Michael opened his eyes and looked across at Stephen. "Are they? If they were you'd think we'd have heard more about it. No one has come into the school suffering from it. No one has come in, have they? We don't know what's going on in the rest of the world. It could just be this, here." He didn't want to be a downer, but it was better to be a pessimist than be horribly disappointed by the lack of everything.
"You punted us up that river all on your own, with your own fair hands," Michael said, grinning. "It's not that hard, really. Bit more satisfying. You can come over for Muggle lessons with mum and me," he laughed, blinking lazily. He was comfortable, his back didn't feel half as bad. "It is what it is, Stevie."