As we all know fairy tales change over the ages. This is story of the three brothers, as told by Molly Weasley to the children… Note: they're all a lot younger now and haven't started on Hogwarts yet.
It was late at night. Well, maybe not late, but it was dark out and her children should be in bed already. Yet Molly could not control the urge to sit them down for a nice bed time story. She had Ron on one side, Ginny on the other and the twins were sitting on the other side of the kitchen table, pretending not to listen, because they were way too cool for that now.
"Once upon a time," she started her tale, "there were three brothers. They were coming back from their parents after celebrating Christmas. It was afternoon when they'd left their maternal house, but now it was closing in on midnight. They had been walking home for a long time and because it was snowing they didn't travel as fast as they'd liked to. 'We should have taken the brooms,' the oldest brother was complaining, while they started to near a lake.
As they came closer they noticed that the lake was frozen, but not frozen solid. There was also a bridge, but it was fragile. The second brother wanted to skate across the ice, but the others told him it was too dangerous. If they would step on too fragile ice, they might fall in the water, slip under the ice and end up drowning. A gruesome and cold death." Molly glanced at the twins, hoping that her message had come across. It had started to freeze tonight and already they had been throwing wistful looks at the lake. She hoped against hope that this might deter them from attempting anything for a few days.
"The eldest brother wanted to make use of the bridge, which, he claimed, had after been made to get them to the other side. But the other two thought it looked like it could fall apart at any moment. For a moment they stood, unable to decide what to do. Than the youngest brother suggested that they'd build their own bridge. If they worked together they could make one that was perfectly safe. The others preferred not to: they were tired of the long walk and there was still a long way to go. However, when they could not think of another way to continue and were getting cold from standing in the snow, the two other brothers were convinced that building the bridge was the only option.
They worked together, and soon all the bricks of the area came soaring towards the frozen lake and united themselves into a beautiful and strong bridge. The brothers looked contented with their good work and crossed the bridge together.
However when they were halfway across a hooded figure appeared in the second of the bridge. He looked awful: his eyes were withdrawn deep into his skull, his skin was yellow and the man was so thin you could see each and every bone in his body just by looking at him. He smelled of rotting and his teeth were crooked." Ron was quivering against her, looking slightly nauseous. Ginny had a look of horrid fascination on her face. There was some fear in her eyes, but only enough to allow the young girl to experience the delight of horror. And across the kitchen table, the twins had abandoned all attempts to seem interesting. They leaned forward, hanging on to each and every word.
"This man introduced himself as 'death.' When he extended his hand to shake theirs, they saw his nails were long and discolored. The oldest brother looked at it in disgust and held his own hands behind his back. The second brother looked at it with disdain, and haughtily said that the man needed a manicure. Only the youngest brother shook hands with the man. Death congratulated them with beating him. After all, many men had drowned while they tried to cross the lake over the traitorous ice, and the bridge would surely have collapsed underneath their feet.
Death said that they had passed the test and now they could ask him for any price they wanted. Only the youngest brother noticed the insincerity in Deaths voice. He realized there had to be a catch, but the others did not. The eldest brother asked for an unbeatable wand and death took a twig from a tree nearby, which he transformed into the eldest brothers request. He handed the wand to the brother and asked the second brother what his request would be. The second brother was incredibly vain and asked for a stone that would give him the power to recall the dead. His wish was granted.
The youngest brother, realizing that it was dangerous to ask for anything else, replied: 'I'd like to have something that will allow me to remain alive and save.' Death gave him his own invisibility cloak, but he did so with great reluctance. Then he disappeared, leaving the bridge free for the three young men to cross.
It was close to morning when the three men split up, each leaving to their own home. The eldest brother decided to step by his favorite pub before he went home, though. When he entered he saw an old rival of his sitting at the bar. Feeling the reassuring weight of the unbeatable wand in his pocket, he challenged his rival to duel him. After winning the duel he bragged the entire day of the wand and how he had acquired it. When he went to bed later that night, a man who had heard the bragging came into his room and slid his throat. Death came and took the eldest brother, while his murderer took off with the wand."
Molly looked at her kids, who were all looking rather excited about the current developments. She was pretty sure that none of them had picked up at the moral of the story. When she'd asked Charlie years ago what he had learned from the eldest brother example, he had stated with child-like certainty: "Always sleep at home!"
"The second brother had gone home to sleep. When he woke again the next morning he took out the stone Death had given him. He rubbed it and to his delight the girl he had once hoped to marry appeared. She'd died years ago of an unknown disease. Now, however, she was standing once again before him, looking like she had before she'd fallen ill. She danced and sang for him, and the second brother fell in love with her all over again. The second brother was happy, but she was not. Her body became less and less substantial and she cried tears of sadness. Her depression depressed the brother as well until he finally allowed her to return to the after-life. It took no more than a robe and a ceiling for the brother to join her there. And so death took the second brother, leaving only the youngest.
The youngest brother went home to his wife. He wore his invisibility cloak fulltime and lived a long and healthy life. His wife gave birth to a son and they lived happily ever after. Only when the brother had become old and tired he took off the cloak. He gave it to his son, as to ensure his safety. Then he turned to death and they departed this world as equals."
Ginny had fallen asleep somewhere during the last part of the story and was now snoring lightly with her head on the table. Ron was still rather pale from the frequent appearances of Death in the story, but had recovered enough to frantically agree with the twins that the eldest brother had made the best choice in a gift. Apparently having an unbeatable wand was 'wicked' and would not be problematic at all, as long as you were careful not to tell anyone. Molly shook her head at their antics and stood to carry Ginny to her bed.