Chapter 11: Beyond The Veil

Harry saw a red light coming for him and he knew it was to late to counter it. The light hit him in the chest and he flew through the air and into the veil. Once he fell behind it he felt the sensation of Side-Along Apparation and he hit the ground with a sharp stinging pain in his chest.

'It looks like someone wanted to visit me, I see.' a voice said, pulling Harry to his feet.

The man before him was Sirius Black, who looked the same as the last time he had seen him except his hair was reaching Dumbledore length, if not longer. He even had the beard for it.

'Sirius! I knew you were alive! Unless... I'm not dead am I?' Harry asked, still holding onto his chest in pain.

'No. If we were dead, I would of found James already and we would be pulling pranks on all of the other dead people.' Sirius said, 'Thing is, I am starving and I haven't had anything to eat since the morning that we came to the Ministry. How long ago was that?'

'That was almost two years ago. Your name got cleared after you fell through the veil and everyone believed you to be dead. I didn't believe it though. And now I am here.'

'You are in your last year at Hogwarts Harry? Thats wonderful!' Sirius shouted.

'I was in my last year. McGonagall shut the school down. To many deaths.' Harry said, 'I was Head Boy too.'

'McGonagall? But what about Dumbledore? Is he out fighting Voldemort with the Order?' Sirius asked.

'No. Snape killed Dumbledore. He also knocked me into the veil after I killed Bellatrix and Lucius.' Harry said to Sirius.

'Can you explain all of it to me Harry?' Sirius asked.

Harry nodded and he explained. Months passed and Harry had been keeping track of the days on the wall in the room they sat in. It was end of term if Harry was in school now.

'Sirius, don't tell me that you haven't tried exploring this place.' Harry said.

'I have, but problem is, its a two man job. Magic cannot be casted here and it is switches and levers and like one man pulls a lever and other enters door. But if you let go of the lever, the door closes.' Sirius told Harry.

'Lets do it. I am seriously bored.' Harry said, standing up. Harry's Hair was getting longer and he was starting to look like Sirius did when he was in Grimmauld Place.

Sirius walked Harry down a hall and they reached the end, a big metal door standing there. Harry pulled on the lever but it wouldn't budge. Sirius pulled on it and it slowly moved. Harry ran through the door and held onto a metal lever which moved out. Sirius let go and ran through the door and Harry let go. They ventured up a staircase and came across another room. This continued for three or so months and they finally reached a door. Both of them pulled the levers and the door opened, and opened it stayed. There stood a veil.

'On the count of three we go through.' Sirius said as Harry nodded, 'One, two, three!'

Both of them ran through and it felt like they were apparating before falling out in the main room of the Department of Mysterys.

'We made it back. We did it! Sirius, I forgot to tell you something. Fudge was sacked and Scrimgeour took his place. The day I was put into the veil, he died so that means we have a new Minister of Magic who I do not know.'

'Well, I just want to get out of here and enjoy the fresh air. And maybe I will get a haircut.' Sirius said, winking to Harry. The two jumped onto the lift and began going up. Everything was dark and then they saw a lighted room and someone look at them.

'Oh no, someone spotted us!' Harry said to Sirius.

'No worries Harry. We will make it out.' Sirius said, laughing.

The two of them heard the lift going down and they ran toward some couches, jumping behind them. The door opened and they heard the sounds of someone walking across the marble floor.

'Come out now! Show yourself!' The voice said, but when nobody did anything they heard him yell again, 'Accio Wand!'

Harry's wand flew out of his hand and the man began walking towards Harry's hiding place when he heard Sirius jump up and someone fall to the ground. Harry stood up and looked at Sirius.

'Now we can get out of here. I wonder what bloke from the ministry I stunned. Oh my... It's Ron!' Shouted Sirius who was surprised.

'Are you serious, Sirus? That was Ron?' Harry said back to Sirius.

'Yeah. Harry, here is your wand. We should tie him to the chair before waking him up so he doesn't jump to conclusions. Sirius said, taking Ron's wand and casting a spell with his own to make ropes wrap around Ron.

Harry approached Ron and awakened him. Ron was looking towards the floor and then he looked up.

'Harry! Sirius! I thought you were dead!' shouted Ron.

'Not likely.' Harry said, looking at Ron.

Ron looked at Harry suspiciously and began to speak, 'How do I know that you two are not Death Eaters?'

'Who else has Ravenclaw's ring which I took from Bellatrix after she died, and Hufflepuff's cup after using it to kill Lucius?' asked Harry as he pulled the two items out of his pocket.

'Okay, I believe you now Harry. But I want to know what it was like beyond the veil.' Ron said to Harry curiously.

'First, I would like to know who was appointed the new Minister of Magic, and what Voldemort is up to. Also, what time is it?' Harry asked.

'It is only half past seven at night. We have an order meeting at eight and I think it would be good for you two to come.' Ron said to Harry as Sirius lifted the spell off Ron and handed him the wand again.

'We would of came anyways Ron. It is my house after all.' Sirius said laughing at Ron, 'What kind of job do you have at the ministry?'

'I'm being trained by Ludo Bagman who wishes to retire next year and give me his job.' Ron said happily, 'And as for the Minister, nobody is supposed to know who it is, and nobody does.' We should go early so I can explain it to you. But lets go to a room around the back so nobody sees us if they come in.'

The three of them apparated outside of the house and entered it slowly, sneaking upstairs. Sirius opened his door to his room and entered it along with Harry and Ron.

'So tell us now. Who is the new Minister. I know you know.' Harry whispered.

'My dad.' Ron replied, 'And as for the Death Eaters and You-Know- er Voldemort, Dad got Moody and Tonks to organize a cleaning of Azkaban, driving the Dementors away. Aurors control Azkaban now and there are so many enchantments on it. Almost all the Death Eaters are there or dead. Except Pettigrew, he kind of vanished. You see, after you were blasted into the veil, Lupin got angry, and I mean really angry. More angry than I ever saw Snape at school. He applied the Cruciatus curse and Snape dropped his wand, then Pettigrew appeared behind Snape and took the wand. He used the killing curse, saying that the death of Snape was because of making Pettigrew his slave and knocking you into the veil. He said he never had a chance to repay his wizard's debt to you. Which means -'

Sirius interuppted and finished Ron's sentence, 'Bad luck. So who is still alive or unknown about?'

'We know Greyback is still around, and Narcissa Malfoy. She is the last living Malfoy.' Ron said quickly, 'It sounds like everyone is here. Hermione comes here for her meetings with McGonagall. Hermione is the new Transfiguration teacher by the way. I don't know why she is teaching that class though.'

Ron walked down the hall, standing in the main room with the Weasleys, excluding Ginny, Hermione, Moody, Lupin, McGonnagall, Neville, and all the old members. They all began entering the room and then as the door was about to close, Sirius stopped it, entering along side with Harry.

'Sorry, we had to make an entrance you know? Make it dramatic or something? Right Harry?' Sirius said, grinning.

'Yeah, it seemed like the right thing to do. You people have been mourning our deaths for so long that we felt the need to make our return dramatic.'

'That Stunner hurt, you know that Sirius?' Ron said to Sirius, holding in a laugh.

Sirius and Harry explained the story to the rest of the Order and then they began talking about how everything was calm and everything seemed good. After the meeting was over, Harry told the order not to mention to anybody that he was living. Only Order members.

The next day, Harry and Sirius went to the Burrow for breakfast. After eating, Mrs. Weasley gave the two of them a haircut and sat around, thinking about everything.

'I want to go to Hogwarts,' said Harry sadly.

'So do I, but we are keeping our cover.' Sirius said sadly, 'Molly, who is in charge of the Aurors?'

'That would be Alastor and Tonks.' She replied.

'Do you know where Tonks is? I would like to get my old job back.' Sirius said smiling.

'She is at the ministry. She usually comes here for lunch though. That is when everybody comes. Ron comes home, Fred and George, Arthur, Tonks, Alastor. You know.'

Sirius smiled and Harry looked up at Mrs. Weasley, 'Did Fred and George ever finish that potion they were developing?'

'Oh yes, and it is a huge success. They are getting many customers asking for it. It didn't turn out like what they planned, but instead it was better and not only does it help, it got them tons of money and fame. If a werewolf attacks you, buy the potion and drink it, it will cure you, as well as remove all of the scars that it might of caused.'

'Has Remus used it?' asked Sirius.

'Yes, and since he helped you, James, and Peter study all that time, he was able to come an animagus instantly after drinking that potion. A wolf.' she replied.

Sirius and Mrs. Weasley talked for hours and then Harry noticed Fred, George, Ron, and Mr. Weasley's hands on the clock on their wall moved from Mortal Peril to Travelling. Following them was Tonks and Moody.

'Hey Alastor, I hear you and my cousin are in charge of the Aurors. Before I was sent to Azkaban I was an Auror, back when Rufus was in charge. Can you get me my old job back? I know you saw my score. I scored perfect.' Sirius said, looking at Moody.

'Of course Sirius, but right now you won't be going out and hunting dark wizards. Instead, you will be researching on Voldemort's whereabouts. If you find where he is, you call me and I will get all the Order and Aurors together to swarm the place and we will defeat him.' Moody said, moving his magical eye around, looking back at Harry, 'Sirius, can I talk to you in the other room?'

Harry asked if he could floo back to his house and grab a book to read and Mrs. Weasley just nodded. Harry began reading up on other dark arts items and then looked out of his window towards Hogwarts. Harry threw his invisibility cloak on and took a walk through Hogsmeade to the entrance to Hogwarts. He tried opening the gate, but it wouldn't budge so he ran down to Honeydukes, and slipped through the secret passage. He entered the castle and walked around. He walked down to the Quiddich pitch to find the team practicing. He took a seat, hidden by the invisibility cloak and watched as Ginny was helping train the new Seeker. It seemed that Ginny was the new captain, and Harry sat there watching how their team had worked together, and then he walked off towards Hagrid's house. He knocked on the door, and Hagrid came to the door.

'Hagrid, are you the only one in there?' Harry asked.

'Yes. Wait.. Is that you Harry? Harry! How are you? Come in, come in!' Hagrid said happily.

Harry spent the better part of his day talking to Hagrid and Harry learned that Ginny became Head Girl and Quiddich Captain. He also was told that everything was going good at the school this year. Finally, Harry set off back to his house where he met up with Sirius who was awaiting his arrival.