Sirius eventually got away from the thread of reminiscences and remembered where he was and his thoughts returned back to the castle he was at, and the only one he knew of in the middle of a river, the Burg Pflazgrafenstein, or literally, the Palatinate Counts Stone Castle.
He recalled the romantic legend that the Count Konrad angrily locked up his daughter in this isolated castle when she dared to fall in love with the son of the enemy of the emperor, and, for a moment idly wondered if he could find out which room she had lived in. Then he ventured a look outwards and shock set in. The only similarities with Pfalzgrafenstein were the boat-like shape and location in the middle of some river.
Unlike the delightful Rhine, this river and the weather were drab and depressing; infinitely gloomier than the Rhine in the worst of the winter; indeed, more dolorous than even the waters of Azkaban. He had no doubt that more sinister horrors than dementors awaited those anybody not bona-fide trying to cross the river. The castle itself was ominously Black unlike the colorful Pfalzgrafenstein and altogether so baleful that even Death himself would be hard-pressed to find a drearier dwelling if he wanted.
It was clearly a magical place with many ghosts and other ethereal shapes floating around. Nevertheless they did not affect him badly unlike the dementors of Azkaban. He realized that he was treated rather nicely. Although it was obviously a magical place, his magical abilities were nullified inside wherever he was, as he found out to his consternation when he tried to unlock the door of his room.
When his eyes adjusted to the dark, he looked outside into the river and saw a crowd of people crossing the river, loaded into dismal-looking boats. They all looked ethereal and cadaverous. He saw many old and frail people who should not have been able to stand up, young soldiers with fatal injuries, and even weakly little children.
The boat's workers all seemed to wear some desolate "uniform", if that were the right word. Then Sirius saw people in similar yet subtly different attire visiting the newcomers; it seemed that these were the equivalent of medical people and were fixing up the ethereal bodies into top shape in no time. In contrast, the castle itself did not seem to have any such "doctors".
He recalled his last moments; going to save Harry to the Ministry, taunting Bellatrix, and falling into the Veil, and seeing the faces of despair on Harry and Remus and others and the look of triumph on Bellatrix. He realized with a jolt, he must be dead, and this must be the abode of Death. He was not far off in thinking Death itself couldn't possibly find a bleaker home. There was one difference though between him and the dead people crossing over what was clearly the river of death : and he was himself stuck in the castle in the middle and he had a physical body, which, he imagined, must have been a consequence of passing through the veil.
Evidently the Veil was connected to the room in the castle he was in and the Veil was clearly a one-way passage; otherwise dead people would have been able to come back.
Having nothing to do, he continued to sit in boredom without knowing how much time really passed. Finally, a stunningly beautiful lady with jet-black hair approached him. She was intensely attractive with a dark allure, toned legs and an impressive chest that reminded him of Jennifer Connelly.
She ushered him into an ornate-looking office on a higher floor. It was huge, easily of the size of the New York Town Hall, and Sirius found himself facing a stuffy middle-aged man, probably a bureaucrat irritated about extra work, speaking to the beauty who led him in. The pair eventually turned to Sirius. The the man rubbed his nose and spoke:
"Mr. Black, welcome to the afterlife, and sorry about the long wait. There are certain complications which we will get to in a moment. You may call me Hades and this is the lovely Persephone".
Sirius gulped and nodded; he was enough of a Black to know from Greek mythology about the dreaded Greek God of the underworld and the speaker was apparently named after him. The said God had abducted Persephone and made her his wife because he was so fearful that no woman would ever voluntarily be with him. Eventually they settled into a sort of comfortable married relationship and Persephone's influence softened Hades somewhat.
In more pleasant circumstances, he would not have been able to resist the temptation to hit on Persephone; but even he was not foolish to mess with Gods. He stuttered: "A-are you the God and his wife?"
Hades laughed in mirth like a hyena, a sound that sent shivers down Sirius' spine. "No, Mr. Black, we are not. We just use the name of the old bosses to give people a scare. Ages ago we actually had the Greek Gods among us and the God Hades ruled here, with his wife Persephone. Unfortunately with the end of ancient Greek civilization, the Gods too all vanished. Still, Death cannot take a rest and we the old staff continued to run the place. We even took the names of the old bosses and run the place as best as we can." He beatifically grinned at Sirius plastered a smile on his face in return. No, he was not pleased to hear confirmation that he was dead.
Hades continued, "I became chief here as I was the most senior and just look at Persephone and you can understand why she took the role of the original Persephone", he said with a leer. Sirius did understand. Oh, the lucky bugger. Hades went on, "Don't mind the appearances; she actually runs the place and has everyone twisted around her finger. All that aside, we are now meeting because you are in a a most irregular situation. Are you aware of what brings you here?".
Sirius replied, " Yes, I passed through the veil instead of dying normally and so in particular I still have my physical body and whatever attire I had."
Hades rubbed his forehead, and replied: "Ah.. If that were all, it would have been simple. We do occasionally get someone coming in through the Veil. An Unspeakable killed by curiosity, or some criminal chucked in by the ministry, or some political assassination, or someone falling in by accident. Regardless, the rule is clear and nobody who enters the realm of Death can go back. It has never been broken and the handful of people who thought they successfully broke, faced much grief later. The first ... the first was a beautiful chap called Orpheus, who could sing the pants off even the the original Persephone in such a way that Hades didn't mind, because his music even affected heartless people as him. Orpheus was to return; it was only fair; but Hades had to curb his wish to take his woman back with him. A lot of people have tried to deny Death its due; but nobody succeeded"; the man, in an impersonation of Death, continued, "Do you hear me? Nobody! Once three brothers from your accursed and perfidious island tried. Peverell their name was, and all three perished in their time. They thought they had defeated me; but the final victory was mine, do you hear me? Who do they think they are dealing with? I am Death, the destroyer of worlds..."
As the rant went on, Persephone slapped his arm, "Stop acting foolish. And stop misleading our guest with the wrong story of the three hallows. You can continue your monologue later; but I am afraid our guest is in a lot of pain, and it is unmannerly to let him suffer."
Indeed, Sirius acknowledged. He spoke up, "Yes, my fall from the Veil was a bit... unpleasant. I am afraid a few things are broken and maybe I have a concussion too. Do you have any alive healers here who could fix me up?"
Persephone prettily smirked, and admonished him, "That will teach you not to fool around with your mad cousin. Serious fights are not the right occasions for comedy and ridicule, especially when you are literally standing at Death's door.".
With that, she got up and proceeded to a nearby shelf. Sirius watched the sway of her hips in fascination. Hades noticed this and hid a long-suffering sigh. He was used for long to the effect she had on men. Persephone extracted a potion into a goblet and handed it to Sirius.
"Here, drink this. The closest thing in the mortal world would be the elixir of life".
Sirius uncertainly gulped it down, and, sure enough, all his aches, bruises and concession vanished, along with the ravages of Azkaban life and the two later years as fugitive. He now looked like a man of about twenty-two years, at the prime of health.
Sirius offered his thanks, and ventured to ask, "Why is the afterlife like this? How come it is as in the Greek mythology says? Why does it not look like something closer to British beliefs and traditions?"
Hades scratched his nose and replied, "That would be because of your Black family origins and your family's fascination with Greek mythology. All of you are named after Greek heroes/heroines. Also, magical Britain does not have an official religion, and the studies of ancient Greek/Latin that you do as part of pureblood upbringing before starting Hogwarts, does have its effect. The Romans got their religion from the Greeks, and the magical people during the Roman rule in Britain believed in those Gods. Even with the Viking and Norman invasions, the source of British cultural upbringing was from Greek/Latin classics. You learn all those Greek/Roman stories and believe them to some extent. Faith has much impact; faith can move mountains, and this is all the more true in the case when the believers are witches/wizards. Magic itself sees to it that an afterlife as per the perceptions of the people exists. Does that clear it up?"
Sirius firmly nodded, "I guess so. So are you saying that magical people of other faiths may face other kinds of afterlife?"
Hades replied, "Indeed, You are here because you are magical. Were you a muggle, you would got some muggle interface. Sometimes it is a muggle airport and people stand in immigration queues. There are separate lines for each faith and one each for agnostics and atheists. Everyone's first taste of afterlife would be as per what they believe in their real life. So, for example, in the last century, it used to be railway stations instead of airports. Even now, if a person who is more used to railways face death, they would see something like a cross station."
He went on, "In the same spirit, if you are an animal lover, you would get the opportunity to reunite with your erstwhile pets. Some mortal has even written a poem about that: When an animal dies that has been especially close to someone here, that pet goes to Rainbow Bridge. All the animals who had been ill and old are restored to health and vigor; those who were hurt or maimed are made whole and strong again; and, there are meadows and hills for all of our special friends so they can run and play together. On the day their favorite human reach the afterlife, they reunite forever and cross the Rainbow Bridge together. There is also another destination for hunting animals called the Happy Hunting Grounds. People passionate about hunting can visit these grounds in the afterlife and reunite with their companion dogs."
"Likewise, the Swedish and other people of Scandinavia would encounter Valkyries at the Valhalla. But you get what you get", Hades concluded with that beatific smile of him again. Sirius decided not to argue, hoping to end the monologue. But it seemed Hades was on a roll.
So Sirius butted in, "Er.. That is all well and good; how about my situation then?"
Hades controlled himself with an embarrassed smile and said, "Sorry about that, Mr. Black. Back to the topic, your case is highly irregular. Not only did you fall through the veil; additionally, we could not reach you for three full days, which is the time you were stuck in that room. We have a rule that no material objects from the realm of living can enter the realm of dead. So we must send your body back to earth. The standard operating procedure with people coming through the veil is to send their souls to the afterlife they deserve, and return the body to some random muggle location where the police dispose of it. Like I said earlier, given your remarkable life, I wanted to send your soul too back, to give you a second chance. Unfortunately even for great heroes this is impossible. There are a lot many heroes and it is simply not possible to give each of them a second chance; it is simply not done; Death must after all have final dominion over all souls."
"Now in your case, something was interfering and very few things can stand in the path of Death, the destroyer of worlds. In this case, it so happens that Destiny has taken an interest in you. We have learned this much by speaking with the spirit of Tiresias, the greatest prophet ever, who is our consultant in this domain for matters of destiny."
Sirius did know about Tiresias. He was the blind seer of Thebes. His powers continued even after his demise. In Odyssey it is described that Odysseus visited Tiresias in Hades' realm and availed of his services.
"Normally I wouldn't let anybody slip through my hands. In this case however, Tiresias and Persephone together have convinced me to accede to destiny's wishes. You lucky bugger! It would appear that the saucy woman has got a thing for you. She reviewed your life and is somewhat star-struck with your heroic life and the injustices you suffered, and your tragic end. She would like to offer you a second chance; to send you back to the world of living. We all are slaves of our women; what can we do; I must accede to her wishes", Hades said with a put upon sigh.
He continued, "Alas, sending you back is against all laws of nature, and besides the Department of Mysteries would start to poke their noses in places they don't belong, if someone returns from the Veil. What I would myself like to offer you instead is to send you to the Elysium, a domain of the righteous, the heroic, and those chosen by the Gods, and you can live there forever in happiness and pleasure, and enjoy whatever employment you had in life prior to your misfortunes. There you can live your life in the company of Gods and the likes of men such as Achilles and Hector, and beautiful women like Helen. I am sure you will enjoy it."
Sirius snorted and said, "Now I am almost middle-aged and I would think that being an auror trainee for life, hazed daily by the likes of Dawlish and Moody, is a bit too much to bear. Also I am not much of a hero, not after I stupidly went after Peter and caused Harry to be dumped at the Dursleys. I am a broken man by now, and it will be impossible for me to enjoy all the pleasures of Elysium. Instead, what would heal me most will be a reunion with James, who was a brother in all but name. It is enough to send me to whatever place in the afterlife he is at. My only regret is about Harry left without my support."
Persephone shot a glance at her companion that seemed to say "I told you so", who signed in turn, and confessed, "Tiresias also warned me that you would not take the option of the Elysium. So, I am supposed to check your pockets next..."
With this, Persephone approached Sirius and took out the brains that Sirius had stuffed in his pockets. He explained what they were and the intended purpose as best as he could. Persephone conferred shortly with Hades and made the offer to Sirius.
"Hearing your wishes, and also given my sympathy for your tragic life and the guidance of Tiresias, we offer you the following. Your soul will be parted from your body and sent to the Elysium where you will reunite with James and his wife per your wish. We also have a solution to your worries about Harry. You see, there is an old forgotten British prophecy that we can activate now. It very conveniently got smashed in the recent fisticuffs at the DoM and the Unspeakable would never find it again. What we refer to is this one."
With that, she took a remote control, and switched on a large display on the wall, and a flashback of a segment of the battle at DoM began to play. Sirius had not seen this part, as it was prior to his arrival, and so he paid attention:
Flashback: ~oo00oo~
A jet of red light had shot from the end of Bellatrix Lestrange's wand, but Malfoy had deflected it; his spell caused hers to hit the shelf a foot to the left of Harry and several of the glass orbs there shattered.
Two figures, pearly-white as ghosts, fluid as smoke, unfurled themselves from the fragments of broken glass upon the floor and each began to speak; their voices vied with each other, so that only fragments of what they were saying could be heard over Malfoy and Bellatrix's shouts.
"… at the solstice will come a new…" said the figure of an old, bearded man.
Flashback ends. ~oo00oo~
After the display ended, Persephone continued, "So that is the prophecy we are going to execute now. The relevant phrase is
"..at the solstice will come a new.."
"We do not know further details about the entire prophesy as it is not our business to interfere in matters of destiny. We can tell you that goes on to state that
"a new man returning afresh after three days among the dead".
"You came here on June 18th, and got stuck for three days. Now today is the summer solstice for 1996, on June 21st. So if we adjust you up a bit and send you back to earth, the prophecy will be set in motion. It will be best if your mind is cleaned up a bit. Honestly, Sirius, your mind is very messed up after Walburga's upbringing and Azkaban imprisonment and your years as fugitive. You simply have few good memories left.", said Persephone, and smiled in sympathy.
She continued. "This will also conveniently free up space in your brain for implanting stuff from the other brains you have brought. The first brain is that of a muggle college professor, a mathematics teacher, a 31 year old Mr. Thomas Anderson, who also had spent much time thinking on philosophical points on the nature of various stuff. He unfortunately met an early demise when he was carelessly lost in thought while crossing traffic. You will gain his memories and thoughts. Next are the brains of two Unspeakables. Another is the brain of a muggle electrical engineer. It would surely help to have the specialized magical knowledge. I am not sure what is the use of the muggle background; but according to Tiresias it must be done, and, oh, by the way, Tiresias says he must speak with you privately before you leave."
Sirius interrupted, "Then what about Harry? If what you are saying is correct, then I would be changed so much that it is as if somebody else goes back in my place, that someone may not feel any attachment to Harry.".
She reassured him, "No, Sirius, you will still feel a need to help Harry. However the emotional distance also has a benefit. You will be able to coolly analyze the situation and do what is necessary, without being affected by the emotional baggage. You will still retain all the important information; but you will view them more objectively. Really, it is all for the best, and besides Tiresias says it must be so."
Sirius thought about it at length and finally agreed to everything Persephone proposed. They shook their hands and began parting ways in preparation of the brain procedures.
Sirius stood up and paused: "By the way", he asked, "what will be the name of the person in my body? I understand Mr. Anderson is dead, and clearly you can't use my name."
Hades and Persephone grinned together and replied, "One word : Stubby Boardman."
Sirius grinned in reply, and gave a thumbs up.
In no time, the formalities at the office was over and he was awaiting to meet Tiresias. He was accompanied by a sultry smiling Persephone hanging on his arm. Hmm. Maybe she really did have a thing for him. This definitely had possibilities.