The Tales of Beedle the Bard is a famous children’s storybook full of popular wizarding fairytales. Though well-known among most magical households, The Tales of Beedle the Bard is more than simply a light-hearted collection of stories; it contains stories of important magical figures, some of which have had a lasting impact in wizarding history.

The story we will examine today is perhaps the most popular story from the book: The Tale of the Three Brothers. A full depiction of the story can be found by watching the below video. In short, the story follows three brothers — widely assumed to be Antioch, Cadmus, and Ignotus Peverell — as they make a deal with Death and gain three items now referred to as the Deathly Hallows: the Elder Wand, possessed by Antioch, the Resurrection Stone, possessed by Cadmus, and the Cloak of Invisibility, possessed by Ignotus. 

Antioch Peverell’s legacy is defined by his possession of the Elder Wand, which was said to be “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.” In other words, if someone won the loyalty of the wand, they would win every duel they fought with it — but to win the loyalty of the wand, many believed the previous owner must be killed. Thus, the creation of the Elder Wand and Antioch’s boasting of its power led to a series of killings that continued throughout history, as various wizards attempted to steal its loyalty. Though the Elder Wand’s loyalty could actually be won by simply disarming its previous owner, its unparalleled power nonetheless resulted in numerous deaths that could have been prevented — all traced back to the arrogance of Antioch Peverell.

The next brother, Cadmus Peverell, gained possession of the Resurrection Stone by requesting an item that could “recall loved ones from Death.” The stone worked by turning it thrice in one’s hand, in order to summon a loved one. However, when the Resurrection Stone was later used by Harry Potter, he described the spirits as being “neither ghost nor truly flesh,” appearing to be more of an “echo” of the dead rather than their true spirit. When Cadmus Peverell used the stone to bring back the girl he loved, it is said he felt as though they were separated by a “veil” and that being in the world of the living caused the girl to suffer greatly. Cadmus ultimately killed himself in order to be with the girl he loved in a place where she would not be miserable. Similarly to Antioch, Cadmus was described as arrogant for wanting to humiliate Death. Though the story describes a sort of “karma” in the form of Cadmus killing himself, historical evidence suggests that Cadmus’s death was a fictionalized part of the tale.