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"Would Someone Just Cross the Veil Already?"
by Cooper Lewis
September 26, 2004
Ah, the power of a mysterious object.
The tattered veil that appears in the finale of book 5 has puzzled everyone to read about its mysterious ways. Now, for anyone who doesn't know what I'm talking about, here's the run-down:
- Tattered veil on platform in the middle of a courtroom in the department of mysteries.
- Harry hears voices through it. So does Luna.
- Sirius falls through after being hit by a curse that almost certainly wasn't "Avada Kedavra." He doesn't come back out. Dumbledore and Lupin seem to think he's dead.
First things first: there is significant belief that Harry actually heard Ron talking through the Veil. Let's take a look at the text.
"Someone's whispering behind there," [Harry] said, moving out of her reach and continuing to frown at the veil. "Is that you, Ron?"
Sounds interesting ... but read on.
"I'm here, mate," said Ron, appearing around the side of the archway.
Now we have a perfectly logical explanation: Harry knew that Ron was on the other side of the Veil, and he wondered if Ron was whispering. After all, Harry would naturally assume that the people talking were on the other side of the Veil, which was where Ron was. Mystery solved. (Maybe.)
Ok, so now for someone else's theory - we've all heard it - that the Veil is indeed a capital punishment device. The main pretense behind this idea is that it is located in a courtroom. The age of the Veil tells us that it might have been where the bad guys went before Azkaban was built. At first I liked this idea, but it was quickly overshadowed by Sir Nearly Headless Nick's statement that he "believes they study the matter [of why people become ghosts] in the Department of Mysteries. Putting two and two together, I'd say there's more than an excellent chance that Nick was referring to the Veil. Now, that's mostly speculation, but I think the Veil is more likely to deal with ghosts than the brain or the hummingbirds.
I can guess - guess - that Ghosts could use the Veil to end their lives (again). Or that the Veil acts as a ghost factory ... sort of spewing out the souls that want to be ghosts. Honestly, I don't know. Guessing how the Veil works is beyond me.
Here's the real point - JK Rowling has been making allusions to the nature of death in the Wizarding World. There is a difference between separation of body and soul - and death. We learned this upon studying the Dementor's Kiss. This justifies several other very interesting possibilities (see Severus Snape: I've Got Your Number).
But here's the conundrum: if you're dead, your body doesn't have a soul in it - it's an empty corpse (unless you can strangely manage to be dead and have a body). So let's assume the act of passing through the Veil was what killed Sirius. The logical conclusion is that his living body would pass through, and when he crossed the veil, his soul would get the boot, and his dead body would fall through the other side. This didn't happen: his body is still unaccounted for. If we believe he died the instant he crossed the Veil, we must assume that his corpse is lying right on the other side of the Veil. And that is not easy to believe. Why? We know Sirius isn't the first person to pass the Veil, because Dumbledore and Lupin know how it works. And if Sirius isn't the first, then there is a mounting pile of corpses on the other side of the Veil. It would likely smell, and eventually you would just hit a brick wall and fall backwards. (On second thought, it could be an abyss. Actually, I really like that idea - it explains a lot).
But I'm getting ahead of myself. Because Sirius' body is gone, we know that "Beyond the Veil" is a physical place. Not Spirit-land - a physical place. Once again, the Abyss theory works.
If you can't tell, I came up with the Abyss Theory unintentionally, just a few minutes ago. Here's a fundamental problem with it - the voices. So think what you want, I'd be honored if you agree with the Abyss Theory, and also honored if you disagree. Just write me an e-mail, let me hear your thoughts.
Another thing that is worth noting is the individuals' reactions to the Veil. Neville and Ginny appear entranced. Harry and Luna hear voices. Ron - well, he doesn't really have a clue, as usual. And Hermione, curiously enough, is actually frightened by it.
Because Harry and Luna heard the voices, but not Neville, we can deduce that witnessing death does not result in the ability to hear the Veil voices. I strongly believe the Voices were talking to Harry and Luna because they had something important to tell them. If the voices were the voices of the dead, this is good explanation. Neville, Ginny, Ron, and Hermione don't have close dead parents, after all.
Also, I am greatly intrigued by Hermione's fear of the Veil. Throughout the series, we have seen Hermione appreciate something more than Ron and Harry, because she read about it somewhere. It is very likely that she read about the Veil somewhere and couldn't remember where.
Some final thoughts: as you can probably tell, I have no idea how the Veil works, but I've thrown some ideas onto the board, and hopefully someone can work them together.
Back to the Sugar Quill
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