Time to Dance

There were once three brothers who were traveling 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.

It was Death. And he felt cheated. Cheated because travelers usually drowned in the water. 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 eldest 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 fashioned him a wand from a branch from an elder tree on the banks of the river.

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

Finally, Death turned to the third brother. A wise man, he did not trust Death. A humble man, he asked for something that would enable him to go forth from that place without being followed by Death. And Death, reluctantly, 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, admiring Death’s gifts.

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

The first brother traveled 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...