The seating/the veil

Book 5: HP & the Order of the Phoenix Forum

Why was there stadium seating around the Veil? Was it just misplaced, and those seats were never used...or was it like a death penalty? Do people gather and WATCH people fall behind the veil?

Or was it like the public hangings that happened so long ago? Was this a punishment that was used hundreds of years ago by wizards, like hangings and beheadings were used for Muggles? I'm so confused! What do you think?

They could have used it before they had the dementors to perform the kiss. The seating is a huge clue. I believe that the room was used for trials and that they sent you through the veil if you did something horrible. I could be wrong.........

I think that it's a great possibility. JKR doesn't just put these things in there. She really has purpose for every little detail in the books... and that is amazing.

I think that we are going to find out some HUGE thing about the veil, and what it was used for, and what happens on the other side.

Ohhhhhhhhhhhh, I can't wait. That's one of the top things that I want an answer to in the HP world.

There is a rumor online that the veil is actually a ...dum dum dummmmm.....PORTKEY!!!! Now that is one to think about late at night.

If it's a portkey, where is it taking them? To a safe house, like number 12? You just have to wonder.

There is a rumor on-line that the veil transports you into the land of the dead, but you are not dead. Oh, how wonderful it would be if Sirius could come back.

Personally, I would be extremely happy. It would mean that Harry would have his godfather back, and he would have a "family!"

It will be interesting to find out where this veil actually takes people... and if the dead ARE on the other side, or it's a prison that some have been sent in to, etc... The options are really endless. And I know that whatever it is, JKR won't let us down. It will be good, where Sirius comes back or not.

I wanted to "Revive" this thread... because I truly believe that there are some things that we need to talk about regarding the veil, and what we think is the mystery 'behind' it.

Do you believe that there were trials held in that room, within the Ministry? It would seem so.

What do you think that the veil was used for? Or, was it 'made' for a specific purpose?
Did they have trials in that room, and for those wizards who commited the most heinous of crimes, this was their form of the death penalty?

Is there anyone that you can think of who knows just what exactly is on the other side of the veil?

Do you think that Sirius is still alive, on this 'other side'? He fell through alive.

Are you sure he fell through it alive? There's no description of the flash of light that came out of Bellatrix's wand... what if it had been green, as for Avada Kedavra? But I agree it's more likely that the fall through the veil itself killed him... *if* he's dead.

Yeap, this veil is a thing to think about. I don't know what to think about it. I just think that Lupin's pain when he was telling Harry that Sirius's gone is too real for this whole thing to be a trick, made to make Voldy think Sirius's dead. But... *gone* doesn't have to mean *dead*. This veil is such a strange thing...

Maja, I can't remember, but I'm pretty sure (and Sherry told me the same thing while at her house the other night) that the color from the wand that hit Sirius was the stunning spell color.

J.K. is really into mythology. What if Sirius is just in the land of the dead but not dead? I swear she got us with semantics on this one.

If I remember my reading correctly, the reactions of the characters to the veil incident seemed to be deaded, sickened, numb..I can't come up with the right word. But my point is, could the veil be something worse than death? If so, what would JKR consider worse than death?

Perhaps it is a type of wizarding purgatory.

CelticDragon, welcome to the forum.

Thanks.
That's a good idea. And it would go along with the trial idea too.

That's what I'm talking about.... so, if it wasn't the killing curse, and we DONT know what is on the other side of the veil, we CAN NOT say that Sirius is dead.

Well I won't say it until I have read the last word of book 7.

This might be a bit much even for the bravest of readers, but I thought maybe it would hold some interest to those pondering on what exactly goes on inside and outside "the veil" in book 5.

This link doesn't really state a clear theory as to what it might be used for, but... well. You'll see. I found this in the oddest place. :P

http://www.ichingcounseling.com/innerhogwarts3.htm

Welcome to the forum V.S. Black. the article is interesting. I will really give it a good read tomorrow. I am watching the SS on TV. Stick around, post. We love having new people join our Harry Potter family.

Hey VS Black, welcome. Hope you stick around and have some conversations with us...

Like Fuscia, I'll read the article later I'm off to have lunch!

Thanks for the welcome.

I just read through the article. My own thoughts are that Harry has not had a happy life. Since he was 11 he has known that he was marked for death since birth by a very powerful wizard. It is part of his every day life and something he has come to accept. He saw Cedric die also. Hermione has no real experience with death. She would fear the veil, but we must keep in mind that Harry is the bravest and most adventurous of the lot as well, so the veil would not scare him.

I think that the message J.K. Rowling is conveying about death was best explained in the first book. Dumbledore tells Harry that Nicholas Flammel does not fear death, because it is the next great adventure. There is life after death, something you should not fear. Dumbledore tells Tom/Voldie that there are worse things than death. So, I believe that we will see Rowlings vision of heaven by the end of book 7. The veil maybe a port key to heaven or to hell. It could be purgatory, but we just don't know.