what was behind the veil?

[Steve]

No: HPFGUIDX 74480

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, Rebecca Black
<theirishjuliet at y...> wrote:
> hey
> 
>>> ... i never understood what or who was supposed to be behind the
veil, is it dead people or whisperings of the future (thats why he
thought it was sirius) whats the general theory about the veil? <<<


bboy_mn:

Dumbledore refers to that room as the 'Death Chamber' (OoP AM ed HB Pg
817). That should give a a solid clue as to the nature of the arch and
veil at the center of that room. Also, note that the room is not a
laboratory, it is an auditorium. Harry describes it as being like an
amphitheater or courtroom with a stone dias (raised platform) in the
center upon which the archway and veil stand; with all this is
surrounded by tiers of seats.

The whole focus of the room seems to be the archway. Given that it is
the focus of the Death Chamber, it seems safe to assume that this is
the 'archway to death'. Given that this is an auditorium instead of a
laboratory, I speculate that at one time this was the execution
chamber, back before the wizard world became enlightened (he says with
a small hint of sarcasm) and abolished the death penalty.

As far as the history of the Archway, I don't think it was built by
wizards for the purpose of creating an execution chamber. I think it
is an antiquity that was discovered by wizards a few thousand years
ago and brought to it's current location. How or why it exits in the
first place is not clear to me. Could it be a mysterious quirk of
nature, or man-made? Certainly the archway is man-made, but the arch
could have been built around or to contain a naturally existing
phenomenon.

So, regardless of all my speculative details, I think it is safe to
assume that this is a gateway between the here and the hereafter; in a
sense, a breach in the boundary that separates life and death. Short
version; through the veil = death.

Just a thought.

bboy_mn