Albus Dumbledore’s parting words at the end of term speech had become a school tradition — one that Minerva encouraged, especially as her old friend began to experience certain lapses in both judgment and vocabulary as he aged.

She smiled indulgently through years of nonsense parting words, while Severus sneered and Filius chuckled; in retrospect, she should have given him a list instead of allowing yearly improvisation.

It *would* be Harry Potter’s first year — with all the extra national attention that entailed — when Albus chose to go off the rails with “ Nitwit! Blubber! Oddment! Fuck!”