Mikey nodded dumbly, trying to make a mental map of the grounds in his head so he had some idea which direction to run in if something went wrong.
The lights from the Great Hall were spilling out from the windows onto the patch of grass they were standing on, but beyond that there were only faint outlines of building-like shapes and trees. And other things too. It struck him suddenly that if a house elf was lying silently on the ground they wouldn't notice it until they were almost on top of it and he found himself in the strange position of being grateful that they made the kind of horrible noises they did.
"Okay, you lead," he said to Spencer and they moved off warily, slow enough not to trip and yet not so slow as to elongate the trip unnecessarily. As they moved away from the edge of the castle the noise of the wind in the trees seemed louder and the dark moving shapes ahead more threatening. He tightened his grip on his wand and ran through a few spells in his head, just in case, while he was still calm.