"Um... Dumbledore? Can I ask you a few things?", Harry asked.
"Yes Harry, go ahead"
"How did you know about the veil? Why did you say that you were the only living person that knew about it, aside from a few unspeakables? What else do you know about it that you are not telling me? And if it was as easy as going into that veil and pulling Sirius out or just standing outside the veil and saying "Accio spirit" to get back loved ones, why don't more people do it and why don't more people know?"
"Harry, I will explain in a minute,"
"Harry, I will explain in a minute, right after I apologize to you and your parents. If I would have remembered the significance of the veil many years ago, you could have been a family and because of my horrible memory, you had to delay that."
"But-", Harry stammered.
"Don't try and say that it wasn't my fault Harry, because it is. Now where was I? Oh, yes. You list of questions about the veil. Feel free, everyone, to interrupt during my explanation."
"Dobby!", Dumbledore exclaimed. With a pop, Dobby appeared.
"Can you please prepare the rooms?", asked Dumbledore.
"Yes Sir. Dobby knows what to do", Dobby replied, and with another pop, Dobby disappeared.
Dumbledore then conjured up 9 chairs and placed them in a circle in the middle of his office.
"Have a seat Lily. James. Sirius. Harry." Dumbledore told each one of them in turn. Dumbledore took a seat and Sirius sat down next to him. James, not having seen Sirius or Harry in a long time, sat next to Sirius. Harry sat next to James, and Lily on the other side of Harry. Harry was just starting to feel like he had a family again.
"So, Albus, what are the four extra seats for?" Sirius asked.
Dumbledore then paused, and looked toward the door as if in anticipation of something. And as he did so, Hermione, Ron, Ginny, and Mrs. Weasley walked through the doorway. Dumbledore turned to face them.
"Right on time. I was just about to explain about the veil."
Hermione, Ron, Ginny, and Mrs. Weasley nodded. Dumbledore then asked them to take a seat. So, Mrs. Weasley sat next to Dumbledore and Ginny sat next to her. Hermione opted to sit next to Lily and Ron took the seat in between Hermione and Ginny. Apparently they knew everything about what was going on. Dumbledore's letter probably explained. Though all of them, especially Mrs. Weasley, were looking a little bewildered and kept sneaking glances at Sirius, Lily, and James.
"Okay then," Dumbledore said, "I suppose that I should start way back to when the veil was first created."
"In the year 1467, when Nicholas Flamel was one-hundred and thirty- five years old, he created a mysterious device that he told no one of. He reasoned with himself that once people died, they would know the secrets of this device. He thought that people did not need to know what came after life until they died. You see, Nicholas created the veil, which as you all know is the precise device that I am talking about, so that the spirits inside the bodies of dead witches, wizards and anyone with magical blood, would have somewhere to go and be amongst other spirits."
Dumbledore paused, apparently out of breath. He breathed deeply and continued on.
"Behind that veil is another world or dimension in which spirits are able to go after they die, if they meet the requirements that Flamel set up."
"To get in, a spirit must be kind, caring, and respectful. They must have been an over-all good person in life. They also must be ready to move on and enter afterlife. If a spirit is not ready to move on or died from evil causes, but meets the rest of the requirements, that spirit will linger just behind the curtain waiting either until it is ready to move on or until someone from the living world, who is blood related to the spirit comes to restore it to it's body."
"These spirits have the ability of speech, which is what I believe that Mr. Potter here heard coming from behind the veil the night you went to "rescue" Sirius."
"The spirits that fully enter the spirit world, designed and built by Nicholas, loose the ability to speak and communicate instead, by thought. The spirit world, as I have seen, is very similar to that of the living world. It is basically a miniature wizarding community in its own."
Harry then decided to interrupt Dumbledore's explanation, as he had just realized something.
"Uh- Professor Dumbledore? Did you say that you have seen it?", he asked.
"Yes, Harry. I will explain", Dumbledore replied. "Now, when Nicholas constructed this veil, he put every protection he could think of on it for many purposes. Some were to protect it against falling into the wrong hands, some were to keep muggles away from it, and so on. But, he didn't think of one thing."
"What was that, Professor Dumbledore?", Hermione asked after a long pause of silence.
"He did not think of what would happen if a living person somehow went through that veil. In fact, the idea didn't occur to him until I fell into that veil about 483 years later."
There was another long pause of silence while everyone sat there, stunned.
"Did you just say that you fell through that f***ing veil too? Did I hear correctly?" Sirius asked.
"Yes, I did. I was twenty-three years old at the time. I was in the lab testing out some experiments when, rather clumsily I might add, I slipped on a banana peel that had been dropped by the monkey that we brought in so that we could test on him. We were going to try to make him immortal, using the Sorcerer's Stone. Anyway, when I slipped, I got knocked out, as you did Sirius. I flew right into the veil. When Nicolas arrived later that day, he saw the banana on the floor and the curtain to the veil slightly ruffled. He figured that I must have gone through. So, he put the same spell on himself that I put on Harry. It allows you to go into the veil and retrieve the person you are looking for and then pulls you out when you say 'finite'. After he pulled me out, he explained the veil to me and then we re-located the veil to the Department of Mysteries. That is where it has been ever since. Not many people know about it, because the Ministry believes that it is wrong to change the past. They think that everything happens for a reason, so that is why we moved it to the Department of Mysteries."
As Dumbledore finished his explanation, he turned to the Weasley's and Hermione and said "Oh, silly old me. I forgot to introduce you. Molly, you already know Lily and James of course. But, you three don't. Harry, why don't you introduce them?"
"Okay. Mom, Dad... this is Ron Weasley. He is one of my two best friends. And this is Hermione Granger. She is my other best friend. And this is Ginny Weasley. She is Ron's little sister, but also a really great friend."
"Ron, Hermione, Ginny. These are my parents, Lily and James Potter."
Albus Dumbledore then cleared his throat and said, "Lily, James. Your house was destroyed the night that Voldemort killed you. So, you are welcome to stay here at Hogwarts until we can get a new one built for you in Godric's Hollow. Let me show you to your room. Oh, and Harry? Once school starts, you will reside in the rooms where your parents will be living. This is for your safety. Sirius, there will be a room for you here too, as you don't have anywhere to go either, so you come with us. And Ginny, Hermione and Ron, you are welcome to remain here over the summer. Even if you don't, you will still reside in the rooms which Harry, Lily, James, and Sirius are living during the school year for your safety. But Molly, I have a feeling that you will want to get home."
Dumbledore spoke the last sentence with a twinkle in his blue eyes.
"Why?", Mrs. Weasley asked.
"Because Fred and George are visiting your house right now, and letting off a strange display of fireworks in the house."
"Oh Dear...", Mrs. Weasley sighed. She then turned to Ginny, Hermione, and Ron. "Do you want to stay here over the summer?"
"Yes Mum! Please!" Ginny begged.
"I'd love to!" Hermione said. "I think that it would be very educational!"
"Sure", Ron added. He was secretly hoping to spend more time with Hermione. If she was staying, he wanted to also.
"Then I hope to see you all during Christmas break.", Mrs. Weasley said. She kissed Ron and Ginny and then grabbed a fistful of floo powder, threw it into the fire and cried "The Burrow!"
And with that, she was gone.
"Okay then. Everyone, follow me." Dumbledore said.
He led them down out the door of his office and down a revolving staircase, and down a hallway. They made a right and then went down a flight of stairs and walked down another hallway that ended in a dead end. They stopped at a portrait of a rather slender lady and Dumbledore spoke again.
"The password is currently 'Dumbledore's Army', which Harry will probably explain to anyone who doesn't know about it", he said. "But you can change it by informing this lady. She will be guarding your rooms."
The portrait swung open as Dumbledore stated the password. It revealed a large common room and three staircases leading off of it. Everyone scrambled in and the portrait swung shut.
Dumbledore then said, "I added an extra portrait to each of your rooms for extra protection. Once Voldemort finds out that Lily and James are alive, none of you are going to be safe. You will ALL reside here during the school year. You may share with each other the passwords to your rooms, but only if you want people to be able to gain access to your room. You may not however, under any circumstance let anyone know the password to your common room unless they live here. Understand?"
Seven heads nodded and Dumbledore then pointed to the staircase at the far right.
"Sirius, your room is located at the top of that staircase. It is behind a portrait of Buckbeak, the Hippogriff. Your password is currently Sirius Black, but remember to change it. Ron, your room is located half way up the staircase. It is behind a portrait of the seeker from the Chudley Cannons. Your password is currently Ron Weasley."
Dumbledore pointed the staircase at the far left of the common room.
"Incase you haven't noticed, everyone's password is currently their full name. Make sure that you change it. Ginny, your room is at the top of that staircase. It's behind a portrait of a Unicorn named Rose Petal and her daughter, Rainbow. Hermione, your room is half way up that staircase behind a portrait of Rowena Ravenclaw. She was quite clever, you know."
Next, Dumbledore pointed to the staircase down the hallway in the middle of the common room.
"Lily and James. Your room is two-thirds of the way up that staircase behind a portrait of Godric Gryffindor. Since there is two of you in that room, your password is currently just 'Potter'. And Harry, your room is at the top of that staircase behind a portrait of myself. There is a smaller common room to be shared by Lily, James, and Harry a third of the way up behind a portrait of a mermaid. The password is currently mermaid."
"Well, what a day!", Dumbledore then exclaimed. "It has been very, very long. In fact, I haven't eaten all day! And now it is 11:30 p.m.! I suggest that you all go up to your rooms and change your passwords. Then I suggest you go to bed. It is late and we have a big day tomorrow too. Please meet me in the Great Hall for breakfast at 9:00 tomorrow morning. Goodnight!"
Dumbledore pushed open the portrait and climbed out. Ron and Sirius made their way up on flight of stairs, Ginny and Hermione another, and Lily, James, and Harry the last one. When Harry and his parents reached the first portrait, he said "mermaid" and the portrait swung open, revealing a small common room with two couches, a big coffee table, and a few chairs here and there.
"What should we change the password to?", Harry asked his parents.
"How about we let the mermaid decide?", Lily suggested.
"Okay", said the mermaid. "The new password is 'Under the Sea'. I love that song! You can change it any time. Just let me know."
With that, the portrait swung shut again, and they continued to trudge up the stairs. At the next portrait, this one of Godric Gryffindor, Harry said goodnight to his parents and went up to his room.
"Harry Potter", Harry said to the portrait of Albus Dumbledore. "But I wish to change the password to 'Nicholas Flamel', for now."
"Okay Harry", said Albus with a twinkle in his eyes.
The portrait swung open, and revealed Harry's room. Harry couldn't see anything because it was so dark and he was so tired. He quickly changed into his pajamas and climbed into his bed. He was asleep within minutes.
A/N: Read and Review Time!!! (All of you should thank bookworm04- my only reviewer from the last chapter. He's the reason I updated.)
Please read and review!!!!
"Yes Harry, go ahead"
"How did you know about the veil? Why did you say that you were the only living person that knew about it, aside from a few unspeakables? What else do you know about it that you are not telling me? And if it was as easy as going into that veil and pulling Sirius out or just standing outside the veil and saying "Accio spirit" to get back loved ones, why don't more people do it and why don't more people know?"
"Harry, I will explain in a minute,"
"Harry, I will explain in a minute, right after I apologize to you and your parents. If I would have remembered the significance of the veil many years ago, you could have been a family and because of my horrible memory, you had to delay that."
"But-", Harry stammered.
"Don't try and say that it wasn't my fault Harry, because it is. Now where was I? Oh, yes. You list of questions about the veil. Feel free, everyone, to interrupt during my explanation."
"Dobby!", Dumbledore exclaimed. With a pop, Dobby appeared.
"Can you please prepare the rooms?", asked Dumbledore.
"Yes Sir. Dobby knows what to do", Dobby replied, and with another pop, Dobby disappeared.
Dumbledore then conjured up 9 chairs and placed them in a circle in the middle of his office.
"Have a seat Lily. James. Sirius. Harry." Dumbledore told each one of them in turn. Dumbledore took a seat and Sirius sat down next to him. James, not having seen Sirius or Harry in a long time, sat next to Sirius. Harry sat next to James, and Lily on the other side of Harry. Harry was just starting to feel like he had a family again.
"So, Albus, what are the four extra seats for?" Sirius asked.
Dumbledore then paused, and looked toward the door as if in anticipation of something. And as he did so, Hermione, Ron, Ginny, and Mrs. Weasley walked through the doorway. Dumbledore turned to face them.
"Right on time. I was just about to explain about the veil."
Hermione, Ron, Ginny, and Mrs. Weasley nodded. Dumbledore then asked them to take a seat. So, Mrs. Weasley sat next to Dumbledore and Ginny sat next to her. Hermione opted to sit next to Lily and Ron took the seat in between Hermione and Ginny. Apparently they knew everything about what was going on. Dumbledore's letter probably explained. Though all of them, especially Mrs. Weasley, were looking a little bewildered and kept sneaking glances at Sirius, Lily, and James.
"Okay then," Dumbledore said, "I suppose that I should start way back to when the veil was first created."
"In the year 1467, when Nicholas Flamel was one-hundred and thirty- five years old, he created a mysterious device that he told no one of. He reasoned with himself that once people died, they would know the secrets of this device. He thought that people did not need to know what came after life until they died. You see, Nicholas created the veil, which as you all know is the precise device that I am talking about, so that the spirits inside the bodies of dead witches, wizards and anyone with magical blood, would have somewhere to go and be amongst other spirits."
Dumbledore paused, apparently out of breath. He breathed deeply and continued on.
"Behind that veil is another world or dimension in which spirits are able to go after they die, if they meet the requirements that Flamel set up."
"To get in, a spirit must be kind, caring, and respectful. They must have been an over-all good person in life. They also must be ready to move on and enter afterlife. If a spirit is not ready to move on or died from evil causes, but meets the rest of the requirements, that spirit will linger just behind the curtain waiting either until it is ready to move on or until someone from the living world, who is blood related to the spirit comes to restore it to it's body."
"These spirits have the ability of speech, which is what I believe that Mr. Potter here heard coming from behind the veil the night you went to "rescue" Sirius."
"The spirits that fully enter the spirit world, designed and built by Nicholas, loose the ability to speak and communicate instead, by thought. The spirit world, as I have seen, is very similar to that of the living world. It is basically a miniature wizarding community in its own."
Harry then decided to interrupt Dumbledore's explanation, as he had just realized something.
"Uh- Professor Dumbledore? Did you say that you have seen it?", he asked.
"Yes, Harry. I will explain", Dumbledore replied. "Now, when Nicholas constructed this veil, he put every protection he could think of on it for many purposes. Some were to protect it against falling into the wrong hands, some were to keep muggles away from it, and so on. But, he didn't think of one thing."
"What was that, Professor Dumbledore?", Hermione asked after a long pause of silence.
"He did not think of what would happen if a living person somehow went through that veil. In fact, the idea didn't occur to him until I fell into that veil about 483 years later."
There was another long pause of silence while everyone sat there, stunned.
"Did you just say that you fell through that f***ing veil too? Did I hear correctly?" Sirius asked.
"Yes, I did. I was twenty-three years old at the time. I was in the lab testing out some experiments when, rather clumsily I might add, I slipped on a banana peel that had been dropped by the monkey that we brought in so that we could test on him. We were going to try to make him immortal, using the Sorcerer's Stone. Anyway, when I slipped, I got knocked out, as you did Sirius. I flew right into the veil. When Nicolas arrived later that day, he saw the banana on the floor and the curtain to the veil slightly ruffled. He figured that I must have gone through. So, he put the same spell on himself that I put on Harry. It allows you to go into the veil and retrieve the person you are looking for and then pulls you out when you say 'finite'. After he pulled me out, he explained the veil to me and then we re-located the veil to the Department of Mysteries. That is where it has been ever since. Not many people know about it, because the Ministry believes that it is wrong to change the past. They think that everything happens for a reason, so that is why we moved it to the Department of Mysteries."
As Dumbledore finished his explanation, he turned to the Weasley's and Hermione and said "Oh, silly old me. I forgot to introduce you. Molly, you already know Lily and James of course. But, you three don't. Harry, why don't you introduce them?"
"Okay. Mom, Dad... this is Ron Weasley. He is one of my two best friends. And this is Hermione Granger. She is my other best friend. And this is Ginny Weasley. She is Ron's little sister, but also a really great friend."
"Ron, Hermione, Ginny. These are my parents, Lily and James Potter."
Albus Dumbledore then cleared his throat and said, "Lily, James. Your house was destroyed the night that Voldemort killed you. So, you are welcome to stay here at Hogwarts until we can get a new one built for you in Godric's Hollow. Let me show you to your room. Oh, and Harry? Once school starts, you will reside in the rooms where your parents will be living. This is for your safety. Sirius, there will be a room for you here too, as you don't have anywhere to go either, so you come with us. And Ginny, Hermione and Ron, you are welcome to remain here over the summer. Even if you don't, you will still reside in the rooms which Harry, Lily, James, and Sirius are living during the school year for your safety. But Molly, I have a feeling that you will want to get home."
Dumbledore spoke the last sentence with a twinkle in his blue eyes.
"Why?", Mrs. Weasley asked.
"Because Fred and George are visiting your house right now, and letting off a strange display of fireworks in the house."
"Oh Dear...", Mrs. Weasley sighed. She then turned to Ginny, Hermione, and Ron. "Do you want to stay here over the summer?"
"Yes Mum! Please!" Ginny begged.
"I'd love to!" Hermione said. "I think that it would be very educational!"
"Sure", Ron added. He was secretly hoping to spend more time with Hermione. If she was staying, he wanted to also.
"Then I hope to see you all during Christmas break.", Mrs. Weasley said. She kissed Ron and Ginny and then grabbed a fistful of floo powder, threw it into the fire and cried "The Burrow!"
And with that, she was gone.
"Okay then. Everyone, follow me." Dumbledore said.
He led them down out the door of his office and down a revolving staircase, and down a hallway. They made a right and then went down a flight of stairs and walked down another hallway that ended in a dead end. They stopped at a portrait of a rather slender lady and Dumbledore spoke again.
"The password is currently 'Dumbledore's Army', which Harry will probably explain to anyone who doesn't know about it", he said. "But you can change it by informing this lady. She will be guarding your rooms."
The portrait swung open as Dumbledore stated the password. It revealed a large common room and three staircases leading off of it. Everyone scrambled in and the portrait swung shut.
Dumbledore then said, "I added an extra portrait to each of your rooms for extra protection. Once Voldemort finds out that Lily and James are alive, none of you are going to be safe. You will ALL reside here during the school year. You may share with each other the passwords to your rooms, but only if you want people to be able to gain access to your room. You may not however, under any circumstance let anyone know the password to your common room unless they live here. Understand?"
Seven heads nodded and Dumbledore then pointed to the staircase at the far right.
"Sirius, your room is located at the top of that staircase. It is behind a portrait of Buckbeak, the Hippogriff. Your password is currently Sirius Black, but remember to change it. Ron, your room is located half way up the staircase. It is behind a portrait of the seeker from the Chudley Cannons. Your password is currently Ron Weasley."
Dumbledore pointed the staircase at the far left of the common room.
"Incase you haven't noticed, everyone's password is currently their full name. Make sure that you change it. Ginny, your room is at the top of that staircase. It's behind a portrait of a Unicorn named Rose Petal and her daughter, Rainbow. Hermione, your room is half way up that staircase behind a portrait of Rowena Ravenclaw. She was quite clever, you know."
Next, Dumbledore pointed to the staircase down the hallway in the middle of the common room.
"Lily and James. Your room is two-thirds of the way up that staircase behind a portrait of Godric Gryffindor. Since there is two of you in that room, your password is currently just 'Potter'. And Harry, your room is at the top of that staircase behind a portrait of myself. There is a smaller common room to be shared by Lily, James, and Harry a third of the way up behind a portrait of a mermaid. The password is currently mermaid."
"Well, what a day!", Dumbledore then exclaimed. "It has been very, very long. In fact, I haven't eaten all day! And now it is 11:30 p.m.! I suggest that you all go up to your rooms and change your passwords. Then I suggest you go to bed. It is late and we have a big day tomorrow too. Please meet me in the Great Hall for breakfast at 9:00 tomorrow morning. Goodnight!"
Dumbledore pushed open the portrait and climbed out. Ron and Sirius made their way up on flight of stairs, Ginny and Hermione another, and Lily, James, and Harry the last one. When Harry and his parents reached the first portrait, he said "mermaid" and the portrait swung open, revealing a small common room with two couches, a big coffee table, and a few chairs here and there.
"What should we change the password to?", Harry asked his parents.
"How about we let the mermaid decide?", Lily suggested.
"Okay", said the mermaid. "The new password is 'Under the Sea'. I love that song! You can change it any time. Just let me know."
With that, the portrait swung shut again, and they continued to trudge up the stairs. At the next portrait, this one of Godric Gryffindor, Harry said goodnight to his parents and went up to his room.
"Harry Potter", Harry said to the portrait of Albus Dumbledore. "But I wish to change the password to 'Nicholas Flamel', for now."
"Okay Harry", said Albus with a twinkle in his eyes.
The portrait swung open, and revealed Harry's room. Harry couldn't see anything because it was so dark and he was so tired. He quickly changed into his pajamas and climbed into his bed. He was asleep within minutes.
A/N: Read and Review Time!!! (All of you should thank bookworm04- my only reviewer from the last chapter. He's the reason I updated.)
Please read and review!!!!