"Professor, what can you tell us about the Soul Chamber?"
If the question surprised Dumbledore, his expression did not show it. He merely surveyed Harry and Hermione over the rims of his half-moon spectacles, his face inscrutable. The two seventh-years sat motionless before the headmaster's desk, their Head Boy/Head Girl badges gleaming in the candlelight.
"Why do you ask?" Dumbledore said, though he knew full well the reason.
"Well," Harry continued, "you already know that Hermione and I are getting married shortly after graduation. I'm sure you've received your invitation by now."
"Indeed," Dumbledore smiled. "I have already sent the Weasleys my R.S.V.P."
"Well, um, we decided we wanted something...special. So we went to the library and looked up wizard wedding ceremonies, trying to find something that would..."
Harry's voice trailed off, uncertain how to describe in words the feelings he was trying to convey. Hermione quickly stepped into the breach.
"I found a very old book that made reference to something called the Joining," she said. "It was described as the most orthodox ceremony in the wizarding world. But the book gave no details. Since it was described as being very ancient, I thought Professor Binns would be able to help us. But though he knew of it, he said he was unable to tell us what we wanted to know. Instead he told us to ask you."
An expectant silence fell. Then Dumbledore nodded once, leaning back in his chair; he placed his hands before him, making a bridge of his long, tapering fingers. When at last he spoke, it was with the low, hypnotic resonance of an ancient tribal Storyteller.
"The Soul Chamber is revered as are few other things in the magical world. It is reputed to have been conceived by Merlin himself. Most concede that the enchantments are his, or at least of his devising, if rendered by other hands.
"Tradition has it that Merlin was a deeply pious man, though perhaps not in accordance with those principles held by the Muggle world. He believed that humanity was inherently good, if tainted. He held forth that purity of spirit was necessary to live a life of genuine value. Peripherally, he believed in the sanctity of marriage, and espoused that the purity of the latter could not exist without first ensuring the unquestioned purity of the former.
"Thus was the Soul Chamber devised."
Dumbledore paused to appraise his audience. They remained rapt.
"Hewn from the stone heart of a hill, in a place known but to few, the Chamber houses a crystal of unsurpassed power; benign, yet potentially more dangerous than the Sorcerer's Stone. It has many names, some in tongues unremembered today. But it is commonly called the Soul Crystal -- for in it, so the legends say, resides a tiny fragment of the spirit of Merlin himself.
"For those who elect to submit themselves to its power without reservation, the Crystal represents final judgment. By its power will a couple be forever Joined -- or not."
No sound was heard as Dumbledore removed his glasses and wiped them on the sleeve of his robes. He replaced them and looked across his desk at Harry and Hermione.
"Are you saying, Professor," Hermione said fearfully, "that the Crystal may choose not to Join us?"
Dumbledore nodded once.
"We could never marry?" Harry said, looking at Hermione anxiously.
"Not precisely," Dumbledore said. "In the conventional sense, you may marry. You may indeed spend a lifetime in contented wedlock. But -- you can never truly be Joined. In your minds and in your hearts you will always know that you were tested in the fires of Merlin's forge...and found less than pure."
"Tested how?" Harry asked with a trace of apprehension. "What do we have to do to be proven...worthy?"
Dumbledore sat up straight in his chair.
"The Joining is, in fact, a pilgrimage. It is preceded by a ritual; a cleansing of body and mind.
"At the first, there is a three-day period of fasting and meditation. At this time, a vow of silence is taken, not to be broken until your entry into the Corridors of Doubt."
"The what?" Harry and Hermione said almost as one.
Dumbledore smiled.
"The twin passageways leading to the Soul Chamber. Colloquially named the Bridesgate and Groomsgate. Once you have been prepared, you will each approach your respective gate, accompanied by an Attendant -- the equivalent of Best Man and Maid of Honor. I presume you have already decided upon Mr. Ronald Weasley and Miss Virginia Weasley."
Harry and Hermione looked at Dumbledore as if they thought he could read minds. The old wizard chuckled.
"No magic needed there, surely," he said, his blue eyes twinkling.
"About these Corridors, Professor..." Hermione began with a muted hesitancy.
"Yes," Dumbledore resumed. "The Corridors of Doubt are infused with most powerful enchantments. They do not attack the body. They pervade heart and soul and mind. They will reach inside you, rend you, tear down all walls of denial and lay bare your every smallest doubt and fear. You will see yourselves as for the first time. You will learn who and what you truly are, and what you discover may prove quite terrifying. For who among us is prepared to see ourselves as we are? We wear many masks in life, and the most fearful of these are not those we wear for benefit of others, but those behind which we hide from ourselves.
"You will in truth do battle in the Corridors of Doubt. You will war with yourselves. And it is here that most fall.
"In the year I defeated Grindlewald I met with the great Muggle leader of America -- alas, he was taken too soon. He it was who said, 'The only thing we have to fear is fear itself.' You must face your fears -- and you must defeat them -- from the greatest to the smallest -- if you would enter the Soul Chamber. For only when you can see the truth within yourselves may you then present yourselves one to the other in honesty and truth. You must strip yourselves of facade and pretense so that each may see the other wholly revealed. For, indeed, I misspoke earlier when I said that the Crystal would judge you. In fact, it is you who will judge, one the other. The Crystal will enable you to merge, to become the other. You dare have no secret, no fear, no slightest doubt. The Joining is absolute and irrevocable. There must be complete accord. No slightest spot must mar the tapestry.
"Choose you well, my children; nor in haste, lest you repent in leisure for the rest of your lives."
Dumbledore fell silent. He peered into Harry's eyes, which seemed to be smoldering with a deep emerald fire.
"Professor," Harry said very slowly, "did...did my..."
"Did your parents choose the Joining?" Dumbledore's voice was pregnant with a mingled joy and sorrow. "Yes. James and Lily had the purest love I have ever encountered. Nothing less, I think, could have preserved you all those years ago."
"But," Harry said in confusion, "I -- I've seen my parents' wedding photos -- and there's no sign of the Joining ceremony -- just an ordinary wedding...
"And Sirius was Best Man -- he would have been my dad's Attendant, then. Why didn't he ever say anything to me?"
"Because he cannot," Dumbledore said mysteriously.
Harry waited on the edge of his chair, his hand gripping Hermione's.
"A final enchantment pervades the Chamber, Harry," Dumbledore said. "It is kin to the Fidelius Charm. All who participate in the ceremony may experience it fully in their memory -- but they cannot give it voice. Even the Joined couple cannot speak of it, though they, of course, will always share it in their own special way which is beyond the mundanity of words.
"Only one there is who may speak freely, guided by discretion alone. For each couple designates a Speaker, like unto the Secret Keeper. To the Speaker is given the honor of presenting the Joined couple to the wizarding world, thus officializing the union. The Speaker may do no more than testify before the Ministry of Magic and sign a document. But most often there is a formal gathering of family and friends to celebrate and honor the Joined. Here the Speaker presides to declare the couple's new status as husband and wife, proclaiming with gladness so that all present may share in their happiness.
"And if you are wondering," Dumbledore added with an elfin smile, "why I do not appear in your parents' wedding photos -- ah, here is Merlin at his most brilliant! For the Secrecy Charm renders all trace of the ceremony unrecordable. One seeking to photograph any aspect of the ceremony will be unable to do so. Even an artist will be impotent to so much as place a single stroke to canvas or board. Nor can any scribe touch quill to parchment to record the slightest detail. The Joining is a most personal experience, and its secrecy is absolute and inviolable."
A strange expression was growing on Harry's face. He looked at Hermione, saw that she had come to the same conclusion as he at nearly the same moment.
"Professor," Harry said with a new light in his eyes, "everything you've just said, about my parents and the Joining -- does that mean...?"
"Yes, Harry," Dumbledore smiled brightly. "I was your parents' Speaker."
"Would you ever have told us?" Harry asked. "I mean, if we hadn't asked?"
"No, Harry. As I said, the Joining is a most private thing. And just as important, it must not be entered into as an imitation of others. Each couple must choose for their own reasons."
Harry looked at Hermione. He squeezed her hand questioningly, and she squeezed back in assent.
"Professor," Harry said hopefully, "will you be our Speaker?"
"Please, Professor?" Hermione added.
"You are certain?"
They both nodded.
Dumbledore bowed.
"I humbly accept."
Lowering his head, Harry pulled Hermione's hand to his lips and kissed her fingers. Tears began to fill Hermione's eyes. Harry lifted his head and embraced her eyes with his.
"I love you," they whispered together, as with one mind, one heart.
Dumbledore smiled.