Harry Potter- The New Prophecy

The Veil

A week had passed since Dumbledore had moved into Grimmauld place, and the news of his return had finally begun to die down. It was still a mystery how he was alive, but it seemed that people had better things to talk about. There was still the occasional murmur on the streets or the occasional question from a reporter, but for the most part, things had gone back to normal.

Dumbledore had moved out of Grimmauld place and in with his brother Aberforth. Since his return, Minerva had offered him his old job back, but Albus politely declined. "I am old." He said. "I'm far too old to go back to the things I used to do. I believe that now is as good a time as any for me to retire. Spend time with the little family I have left, or perhaps go on a trip to the Bahamas."

Things may have gone back to normal for many, but for Harry, that was far from true. Things were busier at the Ministry now than ever as they worked to figure out just how Albus Dumbledore was alive. Harry spent endless nights looking into the mysterious reappearance of his old headmaster and had even resorted to looking through books with Hermione. But no matter how hard he looked, he couldn't find a single case where this had happened before.

Then one morning, as Harry was sifting through the stack of papers on his desk, he heard a knock. Looking up, he came face-to-face with Kingsley, who looked like he had seen a ghost. "I'm sorry to bother you, Harry." He apologized. "But there's something you're going to want to see."

Harry followed Kingsley down the many long halls until they reached the part of the Department of Mysteries where the veil was. It had been many years since Harry had last been here, and if he was being honest with himself, he had no interest in coming back at all. Glancing at the veil that Sirius had fallen through brought back unpleasant memories. Memories that still haunted his dreams.

"Why are we here?" Harry asked bluntly. He didn't see what was so important that Kingsley had to bring him here of all places.

Kingsley motioned towards the veil as if pointing something out. What? Harry had no idea. All he saw was the veil that had caused him to lose another person he cared about. But just as he was about to say so, his eyes landed on something on the floor. A wand.

Harry took a few steps forward, his heart beating fast in his chest. It couldn't be. Could it? He reached down and picked up the wand, recognizing it immediately. "Is this..."

"Sirius's wand." Kingsley finished.

Harry blinked several times, sure he must be seeing things. The wand had fallen through the veil with Sirius. The veil, which nobody returned from. If his wand was here, then did that mean...

"I haven't seen him." Kingsley spoke as if reading Harry's mind. "And I don't want to give you false hope, but I think there might be a possibility that Albus Dumbledore wasn't the only one to return."

Harry couldn't believe it. He wouldn't believe it. If he believed in even the possibility that Sirius might be alive, that would only make the pain that much harder if he found it not to be true. But as he looked down at the wand in his hand, he couldn't help but wonder what other explanation there could be.

No spell could reawaken the dead. Albus Dumbledore himself had said so. And a couple of weeks ago, Harry would have believed this to be true. But now Dumbledore was back, and there was a good chance Sirius was too. None of this made any sense.

"We have to search the building," said Harry, a sense of urgency in his voice. "We have to check every inch of this building."

Kingsley held up a hand as if to stop Harry from making any rash decisions. "There's no way the two of us can check the whole building. It would take all day."

"Then we order a lockdown." Harry said. "Have every person in this building on the lookout." He looked at Kingsley, pleading with him to see his reasoning. As Minister of Magic, Kingsley was the only one who had the authority to order a lockdown. It was out of Harry's hands.