19

The Deathly Hallows are all very powerful and potent artifacts on their own: a perfect invisibility cloak, the most powerful wand, and a stone that can recall shadows of lost loved ones. That is good and wonderful and makes one feel all warm inside (doesn't it?). But when mentioned together, the Deathly Hallows are often referred to as having the ability to make one "the master of Death".

While it could be stated that calling someone possessing all three Deathly Hallows "the master of Death" is simply to indicate that that person has three very powerful items at their disposal, if all three items were made by a trio of brothers then it is not beyond possibility that they may have included an additive bonus to the artifacts that only reveals itself when all three are brought together by one person.

Therefore, is there information either way to indicate if the three Deathly Hallows did have additional powers when used together as a set?

8
  • 5
    Aside from people calling you "The Master of Death"? Isn't that enough?
    – Ryan
    Jul 6, 2012 at 19:15
  • 1
    @Ryan I would a special hat to go with the title at least.
    – Xantec
    Jul 6, 2012 at 19:17
  • 1
    I wish that had been in the swag pack!
    – Ryan
    Jul 6, 2012 at 19:21
  • 1
    @Ryan no I want a special edition patch for my wizard robe.
    – Chad
    Jul 6, 2012 at 19:47
  • 11
    Set bonus, +5HP.
    – Kevin
    Jul 6, 2012 at 20:19

4 Answers 4

9

There were no mentions of any additional powers that were conveyed by having the "complete set".

I do not believe that there would be any additional powers conveyed. The three artifacts were independently created by three different individuals in response to the same problem without any help or interaction from the other two brothers.

8
  • 2
    I must have skimmed over that part. Where did it say that the each artifact was created independently by a single brother without any help or interaction from the other two?
    – Xantec
    Jul 6, 2012 at 19:15
  • @Xantec I think he is talking about how in the mythos behind the items' creation each brother requested an item for their own personal interests, so there is an assumption that the items were created in a similar manner. In other words there doesn't seem to be canon evidence that they created the items as a complete set, but rather as individual tools (as read into by the origin mythos).
    – NominSim
    Jul 6, 2012 at 19:20
  • Didn't Dumbledore tell Harry that he thought that it was more logical that three extremely talented wizards had created the three artifacts independently, and the Death story came about at the legend was romanticized?
    – Ryan
    Jul 6, 2012 at 19:24
  • 2
    @Ryan That would have had to have been in King's Cross, and I think that the veracity of any information imparted in this chapter about anything other than Harry himself is questionable, due to the nature of the encounter. Did Harry really speak with Dumbledore or was the Dumbledore Harry met there merely part of Harry's mind, focusing facts that Harry already had into a dialog of supposition?
    – Xantec
    Jul 6, 2012 at 19:57
  • @Xantec - "Of course it is happening inside your head, Harry, but why on earth should that mean that it is not real?" —Dumbledore, to Harry.
    – Ryan
    Jul 6, 2012 at 20:12
5

The possession of all three Hallows does not grant any further awesome power to the owner. Dumbledore, himself, explains to Harry in the King's Cross Chapter of DH that the story of the three Deathly Hallows being created by Death seems the sort of "legend that might have sprung up around such creations". Therefore, the Master of Death title and all that, according to the Hallows mythos, goes with it (the increased magical powers, invincibility and immortality) are just the results of storytelling embellishment, and unlikely to be true.

However, it's as if Harry fulfilled this legendary title anyway, by becoming the Master of Death as defined by Albus Dumbledore: "... the true master does not seek to run away from Death. He accepts that he must die, and understands that there are far, far worse things in the living world than dying." So, Harry had both accepted death as an inevitability ("mastered" it) and, technically, possessed all three Hallows at the same time - even though the Elder Wand was being held by Voldemort. You could argue that a combination of destiny and Harry's choices granted him the title of Master of Death.

Powerful stuff, huh?

4
  • For the record, Harry doesn't die. Perhaps he's the master of death and he doesn't even know it.
    – Valorum
    Jan 30, 2014 at 8:34
  • 1
    Yeah, I know he doesn't actually die, but he was prepared for it, and counting on it, in order to strike another blow against Voldemort. And Dumbledore tells him that he is (referencing the tale of the Deathly Hallows) the "Master of Death". So, what do you mean by maybe he doesn't know it? Jan 30, 2014 at 10:16
  • Well, per Arachno's answer, maybe the reason he doesn't die is because he does possess all the dearly Hallows.
    – Valorum
    Jan 30, 2014 at 11:50
  • 2
    The reason Harry doesn't die in that scene is because of the love-magic binding Harry to life and the Elder Wand's aversion to harming its true master (Harry). To explain the former: When Voldemort took some of Harry's blood into his body, in GoF, he provided a way for Lily's sacrifice (which lived in Harry) to remain earthbound should Harry 'die'. This means that Voldemort's body had become a kind of Horcrux for Harry. Neither could live while the other survived? No, neither could die while the other lived. Jan 30, 2014 at 13:41
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I believe that there is a possibility that the original story is true. I know that Dumbledore is a reliable source and knows what he is talking about although he never says he is sure. Also if Beedle wrote about the Hallows in the first place it, so wouldn't it make sense if he knew the whole story. If I am correct than maybe controlling all three would make you a master of death literally. You could control "him". The Hallows obviously exist, so why not the entire legend and story.

0

Dumbledore had all three items at one point so this made him the master of death and he didn't mention any additional powers; However, perhaps this is why he was able to communicate with Harry when harry died at voldemorts hand...

3
  • When? He got the ring from the shack in HBP, long after returning the Cloak to Harry... Also: Having them is not enough, they must be owned.
    – BMWurm
    Jan 6, 2017 at 16:51
  • He's had them all at some point though - and true about ownership - though he technically never OWNED the ring either.
    – Daniel
    Jan 6, 2017 at 16:52
  • Ah, I misunderstood, sorry, I read had all three items at ONE(=same) point instead of had all three items at one(=some) point...
    – BMWurm
    Jan 6, 2017 at 16:56

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