sort of a curtain..... Magical and with a whole lot of mystery

i am not really sure what the veil is.i kinda think that it is the doorway between life and death.but i am not sure.because if it was just a dorrway between the two why can't someone who goes in come back out. i think it is something that has been there since the begining of time. i think that the ministry found it and had it moved there for testing.i don't even think that they know what it does yet.but they might have an idea.i think it is also kept it the department of mysterys because they are still testing it and they most likley are using prisoners to test it.and also if they can here voices it might not be a doorway to death but a portal to some place else and that the portal is still open so that is why they can hear voices.and why can't they get back if the portal is still open you ask.well that is because there is some kinda bug in the system and it is blocked.and as for the stone stairs. i think that they are some kind of seats for the scientist or whatever they call the people who test it sit and look at it.trying to solve the mystery of it so we all can know what it truely is.but it may also be as some people say a very horrible way to kill prisoners in azkaban.and that's why it is called the death chamber.but if it is a way to kill people why don't we hear the voices screaming and not whispering.so that's what i think.

I think it is just a place where you just... diappear and restless souls rest there.

I voted the doorway to the afterlife. Just becasue, i really can't think of anything else, and my mind is just stuc kto it being the dorrway to the afterlife.

I agree! I really want to know what it is but right now I think it is just another massage way into the after life.

But I was thinking since all you have to do is step through the curtain do you think someone could step through from the other side? Is it a two way door ar no??

It has 2 be something 2 do with the afterlife or everyone wouldnt be saying sirius is dead they'd be saying 'sirius is trapped' or 'we dont know whats happend to sirius'

Im just hoping we find out what this viels all bout!!!

Personally, I think it's a doorway to the after-life. However...who knows? Well, who besides the lovely J.K. Rowling knows what The Veil really is?

I have a feeling all will be explained in 'Harry Potter and the [insert Book Seven title here]'.

Maybe a veil could be somekind of a curtain where you can close and open it whenever you want.It is some sort of a place where one wanted to hide his soul after one open it and close it behind them.Kinda like playing hide and seek..
If the living really need their guidence...one could open its veil only to for a short time or period...

If I remember right Ginny and Neville were entranced by the veil too.

regarding my answere to the poll I haven't got a clue as to what It might be other than baffling

Personally i think it is some kind of doorway to what you truly desire. I think they all knew that they wanted something but didn't know what...that or it's the doorway to the afterlife. Ok basiclly i think it's some kind of doorway...

Rowling said that Sirius is definately dead, so I must think that the Veil is what seperates the living from the dead. We can hear their whispers....but they are out of our reach.

I am quoting from my beloved Stephan King's It the movie:

I talked to Stan before we went into the sewers. He went up to me and said I saw It. I looked into it's deadlights, and I wanted to be there.

I think Harry was entranced by the veil

The seats around it indicate to me that it was ceremonial as opposed to punitive, but it's location makes it unaccessable to the general wizarding world. It seems the voices on the other side are sinister, but I can't believe that would be the fate of Sirius. It seems the inhabitants are trapped there so it can't be for the formation of ghosts who are allowed to roam freely. I think it is a repository for prophecies which, for some reason, can not be fulfilled. I'm sure throughout the history of magic there have been prophecies written for invalid reasons, ie.. legacies, wealth, power which need to be disposed of.

This is what we know about the veil -

The veil is located in the room called the "Death Chamber" by Dumbledore. It is located on the 9th level in the Department of Miystries in the Ministry of Magic. A large, square room with stone tiers leading down to a pit in the centre. In this pit is a dais, on which stands a very old arch with a tattered curtain hanging from it.

During the battle at the Department of Mysteries in OoTP, Sirius is struck by a curse from the wand of his cousin, the Death Eater Bellatrix Lestrange. He falls through a veil inside an arch in the Death Chamber of the Department of Mysteries, and vanishes. Lupin tells Harry that there is nothing he can do. Lupin is certian that Sirius is gone and can not return through the veil. Dumbledore later confirms that Sirius is dead.

The veil is extremely intriguing because it is emblematic of death and the afterlife (something that Harry has had to deal with for his entire life). Harry also becomes entranced with the voices behind the veil when they first discovered the room before the battle. The room called to Harry and he had the sense that someone was present behind the veil. However, the room scared Hermione and she wanted them to leave it immediately. Hermione had to pull Harry away from the veil - that is how strong it pulled harry to it. Luna was the only one in the room that could hear what Harry did.

Both Harry and Luna can hear voices behind the veil, which shows that something is occurring behind the veil out of sight. They are also the only ones (plus Neville) that can see the Thestrals. Thestrals are visible only to those who have witnessed and accepted a death. The veil works the same way for Luna & Harry.

Unspeakables are entrusted to research some of the deepest mysteries of existence. These wizards have discovered that there is magic that is inherent to the very fabric of existence which manisfests itself in many ways that are difficult to explain and even more difficult - if not impossible - to control. The Unspeakables explore and experiment with the mysterious forces behind the doors in the Department of Mystries. I think the veil links life with the life after death. I think the room is called the Death Chamber not because people were killed there but that is where the Unspeakabes studied what happens after death. There is a way to communicate with those behind the veil that the Unspeakables have uncovered and possibily where our loved ones move onto.

This is why Dumbledore referes to death "as being the next great adventure".

Whatever it is, I think it will have even more signifigance in the last book. I don't think the Veil's role is finished yet.

I think it's a door to the afterlife, because Luna and Harry both hear voices from there, and are entranced by it, and they both ahve lost someone dear to thme, and have both witnessed murders of people close to them...

Awe. I was hoping it would be explained in HPB! *tear* But hmmm. It could be like.. a place where people get trapped! Did Bellatrix actaully kill him before he went thorugh or did he fall through before? * needs to read OOTP again!* Maybe he isnt dead! Cause .. maybe thats was the voices.. like peole trapped or something?! Who knows!
*waits for 7th book *

I think it is sort of a door way to the afterlife

i've alsways seen the vail as a doorway between the world of the living and the world of the dead...but the idea of its bein the wisard death penalty is interestin, i never thought of that lol

Well, this may be the craziest theory ever (one that only makes sense in my mind), but here it goes.

Although I do believe that Sirius is not coming back, I'm not entirely sure he's dead. JKR never says (except through character's dialogue) that Sirius was killed. Here's a quote from OoPT American Version Hardcover pg 805 and 806:


This shows two things. First off, he could not have been killed by Avada Kedavra because the jet of light was red. Second, he was not dead when he fell through the veil. Whatever the curse was, it didn't stun or kill him. The text clearly shows that he was showing changing emotions as he was hit and fell through the veil. This means he was not only alive, but he was conscious.

Now, I'm not sure what the veil is, but here's a guess at what may happen when you cross it. If Sir Nicholas is a dead man amongst the living, why wouldn't Sirius be a living man amongst the dead? Perhaps the veil throws live people into the "world of the undead" or something.

I don't know, hopefully JKR will explain it in Deathly Hallows.