What KILLED Sirius Black? What Happened to Him? - Harry Potter Explained

Hey everyone,

Welcome to another installment of Harry Potter Theory. In this video, we’re going to be discussing the Order of the Phoenix, Bellatrix Lestrange, The Battle of the department of mysteries, and the death of Harry’s godfather - Sirius Black.

The battle of the department of mysteries was one of the most important in the series - as it catapulted tensions between the death eaters and the order of the phoenix. It served as one of the catalysts for the second wizarding war- and was the time when the lurking followers of lord Voldemort revealed their true colours. Just moments after the battle of the department of mysteries was the epic duel between Voldemort and Dumbledore- a moment in which the world (specifically Fudge) could no longer argue that the dark lord hadn’t returned. However, perhaps the most notable aspect of this battle was the death of Harry’s Godfather Sirius Black. Harry was probably closer to Sirius than anyone else- he loved the man like a father and he was one of the last close connections that he had to his parents. However, Sirius’s death was a bit unusual in that it is depicted quite differently from book to film. Before we dive in to this further, it’s also worth discussing where his death actually occurred, as this comes in to play.

The department of mysteries is on level nine of the ministry of magic, and this department is responsible for studying the mysteries of the wizarding world - mysteries associated with love,space, thought, time and death- all manners of things. However, perhaps most importantly, within the walls of the department of mysteries lies the death chamber- the location of ‘The Veil’. The veil is a bit of an enigmatic object in Harry Potter, and if you only watched the movies then you probably have even less of an understanding of what the veil actually is.

The veil is an ancient, stone, pointed archway that serves as the barrier between the land of the living and the land of the dead. It’s an ancient, crumbling relic that noone fully understands, and is the subject of much investigation by the unspeakables. Though inviting, the archway is a one-way trip, as if someone from the land of the living passes through it they inevitably die. Sending messages through the veil is not possible, however, when the souls of the dead recognize a loved one that approaches the veil, it has been expressed that they will try to communicate. When living people enter the veil, they appear to experience a relatively painless death- almost as if they are ‘in a high wind’ before simply falling in. It’s also been expressed that once someone begins to pass through the veil, they are beyond saving.

The reason that you need to understand the veil is that, from Book to film, the veil plays a bit of a different role in Sirius’s actual death. First, let’s take a look at the book:

“Come on, you can do better than that!’ he yelled, his voice echoing around the cavernous room. The second jet of light hit him squarely on the chest.

The laughter had not quite died from his face, but his eyes widened in shock.
...

It seemed to take Sirius an age to fall: his body curved in a graceful arc as he sank backwards through the ragged veil hanging from the arch.

Harry saw the look of mingled fear and surprise on his godfather’s wasted, once-handsome face as he fell through the ancient doorway and disappeared behind the veil, which fluttered for a moment as though in a high wind, then fell back into place.

Harry heard Bellatrix Lestrange’s triumphant scream, but knew it meant nothing – Sirius had only just fallen through the archway, he would reappear from the other side any second ....

....Watch the video for the rest! Closed-captioning will be available for those who are hearing impaired!




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