The 3 Deathly Hallows

"The Elder Wand...The Resurrection Stone...The Cloak of Invisibility...Together, they make the Deathly Hallows. Re-united, they make the owner master of death."

Xenophlius Lovegood - Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.

The Deathly Hallows are probably the three most powerful magical objects in the wizarding world. They consist of The Elder Wand (also known as the Wand of Destiny, the Deathstick etc...), The Resurrection Stone, and the Cloak of Invisibility/The Invisibility Cloak.

The Elder Wand
"I'm putting it back where it came from...that wand's caused enough trouble already."

Harry Potter on the Elder Wand

The Elder wand is possibly the most dangerous Hallow, and definitely the one that has caused the most trouble. It was first fashioned by Death, which he passed on to Antioch Peverell in 'The Tale of the Three Brothers'. Antioch began boasting of the power of the Elder Wand, therefore attracting plenty of attention. A certain wizard became so jealous that he stole the wand in the dead of night and slit Antioch's throat for good measure - therefore becoming the master of the wand. What plenty of wizards didn't realise was that you had to actually conquer the previous master of the wand for you to be the true master. As revealed in Half-Blood Prince, this does not necessarily mean you have to kill the owner, as Draco Malfoy became the master just by disarming Dumbledore. "The bloody trail of the Elder Wand is splatted across pages of wizarding history," says Xenophilius Lovegood. The earliest known master of the Elder Wand is Gregorovitch, the Bulgarian wandmaker. It was then taken from him by Gellert Grindelwald, the late nephew of Bathilda Bagshot. Gellert then had a duel with Albus Dumbledore, who won and became the next master. In 1997, Draco Malfoy disarmed Dumbledore, and then unknowingly became the master of the wand. Later, in Deathly Hallows, Severus Snape is wrongly accused of being the current master by Lord Voldemort, as he killed Dumbledore, but Dumbledore planned that with Snape and it therefore does not count as a conquer. When Harry, Ron and Hermione are captured in Deathly Hallows and taken to Malfoy Manor, Harry disarms Draco and unknowingly becomes the next master, but then after watching Snape's memory in Dumbledore's pensieve, realises firstly Snape's innocence, then his possesion of the Elder Wand. In the films, the Elder Wand is seen to have several large, symmetrical bumps down the side.

The Resurrection Stone
The stone is the most complicated of the 3 Hallows. It was given to Cadmus Peverell by Death, telling Cadmus that it would have the power to raise the dead. Cadmus then attempts to bring back a girl he once had hoped to marry before her untimely death. It says that she came back, but she was not human: more a solid-looking ghost. Cadmus then killed himself in agony. Harry later finds out that the stone was set on Marvolo Gaunt's ring which Voldemort later turned into a Horcrux, and that Dumbledore has smuggled the stone to him through the Snitch in his will. The stone allows Harry to speak to Remus Lupin, Sirius Black and his parents after Harry realises what the secret message 'I open at the close' means. Cadmus passed the stone down through his family until it comes into the possesion of Marvolo Gaunt Voldemort's Grandfather), who gives it to his son (Voldemort's Uncle, brother of Merope Gaunt - Voldemort's mother). Voldemort then killed his uncle and turned the ring into a Horcrux, not knowing the stone's true power, and hides it in the Gaunt's Shack. It was later found by Albus Dumbledore who realises that it is in fact the Resurrection Stone (Dumbledore did lots of work on the Hallows with Gellert Grindelwald) and begins wearing it. It shrivels up his hand and begins spreading a deadly virus throughout his body as Voldemort had placed a curse on it to protect it. Severus Snape, using his knowledge of the Dark Arts, manages to prevent the virus spreading quickly enough to kill him. Dumbledore then smuggles it to Harry through his will inside a snitch.

The Cloak of Invisibility
"It can protect the wearer against all spells and make them totally invisible...How many cloaks have you seen like that, Miss Granger?"

Xenophilius Lovegood to Hermione Granger.

The Cloak of Invisibilty is possibly the Hallow that is most simple yet most effective. Despite all of that, it is probably the least craved of all of the Hallows. It was first in the possesion of Death, who handed it to Ignotus Peverell after his extraordinary demonstration of magic in 'The Tale of the Three Brothers'. The cloak was handed down first to Ignotus' son, then to his son,and so on until the name of Peverell died out and became Potter, like it had in the case of the Resurrection Stone: Peverell turning into Gaunt. It then came into the possesion of James Potter I, who didn't know that it was the cloak mentioned in 'The Tale of the Three Brothers'. Albus Dumbledore suspected that it may be one of the Hallows and so asks James if he could take it for inspection. James agrees, and soon Dumbledore realises that his presumption was correct. A few days later, James dies along with his wife Lily before Dumbledore had time to return it. Dumbledore passes it to Harry anonymously, without telling him about the Deathly Hallows or that the cloak is the one in the tale. In Deathly Hallows, after hearing 'The Tale of the Three Brothers', Harry suspects that it may be the one in the tale but there is no proof until Death Eaters attempt to summon it but fail. According to Xenophilius Lovegood, most invisibility cloaks are merely ordinary cloaks enchanted with a Disillusionment Charm or a Bedazzling Hex but the invisibility cloak in the tale is a true cloak of invisibility.

Appearances
Elder Wand: First appears in Philosopher's Stone but only seen in detail in Goblet of Fire. Appears in all books. First named in Deathly Hallows.

Resurrection Stone: First appears in Half-Blood Prince when Marvolo Gaunt is showing it to Bob Odgen in the pensieve. First named and shown up close in Deathly Hallows

Cloak of Invisibility: Appears in all books.