OOP: The Black Veil

[innovan]

No: HPFGUIDX 63068

OotP spoiler
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Dumbledore called the room with the veil the "Death Chamber" on p 817.

It is described p773-775 as a stone amphitheater lined with benches, 
resembling the courtrooms we've seen. Instead of the chair with chains 
at the center, there is a raised stone dais with a crumbling, 
unsupported by any wall archway with tattered black veil on it.

Sirius, hit in the chest by a red stunning spell (Avada is purple), 
then gracefully archs through the veil. His face looks wasted, once 
handsome. The veil gusts especially hard for a moment after Sirius 
passes through it, then settles again.

I don't believe a facility for capital punishment would be hidden 
within the Department of Mysteries. Given the other room's contents, 
this section is dedicated to record keeping and archiving instead. One 
room has thousands of clocks each of which keeps looping the same few 
seconds over and over again, preserving them for the future. The other 
is a series of brains "with ribbons of moving images". Finally we have 
the Hall of Prophecy, a library dedicated to "Obi-wan, you're my only 
hope" like recordings.

The Death Chamber must have a recording or archiving ability of some 
kind.

One way to prove if Sirius really died or not is new characters being 
able to see thestrals as a result of seeing Sirius' death. Neville and 
Harry on p445 are both already able to see them at Hagrid's lesson 
though, and the rest of the gang is busy in other rooms when Sirius 
goes through the veil. Rowling did a good job of tying that one up.