Miss Whitledge's words were breaking and he could barely make out an intelligible word in the jumble of noises she was making. Ernie merely raised his brows at her, shaking his head as he just stared at her. Maybe she was speaking tongues? That would explain a lot. Upon closer inspection, however, it seemed that she was crying — or almost crying. Oh well.

"How tragic," he muttered, eyeing the girl for a moment before his gaze snapped in the direction of the Great Hall's exit. "Well, while you work through your own troubles—" He motioned to her body with a wave of his hands. "—I'm going to - uh - clean up. Bye." And with that, he took off for the hills.