哈利·波特与凤凰社 Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix 英文  中文  双语对照  双语交替 首页  目录  上一章   下一章

---

CHAPTER THIRTEEN - Dentention with Delores

第十三章　被多洛雷斯关禁闭

Dinner in the Great Hall that night was not a pleasant experience for Harry. The news about his shouting match with Umbridge had travelled exceptionally fast even by Hogwarts' standards. He heard whispers all around him as he sat eating between Ron and Hermione. The funny thing was that none of the whisperers seemed to mind him overhearing what they were saying about him. On the contrary, it was as though they were hoping he would get angry and start shouting again, so that they could hear his story first-hand.

对哈利来说，那天晚上在礼堂吃晚饭可不是一次愉快的经历。他同乌姆里奇大吵大嚷的消息不胫而走，即使按霍格沃茨的标准衡量，这样的传播速度也是快得出奇。当他坐在罗恩和赫敏中间开始吃饭时，他看见周围一片窃窃私语。有趣的是，那些交头接耳的人似乎谁也不在乎他会不会听见他们议论。恰恰相反，他们好像巴不得他动怒，再次嚷嚷起来，这样他们就能亲耳听到他是怎么说的了。

'He says he saw Cedric Diggory murdered . . .'

“他说他看见塞德里克·迪戈里被杀害……”

'He reckons he duelled with You-Know-Who . . .'

“他以为自己跟神秘人决斗来着……”

'Come off it . . .'

“快别胡扯了……”

'Who does he think he's kidding?'

“他以为自己在蒙谁呢？”

'Pur-lease . . .'

“饶了我吧……”

'What I don't get,' said Harry through clenched teeth, laying down his knife and fork (his hands were shaking too much to hold them steady), 'is why they all believed the story two months ago when Dumbledore told them . . .'

“我不明白的是，”哈利放下手里的餐具咬着牙说（他的手抖得太厉害，刀叉都拿不稳了），“两个月前邓布利多告诉他们这件事时，他们怎么就都相信了呢……”

The thing is, Harry, I'm not sure they did,' said Hermione grimly. 'Oh, let's get out of here.'

“问题是，哈利，我不敢肯定他们是不是相信了。”赫敏神色严峻地说道，“哦，我们快离开这儿吧。”

She slammed down her own knife and fork; Ron looked longingly at his half-finished apple pie but followed suit. People stared s t them all the way out of the Hall.

她重重地放下自己的刀叉，罗恩恋恋不舍地看了看刚吃了一半的苹果馅饼，但还是跟着他们走了。人们一直盯着他们走出了礼堂。

'What d'you mean, you're not sure they believed Dumbledore?' Harry asked Hermione when they reached the first-floor landing.

“你是什么意思，你不敢肯定他们是不是相信邓布利多？”他们来到二楼的楼梯平台时，哈利问赫敏。

'Look, you don't understand what it was like after it happened,' said Hermione quietly. 'You arrived back in the middle of the lawn clutching Cedric's dead body . . . none of us saw what what happened in the maze . . . we just had Dumbledore's word for it that You-Know-Who had come back and killed Cedric and fought you.'

“唉，其实你并不明白事情发生以后是什么情况，”赫敏轻声说，“你从草地中央回来了，怀里抱着塞德里克的尸体……我们谁都没有看见迷宫里发生的一切……我们只是听邓布利多说神秘人回来了，杀死了塞德里克，还跟你展开了搏斗。”

'Which is the truth!' said Harry loudly.

“那是事实！”哈利大声说。

'I know it is, Harry, so will you please stop biting my head off?' said Hermione wearily. 'It's just that before the truth could sink in, everyone went home for the summer, where they spent two months reading about how you're a nutcase and Dumbledore's going senile!'

“我知道是事实，哈利，你能不能不要这样冲我大声嚷嚷？”赫敏不耐烦地说，“实际上，没等大家完全理解这个事实，他们就都回家过暑假了。整整两个月的时间，他们读到的都是你是个疯子，邓布利多是个老糊涂！”

Rain pounded on the windowpanes as they strode along the empty corridors back to Gryffindor Tower. Harry felt as though his first day had lasted a week, but he still had a mountain of homework to do before bed. A dull pounding pain was developing over his right eye. He glanced out of a rain-washed window at the dark grounds as they turned into the Fat Lady's corridor. There was still no light in Hagrid's cabin.

他们大步走在空荡荡的走廊上，返回格兰芬多的塔楼。雨水啪啪地敲打着窗户玻璃。哈利觉得这开学的第一天好像持续了一个星期，而他睡觉前还要完成那么一大堆家庭作业。他的右眼皮开始一跳一跳地疼。当他们拐进胖夫人的那条走廊时，他透过一扇被雨水冲刷过的窗户望着外面黑黢黢的场地。海格的小屋里仍然没有灯光。

'Mimbulus mimbletonia,' said Hermione, before the Fat Lady could ask. The portrait swung open to reveal the hole behind it and the three of them scrambled through it.

“米布米宝。”赫敏不等胖夫人开口发问就说道。肖像弹开，露出后面的洞口，他们三个爬了进去。

The common room was almost empty; nearly everyone was still down at dinner. Crookshanks uncoiled himself from an armchair and trotted to meet them, purring loudly, and when Harry, Ron and Hermione took their three favourite chairs at the fireside he leapt lightly on to Hermione's lap and curled up there like a furry ginger cushion. Harry gazed into the flames, feeling drained and exhausted.

公共休息室里几乎空无一人，差不多所有的同学都还在下面吃晚饭呢。克鲁克山在一张扶手椅里展开身体，小跑着过来迎接他们，发出很响的呼噜呼噜的喘息声。哈利、罗恩和赫敏在炉火旁他们最喜欢的三把椅子里坐定后，它轻盈地跳到赫敏的膝头，把身体蜷成一个毛茸茸的姜黄色坐垫。哈利望着火苗出神，感到极度疲倦，所有的精力都耗光了。

'How can Dumbledore have let this happen?' Hermione cried suddenly, making Harry and Ron jump; Crookshanks leapt off her, looking affronted. She pounded the arms of her chair in fury, so that bits of stuffing leaked out of the holes. 'How can he let that terrible woman teach us? And in our OWL year, too!'

“邓布利多怎么能让这种事情发生呢？”赫敏突然嚷了起来，把哈利和罗恩吓了一跳。克鲁克山从她身上跳开，一副受了冒犯的样子。赫敏气愤地敲打着椅子的扶手，里面填塞的东西都从破洞里漏了出来。“他怎么能让那个可怕的女人教我们要呢？而且还在我们参加O．W．Ls考试的这一年！”

'Well, we've never had great Defence Against the Dark Arts teachers, have we?' said Harry. 'You know what it's like, Hagrid told us, nobody wants the job; they say it's jinxed.'

“唉，我们的黑魔法防御术课从来就没有过像样的老师，是不是？”哈利说道，“你知道是怎么回事，海格告诉过我们，谁也不愿意接这个活儿，他们说这份工作中了恶咒。”

'Yes, but to employ someone who's actually refusing to let us do magic! What's Dumbledore playing at?'

“这倒是，可是居然聘请了一位根本不让我们施魔法的人！邓布利多在玩什么把戏？”

'And she's trying to get people to spy for her,' said Ron darkly.

“那女人还想让别人给她当密探。”罗恩郁闷地说，“记得吗，她说如果我们听见有谁说神秘人回来了，她希望我们去向她汇报。”

'Remember when she said she wanted us to come and tell her if we hear anyone saying You-Know-Who's back?'

“她来这儿当然就是为了刺探我们大家的，这还用说吗，不然福吉要她来做什么？”赫敏怒声说道。

'Of course she's here to spy on us all, that's obvious, why else would Fudge have wanted her to come?' snapped Hermione.

“别再吵架了，”罗恩正想张嘴反驳，哈利不耐烦地说，“我们能不能……能不能现在就做家庭作业，早做完早省心……”

'Don't start arguing again,' said Harry wearily, as Ron opened his mouth to retaliate. 'Can't we just. . . let's just do that homework, get it out of the way. . .'

他们从墙角拿来书包，回到炉火旁的椅子上。这时候同学们陆续吃完饭回来了。哈利侧着脸，尽量不去看肖像洞口，但仍然能感觉到大家都在盯着他看。

They collected their schoolbags from a corner and returned to the chairs by the fire. People were coming back from dinner now. Harry kept his face averted from the portrait hole, but could still sense the stares he was attracting.

“我们先写斯内普的那篇吧？”罗恩说着给他的羽毛笔蘸了蘸墨水，“月长石的……特性……以及它在……制药方面的……用途……”他低声嘟哝着，边说边把这些字写在羊皮纸的最上面。“好了。”他在标题下面画了道横线，抬头满怀期待地望着赫敏。

'Shall we do Snape's stuff first?' said Ron, dipping his quill into his ink. "The properties. . . of moonstone. . . and its uses . . . in potion-making. . ." ' he muttered, writing the words across the top of his parchment as he spoke them. There.' He underlined the title, then looked up expectantly at Hermione.

“那么，月长石的特性以及它在制药方面的用途是什么呢？”

'So, what are the properties of moonstone and its uses in potion-making?'

可是赫敏根本没听，她正眯起眼睛看着房间那头的角落，只见弗雷德、乔治和李·乔丹正坐在一群看上去天真幼稚的一年级新生中间，每个新生嘴里都在嚼着什么东西，看样子是从弗雷德手里提的那个大纸口袋里拿出来的。

But Hermione was not listening; she was squinting over into the far corner of the room, where Fred, George and Lee Jordan were now sitting at the centre of a knot of innocent-looking first-years, all of whom were chewing something that seemed to have come out of a large paper bag that Fred was holding.

“不行，对不起，他们实在太过分了。”赫敏说着腾地站起身，一副怒不可遏的样子，“来，罗恩。”

'No, I'm sorry, they've gone too far,' she said, standing up and looking positively furious. 'Come on, Ron.'

“我——干吗？”罗恩说，显然是在拖延时间，“不——算啦，赫敏——我们总不能干涉他们发糖给别人吃吧。”

'I - what?' said Ron, plainly playing for time. 'No - come on, Hermione - we can't tell them off for giving out sweets.'

“你心里很清楚，那些是鼻血牛轧糖，要么——要么是吐吐糖，要么——”

'You know perfectly well that those are bits of Nosebleed Nougat or - or Puking Pastilles or - '

“昏迷花糖？”哈利小声提醒道。

'Fainting Fancies?' Harry suggested quietly.

那些一年级新生就像被一把无形的大锤砸了一下脑袋，一个个在座位上昏了过去。有的扑通滑到了地上，有的只是瘫倒在椅子的扶手上，舌头伸得老长。在一旁观看的人多数都哈哈大笑起来，赫敏则挺起胸膛，大步流星地直冲弗雷德和乔治走去，这会儿他们正拿着带弹簧夹的写字板站在那里，仔细观察那些神志不清的一年级新生。罗恩的身体从椅子上抬起一半，迟疑地悬在那儿片刻，然后低声对哈利说：“她已经控制住了。”接着他把他那瘦长的身体尽量压得低低的，缩在椅子里。

One by one, as though hit over the head with an invisible mallet, the first-years were slumping unconscious in their seats; some slid right on to the floor, others merely hung over the arms of their chairs, their tongues lolling out. Most of the people watching were laughing; Hermione, however, squared her shoulders and marched directly over to where Fred and George now stood with clipboards, closely observing the unconscious first-years. Ron rose halfway out of his chair, hovered uncertainly for a moment or two, then muttered to Harry, 'She's got it under control,' before sinking as low in his chair as his lanky frame permitted.

“够了！”赫敏威严地对弗雷德和乔治说，他们俩都微微吃惊地抬起头来。

That's enough!' Hermione said forcefully to Fred and George, both of whom looked up in mild surprise.

“是啊，你说得对，”乔治点点头说道，“这个剂量看来是够劲儿了，是不是？”

'Yeah, you're right,' said George, nodding, 'this dosage looks strong enough, doesn't it?'

“今天早晨我已经对你们说过了，不许在同学身上试验你们的这堆垃圾！”

'I told you this morning, you can't test your rubbish on students!'

“我们付钱给他们了！”弗雷德气愤地说。

'We're paying them!' said Fred indignantly.

“我不管，这可能很危险！”

'I don't care, it could be dangerous!'

“胡扯。”弗雷德说。

'Rubbish,' said Fred.

“冷静点儿，赫敏，不会有事儿的！”李·乔丹宽慰她说，一边在那些一年级新生中间走来走去，把紫色的糖果塞进他们张开的嘴巴里。

'Calm clown, Hermione, they're fine!' said Lee reassuringly as he walked from first-year to first-year, inserting purple sweets into their open mouths.

“是啊，你看，他们现在都醒过来了。”乔治说。

'Yeah, look, they're coming round now,' said George.

有几个新生确实开始动弹了。看到自己躺在地板上或瘫软在椅子上，显得非常震惊，因此哈利可以肯定，弗雷德和乔治事先并没有告诉他们这些糖是做什么用的。

A few of the first-years were indeed stirring. Several looked so shocked to find themselves lying on the floor, or dangling off their chairs, that Harry was sure Fred and George had not warned them what the sweets were going to do.

“感觉还好吧？”乔治亲切地问躺在他脚下的一个黑头发的小个子女生。

'Feel all right?' said George kindly to a small dark-haired girl lying at his feet.

“我——我想是吧。”女生颤抖着说。

'I - I think so,' she said shakily.

“太棒了。”弗雷德高兴地说，可是紧接着赫敏就把他的写字板和那一纸袋昏迷花糖都夺了过去。

'Excellent,' said Fred happily, but the next second Hermione had snatched both his clipboard and the paper bag of Fainting Fancies from his hands.

“根本不是太棒了！”

'It is NOT excellent!'

“当然是太棒了，他们都还活着，是不是？”弗雷德生气地说。

'Course it is, they're alive, aren't they?' said Fred angrily.

“你们不能这么做，万一害得他们中间有谁患上重病呢？”

'You can't do this, what if you made one of them really ill?'

“我们不会让他们得病的，这些糖我们已经在自己身上试验过了，现在只想看看是不是每个人的反应都一样——”

'We're not going to make them ill, we've already tested them all on ourselves, this is just to see if everyone reacts the same - '

“如果你们不停止这么做，我就要——”

'If you don't stop doing it, I'm going to - '

“罚我们关禁闭？”弗雷德说，声音里透着一种“我倒要看你敢不敢”的意思。

'Put us in detention?' said Fred, in an I'd-like-to-see-you-try-it voice.

“罚我们写句子？”乔治嘲笑着说。

'Make us write lines?' said George, smirking.

房间里在一旁观看的人都笑了起来。赫敏尽量把身体挺得笔直，眯起眼睛，一头毛蓬蓬的头发似乎噼噼啪啪地闪着电光。

Onlookers all over the room were laughing. Hermione drew herself up to her full height; her eyes were narrowed and her bushy hair seemed to crackle with electricity.

“不，”她说，声音因愤怒而微微发抖，“但我要写信给你们的妈妈。”

'No,' she said, her voice quivering with anger, 'but I will write to your mother.'

“你不会的。”乔治说，大惊失色地从她面前退后了一步。

'You wouldn't,' said George, horrified, taking a step back from her.

“哦，会的，我会写的。”赫敏毫不含糊地说，“我不能阻止你们自己吃这些无聊的玩意儿，但你们不能把它们拿给一年级新生。”

'Oh, yes, I would,' said Hermione grimly. 'I can't stop you eating the stupid things yourselves, but you're not to give them to the first-years,'

弗雷德和乔治看样子完全被吓坏了。显然，在他们看来，赫敏的威胁是很阴险的一招。赫敏最后又狠狠地瞪了他们一眼，把弗雷德的写字板和那一纸袋花糖塞进他怀里，然后大步走回她炉火旁的椅子前。

Fred and George looked thunderstruck. It was clear that as far as they were concerned, Hermione's threat was way below the belt. With a last threatening look at them, she thrust Fred's clipboard and the bag of Fancies back into his arms, and stalked back to her chair by the fire.

这时候，罗恩在座位里把身体埋得低低的，鼻子差不多跟他的膝盖平行了。

Ron was now so low in his seat that his nose was roughly level with his knees.

“感谢你的支持，罗恩。”赫敏刻薄地说。

Thank you for your support, Ron,' Hermione said acidly.

“你自己处理得很好嘛。”罗恩嘟哝了一句。

'You handled it fine by yourself,' Ron mumbled.

赫敏瞪着面前空白的羊皮纸，愣了几秒钟，然后烦躁地说：“哦，没有用，我现，在没法集中思想。我去睡觉了。”

Hermione stared down at her blank piece of parchment for a few seconds, then said edgily, 'Oh, it's no good, I can't concentrate now. I'm going to bed.'

她猛地打开书包，哈利以为她要把书本收起来，没想到她掏出了两件奇状的羊毛织的东西，把它们小心地放在壁炉旁边的一张桌子上，并用几张皱巴巴的羊皮纸和一支破羽毛笔盖住它们，然后退后一步观看效果。

She wrenched her bag open; Harry thought she was about to put her books away, but instead she pulled out two misshapen woolly objects, placed them carefully on a table by the fireplace, covered them with a few screwed-up bits of parchment and a broken quill and stood back to admire the effect.

“我的天哪，你这到底是在做什么呀？”罗恩说，呆呆地望着她，好像怀疑她头脑是不是清醒。

'What in the name of Merlin are you doing?' said Ron, watching her as though fearful for her sanity.

“这些是给家养小精灵的帽子，”她尖刻地说道，现在才开始把书本塞进书包，“我暑假里织的。不用魔法，我织东西实在太慢了，现在回到了学校，应该能够再织出一大批了。”

They're hats for house-elves,' she said briskly now stuffing her books back into her bag. 'I did them over the summer. I'm a really slow knitter without magic but now I'm back at school I should be able to make lots more.'

“你要把帽子留给家养小精灵？”罗恩慢慢地问，“还用垃圾把它们先盖起来？”

'You're leaving out hats for the house-elves?' said Ron slowly. 'And you're covering them up with rubbish first?'

“是的。”赫敏毫不示弱地说，把书包甩到了背后。

'Yes,' said Hermione defiantly, swinging her bag on to her back.

“那是行不通的，”罗恩气呼呼地说，“你不能欺骗他们捡起这些帽子。你给他们自由，他们也许并不想得到自由。”

That's not on,' said Ron angrily. 'You're trying to trick them into picking up the hats. You're setting them free when they might not want to be free.'

“他们当然想得到自由！”赫敏不假思索地说，但脸色转成了粉红色，“你敢碰一碰那些帽子，罗恩！”

'Of course they want to be free!' said Hermione at once, though

她走了。罗恩等她刚一出了通向女生宿舍的门，就把那些垃圾从羊毛帽子上清除掉了。

her face was turning pink. 'Don't you dare touch those hats, Ron!'

“至少应该让他们看清他们捡起来的是什么东西，”他坚决地说道，“反正……”他卷起那张写着斯内普那篇论文标题的羊皮纸，“现在要把它写完是不可能的了。赫敏不在，我根本没法儿写，月长石到底有什么用，我真是一点儿也不知道。你呢？”

She turned on her heel and left. Ron waited until she had disappeared through the door to the girls' dormitories, then cleared the rubbish off the woolly hats.

哈利摇了摇头，这才发现他的右边太阳穴疼得越来越厉害了。想起还要写那么长一篇关于巨人战争的文章，那疼痛更是如刀割一般。他知道明天早晨醒来，他肯定会后悔今天晚上没有完成家庭作业。他一边这么想着，一边把书本塞回书包里。

They should at least see what they're picking up,' he said firmly. 'Anyway . . .' he rolled up the parchment on which he had written the title of Snape's essay, 'there's no point trying to finish this now, I can't do it without Hermione, I haven't got a clue what you're supposed to do with moonstones, have you?'

“我也去睡觉了。”

Harry shook his head, noticing as he did so that the ache in his right temple was getting worse. He thought of the long essay on giant wars and the pain stabbed at him sharply. Knowing perfectly well that when the morning came, he would regret not finishing his homework that night, he piled his books back into his bag.

他走向通往男生宿舍的那扇门，正好与西莫擦肩而过，但看也没有看他。一闪念间，哈利仿佛觉得西莫张开嘴想要说话，他赶紧加快脚步来到安静的、令人舒心的石头螺旋式楼梯上，不想再忍受别人的挑衅和刺激。

'I'm going to bed too.'

第二天早晨，天气和前一天一样灰蒙蒙的，细雨绵绵。吃早饭的时候，教工桌子上还是不见海格的身影。

He passed Seamus on the way to the door leading to the dormitories, but did not look at him. Harry had a fleeting impression that Seamus had opened his mouth to speak, but he sped up and reached the soothing peace of the stone spiral staircase without having to endure any more provocation.

“可是从有利的方面看，斯内普今天也不在。”罗恩给他们打气说。

*

赫敏打了一个大大的哈欠，给自己倒了一些咖啡。她似乎在为什么事情暗暗高兴，后来罗恩问她到底为什么事开心成这样，她简单地说：“帽子不见了。看来家养小精灵还是愿意得到自由的。”

The following day dawned just as leaden and rainy as the previous one. Hagrid was still absent from the staff table at breakfast.

“这我可说不准，”罗恩尖刻地对她说，“它们大概根本就不能算衣物。在我看来，它们一点儿也不像帽子，倒更像是羊毛袋子。”

'But on the plus side, no Snape today,' said Ron bracingly.

赫敏一上午都没跟他说话。

Hermione yawned widely and poured herself some coffee. She looked mildly pleased about something, and when Ron asked her what she had to be so happy about, she simply said, The hats have gone. Seems the house-elves do want freedom after all.'

两节魔咒课后面接着是两节变形课。弗立维教授和麦格教授都先用了十五分钟向全班同学强调O．W．Ls考试的重要性。

'I wouldn't bet on it,' Ron told her cuttingly. They might not count as clothes. They didn't look anything like hats to me, more like woolly bladders.'

“你们必须记住，”矮个子弗立维教授尖声尖气地说，他像往常一样站在一堆书上，这样才能从讲台上看到全班同学，“这些考试可能会影响到你们未来许多年的前途！如果你们还没有严肃认真地考虑过你们的职业，现在应该好好想想了。与此同时，为了保证你们都发挥出自己的水平，恐怕我们都要比以前更加努力才行！”

Hermione did not speak to him all morning.

接着他们花了一个多小时复习飞来咒，据弗立维教授说，这是他们的O．W．Ls考试中肯定会有的内容。下课前，他前所未有地布置了一大堆魔咒作为家庭作业。

Double Charms was succeeded by double Transfiguration. Professor Flitwick and Professor McGonagall both spent the first fifteen minutes of their lessons lecturing the class on the importance of OWLs.

变形课的情况即使不是更糟，也好不到哪儿去。

'What you must remember,' said little Professor Flitwick squeakily, perched as ever on a pile of books so that he could see over the top of his desk, 'is that these examinations may influence your futures for many years to come! If you have not already given serious thought to your careers, now is the time to do so. And in :he meantime, I'm afraid, we shall be working harder than ever to ensure that you all do yourselves justice!'

“如果没有认真的学习、实践、应用，”麦格教授严肃地说，“你们就不可能通过O．W．Ls考试。我认为，只要投入了时间和精力，这个班里的所有同学都没有理由得不到变形课的O．W．Ls合格证书。”

They then spent over an hour revising Summoning Charms, which according to Professor Flitwick were bound to come up in their OWL, and he rounded off the lesson by setting them their largest ever amount of Charms homework.

纳威不敢相信地叹了口气。

It was the same, if not worse, in Transfiguration.

“没错，你也同样，隆巴顿。”麦格教授说，“你的操作没有任何错误，只是缺乏自信。因此……今天我们要开始学习消失咒。消失咒要比你们一般在达到N．E．W．Ts水平时才会练习的召唤咒简单一些，但它仍然是你们O．W．Ls考试中会出现的最难的魔法。”

'You cannot pass an OWL,' said Professor McGonagall grimly, 'without serious application, practice and study. I see no reason why everybody in this class should not achieve an OWL in Transfiguration as long as they put in the work.' Neville made a sad little disbelieving noise. 'Yes, you too, Longbottom,' said Professor McGonagall. There's nothing wrong with your work except lack of confidence. So . . . today we are starting Vanishing Spells. These are easier than Conjuring Spells, which you would not usually attempt until NEWT level, but they are still among the most difficult magic you will be tested on in your OWL.'

她说得很对。哈利发现消失咒难得要命。到两节课快结束时，他和罗恩谁都没能使他们用来练习的蜗牛消失，虽然罗恩抱有希望地说，他认为他那只蜗牛的颜色变浅了点儿。而赫敏刚试到第三次，就成功地使她的蜗牛消失了，因此从麦格教授那里为格兰芬多学院赢得了十分的奖励。只有她一个人不用做家庭作业，其他人都必须连夜练习这个魔咒，准备第二天下午再在那些蜗牛身上尝试一番。

She was quite right; Harry found the Vanishing Spells horribly difficult. By the end of a double period, neither he nor Ron had managed to vanish the snails on which they were practising, though Ron said hopefully he thought his looked a bit paler. Hermione, on the other hand, successfully vanished her snail on the third attempt, earning her a ten-point bonus for Gryffindor from Professor McGonagall. She was the only person not given homework; everybody else was told to practise the spell overnight, ready for a fresh attempt on their snails the following afternoon.

有这么多家庭作业要完成，哈利和罗恩有些慌神了。他们把午饭时间花在了泡图书馆上，好查找月长石在制药方面的用途。赫敏还在为罗恩诽谤她的羊毛帽子而生气，没有跟他们一起去。下午，当他们去上保护神奇生物课时，哈利的脑袋又疼了起来。

Now panicking slightly about the amount of homework they had to do, Harry and Ron spent their lunch hour in the library looking up the uses of moonstones in potion-making. Still angry about Ron's slur on her woolly hats, Hermione did not join them. By the time they reached Care of Magical Creatures in the afternoon, Harry's head was aching again.

天气阴冷，寒风凛冽，他们走下草坡、向禁林边上海格的小屋走去时，感到有零星的雨点落在他们脸上。格拉普兰教授站在海格小屋门前十米开外的地方等待同学们，她的面前有一张长长的搁板桌，上面放着许多细树枝。哈利和罗恩刚走到她身边，就听见身后传来一阵刺耳的笑声。回头一看，只见德拉科·马尔福大步朝他们走来，身边围着他那群形影不离的斯莱特林密友。显然他刚才说了什么特别好笑的话，因为等到克拉布、高尔、潘西·帕金森及其他人围拢在搁板桌旁时，他们还忍不住开心地咯咯直笑，而且他们都不停地朝哈利这边看，因此哈利很容易就能猜出那个笑话说的是什么。

The day had become cool and breezy, and as they walked down the sloping lawn towards Hagrid's cabin on the edge of the Forbidden Forest, they felt the occasional drop of rain on their faces. Professor Grubbly-Plank stood waiting for the class some ten yards from Hagrid's front door, a long trestle table in front of her laden with twigs. As Harry and Ron reached her, a loud shout of laughter sounded behind them; turning, they saw Draco Malfoy striding towards them, surrounded by his usual gang of Slytherin cronies. He had clearly just said something highly amusing, because Crabbe, Goyle, Pansy Parkinson and the rest continued to snigger heartily as they gathered around the trestle table and, judging by the way they all kept looking over at Harry, he was able to guess the subject of the joke without too much difficulty.

“人都来齐了吧？”格拉普兰教授看到斯莱特林和格兰芬多的同学都到了，便粗声粗气地问道，“我们开始吧。谁能告诉我这些东西叫什么名字？”

'Everyone here?' barked Professor Grubbly-Plank, once all the Slytherins and Gryffindors had arrived. 'Let's crack on then. Who can tell me what these things are called?'

她指着面前的那一堆细树枝。赫敏腾地一下举起了手。在她身后，马尔福龇着牙齿，学她上蹿下跳、急着回答问题的样子。潘西·帕金森发出一声刺耳的大笑，但几乎立刻就变成了一声尖叫，只见桌上的细树枝忽地蹿到空中，露出了它们的真面目，一个个像是木头做的小精灵，每个都长着褐色的、疙里疙瘩的腿和胳膊，每只手上有两根树枝般的手指，而每张扁平的、树皮般的滑稽面孔上都有两只圆溜溜的褐色小眼睛在闪闪发亮。

She indicated the heap of twigs in front of her. Hermione's hand shot into the air. Behind her back, Malfoy did a buck-toothed imitation of her jumping up and down in eagerness to answer a question. Pansy Parkinson gave a shriek of laughter that turned almost at once into a scream, as the twigs on the table leapt into the air and revealed themselves to be what looked like tiny pixie-ish creatures made of wood, each with knobbly brown arms and legs, two twiglike fingers at the end of each hand and a funny flat, barklike face in which a pair of beetle-brown eyes glittered.

“哎哟！”帕瓦蒂和拉文德说，这使哈利非常恼火。谁都认为海格从来没有给他们看过什么有趣的动物。必须承认，弗洛伯毛虫确实有点儿乏味，但火蜥蜴和鹰头马身有翼兽还是挺有趣的，而炸尾螺或许有趣得过了头。

'Oooooh!' said Parvati and Lavender, thoroughly irritating Harry. Anyone would have thought Hagrid had never shown them impressive creatures; admittedly, the Flobberworms had been a bit dull, but the Salamanders and Hippogriffs had been interesting enough, and the Blast-Ended Skrewts perhaps too much so.

“姑娘们，请你们小声点儿！”格拉普兰教授严厉地说，抓了一把像是糙米一样的东西撒给那些枯枝般的动物，它们立刻扑上去吃了起来，“那么——有谁知道这些动物的名字？格兰杰小姐？”

'Kindly keep your voices down, girls!' said Professor Grubbly-Plank sharply, scattering a handful of what looked like brown rice among the stick-creatures, who immediately fell upon the food. 'So - anyone know the names of these creatures? Miss Granger?'

“护树罗锅①，”赫敏回答道，“它们是树木的保护神，通常生活在魔杖树上。”

'Bowtruckles,' said Hermione. They're tree-guardians, usually live in wand-trees.'

“格兰芬多加五分。”格拉普兰教授说，“不错，这些动物是护树罗锅，格兰杰小姐说得很对，它们一般生活在枝干可以用来做魔杖的树上。有谁知道它们吃什么吗？”

'Five points for Gryffindor,' said Professor Grubbly-Plank. 'Yes, these are Bowtruckles, and as Miss Granger rightly says, they generally live in trees whose wood is of wand quality. Anybody know what they eat?'

“土鳖，”赫敏立刻答道，怪不得那些哈利以为是糙米的东西都在动个不停呢，“还有仙人蛋，如果它们能弄到的话。”

'Woodlice,' said Hermione promptly, which explained why what Harry had taken to be grains of brown rice were moving. 'But fairy eggs if they can get them.'

“好孩子，再加五分。所以，如果你们需要在护树罗锅栖息的树上采集树叶或木料，最好准备一些土鳖作为礼物，吸引它们的注意力，安抚它们的情绪。它们看上去没什么危险，但如果被惹急了，就会用手指来挖人的眼睛。你们可以看到，它们的手指非常尖利，碰到人的眼球可不是好玩的。好了，如果你们愿意靠近一点，拿一些土鳖，领一只护树罗锅去——这里的护树罗锅够三个人分到一只——便可以更仔细地研究它们。我希望下课前每人完成一张草图，标出护树罗锅身体的每个部分。”

'Good girl, take another five points.. So, whenever you need leaves or wood from a tree in which a Bowtruckle lodges, it is wise to have a gift of woodlice ready to distract or placate it. They may not look dangerous, but if angered they will try to gouge at human eyes with their fingers, which, as you can see, are very sharp and not at all desirable near the eyeballs. So if you'd like to gather closer, take a few woodlice and a Bowtruckle - I have enough here for one between three - you can study them more closely. I want a sketch from each of you with all body-parts labelled by the end of the lesson.'

全班同学都朝搁板桌拥去。哈利故意绕到后面，这样他正好站在了格拉普兰教授旁边。

The class surged forwards around the trestle table. Harry deliberately circled around the back so that he ended up right next to Professor Grubbly-Plank.

“海格到哪儿去了？”趁其他人都在挑选护树罗锅时，他问她道。

'Where's Hagrid?' he asked her, while everyone else was choosing Bowtruckles.

“不关你的事。”格拉普兰教授强硬地说，上一次海格没能来上课时，她也是这样的态度。德拉科·马尔福那张尖脸上堆满坏笑，他把身体探到哈利面前，抓住了那只最大的护树罗锅。

'Never you mind,' said Professor Grubbly-Plank repressively, which had been her attitude last time Hagrid had failed to turn up for a class, too. Smirking all over his pointed face, Draco Malfoy leaned across Harry and seized the largest Bowtruckle.

“说不定，”马尔福把声音压得很低，只有哈利一个人能听见，“那个愚蠢的傻大个儿受了重伤呢！”

'Maybe,' said Malfoy in an undertone, so that only Harry could hear him, 'the stupid great oaf's got himself badly injured.'

“如果你不闭嘴，没准你才会受重伤！”哈利几乎不动嘴唇地说。

'Maybe you will if you don't shut up,' said Harry out of the side of his mouth.

“说不定他正在摆弄他对付不了的大家伙呢，但愿你明白我的意思。”

'Maybe he's been messing with stuff that's too big for him, if you get my drift.'

马尔福走开了，一边还扭头朝哈利坏笑着，哈利突然觉得一阵恶心。莫非马尔福真的知道一些情况？毕竟他父亲是一个食死徒啊。会不会他掌握了海格的下落，而凤凰社的人还没有听说呢？他匆忙绕过桌子，找到罗恩和赫敏，他们正蹲在不远处的草地上，试图说服护树罗锅安安稳稳地待一会儿，好让他们把它画下来。哈利掏出羊皮纸和羽毛笔，蹲在他们俩身边，小声地把马尔福刚才说的话告诉了他们。

Malfoy walked away, smirking over his shoulder at Harry, who felt suddenly sick. Did Malfoy know something? His father was a Death Eater after all; what if he had information about Hagrid's fate that had not yet reached the ears of the Order? He hurried back around the table to Ron and Hermione who were squatting on the grass some distance away and attempting to persuade a Bowtruckle to remain still long enough for them to draw it. Harry pulled out parchment and quill, crouched down beside the others and related in a whisper what Malfoy had just said.

“如果海格出了什么事，邓布利多一定会知道的。”赫敏立刻说道，“你要是显出担心的样子，那就正好中了马尔福的圈套，他就会看出来我们不知道事情到底怎么样了。我们千万别去理睬他，哈利。来，抓住护树罗锅一会儿，让我把它的脸画下来……”

'Dumbledore would know if something had happened to Hagrid,' said Hermione at once. 'It's just playing into Malfoy's hands to look worried; it tells him we don't know exactly what's going on. We've got to ignore him, Harry. Here, hold the Bowtruckle for a moment, just so I can draw its face . . .'

“没错，”从旁边那组人里传来马尔福清楚的、拖腔拖调的声音，“两天前我爸爸刚跟部长谈过话，听那意思，魔法部真的下决心要采取严厉措施，扭转这个地方不规范的教学了。所以，即使那个傻大个儿真的又露面了，他大概也会立马被打发回家的。”

'Yes,' came Malfoy's clear drawl from the group nearest them, 'Father was talking to the Minister just a couple of days ago, you know, and it sounds as though the Ministry's really determined to crack down on sub-standard teaching in this place. So even if that overgrown moron does show up again, he'll probably be sent packing straightaway.'

“哎哟！”

'OUCH!'

因为哈利把护树罗锅抓得太紧，几乎都要把它折断了。护树罗锅挥起尖利的手指，报复性地在哈利手上狠狠打了一下，哈利的手上留下了两条又长又深的伤口。哈利丢下了护树罗锅。克拉布和高尔听说海格会被开除就已经在粗声大笑，现在笑得更厉害了。只见护树罗锅使出全身力气向禁林跑去，一个快速移动的棍棍小人儿很快就消失在树根间不见了。当场地那边远远传来下课铃声时，哈利卷起那张血迹斑斑的护树罗锅草图大步赶去上草药课，他手上包着赫敏的手帕，耳朵里还回响着马尔福讥讽的笑声。

Harry had gripped the Bowtruckle so hard that it had almost snapped, and it had just taken a great retaliatory swipe at his hand with its sharp fingers, leaving two long deep cuts there. Harry dropped it. Crabbe and Goyle, who had already been guffawing at the idea of Hagrid being sacked, laughed still harder as the Bowtruckle set off at full tilt towards the Forest, a little moving stick-man soon swallowed up among the tree roots. When the bell echoed distantly over the grounds, Harry rolled up his blood-stained Bowtruckle picture and marched off to Herbology with his hand wrapped in Hermione's handkerchief, and Malfoy's derisive laughter still ringing in his ears.

“如果他再管海格叫傻大个儿……”哈利恶狠狠地说。

'If he calls Hagrid a moron one more time . . .' said Harry through gritted teeth.

“哈利，别去跟马尔福吵架，别忘了，他现在是级长，他可以使你的日子变得非常难过……”

'Harry, don't go picking a row with Malfoy, don't forget, he's a prefect now, he could make life difficult for you . . .'

“哇，我倒想知道难过的日子是什么滋味呢。”哈利讽刺地说。罗恩笑了，但赫敏皱起了眉头。三个人拖着沉重的脚步穿过菜地。天空似乎仍然拿不定主意要不要下雨。

'Wow, I wonder what it'd be like to have a difficult life?' said Harry sarcastically. Ron laughed, but Hermione frowned. Together, they traipsed across the vegetable patch. The sky still appeared unable to make up its mind whether it wanted to rain or not.

“我只希望海格赶紧把事情办完早点回来，就是这样。”他们来到温室时，哈利低声地说。“不许说格拉普兰那个女人上课上得比他强！”他又威胁地说了一句。

'I just wish Hagrid would hurry up and get back, that's all,' said Harry in a low voice, as they reached the greenhouses. 'And don't say that Grubbly-Plank woman's a better teacher!' he added threateningly.

“我本来就没想说。”赫敏平静地说。

'I wasn't going to,' said Hermione calmly.

“因为她永远也不会有海格那么好。”哈利斩钉截铁地说，其实他心里很清楚，他刚才经历的是一节保护神奇生物课的示范课，他为此气恼得要命。

'Because she'll never be as good as Hagrid,' said Harry firmly, fully aware that he had just experienced an exemplary Care of Magical Creatures lesson and was thoroughly annoyed about it.

离他们最近的那间温室的门开了，一些四年级学生从里面拥了出来，其中就有金妮。

The door of the nearest greenhouse opened and some fourth-years spilled out of it, including Ginny.

“嘿。”她走过时愉快地说。几秒钟后，卢娜·洛夫古德也出来了，落在全班其他同学的后面，鼻子上沾着一块泥土，头发在头顶上打成了一个结。她一看见哈利，那双向外凸起的眼睛似乎兴奋得鼓了出来，她直冲着哈利走了过来。哈利班上的许多同学都好奇地转过脸来看着他们。卢娜深深地吸了口气，也没有先打一个招呼，就直通通地说道：“我相信那个连名字都不能提的魔头回来了，我相信你跟他展开过搏斗，并逃脱了他的魔爪。”

'Hi,' she said brightly as she passed. A few seconds later, Luna Lovegood emerged, trailing behind the rest of the class, a smudge of earth on her nose, and her hair tied in a knot on the top of her head. When she saw Harry, her prominent eyes seemed to bulge excitedly and she made a beeline straight for him. Many of his classmates turned curiously to watch. Luna took a great breath and then said, without so much as a preliminary hello, 'I believe He Who Must Not Be Named is back and I believe you fought him and escaped from him.'

“嗯——是的。”哈利尴尬地说。卢娜戴着两个胡萝卜般的耳坠，帕瓦蒂和拉文德看来注意到了这点，她们俩咯咯笑着，一边用手指着她的耳垂。

'Er - right,' said Harry awkwardly. Luna was wearing what looked like a pair of orange radishes for earrings, a fact that Parvati and Lavender seemed to have noticed, as they were both giggling and pointing at her earlobes.

“你们可以笑，”卢娜说，声音提高了，显然她以为帕瓦蒂和拉文德是在笑她刚才说的话，而不是笑她戴的东西，“可是人们以前还以为世界上没有泡泡鼻涕怪和弯角鼾兽之类的东西呢！”

'You can laugh,' Luna said, her voice rising, apparently under the impression that Parvati and Lavender were laughing at what she had said rather than what she was wearing, 'but people used to believe there were no such things as the Blibbering Humdinger or the Crumple-Horned Snorkack!'

“对啊，他们没有错啊，是不是？”赫敏不耐烦地说，“世界上确实没有泡泡鼻涕怪和弯角鼾兽之类的东西呀。”

'Well, they were right, weren't they?' said Hermione impatiently. There weren't any such things as the Blibbering Humdinger or the Crumple-Horned Snorkack.'

卢娜咄咄逼人地瞪了她一眼，猛一转身走开了，两个胡萝卜剧烈地晃荡着。这时尖声大笑的可不止帕瓦蒂和拉文德两个人了。

Luna gave her a withering look and flounced away, radishes swinging madly. Parvati and Lavender were not the only ones hooting with laughter now.

“你能不能不要惹惟一相信我的人生气？”他们走进教室时，哈利对赫敏说道。

'D'you mind not offending the only people who believe me?' Harry asked Hermione as they made their way into class.

“哦，看在上天的份儿上，哈利，你总不至于把希望寄托在她身上吧。”赫敏说道，“金妮把她所有的事情都告诉我了。显然，她只相信那些毫无根据的事情。唉，我就知道，她父亲办着《唱唱反调》，她还能好到哪儿去呢？”

'Oh, for heaven's sake, Harry, you can do better than her,' said Hermione. 'Ginny's told me all about her; apparently, she'll only believe in things as long as there's no proof at all. Well, I wouldn't expect anything else from someone whose father runs The Quibbler.'

哈利想起了他到校那天晚上看见的那些不祥的带翅膀的怪马，想起卢娜当时说她也能看见它们。他的心微微往下一沉。难道她在说谎？可是没等哈利进一步深想这个问题，厄尼·麦克米兰走到了他的面前。

Harry thought of the sinister winged horses he had seen on the night he had arrived and how Luna had said she could see them too. His spirits sank slightly. Had she been lying? But before he could devote much more thought to the matter, Ernie Macmillan had stepped up to him.

“我希望你知道，波特，”他用响亮的、传得很远的声音说道，“并不是只有怪人才支持你。我个人百分之百地相信你。我们全家始终坚决拥护邓布利多，我也是这样。”

'I want you to know, Potter,' he said in a loud, carrying voice, 'that it's not only weirdos who support you. I personally believe you one hundred per cent. My family have always stood firm behind Dumbledore, and so do I.'

“哦——非常感谢，厄尼。”哈利说，他很吃惊，同时也很高兴。厄尼这么做也许有点儿哗众取宠，但是以哈利当时的心情，能够得到一个没在耳朵上挂胡萝卜的人投来的信任的一票，他真是由衷地感激。厄尼的话无疑使拉文德·布朗脸上的笑容一扫而光；当哈利转身跟罗恩和赫敏说话时，他瞥见了西莫的表情，看上去又困惑又不服气。

'Er - thanks very much, Ernie,' said Harry, taken aback but pleased. Ernie might be pompous on occasions like this, but Harry was in a mood to deeply appreciate a vote of confidence from somebody who did not have radishes dangling from their ears. Ernie's words had certainly wiped the smile from Lavender Browns face and as he turned to talk to Ron and Hermione, Harry caught Seamus's expression, which looked both confused and defiant.

不出大家所料，斯普劳特教授一上课就向他们强调O．W．Ls的重要性。哈利真希望所有的老师都别再谈这件事了。每当他想起他有那么多家庭作业要做，他就会感到焦躁不安，心里一阵阵发紧，下课时斯普劳特教授又布置他们写一篇论文，哈利的这种感觉顿时变得更强烈了。

To nobody's surprise, Professor Sprout started their lesson by lecturing them about the importance of OWLs. Harry wished all the teachers would stop doing this; he was starting to get an anxious, twisted feeling in his stomach every time he remembered how much homework he had to do, a feeling that worsened dramatically when Professor Sprout gave them yet another essay at the end of class. Tired and smelling strongly of dragon dung, Professor Sprouts preferred type of fertiliser, the Gryffindors trooped back up to the castle an hour and a half later, none of them talking very much; it had been another long day.

一个半小时后，格兰芬多的同学们一个个精疲力竭，身上散发着浓浓的龙粪味儿——这是斯普劳特教授最喜欢的一种肥料——排着队返回城堡，谁也没有心思多说话。这又是特别累人的一天。

As Harry was starving, and he had his first detention with Umbridge at five o'clock, he headed straight for dinner without dropping off his bag in Gryffindor Tower so that he could bolt something down before facing whatever she had in store for him. He had barely reached the entrance of the Great Hall, however, when a loud and angry voice yelled, 'Oi, Potter!'

哈利饿坏了，五点钟他还要到乌姆里奇那里去关第一次禁闭。他来不及把书包送到格兰芬多塔楼，就直接赶去吃晚饭，这样可以匆匆忙忙吃点东西，再去面对乌姆里奇为他准备的不知什么差使。然而，他刚来到礼堂门口，就听见一个愤怒的声音高喊道：“喂，波特！”

'What now?' he muttered wearily, turning to face Angelina Johnson, who looked as though she was in a towering temper.

“又怎么了？”他不耐烦地嘀咕道，一转身看见了安吉利娜·约翰逊，看她那样子好像马上就要大发雷霆了。

'I'll tell you what now,' she said, marching straight up to him and poking him hard in the chest with her finger. 'How come you've landed yourself in detention for five o'clock on Friday?'

“我来告诉你又怎么了，”她说，几步冲到他面前，用手指使劲戳着他的胸口，“你怎么在星期五下午五点钟给自己弄了个关禁闭？”

'What?' said Harry. 'Why . . . oh yeah, Keeper tryouts!'

“什么？”哈利说，“哎呀……对了，选拔守门员！”

'Now he remembers!' snarled Angelina. 'Didn't I tell you I wanted to do a tryout with the whole team, and find someone who fitted in with everyone? Didn't I tell you I'd booked the Quidditch pitch specially? And now you've decided you're not going to be there!'

“这会儿倒想起来了！”安吉利娜吼叫着说道，“我不是告诉过你，我希望全队球员都参加选拔，找到一个能跟每个队员都配合默契的人吗？我不是告诉过你，我已经特地定好了魁地奇球场了吗？现在你又决定不去参加了！”

'I didn't decide not to be there!' said Harry, stung by the injustice of these words. 'I got detention from that Umbridge woman, just because I told her the truth about You-Know-Who.'

“我没有决定不去参加！”哈利说，觉得被这些不公平的话刺伤了，“是那个叫乌姆里奇的女人罚我关禁闭，就因为我跟她说了关于神秘人的实话。”

'Well, you can just go straight to her and ask her to let you off en Friday,' said Angelina fiercely, 'and I don't care how you do it. Tell her You-Know-Who's a figment of your imagination if you like, just make sure you're there!'

“好吧，你可以直接去找她，请她星期五放你一马，”安吉利娜情绪激烈地说，“我不管你怎么做。如果你愿意，不妨告诉她神秘人是你凭空想象出来的，只为了保证你能够到场！”

She turned on her heel and stormed away.

她气势汹汹地走了。

'You know what.?' Harry said to Ron and Hermione as they entered the Great Hall. 'I think we'd better check with Puddlemere United whether Oliver Wood's been killed during a training session, because Angelina seems to be channelling his spirit.'

“你们知道吗？”罗恩和赫敏走进礼堂时，哈利对他们说，“我想我们最好去找普德米尔联队②核实一下，奥利弗·伍德是不是在训练期间不幸去世了，因为他的灵魂好像附在安吉利娜身上了。”

'What d'you reckon are the odds of Umbridge letting you off on Friday?' said Ron sceptically, as they sat down at the Gryffindor table.

“你认为有多少可能乌姆里奇会在星期五放你一马呢？”他们在格兰芬多的桌旁坐下来时，罗恩怀疑地说。

'Less than zero,' said Harry glumly, tipping lamb chops on to his plate and starting to eat. 'Better try, though, hadn't I? I'll offer to do two more detentions or something, I dunno . . .' He swallowed a mouthful of potato and added, 'I hope she doesn't keep me too long this evening. You realise we've got to write three essays, practise Vanishing Spells for McGonagall, work out a counter-charm for Flitwick, finish the Bowtruckle drawing and start that stupid dream diary for Trelawney?'

“一点儿也没有，”哈利郁闷地说，一边把小羊排倒进自己的盘子里吃了起来，“不过最好还是试一试，对吗？我可以提出增加两次关禁闭什么的……”他咽下一大口土豆，接着说道：“我只希望她今天晚上别把我留得太晚。你们知道吗，我们要写三篇论文，给麦格练习消失咒，给弗立维设计一个破解咒，把护树罗锅的草图画完，还要开始给特里劳妮写那无聊的做梦日记！”

Ron moaned and for some reason glanced up at the ceiling.

罗恩叹了口气，不知为什么抬头扫了一眼天花板。

'And it looks like it's going to rain.'

“看样子天要下雨了。”

'What's that got to do with our homework?' said Hermione, her eyebrows raised.

“那跟我们的家庭作业有什么关系？”赫敏扬起眉毛问道。

'Nothing,' said Ron at once, his ears reddening.

“没什么。”罗恩赶紧说道，耳朵变得通红。

At five to five Harry bade the other two goodbye and set off for Umbridge's office on the third floor. When he knocked on the door she called, 'Come in,' in a sugary voice. He entered cautiously, looking around.

五点差五分的时候，哈利告别了他们俩，朝四楼乌姆里奇的办公室走去。他敲了敲门，只听一个甜得发腻的声音喊道：“进来。”哈利小心翼翼地走进去，四下张望着。

He had known this office under three of its previous occupants.

前面三位主人住在这里的时候，哈利曾经很熟悉这间办公室。在吉德罗·洛哈特居住的那些日子，墙上到处贴着他本人笑容满面的照片。卢平住进来后，每次进来找他，都有可能遇见某个非常有趣的邪恶动物，关在笼子里或箱子里。而冒牌的穆迪住在这里的时候，房间里堆满了各种各样的器具和手工制品，用来探测别人的不轨行为和藏身之处。

In the days when Gilderoy Lockhart had lived here it had been plastered in beaming portraits of himself. When Lupin had occupied it, it was likely you would meet some fascinating Dark creature in a cage or tank if you came to call. In the impostor Moody's days it had been packed with various instruments and artefacts for the detection of wrongdoing and concealment.

此刻，这个房间简直完全认不出来了。所有的东西上都盖着带花边的罩布和台布。还有几只插满干花的花瓶，每只都放在单独的小垫子上。一面墙上挂着一组装饰性的盘子，每只盘子上都有一只色彩鲜艳的大猫咪，各自脖子上戴着一个不同的蝴蝶结。这些东西太令人恶心了，哈利简直被吓住了，只顾呆呆地望着它们，后来乌姆里奇教授又说话了。

Now, however, it looked totally unrecognisable. The surfaces had all been draped in lacy covers and cloths. There were several vases full of dried flowers, each one residing on its own doily, and on one of the walls was a collection of ornamental plates, each decorated with a large technicolour kitten wearing a different bow around its neck. These were so foul that Harry stared at them, transfixed, until Professor Umbridge spoke again.

“晚上好，波特先生。”

'Good evening, Mr Potter.'

哈利吓得急忙回过头来。他一开始没有注意到她，因为她穿着一件火红耀眼的印花长袍，颜色同她身后书桌上的桌布融在一起，简直分不出来。

Harry started and looked around. He had not noticed her at first because she was wearing a luridly flowered set of robes that blended only too well with the tablecloth on the desk behind her.

“晚上好，乌姆里奇教授。”哈利不自然地说。

'Evening, Professor Umbridge,' Harry said stiffly.

“好吧，坐下吧，”她说，指着一张垂着花边的小桌子。她已经在旁边放了一把直背椅，桌上有一张空白的羊皮纸，显然是为他准备的。

'Well, sit down,' she said, pointing towards a small table draped in lace beside which she had drawn up a straight-backed chair. A piece of blank parchment lay on the table, apparently waiting for him.

“嗯，”哈利没有动弹，说道，“乌姆里奇教授，嗯——在我们开始前，我——我想请求你一……一件事。”

'Er,' said Harry, without moving. 'Professor Umbridge. Er - before we start, I - I wanted to ask you a . . . a favour.'

她那双向外凸出的眼睛眯了起来。

Her bulging eyes narrowed.

“哦，什么？”

'Oh, yes?'

“是这样，我……我是格兰芬多魁地奇球队的队员。我应该在星期五下午五点钟参加新守门员的选拔，我——我不知道我能不能那天晚上不来关禁闭，另外——另外找一个晚上再补上……”

'Well, I'm . . . I'm in the Gryffindor Quidditch team. And I was supposed to be at the tryouts for the new Keeper at five o'clock on Friday and I was - was wondering whether I could skip detention that night and do it - do it another night . . . instead . . .'

他不等把话说完，心里早就知道这是不会有用的。

He knew long before he reached the end of his sentence that it was no good.

“哦，不行。”乌姆里奇说道，咧开大嘴笑得那么肉麻，好像刚吞下了一只特别美味多汁的苍蝇，“哦，不行，不行，不行。这是对你散布邪恶、卑鄙、哗众取宠的谎言的惩罚。波特先生，惩罚当然不能为满足有过失者的方便而随意调整。不行，明天、后天，还有星期五，你都必须在下午五点钟到这里来，按计划关禁闭。我认为，你错过一些你特别喜欢的活动，这其实倒是一件好事。它应该能强化我打算给你的教训。”

'Oh, no,' said Umbridge, smiling so widely that she looked as though she had just swallowed a particularly juicy fly. 'Oh, no, no, no. This is your punishment for spreading evil, nasty, attention-seeking stories, Mr Potter, and punishments certainly cannot be adjusted to suit the guilty one's convenience. No, you will come here at five o'clock tomorrow, and the next day, and on Friday too, and you will do your detentions as planned. I think it rather a good thing that you are missing something you really want to do. It ought to reinforce the lesson I am trying to teach you.'

哈利感到血一下子冲上了脑袋，耳朵里嗡嗡作响。听她的意思，他是散布了“邪恶、卑鄙、哗众取宠的谎言”，不是吗？

Harry felt the blood surge to his head and heard a thumping noise in his ears. So he told 'evil, nasty, attention-seeking stones', did he?

她微微偏着脑袋注视着他，脸上仍然挂着肉麻的微笑，似乎她很清楚他心里在想什么，正等着看他会不会再次发作，大喊大叫。哈利费了很大的努力，转开目光不去看她，把书包扔在那把直背椅旁边坐了下来。

She was watching him with her head slightly to one side, still smiling widely, as though she knew exactly what he was thinking and was waiting to see whether he would start shouting again. With a massive effort, Harry looked away from her, dropped his schoolbag beside the straight-backed chair and sat down.

“不错，”乌姆里奇娇滴滴地说，“我们已经比较能控制自己的情绪了，是不是？现在，你要为我写几个句子，波特先生。不，不是用你的羽毛笔，”看见哈利弯腰去打开书包，她赶紧补充道，“你要用的是我的一支很不同寻常的笔。给。”

'There,' said Umbridge sweetly, 'we're getting better at controlling our temper already, aren't we? Now, you are going to be doing some lines for me, Mr Potter. No, not with your quill,' she added, as Harry bent down to open his bag. 'You're going to be using a rather special one of mine. Here you are.'

她递给他一支细细长长、笔尖特别尖利的黑色羽毛笔。

She handed him a long, thin black quill with an unusually sharp point.

“我要你写：我不可以说谎。”她语调轻柔地对他说。

'I want you to write, I must not tell lies,' she told him softly.

“写多少遍？”哈利问，也做出一副值得称赞的彬彬有礼的样子。

'How many times?' Harry asked, with a creditable imitation of politeness.

“哦，一直写到这句话刻在你心里。”乌姆里奇嗲声嗲气地说道，“开始写吧。”

'Oh, as long as it takes for the message to sink in,' said Umbridge sweetly. 'Off you go.'

她走到自己的书桌旁坐了下来，埋头对付一堆羊皮纸，看着像是一批等待批改的论文。哈利举起尖利的黑色羽毛笔，这才发现缺少了什么。

She moved over to her desk, sat down and bent over a stack of parchment that looked like essays for marking. Harry raised the sharp black quill, then realised what was missing.

“你没有给我墨水。”他说。

'You haven't given me any ink,' he said.

“哦，你不需要墨水的。”乌姆里奇教授说，声音里带着一点浅浅的笑意。

'Oh, you won't need ink,' said Professor Umbridge, with the merest suggestion of a laugh in her voice.

哈利把羽毛笔的笔尖落在纸上，写道：我不可以说谎。

Harry placed the point of the quill on the paper and wrote: I must not tell lies.

他疼得倒抽了一口冷气。出现在羊皮纸上的字，看上去是用鲜红的墨水写成的。与此同时，这行字出现在了哈利右手的手背上，而且深深陷进了皮肉里，像是用解剖刀刻上去的一样——然而，就在他眼睁睁瞪着这些红艳艳的伤口时，皮肤又愈合了，刚才有字的地方只比以前稍微红了一点，但摸上去很光滑。

He let out a gasp of pain. The words had appeared on the parchment in what appeared to be shining red ink. At the same time, the words had appeared on the back of Harry's right hand, cut into his skin as though traced there by a scalpel - yet even as he stared at the shining cut, the skin healed over again, leaving the place where it had been slightly redder than before but quite smooth.

哈利扭头去看乌姆里奇。她正注视着他，那张癞蛤蟆似的阔嘴咧成了一个微笑。

Harry looked round at Umbridge. She was watching him, her wide, toadlike mouth stretched in a smile.

“怎么啦？”

'Yes?'

“没什么。”哈利轻声说。

'Nothing,' said Harry quietly.

他低头望着羊皮纸，再一次把笔尖落在上面，写下了我不可以说谎。他又一次感到手背上烧灼般的疼痛，那些字又一次刻进他的皮肤，几秒钟后，伤口又一次愈合了。

He looked back at the parchment, placed the quill on it once more, wrote I must not tell lies, and felt the searing pain on the back of his hand for a second time; once again, the words had been cut into his skin; once again, they healed over seconds later.

就这样，哈利一遍又一遍地把这行字写在羊皮纸上。他很快就发现，他用的不是墨水，而是他自己的鲜血。一遍又一遍地，这些字刻进了他的手背，然后愈合，然后，当他再把笔尖落在羊皮纸上时，这些字又会再一次出现。

And on it went. Again and again Harry wrote the words on the parchment in what he soon came to realise was not ink, but his own blood. And, again and again, the words were cut into the back of his hand, healed, and reappeared the next time he set quill to parchment.

乌姆里奇办公室的窗外，夜幕渐渐降临。哈利没有问他什么时候可以停止。他甚至没有看看表上几点钟了。他知道她在注视他，看他有没有软弱的迹象，他不想显露出一丝一毫的软弱，即使他要在这里坐一整夜，用这支羽毛笔把自己的手深深地割开……

Darkness fell outside Umbridge's window. Harry did not ask when he would be allowed to stop. He did not even check his watch. He knew she was watching him for signs of weakness and he was not going to show any, not even if he had to sit there all night, cutting open his own hand with this quill . . .

“过来。”过了似乎好几个小时之后，她说道。

'Come here,' she said, after what seemed hours.

哈利站了起来。他的手火辣辣地疼。他低头一看，发现伤口虽然愈合了，但那里的皮肤红红的，露着嫩肉。

He stood up. His hand was stinging painfully. When he looked down at it he saw that the cut had healed, but that the skin there was red raw.

“手。”乌姆里奇说。

'Hand,' she said.

哈利把手伸了出去。她把它握在自己的手里。当她用肥厚短粗、戴着一大堆丑陋的老式戒指的手指触摸哈利的手时，哈利拼命克制住一阵战栗。

He extended it. She took it in her own. Harry repressed a shudder as she touched him with her thick, stubby fingers on which she wore a number of ugly old rings.

“啧啧，看来我还没有给你留下一个深刻的烙印。”她笑容可掬地说，“没关系，我们明天晚上还要再试一试，对不对？你可以走了。”

'Tut, tut, I don't seem to have made much of an impression yet,' she said, smiling. 'Well, we'll just have to try again tomorrow evening, won't we? You may go.'

哈利一言不发地离开了她的办公室。学校里几乎空无一人，时间肯定已经过了半夜。他慢慢地走过走廊，当他拐了个弯、确信她不会听见时，便撒腿跑了起来。

Harry left her office without a word. The school was quite deserted; it was surely past midnight. He walked slowly up the corridor, then, when he had turned the corner and was sure she would not hear him, broke into a run.

他没有时间练习消失咒，做梦日记里一个梦也没有记录下来，护树罗锅的草图还没有画完，那么多篇论文一篇也没有写。第二天早上，他没吃早饭，匆匆忙忙地编造了两个梦，草草写下来，准备拿到上午第一节的占卜课上交差。他吃惊地发现罗恩衣冠不整，蓬头垢面，也在临时抱佛脚。

*

“你昨天晚上怎么没做呢？”哈利问道，罗恩漫无目标地在公共休息室里东张西望，寻找灵感。昨夜哈利回到宿舍时，他已经沉沉地睡着了。听了哈利的问话，他嘀咕了一句，像是“干别的事了”，然后埋头在羊皮纸上划拉了几行字。

He had not had time to practise Vanishing Spells, had not written a single dream in his dream diary and had not finished the drawing of the Bowtruckle, nor had he written his essays. He skipped breakfast next morning to scribble down a couple of made-up dreams for Divination, their first lesson, and was surprised to find a dishevelled Ron keeping him company.

“这肯定能对付了，”他啪地合上日记本说道，“我说我梦见我在买一双新鞋，这下子她总编派不出离奇的算命鬼话了吧？”

'How come you didn't do it last night?' Harry asked, as Ron stared wildly around the common room for inspiration. Ron, who had been fast asleep when Harry got back to the dormitory, muttered something about 'doing other stuff, bent low over his parchment and scrawled a few words.

他们一起匆匆赶往北塔楼。

'That'll have to do,' he said, slamming the diary shut. 'I've said I dreamed I was buying a new pair of shoes, she can't make anything weird out of that, can she?'

“对了，在乌姆里奇那里关禁闭怎么样？她叫你做什么了？”

They hurried off to North Tower together.

哈利迟疑了一刹那，说：“写句子。”

'How was detention with Umbridge, anyway? What did she make you do?'

“那倒不算太糟糕，是吧？”罗恩说。

Harry hesitated for a fraction of a second, then said, 'Lines.'

“是啊。”哈利说。

That's not too bad, then, eh?' said Ron.

“哟——我忘记了——她准你星期五的假了吗？”

'Nope,' said Harry.

“没有。”哈利说。

'Hey - I forgot - did she let you off for Friday?'

罗恩同情地叹了口气。

'No,' said Harry.

对哈利来说，这又是很难熬的一天。变形课上他是表现最差的几个人之一，因为他根本就没有练习消失咒。午饭时间他不得不放弃休息，把护树罗锅的那张草图画完。这还不算，麦格、格拉普兰和辛尼斯塔教授又给他们布置了一大堆家庭作业，他根本不可能在当天晚上完成，因为他还要到乌姆里奇那里去进行第二次关禁闭。更糟糕的是，安吉利娜·约翰逊听说他不能参加星期五选拔守门员的训练，就在吃晚饭的时候又找到他，告诉他说，她对他的态度很不满意，她希望每个打算留在球队的人都应把训练放在一切活动的首位。

Ron groaned sympathetically.

“我在关禁闭！”她昂首挺胸地走开时，哈利冲着她的背影嚷道，“你以为我不愿意去打魁地奇球，情愿跟那个老癞蛤蟆关在一间屋子里吗？”

It was another bad day for Harry; he was one of the worst in Transfiguration, not having practised Vanishing Spells at all. He had to give up his lunch hour to complete the picture of the Bowtruckle and, meanwhile, Professors McGonagall, Grubbly-Plank and Sinistra gave them yet more homework, which he had no prospect of finishing that evening because of his second detention with Umbridge. To cap it all, Angelina Johnson tracked him down at dinner again and, on learning that he would not be able to attend Friday's Keeper tryouts, told him she was not at all impressed by his attitude and that she expected players who wished to remain on the team to put training before their other commitments.

“还好，只是写写句子，”赫敏安慰他道，哈利一屁股坐在板凳上，低头望着面前的牛排腰子馅饼，他现在已经没有多少胃口了，“看起来倒不算是很可怕的惩罚……”

'I'm in detention!' Harry yelled after her as she stalked away. 'D'you think I'd rather be stuck in a room with that old toad or playing Quidditch?'

哈利张了张嘴又闭上了，随即点了点头。他也不明白自己为什么不想把乌姆里奇办公室里发生的一切告诉罗恩和赫敏。他只知道他不想看到他们脸上惊恐的表情，那只会使事情显得更加糟糕，因而也就更难面对。他还隐隐约约地感到，这是他和乌姆里奇之间的事情，是一场秘密的意志较量，他不想让她听到他在哭诉埋怨并因此而感到快意。

'At least it's only lines,' said Hermione consolingly, as Harry sank back on to his bench and looked down at his steak and kidney pie, which he no longer fancied very much. 'It's not as it it's a dreadful punishment, really . . .'

“真不敢相信我们有这么多家庭作业要做。”罗恩烦恼地说。

Harry opened his mouth, closed it again and nodded. He was not really sure why he was not telling Ron and Hermione exactly what was happening in Umbridge's room: he only knew that he did not want to see their looks of horror; that would make the whole thing seem worse and therefore more difficult to face. He also felt dimly that this was between himself and Umbridge, a private battle of wills, and he was not going to give her the satisfaction of hearing that he had complained about it.

“那你昨天晚上干吗什么都不做呢？”赫敏问他，“你到底上哪儿去了？”

'I can't believe how much homework we've got,' said Ron miserably.

“我……我当时想散散步。”罗恩闪烁其词地说。

'Well, why didn't you do any last night?' Hermione asked him. 'Where were you, anyway?'

哈利有一个很清楚的感觉：此刻隐瞒事情真相的不止他一个人。

'I was . . . I fancied a walk,' said Ron shiftily.

第二次关禁闭和第一次同样痛苦难熬。哈利手背上的皮肤现在变得更敏感，很快就变红了，像着了火一样地疼。哈利觉得过不了多久，伤口就不会那样有效地愈合了。过不了多久，那些字就会深深刻进他的手背，乌姆里奇大概就会满意了。不过，哈利拼命忍着不发出疼痛的喘息，而且，从他走进办公室直到乌姆里奇放他离去——又是午夜之后，他只说了两句话，“晚上好”和“晚安”。

Harry had the distinct impression that he was not alone in concealing things at the moment.

他的家庭作业现在已经到了不堪收拾的地步，因此他返回格兰芬多公共休息室后，尽管累得一点力气也没有了，但他并没有上床睡觉，而是打开书本，开始写斯内普布置的那篇关于月长石的论文。他写完时已经是两点半了。他知道写得很糟糕，但也没有办法，他必须交点东西上去，不然接下来就要被斯内普关禁闭了。接着，他匆匆回答了麦格教授给他们布置的几个问题，又在护树罗锅身上合适的部位拼凑了一些东西，准备拿去应付格拉普兰教授，然后才踉踉跄跄地上床睡觉，连衣服也没脱，囫囵倒在被子上，立刻就沉沉地睡着了。

*

星期四是在昏昏沉沉的疲劳中度过的。罗恩看上去也是一脸困倦，哈利真不明白他为什么会这样。哈利的第三次关禁闭跟前两次没什么两样，只是过了两个小时后，哈利手背上的我不可以说谎便不再愈合，一道道红红的划痕留在那里，冒出细细的血珠。乌姆里奇教授听不到羽毛笔笔尖的沙沙响声，便抬起头来。

The second detention was just as bad as the previous one. The skin on the back of Harry's hand became irritated more quickly now and was soon red and inflamed. Harry thought it unlikely that it would keep healing as effectively for long. Soon the cut would remain etched into his hand and Umbridge would, perhaps, be satisfied. He let no gasp of pain escape him, however, and from the moment of entering the room to the moment of his dismissal, again past midnight, he said nothing but 'good evening' and 'goodnight'.

“啊，”她温柔地说，绕过她的书桌过来查看哈利的手，“很好。这应该可以时时提醒你了，是不是？你今晚可以走了。”

His homework situation, however, was now desperate, and when he returned to the Gryffindor common room he did not, though exhausted, go to bed, but opened his books and began Snape's moonstone essay. It was half past two by the time he had finished it. He knew he had done a poor job, but there was no help for it; unless he had something to give in he would be in detention with Snape next. He then dashed off answers to the questions Professor McGonagall had set them, cobbled together something on the proper handling of Bowtruckles for Professor Grubbly-Plank, and staggered up to bed, where he fell fully clothed on top of the covers and fell asleep immediately.

“我明天还要来吗？”哈利问，一边用左手拎起书包，因为右手疼痛难忍。

*

“哦，是的，”乌姆里奇教授说，笑得还像以前一样肉麻，“是的，我想再有一夜的努力，我们可以把这句话刻得更深一些。”

Thursday passed in a haze of tiredness. Ron seemed very sleepy too, though Harry could not see why he should be. Harry's third detention passed in the same way as the previous two, except that after two hours the words 'I must not tell lies' did not fade from the back of Harry's hand, but remained scratched there, oozing droplets of blood. The pause in the pointed quills scratching made Professor Umbridge look up.

哈利以前认为，他不可能恨世界上的哪个老师比恨斯内普更厉害，可是当他走回格兰芬多的塔楼时，他不得不承认为斯内普找到了一位强有力的竞争对手。这个女人是歹毒的，他一边爬上通往八楼的楼梯一边想着，她是一个邪恶的、变态的、疯狂的老——

'Ah,' she said softly, moving around her desk to examine his hand herself. 'Good. That ought to serve as a reminder to you, oughtn't it? You may leave for tonight.'

“罗恩？”

'Do I still have to come back tomorrow?' said Harry, picking up his schoolbag with his left hand rather than his smarting right one.

他走到楼梯顶上，向右一转，差点儿撞到罗恩身上。罗恩鬼鬼祟祟地藏在瘦子拉克伦的雕像后面，手里抓着他的飞天扫帚。罗恩看见哈利时惊得跳了起来，赶紧把他那把崭新的横扫11藏到背后。

'Oh yes,' said Professor Umbridge, smiling as widely as before. 'Yes, I think we can etch the message a little deeper with another evenings work.'

“你在做什么？”

Harry had never before considered the possibility that there might be another teacher in the world he hated more than Snape, but as he walked back towards Gryffindor Tower he had to admit he had found a strong contender. She's evil, he thought, as he climbed a staircase to the seventh floor, she's an evil, twisted, mad old-

“嗯——没什么。你在做什么？”

'Ron?'

哈利朝他皱起眉头。

He had reached the top of the stairs, turned right and almost walked into Ron, who was lurking behind a statue of Lachlan the Lanky, clutching his broomstick. He gave a great leap of surprise when he saw Harry and attempted to hide his new Cleansweep Eleven behind his back.

“行了，快告诉我吧！你藏在这里搞什么鬼？”

'What are you doing?'

“我——我在躲弗雷德和乔治，如果你一定要知道的话。”罗恩说道，“他们刚和一群一年级新生从这里走过去，我敢说他们又在新生身上试验那些玩意儿了。我是说，现在只要有赫敏在，他们就不能在公共休息室里做这件事了。”

'Er - nothing. What are you doing?'

他慌乱地、滔滔不绝地说。

Harry frowned at him.

“可是你拿着你的扫帚做什么？你该不是在飞吧，嗯？”哈利问。

'Come on, you can tell me! What are you hiding here for?'

“我——嗯——嗯，好吧，我告诉你，可是不许笑话我，好吗？”罗恩提防地说，脸红得越来越厉害了，“我——我想，既然我有了一把体面的扫帚，我不妨去试试参加格兰芬多守门员的选拔。好了，你笑吧。”

'I'm - I'm hiding from Fred and George, if you must know,' said Ron. They just went past with a bunch of first-years, I bet they're testing stuff on them again, I mean, they can't do it in the common room now, can they, not with Hermione there.'

“我没有笑。”哈利说。罗恩眨了眨眼睛。“这个主意太棒了！如果你能进入球队，真是再好不过了！我还从没有见你当过守门员呢，你技术怎么样？”

He was talking in a very fast, feverish way.

“不算坏吧，”罗恩说，看到哈利的反应，他似乎大松了一口气，“查理、弗雷德和乔治在假期里练球时，总是叫我当守门员。”

'But what have you got your broom for, you haven't been flying, have you?' Harry asked.

“这么说，你今晚一直在练习？”

'I - well - well, OK, I'll tell you, but don't laugh, all right?' Ron said defensively, turning redder with every second. 'I - I thought I'd try out for Gryffindor Keeper now I've got a decent broom. There. Go on. Laugh.'

“每天晚上都练，从星期二开始……不过就我一个人。我一直想给鬼飞球施魔法，让它们朝我飞来，可是不太容易，我不知道这会有多少用。”罗恩显得很紧张和焦虑，“弗雷德和乔治看到我也来参加选拔，肯定要笑掉大牙的。自从我被选为级长后，他们就一直没有停止过嘲笑我。”

'I'm not laughing,' said Harry. Ron blinked. 'It's a brilliant idea! It'd be really cool if you got on the team! I've never seen you play Keeper, are you good?'

“真希望到时候我也能去。”哈利苦涩地说，他们一起朝公共休息室走去。

'I'm not bad,' said Ron, who looked immensely relieved at Harry's reaction. 'Charlie, Fred and George always made me keep for them when they were training during the holidays.'

“是啊，那么你——哈利，你的手背上是什么？”

'So you've been practising tonight?'

哈利刚才用他没拎书包的右手挠了挠鼻子，现在赶紧想藏起来，可是已经来不及了，就像罗恩想藏起他的扫帚一样没有成功。

'Every evening since Tuesday . . . just on my own, though. I've been trying to bewitch Quaffles to fly at me, but it hasn't been easy and I don't know how much use it'll be.' Ron looked nervous and anxious. 'Fred and George are going to laugh themselves stupid when I turn up for the tryouts. They haven't stopped taking the mickey out of me since I got made a prefect.'

“只是划伤了——没有什么——没有——”

'I wish I was going to be there,' said Harry bitterly, as they set off together towards the common room.

可是罗恩一把抓住哈利的胳膊，把哈利的手背拉到他的眼前。他呆呆地望着刻进皮肤里的那一行字，片刻之后，他显出恶心得要吐的样子，放开了哈利。

'Yeah, so do - Harry, what's that on the back of your hand?'

“我记得你说她只是罚你写句子呀？”

Harry, who had just scratched his nose with his free right hand, tried to hide it, but had as much success as Ron with his Cleansweep.

哈利迟疑着，可毕竟罗恩已经对他说了实话，于是他把在乌姆里奇办公室里几个小时的遭遇如实地告诉了罗恩。

'It's just a cut - it's nothing - it's - '

“那个老母夜叉！”罗恩厌恶地低声说道，他们在胖夫人面前停下脚步，胖夫人正把脑袋靠在像框上，恬静地打着瞌睡，“她不正常！去找麦格说说这个情况！”

But Ron had grabbed Harry's forearm and pulled the back of Harry's hand up level with his eyes. There was a pause, during which he stared at the words carved into the skin, then, looking sick, he released Harry

“不，”哈利不假思索地说，“我不想让她知道她弄得我心烦意乱，她会感到得意的。”

'I thought you said she was just giving you lines?'

“弄得你心烦意乱？你不能让她白白地这么做！”

Harry hesitated, but after all, Ron had been honest with him, so he told Ron the truth about the hours he had been spending in Umbridge's office.

“我不知道麦格有多大权力能够管束她。”哈利说。

The old hag!' Ron said in a revolted whisper as they came to a halt in front of the Fat Lady, who was dozing peacefully with her head against her frame. 'She's sick! Go to McGonagall, say something!'

“邓布利多，那就告诉邓布利多！”

'No,' said Harry at once. 'I'm not giving her the satisfaction of knowing she's got to me.'

“不。”哈利淡淡地说。

'Got to you? You can't let her get away with this!'

“为什么不？”

'I don't know how much power McGonagall's got over her,' said Harry.

“他需要考虑的事情太多了。”哈利说，其实这不是真正的原因。他不想到邓布利多那里寻求帮助，因为邓布利多从六月份起就没有对他说过一次话。

'Dumbledore, then, tell Dumbledore!'

“那么，我想你应该——”罗恩话没说完，就被胖夫人打断了，她刚才一直睡眼矇眬地望着他们，这会儿忍不住嚷了起来，“你们到底给不给我口令，还是要我整夜在这里醒着，等你们两个把话说完？”

'No,' said Harry flatly.

星期五早晨，天色还是和这个星期的前几天一样阴沉而潮湿。哈利走进礼堂时，尽管还是习惯性地朝教工桌子扫了一眼，但实际上已经对看到海格不抱什么希望了。他立刻就把思路转到了一些更加迫在眉睫的事情上，比如必须完成的堆积如山的家庭作业，还有必须再到乌姆里奇那里去关一次禁闭。

'Why not?'

那天有两件事情给了哈利一些信心。一是他想到马上就要到周末了，二是尽管最后一次到乌姆里奇那里关禁闭肯定会很恐怖，但从她办公室的窗户能远远地看见魁地奇球场，如果运气好，说不定还能多少看见一点罗恩的选拔情况呢。当然，这些都是十分渺茫的希望之光，可是哈利目前的处境一片黑暗，但凡有什么事情能带来一点点光亮，他都会感到欣慰。他在霍格沃茨还从未经历过比这更糟糕的开学第一个星期呢。

'He's got enough on his mind,' said Harry, but that was not the true reason. He was not going to go to Dumbledore for help when Dumbledore had not spoken to him once since June.

那天傍晚五点钟，他敲响了乌姆里奇教授办公室的门——他满心希望这是最后一次。乌姆里奇喊他进去，在铺着花边的桌子上，那张空白羊皮纸已经在等着他了，旁边放着那支尖利的黑色羽毛笔。

'Well, I reckon you should - ' Ron began, but he was interrupted by the Fat Lady, who had been watching them sleepily and now burst out, 'Are you going to give me the password or will I have to stay awake all night waiting for you to finish your conversation?'

“你知道该怎么做，波特先生。”乌姆里奇说，一边嗲兮兮地冲他笑着。

*

哈利拿起羽毛笔，朝窗外望了一眼。只要把椅子再往右边挪一两寸……他假装往桌子跟前挪了挪，做到了这一点。现在他能远远地看见格兰芬多魁地奇球队的队员们在球场上飞来飞去的身影了，三根高高的球门柱底下站着六七个黑乎乎的人影，显然在等着当守门员。离得太远了，不可能看清哪一个是罗恩。

Friday dawned sullen and sodden as the rest of the week. Though Harry automatically glanced towards the staff table when he entered the Great Hall, it was without any real hope of seeing Hagrid, and he turned his mind immediately to his more pressing problems, such as the mountainous pile of homework he had to do and the prospect of yet another detention with Umbridge.

我不可以说谎，哈利写道。他右手背上的伤口裂开了，再次流出鲜血。

Two things sustained Harry that day. One was the thought that it was almost the weekend; the other was that, dreadful though his final detention with Umbridge was sure to be, he had a distant view of the Quidditch pitch from her window and might, with luck, be able to see something of Ron's tryout. These were rather feeble rays of light, it was true, but Harry was grateful for anything that might lighten his present darkness; he had never had a worse first week of term at Hogwarts.

我不可以说谎。伤口陷得更深，火辣辣地剧痛。

At five o'clock that evening he knocked on Professor Umbridge's office door for what he sincerely hoped would be the final time, and was told to enter. The blank parchment lay ready for him on the lace-covered table, the pointed black quill beside it.

我不可以说谎。鲜血顺着手腕流淌下来。

'You know what to do, Mr Potter,' said Umbridge, smiling sweetly at him.

他冒险又朝窗外望了一眼。现在防守球门柱的不知是谁，表现糟糕透了。在哈利鼓足勇气偷看的几秒钟内，凯蒂·贝尔就连进了两球。他垂下目光，重新望着血迹斑斑的羊皮纸，真希望那个守门员不是罗恩。

Harry picked up the quill and glanced through the window. If he just shifted his chair an inch or so to the right . . . on the pretext of shifting himself closer to the table, he managed it. He now had a distant view of the Gryffindor Quidditch team soaring up and down the pitch, while half a dozen black figures stood at the foot of the three high goalposts, apparently awaiting their turn to Keep. It was impossible to tell which one was Ron at this distance.

我不可以说谎。

I must not tell lies, Harry wrote. The cut in the back of his right hand opened and began to bleed afresh.

我不可以说谎。

I must not tell lies. The cut dug deeper, stinging and smarting.

他只要觉得有机会就抬头往窗外看，只要能听见乌姆里奇的羽毛笔写字的声音，或听见她打开书桌抽屉的声音。第三个参加选拔的人很不错，第四个非常差劲，第五个特别漂亮地躲过一个游走球，却把一个很容易接住的球漏进了球门。天色越来越黑，哈利心想恐怕他根本不可能看见第六和第七个候选人了。

I must not tell lies. Blood trickled down his wrist.

我不可以说谎。

He chanced another glance out of the window. Whoever was defending the goalposts now was doing a very poor job indeed. Katie Bell scored twice in the few seconds Harry dared to watch. Hoping very much that the Keeper wasn't Ron, he dropped his eyes back to the parchment shining with blood.

我不可以说谎。

I must not tell lies.

羊皮纸上满是从他手背上流出来的殷红的鲜血，而他的手背疼得像着了火一般。当他再次抬头看时，夜幕已经降临，他再也看不清魁地奇球场上的情形了。

I must not tell lies.

“让我们看看你有没有吃透这句话，好吗？”半小时后，乌姆里奇柔声细语地说。

He looked up whenever he thought he could risk it; when he could hear the scratching of Umbridge's quill or the opening of a desk drawer. The third person to try out was pretty good, the fourth was terrible, the fifth dodged a Bludger exceptionally well but then fumbled an easy save. The sky was darkening, and Harry doubted he would be able to see the sixth and seventh people at all.

她朝哈利走过来，伸出她短粗的、戴着戒指的手指来抓他的胳膊。当她抓住他、仔细查看那些深深刻进他皮肉的文字时，他感到一阵烧灼般的剧痛，但不是手背在痛，而是他额头上的伤疤在痛。与此同时，他上腹部的什么地方还产生了一种十分异样的感觉。

I must not tell lies.

他把胳膊从她手里挣脱出来，腾地站起身，直直地瞪着她。她也望着他，脸上的笑容把那张松泡泡的阔嘴抻得大大的。

I must not tell lies.

“是啊，很疼，是不是？”她温柔地问。

The parchment was now dotted with drops of blood from the back of his hand, which was searing with pain. When he next looked up, night had fallen and the Quidditch pitch was no longer visible.

哈利没有回答。他的心怦怦怦地跳得很响很快。她是在说他的手，还是她知道他刚才额头上的感觉呢？

'Lets see if you've got the message yet, shall we?' said Umbridge's soft voice half an hour later.

“好吧，我认为我的目的达到了，波特先生。你可以走了。”

She moved towards him, stretching out her short ringed fingers for his arm. And then, as she took hold of him to examine the words now cut into his skin, pain seared, not across the back of his hand, but across the scar on his forehead. At the same time, he had a most peculiar sensation somewhere around his midriff.

他拎起书包，尽快离开了房间。

He wrenched his arm out of her grip and leapt to his feet, staring at her. She looked back at him, a smile stretching her wide, slack mouth.

保持冷静，他一边三步并作两步地奔上楼梯一边对自己说。保持冷静，不一定就是你所认为的那样……

'Yes, it hurts, doesn't it?' she said softly.

“米布米宝！”他气喘吁吁地对胖夫人说，肖像画又一次打开了。

He did not answer. His heart was thumping very hard and fast. Was she talking about his hand or did she know what he had just felt in his forehead?

迎接他的是一片喧闹。罗恩迎面朝他跑来，满脸笑开了花，手里端着高脚酒杯，黄油啤酒洒得胸前都是。

'Well, I think I've made my point, Mr Potter. You may go.'

“哈利，我成功了，我入选了，我是守门员了！”

He caught up his schoolbag and left the room as quickly as he could.

“什么？哦——太棒了！”哈利说，努力使自己笑得自然一些，而他的心还在怦怦地狂跳，手还在突突地阵痛，还在流血。

Stay calm, he told himself, as he sprinted up the stairs. Stay calm, it doesn't necessarily mean what you think it means . . .

“喝一点黄油啤酒吧，”罗恩塞给他一只酒瓶，“我真不敢相信——赫敏去哪儿了？”

'Mimbulus mimbletonia!' he gasped at the Fat Lady, who swung forwards once more.

“她在那儿。”也在大口喝着黄油啤酒的弗雷德说，指了指炉火旁的一把扶手椅。赫敏坐在椅子里打瞌睡，手里的酒杯歪向一边，眼看就要洒出来了。

A roar of sound greeted him. Ron came running towards him, beaming all over his face and slopping Butterbeer down his front from the goblet he was clutching.

“嗯，刚才我把消息告诉她时，她说她很高兴。”罗恩说，显得有点不知所措。

'Harry, I did it, I'm in, I'm Keeper!'

“让她睡吧。”乔治赶忙说道。过了一会儿，哈利才注意到他们周围的那几个一年级新生脸上毫无疑问都带着刚流过鼻血的痕迹。

'What? Oh - brilliant!' said Harry, trying to smile naturally, while his heart continued to race and his hand throbbed and bled.

“来吧，罗恩，看看奥利弗的旧袍子你穿上合适不合适。”凯蒂·贝尔大声说，“我们可以把他的名字摘掉，换上你的……”

'Have a Butterbeer.' Ron pressed a bottle on him. 'I can't believe it - '- where's Hermione gone?'

罗恩走了过去，安吉利娜大步走到哈利面前。

'She's there,' said Fred, who was also swigging Butterbeer, and pointed to an armchair by the fire. Hermione was dozing in it, her drink tipping precariously in her hand.

“对不起，我先前对你有些粗暴，波特。”她唐突地说，“当一个头儿压力太大了，你知道。有时我都觉得自己有点儿步伍德的后尘了。”她的目光越过高脚酒杯的边缘望着罗恩，微微蹙起了眉头。

'Well, she said she was pleased when I told her,' said Ron, looking slightly put out.

“是这样，我知道他是你最好的朋友，但他不是最理想的，”她直率地说，“不过我认为经过一些训练，他应该没有问题。他家里出过一批出色的魁地奇球员。说实在话，我希望他以后能表现得比今天更有天分。维基·弗罗比舍和杰弗里·胡珀今晚飞得都比他好，可是胡珀动不动就哼哼唧唧，总是为一些鸡毛蒜皮的事没完没了地抱怨，维基的社会活动太多了。她自己也承认，如果训练和她的‘魅力俱乐部’相冲突，她会把‘魅力’放在第一位。不管怎么说，我们明天下午两点钟有一场训练，这次你可一定要去。还要拜托你一件事，尽量多帮助帮助罗恩，好吗？”

'Let her sleep,' said George hastily. It was a few moments before Harry noticed that several of the first-years gathered around them bore unmistakeable signs of recent nosebleeds.

他点了点头，安吉利娜慢慢走回去找艾丽娅·斯平内特了。哈利过去坐在赫敏身边，他刚放下书包，赫敏就猛地惊醒过来。

Come here, Ron, and see if Oliver's old robes fit you,' called Kade Bell, 'we can take off his name and put yours on instead . . .'

“哦，哈利，是你……罗恩真棒，是吗？”她睡眼惺忪地说道。“我只是太——太——太累了，”她打了个哈欠，“我一点钟才睡觉，一直在织帽子。它们一眨眼就消失了！”

As Ron moved away, Angelina came striding up to Harry.

果然，哈利仔细一看，发现房间里到处藏着羊毛帽子，让粗心大意的小精灵可以无意中捡拾起来。

Sorry I was a bit short with you earlier, Potter,' she said abruptly. 'It's stressful this managing lark, you know, I'm starting to think I was a bit hard on Wood sometimes.' She was watching Ron over the rim of her goblet with a slight frown on her face.

“太好了。”哈利心不在焉地说，如果再不马上找人说说，他就要憋得爆炸了，“听着，赫敏，我刚才在乌姆里奇的办公室里，她碰了我的胳膊……”

'Look, I know he's your best mate, but he's not fabulous,' she said bluntly. 'I think with a bit of training he'll be all right, though. He comes from a family of good Quidditch players. I'm banking on him turning out to have a bit more talent than he showed today, to be honest. Vicky Frobisher and Geoffrey Hooper both flew better this evening, but Hooper's a real whiner, he's always moaning about something or other, and Vicky's involved in all sorts of societies. She admitted herself that if training clashed with her Charms Club she'd put Charms first. Anyway, we're having a practice session at two o'clock tomorrow, so just make sure you're there this time. And do me a favour and help Ron as much as you can, OK?'

赫敏专注地听着。哈利讲完后，她慢慢地说：“你担心神秘人控制了她，就像当年控制奇洛一样？”

He nodded, and Angelina strolled back to Alicia Spinnet. Harry moved over to sit next to Hermione, who awoke with a jerk as he put down his bag.

“是啊，”哈利压低声音说，“有这种可能，是不是？”

'Oh, Harry, it's you . . . good about Ron, isn't it?' she said blearily. 'I'm just so - so - so tired,' she yawned. 'I was up until one o'clock making more hats. They're disappearing like mad!'

“我想也是，”赫敏说，不过听她的语气，似乎并不完全相信，“但我认为神秘人不可能再像支配奇洛那样支配她了。我的意思是，神秘人现在已经活过来了，是不是，他有了自己的身体，不需要再去霸占别人的肉体。我想，他大概对乌姆里奇施了夺魂咒……”

And sure enough, now that he looked, Harry saw that there were woolly hats concealed all around the room where unwary elves might accidentally pick them up.

哈利望着弗雷德、乔治和李·乔丹抛接黄油啤酒的空瓶子，一时没有说话。然后赫敏又说道：“去年，没有人碰你，你的伤疤也会疼起来，邓布利多不是说这与神秘人当时的感觉有关吗？我的意思是，说不定这与乌姆里奇根本没有什么关系，但发生这样的事时你正好跟她在一起，这也许只是巧合而已？”

'Great,' said Harry distractedly; if he did not tell somebody soon, he would burst. 'Listen, Hermione, I was just up in Umbridge's office and she touched my arm . . .'

“她是魔鬼，”哈利没精打采地说，“变态。”

Hermione listened closely. When Harry had finished, she said slowly, 'You're worried You-Know-Who's controlling her like he controlled Quirrell?'

“她确实很可怕，没错，但是……哈利，我认为你最好去告诉邓布利多你的伤疤又疼了。”

'Well,' said Harry, dropping his voice, 'it's a possibility, isn't it?'

这是两天里第二次有人建议他去找邓布利多，他对赫敏的回答跟对罗恩的回答完全一样。

'I suppose so,' said Hermione, though she sounded unconvinced. 'But I don't think he can be possessing her the way he possessed Quirrell, I mean, he's properly alive again now, isn't he, he's got his own body, he wouldn't need to share someone else's. He could have her under the Imperius Curse, I suppose . . .'

“我不想用这件事去打扰他。就像你刚才说的，这不是什么大不了的事。整个暑假都在断断续续地疼——只是今晚疼得更厉害一点，没什么——”

Harry watched Fred, George and Lee Jordan juggling empty Butterbeer bottles for a moment. Then Hermione said, 'But last year your scar hurt when nobody was touching you, and didn't Dumbledore say it had to do with what You-Know-Who was feeling at the time? I mean, maybe this hasn't got anything to do with

“哈利，我相信邓布利多愿意被这件事打扰——”

Umbridge at all, maybe it's just coincidence it happened while you were with her?'

“是啊，”哈利没来得及控制住自己，脱口说道，“这是邓布利多惟一关心我的地方，是不是，我的伤疤？”

'She's evil,' said Harry flatly. Twisted.'

“别这么说，不是这样的！”

'She's horrible, yes, but . . . Harry, I think you ought to tell Dumbledore your scar hurt.'

“我想，我还是写信把这件事告诉小天狼星吧，看看他怎么想——”

It was the second time in two days he had been advised to go to Dumbledore and his answer to Hermione was just the same as his answer to Ron.

“哈利，你不能在信里谈这样的事情！”赫敏说，显得很惊慌，“你不记得啦，穆迪告诉我们写信千万要小心！我们不能保证猫头鹰不再被人半路截走！”

'I'm not bothering him with this. Like you just said, it's not a big deal. It's been hurting on and off all summer - it was just a bit worse tonight, that's all - '

“好吧，好吧，那我就不告诉他！”哈利烦躁地说。他站了起来。“我要去睡觉了。替我告诉罗恩一声，好吗？”

'Harry, I'm sure Dumbledore would want to be bothered by this - '

“哦，不行，”赫敏显出松了一口气的样子，说道，“既然你要走，那就说明我也可以离开而不显得失礼了。我真是累坏了，明天我还想再织一些帽子。对了，如果你愿意，可以帮我一起织，很好玩的，现在我的技术越来越好了，还能织出图案、小毛球和各种各样的花样呢。”

'Yeah,' said Harry, before he could stop himself, 'that's the only bit of me Dumbledore cares about, isn't it, my scar?'

哈利仔细望着她的脸，发现那上面闪烁着喜悦的光芒，他竭力显出对她提出的建议有点儿动心的样子。

'Don't say that, it's not true!'

“嗯……不，我恐怕不能，谢谢。”他说，“嗯——明天不行。我有一大堆家庭作业要做呢……”

'I think I'll write and tell Sirius about it, see what he thinks - '

他拖着疲惫的脚步走向男生宿舍的楼梯，赫敏被撇在那里，显得有点失望。

'Harry, you can't put something like that in a letter!' said Hermione, looking alarmed. 'Don't you remember, Moody told us to be careful what we put in writing! We just can't guarantee owls aren't being intercepted any more!'

①关于护树罗锅的详细描写，请见《神奇动物在哪里》一书，人民文学出版社，2001年10月版。

'All right, all right, I won't tell him, then!' said Harry irritably. He got to his feet. 'I'm going to bed. Tell Ron for me, will you?'

②关于这支球队的情况，请见《神奇的魁地奇球》一书，人民文学出版社，2001年10月版。

'Oh no,' said Hermione, looking relieved, 'if you're going that means I can go too, without being rude. I'm absolutely exhausted and I want to make some more hats tomorrow. Listen, you can help me if you like, it's quite fun, I'm getting better, I can do patterns and bobbles and all sorts of things now.'

Harry looked into her face, which was shining with glee, and tried to look as though he was vaguely tempted by this offer.

'Er . . . no, I don't think I will, thanks,' he said. 'Er - not tomorrow. I've got loads of homework to do . . .'

And he traipsed off to the boys' stairs, leaving her looking slightly disappointed.

OK阅读网 版权所有(C)2017 | 联系我们