Overview The book compiles five stories by Rowling. "The Tale of the Three Brothers" first appeared in
Deathly Hallows,
"The Wizard and the Hopping Pot" This story is about the legacy of an old man who, in his generosity, used his magic for other people when they needed his help; he credited his little cauldron, which he called his lucky cooking pot, as the source of his potions, charms and antidotes. Upon his death, he leaves all his belongings to his only son, who has none of the virtues his father had. After his father's death, the son finds the pot and a single slipper inside it, together with a note from his father that reads, "In the fond hope, my son, that you will never need it". Bitter for having nothing left but a pot, the son closes the door on a grandmother that seeks a cure for her granddaughter's crop of warts. Soon after, the son finds that his father's little pot has grown a brass foot that clanks loudly with each hop, and that proceeds to grow warts on its surface. The pot follows the son at all times, preventing him from resting properly. Angry over his predicament, the son refuses to provide help for a man who has lost his donkey, and a mother whose baby is grievously ill. Each time he does so, the pot takes on the symptoms of the ones who ask for help, groaning in hunger and filling itself with tears; Even after no more villagers come to his house looking for help, the pot takes on more and more symptoms, disturbing the son and preventing him from having any peace of mind. This continues until the son finally gives up and provides aid to the town, running up the street at night and casting helping spells at every direction. Upon doing this, the pot's ailments are removed one by one. The son's ordeal finally ends when the slipper he received from his father falls out of the pot; the pot allows the son to put the slipper on its foot and, with its footsteps muffled at last, the two walk back home.
"The Fountain of Fair Fortune" In this story, there is a fountain where once per year, one person may bathe and have their problems answered. Three witches — Asha, who suffers from an incurable disease; Altheda, who was robbed of her wand and wealth; and Amata, who is distraught after being left by her beloved — decide to try to reach the fountain together. Along the way, they are joined by Sir Luckless, a hapless Muggle knight. On their path to the fountain, they face three challenges: a giant worm that demands "proof of [their] pain", which quenches its thirst with the tears Asha sheds from frustration after several failed attempts to pass; a steep slope where they have to bring the "fruit of their labours", which Altheda encourages the others to overcome with her, through hard effort and the sweat of her brow; and a river that requires "the treasure of [their] past" as payment for crossing, which Amata uses as a
Pensieve that washes away her regret for her cruel and false lover, and finally brings her peace. After the four cross the river, however, Asha collapses from exhaustion; to save her, Altheda brews an invigorating potion that also cures Asha of her disease completely, in turn causing Altheda to realise that her skills as a potioneer are a means to earn her wealth back. Realising that each of their problems was solved without the fountain's fortune, the witches urge Sir Luckless to bathe in the fountain, as a reward for his chivalry and his earnest effort to help them on their journey. After bathing, flushed with confidence and triumph, he flings himself at Amata's feet and asks for "her hand and her heart", which she happily gives. Satisfied with the result of their journey, the four companions go on to live long and happy lives, unaware that the fountain holds no magical power at all.
"The Warlock's Hairy Heart" The story is about a young and handsome
warlock who, after deeming that love made his friends and contemporaries look foolish, decides to never fall in love, employing the
Dark Arts to prevent himself from doing so. His family, unaware of his secret, did nothing. As time went on and the warlock grew older, his peers would marry and have children, and his aged parents would pass away. Feeling neither jealously nor grief from being alone, the warlock is proud of his choice. However, one day, he hears two servants whispering about him not having a wife, expressing both pity and derision. With his pride hurt, he decides to find a talented, rich, and beautiful witch and marry her to gain everyone's envy. By coincidence, he meets such a girl the next day. Though the girl is both "fascinated and repelled", the warlock persuades her to come to a dinner feast at his castle. During the feast, the warlock tries to woo the witch with empty words. Unimpressed, she tells him that she would be delighted by his affection, if she only thought he had a heart. The warlock shows her his beating heart, now shrivelled and covered in hair, inside a crystal casket in his dungeon. The witch begs him to put it back inside himself, after which she embraces him. However, being disconnected from its body for so long, his heart has developed savage tastes as it has degenerated into an animalistic state. And so, the warlock is driven to take by force a truly human heart, tearing out the witch's to replace his own; but upon finding that he cannot magic the hairy heart back out of his chest, he cuts it out with a dagger. Thus he and the maiden both die, with him holding both hearts in his hands.
"Babbitty Rabbitty and her Cackling Stump" This story is about a king who wants to keep all magic to himself. To do this he needs to solve two problems: he must capture and imprison all of the sorcerers in the kingdom and he has to learn magic. He creates a "Brigade of Witch Hunters" and calls for an instructor in magic. Only a "cunning charlatan" with no magical ability responds. The charlatan proves himself with a few simple tricks and begins to ask for jewellery and money to continue teaching. However, Babbitty, the king's washerwoman, laughs at the king one day as he attempts to do magic with an ordinary twig. This causes the king to demand the charlatan join him in a public demonstration of magic, and warns that the man will be beheaded if the king can't perform magic. The charlatan later witnesses Babbitty performing magic in her house. He threatens to expose her if she does not assist him. She agrees to hide and help the demonstration. During the performance, after seeing a hat disappear and a horse being levitated, the brigade captain asks the king to bring his dead hound back to life. Because Babbitty cannot use magic to raise the dead, the crowd thinks the previous acts were tricks. The charlatan exposes Babbitty, accusing her of blocking the spells. Chased by the king and his courtiers, Babbitty flees into a forest and disappears at the base of an old tree. In desperation, the charlatan states that she has turned into the tree itself, and has it cut down. As the crowd departs, the stump starts cackling and makes the charlatan confess his deception, after suggesting that the king use the axe to cut him in half. After the charlatan is hauled away, the stump cackles again, demanding the king never hurt a wizard again, and build a statue of Babbitty on the stump to remind him of his foolishness. The king agrees and heads back to the palace. Afterwards, a "stout old rabbit" with a wand in its teeth hops out from a hole beneath the stump and leaves the kingdom.
"The Tale of the Three Brothers" The story is about
three brothers who, while traveling together, reach a treacherous river. They make a magical bridge over the river wherein just as they cross, they meet the
personification of Death, who is angry for losing three potential victims. He pretends to be impressed by them and grants each a gift as a reward, hoping to use each gift to bring about their eventual demises. The
oldest brother asks for an unbeatable dueling wand, so Death gives him the
Elder Wand. The
middle brother asks for the ability to resurrect the dead to humiliate Death further, so Death gives him the
Resurrection Stone. The
youngest brother, a humbler man, does not trust Death and asks for a way to stop Death from following him, so Death reluctantly gives him his
Cloak of Invisibility. Afterward, the brothers go their separate ways. The oldest brother resolves a previous qualm by using the wand to kill the man with whom he quarrelled, but his bragging about the wand's incredible power results in him getting robbed of it and murdered in his sleep, allowing Death to claim him. The middle brother resolves a previous loss by using the stone to bring back the woman to whom he wanted to be married, but she is revealed to be non-corporeal and full of sorrow for being back in the mortal world; in grief, he commits suicide, allowing Death to claim him. However, Death never manages to find the youngest brother, as he stays hidden under the invisibility cloak. Many years later, the brother removes his cloak and gives it to his son. Content with the life he has lived, he greets Death as an old friend and equal, thereby dying of natural causes. ==Reception==