"Let's go back," Spencer said, and then turned, contradictory, and bent a little, rubbing at his face blindly. His hands came away stained black with soot and smoke and he supposed they must both be a little dishevelled from the fight and the run by now. He glanced over his shoulder at the smoking mess, grateful for Mikey's quick thinking.
The house elves would be back any second now, he knew, not driven off for long, but Spencer couldn't quite seem to make himself move. He ran through lists of students in his head, trying to match up who he'd seen in the library with those who had finally been congregated together in the Great Hall. It wasn't very useful -- even if he had been able to remember the name and face of every student, there were a bunch with Brendon and Pete and, Spencer suspected, Gabe, and a hundred hiding places in the school that kids could have found along with that. He doubted anyone would know until this whole thing was over exactly who might be missing.
He looked back again anyway, revulsion and horror rising in his throat. He didn't know if the fact that it was unidentifiable was better or worse.