Deathly Hallows

Deathly Hallows
Manufacturer	Death (purportedly)
Inventor	Death (purportedly)
Purpose	To be the "Master of Death" Unbeatable in duels (Elder Wand) Resurrect the dead (Resurrection Stone) Hide even from Death itself (Cloak of Invisibility)
Book information
First appearance	Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows
Last appearance	The Tales of Beedle the Bard

The Deathly Hallows are three fabled objects that Death purportedly rewarded the three Peverell brothers. They appear in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows and The Tales of Beedle the Bard.

About

According to The Tales of Beedle the Bard, the Deathly Hallows are three powerful magical objects created by Death. These are the Elder Wand which is so powerful it is considered invincible; the Resurrection Stone to summon the spirits of the dead and the Cloak of Invisibility which renders the wearer invisible even from Death itself. According to legend, whoever possesses these three artefacts will become the "Master of Death" which is often understood to mean immortality or invulnerability. In reality, being in possession of the three Deathly Hallows doesn't make one invincible. Being the "Master of Death" means to accept that death is inevitable and that there are worst things in life than dying.

The existence of the Deathly Hallows is only known to a few. Although wizarding children grow up hearing the story of The Tale of the Three Brothers, Beedle the Bard's story is widely believed to be fiction. It is also possible that the Hallows weren't created by Death but by the three Peverell brothers themselves. Harry Potter is the only person known to have possessed the three Hallows at once and understood their true nature.

History

Origins

In the story of The Tale of the Three Brothers, the Deathly Hallows were rewarded to Antioch, Cadmus and Ignotus Peverell by Death for evading him. In truth, they weren't a reward but they were designed to trick the brothers into a early demise. Antioch was arrogant and asked for something that would make him unbeatable. Death gave him the Elder Wand. Cadmus tried to humiliate Death by asking for something that could bring back the dead. He was rewarded with the Resurrection Stone. However, the youngest brother was wiser and more humble than his brothers. He understood that Death was inevitable and asked for something that could hide him from Death in the hope it would prolong his life. Death took off a piece of his own cloak and gave the Cloak of Invisibility to Ignotus.

After the brothers parted ways, the two oldest were driven to their deaths by their Hallow. Antioch bragged of his invincibility after killing his rival. He was murdered for the Elder Wand while he slept that night. Cadmus tried to revive his late fianceé but she did not belong in the living world and he killed himself to be with her. Death searched for Ignotus for years but it wasn't until he reached an old age and decided it was time to move on, that he took off his cloak and greeted Death like an old friend.

Dumbledore's theory

Albus Dumbledore points out in his notes on The Tale of the Three Brothers that Beedle the Bard's version of the story shows Death to be cunning, and that he kills the brothers with the fabled objects so he could take them for his own. However, his theory is that the three talented and powerful Peverell brothers are more likely the true creators of the Hallows. He believes the lore that Death fashioned the objects has sprung up around them due to the powers they had possessed.

Disappearance of the Hallows

After the deaths of the Peverell brothers, the existence of the three objects fell into folklore. They are thought by many to be a children's story written by Beedle the Bard for The Tales of Beedle the Bard.

A few wizards claimed possession of the Elder Wand over the next few centuries although none have been verified. The first was Emeric the Evil who was killed in a ferocious duel by Egbert the Egregious. It is unknown what happened to Egbert. A century later, Godelot wrote in his notebook on his studies with Dark Magic about his "my moste wicked and subtle friend, with bodie of Ellhorn, who knowes ways of magick moste evile". His son, Hereward, later imprisoned him and likely took his father's wand. In the early eighteeenth century, Barnabas Deverill carved out a fearsome reputation with "the Eldrun Wand". He was killed by Loxias who took possession of the wand, but there is no record of the wand upon his death because there are many who claimed to have killed him.

Nobody has ever claimed the Resurrection Stone, and the only known owner of the Cloak of Invisibility after Ignotus is his son who he bequeathed it to. There are some who suspect the descendents of Ignotus have kept the Cloak but keep its true nature secret, or do not know that it is "Death"s Cloak".

Albus Dumbledore and Gellert Grindelwald's quest

In his youth, Gellert Grindelwald developed a fascination with the Deathly Hallows and sought to find them. This quest was to support his vision of a future where witches and wizards no longer had to hide from Muggles and would rule over them for "the greater good". He moved to Godric's Hollow, the birthplace of the Peverell brothers, to begin his search. While he was there, he befriended a young Albus Dumbledore who had recently graduated from Hogwarts. Dumbledore was persuaded to help Grindelwald and also yearned to find the Hallows.

Dumbledore and Grindelwald wrote to each other about their plans in letters that were discovered a hundred years later. However, they parted ways after Dumbledore was forced to accept the true, dark nature of Grindelwald. Dumbledore and Grindelwald both continued to separately search for the Hallows, with the latter trying to achieve his goal of world domination while Dumbledore refused to trust himself with power. Grindelwald eventually discovered the Elder Wand was in the possession of Mykew Gregorovitch and stole it. In 1945, at the end of Grindelwald's wizarding war, Dumbledore defeated him in a duel and took ownership of the Elder Wand.

Discovery

After the death of Cadmus Peverell, the Resurrection Stone was fitted into a ring that was passed down through a branch of the Peverell family. Eventually, the ring was owned by the Gaunt family who did not know what it really was. Marvolo Gaunt flaunted the ring because he thought it represented his pure-blood status. Upon his imprisonment in Azkaban, the ring was given to his son, Morfin Gaunt. Some time later, his long-lost nephew Tom Riddle tracked down the family and learned the ring was an heirloom. After murdering his father and grandparents, Tom framed Morfin and stole the ring.

Tom also appears to have no clue he had the Resurrection Stone and wore the ring for some time before using it to create a Horcrux. He hid it in the Gaunt Shack surrounded by numerous magical protections. Years later, when Albus Dumbledore was searching for Tom's Horcruxes, he found the ring and realised it contained the Resurrection Stone.

The Cloak of Invisibility was also passed down, in this case through a branch of Ignotus Peverell's descendants. This includes the Potter family. James Potter inherited it upon his parents' deaths. During the Second Wizarding War, he gave it to Dumbledore for safe-keeping. Eleven years after James was murdered, Dumbledore passed the Cloak to his son Harry Potter.

Harry Potter

At the age of eleven, Harry Potter received the Cloak of Invisibility from an unknown source. He later learned it was Dumbledore. He was unaware of its true nature for several years. After the death of Dumbledore, he was bequeathed the first Golden Snitch he ever caught, unaware that Dumbledore had sealed the Resurrection Stone inside with an enchantment. In order to open it, Harry had to be prepared to die.

Harry learned about the Deathly Hallows during his quest to hunt down Voldemort's Horcruxes. He knew that Voldemort was now also trying to find them in the hope that they would give him immortality. He tried to find out the location of the Elder Wand from Grindelwald who refused to reveal it. He eventually realised the wand was buried with Dumbledore and snatched it from his tomb.

During the Battle of Hogwarts, Harry realised he was also a Horcrux of Voldemort and that he had to die in order to destroy it. With the Cloak of Invisibility, Harry walked into the Forbidden Forest. After figuring out how to open the Golden Snitch, he pulled out the Resurrection Stone and spoke to his deceased loved ones. Unknown to Harry at that time, he was also the true owner of the Elder Wand.

Shortly before Dumbledore died, he was disarmed by Draco Malfoy. A few months before the Battle of Hogwarts, Harry had disarmed Draco. Even though the Elder Wand was in Voldemort's hands, it was truly loyal to Harry. Voldemort incorrectly thought Severus Snape was the true owner because he had killed Dumbledore. Thus when Harry met Voldemort in the Forest and was prepared to die, he was in possession of the three Deathly Hallows and the true Master of Death.

Whereabouts

Harry reburied the Elder Wand with Dumbledore in the hope that if he died of natural causes, its power would be broken. He left the Resurrection Stone in the Forbidden Forest where a herd of centaurs passing through stomped on it and buried it in the ground. Harry kept the Cloak of Invisibility as an heirloom for his family and intended to pass it down.