Death

Death
Biographical Information
Name	Death
Species	Spirit
Book information
First appearance	Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows
Last appearance	The Tales of Beedle the Bard

Death is a fictional character in the wizarding world invented by Beedle the Bard. The character appears in both the real-world and in-universe versions of the story, The Tale of the Three Brothers in The Tales of Beedle the Bard. Some believe the story is based on true events and therefore that Death, the universal embodiment of the end of a physical life, really did exist.

Story

Death collects the souls of the dead and takes them to the afterlife. One day, three brothers are on a journey and reach a perilous river which has claimed many lives whenever some tries to cross it. However these brothers are wizards and they take out their wands to build a bridge out of thin air. Death feels cheated out of three new souls and blocks their path. He is enraged that he can't take them due to their magical abilities, but Death is cunning and has devised a plan to ensure he does get them.

He pretends to congratulate the brothers for being powerful enough to evade him and offers to give them a reward for their skill. Death will not let them go until they choose a prize which fulfills their personal desires. The first brother asks for a wand more powerful tahn any other in existence. Death takes a branch from an elder tree and fashions it into a wand. The second brother requests a way to bring back the dead, so Death gives him a stone from the edge of the river and tells him it can now resurrect those who have passed away. The third brother is wiser and less arrogant, and he asks Death for something that would allow him to go forth and not be followed by Death. He is given a piece of Death's own cloak which renders him invisible.

Death's cunning plan to reclaim the three brothers as his own is soon brought to fruition when the prizes they requested cause them to lose their lives. The first brother is murdered for his powerful Elder Wand and the second brother kills himself due to the limitations of the Resurrection Stone. Death however couldn't find the third brother who evades Death for many years with the Cloak of Invisibility. When he reaches a ripe, old age, he takes off the Cloak to give to his son and greets Death like an old friend. They depart this life as equals on his own terms.

Appearance

Death has an imposing figure and wears a dark hooded cloak. He also has wings that are retracted from his usual attire which enable him to take flight and stalk his victims. This description of death personified is very common in literature for Death is often portrayed as a skeletal figure garbed in an ancient dark robe.