, who promptly takes charge of raising the girl, whom she names Ines.
1856	Matteo becomes a full auror, much to his family's chagrin.
1859	Matteo's parents arrange a marriage for him, to a young French pureblood woman named Emmeline, in an effort to curb his appetites.
settling down
1860	Emmeline and Matteo are married in a February ceremony, and Matteo intends to make full on his promises. He is, after all, a man of his word.
1861	Emmeline gives birth to Matteo's first child, a son and heir. Following his mother's tradition, he gives the child an Italian name — Fortunato.
1863	A second son is born and named Valentino.
1864	A daughter arrives, and is named Rosetta.
1866	Another daughter is born, named Chiara.
1869	A third son arrives, named Enrico. Three days after Enrico's birth, however, Emmeline passes in Matteo's arms from unnoticed complications. Matteo is despondent.
listless but present
1870-82	In his grief, Matteo becomes a listless man — something of a ghost haunting his own home. He quits his job entirely, refusing to even take up a position as an instructor in the auror program. He only eats enough to survive, and rarely interacts with his children, letting the staff handle them.
1883-93	The birth of his first grandchild brings a spark of life back into the man, and for the next decade, he returns to his former self (albeit prone to bouts of melancholy). Though he does not return to the life of an auror, he takes up experimental charms to entertain his grandchildren. His father dies in 1892, aged ninety-one.
a grand return
1894	Not wanting to work with young adults in the auror program, Matteo decides to apply to Hogwarts as Charms Professor, citing his decade plus as an auror as life experience required by the position. He greatly looks forward to returning to the castle.