Blog Post #3: The Myth of the Hallows

               Since reading The Deathly Hallows several years ago for the first time, I have remained resilient in my theory that the Tale of the Three Brothers and, more importantly, the Hallows – the Resurrection Stone, the Invisiblity Cloak, and the Elder Wand – are merely parts of a fabricated children's fable.  Though the physical objects may exist,  the readers are provided with no valid evidence that these three items award the possessor tremendous power or mastery of death. 

             
               The first tell-tale sign that this story is strictly fantastical is the fact that Harry, Hermoine, and Ron are informed about the Hallows by Xenophilius, who writes less than reputable articles in The Quibbler.   Hermione is incredibly accurate in saying that it is a tale to teach children of the consequences of greed and to reflect "how humans are frightened of death" (420).  Regarding the Elder wand, there very well could have been different powerful wands, as Hermione mentions.  Though Harry believes otherwise, the Deathstick and the Wand of Destiny could have been the Elder wands of their time and had no other connection. As a reader, I cannot accept that Death fabricated a wand and, therefore, a witch or wizard has the capability of creating several unbeatable wands.  As for the Resurrection Stone, Harry assumed immediately that the stone in the Gaunt ring was one of the Hallows without generous contemplation.  Also, in the tale, the love of the brother's life came back to the mortal world.  What occurs when Harry experiences his loved ones back from the dead is much like he experience in The Goblet of Fire when Harry's and Voldemort's wands connect.  As Hermoine says, his family members and friends were mere "pale imitations" and would not be qualified as existing in the mortal realm.  Though I do believe that Harry's Invisiblity Cloak is one-of-a-kind, there is no plausible evidence that he is a descendent of the Perverell's.  There is a slight chance, also, that other similar cloaks exist, but are kept secret, just like Harry's.  Lastly, not only is it suspiciously coincidental that neither Dumbledore nor Harry were capable of becoming the Master of Death, but the only "true" Master of Death was Ignotus who is a fictional character who never actually obtained all three items.
             
               With that being said, this theme of accepting death is undoubtedly the most important of the last book.  If Harry had taken the story as strictly a passage of morality, he himself could have found the Horcruxes more efficiently. Instead, "the idea of the Deathly Hallows had taken possession of him" (434) just as the diary of Tom Riddle had possessed Ginny.  I believe Dumbledore did the trio an injustice by influencing the exploration of these magical objects.  Though I feel that the introduction of the Hallows in the novel provided a necessary struggle for Harry, I feel that readers automatically take this tale and these powerful artifacts as valid.