The malicious laughter nearly shattered the fake smile Dolores Umbridge had cultivated over the years, but a politician's thick skin still allowed her to maintain that stiff smile as she finished speaking.
After Umbridge concluded her dull, lengthy speech, Dumbledore briefly finished what Umbridge had interrupted earlier, then directly announced the end of the feast.
Everyone could finally return to their dormitories and get a proper night's sleep.
Once the professors had all left, the Great Hall immediately erupted into commotion.
"She's that old and still wears pink cardigans."
"That shrill little-girl voice is disgusting!"
"Did she see something just now? She actually got a nosebleed."
"The Defense Against the Dark Arts Professor curse, obviously."
"She really looks like a toad!"
"Her stomach growled so loudly."
Listening to the students whispering all around them, Albert gave his roommates a look, signaling for them to return to the dormitory before discussing anything else.
"This is far too funny."
After Albert cast a spell to set up a barrier that prevented sound from leaking out, Fred, George, and Lee Jordan all burst into laughter, startling Tom in his cat bed.
"Do you think they'll realize something is wrong?" George asked Albert, who was bending down to pick up Tom.
"I don't know. If the professors inspect things carefully, they'll definitely find something off, but... a nosebleed will probably just be treated as an accident. Besides, the professors don't particularly like Umbridge either." Albert was not worried that Hogwarts's professors would notice anything. Umbridge would only become more unfortunate from here on out. Unless they were blind, they would eventually realize something was wrong.
"We need to coordinate this with Peeves." Albert gently stroked Tom's head and turned to the others beside him. "I think he'll probably sneak into our dormitory tonight."
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