The Quest of the Deathly Hallows is not known by many. The story is told within "The Tale of the Three Brothers" in the book, "The Tales of Beedle the Bard," which is often considered a children's bedtime book. The story goes that three talented brothers managed to cheat Death by magicking a bridge over a river that would have killed them if they had waded. Death confronted them at the other side, and cunningly rewarded each brother with a prize. The first brother chose a wand, which Death made from a nearby Elder tree. The second brother asked for the power to recall the dead. Death gave him the resurrection stone. The youngest brother asked for something that would stop Death from following him, and Death unwillingly gave him his own Invisibilty Cloak. Each brother went on his own way. The first brother was killed for his Elder wand, and Death was able to claim him. The second used his stone to recall a love once lost, but she was so miserable having been taken from beyond the Veil, that the second brother killed himself. The third brother however, used his cloak to hide from Death, and upon old age, he removed the cloak leaving it to his son. He walked away with Death treating him as an equal.

The three Hallows are displayed to make a triangle, and together they make the Deathly Hallows, allowing the bearer of all three to be able to master Death. This is the appeal of gaining the three Hallows. The three brothers in the tale were the famous Peverell brothers - Antioch, Cadmus and Ignotus. The Elder Wand's more recent owners have been Grindelwald, Dumbledore, Draco Malfoy and Harry Potter. Harry had also had the resurrection stone, whcih he lost in the Forbidden Forest at Hogwarts, and has no plan of returning to look for it. Before that it was hidden within the Peverell ring that Gaunt had, and that Voldemort turned into a Horcrux. Harry also had the Invisibility cloak, which he inherited from his father James, as Harry is a descendent of the youngest Peverell brother.

To create a Horcrux is to create terrible magic, but to create more than one, is simpley horrific. A Horcrux can only be created through murder, because murder causes a person's soul to rip. This rip allows part of the soul to then be transfered into an object to try combat Death by effectively increasing someone's number of lives. Only a handful of people know about them, as it is considered highly Dark magic.

Voldemort created 7 Horcruxes, as 7 is a highly powerful number. Until these other Horcruxes could be destroyed, then Voldemort could not be killed. A Horcrux can only be destroyed by something so powerful, that it would stop the Horcrux from being able to regenerate itself, such as a Basilisk fang or cursed fire.