Sirius Black tried to Disapparate, but even he knew that was a forgotten endeavor.
One couldn't just Apparate or Disapparate from the Ministry of Magic, especially when the Department of Mysteries was concerned.
Not losing his cool — yet — he crouched and examined the dark robes.
It was indeed empty, with not even a hint of the man or creature that had been donning it before.
Unspeakables…
Sirius had never cared much for things he hadn't liked. Mystery was one of those things. He preferred things that were simple, humorous, and had a little bit of cleverness trickled here and there.
That made it all exciting.
This… This was more of Remus' area of expertise.
Lupin… The sudden remembering of that name made Sirius frown.
Then, the frown became an ugly twist on his lips, anger marching in with loud drums.
"Show yourself!" Sirius roared, taking out his wand and shooting back to his feet. "Why have you trapped me here? Don't you know that Dumbledore… Lord Black Phoenix himself has sent me here?!"
The dark stones of the Chamber of Death kicked back his voice several times among themselves.
As the echoes died, a silence engulfed the chamber.
Sirius' grip on his wand tightened.
Who in the Ministry wouldn't flinch on hearing Dumbledore's name anymore?
Who would dare to go against the Order of Black Phoenix and not be called a traitor to the entire world?
So, whoever had dared to trap him here, for who knows what nefarious reason, must have already betrayed Dumbledore in favor of Voldemort or the Dark Alliance.
If it were before, then Sirius would have even thought it was Dumbledore himself who had done this to him.
With how much change the Headmaster had gone through, who knew if he still possessed any sanity or resemblance to his old self?
However, in the last few months, Sirius had come to know Lord Black Phoenix closely.
In fact, he preferred this Dumbledore to the old one, especially when it came to his decisive ideologies — like not only taking Muggles' help, but also preparing them to get an edge in the inevitable War.
So, this couldn't be an act of Lord Black Phoenix.
And that… was troubling.
Sirius narrowed his eyes as he looked around.
Why trap him? Why not outright attack him to kill him? Why not use the Imperius Curse on him and try to control him?
It made little sense that the traitor believed Dumbledore would abandon all his plans just because Sirius was trapped.
Seeing no other choice, and with Disapparation becoming useless, Sirius began thinking of other ways out of this mess.
First, he flicked his wand.
A ghostly, silver apparition left Sirius' wand as he cast the Patronus Charm.
The Patronus took the form of a dog before instantly letting out a bark and running off, going right through all the stones and barriers.
With that done, second, Sirius turned around and faced the door.
If he was being honest with himself, then he had truly made a mistake.
After what happened last year, he had promised himself to be prepared for all kinds of scenarios and not fall for enemies' trickery.
Yet, here he was, stuck in a hole.
A great reason behind his lackadaisical actions was that he had come here as a mere observer, not as a soldier.
Still, what was done was done.
All he could do now was to get out of this place before he became a headache for Harry and the others.
So, with every intention to destroy the door, Sirius raised his wand.
Before he could even chant the spell, though, the wind whispered in his ear.
Black… It was a name. His name. Called by a voice that felt so familiar. Black…
"Lupin?!"
Sirius spun around so fast that his ears rang, his eyes taking a moment to focus.
Even finding that he was trapped here hadn't made his heart pound so hard that he could hear it.
Was this some kind of sick joke?
No.
Sirius knew Lupin.
That wasn't some trickery.
It was his friend… the friend who had died even before he could say goodbye…
The wind came again.
Sirius threw his head left and right to hear just about anything.
But this time the wind didn't leave any words for him.
It did make him focus on something else.
Sirius, who hadn't cared for anything in this wretched, mysterious place before, suddenly found himself staring at the arched structure at the bottom of the hole in the chamber.
There, the strange veil was undulating like ripples on a calm pond.
It was from there the wind had come, Sirius realized.
It was from there… Lupin had called out.
Sirius' mind zoned out so much that he didn't even know when and how he reached the bottom of the stone dais over which the stone archway stood, carrying that veil within it.
A large gust of cold air hit Sirius' face.
This time, when the wind became words, it held the voices of more than one person.
"Lupin…" Sirius climbed up the stone dais, walking toward the stone archway. "James…"
Entranced, with his pupils dilated, he walked toward the undulating veil, tears streaming down his cheeks.
Nothing mattered to him anymore.
All Sirius wanted to do right now was to see his friends… his brothers again… just one more time.
Before he could do so, just when he was a mere inch away from entering the veil, he paused.
A dim, white glow erupted from Sirius, stiffening his entire body and making his eyes roll back into his head.
A loud, choking noise escaped his throat as if a ghost was trying to possess him, forcing him to experience convulsions.
Then, letting out one last gasp, Sirius fell.
With a gentle thud, his body struck the stone underneath, lying a mere inch away from the veil.
And the moment Sirius died on this side, his eyes snapped open with a gasp on the other side, finding…
… Voldemort and Harry Potter, along with many, many others, looking right back at him.