Return Of The Father (Harry Potter fanfiction) **COMPLETED**

:: Chapter 36: The veil ::

Channeling his will, Harry opened the door with a surprisingly steady hand, him and the rest of them all half expecting to walk into Voldemort torturing Sirius. But instead, they found themselves in an empty room. A room Harry had seen in his dream: a circular one with many doors.

Everything in there was black, interspersed with branches of candles whose flames turned blue on their entry. Their eyes swept around the room, forced to accept the fact that there must be about a dozen doors. How were they supposed to know which one?

Almost as if the mystery room could somehow read their minds, the circular wall began to rotate, disorientating them, until just as suddenly it had started, it stopped.

"I think it was to stop us from knowing which door we came from," whispered Ginny logically, eyeing the doors warily.

"How're we going to get back out?" asked Neville uncomfortably.

"That doesn't matter right now, we don't need to get out until we find Sirius," said Harry. "We'll cross that bridge when we get to it."

"But Harry, do you know which door is the right one? The one we have to go through?" asked Hermione.

" I-" Harry broke off. "In my dream, when I opened the door, I entered a room that sort of glittered. I'll know when I see it."

He matched straight at the door that was facing him and raised his wand, ready to strike the moment it opened, and turned the knob.

He knew immediately that this wasn't the room in his dream. This one looked like an amphitheater, with rows upon rows of benches. There was a depression in the center of the room, and in the middle of that dip, there was an archway with a veil. It looked like it would fall apart any moment.

"How is it even standing?" asked Ron incredulously. "I bet if I just blew or waved my hand from here-"

The others gave murmurs of agreement.

Although there wasn't any draft in the room, the veil began to sway, and Harry could hear sounds: whispers, murmurs-

"Do you hear that?" he asked suddenly.

"Hear what?" asked Neville in confusion.

"The voices," said Harry, straining his ears.

"I can hear them too," confided Luna.

"There are no voices Harry, " said Hermione, looking worried. "And we're here to find Sirius, remember? Let's hurry."

"Yeah, yeah, " said Harry vaguely. He had to prioritise. His godfather was probably being tortured right this moment, and here he was, straining to hear mystery voices in the Department of Mysteries. But as he followed his friends out of the room, Harry couldn't help but feel a sense of foreboding.

"What do you think about that veil, Hermione?"

"I don't know what it is, but it's definitely dangerous," said Hermione. Just as Luna was about to close the door, however, Hermione stopped her.

"Wait!" said Hermione sharply. "Flagrate!"

She drew with her wand in mid air and a fiery X appeared on the door. Immediately, the wall began to rotate again, but the X still burned.

"Good thinking," said Harry. He then pitched towards the door closest to him and opened it. His heart did a little summersault.

"This is it," said Harry giddily. The room had rows upon rows of crystal balls, looking as though they had lain there undisturbed for centuries. The ceiling was as high as that of a church, and like the previous circular room, the flames of the candles were blue.