Chapter 11:
Preparation

Lupin began to explain how Liam, Ginny, Angel and Lupin himself would be recovering Sirius from behind the veil.

"In the bowels of the ministry is an entrance portal to a different world; a different dimension. The ministry has been studying this dimension, but still very little is known. We have found several exit portals. However, no exit portal has been found within the ministry building. The ministry has been studying this dimension, but very little is known. "

'We are sure that Sirius is still alive in this dimension, but lost in the ether. His whispers have been heard by several people, one of these being you, Angel."

Angel was taken aback. He had suspected that the whisper was Sirius'. He had heard it so many times in his dreams, so many dreams that now were only of Sirius in the dark and werewolves howling. Yet, Angel kept telling himself it was just imagination.

But how did Lupin know? Angel hadn't told anyone about the whisper, not even Ginny or Liam.

Lupin continued, "One of the exit portals is in the closet of the trophy room at Hogwarts. Seems you have been seen in that closet a few times. Dumbledore concluded that Sirius's whisper had been pulling you there…….Is his conclusion correct?"

Angel nodded.

Lupin gave Angel a comforting smile.

"Now I will continue with the most important part of this meeting. The reason you three have been chosen for this mission."

Lupin continued sounding as if teaching his DADA class, "Bellatrix, who is a member of Sirius' family is responsible for Siri being in this void. The magic she used is was very powerful. We have never yet been able to retrieve anyone from the void. We have been attempting to retrieve Sirius since he fell in. All out attempts have been fruitless. Only recently have we learned why."

"Everything in nature has a balance. Every action has a consequence. If used incorrectly, magic can upset that balance, but the universe will eventually win. The attempt to save Sirius can only be done using someone related to Sirius, someone who is Sirius' blood relation."

"It was 'blood' that sent Sirius into the void and it must be 'blood' that retrieves him from the void. This is true 'blood' magic."

"Me?" asked Angel. "I am his blood? I am going to save him?"

"You are his blood relation, Angel. If you agree to do it, you will be rescuing him, but with all of us helping you. I will explain what we are planning and then will ask you to decide if it is something you are willing to do. The plan can always be changed if you decide against it."

"You are wondering what is being planned?

"Angel will be going through the veil, find Sirius, lead him to an exit portal and back to our dimension. Very straight forward and simple."

"Yet there are a few more things we need to think about. The search for Sirius will take place in the complete darkness of the void. There will be no place of reference given from inside. Once Sirius is found, you, Angel, must make sure to keep track of him…yes keep track of him, then locate one of the exit portals while leading Sirius; again all of this in complete darkness."

"Oh yes, one more important detail, the portal cannot be open more than a second.
When a portal is opened, it disrupts everything around it. If open too long, changes to matter and gravity will be so great that we do not even want to think about the consequences."

Lupin leaned back, smiled and folded his hands on the table, amused at the expressions on Liam, Ginny and Angel's faces.

"Sound impossible?"

"Here is how we are going to do it."

"When you enter the void, the first thing is to find Sirius. We know that he is whispering to you, so you could follow that whisper, but that is not enough and we can't count on it. Angel, you have the ring that I gave to you?"

Angle nodded.

"This ring is Sirius' ring. We will put several spells on it. First, when in the void, the ring will glow when near its owner, Sirius; glowing brighter the nearer you get, eventually giving off enough light to see a bit through the blackness. This will help you find Sirius. You will also have the whisper. Although this seems very little to go on, we know that Sirius isn't deep into the void, only at the edges. We know this, since only those on the edges can still be heard on the outside."

"Once you find him, you must keep track of him so that he is not lost again. You must keep him with you."

"Then you must find your way to one of the portals. And this must be done in the darkness of the void. Angel, this is where Shadow becomes important. I was watching you in the morning after the full moon and saw how much the wolf was still on you, how much he was still remembered."

Lupin smiled, holding back a laugh, "Your instincts were still very sharp." He continued, "If other wolves had been near, you would have been closely drawn to them as well."

"Odin and the brother wolves will be stationed just this side of the exit portals. You will be drawn to the wolves, therefore finding your way out."

"The portals will be closed. We cannot see you through them,so we will not know when you have come to one. The wolf on the other side may sense someone there, but we can only open it for one second and cannot use the wolf's sense for this…… Instead we will put a spell on the ring to act as a key to the portal. When you get close to it, the portal will open and you will be sucked through it into our dimension."

"Any questions yet?"

"This is going to be done at the next full moon?" Angel asked.

"Not exactly, Angel. If Voldemort gets wind of this, he will be expecting it to be at full moon and will have his wolves ready to ruin the plan. Also, you must go in as Angel and not Shadow. No, we are going to do it the evening after full moon."

Angel looked puzzled.

"There are several ways to transform, once you have been bitten. One is during full moon. Another way is by magic or potion. Those who wait at the portals will take the potion to make them transform. You, on the other hand, will not. You must go in and find Sirius as Angel, not Shadow. We feel that the blood magic is exacting. Yet, being so soon after full moon, you will be able to sense one of the wolves and find the portal."

"I have been watching you for the last month. Seeing the way you handled yourself before and after full moon….. I am very proud. I would not ask this of you unless I believed you could do it…….."

"Yes," interrupted Angel. "Yes, I will do it."

Lupin beamed at Angel, his eyes beginning to mist over, "Thank you Angel."

When he composed himself again, Lupin continued.

"A few more things. First, Angel, I will be giving you some excercises that will allow you to more easily concentrate and focus once you get into the void. This will keep you from being disoriented…..Liam, I am expecting you to help Angel with this."

"And Liam, I will be waiting at one of the portals. I will be expecting you to be with Angel as he enters the veil."

"Next, only a few wizards know we are doing this and it must be kept that way. We are certain that the Black women will become aware of our intentions once Angel has stepped into the void. However, Dumbledore has taken care of that situation."

"Ginny, what I need you to do is to keep us safe here by diverting anyone who may decide to come into the ministry at that time. There may be DEs as well."

Lupin knew that the ministry had protection and diversion under control and did not need anyone else to help with this, but Ginny, being so close to Angel, would have found out about the mission and would have wanted to be part of it. In this way she would have something to do before and during the mission.

The month went by very quickly as preparations were made.

Every evening Liam and Angel practiced the centering excercises. They entered a large, completely dark room. Liam hid an object and Angel walked through the room until he found it. This helped Angel get used to being in the dark as well as locate inanimate objects in the dark.

They also practiced finding a person in the dark, without a light. This would help Angel find Sirius in the void. Liam sat quietly in a part of the room until Angel found him. After only a few evenings, Angel could heart Liam's breathing. After a week, he was able to hear Liam's heart beat. Yes, Angel had a gift.

Throughout these sessions Angel and Liam grew closer.

Ginny was very busy learning the protection and diversion spells.

Angel learned many other things. During one of their talks, Lupin explained that prior to Angel becoming a werewolf, there was a slightly different plan for Sirius' return. Originally, Moony was to go into the void with Angel, to help guide Sirius and Angel back to a portal. However the Order was not sure whether Moony would be able to use the exit portal himself. He may have been lost within the void. But Lupin was willing, if there was even a chance. Yet now that Angel was a wolf himself, there was no need to risk Lupin's freedom.

Angel also found that it was not entirely safe for the wolves to take the transformation potion on the evening after full moon.

At the Veil

It was time.

Angel stood outside the veil, Liam standing next to him, holding the black leather jacket.

Ginny was one floor up casting the needed diversion spells. Lupin was in position at one of the portals. It was just Liam and Angel.

Angel checked to make sure he had everything, yup the ring was on his finger. Around his neck was a chain with a leather case attached. He opened the case to make sure the charm was glowing. Yes, good. He put it back into it's protective case.

Attached to a belt loop of his jeans was his swiss army knife. A 16th birthday present from Fred and George, who were convinced it would come in handy, especially as they had sharpened the blades magically.

Liam held out Sirius' black leather jacket and helped Angel slip it on. The jacket looked like it was almost as big as Angel himself. Stowing something into a pocket of the jacket, Liam kissed Angel's neck.

Turning around to look at Liam, they embraced briefly. Angel rolled up the sleeves on the jacket.

Taking a deep breath and closing his eyes briefly, Angel turned toward the veil…….

…… and stepped through.