A/N: All HP canon character, locales, and objects belong to JK Rowling. I am not making any money for writing this story. I, Queen of Alexandria, am writing this story for fun only.
Italics represent thoughts. Replies to reviews are located at the end of the chapter.
UnspeakableChapter Three: Alive Again
Hermione arrived for work at the Department of Mysteries promptly at 8:30 the next day and spent the entire morning researching the veil. Thus far, her search for knowledge had produced nothing useful, and she was becoming frustrated. There was simply no information to be found regarding the veil. Hermione had come close to discovering something significant on only one occasion that morning. In the archives, she had found a file that was supposedly devoted to her topic, but the papers in the file had been suspiciously replaced with a report on the origins of the Unforgivable curses.
It seemed that someone had anticipated future inquiries about the veil and had taken measures to prevent any further discoveries. Unfortunately for Hermione, the thorough plans of her unknown opponent were successful.
After spending half an hour brainstorming possible new approaches to her seemingly impossible task, she had decided that she would look into all Department files about Orpheus McAllister. Details about his life would surely provide insight into his motive for creating the enigmatic veil.
It took Hermione only fifteen minutes to get permission from Harris to enter the office of Unspeakable personal files and retrieve the thick folder labeled Orpheus McAllister. However, reading the enclosed documents proved to be much more time-consuming. McAllister had been an Unspeakable for forty-two years and had made more discoveries and inventions than any other Unspeakable in the history of the Department; there was a great deal of material to be covered.
Reading the file was intriguing to Hermione, though. It also gave her a direction to take the investigation in. She learned that Orpheus had been an outgoing, optimistic person before the death of his wife, Eurydice. Supporters of Voldemort had murdered Eurydice during the first war, and Orpheus had seemed depressed and withdrawn from the world since then. According to other Unspeakables of the time, he arrived for work earlier than anyone else in the Department and worked excessively late hours every day. Others only glimpsed him every now and then because he never seemed to leave the room where he worked on a top-secret project that he refused to discuss.
Hermione was able to deduce that the top-secret project was the veil. She had been correct in thinking that its initial purpose was not use as a weapon. She surmised that it was a portal Orpheus had used in an attempt to bring Eurydice back to life, as he had most likely believed that the Death Eaters had unjustly robbed her of her life.
Because Sirius had not been able to return to the world of the living after his fall, the portal was obviously flawed; it only allowed one-way travel. She could also safely assume that Orpheus had realized his mistake. If he had tried to use the portal he would have met the same end as Sirius, but Orpheus had died of a heart attack.
Despite the fact that she had pieced together a great deal of information about the veil, Hermione felt that several pieces of the puzzle were still missing.
A few minutes later, she remembered something useful. Grace had told her that she had been assigned the case because no one else wanted it. They feared the veil because it had caused Orpheus McAllister to lose his mind. How did it cause his insanity? What did the veil do to him?
Hermione decided to ask Grace if she knew anything more about the matter; even seemingly trivial, irrelevant fragments of knowledge could often lead to crucial discoveries.
She walked as hastily as she could to her friend's cubicle only to see Grace preparing to leave. "Grace, do you know anything else about Orpheus McAllister or the veil?" she questioned in a rush.
"I don't know much because I only saw the man a few times; he was always shut up in a room somewhere working on that veil of his. I really have to go now, though. My pass to the Forbidden Archive expires in twenty minutes."
"The Forbidden Archive?" Hermione asked, confused. She had never heard of such a place within the Department.
"It's one of the most heavily guarded rooms in the Department. Unspeakables are only allowed enter with one of these spell-proof passes approved by Harris himself when it is an Unspeakable's last resort on an assignment," Grace explained, holding up a pass for Hermione to see.
"I have to go now if I want to finish my work, but I promise I'll talk to you later," Grace said.
"Wait! Can you get me a pass and take me with you? I need to search for more files about the veil, and it's very urgent," Hermione pleaded.
"Alright, I suppose I could. Wait here while I get you a pass and have mine renewed," Grace agreed before rushing off down the small corridor that led to Harris' office.
After a moment of standing alone in the cubicle in suspense, Hermione began to pace. It was an old habit that surfaced when she was engrossed in thought, trying to solve a particularly difficult problem. Despite the fact that she now walked with a cane, the habit had not disappeared. She felt as though she was on the verge of a major breakthrough in her assignment and could not seem to stand still.
Minutes seemed as long as hours, but Grace eventually returned and handed Hermione a small, square piece of parchment with Harris' signature on it. "Follow me," Grace said as she walked toward a doorway at the back of the main office.
She led Hermione through the maze of twisting corridors that lay beyond the doorway. Hermione noticed that the corridors became darker and narrower as they approached the Forbidden Archive. Thick layers of dust made it obvious that few people had traversed this area of the Department of Mysteries throughout the years.
They passed through two different magical security checkpoints. The concept behind the security system was similar to that of Gringotts. Each Unspeakable could be identified magically if he or she placed a hand on the heavy, wooden doors of the checkpoints. At the first, the Unspeakable had to be identified and submit a pass. The second station reconfirmed the identity of the person hoping to gain passage to the Forbidden Archive.
Finally, Hermione and Grace had entered the large, circular room filled with enormous, old, wooden chests that contained the most confidential of files. Grace found what she was looking for within twenty minutes, but Hermione had to search for quite a while before locating a file that had been submitted by Orpheus McAllister twenty-nine years ago.
As she searched, Grace had given her a few facts about Orpheus. Apparently, in his old age, he had acted somewhat demented. On the few occasions that other had seen him, they had noticed that he muttered under his breath, as if lost in his own world. Grace told Hermione that Orpheus had sometimes talked quietly to himself about "destroying the monstrosity." Hermione inferred that the "monstrosity" he referred to was the veil. He must have realized the dangers presented by his invention gone wrong.
By the time Hermione had retrieved the file and exited the Forbidden Archive, it was time for her to leave work. She was determined to solve the mystery surrounding the veil, so she took the file with her when she apparated home.
Upon arriving at her house, Hermione walked to her living room and sat down on the couch to peruse the papers she had obtained. Several hours' worth of reading was included in the file, and Hermione remained seated on the couch until late in the evening. Orpheus' detailed report became more shocking with every paragraph. By the time Hermione had finished reading the file, she was strongly tempted to do something very irrational.
According to his report, Orpheus had been trying to create a portal through which a living wizard or witch could summon someone who had died. He believed that Eurydice deserved to finish the rest of her lifetime, and he was prepared to do anything necessary to make his goal a reality. However, there had been an unanticipated hitch in the plan; no form of magic could bring someone back from the dead, regardless of how the person died. If death was the result of physical damage of any kind to the body, the person could never live again. Orpheus had discovered this when he had tried to summon Eurydice from beyond the veil. He reported that he had heard her voice; she had told him that magic would never be strong enough to revive the dead.
He had tried to cross the portal to physically pull Eurydice from the clutches of death, but she had begged him not to. Eurydice had known that Orpheus had made another mistake in the creation of the veil. Her disembodied voice had informed him that the portal would only allow one to travel one way. A living person who went beyond the veil would remain alive but would be trapped forever with the dead. The person would also remain unchanged; he or she would not age or be at all altered in appearance over time.
Orpheus had realized that he had not created something with which to regain his beloved Eurydice, but he had instead created something that could be used as a weapon in the hands of the wrong person. He had spent the rest of his life trying to destroy the veil. In case he died before he managed to complete the task, he had left a record in the Forbidden Archive. Orpheus had also written that the file was charmed; it could only be found by someone who was his equal or better because only such a person was capable of carrying out the task.
Hermione knew that Orpheus' quest to destroy the veil had eventually caused him to lose his mind, but she had deduced that he had been of sound mind when the file had been written.
I have a feeling that this information could be right. Although there is no proof, it seems logical. This means that Sirius may still be alive. If I could find a way to give the portal temporary two-way travel capabilities, Sirius and only Sirius could be summoned.
Hermione knew that the present situation was similar to the night Sirius had "died" in many ways. She would have to break into the Ministry building at night, so as to avoid being seen. Hermione was aware that the last time she had gone to the Department of Mysteries in the middle of the night to save a life, a life had been lost. However, even if it was a trap, she felt that she had to take action because there was a small chance that Sirius could still be alive.
He saved my life once. I owe it to him to try my best to rescue him from the veil. During the summer before her fifth year, Sirius had fought off three Death Eaters who had tried to attack her. Harry hadn't yet arrived at 12 Grimmauld Place when she had been ambushed. One evening, Hermione had flooed without permission to Diagon Alley, and on her return, the three had tried to kill her. Sirius had found her desperately trying to defend herself in a side street near the Order headquarters. After stunning them, he had cast memory charms to erase all recollection of his presence in the struggle from their minds.
Hermione still missed him at times because he had been such a great friend, and she felt that she owed it to him to take the risk. She vowed that she would bring him back.
Hermione did not go to bed until 2:00 in the morning, but even then she could not sleep. The veil and Sirius occupied her every thought, and thoughts continued to run through her mind of their own volition. While lying awake and staring up at the ceiling of her room, Hermione had inferred that a common summoning spell would not suffice to bring Sirius back through the veil. However, she did think that if she found a spell that could make the veil capable of allowing such a passage, Accio would work.
Thankfully, the next day was Hermione's day off from work because she had not fallen asleep until 4:30 A.M. On most days, she woke early, but that day was the exception to her rule; she slept until noon.
Hermione spent most of the afternoon in the living room, trying to find a spell she could use, but her efforts were in vain.
I wish there was some way to bring Sirius back. I still miss him, and reading that file gave me hope that he wasn't truly gone forever. So many other people miss him too. There has to be a way.
Hermione remembered how upset Harry was after the death of his godfather. Even if she was no longer his friend, she wanted to bring Sirius back because it would make him happy again. She remembered how Harry had not spoken to anyone unless he could find no way to avoid it for at least two weeks after the incident. He had spent much of his time trying to use the mirror Sirius had given him to talk to his godfather.
The mirror…That's it. James and Sirius used a spell to make the mirrors capable of two-way conversations. If the spell can be used to enchant mirrors, surely it could be applied to the veil in order to produce a similar result. Then I could use Accio to summon Sirius.
Hermione decided that the only way to find out what spell had been used was to ask Remus; he was the only remaining Marauder.
Hermione tried to use the Floo Network to contact Remus, but he was not at home, so she apparated to the dilapidated street that contained the front entrance to the Ministry of Magic. The façade of the building resembled a run-down, abandoned warehouse, but Hermione knew that the interior was well kept and extravagant.
She presented her Department of Mysteries ID at the front entrance and was allowed to enter. Most Ministry workers had left by this hour of the day, but a few essential departments would remain open.
Hermione made her way to the new headquarters of the Order of the Phoenix. Ten years ago, a group of Death Eaters had discovered that 12 Grimmauld Place was the location of Order headquarters, and they had destroyed the house; fortunately, no one was inside at the time. Shortly after becoming Minister of Magic, Kingsley Shacklebolt had found a vacated department in the Ministry building that could be used by the Order. It was located in a remote area of the building and disguised as a janitor's closet filled with cleaning supplies.
Upon entering the room, Hermione found herself surrounded by mops, cleaning solutions, dusters, etcetera. She walked to the back of the room, tapped the wall in a certain spot with her wand, and went through the doorway that appeared in the middle of the wall.
Remus Lupin was preparing to leave on a mission for the Order as Hermione arrived. "Remus, wait!" she called out before he could disapparate.
"Hermione, is there something wrong?" he asked with concern.
"I'm working on an assignment for the Department. I need to know the spell that Harry's father and Sirius used to enchant those mirrors, the ones they used to talk to each other when they had separate detentions."
Remus thought for a moment before answering. Finally, he seemed to remember and said, "They used Traicio. It makes an object that is already a spying device or a portal capable of two-way communication or transport."
"Thanks, Remus. I have to be going now, but maybe you can stop by for tea later when neither of us has to work," she said.
"Yes, maybe later. I haven't seen much of you lately. Congratulations on the job," he said with a smile before disapparating.
Hermione rushed from Order headquarters to the Department of Mysteries. When she reached the circular room with many doors, Hermione stopped for a moment to think. It had been thirteen years since she had gone to the room that contained the veil.
She planned to go to the veil room, use the spell she had learned from Remus, and then summon Sirius back through the veil. It was now 10:00 P.M., and Hermione realized that she had arrived at an opportune time to do such a thing because the Department would be nearly deserted at this hour.
She remembered that Harry had led the small group through the door directly across from the entrance to the circular room. Hermione walked to the door and pulled it open. After she had entered the room that lay behind it, the door closed and the circular room rotated.
Hermione swore under her breath, something that was uncharacteristic for her. She had forgotten that the room rotated after someone used a door other than the one that led to the main office. It would be more difficult to find her way out now, and tomorrow morning, the entire Department would realize that someone had been on the premises at a very late hour to do something that would most likely attract suspicion.
It's too late now. I've already done the damage, so I might as well do what I came here to do.
Hermione was now in the room that contained the tank of filled with brains. She recalled what had happened to Ron and drew her wand. Without pausing to glance at her surroundings, she hurried across the room to the door that she knew led to the room with the veil.
Hermione shivered as she entered the next room. The room, with its tiered stone steps, dim torchlight, and solid black floors, gave her a strange and unpleasant feeling that she couldn't quite place. She quietly walked down the stone steps with some difficulty, as they were tall, and she was unable to use her right leg.
Once she reached the center of the room, Hermione stood directly in front of the veil. She took a deep breath to steady herself before pointing her wand at the tattered, black curtain and saying, "Traicio."
The veil glowed a brilliant shade of pale blue for a moment before returning to its normal color. Hermione took this as a sign to proceed and said "Accio Sirius Black."
Hermione thought her plan had failed until a dark form came hurtling toward her through the veil. She recognized the man lying on the floor in front of her as Sirius. She waved her wand at the veil and said "Finite Incantatem," to undo the Traicio spell before kneeling next to Sirius.
As she had predicted, he looked to be the same as he was at the time the veil had taken him. Apparently crossing back to the world of the living had taken a toll on him, though, because he was barely conscious.
Sirius looked up at her in confusion before he recognized her. "Hermione…" he whispered.
"Yes, it's me. I've brought you back from the veil. We have to leave now, but we can't apparate. Can you walk?"
"I can try," he answered. Hermione helped Sirius to stand, and they walked toward the stone steps. It seemed to take an eternity for the two to reach the top, where the doorway was located. Sirius was very weak and had to lean heavily on Hermione, who was in turn, leaning heavily on her cane for support. She had tried to use magic, but her magic was very weak after such strenuous spell casting, and she could not afford to make an error now.
They tried to move as quickly as they could through the brain room, and luckily, the two of them managed to reach the exit safely.
As she opened the door to the circular room, Hermione heard a noise that sounded like footsteps. She couldn't tell where they were coming from, but they sounded as though they were approaching. She quickly chose a random door and entered the room that lay beyond it.
The room was darkened, and Hermione was nervous about standing in the unfamiliar area with no clue what else might be occupying the room. However, she chose not to use her wand for light because the person now outside the doorway might discover her hiding place. In a few moments, the footsteps passed, and Hermione sighed in relief. She and Sirius walked back into the circular room. Hermione quickly chose another doorway, and fortunately, it was the right one.
After traveling down the narrow entrance corridor and using the lift to reach the Atrium, Hermione and Sirius made their way to the street outside of the front entrance. Hermione kept an arm around Sirius and apparated to her house.
The two of them reappeared in the guest room, and Sirius, with help from Hermione, crossed the room and lay down on the bed to rest. Within a few minutes, he was asleep.
Hermione proceeded to check him for injuries, and discovered that he had a cut above his eye, a bruise on his arm, and a rather nasty looking scar where Bellatrix's curse had hit him in the center of his chest. Apparently, the curse itself had not "killed" Sirius; the force of the blast had pushed him through the veil.
Hermione used a healing charm to mend the cut and the bruise before collapsing into an armchair in the guest room and falling into a dreamless sleep.
Yet again, thanks for reading. Please review!
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