Harry Potter and the Forbidden Passage

Chapter 8: The Death Chamber

Harry held his breath as the lift passed the Atrium level. He could still hear the sounds of the party beyond, but fortunately the lift kept creaking downwards. Finally, after what seemed like hours instead of seconds, the golden gates opened. A feminine voice spoke in a cool and airy tone, "Department of Mysteries." Harry stepped quickly out into the hallway and glanced around to be certain he was alone. The hall was dark and completely empty. The silence was deafening after all of the noise from the reception.

With only a brief look back at the lifts to be sure that no one was following, Harry walked briskly then started sprinting down the familiar corridor that haunted his dreams for a year. He looked determinedly at the black door at the end of the hallway and it flew open as he approached it.

Harry paused briefly before entering the circular room. With one brief look behind him, he entered the room and the door slammed shut. The room looked just the same, completely black except for strange blue flames. And just as before, the room started spinning.

Wasting no time, Harry closed his eyes and yelled loudly. "Show me the room with the veil." The walls stopped spinning, making Harry instantly dizzy. He stumbled towards the door that had swung open before him.

It was cold and completely dark inside, but Harry cautiously stepped through the doorway. Candles started to flicker on around the room, casting the large rectangular room with eerie light. There were no traces left of the incredible battle that had taken place here. No sign of Sirius or anything of that horrible day. The stone benches that were smashed were replaced and it looked painfully as though the rest of the world was trying to forget what had happened there. But Harry felt it in every fiber of his being, felt the pain of his loss more acutely than ever.

He jumped down from bench to bench until he was standing on the stone floor of the sunken pit. The dais stood before him and the veil still hung in the old stone archway, fluttering ever so slightly as if there was a light breeze in the room. He walked towards the dais, feeling drawn towards it, like he was hardly in control of his feet anymore but compelled by some unseen force.

He put one foot on the dais hesitantly and then the other and slowly approached the stone archway. There were the whisperings, the faintest noises coming from the veil but he still couldn't make them out. The voices were so low; they were like wind whistling past his ears. Harry pulled down the hood of his cloak hastily to hear more clearly. The cloak loosened and slipped off, falling into a shimmering pile on the floor behind him. But he didn't look back, his focus was now entirely on the veil. As he walked towards it, the voices became louder and a single word became clear - they were speaking his name. Many different voices, men and women, young and old, were saying, "Harry," in the softest whisper.

Harry felt both fear and excitement all at once. He stepped closer until he was only a foot away from the veil. The whispers grew louder and more fervent with every step.

"Sirius?" Harry whispered. He stared at the fluttering veil as if he expected his godfather to step out of it at any moment.

"Harry," a man replied softly, soothingly. Harry's heart stopped and his knees gave way beneath him. He had almost passed out. He would have tumbled head first through the veil if he had not regained his balance just in time. There was no doubt in his mind, it was Sirius's voice calling back. Harry kneeled before the veil, not sure if he could handle standing up again.

"Harry," the familiar voice repeated, "I'm here, just beyond the veil." His voice sounded distant and ethereal, almost as if the words were resonating not from the air, but from within Harry's own head. Harry couldn't believe his ears, he had wanted to hear this voice for so long that he couldn't quite believe it was real. He pinched himself to be sure he was awake, that this wasn't just a new twist on his nightmares. He pinched so hard that his nails dug into his flesh and a drop of blood rose to the surface. It wasn't a dream.

Tears burned beneath his eyes as he let loose the flood of emotions that had been weighing on him since June. "I'm so sorry, Sirius. It's all my fault. I shouldn't have gone to the Ministry. I was so…stupid. If I had studied Occlumency harder, if I had used the mirror-"

"Don't worry, Harry. It's all right," Sirius replied in a calm, soothing voice.

"How can it be? HOW CAN IT BE ALL RIGHT?" Harry yelled angrily between sobs. "You're in there and I'm out here. You're…you're dead. It will never be all right again."

"It will be when you join me. The afterlife is bliss, Harry. Here, you can have everything you've ever dreamed of. There are no wars, no troubles, no fear."

"Come back, Sirius. If you're right there, why don't you come back?" Harry begged desperately.

"I can't go back, Harry, and even if I could, I wouldn't want to leave. But you can come to me. It's so simple, just walk through the veil. I'm waiting for you on the other side."

"But I need you here, Sirius. You can't leave me. I can't go on like this."

"You don't have to, Harry," Sirius said in a calm reassuring voice. "You can join us here. Only a few steps and you'll be with us again. James and Lily are here with me."

"Mum? Dad?" Harry asked uncertainly.

A sweet feminine voice called back, "We're here, darling. We're right here. Your father and I have been waiting so long to see you. Your grandparents are here too, they can't wait to meet you. Just walk through the veil, Harry, and we'll be a family again."

"Don't be afraid, Harry," his mother's voice called. "Follow my voice."

Harry's thoughts loomed briefly to the prophecy and his part in it. "But - Voldemort, the prophecy, I can't-"

"Dumbledore can handle him, Harry," Sirius said softly. "Too many responsibilities have been placed on you for too long. You need to rest, you need to forget. Come through the veil and all of your worries will disappear. This is paradise, you have no need to fear. You will be with your family, you'll be happy again. Just walk through the veil."

A nagging voice in his head reminded him that if he walked through the veil he would die. But a stronger voice told him that it was all so simple, he only had to take a few steps and he would have everything he ever wanted, his family and his godfather. And maybe he didn't have to die, maybe there was a way out if there was a way in. Maybe he could save them all, he would find his parents and Sirius and bring them back to the world of the living. And if he did die at least he would be with them. He wouldn't be alone any more.

Harry stood up and took a step closer. He would do it, he would go through and he would see them again. He would be with Sirius and his parents, did anything else really matter?. He held his hand out in front of him ready to pass through the veil. He closed his eyes and prepared to step through.

Just as his fingers were about to touch the veil, there was a loud shout behind him and he was pulled backwards off his feet. Harry soared back as if he was hit by something with incredible force and landed roughly on his backside against the stone floor before the dais.

"Petrificus Totalus," roared a terrible voice behind him. Harry was paralyzed flat against the floor, completely helpless. He struggled to fight the spell, but it was useless. He cursed himself for taking off the invisibility cloak.

Bright emerald green robes and a long white beard appeared over him. Dumbledore kneeled down over him and looked at him under his half-moon spectacles. His face was lined with fury and sadness and Harry could feel the emotions radiating from him. Although he had seen Dumbledore angry before, he had never before been the object of his wrath. It was a truly frightening experience, and Harry now could completely understand why Voldemort was afraid of him.

Dumbledore took several deep breaths attempting to calm himself a bit. When he spoke, it was in a voice that held none of the usual patience or kindness. It was harsh and terrible, reminding Harry more of the Howler that Dumbledore sent to his Aunt Petunia the previous summer.

"WHAT IN MERLIN"S NAME WERE YOU THINKING?" he shouted, pausing between each word. He breathed in and out heavily again several times. Dumbledore's voice returned to a normal level but it was just as terrifying. "There are witches and wizards risking their lives on a daily basis to protect you from Voldemort and here I find you about to kill yourself. How can I protect you from him when I can barely protect you from yourself?"

Dumbledore stood up and paced the floor in front of him. Harry felt his jaw begin to slacken, he was regaining some movement. He tried to speak, "I -"

"Silencio," Dumbledore demanded, swiftly turning to Harry with his wand outstretched. "Harry James Potter, you will lie there and listen to me until I am through with you." He paced again and let out a long sigh before turning back to Harry.

"Do you have any idea what would have happened if you had walked through that arch? Let's not even consider Voldemort. Did you even stop to think of the people who care about you and what your death would mean to them? Not to mention the entire wizarding world."

The people who love me are behind that veil and I could have been with them, Harry thought hopelessly.

"I see your Occlumency lessons have not been successful," Dumbledore remarked with irritation. "Harry, how can I possibly get you to understand? There are many people here who love you. Many people here who would be just as devastated by your loss as you are by your godfather's. Have you even thought for a moment about the Weasleys or Remus? How do you think Remus would react if he lost you too? The man is on the edge as it is, he has been holding on for you alone."

Harry felt a pang of guilt at Dumbledore's mention of Remus.

"You should feel guilty, Harry. If you had succeeded in your task tonight, if you had walked through that veil, can you even begin to imagine how many people might blame themselves for your death? For not being here, for not guarding you as closely as they could have, for not telling you how much they love you. And how many of them might end up here following you through the veil because they are so sick with grief or remorse?"

Why would they blame themselves? I made the decision, there's nothing they could have done. They wouldn't have known.

Dumbledore turned and stared at Harry with his piercing blue eyes. "That's right. There's nothing they could have done, and there's nothing you could have done for Sirius. He made a decision, as you did tonight, to do something he knew he shouldn't. And in the end, perhaps there's nothing that anyone could have done to prevent disaster that night. Sometimes fate takes a cruel course but it always has an ultimate plan.

"Imagine for a moment what the world might be like if your parents had not been murdered by Lord Voldemort that fateful night fifteen years ago. Voldemort would have been free and at the height of his powers for years to come. Muggleborns, like your mother and Miss Granger might have been eradicated. And perhaps much, much worse. The world as you know it would not exist. It could have been a much darker place, with millions around the world living in fear. Everything happens for a reason, Harry, even if we never know what that reason may be.

"I know this is difficult and that it is probably the hardest thing I've ever asked you to do, but it is time for you to accept Sirius's death and go on with your life."

But I heard him. I heard him through the veil. How can I forget that when he's right there…waiting for me.

"Oh, Harry," Dumbledore sighed, "You don't know what the veil is? Did Professor Binns never teach you about the Death Chamber?"

Harry thought guiltily of all the times he had slept in class. He tried desperately to recall any mention of the Death Chamber in any of the lectures that had permeated his constantly drowsy state in History of Magic, but couldn't remember anything.

"Ah, I see. Alas, you are more similar to your father in some ways than I would have liked. He was never too fond of History of Magic either. I realize Professor Binns may be a bit dull, but you, of all people, would benefit from paying attention occasionally in his class."

Dumbledore shook his head and sat down on a bench beside Harry. "This has been known as the Death Chamber for centuries. This was here long before the Ministry was ever built up around it. And even older than the room itself is that stone archway, which is so ancient that the origin is unknown. You see the benches that surround the dais, what does it remind you of? Perhaps the Wizengamot courtroom down the hall? Many people would come here to witness what happened on that dais."

Dumbledore was now looking sadly at the veil. "Harry, this room was used solely for executions for hundreds of years. By 1872, the Ministry decided to do away with the death penalty in favor of the Dementor's Kiss. But I would hesitate to say that the Kiss is a more humane punishment.

"Death through the veil is quick and painless and one might even go so far as to say pleasant. Most wizards who were executed here walked through the veil quite willingly, having heard and been entranced by the voices of loved ones calling them from the beyond. But, Harry, the voices are illusions. The voice you heard was not Sirius, it was a creation of the veil. The veil is similar to the Mirror of Erised but with a much darker purpose. The veil is the entrance to the forbidden passage, the journey to the afterlife. You will hear the voices of those you've loved and lost and they will ask you to join them and use your most heartfelt desires to lure you through. But you have to think reasonably, would Sirius ever want you to die to be with him? Not the man I knew, not the man who would so willingly have given his life to save you.

"We can not be certain what is beyond the veil, the afterlife may be different for everyone. That is why death is studied here as one of life's many mysteries. Of the thousands of men executed here, only one wizard has ever seen the beyond and come back and he did not return to this world as he left it. If Sirius could return, you would have known by now. But that is not a future I would wish upon any man. I would hope that Sirius is in a much better place now as he deserves to be, not waiting eternally by the side of the veil."

Tears had started to brim at Harry's eyes but he was still too paralyzed to move a hand to wipe them away. He felt hollow with the pain. The voices were illusions, nothing but illusions. He still had no idea where Sirius was or if he was all right.

Suddenly, he heard a noise coming down from above. It was a door opening. Now, there were four pairs of feet scrambling down the benches.

"Harry! Are you all right?" a concerned voice called down. "Albus, what happened to him? He's not moving."

"Oh, I'll never forgive myself," a feminine voice said with obvious fear.

The very worried faces of Remus and Tonks swam into view above him.

"Calm down, Remus, he's fine," Dumbledore said as he held his wand over Harry. "Finite Incantatum."

Harry felt a soft tingle through his body as he regained the movement of his limbs. But he also regained feeling in his back, which was throbbing from the force of his fall against the stone floor. As soon as he propped himself up on one elbow, Remus swept him into a hug so tight that he thought he might pass out.

"I don't know what I'd do if something happened to you," Remus said over Harry's shoulder. "As soon as Tonks told me you disappeared, I knew where you would go."

Remus was here, he was alive. He looked tired and worn but alive and looking at Harry as if he were the only thing that mattered in the world. And suddenly Harry didn't want to pass through the veil anymore.

Dumbledore held a hand out to Harry and helped him to his feet. "Now, Ms. Tonks," Dumbledore said, "Would you please escort Mr. Potter back to the reception. I need to have a chat with Mr. Lupin and I think the guest of honor has been missing for far too long."

Harry went to pick up his father's invisibility cloak, but it vanished before his eyes. When he turned around, Dumbledore had it draped over one arm. "I will be taking this for now, Harry. It will be waiting for you in your dormitory when you return to Hogwarts."

Harry stared angrily at Dumbledore but he quietly relented and followed Tonks. As he turned around at the top of the room, he could see Remus's grave face waiting for whatever Dumbledore would tell him. And Harry knew exactly what he would tell him. He didn't need to be great at Divination to know that he was going to be in deep trouble.