A/N: Durmstrang's destroyed and Voldemort's out looking for Karkaroff. Meanwhile, the students are going to Hogwarts. If you're new here and haven't read my series, WHERE WERE YOU?!
Harry Potter and the Return of Lord Voldemort Part 6
Harry settled down on his seat at the dinner table. He waited patiently for the food to appear. Finally it did. Before he could pile up his golden plate with it. Dumbledore stood up and held his out, as if asking them to wait.
"Students," he said grimly. "a terrible thing has happened. Lord Voldemort has attacked the Durmstrang School. Very few students have gotten out alive. The reason of this attack was because Voldemort was searching for Igor Karkaroff who left his students after the Third Task last year. Igor is still alive. Unfortunately, most of the Durmstrang students are not. I must now ask you to them a silent prayer to them,"
The news was met by a heavy silence, except for the gasps at Voldemort's attack and his name. Everyone in the Great Hall bowed their heads. When they looked up again, Dumbledore said quietly "I promised that everyone would be welcome back to Hogwarts. Pleas make the Durmstrang students feel welcome now." With that he stepped back and Durmstrang students walked out of the shadows sullenly. There were very few of them Harry counted only forty or fifty students, some he met last year, some he hadn't. The Slytherins made way for them, some smiling and hoping that Krum would join them.
They're horrible, Harry thought. The students have been through a terrible ordeal and all they can do is hope that Krum will sit next to them. Krum and his company however ignored them and several of them sat with the Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs. Most of them however, sat with the Gryffindors, feeling safer sitting in the same table with Harry.
Krum sat down next to Harry. "I'm sorry." Harry whispered. "It must have been horrible," Krum nodded and smiled thinly at Harry. "Thank you for grieving for my friends," he said quietly. Harry put his hand on top of Krum's and said softly, "Hey, we're friends, all of us are," he said gesturing the Hall with his hand. "We have to stick together." He squeezed Krum's hand reassuringly and after a while Krum squeezed his back, and the two friends smiled at each other.
* * *
"Can you believe what happened to Durmstrang?" Seamus Finnigan asked Harry as they were getting into bed. Harry nodded. "It definitely seems like something Voldemort would do. Seamus flinched at Voldemort's name but overlooked it.
"Yeah but it just seems so cruel," Seamus said, sitting on top of his bed. Harry laughed bitterly. "Yeah, but what else would you expect from him?" he questioned. He would have included Ron into the conversation, but it was late and Ron, Neville Longbottom and Dean Thomas were all fast asleep. Only Harry and Seamus were wide awake.
Seamus sighed unhappily. "Absolutely nothing else," he replied. "I would expect nothin else from him. Harry nodded. "All we can do now is promise the Durmstrangs that it will be all right and hope that we can keep that promise.
Seamus slumped down on his bed unhappily and said "I seriously doubt that. Harry, can I ask you a question?" "You just did, but yeah, sure," Harry said.
"What exactly happened in the third task. I mean, how did You-Know-Who come back? Why did Diggory die?" Harry was silent for a while and then replied, "Seamus, that's kind of a touchy subject,"
Seamus nodded "Okay," he said "Goodnight Harry,"
"Goodnight Seamus,"
After a while, Harry fell into a troubled sleep. He had a dream and which included Voldemort. Voldemort destroying Dumstarng, firing the Dark Mark in the sky. Voldemort telling Wormtail to sneak into Hogwarts. Harry tossed and turned. Finally, his scar started hurting so badly, that he woke up and heard a voice.
"This one, I think," someone was muttering. "Yes, too bad my memory of what this place looks like is gone, but I think I have the right bed. There was a soft thud and the next sound that followed it was a feeble "Urk!" Harry became alarmed and opened the hangings of his bed and put his glasses on and saw… Wormtail.
"What are you doing!?" Harry asked. Wormtail jumped and spun around. When he saw Harry, he dropped his jaw. He looked over at the bed his was closest at and said "Oh, dear," Harry advanced on him and within moments, Wormtail was gone; but Harry knew that he hadn't Disapparated. He dived, trying to catch the worm-tailed rat which the short bald man had transformed.
With a squeak, Wormtail ran out of his grasp and into a corner. Harry cornered him and the rat ran through his legs. Harry chased him, but Wormtail climbed out the open widow which he had gotten into. Harry looked out the window, searching for a trace of his intruder.
Nothing. Harry sighed. Then he frowned. His dream told him that Voldemort ordered Wormtail to kill him. But Wormtail had gotten to the wrong bed as he didn't remember what the room was like. He stepped over to the bed Wormtail had looked into and pushed the curtains away and immediately wished he hadn't.
Neville Longbottom was sprawled there on his bed, cold and lifeless, eyes closed. Harry saw a small knife in Neville's chest. It had been plunged into his heart. Wet, warm, red blood was spreading the white sheets of Neville's bed. A foul stench invaded Harry's nose. Neville was already starting to rot.