It would be difficult to miss J.K. Rowling’s newest addition to the world of Harry Potter. With a handwritten, hand-illustrated copy bought by Amazon for almost two million pounds, and the more accessible public edition still in the Amazon top ten, the book certainly made a media, and charitable, splash. Although only one of the stories, The Three Brothers, was given in its entirety, The Tales of Beedle the Bard were first mentioned in the final Harry Potter book and were instrumental in Harry’s defeat of Voldemort. The stories themselves serve as a window into wizarding childhoods, and “Dumbledore’s commentary” only adds to the fun.

The first of the stories, The Wizard and the Hopping Pot, gives a small version of the rebellions, and consequences, of youth.  It begins with a description of an old and kindly wizard who spends his time helping and healing the Muggles around him.  At his death, he leaves his only son his worn and lucky cooking pot, a slipper, and a note stating “In the fond hope, my son, that you will never need this.” As is to be expected, the son, deciding that the Muggles around him are unworthy of his help, turns away an old woman who needs a wart cure for her granddaughter.  With his refusal to help, the wizard’s old cooking pot sprouts warts, and a foot, in retaliation. As the story moves along and the pot refuses to leave its recalcitrant owner alone, the pot, reflecting its owner, becomes more hideous (and, incidentally, hilarious).  Will he ever learn from his mistakes?

The second tale is one that echoes every quest-story ever written. The Fountain of Fair Fortune allows one unfortunate a year to attempt to reach it and receive “fair fortune forevermore”.  Here we follow Asha, Altheda, and Amata, three witches who seek the cure found in the fountain’s waters. They decide to work together, but, as they enter the maze that leads to the fountain, they acquire a very Neville-like knight, complete with a reputation that has earned him the name Sir Luckless.  These four do eventually win their way through and learn about finding and using those powers they already have.

The third story departs from the warm and fuzzy in a dramatic fashion and shows us (and, of course, the wizard children the book was written for) just how terribly the Dark Arts can mark a proud and disdainful wizard.  This wizard has solved the problem of looking foolish in love by removing his heart entirely and its, and his, eventual ending deserve both the term sinister and the term “yuck”.  Rowling has never been afraid to show what pride and hatred of others can do to her characters, and The Warlock’s Hairy Heart demonstrates the folly of denying love.

The fourth story, Babbitty Rabbitty and her Cackling Stump, besides having a fantastic title, returns to a lighter tone and follows a king  who wishes to learn magic.  In his pride he is taken in by a charlatan, who convinces the king that if he waves his bits of twig correctly, he can become a magician.  Obviously, this all goes terribly wrong for both the king and the charlatan, and the witch who gets caught up in it must save herself by knowing what exactly magic can, and cannot, do.

The final story in the collection is the one already familiar to Rowling’s readers: The Three Brothers. With this story, Rowling rounds out her themes of power, choices, and growing up and gives a bit of implied background to Harry’s family and his inherited invisibility cloak. Rowling deftly weaves details of wizarding life throughout and the echoes of small parts of the original series make this a satisfying and entertaining addition.  Of course, it is important to remember that the invisibility cloak, at least, seems to truly exist in Harry’s world, and begs the question: in a world where magic is real what, exactly, is a fairy tale?

Bookmark to