The Tale of the Three Brothers

Arthur frowned and looked at Mike, David and Chrys. None of them understood what Xenophilius said as much as Arthur.

"The Deathly Hallows?"

"That's right." Xenophilius said. "You haven't heard of them? I'm not surprised. Very, very few wizards believe. Witness that knuckle headed young man at your brother's wedding…" He nodded to David. "...who attacked me for sporting the symbol of a well known Dark wizard! Such ignorance. There is nothing Dark about the Hallows - at least, not in that crude sense. One simply uses the symbol to reveal oneself to other believers in the hope that they might help one with the Quest."

He stirred several lumps of sugar into his Gurdyroot infusion and drank some.

"We still don't understand." Arthur said before he took a sip from his cup to be polite.

He almost gagged, as it was downright disgusting, tasting like someone liquidised bogey flavoured Every Flavour Beans.

"Well, you see, believers seek the Deathly Hallows." Xenophilus said, smacking his lupus in appreciation of the Gurdyrooy infusion.

"But what are these Deathly Hallows?" Mike asked.

Xenophilius set aside his empty teacup.

"I assume that you are all familiar with 'The Tale of the Three Brothers'?"

Arthur said "No" while Mike, David and Chrys said "Yes".

Xenophilius nodded gravely.

"Well, well, Mr Pendergast, the whole thing starts with 'The Tale of the Three Brothers'... I have a copy somewhere…."

He glanced around the room vaguely at the piles of parchment and books, but Chrys said "I've got a copy, right here."

She then pulled out The Tales of Beedle the Bard from her beaded bag.

"The original?" Xenophilius said sharply. She nodded and he said "Well then, why don't you read it aloud? Much the best way to make sure we all understand."

"Okay…." She said nervously before opening the book. Arthur saw the symbol they were investigating heading the top of the page before Chrys started reading.

There were once three brothers who were travelling along a lonely, winding road at twilight. In time, the brothers reached a river too deep to wade through and too dangerous to swim across. However, these brothers were learned in the magical arts, and so they simply waved their wands and made a bridge appear across the treacherous water. They were halfway across it when they found their path blocked by a hooded figure.

And Death spoke to them. He was angry that he had been cheated out of three new victims, for travellers usually drowned in the river But Death was cunning. He pretended to congratulate the three brothers upon their magic, and said that each had earned a prize for having been clever enough to evade him.

So the oldest brother, who was a combative man, asked for a wand more powerful than any in existence: a wand that must always win duels for its owner, a wand worthy of a wizard who had conquered Death! So Death crossed to an elder tree on the banks of the river, fashioned a wand from a branch that hung there, and gave it to the oldest brother.

Then the second brother, who was an arrogant man, decided that he wanted to humiliate Death still further, and asked for the power to recall others from Death. So Death picked up a stone from the riverbank and gave it to the second brother, and told him that the stone would have the power to bring back the dead.

And then Death asked the third and youngest brother what he would like. The youngest brother was the humblest and also the wisest of the brothers, and he did not trust Death. So he asked for something that would enable him to go forth from that place without being followed by Death. And Death, most unwillingly, handed over his own Cloak of Invisibility.

Then Death stood aside and allowed the three brothers to continue on their way and they did so, talking with wonder of the adventure they had had, and admiring Death's gifts.

In due course the brothers separated, each for his own destination.

The first brother travelled on for a week or more, and reaching a distant village, sought out a fellow wizard with whom he had a quarrel. Naturally, with the Elder Wand as his weapon, he could not fail to win the duel that followed. Leaving his enemy dead upon the floor, the oldest brother proceeded to an inn, where he boasted loudly of the powerful wand he had snatched from Death himself, and of how it made him invincible.

That very night, another wizard crept upon the oldest brother as he lay, wine sodden, upon his bed. The thief took the wand and, for good measure, slit the oldest brother's throat.

And so Death took the first brother for his own.

Meanwhile, the second brother journeyed to his own home, where he lived alone. Here he took out the stone that had the power to recall the dead, and turned it thrice in his hand. To his amazement and his delight, the figure of the girl he had once hoped to marry before her untimely death, appeared at once before him.

Yet she was sad and cold, separated from him as by a veil. Though she had returned to the mortal world, she did not truly belong there and suffered. Finally, the second brother, driven mad with hopeless longing, killed himself so as to truly join her.

And so Death took the second brother for his own.

But though Death searched for the third brother for many years, he was never able to find him. It was only when he had attained a great age that the youngest brother finally took off the Cloak of Invisibility and gave it to his son. And then he greeted Death as an old friend, and went with him gladly, and, equals, they departed this life.

Chrys closed the book.

A moment or two later, Xenophilius realised she finished reading and withdrew his gaze from the window, saying "Well, there you are."

"Sorry?" Chrys said, confused.

"Those are the Deathly Hallows." He said before picking up a quill from a packed table at his elbow and pulled a torn piece of parchment from between some books.

"The Elder Wand." He said, drawing a straight vertical line on the parchment. "The Resurrection Stone." He added a circle at the bottom of the line. "The Cloak of Invisibility." He finished, enclosing the line and circle in a triangle, making the symbol.

"Together, the Deathly Hallows."

"Yet there's no mention of the words 'Deathly Hallows' in the story." Chrys said.

"Well, of course not." Xenophilius said, maddeningly smug. "That is a children's tale, told to amuse rather than to instruct. Those of us who understand these matters, however, recognise that the ancient story refers to three objects, or Hallows, which, if united, will make the possessor master of Death."

There was now a short silence, which Xenophilius glanced out of the window again, seeing the sun low in the sky.

"Luna ought to have enough Plimpies soon." He said quietly.

"When you say 'master of Death' -" David said.

"Master." Xenophilius said, waving an airy hand. "Conquerir. Vanquisher. Whichever term you prefer."

"So… you actually believe they exist? These Deathly Hallows?" Mike said slowly.

"Well, of course." Xenophilius said with raised eyebrows.

All four looked at each other.

"Mr Lovegood, if a Cloak of Invisibility is meant to be one of the Hallows, what makes it special?" Chrys asked, knowing that there've been many Invisibility Cloaks throughout history and despite not being common, they are known.

"Ah, but the Third Hallow is a true cloak of invisibility, Miss Ranger! I mean to say, it is not a travelling cloak imbued with a Disillusionment Charm, or carrying a Bedazzling Hex, or else woven from Demiguise hair, which will hide one initially, but fade with the years until it turns opaque. We are talking about a cloak that really and truly renders the wearer impenetrable concealment, no matter what spells are cast at it. How many cloaks have you ever seen like that, Miss Ranger?"

All four glanced at one another. They actually did know a cloak like the one Xenophilius was describing. It was actually in the very room with them.

"Exactly." He continued, like he defeated them all in a reasoned argument. "None of you have ever seen such a thing. The possessor would be immeasurably rich, would he not?"

He then glanced back out the window again, the sky now tinged with the faintest pink.

"But what about the Resurrection Stone?" Chrys asked.

"What of it?"

"Well, how can it be real?"

"Prove that it is not." Xenophilius replied.

This left Chrys downright exasperated.

"That is just ridiculous! How can I prove it doesn't exist? Are you suggesting that I get hold of all the pebbles in the world and just test them? You claim that anything is real if the only basis is for simply believing it is that no one's proved its existence!"

"Yes, you could." Xenophilius replied. "I am glad to see that you are opening your mind a little."

"The Elder Wand." Arthur said before Chrys could retort, not that he couldn't blame her. "What proof is there of its existence?"

"Oh, well, in that case there is endless evidence. The Elder Wand is the Hallow that is most easily traced, because of the way in which it passes from hand to hand."

"What do you mean?" Arthur asked.

"Whis is that the possessor of the wand must capture it from its previous owner, if he is to be truly the master of it. Surely have heard of the way the wand came to Egbert the Egregious, after his slaughter of Emeric the Evil? Or how Godelot died in his own cellar after his son, Hereward, took the wand from him? Of the dreadful Loxias, who took the wand from Barnabas Deverill, whom he had killed? The bloody trail of the Elder Wand is splattered across the pages of wizarding history."

"So where is the Elder Wand now?" David asked.

"Alas, who knows?" Xenophilius said, gazing out the window. "Who knows where the Elder Wand lies hidden? The trail goes cold with Arcus and Livius. Who can say which of them really defeated Loxias, and which took the wand? And who can say who may have defeated them? History, alas, does not tell us."

There was a pause, one where Arthur glanced at Chrys, who looked back at him with a nod.

"What do the Peverell family have to do with the Deathly Hallows?" He asked.

Xenophilius looked taken aback.

"I thought you were all new to the Hallows Quest! Many of us Questers believe that the Peverells have everything - everything! - to do with the Hallows!"

"What does Ignotus Peverell, in particular, have to do with them? His headstone had the symbol on it." Arthur asked.

"Exactly!" Xenophilius said with his forefinger raised pedantically. "The sign of the Deathly Hallows on Ignotus' grave is conclusive proof!"

"Of what?" Mike asked.

"Why, that the three brothers in the story were actually the three Peverell brothers, Antioch, Cadmus and Ignotus! That they were the original owners of the Hallows!"

He made another glance at the window and got to his feet, picking up the tray and headed for the spiral staircase.

"You will stay for dinner?" He called as he vanished downstairs again. "Everybody always requests our recipe for Freshwater Plimpy soup."

"To show the Poisoning Department at St Mungo's, no doubt." David muttered under his breath.

When Xenophilius was moving about in the kitchen downstairs, Arthur felt it was safe to talk.

"What do you think?" He asked everyone.

"I may think he's a little loose in the screws, but this actually sounds like the most sane thing from him." Chrys said.

"Yeah. Every legend and story has some basis in fact, so it doesn't seem far-fetched that the Deathly Hallows exist." Mike added. "Especially if the Peverells were the ones that created the Hallows, which is downright impressive."

"And let's not forget about the Cloak. He's right. We've been so used to using Arthur's Cloak that we never bothered thinking about how good it was." David pointed out. "He was right about other Cloaks having their charms wearing off when they're old or get ripped apart by spells, leaving holes. Yet Arthur's was so perfect that we've never been spotted. And it was once his dad's, so it isn't new. It's just perfect."

"And is there any truth about the Elder Wand?" Arthur asked Chrys.

"In a way. There have been stories of powerful wands throughout history. The Deathstick and the Wand of Destiny for example. They've cropped up under different names throughout the centuries, typically in the possession of Dark wizards boasting about them. Professor Binns mentioned this."

"Could it be that the Elder Wand was given all these different names throughout history?" MIke asked the question that Arthur was just thinking about.

"It's possible. They all would've bragged to the point that other wizards would try to seek mastery of the Elder Wand." Chrys said.

"But what about the Resurrection Stone?" David asked.

Arthur, deciding to let Chrys simply continue talking, moved round the room. He soon reached the spiral stair and raised his eyes to the next level, surprised to see his own face stare back at him from the ceiling of the room above them.

Quickly realising it wasn't a mirror, but a painting, he climbed the stairs, his curiosity taking over.

"Arthur?" Mike's voice called as he reached the next level.

Luna had decorated her bedroom ceiling with six beautifully painted faces: Arthur, Mike, David, Chrys, Mary and Neville. They weren't moving like the portraits at Hogwarts, but there was a magic to them, regardless: Arthur thought they breathed. And what appeared to be fine golden chains that wove around the pictures, linking them together, were really a chain of one word repeated over and over again in golden ink: friends… friends… friends….

Arthur's eyes welled up with shock and affection. To see just how much they all meant to Luna touched him so much.

He then looked around the room. There was a large photograph beside the bed: a young Luna with a woman that looked very much like her. They were hugging and Luna looked better groomed in the picture than Arthur had ever seen her in life.

But then he noticed that the picture was dusty.

He frowned and looked around more closely, realising that something's wrong.

The pale blue carpet was covered in a thick skin of dust. There weren't any clothes in the wardrobe, whose doors were ajar. The bed also had a cold, unfriendly look, like it hadn't been slept on for weeks. There was also a single cobweb that stretched over the nearest window, across the blood red sky.

He knew right away what's going on and he was furious.

"Arthur, what's wrong?" Mike asked as Arthur descended the staircase. Before he could reply, Xenophilius reached the top of the stairs from the kitchen, holding a tray laden with bowls.

"Luna isn't here." Arthur coolly said.

"Excuse me?"

"She was never here."

Xenophilius halted on the top step.

"I - I've already told you. She is down at Bottom Bridge, fishing for Plimpies."

"You're lying. And the fact that there's only five bowls proves this."

Xenophilis tried to speak, but nothing came out. All that can be heard was the constant chugging of the printing press, along with the slight rattle from the tray as Xenophilius' hands shook.

"She hasn't been here for weeks." Arthur continued in his cold tone. "Her clothes are gone and her bed hasn't been slept on. The Death Eaters took her, and you called them, saying that I'm here, haven't you? It's why you keep looking out the window."

Xenophilius dropped the tray, causing the bowls to bounce and smash.

All four drew their wands, making him freeze with his hand near his pocket.

The printing press then gave a huge bang and numerous Quibblers streamed across the floor from beneath the tablecloth before the press fell silent.

Chrys stooped down and picked one of them up, her wand still pointed at Xenophilius.

"Arthur, look."

He walked over to her, seeing the front of The Quibbler, which had his picture on it, emblazoned with Undesirable Number One, also captioned with the reward money.

"Looks like The Quibbler is going for a new angle." Arthur said, hissing with absolute fury.

Xenophilius licked his lips.

"They took my Luna." He whispered. "Because of what I've been writing. They took my Luna and I don't know where she is, what they've done to her. But they might give her back to me if I - if I -"

"Hand over Arthur, you bastard?" Mike spat.

"That is it, we are leaving, now get out of the way." David snapped.

Xenophilius looked ghastly with his lips drawn back into a dreadful leer.

"They will be here at any moment. I must save Luna. I cannot lose Luna. You must not leave."

He then spread his arms in front of the staircase, like Arthur's mother did in front of his cot, but she tried to protect her son, here was a father trying to turn someone in to the villains.

"Don't make us hurt you." Arthur spat. "How would your daughter feel about you when she learns you tried to turn me in to the Death Eaters?"

"ARTHUR!" Chrys screamed.

He looked and saw figures on broomsticks flying past the windows.

As the four looked away from him, Xenophilius drew his wand. Arthur knew his mistake right away and launched himself at the others out of the way of Xenophilius' Stunning Spell, which soared across the room and hit the Erumpent horn.

This caused a colossal explosion. The sound seemed as though it blew the room apart: fragments of wood, paper and rubble flew in all directions, as well as an impenetrable cloud of thick, white dust.

Arthur found himself flying through the air before crashing to the floor, unable to see as debris rained down upon him, causing him to curl up into a foetal position. He heard Chrys' scream and Mike and David's yells among a series of sickening metallic thuds, telling him that Xenophilius was blasted off his feet and fell backwards down the spiral stairs.

Glad to see he wasn't in any way buried in rubble, Arthur raised himself, barely able to see and breathe through the dust. Half of the ceiling fell in and the end of Luna's bed hung through the hole. The bust of Rowena Ravenclaw lay beside him with half of its face missing, fragments of torn parchment floating through the air and most of the printing press lay on its side, blocking the top of the staircase to the kitchen.

Two more white shapes moved close by. Mike and Chrys were coated in dust, making them look like statues and the former pressed his finger to his lips.

The door downstairs then crashed open.

"Didn't I tell you there was no need to hurry, Travers?" A rough voice said. "Didn't I tell you this nutter was just raving as usual?"

There was a bang, followed by a scream of pain from Xenophilius.

"No… no… upstairs… Pendergast!"

"I told you last week, Lovegood, we weren't coming back for anything less than some solid information! Remember last week? When you wanted to swap your daughter for that stupid bleeding headdress? And the week before -" Another bang and another squeal. "-when you thought we'd give her back if you offered us proof there are Crumple -" bang "- Headed -" bang " - Snorkacks?"

"No - no - I beg you!" Xenophilius sobbed. "It really is Pendergast! Really!"

"And now it turns out you only called us here to try and blow us up!" The Death Eater roared before a volley of bangs interspersed with squeals of agony from Xenophilius.

"The place looks like it's about to fall, Selwyn." Travers' cool voice echoed up the mangled staircase. "The stairs are completely blocked. Could try clearing it? Might bring the place down."

"You lying piece of filth!" Selwyn shouted. "You've never seen Pendergast in your life, have you? Thought you'd lure us here to kill us, did you? And you think you'll get your girl back like this?"

"I swear… I swear… Pendergast's upstairs!"

"Homenum revelio." Travers said at the foot of the stairs.

Chrys gasped and Arthur felt an odd sensation of something swooping low over him, immersing his body in its shadow.

"There's someone up there alright, Selwyn." Travers said sharply.

"It's Pendergast, I tell you, it's Pendergast!" Xenophilius sobbed. "Please… please… give me Luna, just let me have Luna…."

"You can have your little girl, Lovegood…" Selwyn said. "...if you get up those stairs and bring me down Arthur Pendergast. But if this is a plot, if it's a trick, if you've got an accomplice waiting up there to ambush us, we'll see if we can spare a bit of your daughter for you to bury."

Xenophilius wailed with fear and despair before he scurried and scraped, trying to get through the debris on the stairs.

"Come on, we need to get out of here." Arthur whispered.

The three made their way through quietly under cover of the noise Xenophilius made on the staircase.

David was buried deeply. The three climbed quietly through the wreckage to where he was, trying to prise a heavy chest of drawers off his legs.

As Xenophilius' banging and scraping were now nearer and nearer, Chrys freed David with the use of a Hover Charm.

"Do you trust me?" Chrys breathed as the broken printing press blocking the stairs started trembling, because Xenophilius was now feet away from them.

The boys nodded.

"Arthur, give me the Cloak. David, put it on." She whispered.

"Got it." David nodded as Arthur held out his left hand.

David vanished under the Invisibility Cloak.

The printing press was now vibrating because Xenophilius was trying to shift it with a Hover Charm.

"Just wait…." Chrys whispered.

Xenophilius' paper white face then appeared over the top of the sideboard.

"Obliviate!" She cried, pointing her wand first into his face before at the floor beneath them: "Deprimo!"

She blasted a hole in the sitting room floor.

They all fell like boulders, Arthur holding onto Mike and Chrys' hands for dear life.

They heard screaming below them and Arthur glimpsed two men trying to get out of the way as vast quantities of rubble and broken furniture rained around them from the shattered ceiling.

Chrys then twisted in midair and the thundering of the collapsing house rang in Arthur's ears as she dragged him into darkness.

I know he was desperate to have his daughter back, but to try and do so by turning in the wizarding world's best hope to defeat Voldemort, and someone who's his daughter's friend? I have nothing but contempt for him.