The footsteps were getting closer, so that now Michael could clearly discern them to belong to more than one person. His heart-rate sped up as he recalled his last detention. This was going to be so much worse. If he were half as smart as Ravenclaws claimed to be, he'd run for cover right now.
Then one of the kids, a girl dirty blonde pigtails and freckles that stood out darkly against her pale skin, whimpered. Michael's shoulders slumped in defeat. There was no way he could leave the kids. No way.
With a sigh, he turned to the girl and hexed her chains open, then barely gave her enough time to recover before he pressed his wand into her hands. "You will free your friends now and then you run. Got it? The moment they come in, I'll distract them and you run.. No looking back, no matter what."
She nodded, still looking pale while Michael, his knees weak, went looking for something to use as a weapon. Finally his gaze fell on a massive, old, iron ladle - a relict from potions class, he suspected. Michael grabbed it, hoping his insane plan was going to give the kids some time to escape.