Harry Potter and the Veil

Chapter IV

Harry woke up slowly to a bright white ceiling and the smell of disinfectants. He heard muffled voices coming from somewhere nearby. He tried to sit up but gasped in pain, plopping back down on a soft pillow.

"Shh!" one of the voices interrupted, "I think he's waking up!"

He heard a curtain being whisked aside as footsteps approached him.

"Harry?" Ginny asked in a broken voice; she'd been crying.

"Where am I?" His hoarse voice startled him. He didn't sound much better.

"You're in St. Mungo's," Ron replied, "You've been unconscious for nearly three days. What happened to you?"

Harry recounted to Ginny, Ron and Hermione exactly what had happened. By the time he finished his story he half expected to be criticized again, but that never came. They all just sat there, silently contemplating what he'd said.

Just then a young woman, obviously a Healer, walked up. "How're you feeling, Mister Potter?"

Harry looked at her and replied, "Er- well I'm really sore but besides that I can't complain."

"Alright," she said, "Just let me know if you need me for anything," making sure to emphasize that last word. Harry blushed and Ginny grimaced.

She smiled and started to walk away, then turned back and added, "Oh, and Kingsley Shacklebolt will be here shortly to visit you."

Harry turned and met Ginny's concerned gaze. The Minister had been too busy dealing with the residual Death Eaters and post-war dealings to do anything else. If he was coming here out of the blue, something was wrong.

Sure enough, a minute later they heard a slow, deep voice return greeting's from the hospital staff in the hall. Kingsley walked in, followed by both Percy and Arthur Weasley. Ron and Ginny greeted their kin as Harry and Hermione welcomed the Minister.

After all the greetings, Kingsley nodded to Arthur, who nodded back at him and got to his feet. He closed the curtain, pointed his wand at it and said "Muffliato."

Harry sat up, ignoring the jolts of pain that screamed through all of his muscles. He faced towards the Minister. "What's going on, sir?"

Kingsley turned to Ron's dad, who looked down, then at Harry. Nervously he started, "Well, Harry, it's about Sirius." Harry didn't say anything so he continued. "Since I've been promoted to head of the Department of Mysteries," -Harry interrupted with a congratulations- "I've been going over some files when I came across the incident with the prophecy."

Harry's eyes narrowed. In his mind he saw the green flash, heard the laughter and watched his godfather vanish once more through-

"…the Veil of Styx."

"Huh," Harry said, snapping out the daydream, "What's that?" Mr. Weasley shot him a somewhat annoyed look. He guessed that he'd just missed a lengthy explanation. "Sorry," he added as Ginny rolled her eyes.

Mr. Weasley sighed. "Apparently, there are legends that originated in ancient Greece about the Boatman on the river Styx, who carried the souls of the departed to the Afterlife."

"I remember reading about that in History of Magic our first year!" Hermione blushed when everyone stared at her sudden outburst. She composed herself and turned to Ron's dad and asked, "Mr. Weasley? I don't suppose that you mean this has to do with the Hidden Wife?"

"Well, yes," said Mr. Weasley, not at all surprised that she knew about it. Ron had told him she'd practically memorized the entire library at Hogwarts. They exchanged a glance and smiled.

"Who was the 'Hidden Wife'," Ginny asked.

"Well," Hermione started. This was probably one of her favorites because she puffed up and smiled excitedly before continuing. "As Mr. Weasley said, the Ancient Greeks believed that when they died, the Boatman would carry them across the river Styx to the Afterlife. There are stories, however. One of which says that Hades, the God of the Underworld, sought a new queen to rule Hell with him. One day, while looking up upon the Earth, Hades spotted her and used his magic to draw her towards him."

"The legend says that when she reached the river Styx, the boatman looked saw her and she saw him. They instantly fell in love with each other. He sought to keep her for his own, so he hid her from Hades and made him believe that she'd never came in the first place.

Hades looked for her on Earth but could never find her, so he went to ask the Boatman if she'd come yet. When he reached the edge of the river Styx he saw that the she's been wrapped in a magical veil that had allow her travel from one world to the other, unbeknown to him. As punishment, he forced his would be bride into slavery, and gouged out the eyes of the boatman, so he would never again rob him of another queen. As for the Veil, Hades placed a spell on it that would trap any of those who touched it between the Limbo and the Next World."

Everyone was silent as they absorbed what they just heard, except Ron, who whispered, "Blimey."

"Wait," Harry said, turning back to Mr. Weasley and the Minister, "What does any of this have to do with Sirius?" Everybody looked up as he said it.

"Well," Kingsley said after clearing his throat loudly, "We believe that Sirius may not be dead."