Once upon a time there lived Three Brothers of a Wizard, and one day they needed to cross a river; they couldn’t swim across it, it was too wide and deep. And the brothers decided to build a bridge with their magical powers.
Having crossed the bridge halfway, they met death itself. But death was smart, cunning and greedy for every death. She said that all the other people and wizards died trying to cross the river, but they survived and the villainess death rewarded the brothers for their ingenuity, and also said that she would do whatever they wanted.
Older brother he remembered his recent argument with one enemy and decided to punish him, for this he asked death to give him an invincible magic wand. Death made him a wand from an elder tree branch and gave it to his older brother.
Middle-brother was upset that his beloved died, he wanted to resurrect her and for this he asked for a resurrection stone. Death picked up a stone lying on the river bank and gave it to the middle brother.
Younger brother turned out to be the smartest, he asked death to give him part of his invisibility cloak. Death reluctantly tore a piece of his robe and gave it to his younger brother.
Older brother went to a village nearby, and in a fight killed his longtime enemy, that same night, after getting drunk, he began to tell everyone that his wand was invincible, that he received it from death itself. That night, the elder brother was killed by a stranger, the shelf was stolen.
Middle-brother Arriving at his home, he immediately decided to resurrect his beloved, but the stone did not give the desired result. The stone simply called her soul to earth, and she asked him to release her back to the sublunary world. She was cold as a corpse. In despair, the second brother committed suicide, and all in order to be with his beloved again. So death received a second brother.
The third brother, hiding under the invisibility cloak, hiding from death. Death was never able to find him. In his old age, the younger brother gave the mantle of death to his son and went with death as his equal.
So the story of the formation of the Deathly Hallows ends. The wand, stone and mantle belonged to the brothers Antiochus, Cadmus and Ignotus Peverell, they are considered the heroes of this tale and the first owners of these deathly hallows.
Once upon a time there lived three brothers, and one day they set out to travel. They walked along a long road at dusk and came to a river. It was deep - impossible to wade, and so fast that it was impossible to swim across. But the brothers were versed in the magical arts. They waved their magic wands - and a bridge grew over the river. The brothers were already in the middle of the bridge, when suddenly they saw someone standing in the middle of the road, wrapped in a cloak.
And Death spoke to them. She was very angry that three victims escaped her, because usually travelers drowned in the river. But Death was cunning. She pretended to admire the brothers' skill and invited each of them to choose a reward for outwitting her.
And so the elder brother, a warlike man, asked for a magic wand, the most powerful in the world, so that its owner would always win a duel. Such a magic wand is worthy of a man who defeated Death itself! Then Death broke off a branch from an elderberry bush that grew nearby, made a magic wand out of it and gave it to his elder brother.
The second brother was proud. He wanted to humiliate Death even more and demanded from her the power to summon the dead. Death picked up a pebble that was lying on the shore and gave it to the middle brother. This stone, she said, has the power to bring back the dead.
Death asked her younger brother what he wanted. The youngest was the most modest and wisest of the three and he did not trust Death, and therefore asked to give him such a thing so that he could leave from there and Death would not catch up with him. Death was unhappy, but there was nothing to be done - she gave him her invisibility cloak.
Then Death retreated and let the three brothers cross the bridge. They went on their way and talked among themselves about this adventure and admired the wonderful things that Death had given.
Whether long or short, the brothers each went their separate ways.
The first brother wandered for a week, or maybe more, and came to a distant village.
He found there the wizard with whom he had been in a quarrel. They had a duel, and, of course, the elder brother won - and how could it be otherwise when he had an elder wand in his hands? The enemy remained lying dead on the ground, and the elder brother went to the inn and there let him brag about what a miracle wand he got from Death himself - with it no one would defeat him in battle.
That same night, one wizard made his way to his older brother as he lay and snored, completely drunk, on his bed. The thief stole the magic wand and at the same time cut his older brother's throat.
So Death took the first brother.
Meanwhile, the middle brother returned to his home, and he lived alone. He took a stone that could call the dead, and turned it three times in his hand. What a miracle - standing in front of him is the girl he dreamed of marrying, but she died an early death.
But she was sad and cold, as if some kind of curtain separated her from her middle brother. Although she returned to the sublunary world, there was no place for her here, and she suffered bitterly. In the end, the middle brother went crazy from hopeless melancholy and killed himself just to be with his beloved.
So Death took the second brother too.
Death searched for the third brother for many years, but never found him. And when the younger brother grew old, he himself took off the invisibility cloak and gave it to his son. He met Death as an old friend and went with her in his hunt, and as equals they left this world.
"Tales of Beedle the Bard" is a collection of 5 short stories for young wizards. In fact, there were much more tales composed by the mentioned bard. But it was only on these fairy tales that Professor Dumbledore supposedly made his own comments, and therefore JK Rowling decided to limit herself to only them in her collection. These are tales from the book that the great professor bequeathed to Hermione Granger after his death. The current owner of the book herself also left her amendments and comments in it, after which the collection of selected works by the bard Beedle was allegedly republished for reading not only by wizards, but also by Muggle children.
About the bard himself
So, the bard Beedle - who is he anyway? Nobody really knows anything about Beedle in the wizarding world. From JK Rowling's books it is clear that this bard lived somewhere in the 1400s, when the Holy Inquisition declared witch hunts everywhere. Wizards were shunned in those troubled times, and those who were caught and convicted of witchcraft were publicly burned at the stake.
It is known that the bard Beedle was born in Yorkshire, and in his years had a thick beard, as can be seen in the sketches of that time preserved in libraries. Where he got the inspiration for his stories is unclear. But it is reliably known that some of them were actually based on certain events that took place at that time. So it is likely that these short stories, called The Tales of Beedle The Bard, are in fact nothing more than a loose retelling of real events.
The essence of fairy tales
Beedle himself considered the main purpose of his fairy tales to be the spiritual formation of the personality of young wizards. Just like in Muggle fairy tales about Snow White, Kolobok, and Cinderella, good often defeated evil in them. They also instilled in children the rudiments of morality, awakened in them conscience, the ability to reason logically, think broadly and not succumb to the dark side. In these tales, magicians always either suffered defeat or died altogether.
Rowling herself, most likely, decided to write and publish this collection in order to answer some questions in it that were never answered in the main volumes of the novel. In particular, it reveals some questions about ghosts, animagus, and in general, in the light of the fairy tales we have read, the entire tale about Harry Potter no longer seems so divorced from reality. In the collection, the writer talked about why the wizarding world was forced to go “underground,” as well as where this so-called “Statute of Secrecy” came from and why it had to be so unconditionally observed.
Also, from the comments of the professor himself, it becomes clear that the division among wizards into “supporters of half-bloods” and “opponents of half-bloods” had been brewing for a long time, and at some point this “bubble” had to burst. The roots of the enmity between Dumbledore himself and Lucius Malfoy are also mentioned in the collection.
But in reality, in JK Rowling’s books about “Harry Potter”, or rather, in the last of them (“Deathly Hallows”), only one story from the collection is revealed, which we will talk about in more detail a little later, after briefly Let's get acquainted with the retelling of the other 4 fairy tales.
This tale hints that everyone should be kinder to others. In one village there lived an old wizard, the only healer in the entire area. He died, bequeathing to his son a pot in which he brewed various kinds of potions to help the common people. But the son was callous to those around him, and, although he had been inherited magical abilities and was skilled in them, he invariably refused to help those who asked. After each refusal, the enchanted pot began to rattle, spit and cause a lot of inconvenience to its owner, and he could not get rid of it. In the end, the wizard got tired of it all, and he began to help everyone, as his father had done before. The pot eventually calmed down. It’s unclear whether it was a forced decision, or whether his conscience really woke up, but, be that as it may, his father’s will worked.
The hare Shutikha and her grinning stump
Then the king decided that no one except him had the right to cast magic in his state. He hired some rogue who was not a wizard at all, but was simply skilled in magic tricks, to teach the king the art of witchcraft. But the magician was only pretending, he broke the magic wands right there in the garden and forced the king to wave them, taking a good price for it. He really thought he was learning something. These manipulations made one old woman who was doing housework at court laugh very much. She really was a sorceress and had a good laugh at this antics.
The king became furious and said that the next day he would call all the nobles and show everyone how he learned to cast magic, and if he didn’t succeed, then the rogue teacher would not be cut off. He intimidated the old woman and ordered, playing along with the king, to perform magic for him.
And then the king waved his wand, and the horse flew. It flaps again, another miracle happens. But when he was asked to heal the dog, which by that time was already dead, he could not do anything, since the old woman could not cope with such magic. Then the rogue teacher, in order to avoid the royal wrath, handed over the old woman hiding in the bushes, saying that it was she who was stopping him from casting magic.
The old woman, running away, turned into a hare, since she was an animagus and, hiding in the roots of a tree, mockingly, made (we won’t go into details how, after all, she was a sorceress and she had a lot of methods) the poor king trembled with fear, and brought the would-be instructor out into the open. The moral of the story is this: don’t be smart, don’t be greedy and don’t lie, there will always be someone smarter than you and will punish you for your sins. The truth, they say, will always come out.
Here it was all about the fountain, which every year allowed one of the local brethren to swim in its waters, so that happiness and luck would descend on him from now on. Somehow, this year, three female sorceresses and one unfortunate knight managed to slip through the fence to the fountain.
After a long journey and fulfillment of certain conditions, namely that along the way they must give either proof of suffering (in this case it was the tears of one of the sorceresses), or the fruits of their labors (here the sweat that came out from the other sorceress is taken from zeal, when the four of them stormed a steep slope), then the treasures of their past (this time these are memories of the third sorceress’s lover), the fountain is finally ready to accept one of them. But then it turns out that along the way, all the sorceresses themselves have changed, and now they do not need to bathe. Then the knight washed himself in the fountain and, coming out from under it, decided to declare his love for one of the sorceresses. But it becomes clear that even without the fountain she would not have refused him.
So the meaning here is as follows. Sometimes, in order to improve your life, you don’t need magic at all. You just don’t need to dwell on the past, on bad luck, but you need to move on and not give up.
One wizard set out to protect himself from love. Everyone around her lost their minds and did all sorts of stupid things. He enclosed his heart in a casket and hid it in the dungeon.
Many years passed, the wizard began to grow old, and rumors and ridicule began to circulate around him that, despite the fact that the nobleman was successful, he could not see love, no one wanted him. He decided to show everyone that this is not so, and decided to woo one of the successful beautiful young ladies. But she felt that he did not love her, expressing suspicion that he had no heart.
The wizard took her to the dungeon where his heart was hidden and showed it to her to refute her statement. Having placed the wild and furry heart into his chest, he became brutal, tore the girl’s chest and, taking the heart out of her chest, cut out his own furry heart, reuniting them in such a terrible way. Both died in the process.
The moral seems to be this. If you resist your heart and feelings for a long time, your heart will simply run wild and forget how to truly love.
Now, finally, the most important tale of the bard Beedle about the three brothers, on which the plot of the last book about Harry Potter is based. Three brothers went on a journey and came across a fast and dangerous river. Here Death was always hanging around nearby, taking into his hands the drowned people who tried to ford it. But the brothers were wizards, they took out their wands, waved them and built a bridge, thereby eluding Death.
Death, seeing that he had lost, decided to win back his victory with cunning. She promised to fulfill any three of their wishes (one for each), deciding, if possible, to put a flaw in each of them. The most militant wished for an invincible wand. In the end, he was killed for it, since anyone wanted to possess such a powerful magical weapon. Another wished for a means to bring back the dead, and when he received the resurrection stone, he summoned his former and deceased girlfriend. But she did not find a place for herself in this world, and in the end he committed suicide in order to reunite with his beloved after death, and thereby end her and his suffering.
Thus, Death has already played out two lives. But she never managed to find the third one; she gave him an invisibility cloak. And when the time came for him to die, he passed on the invisibility cloak to his son, and he himself came to Death of his own free will, and they allegedly left this world as equals. That is, Death accepted the fact that the third brother had outplayed her.
The moral here is that it is not always worth playing with Death, it will always take its toll. And if you do, then act wisely. You can also trace other truths, for example, do not pursue excessive power, otherwise you yourself will fall under the millstone of this power, it is impossible to resurrect (constantly remember) the dead, and if you try, it will be more expensive for you, etc.
Dumbledore's speculations about gifts
Dumbledore, in his conversation with Harry at the ghostly station of Criss Cross, once mentioned that he did not believe one iota that it was Death himself who gave some gifts to some three brothers. He suggested that there were once powerful wizards who were able to create such powerful and eternal magical artifacts. Well, after thinking a little, the bard Beedle, combining them together, created this fairy tale, through which he wanted to convey his moral to his readers.
Followers of the Deathly Hallows cult
Yes, there were those who suggested that by reuniting three magical artifacts at once, they would become the most powerful wizards in the world. But none of them, with the exception of Grindelwald, managed to find more than one artifact. Yes, of course, for some time Dumbledore had with him two artifacts at once - a stone and one - but it doesn’t count, since at that time he didn’t believe in all this nonsense with power, although he could not resist the temptation to use a magical resurrection stone, for which in the end he paid.
Dumbledore's hints and the path of research of Harry and his friends
For the first time we seriously encounter the works of the bard Beedle in “The Deathly Hallows” at the moment when Rufus Scrimgeour (at that time the current Minister of Magic of Great Britain) presents three friends - Harry, Ron and Hermione with things bequeathed to them by Professor Dumbledore. He gives Harry the first Snitch he caught, Ron the Deluminator, and Hermione the first edition of Beedle the Bard's tales. It was on her shoulders that the unspoken task was entrusted to unravel the mystery of the Deathly Hallows, which are mentioned in the tale of the three brothers, and what role they should play in the future scenario of the fight against evil.
Of course, Hermione didn’t get to everything on her own, but it was her inquisitive mind that gave everyone else the message to unravel the mysteries contained in the fairy tale and in the professor’s comments to it. It was guided by the fairy tale that they began to look for the Elder Wand. Together with Harry's visions, they soon realize that Dumbledore had the Rod of Fate all this time, and he, in turn, won it from Grindelwald. It was the moment of torture of the once great wizard imprisoned that Harry saw in his visions.
Comparing what was said in the fairy tale with the disappearance of the wand maker and the torture of Grindelwald, they come to the conclusion that Voldemort nevertheless became the owner of the Elder Wand from the fairy tale. But everything was not so simple with this wand. Unless obtained in battle, its powerful magical powers are unavailable to its current owner. The Dark Lord, completely convinced that the true owner of the wand is Severus Snape (after all, no one told him that it was actually Malfoy Jr. who disarmed Dumbledore) kills the wizard, this time, being convinced that all the magical power of the wand is now in in his hands.
But it was not there. Harry knows that Voldemort's reasoning is incorrect. And since he defeated Draco in a duel, the wand now rightfully belongs to him. Confidence in this gave him the strength to decide on the final duel with the Dark Lord, and it was this that allowed him to ultimately win. When everything was over, Harry made the decision to return the wand to Dumbledore's tomb where it belonged. He reasoned that if its owner died a natural death, its magical power would disappear, and the string of deaths that had accompanied it for centuries would cease (in the film, he simply broke it and threw it away).
The same can be said about the resurrection stone and the invisibility cloak. They all belonged to Harry, after all. The stone was in the Snitch bequeathed by Dumbledore. This realization gave him hope of survival when he went to meet Voldemort in the Enchanted Forest. And although there is no particular merit in the way events later showed, nevertheless, the support provided by Harry’s loved ones and close people, who were called by him, enabled the young man to gain confidence and strength for further struggle. The stone was eventually dropped by Harry in the forest, and remained lying there among the grass and dead wood.
Well, Harry, apparently, did not part with the third Deathly Hallow - the ageless invisibility cloak. After all, this thing turned out to be his family heirloom. And, according to the same bard Beedle, she will not do anything bad to anyone. And therefore Harry did not consider it necessary to get rid of her.
Conclusion
About the Deathly Hallows
"The Sign of Grindelwald"
Dumbledore, in his comments to The Tales of Beedle the Bard, notes that wands tend to absorb the experience of those who use them. In his opinion, the Elder Wand, which passed through the hands of many dark wizards, “would be likely to have, at the very last, the marked affinity for the most dangerous kinds of magic.”
Fate of the Wand
According to legend, Antiochus Peverell, after receiving the Elder Wand,
...walked for more than a week until he reached a distant village. There he found a wizard with whom he was not on good terms. Of course, armed with the Elder Wand, he could not lose the duel that followed the quarrel. Leaving his dead enemy lying on the ground, the elder brother went to the inn, where he loudly boasted of the power of the magic wand he had taken from Death and the invincibility bestowed by it. In the dead of night, another wizard sneaked up to his older brother, who was lying in his bed, unconscious from drinking wine. The thief took his wand and, just to be sure, cut his older brother’s throat.
The first documented mention of a wand belongs to Emeric the Notorious, who held the whole of southern England in fear in the early Middle Ages. Emeric did not live long and was killed in a fierce duel by Egbert. Egbert's fate is unknown.
A century later, the wand fell into the hands of Godelot, the author of the book “The most despicable magic of all.” Using his wand, Godelot enriched the Dark Arts by creating many dangerous spells. He was imprisoned in his own dungeon by his mad son Hereward.
At the beginning of the 18th century, the evil warlock Barnabas Deverill obtained the wand, then he was defeated by Loxius, who christened the wand Deathstick and used it to kill anyone he did not like. It is unknown who exactly killed Loxius himself. This “honor” was claimed by many, including his own mother. According to historical records, the murderer of Loxius was Arcus or Livy.
At some point, the famous wand maker Gregorovich became the owner of the wand. He tried to create a copy of it and, hoping that it would help his business, spread a rumor that he had become the owner of the Elder Wand and was working on creating a copy of it. As a result, the wand was stolen by a certain young blond man. Gregorovich never found out that this blond man was Grindelwald.
In 1945, Grindelwald, who by this time had killed many people, was defeated in a duel by Albus Dumbledore and imprisoned for his atrocities.
In the spring of 1997, Albus Dumbledore was disarmed by Draco Malfoy, thereby becoming the new owner of the wand. Snape's subsequent murder of Dumbledore did not make Snape her master, since this murder was planned in advance by Dumbledore himself, and Snape was only carrying out his will. After Albus was killed, the wand was placed with him in the grave, but Draco Malfoy remained the owner of the wand.
In 1997, Voldemort kidnapped Ollivander and tortured him into revealing everything he knew about the Elder Wand, including the rumor that Gregorovich was its last owner. Having kidnapped Gregorovich, Voldemort, through torture and legilimency, learned about the theft of the wand, after which he killed Gregorovich.
In the winter of 1997-1998, Harry Potter was captured by the Jaegers and taken to the Malfoy estate. Fleeing from captivity, Harry forcibly took his usual wand from Draco Malfoy. The Elder Wand considered this action a victory. So Harry, without even knowing it, became the master of the Elder Wand.
Then Voldemort, realizing that Dumbledore was the owner of the wand, opened his grave and appropriated the wand for himself. Noticing that her magic was not as strong as one would expect, Voldemort realized that he was not the owner of the Elder Wand. He mistakenly believed that he was Severus Snape, since he killed Albus Dumbledore. To become the master of the wand, Voldemort killed Snape. This happened during the Battle of Hogwarts, in the spring of 1998.
Voldemort attempted to use his wand to kill Harry Potter with the Avada Kedavra spell. The wand did not kill its owner, but instead neutralized him as a Horcrux, killing the part of Voldemort's soul contained in Harry Potter's body. Potter himself found himself in a state intermediate between life and death, where he could choose at will whether to continue to live or die. He chose the former. In addition, in this state he met with the late Dumbledore, who told him, among other things, about the Elder Wand.
In the final battle, Voldemort tried to kill Harry Potter again with the Elder Wand. At the same time, Harry Potter disarmed Voldemort with the Expelliarmus spell. As a result, the wand killed Voldemort himself.
According to canon, after defeating Voldemort, Harry used the Elder Wand to repair his own, and then returned the Elder Wand to Albus Dumbledore's grave. According to Harry Potter, if he dies a natural death, he will become the last owner of the wand. According to the film, the Elder Wand was broken and thrown from the cliffs on which Hogwarts stands.
Translation problem
In the Russian translation, the play on words intended by the author completely disappeared: Elder- in English this is elderberry, elder, and elder. The wand is both elder - in material, and older - in essence, age and capabilities. In the original, two different concepts are merged in one simple word. This play on words is important, for example, the phrases “Dumbledore is the master of the elder wand” and “Dumbledore is the master of the elder wand” sound completely different. The difficulty is also in translating the word master, meaning chosen by the wand of its true owner - the words master, owner, owner do not fully convey the shades of meaning.
Resurrection Stone
The stone has the property of resurrecting the dead, but those resurrected can no longer return to normal life again, but remain half-ghosts. Only the one who called them can see them, and they can also become a replacement for the Patronus.
The Resurrection Stone was passed down among the Peverell descendants through the middle brother, being inserted into the family ring. Voldemort, having received it from the Glooms, made a Horcrux from the ring. This same ring, or rather the deadly spell cast on him by Voldemort as a trap, served as the first prerequisite for the death of Albus Dumbledore. The latter, having found the ring, immediately put it on, forgetting about all caution, as he was captured by the idea of resurrecting his mother and sister with the help of the Stone. As a result, Dumbledore was exposed to the ring's spell, which would have meant certain death for him (apparently within a very short time) if Severus Snape had not intervened. With its help, it was possible to delay the fatal effect - only Dumbledore’s hand, on which the ring was put on, was damaged, but, according to Snape, no magic was able to completely stop the spread of the effect of such a spell on the entire body, and Dumbledore was doomed to die within approximately of the year.
The stone was given to Potter by Dumbledore as a bequest in the Enchanted Snitch, and was later used by Potter for protection as he went to his death at Voldemort's headquarters in the Forbidden Forest. Near the location of the headquarters, Potter dropped a stone. Subsequently, talking to the portrait of Dumbledore in the headmaster's office, Harry said that he did not remember the place where he dropped the stone and was not going to look for it. Dumbledore approved of this decision.
The cloak of invisibility
A unique invisibility cloak of exceptional quality - it hides reliably, does not wear out, and the wearer cannot be detected by any spells (excluding some magical objects, such as Alastor Moody's magic eye or the Marauder's Map, and Luna Lovegood's Spectral-Astral glasses). Received by Harry Potter as his father's inheritance from Dumbledore. Appears in the very first book. The fact that this is the Deathly Hallow, which belonged to Ignotus Peverell, is revealed only in the seventh and final book.
Brothers
Antioch Peverell
Antioch Peverell(English) Antioch Peverell) - the eldest of the legendary Peverell brothers, to whom Death gave an invincible magic wand. Intoxicated by his power, Antiochus began to boast of his gift and one night, having previously been drunk to the point of insensibility, he was robbed and killed. Thus began the bloody march of the Elder Wand through the pages of the history of the magical world. But this is not the fault of the wand itself. It’s just that the people who tried to take possession of it were usually too thirsty for power and stopped at nothing along the way.
Cadmus Peverell
Cadmus Peverell- the middle of the Peverell brothers, to whom, according to legend, Death gave the Resurrection Stone. Having resurrected his beloved with his help, Cadmus lived in marriage with her for some time. However, earthly life was a burden for this woman. Seeing that they cannot see happiness in this world, Cadmus commits suicide in the hope of thus uniting with his love. Apparently, Cadmus Peverell and his wife had children, because many years later the Resurrection Stone, inserted into the ring, ended up on the hand of Marvolo Gloom, who claimed that the ring was inherited by him, and the sign of the Deathly Hallows carved into the stone is “the seal of the Peverells.” "
Ignotus Peverell
Ignotus Peverell- the third, youngest, of the Peverell brothers, to whom, according to legend (“The Tale of Three Brothers”), Death gave the invisibility cloak. The wisest of the brothers lived to a ripe old age and, having passed on the magic mantle to his son, met death with a light heart. The mantle was passed on for a long time from father to son, from mother to daughter... In some generation, the male line of the Peverells was interrupted (this is stated in the book “Natural Nobility. Pedigree of Wizards.”) and later the mantle fell into the hands of another magical family. Most likely, into the hands of the Potters. In 1998, a descendant of Ignotus Peverell, Harry Potter, was able to collect all three Deathly Hallows, voluntarily accept his death as a necessity and return to life again.
Notes
Links
| Philosopher's Stone
Movie A game Soundtrack |
Once upon a time there lived three brothers, and one day they set out to travel. They walked along a long road at dusk and came to a river. It was deep - impossible to wade, and so fast that it was impossible to swim across. But the brothers were versed in the magical arts. They waved their magic wands - and a bridge grew over the river. The brothers were already in the middle of the bridge, when suddenly they saw someone standing in the middle of the road, wrapped in a cloak.
And Death spoke to them. She was very angry that three victims escaped her, because usually travelers drowned in the river. But Death was cunning. She pretended to admire the brothers' skill and invited each of them to choose a reward for outwitting her.
And so the elder brother, a warlike man, asked for a magic wand, the most powerful in the world, so that its owner would always win a duel. Such a magic wand is worthy of a man who defeated Death itself! Then Death broke off a branch from an elderberry bush that grew nearby, made a magic wand out of it and gave it to his elder brother.
The second brother was proud. He wanted to humiliate Death even more and demanded from her the power to summon the dead. Death picked up a pebble that was lying on the shore and gave it to the middle brother. This stone, she said, has the power to bring back the dead.
Death asked her younger brother what he wanted. The youngest was the most modest and wisest of the three and he did not trust Death, and therefore asked to give him such a thing so that he could leave from there and Death would not catch up with him. Death was unhappy, but there was nothing to be done - she gave him her invisibility cloak.
Then Death retreated and let the three brothers cross the bridge. They went on their way and talked among themselves about this adventure and admired the wonderful things that Death had given.
Whether long or short, the brothers each went their separate ways.
The first brother wandered for a week, or maybe more, and came to a distant village.
He found there the wizard with whom he had been in a quarrel. They had a duel, and, of course, the elder brother won - and how could it be otherwise when he had an elder wand in his hands? The enemy remained lying dead on the ground, and the elder brother went to the inn and there let him brag about what a miracle wand he got from Death himself - with it no one would defeat him in battle.
That same night, one wizard made his way to his older brother as he lay and snored, completely drunk, on his bed. The thief stole the magic wand and at the same time cut his older brother's throat.
So Death took the first brother.
Meanwhile, the middle brother returned to his home, and he lived alone. He took a stone that could call the dead, and turned it three times in his hand. What a miracle - standing in front of him is the girl he dreamed of marrying, but she died an early death.
But she was sad and cold, as if some kind of curtain separated her from her middle brother. Although she returned to the sublunary world, there was no place for her here, and she suffered bitterly. In the end, the middle brother went crazy from hopeless melancholy and killed himself just to be with his beloved.
So Death took the second brother too.
Death searched for the third brother for many years, but never found him. And when the younger brother grew old, he himself took off the invisibility cloak and gave it to his son. He met Death as an old friend and went with her in his hunt, and as equals they left this world.
As a child, this fairy tale made a deep impression on me. I heard it from my mother and more often than other fairy tales I asked her to tell me this one at night. Because of this, my younger brother Aberforth and I quarreled more than once - he loved the other one most of all - “Grumbly - a shabby goat.”
The moral of “The Tale of the Three Brothers” is absolutely clear, it couldn’t be clearer: any attempts to defeat death are doomed to failure. Only the younger brother (“the most modest and wisest of the three”) understands that, having eluded death once, he can hope, at best, to delay the next meeting with it. He knows that to tease death - by relying on strength, like the elder brother, or through the dubious arts of necromancy, like the middle brother - means fighting a treacherous opponent who cannot be defeated.
Ironically, a very curious legend has developed around this tale, completely contradicting the author’s intention. Legend claims that the Deathly Hallows - an invincible magic wand, a stone that brings the dead back to life, and an invisibility cloak that cannot be demolished - exist in reality. Moreover: the one who manages to take possession of all three magical objects will “conquer death” - by this they usually mean that such a person will become invulnerable and even immortal.
One can only smile with slight sadness, seeing how this legend reflects human nature. The most merciful of the appropriate comments here is: “Hope is in our hearts, like a star.” Despite the fact that, according to the fairy tale, two of the three Gifts are extremely dangerous, despite the clearly formulated moral that in the end death comes for each of us, a small part of the wizarding community stubbornly continues to believe that the Beedle left us an encrypted message, literally the opposite of the content of the fairy tale. And only they are smart enough to guess this.
Their theory (or perhaps “desperate hope” would be more accurate) is not supported by real facts. Invisibility cloaks are found in our world, although not often, but the cloak of death in a fairy tale has unique properties - it does not wear out over time. In all the centuries since the fairy tale was written, no one has ever claimed to have found the invisibility cloak. Adherents of the Deathly Hallows theory explain this as follows: either the heirs of the younger brother do not know where they got the mantle from, or they know, but do not advertise it, thereby showing wisdom worthy of their glorious ancestor.
The stone, of course, was never found either. As I already said in the commentary to the fairy tale about the Bunny Bunny, we still do not know how to bring the dead back to life and we are unlikely to ever learn. Dark wizards created infernals, but these are just disgusting puppets, and not truly animated people. Moreover, Beedle clearly says in his tale that the second brother’s beloved did not actually return from the kingdom of the dead. She was sent to lure the second brother into the clutches of death, and therefore remains cold, teasingly distant, as if she is both here and not here.
So, what remains is the magic wand. Some stubborn people still believe that, at least in this respect, their incredible hypotheses are confirmed by historical facts. Over the centuries, many wizards have claimed that they wield an unusually powerful, downright “invincible” wand - either out of vanity, or truly believing their words. Some even claimed that their wand was made from elderberry, just like the one from the fairy tale. Such wands were called by different names, including the Deadly Wand and the Wand of Destiny.
It is not surprising that superstitions arise around magic wands - after all, they are the most important magical tool, as well as a weapon. It is argued that some magic wands are incompatible, and therefore their owners are also incompatible:
Hers is made of holly, his is made of oak -
So it would be stupid for them to get married.
Another magic wand testifies to the shortcomings of its owner:
Rowan is a gossip, chestnut is a slacker,
Stubborn ash, crybaby hazel.
And of course, among these unsubstantiated sayings we find:
An elderberry stick will bring you trouble.
Whether it is because in Beadle's tale Death made his wand from elderberry, or because many power-hungry wizards have always claimed that their wands are made from elderberry, this plant is not popular among wand-makers.
The first documented mention of the elderberry magic wand, which has especially strong and dangerous properties, belongs to Emeric, popularly nicknamed the Notorious. This wizard lived a short but stormy life; in the early Middle Ages he kept all of Southern England in fear. He died the same way he lived - in a fierce battle with a wizard named Egbert. Egbert's fate is unknown, although the average life expectancy of medieval duelists is short. Before the Ministry of Magic imposed restrictions on the use of the Dark Arts, duels usually ended in the death of at least one of the opponents.
A whole century later, another not very pleasant character, this time named Godelot, contributed to the development of Dark magic, composing a number of very dangerous spells with the help of a magic wand, which he in his notes calls “an insidious and malicious companion, her body is made of sambuca tree, and she knows the most despicable magic of all” (the phrase “The most despicable magic of all” became the title of the most famous of Godelot’s works).
As we can see, Godelot considers the magic wand to be his assistant, almost a mentor. Wand connoisseurs will agree with me that wands do have the ability to absorb the knowledge of those who use them, although this process is unpredictable and far from perfect. To assess how fully the knowledge of any particular magician can be transmitted, a variety of factors must be taken into account, such as the relationship between the wand and its owner. Nevertheless, it is likely that the wand, having been passed from one Dark wizard to another for a long time, has absorbed a certain share of the most dangerous types of magic.
As a rule, magicians prefer a magic wand that has “chosen” them, rather than one that belonged to someone else in the past, precisely because the habits of the previous owner, acquired by the wand, may turn out to be incompatible with the style of witchcraft inherent in the new owner. The custom of burying a wand with its owner after his death (or even burning it) also prevents wands from changing hands. However, according to those who believe in the Elder Wand, it was never buried or burned, since each time the new owner took it from the previous one, most often by killing him in a duel. That is why extraordinary wisdom and power allegedly accumulated in her.
As you know, Godelot ended his life in the basement, where he was imprisoned by his own son, the mad Hereward. It must be assumed that Hereward took the magic wand from his father, otherwise he would have been able to escape. But we don’t know what Hereward did with the wand. It is only known that at the beginning of the 18th century a magic wand appeared, which its owner, Barnabas Deverill, called the Elder Wand. Thanks to it, Deverill gained fame as a cruel and terrible sorcerer, but in the end he himself was killed by the no less famous villain Loxius, and he took the wand for himself, renamed it Deadly and with its help destroyed anyone who did not please him. The further history of this wand is difficult to trace - too many claimed, including his own mother, that it was they who killed Loxius.
Upon a thoughtful study of the history of the issue, what first strikes the eye is that every wizard who declared himself the owner of the so-called Elder Wand considered it invincible, although the way in which it passed from hand to hand indicates that it was defeated many times and, Moreover, she literally attracted troubles like the goat Grumpy attracts flies. In general, all this only confirms the truth, which I have been convinced of more than once during my long life: people tend to strive for exactly what is worst for them.
However, which of us, if asked to choose any of the Deathly Hallows, would act as wisely as the third brother? Both wizards and Muggles are equally susceptible to lust for power. How many could resist the Rod of Destiny? Who, having lost a loved one, would cope with the temptation of the resurrection stone? Even I, Albus Dumbledore, would most easily give up the invisibility cloak, and this just proves that, for all my intelligence, I am actually as stupid as everyone else.
Dear reader!
Thank you for purchasing this unique, very special book. I would like to take this opportunity to explain how your support will help change the lives of many socially vulnerable children.
More than a million children across Europe live in large orphanages. Contrary to popular belief, these are not orphans at all. They are wards of the state and various charities because their parents are sick, disabled or belong to ethnic minorities. Among these children I have disabilities, but they often do not receive medical care and cannot study normally. Sometimes they are deprived of even the most necessary things, such as quality food. Almost all of them suffer from a lack of communication and emotional contact with other people.
In order to change the lives of these children and prevent this from happening in the future, J.K. Rowling and I created the Children's High Level Group (CHLG) charitable children's foundation in 2005.
The goal of our foundation is to do away with large orphanages and encourage children to live in families: their own, or foster homes, or in small family orphanages.
We help approximately a quarter of a million children every year. We fund an independent hotline that provides help and information to hundreds of thousands of children every year. We are also developing various educational programs, including the Community Action project, in which secondary school students help children in need of special education, and Edelweiss, which gives children the opportunity to express themselves through creativity. In Romania, our foundation created a state children's council that represents children's rights and allows them to talk about their lives and problems.
Unfortunately, our capabilities are limited. Funds are needed to scale up our efforts, reach more countries, and reach more children who desperately need it.
CHLG differs from other non-governmental organizations in the same field because it works with governments and public agencies, professional and voluntary organizations, and also provides specific practical assistance on the ground.
Our foundation's goal is to achieve full implementation of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child throughout Europe, and ultimately throughout the world. In just two years, with our help, many countries have developed methods to ensure that children are less likely to be left in hospitals and that care for disabled children is improved. A guide was also developed for selecting families for children from orphanages.
We are sincerely grateful for your help in purchasing this book. The money raised from it will allow us to continue our work and give hundreds of thousands of children a chance for a healthy, decent life.
If you would like to learn more about us, please visit our website: www.chlg.org.
Baroness Nicholson of Winterbourne,
Member of the European Parliament
Co-Chairman of the CHLG Foundation
Footnotes
1. It should be noted that real wizards and sorceresses have become quite good at avoiding the fire, the noose and the scaffold (see the story of Lisette de La Crole in my comments to the fairy tale “The Jester the Bunny and her Cluttering Tree Stump”). However, there have been cases of death. For example, when Sir Nicholas de Mimsey-Delphington (the royal magician during his lifetime, and after death - the faculty ghost of Gryffindor) was imprisoned. His magic wand was taken away from him and he was unable to escape before his execution. Especially often, families of wizards lost junior wizards who did not yet know how to control their magical abilities and therefore became victims of Muggle witch hunts.
2. Squib - a descendant of Muggle parents, deprived of magical abilities. It is extremely rare. Much more often the opposite happens - children endowed with magical abilities are born in Muggle families. - J.C.R.
3. Including myself.
4. Professor Beery was later taken away from Hogwarts and became a teacher at WADI (Magical Academy of Dramatic Art). He once confessed to me that all his life he had tried to avoid productions of this fairy tale, believing that it brought misfortune.
5. See “Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them” - there is a detailed description of this peculiar animal, which in no case should be allowed into rooms with wooden wall paneling, much less subjected to an enlarging spell.
6. During his tenure as a Care of Magical Creatures teacher, Professor Kettleburn was suspended no less than sixty-two times. He had a very strained relationship with my predecessor, Professor Dippet. Professor Dippet thought Kettleburn was somewhat reckless. By the time I became Headmaster, the years had tamed Professor Kettleburn, although some cynics argued that he had been forced to settle down with only one and a half of his original set of limbs remaining.
7. Mr. Malfoy responded to my letter with several more letters, but since they mainly consisted of disapproving remarks about my origin, mental health and personal hygiene, they have very little relevance to the topic of this comment.
8. According to Beatrice Bloxam's diary, the writer never recovered from the shock she experienced when she heard her aunt telling the tale of the furry heart to her older cousins. “By pure chance, my ear was close to the keyhole. I must have been numb with horror and therefore listened to the end of this disgusting legend, and at the same time the chilling details of a very ugly story about my Uncle Nobby, a local witch and a bag of bouncy onions.
9. The term “sorcerer” is extremely ancient. Although it is sometimes used as a synonym for "wizard", it originally meant a person skilled in the art of combat and all types of combat magic. The title of wizard was awarded to wizards for their bravery in much the same way that Muggles were knighted for their valor. By calling the main character of the tale a sorcerer, Beedle wants to emphasize that he was a recognized master of offensive magic. Nowadays, the word "sorcerer" is used by magicians in two meanings: when talking about a very ferocious-looking wizard and as a sign of special skill or extraordinary achievements. So, Dumbledore himself was the Supreme Warlock of the Wizengamot. - J.C.R.
10. Founder of the Purely Extraordinary Society of Potions, Hector Dagworth-Granger explains: “A skillfully prepared potion can cause a strong passion in a person, but no one has ever been able to artificially create real, eternal, unconditional affection, the only one worthy of being called Love.”
11. Murlocomli - pink, spiny, mushroom-like creatures. It's hard to imagine that anyone would want to pet them. You can read more about them in the book Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them.
12. Not to be confused with the book “Furry Face, Human Heart” - a touching story about a certain wizard’s struggle with lycanthropy.
13. Images of wizards in portraits and photographs move, and the portraits also talk, preserving the style of the original. Images in portraits and photographs, as well as images that mirrors like Erised show us, should not be confused with ghosts. Ghosts are transparent, moving, speaking and thinking embodiments of wizards and sorceresses who, for some reason, wished to remain on earth. - J.C.R.
14. The current Headmaster of Hogwarts, Professor McGonagall, asked me to emphasize that she became an animagus as a result of extensive research in various areas of transfiguration and that she never used her ability to turn into a cat for any secret purpose. The only exception is completely legitimate work in the Order of the Phoenix, when secrecy was vital. - J.C.R.
15. Perhaps this fact contributed to the spread of rumors about the mental disorder of this Muggle king.
16. As shown by in-depth research conducted by the Ministry of Magic back in 1672, wizards are born, not made. Occasionally, people capable of magic appear “by chance” in non-magical families (although upon careful examination, it usually turns out that there are magicians in their family tree), but Muggles cannot cast magic. At best - or at worst - they can hope for a spontaneous, uncontrollable effect from the use of a genuine wand, since it is a tool that redirects the flow of magical energy, and can store residual magic, the random release of which is completely unpredictable. Regarding magic wands, see also the commentary on The Tale of the Three Brothers.
17. For a detailed description of these curious creatures, see the book Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them.
18. The Cruciatus, Imperius, and Avada Kedavra curses were first classified as Unforgivable in 1717, and carried extremely severe penalties for their use.
19. Necromancy - Dark art that allows you to summon the dead. As can be seen from this tale, this type of magic never brought the desired results. - J.C.R.
20. This quote indicates that Albus Dumbledore was not only extremely well-read in the field of magical literature, but was also familiar with the works of the Muggle poet Alexander Pope. - J.C.R.
21. Invisibility cloaks, generally speaking, are not without their drawbacks. They become torn, dull with age, and the spells placed on them are worn out or can be neutralized by a revealing spell. Therefore, magicians often use the disillusionment spell to disguise themselves. As you know, Albus Dumbledore was able to perform such a powerful disillusionment spell that he became invisible without any robes. - J.C.R.
22. Infernals are dead people who have received a semblance of life through Dark magic. - J.C.R.
23. Many researchers believe that Beedle creates a stone that resurrects the dead, by analogy with the philosopher's stone, with the help of which the elixir of life is made, which grants immortality.
24. An ancient name for elderberry.
25. Like me, for example.
26. Not a single sorceress declared herself the owner of the Elder Wand. Draw whatever conclusions you want from this.
Librusec.. 1
Tales of Beedle the Bard (fb2). 1
Joan Rowling The Tales of Beedle the Bard. 1
Preface. 1
Notes on comments.. 3
The Sorcerer and the Bouncing Pot.. 4
Albus Dumbledore on the fairy tale "The Witch and the Bouncing Pot". 7
Fairy Fortune Fountain.. 9
Albus Dumbledore on the fairy tale "The Fountain of Fairy Fortune". 14
Furry heart of a sorcerer. 16
Albus Dumbledore about the fairy tale "The Furry Heart of the Sorcerer". 19
The hare Shutikha and her grinning stump. 21
Albus Dumbledore about the fairy tale “The Jester the Hare and her snarling stump”. 26
The Tale of Three Brothers. 28
Albus Dumbledore on The Tale of the Three Brothers. 30
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