OOP: The Black Veil

[ezzleberry621]

No: HPFGUIDX 63011

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "acidpop13" 
<acidpop13 at y...> wrote:
> > Laura wrote -
> > 
> > Or, MAYBE since Luna made some comment about people 
being 
> behind there, it's just kind of the "gateway" to the next world, 
> and Harry and Luna could hear the whispers of their parents 
and 
> the others heard nothign because no one of any great 
importance 
> was awaiting them in the next world?
> 
> and K wrote:
> >
> > I think that Luna is right and it is a kind of gateway to the next
> world and that the voices were the spirits of deceased wizards 
and 
> witches coming through from beyond the veil. I have a theory 
but I 
> want to put in a couple of warnigs first - 1, I in no way expect 
this 
> to actually happen although I do think JKR will cover the Veil in 
a 
> later book and that there was a really good reason why she 
killed him 
> (no idea what it is though), >>>>>
> 
> 
> 
> Me:
> I also believe that there's more about the veil, as Nearly 
Headless
> Nick said in OOP (uk version, page 759) 
> "I know nothing of the secrets of death,Harry, for I choose my 
feeble 
> limitation of life instead. I believe learned wizards study the
> matter in the Department of Mysteries-" 
> 
> So, some wizards might study about "afterlife" in the 
Department of 
> Mysteries, and that where the veil is. I don't have any good 
theory
> about it now, my brain still numb from the death of Sirius......
> I hope that we'll get to know more about the veil in the next 
book.
> 
> I think that Sirius won't come back to life, but I do hope that 
Harry
> will have a chance to meet him again some way. 
> 
> Rowan
> "still cry while reading OOP for the second time"

Me:
I'm not all caught up on the thread, so please excuse me if this 
point has been discussed already. My thoughts are varied on 
this subject, but I do agree that the veil is significant to the story 
line and that we will see it again. I also think that Harry will make 
contact with Sirius again. I do not believe he is alive, but I think it 
is possible that he is not "dead" in the sense that he can no 
longer walk among the living (eat a hearty meal, breathe, etc). He 
may be in an alternate state of existance (as someone else 
suggested). The main reasons that I think he may not be dead in 
the traditional sense are:

1- We, the reader, do not know what curse Sirius was hit with. 
The question is whether Harry heard/saw what curse was used.  
Harry is convinced that Sirius is not dead, but just beyond the 
curtain. He is sure that they can still help him. If Harry knew that 
the "avada kedavra" was used on Sirius, then Harry wouldn't be 
so confident that he could still help Sirius. Harry, of all people 
knows the finality of that curse. 

2- This point has been on my mind since I read this section of 
the book. I'm at work (naughty me), so I don't have my book-- I'll 
paraphrase. When Lupin is restraining Harry, he tells him that, 
"there's nothing we can do, he's d--". 
Lupin does not finish his sentence before Harry interrupts him 
and shouts, "He's not dead!". Harry assumes, as does the 
reader, that Lupin was about to say "dead". Throughout the other 
books, I've noticed that one of JKR's clever ways of planting 
clues is to interrupt a character's statement or train of thought. 
So I think that Lupin's unfinished sentence will prove to be of 
significance later in the series. We will return to the veil.

Although Harry exhausted all means (that he is aware of), to 
contact Sirius, I believe that we may see Sirius in some form 
again. Perhaps, research in the Department of Mysteries will 
afford Harry the opportunity to interact with Sirius again in a way 
that he is yet unaware of. Could one or both of Harry's parents 
been Unspeakables, conducting this research before their 
death??
-Erin