I really enjoyed this small companion book the the Harry Potter series. The tales were wonderful, and so were the illustrations, which were also done by J.K. Rowling. There are five tales:
- The Wizard and the Hopping Pot
- The Fountain of Fair Fortune
- The Warlock’s Hairy Heart
- Babbitty Rabbitty and Her Cackling Stump
- The Tale of the Three Brothers
After each tale, we are privileged to get Dumbledore’s commentary about the story. I loved this. Not only did it bring some extra insight into the stories, but it was great to hear Dumbledore’s voice again. In “The Wizard and the Hopping Pot,” a son inherits his father’s pot and rethinks how he will act among the villagers. In the commentary, Dumbledore tells of a woman who tried to sweeten the story up by rewording the ending with the following results:
Mrs. Bloxam’s tale has met the same response from generations of Wizarding children: uncontrollable retching, followed by an immediate demand to have the book taken from them and mashed into pulp.
In “The Fountain of Fair Fortune,” three witches seek to “fight their way to the Fountain, bathe in its waters, and receive Fair Fortune forevermore.” This story was my favorite of the five. It is also interesting to note that in the commentary, Dumbledore states that Lucius Malfoy’s objection to the book
…marked the beginning of Mr. Malfoy’s long campaign to have me removed from my post as headmaster of Hogwarts, and of mine to have him removed from his position as Lord Voldemort’s Favorite Death Eater.
“The Warlock’s Hairy Heart” is by far the darkest tale. In this one, a Warlock is determined to never fall in love; “Babbitty Rabbitty and Her Cackling Stump” tells the reason why “no witch or wizard was ever persecuted in the kingdom again.”; and in “The Tale of the Three Brothers,” the siblings each meet up with Death and strike up a bargain with him.
I thoroughly enjoyed these tales, and I would love it if there were more at some point.
2007-2008, 107 pp.
