Death Chamber

The Death Chamber is a room in the Department of Mysteries devoted to the study of death. It is located on the ninth level of the Ministry of Magic in London, England.

Description
The Death Chamber is a large, rectangular, dimly lit room that resembles Courtroom Ten of the Wizengamot. In the centre is a sunken stone pit some twenty feet deep. Stone benches run all around the room and descend in steep steps toward a raised stone dais in the centre of the pit. An ancient, crumbling stone archway, unsupported by any surrounding wall, stands on this dais. This archway is hung with a tattered black curtain which flutters very slightly as though it had just been touched or blown by a faint wind, although the air in the room is still and cold. The veil is believed to separate the worlds of the living and the dead, somewhat of a portal, linking the two worlds. It is believed that someone who steps through the Veil is forever trapped in the world of death. Some people, like Harry Potter and Luna Lovegood, could hear voices from behind the Veil; the ability to hear these voices, and the degree to which they can be heard, is related to the individual's belief in an afterlife. These voices are said to be the whisperings of the dead, talking to their loved ones from the other side.

History
In 1996, part of a battle of the Second Wizarding War was fought in the Death Chamber after Harry Potter, Hermione Granger, Ron and Ginny Weasley, Neville Longbottom, and Luna Lovegood arrived in the Department of Mysteries in search of Sirius Black. The six Dumbledore's Army members passed through the chamber upon their arrival; Harry and Luna felt drawn to the Veil, but the others urged them away. The students were ambushed by Death Eaters in the Hall of Prophecy, and ended up fleeing through multiple chambers in the Department.

They were eventually cornered in the Death Chamber, but several Order of the Phoenix members came to their rescue, and began fighting the Death Eaters. One of the pairs duelling there was Bellatrix Lestrange and Sirius Black; Bellatrix knocked her own cousin through the Veil with a curse at one point, killing him.

Behind the scenes

 * In Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, the Veil is described as an old stone archway with a black, tattered curtain hanging from it, while in the film adaptation, the arch contains a semi-transparent veil of what appears to be some kind of smoke.
 * In the sixth book, it is stated that Dumbledore's funeral is the first Harry Potter ever attended. It is explained that no funeral was ever held for Sirius Black because his body was never recovered. This presumably indicates that the body left the material plane when it fell through the veil.
 * In the film adaptation, the Battle of the Department of Mysteries takes place entirely within the Death Chamber and the Hall of Prophecies, whereas in the novel, the D.A. members were pursued into at least two other chambers as well.
 * Rowling stated that the Veil has been in the Ministry as long as the Ministry itself has been there. This could mean that the Ministry was either built around the archway, originally constructed to study it, or that it was somehow relocated or constructed during the formation of the Ministry.
 * In the film, Bellatrix hit Sirius with the Killing Curse, Avada Kedavra, which would have killed him before he passes through the Veil. In the book, the curse that hits Sirius is not identified, although presumably it was a simple stunning spell.. In the video game, a cutscene shows Bellatrix casting a spell similar to how Stupefy is depicted in the video game - a red bolt of spikes - to knock Sirius into the Veil.

Appearances

 * Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
 * Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (film)
 * Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (video game)
 * LEGO Harry Potter: Years 5-7
 * Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2