Death's Gifts

Mercury cleared his throat and slowly began to recount the story he knew.

It's still the same river, the Three Brothers, and Death always wears a hood.

"You have escaped death through your intelligence; choose one of your rewards," said Death.

The leader, a Potions Master, told Death that he wanted a magical cauldron: a cauldron that could automatically brew any Potions he desired without the owner having to lift a finger!

Death walked to an Elder Wood tree on the shore and broke off a branch with white flowers.

He went to the riverbank, dug out some soil with a branch, and casually shaped a strangely formed crucible, which he then gave to the eldest brother.

The second son was a wizard who craved knowledge. He told Death that he wanted to gain the same wisdom as Death.

So Death used the Elder Wood branch he had dug up from the soil to make a wreath and gave it to the second son.

Death told the second son that by wearing this wreath, he would gain the same knowledge as him.

Death asked the youngest of the three what he wanted.

The third son was the most humble and also the smartest. He didn't believe in Death, so he wanted something that would free him from the control of time.

Death reluctantly chopped off his right index finger and handed it to him; it was a long, slender finger bone.

With this finger bone, the third brother can manipulate time.

After giving the reward, Death cleared a path, allowing the three brothers to continue their journey.

As they walked, they talked about their amazing experience and marveled at the gift of Death.

Later, the three brothers parted ways and headed towards their respective destinations.

The eldest brother had been gone for over a week. He first addressed the cauldron, saying, "Cauldron, oh cauldron, I am very old, my legs are weak, and I need the Potions of immortality."

Soon, red liquid appeared inside the crucible.

After the eldest brother drank it, he indeed felt decades younger and full of energy.

He knew he would never grow old again; he had achieved immortality!

Later, the eldest brother came to a remote mountain village where all the villagers were suffering from a strange illness that no one could cure.

The leader boasted about the cauldron he obtained from Death, claiming it could brew any Potions.

He was willing to treat the villagers, but each person would have to pay a large sum of gold.

The wealthy villagers handed over all their gold to the leader, and after drinking the Potions he gave them, they were indeed cured.

The eldest son refused to treat the villagers who had no money.

Every night, the eldest brother would drink the Potions from the cauldron: a potion that would give him sweet dreams and help him sleep more comfortably.

One night, a poor villager sneaked into the eldest brother's room, stole the crucible from beside his bed, slit his throat, and took the gold.

And so, Death took the leader's life.

Meanwhile, the second son returned home, where he had a newborn child and a beautiful wife.

But the second son was not happy. Boundless knowledge gave him control over everything. He realized the vastness of the universe and the infinity of space and time...

What are humans? What is family? We're nothing but ants and dust.

Soon, he discovered there was something he didn't know: death.

Death can take all life, but it cannot kill people itself.

Even the second son, who possessed the wisdom of Death, had never experienced this kind of feeling.

So he killed his wife and children.

One day, the wreath was blown away by a strong wind; the knowledge of Death was gone, and he regained his emotions.

Seeing the corpses of his wife and children whom he had killed, he was overcome with grief and committed suicide.

And so, Death took the second son's life.

However, Death searched for the third brother for many years but never found him.

It turned out that the third brother was afraid of being discovered, so he pieced the finger bone back together and made a finger bone ring, which he always wore on his right index finger.

He used this finger bone to keep himself living in the day before he met his Death, never letting the next day come, so that Death could not find him.

Many years later, the third brother finally grew tired of this life. He had had enough of living, so he used the finger bone ring to adjust time to the day he was about to die.

The third brother finally took off his ring, letting time slowly pass, and then greeted Death as if meeting an old friend, happily leaving the world together as an equal.

Mercury finally finished telling the story.

Newt wasn't too surprised; he seemed to have heard this story before.

William frowned, his right hand clenched against his chest, where a ring hung.

--Ravenclaw Bronze Ring!

William wasn't particularly moved by the old Beedle version of the Death and the Tale of the Three Brothers; he simply treated it as a story.

After all, he didn't have the strongest wand, the Resurrection Stone to revive others, or the Invisibility Cloak.

However, he has a ring that allows him to relive a particular day, and he doesn't have the drawbacks of Time-Turner.

Things that are too coincidental sometimes go beyond mere coincidence.

So... does this mean that the cauldron that automatically brews all kinds of Potions and the wreath with infinite wisdom also exist?

In fact, doesn't this wreath sound a bit like Ravenclaw's Diadem?

Could it be that Ravenclaw once collected two of the three items?

William raced: If all of these exist, does that mean Death truly exists as well?

As Newt said: Siren are guides to the Underworld, the most faithful servants of Death.

William was completely confused.

At that moment, Hermione suddenly said, "Two very interesting little stories, both about Death and the Three Brothers."

But I think it's just a story, something for entertainment.

As you've heard, there are already two versions of this story, and perhaps a third and a fourth.

Anyone can fabricate three gifts from Death according to their own ideas.

Mercury smiled respectfully, "I don't know either. This story was told to my great-grandfather when he was a child."

After a moment of silence, Newt glanced around; they were very close to Nicolas's manor.

He turned his gaze away and said, "That's it. Just consider these stories as an old man's ramblings."

In fact, Dumbledore had told him the same thing back then, but it soon turned out that he had been tricked and was now searching everywhere for the Deathly Hallows for Dumbledore.

Just then, a dim-witted Niffler popped out of Newt's pocket.

It glanced cautiously at Hermione and William, then fixed its gaze on William.

With its unique racial talent, it could tell at a glance which of the two young wizards was richer.

So it sneaked out and crept along the Thunderbird's feathers, trying to steal Galleon from William's pocket.

Its claws reached into the small pouch of the Undetectable Extension Charm and suddenly grabbed something furry.

Niffler gave a strong tug and pulled out an orange cat.

Bobocha, who had been sleeping in the bag, was startled. It glared fiercely at the wretched little thief and swatted at it with its paw.

Niffler let out a scream and fell down.

William spun his wand, Niffler floated up, its entire body bound by Binding Charm.

Fred owns a Niffler, William is now quite adept at dealing with these little creatures.

Newt smiled and reached out to scratch the Niffler's belly.

With a whoosh, a large amount of Winky stuff fell out of it.

"These are Nicolas's alchemical artifacts," Newt sighed, then said angrily, "I'm not bringing you next time!"

William picked up a golden coin from a pile of alchemical artifacts.

--Victoria 'Victoria's Secret Commemorative Coin!

William's gaze toward Newt suddenly became very strange.

(Third update, finally making up for the one chapter I missed.)