Death Chamber

[Jim Flanagan]

No: HPFGUIDX 67917

On p. 721 of the UK edition, Dumbledore explicitly refers to the Arch 
Room as "The Death Chamber."  Evidently, walking through the arch (or 
being thrown through) must have been the means of legal execution at 
some time in the past.  I don't remember any references in the books 
about executions having taken place in modern times, so the actual 
death penalty has presumably been replaced by the more "humane" 
punishments of The Kiss or life in Azkaban. 

If Sirius fell through the old execution portal, it's likely that 
he'll never come back other than as a memory.

-Jim Flanagan