Just as Ron was about to concentrate on what Dumbledore intended to say, he felt a voice slip into his ears, as though someone were whispering right against the backs of their necks.
He shuddered violently, his expression immediately turning ugly as he looked at Hermione and Harry. "Did you hear something?"
"How strange..." He dug at his ear. "Why do I feel like I heard a voice... when Headmaster Dumbledore is the only one speaking?"
"I heard it too!" Hermione's brows drew tightly together, as though she were analyzing who had made the sound. "It wasn't very loud. It sounded like some kind of magic..."
Only after receiving Hermione's confirmation did Ron's expression ease a little.
Then another question occurred to him. "Hermione, don't you think that voice sounds familiar? I feel like I've heard it somewhere before..."
Hermione was still trying things. She drew her Wand and recited the spell she could think of that seemed most likely to break the magic. "Finite Incantatem!"
She shook her head, sounding more troubled. "The Universal Counter-Curse didn't work!"
"It's Voldemort's voice!" Harry said with absolute certainty.
Harry sounded so certain, his words so resolute, that Hermione and Ron's eyes widened at the same time. "Harry, what did you say?" they asked in unison.
Harry had already clenched his fists. As though afraid he had not made himself clear enough, he raised his voice. "That's Voldemort's voice! I'm sure of it! It's definitely his voice!"
After listening to Hermione's analysis, Ron had been entirely focused on figuring out where the voice came from.
Now that he had Harry's answer, he slapped the table. "Right! It's his voice! No wonder it sounded so familiar. I heard that voice after last year's Five Champions Tournament ended!"
"How could it be He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named's voice?" Dean