January 3rd rolled around. Teddy had gone back to his family for Christmas and New Year. He talked little of Hogwarts to anyone except Victoire, who was constantly bombarding him with question upon question about the most minimal details of the whole experience. The subject of Quidditch was mercifully not brought up, as Victoire didn't seem to care much for the sport.

'I still don't see why you wanted me to bring you here,' insisted Harry Potter. Bringing an eleven-year-old on a visit to the Ministry was nothing short of unorthodox.

That being said, Teddy had been so distant for the whole holiday season, fixated on Verity's words that he guessed his godfather had felt like this was the only way.

If that was the case, he was right.

'Remember, keep the cloak on until we're inside,' ordered Harry.

Together they approached a stern looking woman guarding the Entrance. For an Unspeakable in the Department of Mysteries, her opinion of unwanted guests was very clear.

'Potter. What brings you down here? A spontaneous visit?'

'Indeed, Ms Rowle. There's something I wish to take a look at.'

'Take a look at?' scowled Rowle. 'Mr Potter, may I remind you that as an Unspeakable of the Department of Mysteries…'

'…you do not have to answer to The Department of Magical Law Enforcement. I'm very aware,' replied Harry with a tone of outright boredom. 'However, there is a certain item in one of the rooms which is of extreme interest to the Master of Death.'

Regina Rowle stopped in her tracks. A wave of suppressed comments and backhanded jabs flushed over her, but no articulate sound came out of her mouth.

'You know the object of which I speak,' taunted Harry, twisting the knife. Whatever history these two had, Teddy did not want to know.

'I suppose you'd better stick with me, sir,' snarled Rowle. She swung the door open in a fit and lead the way into the first room.

Said room was a set of doors, which revolved upon the closing of one. Had Ms Rowle not been there to identify the correct exit they might have been stuck there indefinitely.

Teddy remembered being told about how Harry, Ron Weasley, Hermione Granger, Ginny Weasley, a not-yet-Professor Longbottom and Luna Lovegood had all broken into the Department of Mysteries together. The idea of also breaking in with Harry was a good enough start to any dream adventure.

The door that Rowle took lead to what Harry had previously told him was known as the Death Chamber: a large, rectangular, dimly lit room with a sunken stone pit some twenty feet deep in the centre. Stone benches ran all around the room and descended in steep steps toward a raised stone dais in the centre of the pit. Rowle hopped down these with ease, whereas Harry kept a slow pace – which Teddy was grateful for since that meant he could keep up with the Auror.

An ancient crumbling stone archway, unsupported by any surrounding wall, stood on the dais they had just travelled down towards. This archway was hung with a tattered black curtain which fluttered very slightly as though it had just been touched or blown by a faint wind, although the air in the room was as still and cold as any underground facility with no central heating, which is to say half of the wizarding world's large architecture.

'Well, here are, Mr Potter. What did you wish to do?'

Harry paused in thought for a minute, his eyes glancing at the ceiling. Before too long he looked back down again and simply said 'Treacle Toffee.'

Stupefy!

For someone who had never cast a Stunning Charm before, Teddy's spell came out the best it possibly could. Regina Rowle collapsed into Harry's arms and he lowered her gently to the ground.

'I thought you were going to work it into a sentence!' protested Teddy as he pulled the Invisibility cloak off himself.

'I couldn't think of anything!' lamented Harry.

'Also, Treacle Toffee? Just why?'

'I don't know. It's something Dumbledore would've come up with. Now, would you please mind telling me what we're doing here?'

Teddy stared at the Veil and cautiously took a few steps closer.

'I was told to come here. Someone sent me using the inner eye. Almost like a prophecy.'

Harry's expression darkened. He of all people knew all about prophecies. That was what Teddy had used to convince him to take him here.

'Teddy,' he began grimly. 'A prophecy must be fulfilled, but to go chasing them like this –'

'Oh, you mean like what you did?'

Harry's next sentence chocked in his throat. Teddy had nailed him.

'I know where we are now,' Teddy continued. 'This is where he died, isn't it? Sirius Black.'

The name had been flowing through Teddy's mind since he'd first brought him up in front of Sir Cadogan. Sirius Black; the godfather of his godfather. A man who Harry name dropped very infrequently and neither one of them knew much about.

'He fell into that very Veil right there,' croaked Harry. 'It is a one way passage to the realm of the dead. The only thing that travels from there are the voices of those you have loved and lost.'

'Yes, I thought I was hearing something,' noted Teddy, inching closer.

'Sometimes, when I come here I think I can distinguish his voice, just on the other si – wait, what did you say?'

'The voices. I hear them too,' shrugged Teddy.

'But… only Luna and I could hear them,' stammered Harry. 'Only those who have seen death can…'

'Are you sure? Because I can hear something,' Teddy kept approaching one small step at a time. The Veil seemed to grow brighter and more transparent by the second.

'It's not much,' Teddy continued. 'It's faint. But it's there. It seems to be saying something to me. It sounds… desperate…'

He was beginning to slur his words. His eyelids felt heavy. The sensation was like falling asleep… but quicker.

What were the voices trying to say? Teddy could almost distinguish two words.

Get away.

Teddy sprung back from the Veil and tried to gain some distance. All too late. The Veil began glowing like a super charged laser beam and blasted Teddy's entire body.

He was unharmed, but the shock caused him to topple over just before a spirit emerged from the other side.

Instead of questioning how this could be, Harry ran to shield his godson as the Veil turned indigo and charged again.

Harry spread his arms wide out as he jumped, taking the full blast of indigo light before spiralling back down to the floor. The veil charged an indigo light yet again.

Teddy dodged this attack and realised it was going to keep repeating itself until it hit him. So he hid behind the steps while he came up with a plan to get out of there.

Problem was, he barely knew any spells, and even if he did surely nothing would be able to make a dent on such an old and powerful magical object. The most recent spell he'd learnt was the stupid Softening Charm.

Wait… could that work?

Spongify!

The steps in front of him became rubbery and springy as he cast the spell repeatedly. From then, every beam ricocheted off of them and either got lost in the walls or aimed straight back at the Veil, which sent a full refractive spectrum through the other side.

This went on for some time, before Regina Rowle finally came to her senses and cast Shielding Charm to protect herself. Barely noticing Harry (and completely missing Teddy), she made a mad dash for the stairs and practically dived through the door. Teddy took this opportunity to grab the Invisibility Cloak and hastily pull it over himself. Instantly the attacks stopped.

That was when he could get a clearer look at Harry. To his relief, he was still breathing, but something wasn't right. His body appeared fainter, slightly translucent, and when Teddy when to touch him his hand sunk slightly into his shoulder. Harry was no longer completely substantial, like he was the most human-like version of a ghost.