The Tales of Beedle the Bard

☆☆☆☆/☆☆☆☆☆

And then he greeted Death as an old friend, and went with him gladly, and, equals, they departed this life.

The Tales of Beedle The Bard are fairy tales for wizard children, and like muggle fairy tales each story has a lesson —what that lesson is, often depends on the reader. There are five stories total “translated” from the Ancient Runes by Hermione Granger with “commentary” by Albus Dumbledore with an introduction, notes and illustrations by J.K. Rowling. Harry Potter fans will definitely appreciate all the extra details making it feel like you’re a part of the world she created.

• The Wizard and the Hopping Pot tells the story of a stubborn wizard who learns the hard way to help others and use his magic for good.
• The Fountain of Fair Fortune reminded me of when Harry seemingly gave Ron liquid luck for his quidditch match, only to find out he didn’t and Ron played an almost perfect game on his own. What I took away from the story was a message of  healing and getting to your goal without stepping on anyone along the way. Also realizing that sometimes magic isn’t the answer to all your problems.

• The Warlock’s Hairy Heart is the most violent of the fairy tales and tells the story of a warlock who lives his life with no aspirations to fall in love and looks down on those that form any type of emotional attachments to anyone. He even goes as far removing his heart and hiding it away to avoid the possibility. He later looks for a wife—not for the emotional connection but to show up those that pity him. Needless to say it doesn’t end well.
• Babbitty Rabbitty and her Cackling Stump is about a power hungry king who wants all his kingdoms magical powers for himself only to discover that sometimes its best to leave certain powerful people in peace.
• The Tale of the Three Brothers is my favourite of the stories—and  probably the most popular. It follows three brothers who each take a different route when faced with Death. Two take the option of revenge and power and the other uses his wits to outwit death—if only for a ‘little’ while and live a good life.  I think this sums it up best :

Human efforts to evade or overcome death are always doomed to disappointment. The third brother in the story (the humblest and also the wisest) is the only one who understands that, having narrowly escaped Death once, the best he can hope for is to postpone their next meeting for as long as possible.

I loved it, definitely a great read for all HP fans.