Chapter 11

January, 2000

Hermione had spent all her time with Sluier's book and Gabriel's journal on her hands. She had read them several times, she had taken notes and sometimes she would go to the Black's library and check some information about the period in which Sluier and Gabriel had lived in the large collection of History books. She had only stopped to spend some time with the Weasleys and Harry on Christmas Eve and New Year Eve. They had only talked to her when it was absolutely necessary. She knew they felt uncomfortable in her presence so she would sit in a sofa or chair and read Sluier's book.

She was pretty much obsessed with it.

The more she read, the more she wanted to read. Sluier had been a marvelous writer; it was almost poetically written. She could understand why the book had been considered fictional, why it had become Madam Pince's favourite novel. She could even understand why it had been sent to the restricted area. Hermione even suspected she knew the reason Dumbledore had wanted the book.

If Sluier had been right, it would have been pure, clear chaos.

The book had answered pretty much all her questions about the Veil but one.

She knew who created the Veil and when; she knew the reason behind the creation and what it did; she knew the consequences of the existence of the Veil and she read about a way to sort of reverse what it did.

However, neither the book nor the journal explained how the Veil had been created. She was both relieved and disappointed with that fact.

Madam Pince had been right. The book was about love. Love, Hermione could witness one more time, was the most powerful form of magic. Hermione found out that more than an enchantment, the Veil had needed Ancient Magic. The Veil had needed a very powerful, unending resource.

That resource had been his love. His love for her. His love for Lavinia.

Madam Pince had been wrong when she said that the story was about Lavinia and an unnamed man. There was no unnamed man. That character, that person was Sluier himself. Sluier had been the author and the main character.

John Sluier had been born in 1658. He had been a remarkably intelligent wizard, having been particularly good in Charms. During his adolescence, he had been extremely interested in the culture of the Muggles. However, at that time, that was pretty much unthinkable, so he hid his fascination.

When he became of age, he started working for the Ministry of Magic, in the Committee On Experimental Charms. Despite his great position in the Ministry, he had wanted more, so he hired a friend of his, Gabriel Geel, a couple of years younger than him and, when he had free time, he worked on his inventions.

He then met Gabriel's sister, Lavinia Geel, whose golden locks and her distinctive demeanour captivated him. It didn't take long for the Geels to realise John Sluier was a great party for their daughter.

Two years later, a month before they wedded, Lavinia was caught by Muggles while performing an enchantment. Before she had time to protect herself, they took her wand from her and imprisoned her. But the imprisonment didn't last long. A day or two later, she was burnt at the stake for witchcraft.

The witch-hunt wasn't taken as a really important and serious matter. Witches were supposed to know how to protect themselves, and because it wasn't taken seriously, John Sluier didn't know about Lavinia's imprisonment until it was too late. When he arrived at the Muggle village and cast a Confundus Charm on the Muggles who were watching Lavinia's execution, she was already dead - the toxic gases had poisoned her.

From that moment on, his Muggle fascination vanished and it was replaced by pure hatred. He joined a group of pure-blood wizards and five years after the death of his fiancée, John Sluier and his group were responsible for the official establishment of the International Statute of Wizarding Secrecy. From that day on, the wizarding world and the muggle world became apart.

Having succeeded in, at least, avoiding that other witches had the same fate as Lavinia, Sluier had time to mourn her. Instead of keeping working for the Committee On Experimental Charms, he stayed at home. For months he had only thought of Lavinia. In life, she had been his love; when she died, she became his obsession. Bringing her from the dead became his only purpose.

He knew, though, that the Ministry was paying attention at his activities. Everyone knew he was an inventor and particularly good at Charms, so before he started working on something that would take him to her, he started thinking of a way that the object would be useful for the Ministry. Somehing that would benefit both parties.

A year later he found a solution. An execution method. Something that would take people for the world of the dead. There was a problem. Yes, he had to go, and that would be the perfect way, but he wanted to return with her; and if the object killed him, he didn't know if he would see her again, but he knew he wouldn't return. He spent years trying to find a way of going to the world of the dead without being really dead.

Meanwhile, he had made a special request to the goblins. A golden mirror. In two years, Sluier created something that alleviated a bit his spirits and made him keep on wanting to work in his project. The Mirror of Erised. Instead of one's reflexion, the object would mirror one's deepest wishes. The mirror showed him Lavinia alive with him.

Soon, he spent all his time looking at the glass, at her, until Gabriel took him away from it and locked the door in such a way that even Sluier wasn't capable of entering in the room.

In his journal, Gabriel didn't describe how Sluier's spells and objects were crated. He only took note of them and described what they did; so it was no surprise when Hermione didn't find any information of how the Veil had been made.

She knew the Veil was a product of Sluier's obsession, but she didn't know how it had been built, even if she knew what sort of magic had been used to create it. Hermione knew that, after Gabriel locked the room where the Mirror of Erised was kept, Sluier started working on his project again. Somehow, he found a solution to his problem. He made it possible for the Veil to (in some way) choose who, once having fallen through it, would return or who would be kept away from the living. Sluier created the perfect judge. The Veil wouldn't let the guilty return. On the other hand, if a wizard was innocent, he would return.

In his journal, Gabriel described how fascinating the process was, but how terrifying the idea of that practice actually was. He had tried to stop Sluier from any test, but Sluir had made up his mind. He was going to step into the Veil. After all, he had never committed any crime. Once Gabriel spoke the enchantment Sluier had created, he would return. Hopefully, he would return with her.

And he did return, but he came alone.

Months later, when he was going to try again, Sluier suffered a major setback. The Ministry had found out the Veil and, somehow, they had managed to move it to the Ministry Headquarters.

In a desperate action, Sluier explained that the Veil was an execution method, the safest method of execution, since it would keep inside it those who were guilty, but if they were innocent, they would be returned to the world of the living. To Sluier's contentment, the Ministry wanted proves, so Sluier had convinced two men to participate in his project. Two men, one innocent and one guilty. According to both the book and the journal, it had worked. The innocent had returned after Sluier had spoken his enchantment.

After that, Sluier had asked the Ministry for two months for him to analyse his own creation. Surprisingly, they had given him access to the Death Chamber, which, after he had proved the Veil's potentiality, had been moved to the Department of Magical Law Enforcement. When Sluier and Gabriel were left alone, he decided to do it again. But this time he would have to be inside it for longer. In that way he could find her.

Gabriel had been reluctant. Sluier hadn't even told him what he had seen or done when he stepped through the Veil the first time. He hadn't answered any of his questions and he had avoided him, until, of course, he had needed his help once again.

Sluier had been a genius, but, in his desperation, he forgot one of the basic laws of the magical world. Death is final. No magic can raise those who are dead.

Hermione suspected that by then, Sluier was slightly unbalanced. He had been obsessed over a dead person for so many years, for most of his life, and when he found out that his masterpiece didn't work in the way he wanted it to work, he was devastated. It was even worse when he realised that the Veil was, indeed, the most reliable method of execution.

However, the Ministry had lied. They were spying Sluier and Gabriel and after Sluier fell from the Veil the second time, they invaded the Chamber and Gabriel was sent to Azkaban, where he stayed until he died, decades after his imprisonment.

The reports which gave specific information about the Veil were burnt or kept in a safe in Gringotts. People who knew of the existence of the Veil were Obliviated. The Death Chamber was moved from the Department of Magical Law Enforcement to the Department of Mysteries. Sluier's journal was transformed into a book and sent to the restricted area of the library of the Ministry.

However, no one had known about Gabriel's journal.

February, 2000

"Why didn't you do anything, Professor?" Hermione asked to the portrait of Albus Dumbledore.

When she found out that in the journal was described the enchantment that would bring those who were innocent from the Veil, Hermione had immediately sent an owl to the Headmistress. She needed to speak with the portrait of Albus Dumbledore. She needed to understand why he hadn't done anything. While she waited for the day she could go to Hogwarts again, she had been able to calm herself. He could have done something. He could have brought those who were innocent from the Veil. He could have brought Sirius back. He had to have had a reason not to do it.

"I know what you are thinking, Miss Granger," he said, in a sad voice. "You are wondering why I didn't do anything about… Sirius Black's situation."

Hermione nodded absently. She noticed the other portraits, especially Phineas Nigellus Black's, paying attention to their conversation.

"Two reasons, Miss Granger," Dumbledore's portrait said. "First, only those who work for the Department of Mysteries have access to the individual rooms. Those who don't work there, or don't have the authorization of either the Head of the Department or the Minister, can only go to the entrance – and, as you can imagine, most of them get lost in the way..."

Hermione looked at him, not believing that that had prevented Albus Dumbledore of doing something that would help someone, something that would help Harry.

"Surely you could have--" Hermione started.

"Of course I could," he admitted, knowing exactly what she meant before she even mentioned it. "But I chose not to. You see… and this is the second reason… I was helping Harry."

"What?" Hermione uttered, blinking in confusion.

"Tell me, Miss Granger, do you know what Sirius Black was to Harry?"

For a couple of seconds she stood gaping at the portrait, shocked.

"Everything," she murmured. "Sirius was the only family Harry had left."

"Indeed, Miss Granger. Sirius Black was the one person Harry would do anything in his power to keep safe, to protect."

"I know that," she said almost brusquely. "That's why we flew to the Department of Mysteries when he thought he was being tortured."

"Yes! Did you see what he did for Sirius Black?" the portrait asked, nodding vigorously. Hermione frowned at him, confused. "Miss Granger," he murmured soothingly. "When Bellatrix killed Sirius, what did Harry want to do?"

"He wanted to kill her." Hermione answered automatically. Everyone had wanted that. Not only for Sirius but for Harry too.

"And Voldmort." The portrait added. "More than anything, he wanted to kill him, to end with his life, because it was his fault. He had been the responsible for the death of all his family"

Hermione nodded. She knew that. Everyone did. "Yes… but--"

"If I had brought Sirius Black from the Veil, do you think Harry would have done what he did in the final battle? He wouldn't have risked so much, Miss Granger; he wouldn't have wanted to lose everything. But he didn't have much, did he?"

Hermione stared at him. "Oh my God…" she murmured.

"Do you understand?" Dumbledore asked. At the same time she could hear Phineas Nigellus muttering something. She looked at his painting, seeing him staring intently at Dumbledore's.

"Of course I understand!" she snapped, looking back at Dumbledore's portrait. "You kept Harry away from his only family so that he would be a weapon of mass destruction for the final battle"

"It was necessary"

"It was unnecessary, Professor" Hermione said. "If Sirius had been there-"

"--he would have only been a distraction to Harry. Ginevra Weasley almost was a distraction to Harry. Imagine if Sirius had been with him"

"He could have helped!"

"What's done it's done, Miss Granger. I do not regret what I did."

Hermione knew that she wouldn't be allowed much time in the Headmistress' office, so instead of trying to understand his motives right there, she decided to ask him something else.

"How did you get the journal?"

He looked at her intently, as if studying her. "Before Gabriel was arrested, he asked his parents to give all his books, notebooks and some objects to Hogwarts. After a quick analysis, the books were sent to the library, but his notes were kept in an archive. Those documents were pretty much forgotten, until I became a Headmaster and studied them myself. As you can imagine, I found the concept of the Veil quite... appealing"

It was Hermione's turn to study the wizard. Magical portraits were one of the things that had shocked her the most when she found out about the wizarding world. She knew that to create a portrait, the artist would need the memories, the essence of the person, but the fact that it was so real, so very similar to a human being was shocking. She knew she wasn't talking to Dumbledore. But his portrait had his memories; it reacted the same way Dumbledore would and it said what Dumbledore would say in a certain situation. Right then, the portrait had been making an obvious mention to Dumbledore's greatest desire. If Dumbledore had had access to the Veil, he would have wanted to have his family restored.

"That's why you kept them here, near you?" she asked. "You wanted to try it yourself?"

"You certainly understand it… Wouldn't you do it for your parents?" the portrait asked, fidgeting, as if he knew it was wrong to wish that.

Hermione felt like she had been hit in her stomach and turned her head away from the painting, hoping he wouldn't notice her expression. Even if he was just a painting and not a person, she didn't want him finding out, just by looking at her, that she hadn't thought of her parents. She had only thought of those who fell through the Veil.

"It's not possible," she said with steady voice.

"Sluier returned. How would you explain that?"

"Professor…" she said, shaking her head. Was he testing her? "Death is final. Sluier just… he just invented a way to find out if a certain person is innocent or not. He didn't return with her. He came alone"

"Maybe he didn't have enough time to find her."

"No," she said, shaking her head. "That's not--"

Before she had time to add something else, the Headmistress came into the office and told her that she couldn't stay any longer, because she was going to have a meeting there. Hermione raised from the chair, thanked the Headmistress and walked to the wooden door.

"What are you going to do, Miss Granger?" the portrait asked, before she opened the door.

She glanced at the wizard in the portrait and opened the door. "An experiment," she said, closing the door soundlessly behind her.