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

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CHAPTER FOURTEEN - Percy and Padfoot

第十四章　珀西和大脚板

Harry was first to wake up in his dormitory next morning. He lay for a moment watching dust swirl in the ray of sunlight coming through the gap in his four-poster's hangings, and savoured the thought that it was Saturday. The first week of term seemed to have dragged on for ever, like one gigantic History of Magic lesson.

第二天早晨，哈利是宿舍里第一个醒来的。他在床上躺了一会儿，望着灰尘在从四柱床幔帐缝隙中透进来的那缕阳光中飞旋起舞，喜滋滋地想起了今天是星期六。新学期的第一个星期太漫长了，似乎永远熬不到尽头，就像一堂没完没了的魔法史课。

Judging by the sleepy silence and the freshly minted look of that beam of sunlight, it was just after daybreak. He pulled open the curtains around his bed, got up and started to dress. The only sound apart from the distant twittering of birds was the slow, deep breathing of his fellow Gryffindors. He opened his schoolbag carefully, pulled out parchment and quill and headed out of the dormitory for the common room.

四下里是一片熟睡中的寂静，那一缕阳光仿佛是刚刚打造出来的，看来天还刚刚亮。哈利拉开床周围的帘子，开始起床穿衣服。除了远处小鸟叽叽喳喳的啁啾，惟一的声音就是他那些格兰芬多同学缓慢、均匀的呼吸声。他小心翼翼地打开书包，拿出羊皮纸和羽毛笔，离开宿舍朝公共休息室走去。

Making straight for his favourite squashy old armchair beside the now extinct fire, Harry settled himself down comfortably and unrolled his parchment while looking around the room. The detritus of crumpled-up bits of parchment, old Gobstones, empty ingredient jars and sweet wrappers that usually covered the common room at the end of each day was gone, as were all Hermione's elf hats. Wondering vaguely how many elves had now been set free whether they wanted to be or not, Harry uncorked his ink bottle, dipped his quill into it, then held it suspended an inch above the smooth yellowish surface of his parchment, thinking hard . . . but after a minute or so he found himself staring into the empty grate, at a complete loss for what to say.

哈利径直走向已经熄灭的炉火旁他最喜欢的那张松松软软的旧扶手椅，舒舒服服地坐下来，展开羊皮纸，一边打量着房间里的情景。平常一天下来，公共休息室里总是散了一地的羊皮纸团、破旧的高布石、空原料罐和糖纸，现在这些垃圾都不见了，同样不见的还有赫敏织的那些家养小精灵的帽子。哈利模模糊糊地想，不知道现在有多少小精灵被释放了，也不管他们愿意不愿意，他一边这么想着一边打开墨水瓶的盖子，把羽毛笔伸进去蘸了蘸，然后让笔尖悬在光滑、泛黄的羊皮纸面上一英寸的地方，苦苦思索着……一两分钟后，他发现自己在盯着空空的壁炉发呆，根本不知道该写些什么。

He could now appreciate how hard it had been for Ron and Hermione to write him letters over the summer. How was he supposed to tell Sirius everything that had happened over the past week and pose all the questions he was burning to ask without giving potential letter-thieves a lot of information he did not want them to have?

他现在才理解罗恩和赫敏暑假里给他写信有多么难了。他怎么才能把刚过去的这一星期发生的每一件事都告诉小天狼星，并提出他迫不及待地想问的所有问题，同时又不能让潜在的偷信贼得到许多他不想让他们知道的情报呢？

He sat quite motionless for a while, gazing into the fireplace, then, finally coming to a decision, he dipped his quill into the ink bottle once more and set it resolutely on the parchment.

他一动不动地坐了一会儿，眼睛出神地望着壁炉，然后他终于拿定了主意，又把羽毛笔在墨水瓶里蘸了蘸，果断地在羊皮纸上写了起来。

Dear Snuffles,

亲爱的伤风：希望你一切都好，回到这里的第一个星期糟糕极了，我真高兴终于到了周末。我们有了一位新的黑魔法防御术课老师，乌姆里奇教授。她差不多像你妈妈一样好。我今天写信给你，是因为去年夏天我写信告诉你的那件事昨晚又出现了，当时我正在乌姆里奇那里关禁闭。我们都很想念我们的那位最大的朋友，希望他能很快回来。请尽快回信。祝顺利。哈利

Hope you're OK, the first week back here's been terrible, I'm really glad it's the weekend.

哈利把信读了好几遍，竭力从一个局外人的角度来审视它。他觉得，光靠读这封信，局外人决不会知道他在说什么——或在跟谁说话。他真希望小天狼星能够读懂关于海格的暗示，并告诉他们海格大概什么时候才能回来。哈利不想直接地问，担心会引起别人的过多注意，怀疑海格不在霍格沃茨会去做什么。

We've got a new Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher, Professor Umbridge. She's nearly as nice as your mum. I'm writing because that thing I wrote to you about last summer happened again last night when I was doing a detention with Umbridge.

这封信很短，相比之下所花的时间就很长了。在他写信的工夫，阳光已经慢慢照到屋子中间，现在他能隐约地听见楼上宿舍里的动静了。他小心地把羊皮纸封好，爬过肖像洞口，直奔猫头鹰棚屋去了。

We're all missing our biggest friend, we hope he'll be back soon.

“如果我是你，我才不会走那条路呢。”正当哈利走在过道里时，差点没头的尼克突然从他面前的墙里飘了出来，惊得他不知所措，“皮皮鬼正在搞一个滑稽的玩笑，要捉弄下一个从走廊中间帕拉瑟胸像前面走过的人呢。”

Please write back quickly.

“是不是让帕拉瑟掉在那个人的头顶上？”哈利问。

Best,

“太有趣了，确实如此，”差点没头的尼克用厌烦的声音说，“皮皮鬼从来玩不出什么巧妙精细的把戏。我得赶紧去找血人巴罗……他大概能够制止这件事……再见，哈利……”

Harry

“好的，再见。”哈利没有向右转，而是向左转，走了一条较远但更安全的路去猫头鹰棚屋。他走过一个又一个窗口，都能看到外面蔚蓝明亮的天空，这使他的心情越来越好，他待会儿还要参加训练，终于又能回到魁地奇球场了。

Harry reread the letter several times, trying to see it from the point of view of an outsider. He could not see how they would know what he was talking about - or who he was talking to - just from reading this letter. He did hope Sirius would pick up the hint about Hagrid and tell them when he might be back. Harry did not want to ask directly in case it drew too much attention to what Hagrid might be up to while he was not at Hogwarts.

什么东西蹭了他的脚脖子一下。他低头一看，只见管理员的那只瘦骨如柴的灰猫洛丽丝夫人悄没声地走了过去。它用两只灯泡般的黄眼睛盯着他看了片刻，然后钻到忧郁的威尔福雕像后面不见了。

Considering it was a very short letter, it had taken a long time to write; sunlight had crept halfway across the room while he had been working on it and he could now hear distant sounds of movement from the dormitories above. Sealing the parchment carefully, he climbed through the portrait hole and headed off for the Owlery.

“我没做什么坏事。”哈利冲着它身后喊道。看它那样子，无疑是一只急急忙忙去找主人汇报的猫，而哈利不明白这是为什么。他完全有资格在一个星期六早晨到猫头鹰棚屋去呀。

'I would not go that way if I were you,' said Nearly Headless Nick, drifting disconcertingly through a wall just ahead of Harry as he walked down the passage. 'Peeves is planning an amusing . joke on the next person to pass the bust of Paracelsus halfway down the corridor.'

现在太阳已经高高地挂在天空，哈利走进棚屋时，没有玻璃的窗户晃得他睁不开眼睛。一道道银白色的阳光纵横交错地照进这个圆形房间，几百只猫头鹰栖息在椽木上，在早晨的光线中显得有点儿焦躁不安，有几只显然是刚从外面捕食回来。哈利伸长脖子寻找海德薇的身影时，脚下踩着细碎的动物骨头，铺着稻草的地面上发出嘎吱嘎吱的响声。

'Does it involve Paracelsus falling on top of the persons head?' asked Harry.

“你在那儿。”他说，在靠近拱形天花板最顶部的地方看见了海德薇，“下来吧，我有一封信给你。”

'Funnily enough, it does,' said Nearly Headless Nick in a bored voice. 'Subtlety has never been Peeves's strong point. I'm off to try and find the Bloody Baron . . . he might be able to put a stop to it . . . see you, Harry . . .'

海德薇低低地叫了一声，展开巨大的白色翅膀飞下来落在他的肩头。

'Yeah, bye,' said Harry and instead of turning right, he turned left, taking a longer but safer route up to the Owlery. His spirits rose as he walked past window after window showing brilliantly blue sky; he had training later, he would be back on the Quidditch pitch at last.

“是的，我知道外面写的是‘伤风’，”哈利对它说，一边把信拿给它用嘴叼住，然后他也不知道为什么，又压低声音说道，“但这是给小天狼星的，明白吗？”

Something brushed his ankles. He looked down and saw the caretaker's skeletal grey cat, Mrs Norris, slinking past him. She turned lamplike yellow eyes on him for a moment before disappearing behind a statue of Wilfred the Wistful.

海德薇眨了一下琥珀色的眼睛，哈利知道这表示它听明白了。

'I'm not doing anything wrong,' Harry called after her. She had the unmistakeable air of a cat that was off to report to her boss, yet Harry could not see why; he was perfectly entitled to walk up to the Owlery on a Saturday morning.

“那就祝你一路平安。”哈利说着，带着它来到一扇窗口。海德薇用力蹬了一下他的胳膊，腾身跃起，飞到了外面明晃晃的晴朗天空中。他一直注视着它，直到它变成了一个小黑点，彻底消失不见了，然后他把目光转向海格的小屋，从这扇窗户正好可以看得很清楚，然而烟囱没有冒烟，窗帘拉得紧紧的，很明显仍然没有住人。

The sun was high in the sky now and when Harry entered the Owlery the glassless windows dazzled his eyes; thick silvery beams of sunlight crisscrossed the circular room in which hundreds of owls nestled on rafters, a little restless in the early-morning light, some clearly just returned from hunting. The straw-covered floor crunched a little as he stepped across tiny animal bones, craning his neck for a sight of Hedwig.

禁林的树梢在微风中轻轻摇摆，哈利望着它们，享受着新鲜空气吹拂在脸上的愉快感觉，心里想着待会儿的魁地奇球训练……就在这时，他看见了它——一匹巨大的、爬行动物般的、带翅膀的马，跟那天拉着霍格沃茨马车的那些怪马一模一样。只见它像翼手龙一般将坚韧的黑色翅膀充分展开，忽地从树丛中飞了出来，如同一只奇异的巨鸟。它盘旋了一大圈，又忽地一头扎进树丛。整个事情发生得太快了，哈利简直不敢相信他看到的情景，只知道自己的心像打鼓一样怦怦地狂跳。

There you are,' he said, spotting her somewhere near the very top of the vaulted ceiling. 'Get down here, I've got a letter for you.'

身后猫头鹰棚屋的门开了。他吃惊地跳了起来，猛一转身，看见秋·张手里拿着一封信和一个包裹。

With a low hoot she stretched her great white wings and soared down on to his shoulder.

“你好。”哈利下意识地说。

'Right, I know this says Snuffles on the outside,' he told her, giving her the letter to clasp in her beak and, without knowing exactly why, whispering, 'but it's for Sirius, OK?'

“噢……你好。”她气喘吁吁地说，“我没想到这么早就有人上来了……五分钟前我才想起今天是我妈妈的生日。”

She blinked her amber eyes once and he took that to mean that she understood.

她举起手里的包裹。

'Safe flight, then,' said Harry and he carried her to one of the windows; with a moments pressure on his arm, Hedwig took off into the blindingly bright sky. He watched her until she became a tiny black speck and vanished, then switched his gaze to Hagrid's hut, clearly visible from this window, and just as clearly uninhabited, the chimney smokeless, the curtains drawn.

“噢。”哈利说。他的脑子里似乎一片混乱。他很想说几句好玩的、风趣的话，但脑海里闪过的却是刚才那匹可怕的长翅膀的怪马。

The treetops of the Forbidden Forest swayed in a light breeze. Harry watched them, savouring the fresh air on his face, thinking about Quidditch later . . . then he saw it. A great, reptilian winged hcrse, just like the ones pulling the Hogwarts carriages, with leahery black wings spread wide like a pterodactyl's, rose up out of the trees like a grotesque, giant bird. It soared in a great circle, then plunged back into the trees. The whole thing had happened so quickly, Harry could hardly believe what he had seen, except that his heart was hammering madly.

“天气真不错。”他说着指了指窗外。他的五脏六腑似乎都因尴尬而缩成了一团。天气。他居然在谈天气……

The Owlery door opened behind him. He leapt in shock and, turning quickly, saw Cho Chang holding a letter and a parcel in his hands.

“是啊。”秋说，一边东张西望寻找一只合适的猫头鹰，“正好适合打魁地奇球。我整个一星期都没出去，你呢？”

'Hi,' said Harry automatically.

“也没有。”哈利说。

'Oh . . . hi,' she said breathlessly. 'I didn't think anyone would be up here this early . . . I only remembered five minutes ago, it's my mum's birthday'

秋选中了学校的一只谷仓猫头鹰。她轻声唤它落到她的胳膊上，猫头鹰落定后顺从地伸出一只脚，让她把包裹系在上面。

She held up the parcel.

“对了，格兰芬多找到新的守门员了吗？”她问。

Right,' said Harry. His brain seemed to have jammed. He wanted to say something funny and interesting, but the memory of that terrible winged horse was fresh in his mind.

“找到了，”哈利说，“是我的朋友罗恩·韦斯莱，你认识他吗？”

Nice day,' he said, gesturing to the windows. His insides seemed to shrivel with embarrassment. The weather. He was talking about the weather . . .

“就是那个讨厌龙卷风队的人？”秋很冷淡地说，“他有长处？”

'Yeah,' said Cho, looking around for a suitable owl. 'Good Quidditch conditions. I haven't been out all week, have you?'

“是啊，”哈利说道，“我想是的。不过我没有观看他的选拔，我被关禁闭了。”

'No,' said Harry.

秋抬起头，包裹在猫头鹰腿上只系好了一半。

Cho had selected one of the school barn owls. She coaxed it down on to her arm where it held out an obliging leg so that she could attach the parcel.

“那个姓乌姆里奇的女人真讨厌，”她低声说道，“就因为你讲了——讲了——讲了他遇难的实情，她就关你的禁闭。大家都听说了这件事，整个学校都传遍了。你能那样跟她针锋相对，真是很勇敢。”

'Hey has Gryffindor got a new Keeper yet?' she asked.

哈利的五脏六腑又一下子膨胀起来了，速度之快，使他感到自己真的能从洒满鸟粪的地面上腾起几英寸呢。谁还在乎一匹愚蠢的飞马呢，秋认为他真是很勇敢。一闪念间，他甚至想趁着帮她往猫头鹰腿上系包裹的机会，故意假装不小心地让她看见他受伤的手背……可是这个激动人心的想法刚刚冒头，猫头鹰棚屋的门又被推开了。

'Yeah,' said Harry. 'It's my friend Ron Weasley, d'you know him?'

管理员费尔奇呼哧呼哧地走了进来。他那塌陷、脉络纵横的面颊涨得紫红，下巴上的垂肉抖个不停，稀疏的花白头发乱糟糟的。显然他是一路跑来的。洛丽丝夫人小跑着跟在他脚后，盯着头顶上的那些猫头鹰，饥饿地喵喵叫着。上面传来一片翅膀不安扇动的声音，一只很大的棕色猫头鹰气势汹汹地把嘴咂得嗒嗒直响。

'The Tornados-hater?' said Cho rather coolly. 'Is he any good?'

“啊哈！”费尔奇说，拖着脚朝哈利跨近一步，皮肉松弛的面颊气得直抖，“我得到了一个情报，你打算订购大批的大粪蛋！”

'Yeah,' said Harry, 'I think so. I didn't see his tryout, though, I was in detention.'

哈利抱起双臂，瞪着管理员。

Cho looked up, the parcel only half-attached to the owls legs.

“谁对你说我订购了大粪蛋？”

That Umbridge woman's foul,' she said in a low voice. 'Putting you in detention just because you told the truth about how - how - how he died. Everyone heard about it, it was all over the school. You were really brave standing up to her like that.'

秋望望哈利，又望望费尔奇，也皱起了眉头。她胳膊上的那只谷仓猫头鹰用一条腿站累了，警告地叫了一声，但秋没有理会。

Harry's insides re-inflated so rapidly he felt as though he might actually float a few inches off the dropping-strewn floor. Who cared about a stupid flying horse; Cho thought he had been really brave. For a moment, he considered accidentally-on-purpose showing her his cut hand as he helped her tie her parcel on to her owl . . . but the very instant this thrilling thought occurred, the Owlery door opened again.

“我有我的情报来源。”费尔奇洋洋自得地咬着牙说，“现在把你要送的东西交出来。”

Filch the caretaker came wheezing into the room. There were purple patches on his sunken, veined cheeks, his jowls were aquiver and his thin grey hair dishevelled; he had obviously run here. Mrs Norris came trotting at his heels, gazing up at the owls overhead and mewing hungrily. There was a restless shifting of wings from above and a large brown owl snapped his beak in a menacing fashion.

哈利暗自庆幸自己没有拖延就已经把信寄走了，他说：“交不出来，已经走了。”

'Aha!' said Filch, taking a flat-footed step towards Harry, his pouchy cheeks trembling with anger. Tve had a tip-off that you are intending to place a massive order for Dungbombs!'

“走了？”费尔奇说，气得五官都变了形。

Harry folded his arms and stared at the caretaker.

“走了。”哈利平静地说。

'Who told you I was ordering Dungbombs?'

费尔奇恼怒地张开嘴，嘴唇无声地开合了几秒钟，然后用眼睛扫视着哈利的长袍。

Cho was looking from Harry to Filch, also frowning; the barn owl on her arm, tired of standing on one leg, gave an admonitory hoot but she ignored it.

“我怎么知道你没有装在口袋里呢？”

'I have my sources.' said Filch in a self-satisfied hiss. 'Now hand over whatever it is you're sending.'

“因为——”

Feeling immensely thankful that he had not dawdled in posting off the letter, Harry said, 'I can't, it's gone.'

“我看见他寄出去的。”秋气愤地说。

'Gone?' said Filch, his face contorting with rage.

费尔奇立刻把矛头对准了秋·张。

'Gone,' said Harry calmly.

“你看见他——？”

Filch opened his mouth furiously, mouthed for a few seconds, then raked Harry's robes with his eyes.

“不错，我看见的。”她激动地说。

'How do I know you haven't got it in your pocket?'

片刻的静默，费尔奇瞪着秋，秋也瞪着费尔奇。然后管理员一转身，拖着脚朝门口走去。他的手停在门把手上，扭头望着哈利。

'Because - '

“如果我闻到有大粪蛋的味儿……”

'I saw him send it,' said Cho angrily.

他嗵嗵嗵地下楼去了。洛丽丝夫人恋恋不舍地看了那些猫头鹰最后一眼，跟着他下去了。

Filch rounded on her.

哈利和秋互相对望着。

'You saw him - ?'

“谢谢。”哈利说。

That's right, I saw him,' she said fiercely.

“没什么，”秋说，这才终于把包裹系在谷仓猫头鹰的另一条腿上，脸上微微泛着红晕，“你没有订购大粪蛋吧？”

There was a moment's pause in which Filch glared at Cho and Cho glared right back, then the caretaker turned on his heel and shuffled back towards the door. He stopped with his hand on the handle and looked back at Harry.

“没有。”哈利说。

'If I get so much as a whiff of a Dungbomb . . .'

“真奇怪，那他怎么以为你订了？”她一边说一边抱着猫头鹰走向窗口。

He stumped off down the stairs. Mrs Norris cast a last longing look at the owls and followed him.

哈利耸了耸肩膀。他和她一样，也觉得这件事蹊跷得很，然而奇怪的是，他此刻并没有怎么把它放在心上。

Harry and Cho looked at each other.

他们一起离开了猫头鹰棚屋。等他们走到一条通往城堡西区的走廊口时，秋说：“我要从这边走了。嗯，我……我们再见吧，哈利。”

Thanks,' Harry said.

“好的……再见。”

No problem,' said Cho, finally fixing the parcel to the barn owl's other leg, her face slightly pink. 'You weren't ordering Dungbombs, were you?'

她朝他嫣然一笑，走了。哈利继续往前走，心里暗暗地一阵狂喜。他总算跟她有了一次完整的对话，并且没有感到尴尬……你能那样跟她针锋相对，真是很勇敢……秋说他勇敢……她并没有因为他活着而恨他……

'No,' said Harry.

当然啦，她更喜欢塞德里克，他知道……不过如果他抢在塞德里克之前邀请她参加圣诞舞会，事情可能会完全不同……当哈利向她发出邀请时，她似乎是真心为自己不得不拒绝他而感到遗憾……

'I wonder why he thought you were, then?' she said as she carried the owl to the window.

“早上好。”哈利来到礼堂，来到格兰芬多桌子旁罗恩和赫敏的身边，兴高采烈地对他们说。

Harry shrugged. He was quite as mystified by that as she was, though oddly it was not bothering him very much at the moment.

“你这么开心，有什么喜事啊？”罗恩吃惊地打量着哈利，问道。

They left the Owlery together. At the entrance of a corridor that led towards the west wing of the castle, Cho said, 'I'm going this way. Well, I'll . . . I'll see you around, Harry.'

“嗯……待会儿要打魁地奇球嘛。”哈利高兴地说，把一大盘咸肉和鸡蛋拖到自己面前。

'Yeah . . . see you.'

“噢……是啊……”罗恩说。他放下吃了一半的面包，喝了一大口南瓜汁，然后他说：“听着……你愿意早一点儿跟我一起出去吗？就是——嗯——在训练前陪我练习练习？这样，你知道的，我就能多少有点儿球感了。”

She smiled at him and departed. Harry walked on, feeling quietly elated. He had managed to have an entire conversation with her and not embarrassed himself once . . . you were really brave standing up to her like that . . . Cho had called him brave . . . she did not hate him for being alive . . .

“行啊。”哈利说。

Of course, she had preferred Cedric, he knew that . . . though if he'd only asked her to the Ball before Cedric had, things might have turned out differently . . . she had seemed sincerely sorry that she'd had to refuse when Harry asked her . . .

“慢着，我认为你们不应该这么做，”赫敏严肃地说，“你们俩都落下了一大堆家庭作业——”

'Morning,' Harry said brightly to Ron and Hermione as he joined them at the Gryffindor table in the Great Hall.

可是她突然停住了话头。早晨的邮件来了，像平常一样，一只长耳猫头鹰叼着《预言家日报》朝她飞来，看着很危险地落在糖碗旁边，伸出了一条腿。赫敏把一个纳特塞进它的皮钱袋，拿过报纸，目光犀利地浏览着第一版，这时那只猫头鹰抖抖翅膀飞走了。

'What are you looking so pleased about?' said Ron, eyeing Harry in surprise.

“有什么有趣的内容吗？”罗恩问。哈利咧嘴笑了，知道罗恩是急于把赫敏从家庭作业的话题上引开。

'Erm . . . Quidditch later,' said Harry happily, pulling a large platter of bacon and eggs towards him.

“没有，”她叹了口气，“都是关于古怪姐妹演唱组的低音乐器手结婚的无聊废话。”

'Oh . . . yeah . . .' said Ron. He put down the piece of toast he was eating and took a large swig of pumpkin juice. Then he said, 'Listen . . . you don't fancy going out a bit earlier with me, do you? Just to - er - give me some practice before training? So I can, you know, get my eye in a bit.'

赫敏展开报纸，把自己挡在后面。哈利又津津有味地吃了一份鸡蛋和咸肉。罗恩呆呆地望着高处的窗户，看上去好像有点儿心事。

'Yeah, OK,' said Harry.

“等一等，”赫敏突然说道，“哦，糟糕……小天狼星！”

'Look, I don't think you should,' said Hermione seriously. 'You're both really behind on homework as it - '

“出什么事了？”哈利说着，一把抓过报纸，他用力太大，把报纸撕成了两半，他和赫敏各拿着一半。

But she broke off; the morning post was arriving and, as usual, the Daily Prophet was soaring towards her in the beak of a screech owl, which landed perilously close to the sugar bowl and held out a leg. Hermione pushed a Knut into its leather pouch, took the newspaper, and scanned the front page critically as the owl took off.

“魔法部从消息可靠人士那里获悉，小天狼星布莱克，那个臭名昭著的杀人魔王……等等，等等……目前就藏在伦敦！”

'Anything interesting?' said Ron. Harry grinned, knowing Ron was keen to keep her off the subject of homework.

赫敏忧心忡忡地小声读着她那一半报纸。

'No,' she sighed, 'just some guff about the bass player in the Weird Sisters getting married.'

“准是卢修斯·马尔福，我敢打赌，”哈利压低声音气愤地说，“他在站台上确实认出了小天狼星……”

Hermione opened the paper and disappeared behind it. Harry devoted himself to another helping of eggs and bacon. Ron was staring up at the high windows, looking slightly preoccupied.

“什么？”罗恩显得很惊慌地说，“你该不是说——”

'Wait a moment,' said Hermione suddenly. 'Oh no . . . Sirius!'

“嘘！”另外两个同时说。

'What's happened?' said Harry, snatching at the paper so violently it ripped down the middle, with him and Hermione each holding one half.

“……魔法部提醒巫师界，布莱克十分危险……杀害了十三个人……从阿兹卡班越狱出逃……”

' "The Ministry of Magic has received a tip-off from a reliable source that Sirius Black, notorious mass murderer . . . blah blah blah . . .is currently hiding in London!" ' Hermione read from her half in an anguished whisper.

“又是平常那一套废话。”赫敏说完，放下她那一半报纸，忧虑地望着哈利和罗恩。“得，他又一步也不能离开房子了。”她小声说，“邓布利多确实提醒过他不要出门的。”

'Lucius Malfoy, I'll bet anything,' said Harry in a low, furious voice. 'He did recognise Sirius on the platform . . .'

哈利愁眉苦脸地望着他撕下来的那片《预言家日报》。那一页的大部分版面都被一则“摩金夫人长袍专卖店”的广告占据了，显然是在搞减价大甩卖。

What?' said Ron, looking alarmed. 'You didn't say - '

“嘿！”他说，把报纸摊在桌子上，好让赫敏和罗恩也能看得见，“看看这个！”

'Shh!' said the other two.

“我各种袍子都有了。”罗恩说。

'. . . "Ministry warns wizarding community that Black is very dangerous . . . killed thirteen people . . . broke out of Azkaban . . ." the usual rubbish,' Hermione concluded, laying down her half of the paper and looking fearfully at Harry and Ron. 'Well, he just won't be able to leave the house again, that's all,' she whispered. 'Dumbledore did warn him not to.'

“不是，”哈利说，“看……这里这篇小文章……”

Harry looked down glumly at the bit of the Prophet he had torn off. Most of the page was devoted to an advertisement for Madam Malkin's Robes for All Occasions, which was apparently having a sale.

罗恩和赫敏低头细看。那篇文章还不到一英寸长，在那一栏的最下面，标题是：

'Hey!' he said, flattening it down so Hermione and Ron could see it. 'Look at this!'

非法侵入魔法部

'I've got all the robes I want,' said Ron 'No,' said Harry. 'Look . . . this little piece here . . ." Ron and Hermione bent closer to read it; the item was barely an inch long and placed right at the bottom of a column. It was headlined:

斯多吉·波德摩，现年三十八岁，家住克拉彭区金链花公园2号，日前在威森加摩接受审判，被控于8月31日非法侵入魔法部企图实施抢劫。波德摩被魔法部的警卫埃里克·芒奇抓获，芒奇发现他在凌晨一点企图闯过一道一级保密门。波德摩拒绝为自己辩护，被判两项指控成立，在阿兹卡班监禁六个月。

TRESPASS AT MINISTRY

“斯多吉·波德摩？”罗恩慢慢地说，“就是那个头上像顶着一堆稻草的家伙，是吗？他是凤凰社的——”

Sturgis Podmore, 38, of number two, Laburnum Gardens, Clapham, has appeared in front of the Wizcngamot charged with trespass and attempted robbery at the Ministry of Magic on 31" August. Podmore was arrested by Ministry of Magic watchwizard Eric Munch, who found him attempting to force his way through a top-security door at one o'clock in the morning. Podmore, who refused to speak, in his own defence, was convicted on both charges and sentenced to six months in Azkaban.

“罗恩，嘘！”赫敏说，一边惊恐地望望四周。

'Sturgis Podmore?' said Ron slowly. 'He's that bloke who looks like his head's been thatched, isn't he? He's one of the Ord-

“在阿兹卡班监禁六个月！”哈利十分震惊，低声说道，“就因为企图闯过一道门！”

'Ron, shhl' said Hermione, casting a terrified look around them.

“别傻了，不只是因为企图闯过一道门。他凌晨一点钟跑到魔法部去做什么呢？”赫敏压低声音说。

'Six months in Azkaban!' whispered Harry, shocked. 'Just for trying to get through a door!'

“你们说他会不会是在给凤凰社做事呢？”罗恩小声而含混不清地问。

'Don't be silly, it wasn't just for trying to get through a door. What on earth was he doing at the Ministry of Magic at one o'clock in the morning?' breathed Hermione.

“等一下……”哈利慢慢地说，“斯多吉那天应该来送我们的，记得吗？”

D'you reckon he was doing something for the Order?' Ron muttered.

另外两个人都看着他。

'Wait a moment . . .' said Harry slowly. 'Sturgis was supposed to come and see us off, remember?'

“是啊，他应该是护送我们去国王十字车站的警卫之一，记得吗？就因为他没有露面，穆迪恼火得要命。所以他不可能是在为他们办事，对吗？”

The other two looked at him.

“那，也许他们没想到他会被捕。”赫敏说。

'Yeah, he was supposed to be part of our guard going to King's Cross, remember? And Moody was all annoyed because he didn't turn up; so he couldn't have been on a job for them, could he?'

“这也许是诬陷！”罗恩激动地嚷了起来，“不——你们听着！”看到赫敏脸上威胁的表情，他戏剧性地突然降低声音，继续说道，“魔法部怀疑他是邓布利多一伙的，所以——大概是吧——他们就把他引诱到魔法部，他根本就没有企图闯过一道门！也许他们是在故意编造一些借口，好把他抓起来！”

'Well, maybe they didn't expect him to get caught,' said Hermione.

哈利和赫敏沉默了片刻，思索着他的话。哈利认为这似乎有点牵强附会，但赫敏却显得很感兴趣。

'It could be a frame-up!' Ron exclaimed excitedly. 'No - listen!' he went on, dropping his voice dramatically at the threatening look on Hermione's face. The Ministry suspects he's one of Dumbledore's lot so - I dunno - they lured him to the Ministry, and he wasn't trying to get through a door at all! Maybe they've just made something up to get him!'

“知道吗，如果真是这样，我一点也不会感到吃惊。”

There was a pause while Harry and Hermione considered this. Harry thought it seemed far-fetched. Hermione, on the other hand, looked rather impressed.

她若有所思地叠着她那半张报纸。当哈利放下手中的刀叉时，她仿佛突然从沉思中惊醒过来。

'Do you know, I wouldn't be at all surprised if that were true.'

“啊，对了，我想——我们应该先写斯普劳特布置的那篇自株传粉灌木的论文，如果顺利的话，还可以在午饭前开始练习麦格教授的非动物召唤咒……”

She folded up her half of the newspaper thoughtfully. As Harry laid down his knife and fork, she seemed to come out of a reverie.

哈利想到楼上等着他的那一大堆家庭作业，心里感到有一点儿内疚，可是外面的天空那样清澈、蔚蓝，令人心旷神怡，而他已经一个星期没有骑他的火弩箭了……

'Right, well, I think we should tackle that essay for Sprout on self-fertilising shrubs first and if we're lucky we'll be able to start McGonagall's Inanimatus Conjurus Spell before lunch . . .'

“我是说，我们可以今天晚上再做。”罗恩说，这时他和哈利走下草坡，直奔魁地奇球场。他们肩膀上扛着飞天扫帚，耳边依然回响着赫敏严峻的警告，说他们的O．W．Ls考试肯定会门门不及格。“我们还有明天呢。她太把功课放在心上了，那是她的毛病……”顿了一下，他又用微微有些不安的声音说，“她说不让我们抄她的，你认为她真的会说到做到吗？”

Harry felt a small twinge of guilt at the thought of the pile of homework awaiting him upstairs, but the sky was a clear, exhilarating blue, and he had not been on his Firebolt for a week . . .

“是啊，我想会的，”哈利说，“但是这个也很重要啊，如果我们想留在魁地奇球队里，就必须多加练习……”

'I mean, we can do it tonight,' said Ron, as he and Harry walked down the sloping lawns towards the Quidditch pitch, their broomsticks over their shoulders, and with Hermione's dire warnings that they would fail all their OWLs still ringing in their ears. 'And we've got tomorrow. She gets too worked up about work, that's her trouble . . .' There was a pause and he added, in a slightly more anxious tone, 'D'you think she meant it when she said we weren't copying from her?'

“是啊，没错，”罗恩说，语气一下子振作起来，“我们有的是时间做这些事……”

'Yeah, I do,' said Harry. 'Still, this is important, too, we've got to practise if we want to stay on the Quidditch team . . .'

他们走近魁地奇球场时，哈利朝右边望去，远处禁林里的树木黑黢黢的，随风微微摇摆。不见有东西从里面飞出来，天空中什么也没有，只有几只猫头鹰远远地在猫头鹰棚屋周围盘旋。他需要操心的事情已经够多了，那匹飞马又没有对他造成什么伤害。于是，他把它从脑子里赶了出去。

'Yeah, that's right,' said Ron, in a heartened tone. 'And we have got plenty of time to do it all . . .'

他们在更衣室的橱柜里拿了球开始练习，罗恩守住那三根球门柱，哈利充当追球手，想办法让鬼飞球突破罗恩的封锁。哈利认为罗恩的表现相当不错，哈利试图破门进球，但他进攻的球有四分之三都被罗恩挡了出来，而且他的状态越来越好。两个小时后，他们返回城堡吃午饭——饭桌上赫敏明确地告诉他们，她认为他们没有责任感——然后他们又回到魁地奇球场，开始真正的训练。他们走进更衣室时，除了安吉利娜，其他队友都已经在里面了。

As they approached the Quidditch pitch, Harry glanced over to his right to where the trees of the Forbidden Forest were swaying darkly. Nothing flew out of them; the sky was empty but for a few distant owls fluttering around the Owlery tower. He had enough to worry about; the flying horse wasn't doing him any harm; he pushed it out of his mind.

“怎么样，罗恩？”乔治说，冲他眨了眨眼睛。

They collected balls from the cupboard in the changing room and set to work, Ron guarding the three tall goalposts, Harry playing Chaser and trying to get the Quaffle past Ron. Harry thought Ron was pretty good; he blocked three-quarters of the goals Harry attempted to put past him and played better the longer they practised. After a couple of hours they returned to the castle for lunch - during which Hermione made it quite clear she thought they were irresponsible - then returned to the Quidditch pitch for the real training session. All their teammates but Angelina were already in the changing room when they entered.

“还好。”罗恩说，在走向球场的一路上，他的话越来越少。

All right, Ron?' said George, winking at him.

“准备在我们面前露一手，小不点儿级长？”弗雷德说，毛蓬蓬的脑袋从魁地奇球袍的领口钻出来，脸上带着一丝坏笑。

Yeah,' said Ron, who had become quieter and quieter all the way down to the pitch.

“闭嘴。”罗恩板着脸说，第一次穿上了他自己的队袍。袍子穿在身上还挺合适的，要知道这以前可是奥利弗·伍德的袍子，伍德的肩膀比罗恩宽得多。

'Ready to show us all up, Ickle Prefect?' said Fred, emerging tousle-haired from the neck of his Quidditch robes, a slightly malicious grin on his face.

“好了，诸位，”安吉利娜从队长办公室走进来，已经换好了衣服，“我们开始吧。艾丽娅，弗雷德，劳驾你们帮大家把球箱子搬出去。噢，外面有几个人在观看，我希望你们只当没看见，好吗？”

'Shut up,' said Ron, stony-faced, pulling on his own team robes for the first time. They fitted him well considering they had been Oliver Wood's, who was rather broader in the shoulder.

她的语气故意显得很随便，这使哈利觉得自己已经猜到那些不请自来的观众是谁了。果然，当他们离开更衣室来到外面阳光灿烂的球场时，突然听到一阵尖叫声和嘲笑声，是斯莱特林魁地奇球队的队员和一些五花八门的追随者，他们聚集在空荡荡的看台中央，声音在露天球场周围响亮地回荡着。

'OK, everyone,' said Angelina, entering from the Captain's office, already changed. 'Let's gel to it; Alicia and Fred, if you can jus: bring out the ball crate for us. Oh, and there are a couple of people out there watching but I want you to just ignore them, all right?'

“那个韦斯莱骑的是什么玩意儿？”马尔福用他冷嘲热讽、拖腔拖调的声音说，“怎么居然有人给那么一根发霉的破木头念飞行咒呢？”

Something in her would-be casual voice made Harry think he might know who the uninvited spectators were, and sure enough, when they left the changing room for the bright sunlight of the pitch it was to a storm of catcalls and jeers from the Slytherin Quidditch team and assorted hangers-on, who were grouped halfway up the empty stands and whose voices echoed loudly around the stadium.

克拉布、高尔和潘西·帕金森粗声大笑，尖声狂叫。罗恩骑上自己的扫帚，蹬离了地面，哈利跟着他，从后面看见他的两只耳朵越来越红。

'What's that Weasley's riding?' Malfoy called in his sneering drawl. 'Why would anyone put a flying charm on a mouldy old log like that?'

“别理他们，”他一边说一边加快速度追上罗恩，“等到跟他们比完赛，我们就会看到谁在笑了……”

Crabbe, Goyle and Pansy Parkinson guffawed and shrieked with laughter. Ron mounted his broom and kicked off from the ground and Harry followed him, watching his ears turn red from behind.

“我要的就是这个态度，哈利。”安吉利娜赞许地说。她胳膊底下夹着一只鬼飞球，飞着绕过他们，然后放慢速度，停在她半空中的队员们前面。“好了，诸位，我们先传几个球热热身，所有队员注意——”

'Ignore them,' he said, accelerating to catch up with Ron, 'we'll see who's laughing after we play them . . .'

“喂，约翰逊，你那个发型是怎么回事呀？”潘西·帕金森在下面尖声尖气地问，“怎么居然有人愿意让自己看上去像是有蚯蚓从脑袋里钻出来呢？”

'Exactly the attitude I want, Harry' said Angelina approvingly soaring around them with the Quaffle under her arm and slowing to hover on the spot in front of her airborne team. 'OK, everyone, we're going to start with some passes just to warm up, the whole team please - '

安吉利娜把挡在脸前的长辫子甩到脑后，继续平静地说：“现在散开，看看我们做得怎么样……”

'Hey, Johnson, what's with that hairstyle, anyway?' shrieked Pansy Parkinson from below. 'Why would anyone want to look like they've got worms coming out of their head?'

哈利一转身离开了其他人，来到球场的那一端。罗恩退向对面的球门。安吉利娜一只手举起鬼飞球，使劲朝弗雷德扔去，弗雷德传给乔治，乔治传给哈利，哈利再传给罗恩，罗恩没有接住。

Angelina swept her long braided hair out of her face and continued calmly, 'Spread out, then, and let's see what we can do . . .'

那些斯莱特林们由马尔福打头，又是笑又是叫。罗恩猛地冲向地面，好赶在鬼飞球落地前把它抓住。他停止俯冲时的动作拖泥带水，差点从扫帚上滑下去，然后他满脸通红地重新升到传球高度。哈利看见弗雷德和乔治交换了一下眼色，但破天荒第一次他们谁也没说什么，哈利感到松了口气。

Harry reversed away from the others to the far side of the pitch. Ron fell back towards the opposite goal. Angelina raised the Quaffle with one hand and threw it hard to Fred, who passed to George, who passed to Harry, who passed to Ron, who dropped it.

“继续传，罗恩。”安吉利娜说，只当什么事也没发生。

The Slytherins, led by Malfoy, roared and screamed with laughter. Ron, who had pelted towards the ground to catch the Quaffle before it landed, pulled out of the dive untidily, so that he slipped sideways on his broom, and returned to playing height, blushing. Harry saw Fred and George exchange looks, but uncharacteristically neither of them said anything, for which he was grateful.

罗恩把鬼飞球扔给艾丽娅，艾丽娅又传给哈利，哈利传给乔治……

'Pass it on, Ron,' called Angelina, as though nothing had happened.

“喂，波特，你的伤疤感觉怎么样？”马尔福喊道，“你真的不需要躺下休息休息吗？你肯定有整整一个星期没上医院了吧，这次可是破记录了，是吧？”

Ron threw the Quaffle to Alicia, who passed back to Harry, who passed to George . . .

乔治把球传给了安吉利娜，安吉利娜回手传给了哈利，哈利没想到会传给自己，但还是用手指尖把球接住了，飞快地传给罗恩，罗恩扑过去接球，差几英寸没接住。

'Hey, Potter, how's your scar feeling?' called Malfoy. 'Sure you don't need a lie down? It must be, what, a whole week since you were in the hospital wing, that's a record for you, isn't it?'

“别这样，罗恩，”安吉利娜看到罗恩又俯冲到地面去追鬼飞球，恼火地说道，“多留点儿神！”

George passed to Angelina; she reverse-passed to Harry, who had not been expecting it, but caught it in the very tips of his fingers and passed it quickly to Ron, who lunged for it and missed by inches.

当罗恩重新升到传球高度时，很难说清是他的脸还是鬼飞球红得更厉害。马尔福和斯莱特林球队的其他球员爆发出一阵哄笑。

'Come on now, Ron,' said Angelina crossly, as he dived for the ground again, chasing the Quaffle. 'Pay attention.'

第三次，罗恩接住了鬼飞球。也许是因为松了口气，他传球出去的时候太激动了，球直接飞过凯蒂张开的双手，重重地撞在她脸上。

It would have been hard to say whether Ron's face or the Quaffle was a deeper scarlet when he again returned to playing height. Malfoy and the rest of the Slytherin team were howling with laughter.

“对不起！”罗恩呻吟着说，嗖地飞过去看凯蒂伤得重不重。

On his third attempt, Ron caught the Quaffle; perhaps out of relief he passed it on so enthusiastically that it soared straight though Katie's outstretched hands and hit her hard in the face.

“回到原位，她没事！”安吉利娜吼道，“但你是传球给队友，别想着把她从扫帚上打下去，行吗？这件事有游走球来做呢！”

'Sorry!' Ron groaned, zooming forwards to see whether he had done any damage.

凯蒂的鼻子流血了。下面斯莱特林们又是跺脚又是嘲笑。弗雷德和乔治向凯蒂靠拢过去。

'Get back in position, she's fine!' barked Angelina. 'But as you're passing to a teammate, do try not to knock her off her broom, won't you? We've got Bludgers for that!'

“给——把这个吃了，”弗雷德从口袋里掏出一个紫色的小东西递给她，说道，“很快血就会止住的。”

Katie's nose was bleeding. Down below, the Slytherins were stamping their feet and jeering. Fred and George converged on Katie.

“好吧，”安吉利娜说道，“弗雷德、乔治，去拿你们的球棒和一只游走球来。罗恩，快到球门柱那儿去。哈利，一听到我的命令，就把金色飞贼放出去。我们要开始进攻罗恩的球门了。”

'Here, take this,' Fred told her, handing her something small anc purple from out of his pocket, 'it'll clear it up in no time.'

哈利跟着双胞胎飞下去取金色飞贼。

'All right,' called Angelina, 'Fred, George, go and get your bats and a Bludger. Ron, get up to the goalposts. Harry, release the Snitch when I say so. We're going to aim for Ron's goal, obviously.'

“罗恩把事情弄得一团糟，是吧？”乔治低声说，他们三个降落在装球的箱子旁边，打开箱子取出了一只游走球和那只金色飞贼。

Harry zoomed off after the twins to fetch the Snitch.

“他只是太紧张了。”哈利说，“今天上午我陪他练习时，他挺好的。”

'Ron's making a right pig's ear of things, isn't he?' muttered George, as the three of them landed at the crate containing the balls and opened it to extract one of the Bludgers and the Snitch.

“哦，那我希望他不会这么快就过了高峰期。”弗雷德担忧地说。

'He's just nervous,' said Harry, 'he was fine when I was practising with him this morning.'

他们回到了空中。安吉利娜一吹哨子，哈利放开金色飞贼，弗雷德和乔治松手让游走球飞了出去。从那一刻起，哈利就不太知道其他人在做什么了。他的任务是抓住那只振翅飞翔的小金球，那可以给自己的球队净挣一百五十分呢。要做到这点，需要有过人的速度和精湛的技巧。他加快速度，在追球手们之间灵巧地蹿进蹿出，温暖的秋风吹拂着他的脸，远处斯莱特林们的叫嚷在他耳边回响，但已经不再有任何意义……可是没过一会儿，哨声吹响，他只好又停住了。

'Yeah, well, I hope he hasn't peaked too soon,' said Fred gloomily.

“停下——停下——停下！”安吉利娜尖声叫道，“罗恩——你没有守住中间！”

They returned to the air. When Angelina blew her whistle, Harry released the Snitch and Fred and George let fly the Bludger. From that moment on, Harry was barely aware of what the others were doing. It was his job to recapture the tiny fluttering golden ball that was worth a hundred and fifty points to the Seeker's team and doing so required enormous speed and skill. He accelerated, rolling and swerving in and out of the Chasers, the warm autumn air whipping his face, and the distant yells of the Slytherins so much meaningless roaring in his ears . . . but too soon, the whistle brought him to a halt again.

哈利转脸去看罗恩，只见他盘旋在左边的圆环前，另外两个圆环完全无人防守①。

'Stop - stop - STOP!' screamed Angelina. 'Ron - you're not covering your middle post!'

“哦……对不起……”

Harry looked round at Ron, who was hovering in front of the left-hand hoop, leaving the other two completely unprotected.

“你得一边盯着追球手，一边不停地挪来挪去！”安吉利娜说，“要么守在中间，等必须防守某个圆环时再移动，要么就绕着三个圆环盘旋，千万不能莫名其妙地移到一边去，刚才那三个球就是这样漏进去的！”

'Oh . . . sorry . . .'

“对不起……”罗恩又说了一遍，他的脸在蔚蓝色天空的衬托下，像烽火台一样红得发亮。

'You keep shifting around while you're watching the Chasers!' said Angelina. 'Either stay in centre position until you have to move to defend a hoop, or else circle the hoops, but don't drift vaguely off to one side, that's how you let in the last three goals!'

“还有凯蒂，你就不能想点办法止住鼻血吗？”

'Sorry . . .' Ron repeated, his red face shining like a beacon against the bright blue sky.

“越来越厉害了！”凯蒂声音发闷地说，一边用袖子堵住不断流出的鲜血。

'And Katie, can't you do something about that nosebleed?'

哈利扭头去看弗雷德，只见他神色紧张，正在检查自己的口袋。哈利看见弗雷德掏出一个紫色的东西，仔细看了一秒钟，然后回过头去看着凯蒂，显然被吓坏了。

'It's just getting worse!' said Katie thickly, attempting to stem the flow with her sleeve.

“好了，我们再试一试。”安吉利娜说。斯莱特林们现在齐声合唱“格兰芬多输惨了，格兰芬多输惨了”，安吉利娜假装没有听见，但她骑在扫帚上的姿势显然有点儿僵硬。

Harry glanced round at Fred, who was looking anxious and checking his pockets. He saw Fred pull out something purple, examine it for a second and then look round at Katie, evidently horror-struck.

这次他们刚飞了不到三分钟，安吉利娜的哨子就又响了。哈利刚看见金色飞贼在对面球门柱周围飞速盘旋，但也只好停下来，心里明显感到很懊丧。

'Well, let's try again,' said Angelina. She was ignoring the Slytherins, who had now set up a chant of 'Gryffindor are losers, Gryffindor are losers,' but there was a certain rigidity about her seat on the broom nevertheless.

“又怎么啦？”他不耐烦地问离他最近的艾丽娅。

This time they had been flying for barely three minutes when Angelinas whistle sounded. Harry, who had just sighted the Snitch circling the opposite goalpost, pulled up feeling distinctly aggrieved.

“凯蒂。”她简洁地回答。

'What now?' he said impatiently to Alicia, who was nearest.

哈利一转脸，看见安吉利娜、弗雷德和乔治都拼命朝凯蒂飞去。哈利和艾丽娅也迅速赶了过去。看来安吉利娜停止训练的命令下得还算及时，凯蒂的脸色白得像一张纸，身上血迹斑斑。

'Katie,' she said shortly.

“她需要上医院。”安吉利娜说。

Harry turned and saw Angelina, Fred and George all flying as fast as they could towards Katie. Harry and Alicia sped towards her, too. It was plain that Angelina had stopped training just in time; Katie was now chalk white and covered in blood.

“我们送她去吧。”弗雷德说道，“她——嗯——大概是误吃了一颗血崩豆——”

'She needs the hospital wing,' said Angelina.

“唉，少了击球手和一个追球手，再继续训练也没有什么意思了。”安吉利娜板着脸说，弗雷德和乔治一左一右搀扶着凯蒂朝城堡飞去，“走吧，我们去换衣服。”

'We'll take her,' said Fred. 'She - er - might have swallowed a Blood Blisterpod by mistake - '

他们没精打采地走回更衣室，斯莱特林们还在大声唱个不停。

'Well, there's no point continuing with no Beaters and a Chaser gone,' said Angelina glumly as Fred and George zoomed off towards the castle supporting Katie between them. 'Come on, let's go and get changed.'

“训练怎么样？”半小时后，哈利和罗恩从肖像洞口钻进格兰芬多公共休息室，赫敏很冷淡地问道。

The Slytherins continued to chant as they trailed back into the changing rooms.

“还算——”哈利刚想说话。

'How was practice?' asked Hermione rather coolly half an hour later, as Harry and Ron climbed through the portrait hole into the Gryffindor common room.

“完全搞砸了。”罗恩声音空洞地说，一屁股坐在赫敏旁边的椅子上。

'It was - ' Harry began.

赫敏抬头看了看罗恩，冷淡的态度似乎缓和了些。

'Completely lousy,' said Ron in a hollow voice, sinking into a chair beside Hermione. She looked up at Ron and her frost mess seemed to melt.

“没关系，你这是第一次参加训练，”她安慰道，“肯定需要时间——”

'Well, it was only your first one,' she said consolingly, 'it's bound to take time to - '

“谁说是我把训练弄砸的？”罗恩没好气地问。

'Who said it was me who made it lousy?' snapped Ron.

“没有谁呀，”赫敏说，看上去大吃了一惊，“我以为——”

'No one,' said Hermione, looking taken aback, 'I thought - '

“你以为我注定就是废物吗？”

'You thought I was bound to be rubbish?'

“不，我当然不是这样想的！瞧，你说训练搞砸了，所以我就——”

'No, of course I didn't! Look, you said it was lousy so I just - '

“我要去做家庭作业了，”罗恩气呼呼地说，重重地走向通往男生宿舍的楼梯，身体一闪消失了。

'I'm going to get started on some homework,' said Ron angrily and stomped off to the staircase to the boys' dormitories and vanished from sight. Hermione turned to Harry.

赫敏转向哈利。

'Was he lousy?'

“是他搞砸的吗？”

No,' said Harry loyally.

“不是。”哈利忠诚地维护朋友。

Hermione raised her eyebrows.

赫敏扬起眉毛。

'Well, I suppose he could've played better,' Harry muttered, 'but it was only the first training session, like you said . . .'

“唉，我想他可以表现得更好一些，”哈利喃喃地说，“但就像你说的，这只是第一次训练……”

Neither Harry nor Ron seemed to make much headway with their homework that night. Harry knew Ron was too preoccupied with how badly he had performed at Quidditch practice and he himself was having difficulty in getting the 'Gryffindor are losers' chant out of his head.

那天晚上，哈利和罗恩在家庭作业上都没有取得多少进展。哈利知道罗恩的脑子里尽想着他在魁地奇球训练时的糟糕表现，他自己也很难把“格兰芬多输惨了”的歌声从脑子里赶走。

They spent the whole of Sunday in the common room, buried in ! heir books while the room around them filled up, then emptied. It was another clear, fine day and most of their fellow Gryffindors spent the day out in the grounds, enjoying what might well be some of the last sunshine that year. By the evening, Harry felt as though somebody had been beating his brain against the inside of his skull.

整个星期天，他们都待在公共休息室里，埋头书本，房间里先是挤满了人，然后又都走空了。这又是晴朗宜人的一天，格兰芬多的大多数同学都在外面的场地上享受也许是今年的最后一点阳光。到了晚上，哈利觉得仿佛有人在他的脑壳里使劲敲打他的脑袋。

'You know, we probably should try and get more homework done during the week, Harry muttered to Ron, as they finally laid aside Professor McGonagall's long essay on the Inanimatus Conjurus Spell and turned miserably to Professor Sinistra's equally long and difficult essay about Jupiter's many moons.

“我们确实应该在平常尽量多做掉一些作业。”哈利低声对罗恩说，他们终于结束了麦格教授的那篇关于非动物召唤咒的长篇论文，开始苦巴巴地对付辛尼斯塔教授那篇同样难、同样长的论文，是关于木星的许多卫星的。

'Yeah,' said Ron, rubbing slightly bloodshot eyes and throwing his fifth spoiled bit of parchment into the fire beside them. 'Listen . . . shall we just ask Hermione if we can have a look at what she's done?'

“是啊，”罗恩说着揉了揉微微充血的眼睛，把第五张作废的羊皮纸扔进旁边的炉火里，“哎……我们要不去问问赫敏，能不能让我们看看她写的论文？”

Harry glanced over at her; she was sitting with Crookshanks on her lap and chatting merrily to Ginny as a pair of knitting needles flashed in midair in front of her, now knitting a pair of shapeless elf socks.

哈利朝赫敏望去。她正坐在那里跟金妮愉快地聊天，克鲁克山蜷缩在她的腿上，两根织针悬在她面前来回穿梭，正在织一双怪模怪样的小精灵袜子。

'No,' he said heavily, 'you know she won't let us.'

“不行，”他语气沉重地说，“你知道她不会让我们看的。”

And so they worked on while the sky outside the windows became steadily darker. Slowly, the crowd in the common room began to thin again. At half past eleven, Hermione wandered over to them, yawning.

于是他们继续绞尽脑汁地想啊写啊，窗外的天空越来越黑，渐渐地，公共休息室里的人又开始变得稀少起来。到了十一点半，赫敏打着哈欠朝他们走来。

'Nearly done?'

“快做完了吧？”

'No,' said Ron shortly.

“没有。”罗恩没好气地说。

'Jupiter's biggest moon is Ganymede, not Callisto,' she said, pointing over Ron's shoulder at a line in his Astronomy essay, 'and it's lo that's got the volcanoes.'

“木星最大的卫星是木卫三，不是木卫四，”她从罗恩身后指着他那篇天文学论文中的一行文字说道，“有火山的应该是木卫一。”

Thanks,' snarled Ron, scratching out the offending sentences.

“谢谢。”罗恩凶巴巴地说，把那个写错的句子重重划去了。

'Sorry, I only - '

“对不起，我只是——”

'Yeah, well, if you've just come over here to criticise - '

“是啊，如果你只是到这里来挑毛病的——”

'Ron - '

“罗恩——”

'I haven't got time to listen to a sermon, all right, Hermione, I'm up to my neck in it here - '

“我没有时间听你唠唠叨叨地教训人，好吗，赫敏，我这里已经忙得不可开交了——”

'No - look!'

“不——快看！”赫敏指着离他们最近的那扇窗户。

Hermione was pointing to the nearest window. Harry and Ron both looked over. A handsome screech owl was standing on the windowsill, gazing into the room at Ron.

哈利和罗恩都抬头看去。一只漂亮的长耳猫头鹰站在窗台上，瞪大眼睛看着屋里的罗恩。

'Isn't that Hermes?' said Hermione, sounding amazed.

“这是赫梅斯吗？”赫敏问，显得很惊愕。

'Blimey, it is!' said Ron quietly, throwing down his quill and getting to his feet. 'What's Percy writing to me for?'

“天哪，正是它！”罗恩小声说，扔下羽毛笔，站了起来，“珀西怎么会给我写信呢？”

He crossed to the window and opened it; Hermes flew inside, landed on Ron's essay and held out a leg to which a letter was attached. Ron took the letter off it and the owl departed at once, leaving inky footprints across Ron's drawing of the moon Io.

他走过去打开窗户，赫梅斯飞了进来，落在罗恩的论文上，伸出一条腿，上面系着一封信。罗恩把信解了下来，猫头鹰立刻就飞走了，在罗恩画的木卫一上留下沾着墨水的脚印。

That's definitely Percy's handwriting,' said Ron, sinking back into his chair and staring at the words on the outside of the scroll: Ronald Weasley, Gryffindor House, Hogwarts. He looked up at the other two. 'What d'you reckon?'

“没错，这肯定是珀西的笔迹。”罗恩说，一屁股坐回椅子上，瞪着羊皮纸卷外的几行字：霍格沃茨，格兰芬多学院，罗恩·韦斯莱。他抬头望着哈利和赫敏。“你们怎么看？”

'Open it!' said Hermione eagerly, and Harry nodded.

“打开！”赫敏急切地说，哈利点点头。

Ron unrolled the scroll and began to read. The further clown the parchment his eyes travelled, the more pronounced became his scowl. When he had finished reading, he looked disgusted. He thrust the letter at Harry and Hermione, who leaned towards each other to read it together:

罗恩打开纸卷看了起来。他的目光顺着羊皮纸一行一行地扫下去，眉头皱得越来越紧。看完信后，他脸上一副厌恶的神情。他把信塞给哈利和赫敏，他们俩凑在一起同时看了起来。

Dear Ron,

亲爱的罗恩：

I have only just heard (from no less a person than the Minister for Magic himself, who has it from your new teacher, Professor Umbridge) that you have become a Hogwarts prefect.

我刚刚才听说（从魔法部部长本人那里获悉，他是听你们的新老师乌姆里奇教授说的）你已经成为霍格沃茨的一名级长了。

I was most pleasantly surprised when f heard this news and must firstly offer my congratulations. I must admit that I have always been afraid that you would take what we might call the 'Fred and George' route, rather than following in my footsteps, so you can imagine my feelings on hearing you have stopped flouting authority and have decided to shoulder some real responsibility.

听到这个消息，我非常高兴和意外，在此先表示对你的祝贺。我必须承认，我一直在担心你会走上我们所谓的“弗雷德和乔治”的道路，而不是跟随我的足迹，因此你可以想象，当我听说你终于不再藐视权威，并决心真正肩负起一些责任时，我心里是何等的快慰。

But I want to give you more than congratulations, Ron, I want to give you some advice, which is why I am sending this at night rather than by the usual morning post. Hopefully, you will be able 'o read this away from prying eyes and avoid awkward questions.

但是，罗恩，我想要给你的不仅仅是祝贺，我还想给你一些忠告，因此我是在夜里寄这封信的，不是通过平常的早晨邮件递送。我希望你能避开别人的刺探读这封信，避免遇到令人尴尬的提问。

From something the Minister let slip when telling me you are now a prefect, I gather that you are still seeing a lot of Harry Potter. I must tell you, Ron, that nothing could put you in danger of losing your badge more than continued fraternisation with that boy. Yes, I am sure you are surprised to hear this - no doubt you will say that Potter has always been Dumbledore's favourite - but I feel bound to tell you that Dumbledore may not be in charge at Hogwarts much longer and the people who count have a very different - and probably more accurate - view of Potter's behaviour. I shall say no more here, but if you look at the Daily Prophet tomorrow you will get a good idea of the way the wind is blowing - and see if you can spot yours truly!

部长告诉我你被选为级长时漏了点口风，我听出你现在还经常跟哈利·波特泡在一起。我必须告诉你，罗恩，如果你继续和那个男孩打得火热，就极有危险丢掉你的级长徽章。是的，我相信你听了这话会感到吃惊——你无疑会说波特一直是邓布利多的得意门生——可是我觉得我有必要告诉你，邓布利多在霍格沃茨当权的日子可能不会很长了，权威人士对波特的行为有着截然不同——也许更加准确——的看法。我这里不便多说，但如果你看了明天的《预言家日报》，就会清楚地明白现在的风向——看你是不是能够确定自己的立场！

Seriously, Ron, you do not want to be tarred with the same brush as Potter, it could be very damaging to your future prospects, and I am talking here about life after school, too. As you must be aware, given that our father escorted him to court, Potter had a disciplinary hearing this summer in front of the whole Wizengamot and he did not come out of it looking too good. He got off on a mere technicality, if you ask me, and many of the people I've spoken to remain convinced of his guilt.

严肃地说，罗恩，你不应该与波特成为一路货色，这可能对你未来的前途十分不利，我这里说的还有走出校门以后的人生。你肯定知道，因为是我们的父亲陪他去法庭的，波特今年夏天受到整个威森加摩的审讯，而他是侥幸才逃脱罪责的。我个人认为，他是凭借技巧才勉强脱身，与我交谈过的许多人都仍然相信他是有罪的。

It may be that you are afraid to sever ties with Potter - I know that he can be unbalanced and, for all I know, violent - but if you have any worries about this, or have spotted anything else in Potter's behaviour that is troubling you, I urge you to speak to Dolores Umbridge, a truly delightful woman who I know will be only too happy to advise you.

也许你不敢与波特断绝关系——我知道他可能已精神错乱，而且据我所知，还有暴力倾向——如果你确实有这方面的顾虑，或发现波特的举止还有令你感到不安的地方，我恳请你找多洛雷斯·乌姆里奇谈谈，她是一个十分可爱随和的女人，我知道她一定很乐意给你一些忠告。

This leads me to my other bit of advice. As I have hinted above, Dumbledore's regime at Hogwarts may soon be over. Your loyalty, Ron, should be not to him, but to the school and the Ministry. I am very sorry to hear that, so far, Professor Umbridge is encountering very little co-operation from staff as she strives to make those necessary changes within Hogwarts that the Ministry so ardently desires (although she should find this easier from next week - again, see the Daily Prophet tomorrow!). I shall say only this - a student who shows himself willing to help Professor Umbridge now may be very well-placed for Head Boy ship in a couple of years!

说到这里，我不妨再给你一点告诫。正如我前面提到过的，邓布利多在霍格沃茨掌权的日子可能很快就要结束了。罗恩，你不应该效忠于他，而应该效忠于学校和魔法部。我十分遗憾地听说，迄今为止，乌姆里奇教授努力在霍格沃茨贯彻魔法部极力倡导的变革时，居然很少得到其他教员的支持合作。（不过她下个星期就会发现工作更容易开展了——同样请看明天的《预言家日报》！）我只想说明一点——如果某个学生眼下表现出愿意帮助乌姆里奇教授，两年后便很有可能成为男生学生会主席！

I am sorry that I was unable to see more of you over the summer. It pains me to criticise our parents, but I am afraid I can no longer live under their roof while they remain mixed up with the dangerous crowd around Dumbledore. (If you are writing to Mother at any point, you might tell her that a certain Sturgis Podmore, who is a great friend of Dumbledore's, has recently been sent to Azkaban for trespass at the Ministry. Perhaps that will open their eyes to the kind of petty criminals with whom they are currently rubbing shoulders.) I count myself very lucky to have escaped the stigma of association with such people - the Minister really could not be more gracious to me - and I do hope, Ron, that you will not allow family ties to blind you to the misguided nature of our parents' beliefs and actions, either. I sincerely hope that, in time, they will realise how mistaken they were and I shall, of course, be ready to accept a full apology when that day comes.

很遗憾我暑假里未能经常看见你。我很不愿意批评我们的父母，但如果他们继续跟邓布利多周围那帮危险人物混在一起，我恐怕再也不能与他们生活在同一个屋檐下了。（如果你什么时候给母亲写信，不妨告诉她说，有一个叫斯多吉·波德摩的人，是邓布利多的密友，最近因非法侵入魔法部而被送进了阿兹卡班。也许这会使他们看清他们目前交往的都是怎样一些下三烂的罪犯。）我认为自己十分幸运地及时摆脱了与这帮人为伍的耻辱——部长对我真是宽宏大量——因此我真心希望，罗恩，你也不要让亲情蒙蔽了你的双眼，看不清我们父母的信仰和行为的错误性质。我真诚地希望，他们总有一天会认识到自己错了，当然，当那一天到来时，我将很愿意接受他们由衷的道歉。

Please think over what I have said most carefully, particularly the bit about Harry Potter, and congratulations again on becoming prefect.

请十分慎重地考虑我说的话，特别是关于哈利·波特的那些，再次祝贺你当选级长。

Your brother,

你的哥哥　珀西

Percy

哈利抬头看着罗恩。

Harry looked up at Ron.

“嗯，”他说，努力使声音听上去似乎他觉得整个事情都非常可笑，“如果你想——嗯——怎么说来着？”——他看了看珀西的信——“噢，对了——跟我‘断绝关系’，我发誓我绝不会有暴力倾向。”

'Well,' he said, trying to sound as though he found the whole thing a joke, 'if you want to - er - what is it?' - he checked Percy's letter - 'Oh yeah - "sever ties" with me, I swear I won't get violent.'

“把信还给我，”罗恩伸出手说，“他是——”罗恩冲动地说，一把将珀西的信撕成两半，“世界上——”他将信撕成四片，“最大的——”他将信撕成八片，“傻瓜。”他把碎纸片扔进了炉火。

'Give it back,' said Ron, holding out his hand. 'He is - ' Ron said jerkily, tearing Percy's letter in half 'the world's - ' he tore it into quarters 'biggest - ' he tore it into eighths 'git.' He threw the pieces into the fire.

“来吧，我们得在天亮前把这东西写完。”他轻快地对哈利说，把辛尼斯塔教授的论文又拉到面前。

'Come on, we've got to get this finished sometime before dawn,' he said briskly to Harry, pulling Professor Sinistra's essay back towards him.

赫敏望着罗恩，脸上的表情有些古怪。

Hermione was looking at Ron with an odd expression on her face.

“哦，把它们拿过来。”她突然说道。

'Oh, give them here,' she said abruptly.

“什么？”罗恩说。

'What?' said Ron.

“把它们给我，我看一遍，修改一下。”她说。

'Give them to me, I'll look through them and correct them,' she said.

“你说的是真的？啊，赫敏，你真是一个救命恩人，”罗恩说，“我该说什么——”

'Are you serious? Ah, Hermione, you're a life-saver,' said Ron, 'what can I - ?'

“你只要说：‘我们保证再也不把家庭作业拖到这么晚了。’”她说着伸出两只手接过他们的论文，但她还是显得挺愉快的。

'What you can say is, "We promise we'll never leave our homework this late again," ' she said, holding out both hands for their essays, but she looked slightly amused all the same.

“万分感谢，赫敏。”哈利疲倦地说，把论文递了过去，瘫坐在他的扶手椅上揉着眼睛。

'Thanks a million, Hermione,' said Harry weakly, passing over his essay and sinking back into his armchair, rubbing his eyes.

时间已经过了午夜，公共休息室里空荡荡的，只有他们三个和克鲁克山。四下里一片寂静，只听见赫敏的羽毛笔在他们的论文上这里那里划去一些句子的声音，还有她查找摊在桌上的那些参考书、核实一些细节时翻动书页的声音。哈利累极了。他还感到内心有一种空落落的、不舒服的异样感觉，这感觉跟疲劳没有关系，而跟此刻在炉火里卷成黑色灰烬的那封信大有关系。

It was now past midnight and the common room was deserted but for the three of them and Crookshanks. The only sound was that of Hermione's quill scratching out sentences here and there on their essays and the ruffle of pages as she checked various facts in the reference books strewn across the table. Harry was exhausted. He also felt an odd, sick, empty feeling in his stomach that had nothing to do with tiredness and everything to do with the letter now curling blackly in the heart of the fire.

他知道霍格沃茨校内一半的人都认为他很古怪，甚至很疯狂。他知道《预言家日报》几个月来一直别有用心地在提及他，但是此刻看见珀西信里白纸黑字地写着那样的话，得知珀西建议罗恩与他断绝关系，甚至到乌姆里奇那里去告他的状，他这才第一次真真切切地认识到自己的处境。他已经认识珀西四年了，暑假曾住在他们家里，魁地奇球世界杯赛时还跟他合住一个帐篷，甚至在上学期的三强争霸赛的第二个项目中，还从他那里得到过满分，然而现在，珀西认为他精神错乱，还可能有暴力倾向。

He knew that half the people inside Hogwarts thought him strange, even mad; he knew that the Daily Prophet had been making snide allusions to him for months, but there was something about seeing it written down like that in Percy's writing, about knowing that Percy was advising Ron to drop him and even to tell tales about him to Umbridge, that made his situation real to him as nothing else had. He had known Percy for four years, had stayed in his house during the summer holidays, shared a tent with him during the Quidditch World Cup, had even been awarded full marks by him in the second task of the Triwizard Tournament last year, yet now, Percy thought him unbalanced and possibly violent.

哈利心头油然涌起一阵对教父的同情，他想，在他认识的人当中，也许只有小天狼星一个人能够真正理解他目前的感受，因为小天狼星的处境和他一样。巫师界里几乎人人都认为小天狼星是一个危险的杀人犯，是伏地魔的得力拥护者，他曾不得不顶着这样的罪名生活了十四年……

And with a surge of sympathy for his godfather, Harry thought Sirius was probably the only person he knew who could really understand how he felt at the moment, because Sirius was in the same situation. Nearly everyone in the wizarding world thought Sirius a dangerous murderer and a great Voldemort supporter and he had had to live with that knowledge for fourteen years . . .

哈利眨了眨眼。他刚才在炉火里看到了一样东西，一样绝不可能在那里出现的东西。它突然闪现出来，又立刻消失了。不……不可能……一定是他的幻觉，因为他正在想着小天狼星……

Harry blinked. He had just seen something in the fire that could not have been there. It had flashed into sight and vanished immediately. No . . . it could not have been . . . he had imagined it because he had been thinking about Sirius . . .

“好了，把这个抄下来，”赫敏对罗恩说，把他的论文和一张她写满文字的纸推还给罗恩，“再加上我给你写的这个结尾。”

'OK, write that down,' Hermione said to Ron, pushing his essay and a sheet covered in her own writing back to Ron, 'then add this conclusion I've written for you.'

“赫敏，你真是我有生以来遇见的最优秀的人，”罗恩有气无力地说，“如果我再敢对你耍态度——”

'Hermione, you are honestly the most wonderful person I've ever met,' said Ron weakly, 'and if I'm ever rude to you again - '

“——我就知道你又恢复正常了。”赫敏说，“哈利，你的没问题，只是最后这里，我想你肯定是把辛尼斯塔教授的话听错了，木卫二上覆盖着冰雪，而不是老鼠②——哈利？”

- I'll know you're back to normal,' said Hermione. 'Harry, yours is OK except for this bit at the end, I think you must have misheard Professor Sinistra, Europa's covered in ice, not mice - 'Harry?'

哈利已经从椅子上滑下来跪在了地上，这时他正俯身趴在壁炉前布满焦痕和绽线的地毯上，直瞪瞪地望着火苗。

Harry had slid off his chair on to his knees and was now crouching on the singed and threadbare hearthrug, gazing into the flames.

“哦——哈利？”罗恩不安地问，“你在那下面做什么？”

'Er - Harry?' said Ron uncertainly. 'Why are you down there?'

“我刚才在火里看见小天狼星的头了。”哈利说。

'Because I've just seen Sirius's head in the fire,' said Harry.

他说得很平静。毕竟，他上学期就在这个壁炉里看见过小天狼星的头，而且还跟它说过话。但他不能肯定这次是不是真的看见了它……它刚才消失得太快了……

He spoke quite calmly; after all, he had seen Sirius's head in this very fire the previous year and talked to it, too; nevertheless, he could not be sure that he had really seen it this time . . . it had vanished so quickly . . .

“小天狼星的头？”赫敏重复了一遍，“你是说就像三强争霸赛期间他想跟你说话的时候那样？可是他现在不会那么做的，那太——小天狼星！”

'Sirius's head?' Hermione repeated. 'You mean like when he wanted to talk to you during the Triwizard Tournament? But he wouldn't do that now, it would be too - Sirius!'

她倒吸了一口气，盯着炉火。罗恩丢下手里的羽毛笔。在跳动的火苗中央，赫然出现了小天狼星的头，长长的黑发垂落在笑嘻嘻的脸庞周围。

She gasped, gazing at the fire; Ron dropped his quill. There in the middle of the dancing flames sat Sirius's head, long dark hair failing around his grinning face.

“我还以为你们会在其他人走光之前就上床睡觉呢。”他说，“我每小时都过来看看。”

'I was starting to think you'd go to bed before everyone else had disappeared,' he said. 'I've been checking every hour.'

“你每小时都在炉火里冒一下头？”哈利轻声笑着说。

'You've been popping into the fire every hour?' Harry said, half-laughing.

“只有几秒钟，看看这里是不是安全了。”

'Just for a few seconds to check if the coast was clear.'

“但如果你被人看见怎么办呢？”赫敏担忧地说。

'But what if you'd been seen?' said Hermione anxiously.

“是啊，我觉得刚才有个女生——看她的样子，好像是一年级新生——大概看见我了。不过别担心，”小天狼星看到赫敏一只手捂住嘴巴，赶紧说道，“等她再回头一看，我已经不见了，我敢说她肯定以为我只是一截奇形怪状的木头什么的。”

'Well, I think a girl - first-year, by the look of her - might've get a glimpse of me earlier, but don't worry,' Sirius said hastily, as Hermione clapped a hand to her mouth, '] was gone the moment she looked back at me and I'll bet she just thought I was an oddly-shaped log or something.'

“可是，小天狼星，这样做太冒险了——”赫敏说。

'But, Sirius, this is taking an awful risk - ' Hermione began.

“你说起话来像莫丽，”小天狼星说，“我只有用这个办法才能过来回答哈利信上的问题，而不用凭借密码——密码是可以被人破译的。”

'You sound like Molly,' said Sirius. This was the only way I could come up with of answering Harry's letter without resorting to a code - and codes are breakable.'

听到提及哈利的信，赫敏和罗恩都转头望着他。

At the mention of Harry's letter, Hermione and Ron both turned to stare at him.

“你没说过你给小天狼星写了信！”赫敏责怪地说。

'You didn't say you'd written to Sirius! said Hermione accusingly.

“我忘记了。”哈利说道，这是千真万确的。他和秋在猫头鹰棚屋的邂逅相遇，使他把之前发生的所有事情都忘了个精光。“别用那种眼光看着我，赫敏，谁也不可能从信里得到秘密情报。是吧，小天狼星？”

'I forgot,' said Harry, which was perfectly true; his meeting with Cho in the Owlery had driven everything before it out of his mind. 'Don't look at me like that, Hermione, there was no way anyone would have got secret information out of it, was there, Sirius?'

“是的，确实写得很巧妙。”小天狼星微笑着说，“好了，我们最好抓紧时间，以免被人打断——你的伤疤。”

'No, it was very good,' said Sirius, smiling. 'Anyway, we'd better be quick, just in case we're disturbed - your scar.'

“关于那个——”罗恩话没说完就被赫敏打断了。

'What about - ?' Ron began, but Hermione interrupted him.

“我们待会儿再告诉你。说吧，小天狼星。”

'We'll tell you afterwards. Go on, Sirius.'

“好吧，我知道伤疤疼起来可不是好玩的，但我们认为这其实没有什么可担忧的。它去年也经常疼的，不是吗？”

'Well, I know it can't be fun when it hurts, but we don't think its anything to really worry about. It kept aching all last year, didn't it?'

“是啊，邓布利多说每当伏地魔有强烈的情绪波动时，我的伤疤就会疼，”哈利说，他像平常一样假装没有看见罗恩和赫敏脸上的恐惧表情，“所以，我关禁闭的那天晚上，他大概正好——也许是特别生气什么的吧。”

'Yeah, and Dumbledore said it happened whenever Voldemort was feeling a powerful emotion,' said Harry, ignoring, as usual, Ron and Hermione's winces. 'So maybe he was just, I dunno, really angry or something the night I had that detention.'

“是啊，现在他回来了，伤疤肯定会疼得更频繁了。”小天狼星说。

'Well, now he's back it's bound to hurt more often,' said Sirius.

“那么，你认为这跟我在乌姆里奇那里关禁闭时她碰我没有关系？”哈利问道。

'So you don't think it had anything to do with Umbridge touching me when I was in detention with her?' Harry asked.

“我不敢肯定，”小天狼星说，“我是因为她的知名度而知道她的，我相信她不是食死徒——”

'I doubt it,' said Sirius. 'I know her by reputation and I'm sure she's no Death Eater - '

“她坏成这样，完全有资格当食死徒。”哈利闷闷不乐地说，罗恩和赫敏拼命点头表示赞同。

'She's foul enough to be one,' said Harry darkly, and Ron and Hermione nodded vigorously in agreement.

“是的，但是世界上并不是只有好人和食死徒。”小天狼星面带苦笑说道，“不过我知道她是个讨厌的家伙——你们真该听听莱姆斯是怎么说她的。”

'Yes, but the world isn't split into good people and Death Eaters,' said Sirius with a wry smile. 'I know she's a nasty piece of work, though - you should hear Remus talk about her.'

“卢平也认识她？”哈利马上问道，想起了乌姆里奇在第一节课上谈到危险的半人半兽时的评论。

'Does Lupin know her?' asked Harry quickly, remembering Umbridge's comments about dangerous half-breeds during her first lesson.

“不认识，”小天狼星说，“但乌姆里奇两年前起草了一个反狼人的法律，害得卢平简直没办法找到工作。”

'No,' said Sirius, 'but she drafted a bit of anti-werewolf legislation two years ago thai makes it almost impossible for him to get a job.'

哈利想起卢平这些日子显得更落魄了许多，内心对乌姆里奇的厌恶又加深了几分。

Harry remembered how much shabbier Lupin looked these days and his dislike of Umbridge deepened even further.

“她跟狼人有什么仇？”赫敏气愤地说。

'What's she got against werewolves?' said Hermione angrily.

“我想是害怕他们吧。”小天狼星说，笑眯眯地看着赫敏动怒的样子，“显然，她仇恨半人半兽，去年她还在到处奔走游说，要把人鱼驱拢在一起，挂上牌子。想想吧，克利切那样的小精灵还在到处乱跑，她却浪费时间和精力去迫害人鱼。”

'Scared of them, I expect,' said Sirius, smiling at her indignation. 'Apparently, she loathes part-humans; she campaigned to have merpeople rounded up and tagged last year, too. Imagine wasting your time and energy persecuting merpeople when there are little toerags like Kreacher on the loose.'

罗恩哈哈大笑，赫敏却显得很恼火。

Ron laughed but Hermione looked upset.

“小天狼星！”她责备地说道，“说老实话，如果你在克利切身上多下些功夫，我相信他不会无动于衷的。毕竟，你是他留守的家庭里的最后一位成员，邓布利多教授说——”

'Sirius!' she said reproachfully. 'Honestly, if you made a bit of an effort with Kreacher, I'm sure he'd respond. After all, you are the only member of his family he's got left, and Professor Dumbledore said - '

“那么，乌姆里奇的课怎么样？”小天狼星打断了她，“她是不是训练你们大家去杀害半人半兽？”

'So, what are Umbridge's lessons like?' Sirius interrupted. 'Is she training you all to kill half-breeds?'

“没有，”哈利说，假装没有看见赫敏为克利切辩护时被突然打断的恼火神情，“她根本不让我们使用魔法！”

'No,' said Harry, ignoring Hermione's affronted look at being cut off in her defence of Kreacher. 'She's not letting us use magic at all!'

“我们光是念那本无聊的教科书。”罗恩说。

'All we do is read the stupid textbook,' said Ron.

“啊，那是不奇怪的。”小天狼星说，“我们从魔法部内部得到情报，福吉不想让你们进行格斗训练。”

'Ah, well, that figures,' said Sirius. 'Our information from inside the Ministry is that Fudge doesn't want you trained in combat.'

“格斗训练！”哈利不敢相信地重复道，“他以为我们在这里做什么，组织一支巫师军队吗？”

'Trained in combat!' repeated Harry incredulously. 'What does he think we're doing here, forming some sort of wizard army?'

“这正是他以为你们在做的事情，”小天狼星说，“或者说得更准确些，这正是他害怕邓布利多在做的事情——组织自己的一支秘密部队，然后就可以用它跟魔法部较量了。”

That's exactly what he thinks you're doing,' said Sirius, 'or, rather, that's exactly what he's afraid Dumbledore's doing - forming his own private army, with which he will be able to take on the Ministry of Magic.'

听了这话，大家静默了片刻，然后罗恩说：“我还从来没听说过这么愚蠢的话呢，就连卢娜·洛夫古德的那些疯话也没这么傻。”

There was a pause at this, then Ron said, That's the most stupid thing I've ever heard, including all the stuff that Luna Lovegood comes out with.'

“那么，就因为福吉害怕我们用魔咒对付魔法部，就不让我们学习黑魔法防御术啦？”赫敏说，一脸气冲冲的样子。

'So we're being prevented from learning Defence Against the Dark Arts because Fudge is scared we'll use spells against the Ministry?' said Hermione, looking furious.

“是啊，”小天狼星说，“福吉认为邓布利多会不择手段地篡权夺位。他对邓布利多的疑心一天比一天重。总有一天他会捏造莫须有的罪名把邓布利多抓起来的。”

'Yep,' said Sirius. 'Fudge thinks Dumbledore will stop at nothing to seize power. He's getting more paranoid about Dumbledore by the day. It's a matter of time before he has Dumbledore arrested on some trumped-up charge.'

这使哈利想起了珀西的信。

This reminded Harry of Percy's letter.

“你知道吗，明天的《预言家日报》上是不是有关于邓布利多的内容？罗恩的哥哥珀西认为会有——”

'D'you know if there's going to be anything about Dumbledore in the Daily Prophet tomorrow? Ron's brother Percy reckons there will be - '

“我不知道，”小天狼星说，“我整个周末都没有看见凤凰社的人，他们都忙得要命。一直只有我和克利切在那儿……”

'I don't know,' said Sirius, 'I haven't seer, anyone from the Order all weekend, they're all busy. It's just been Kreacher and me here

小天狼星的声音里明显透着痛苦。

There was a definite note of bitterness in Sirius's voice.

“那么你也不知道海格的任何消息，是吗？”

'So you haven't had any news about Hagrid, either?'

“啊……”小天狼星说，“其实，他现在应该回来了，谁也说不准他发生了什么事情。”他看到他们愁眉苦脸的表情，又赶紧补充道，“可是邓布利多并不担心，所以你们三个也不要焦急不安。我相信海格不会有事的。”

'Ah . . .' said Sirius, 'well, he was supposed to be back by now, no one's sure what's happened to him.' Then, seeing their stricken faces, he added quickly, 'But Dumbledore's not worried, so don't you three get yourselves in a state; I'm sure Hagrid's fine.'

“可是如果说他现在应该回来了……”赫敏用焦虑的声音轻轻说。

'But if he was supposed to be back by now . . .' said Hermione in a small, anxious voice.

“马克西姆夫人当时跟他在一起，我们一直跟马克西姆保持着联系，她说他们在回家的路上走散了——但这并不表明海格受了伤或——是啊，并不表明他不是安然无恙。”

'Madame Maxime was with him, we've been in touch with her and she says they got separated on the journey home - but there's nothing to suggest he's hurt or - well, nothing to suggest he's not perfectly OK.'

哈利、罗恩和赫敏并没有完全信服，他们担忧地交换着目光。

Unconvinced, Harry, Ron and Hermione exchanged worried looks.

“听着，不要问太多关于海格的问题，”小天狼星急忙说道，“这会使别人更注意到他没有回来，我知道邓布利多是不愿意那样的。海格很厉害，他一定不会有事的。”看到他们听了这话并没有高兴起来，小天狼星又说：“对了，你们下次什么时候到霍格莫德村过周末？我一直在想，上次我们在火车站装狗装得很成功，是不是？我想我可以——”

'Listen, don't go asking too many questions about Hagrid,' said Sirius hastily, 'it'll just draw even more attention to the fact that he's not back and I know Dumbledore doesn't want that. Hagrid's tough, he'll be OK.' And when they did not appear cheered by this, Sirius added, 'When's your next Hogsmeade weekend, anyway? I was thinking, we got away with the dog disguise at the station, didn't we? I thought I could - '

“不！”哈利和赫敏同时说，声音很响。

'NO!' said Harry and Hermione together, very loudly.

“小天狼星，你没有看《预言家日报》吗？”赫敏忧心忡忡地问。

'Sirius, didn't you see the Daily Prophet?' said Hermione anxiously.

“噢，那个，”小天狼星咧嘴笑着说，“他们总是猜测我在哪儿，但并没有真的搞到什么线索——”

'Oh, that,' said Sirius, grinning, 'they're always guessing where I am, they haven't really got a clue - '

“不，我们认为这次他们发现了线索。”哈利说，“马尔福在火车上说了一句话，使我们觉得他知道那条狗就是你，当时他父亲就在站台上，小天狼星——你知道的，就是卢修斯·马尔福——所以千万千万别再上这儿来了。如果马尔福再认出你来——”

'Yeah, but we think this time they have,' said Harry. 'Something Malfoy said on the train made us think he knew it was you, and his father was on the platform, Sirius - you know, Lucius Malfoy - so don't come up here, whatever you do. If Malfoy recognises you again - '

“好吧，好吧，我明白了，”小天狼星说，显得很不高兴，“我只是一时兴起，以为你们大概愿意一起聚一聚。”

'All right, all right, I've got the point,' said Sirius. He looked most displeased. 'Just an idea, thought you might like to get together.'

“我愿意的，我只是不愿意你再被关进阿兹卡班！”哈利说。

'I would, I just don't want you chucked back in Azkaban!' said Harry.

片刻的静默，小天狼星从炉火里望着哈利，凹陷的眼睛中间有一道深纹。

There was a pause in which Sirius looked out of the fire at Harry, a crease between his sunken eyes.

“你不如我想的那样酷似你父亲，”他最后说，声音里明显透着冷淡，“对詹姆来说，只有冒险才是有趣的。”

'You're less like your father than I thought,' he said finally, a definite coolness in his voice. 'The risk would've been what made it fun for James.'

“可是——”

'Look - '

“好了，我得走了，我听见克利切下楼来了，”小天狼星说，但哈利可以肯定他在说谎，“那么我写信告诉你我什么时候能再回到炉火里，好吗？不知你敢不敢冒这个风险？”

'Well, I'd better get going, I can hear Kreacher coming down the stairs,' said Sirius, but Harry was sure he was lying. 'I'll write to tell you a time I can make it back into the fire, then, shall I? If you can stand to risk it?'

随着噗的一声轻响，小天狼星的头不见了，那里重又闪烁着跳动的火苗。

There was a tiny pop, and the place where Sirius's head had been was flickering flame once more.

①关于魁地奇球运动的具体规则，请见《神奇的魁地奇球》一书，人民文学出版社，2001年10月版。

②在英语里，冰(ice)和老鼠(mice)读音相近。

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