"Okay," Michael breathed, relieved that Ernie seemed to have catch on as quickly as he did. He watched his friend disappear into the hospital wing and ran a hand through his bangs, sighing wearily. The whole experience had left Michael shaken. It had been much worse than the first time and for once, he suspected, that he had really witnessed the different way the Carrows treated Purebloods and Halfbloods. And yet, Michael could barely understand how Seamus and Lavender for instance managed to go through this with so much more determination than he did.
He leaned back against the cool stone wall and closed his eyes, allowing the coolness to soothe his pounding headache. Fact was that Michael was very well aware that he had been acting stupidly. Fact was also that, being the bookish person that he was, there was one sentence that he couldn't get out of his head: All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men stand by and do nothing.
Michael pressed his fists to his eyes as if hoping to rub that thought out of his head – but to no avail. Hopefully Ernie returned quickly.