The Resurrection Stone is a small, black stone, described as unremarkable and like a common pebble. It is not perfectly smooth and bears a crack down the middle, which it sustained when Albus Dumbledore destroyed the Horcrux contained within it. Engraved upon its surface is the symbol of the Deathly Hallows: a triangle enclosing a circle, bisected by a vertical line. For centuries, the Stone was set into a gold ring with a heavy, ornate design. This ring was an heirloom of the House of Gaunt and bore the Peverell coat of arms, which Marvolo Gaunt mistook for the mark of Salazar Slytherin. It was this ring that Lord Voldemort turned into his second Horcrux. After the Horcrux was destroyed, Albus Dumbledore removed the Stone from the damaged ring and later hid it inside the Golden Snitch he bequeathed to Harry Potter.
The Resurrection Stone's primary and sole magical property is its power to recall the spirits, or “shades,” of the deceased from the afterlife. It does not perform a true resurrection; the individuals it brings back are not alive in the physical sense. They are described as being more solid than a ghost but separated from the living world by a transparent, veil-like barrier. They are not corporeal and cannot be touched. To activate the Stone, the user must hold it and turn it three times in their hand. The summoned shades retain their memories and personality, and can communicate with the user. However, as they have been torn from the peaceful realm of the dead, they are not happy to be in the mortal world and appear sad and cold. The legend of Cadmus Peverell illustrates this tragic limitation: he brought back his dead fiancée, but her sorrow at being separated from the afterlife drove him to suicide. The Stone's true power, as realized by Harry Potter, is not to reverse death but to provide comfort and courage to the living. The presence of the shades can act as a powerful buffer against creatures like Dementors, functioning similarly to the Patronus Charm.
According to The Tale of the Three Brothers, the Resurrection Stone was the second of the three Deathly Hallows, given by Death to Cadmus Peverell. After using it and being driven to madness by its tragic effect, Cadmus died, and the Stone was passed down through his descendants, eventually coming into the possession of the House of Gaunt. The Gaunts were unaware of the Stone's true nature as a Hallow, prizing the ring it was set in only as a symbol of their pure-blood heritage and their connection to Salazar Slytherin. In the 1940s, a young Tom Riddle visited his uncle, Morfin Gaunt, and stole the ring after framing him for the murder of the Riddle family. Riddle, equally ignorant of the Stone's Hallow identity, valued it as a relic of his ancestry and transformed the ring into a Horcrux. He wore it during his time at Hogwarts and later hid it in the ruins of the Gaunt Shack. In 1996, Albus Dumbledore located the ring. Realizing it was both a Horcrux and the legendary Resurrection Stone, he was overcome by a moment of personal weakness. He longed to see his deceased sister, Ariana Dumbledore, and his parents, and put the ring on. He forgot that Voldemort had protected it with a deadly curse, which immediately afflicted him. Though Severus Snape was able to contain the curse's spread, Dumbledore was left with a blackened, dead hand and was doomed to die within a year. After this incident, Dumbledore destroyed the Horcrux using the Sword of Gryffindor, which cracked the Stone but left its magical properties intact. He then hid the Stone inside the first Golden Snitch that Harry Potter had ever caught in a Quidditch match. Dumbledore enchanted the Snitch to open only when pressed to Harry's lips “at the close.” In his will, Dumbledore bequeathed the Snitch to Harry. During the Battle of Hogwarts, as Harry walked to his death in the Forbidden Forest, he realized the meaning of the inscription “I open at the close.” He whispered “I am about to die” to the Snitch, which opened to reveal the Stone. Harry turned it three times, summoning the shades of James Potter, Lily Potter, Sirius Black, and Remus Lupin. They gave him the courage to face Voldemort. As he reached Voldemort's camp, he let the Stone fall from his numb fingers, intentionally losing it in the forest, where it was likely trampled into the earth by Centaurs.
The Resurrection Stone is a central object in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, representing the powerful and dangerous temptation to undo death. It serves as a profound symbol of grief and acceptance. Dumbledore's desire for it is his greatest personal failing, leading directly to the curse that sealed his fate. In contrast, Voldemort's ignorance of its true power highlights his inability to understand any magic rooted in love or acceptance of mortality. For Harry Potter, the Stone's ultimate purpose is not to bring back his loved ones to live again, but to give him the fortitude to sacrifice himself. His selfless use of the Stone, and his subsequent choice to abandon it, demonstrates his mastery over the fear of death—the very thing that defined and drove Voldemort. This act solidifies his status as the true “master of Death” by accepting mortality rather than trying to conquer it.