11 Harry Potter Universe Fates Worse Than Death

One thing known for certain in the Wizarding World is that death is only the beginning for many. The ghosts that haunt Hogwarts itself, the tragic embryonic form Voldemort's soul took in limbo and even living on as a moving portrait mean the end isn't really the end.

However, becoming a ghost in a castle full of life or chatting with the locals in the Hog's Head from your painting isn't so bad! It's the risk of living life literally behind the veil that makes for a fate worse than death once you're actually dead.

During The Order of the Phoenix, Harry and his friends raid the Ministry of Magic in pursuit of a prophecy relating to Harry himself but things get a bit dicey when Lord Voldemort's followers turn up and start making trouble. The battle moves away from the fragile prophecies into a room every government building absolutely should not have: the Death Chamber.

The centrepiece of this Death Chamber is 'The Veil'; an archway that is obscured by a tattered curtain and emits the whispers of the dead or, more specifically, its victims. Sirius Black falls through the Veil after he takes a curse from Bellatrix Lestrange and he is gone forever more... but, not actually gone.

Instead, Sirius' spirit likely lived on behind the Veil with no chance of rest, escape and not even anyone to talk to as the chamber doesn't seem to be teeming with activity.