Everyone froze and turned to face the door.
"Didn't that sound like Professor Trelawney?" Lavender Brown gasped, holding her hand to her mouth.
Suddenly the tables, on which they were eating, floated into the air along with the benches they were sitting on, and tipped the students off on to the floor. The tables and benches then started to shake, almost looking as though they were shivering. Then, slowly, cracks started showing in the benches and tables, and with a loud resounding crack, they splintered into many large jagged pieces of wood. Harry, Ron and Hermione sat dazed on the floor staring cautiously up at the sharp pieces of wood floating above them.
"What the hell just happened?" Ron asked both indignant and terrified at the same time as he and Harry helped Hermione to her feet.
"No idea, but I have a bad feeling about this..." Harry answered.
"Ahh…" Harry scowled, clutching at his scar as he sank back down to the floor on his knees.
"What is it Harry?" Hermione whispered, staring at him with worried and frightened eyes while the rest of the student stared at him or at the door.
"My scar… it's burning again…."
"But that would mean that…" Ron began.
"You-Know-Who's here." Harry finished, turning pale.
The splinters of wood which had been floating above their heads flew over to the sides of the Great Hall, the closest ones to them on the ground, while the ones further back where higher up. The Great Hall now resembled a sort of crude stadium.
"What's all this about?" Ron asked out loud to no one in particular as no one was paying attention to him at the moment.
Suddenly, they found that they were floating up into the air. Other kids screamed and kicked as they to where lifted off the ground.
"Great, as soon as Dumbledore gets fired, You-Know-Who takes advantage of it." Ron whined under his breath, beads of sweat forming on his forehead.
Unlike most of the other student in the Hall, Harry, Hermione and Ron were unfortunately used to strange events like this and did not struggle as they floated in the air. Harry saw Ginny struggling from the corner of his eye. Many of their fellow students were casting spells, trying to return to the floor, though Harry knew Voldemort better, he would have made the spell strong enough to resist all other incantations.
Without warning, all the kids floated quickly over to the splinters on each side of the Great Hall. As they reached the splinters, ropes appeared from thin air, and snaked their way over to the students, and tied them to the splinters, with them facing towards the center of the Hall. Harry stayed in the middle of the Hall and slowly started to sink back to the ground. Once on the ground, he stood up, but when he tried to walk over to where Ron and Hermione were tied up, it was like his feet were glued to the floor.
"Harry! Run!" Hermione warned.
"I can't move!" Harry yelled back, though even if he could, he would never have abandoned them.
"Neither can we, " said Hermione as she and Ron struggled against their bonds, "let me try to get us down with my wand!" Hermione yelled to Harry.
As she reached into her pocket, a cold voice boomed from the doorway of the Hall.
"Oh no, Miss Granger, we can't have that, now can we?" it snarled, "Accio Wands"
All the wands in the Hall, including Harry's, flew to the doorway, and as people turned to see who had taken their wands, gasps and muffled screams filled the Hall.
"Is th-that…V-V-Vol…h-him?" Neville squeaked.
"Harry!" Hermione yelled, going pale.
Those who had not known who was standing at the doorway soon found out, and the Hall was filled with faces full of terror, even Malfoy's. This was the first time any of them had really seen Voldemort in the flesh and his long spidery fingers, flattened face with slits for nostrils, evil smirk, and red, murderous eyes did not make for a very welcoming first impression.
There in the doorway he stood wearing a black robe, with a small lump standing beside him, quivering slightly.
"Fetch Harry's wand Wormtail, I'm sure he's going to need it." Voldemort's cold laugh echoed around the Hall.
Wormtail's hunched figure scuttled over to the pile of wands and started rummaging through the large pile of wands, his silvery hand, which Voldemort had given him 3 years ago, shone and sparkled in the light of the floating candles which lit the Great Hall.
Harry scowled at the sight of Wormtail, he was the reason his parents were dead, the reason Sirius had been sent to Azkaban.
Sirius… Harry's godfather…
Harry wiped the thoughts of Sirius away, they would not help him in this predicament.
"How long it's been since I've walked these halls…" Voldemort reminisced, staring around the Hall.
"What do you want!" Harry yelled across the Hall.
The other students stared wide-eyed at Harry, amazed that he didn't even seem scared.
How wrong they were, underneath his calm exterior, Harry was panicked. His friends were in danger, Ron, Hermione, Ginny…
Ginny… the girl he secretly loved… nothing would happen to her if he had something to say about it!
"How rude…not even a hello." mocked Voldemort, pulling out of his thoughts, "But I'll get to the point, shall I?" Voldemort laughed.
"I'm here Harry, to finally get my revenge on you, in front of all your friends. You and your pesky little friends have foiled my plans too many times, so I think I shall kill you in front of them all, so they lose hope, their fighting spirit shall die with you. And after your gone, I think I'll kill them too, just to make sure I can do my bidding unhindered." His eye's glittered with fiendish glee.
All the faces in the Hall turned white with panic. Then a trembling voice spoke out from the crowd,
"M-m-master! Please spare me! Kill all the half bloods and mud-bloods but spare me! I want to serve you!" Draco yelled out.
"Going to follow in your father's footsteps are you Malfoy?" Ron snarled.
Draco shot a dirty look at Ron; "Shut up Weasel!" he spat.
"Ah… Draco Malfoy…your father…" Voldemort said as Draco turned back to him, looking wary, yet hopeful "was a pathetic moron! He was of no use to me, and neither are you. You shall be the first to die!" Voldemort whipped out his wand and pointed it at Draco's nose.
Mr. Malfoy had accidentally given false information to the Dark Lord about Harry a few months ago, slowing down the progress of Voldemort's plan for Harry. The eldest Malfoy hadn't been seen after that… the Dark Lord didn't like to wait.
"Stop!" Harry yelled, his face panicked.
"Now Harry, what do you care if I kill him? Hmm? He's your enemy as much as me." Voldemort questioned, an evil grin on his face.
"No one deserves to be killed by you… kill me, but leave the rest alone." Harry yelled.
"Harry! No!" Ginny yelled, a few tears sliding down her face.
"Potter?" Draco mumbled, shocked, as Voldemort started to turn back towards Harry. He had thought he was dead… but to be saved by Harry? That was unexpected… they had always been enemies and Draco had always thought that Harry wouldn't have even lifted a finger to safe his life…
"Harry! Please be careful!" Hermione cried out.
"Fine," Voldemort said, putting his wand away, "we shall duel again, but bare in mind, if I win, all your friends die…slowly and painfully." He added, baring his teeth.
"Like I have a choice…" Harry muttered sarcastically.
"Wormtail, give Potter his wand." Voldemort ordered.
Wormtail sprinted over to Harry, wheezing heavily and avoiding eye contact with Harry, handed the wand over, and then ran to the left side of the 'stadium'. Voldemort waved his wand and the doors to the Great Hall swung closed. With another wave, Harry's feet became unstuck.
"I will win this… I will finish this…" Harry growled.
"You're so sure are you Harry?" Voldemort mocked.
"I'm going to fulfill the prophecy tonight…" Harry said, looking straight into Voldemort's eyes, which widened, then narrowed at the mention of the prophecy that he so desperately wanted to hear.