The tale of the Three Brothers--Deathly Hallows

The Tale of the Three Brothers is a fairy tale told to wizard children. Supposedly written by Beedle the Bard, it is published as part of a series of works that collectively are called The Tales of Beedle the Bard. While most wizards view this story as one that teaches children morals (e.g. humility, wisdom, etc.), some believe that the story refers to the Deathly Hallows, three highly powerful magical artefacts coveted by generations of wizards.

Many also believe that the three Peverell brothers were the inspiration for the story, and that they first obtained the artefacts known as the Halllows. 'The Tale of the Three Brothers' also has a different variation, referring to twilight as midnight to make it more suspenseful for the entertainment of children, but in Dumbledore's original copy of The Tales of Beedle the Bard it refers to the journey taking place at twilight.

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 Hundreds of years ago, the three Peverell brothers were travelling at twilight, and reached a river too dangerous to cross. The three brothers, being trained in the magical arts, simply waved their wands and created a bridge across the river. They were then stopped by Death himself, who felt cheated that they had gotten across the river, as most travelers drowned in it. Death then congratulated them on being clever enough to evade him, and offered each of them a powerful magical item. The first brother, Antioch Peverell, wished to have the most powerful wand; Death broke a branch off a nearby tree and created for him the Elder Wand, a wand more powerful than any other in existence. The second brother, Cadmus Peverell, wanted to humiliate Death even further, and wished to have the power to bring loved ones from the grave; Death then took a stone from the riverbed and created for him the Resurrection Stone, a stone capable of bringing the dead back to the living world. The third brother, Ignotus Peverell, who was a humble man, asked to go on from the river without being followed by Death; Death then gave him his own Cloak of Invisibility, an invisibility cloak that never lost its power through curses or age.
The symbol of the Deathly Hallows. The vertical line represents the Elder Wand; the circle, the Resurrection Stone; and the triangle, the Cloak of Invisibility.
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The three legendary objects, (the cloak, the wand and the stone) together make up the Deathly Hallows.