哈利·波特与混血王子 Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince 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 FELIX FELICIS

第十四章　福灵剂

Harry had Herbology first thing the following morning. He had been unable to tell Ron and Hermione about his lesson with Dumbledore over breakfast for fear of being overheard, but he filled them in as they walked across the vegetable patch toward the greenhouses. The weekend’s brutal wind had died out at last; the weird mist had returned and it took them a little longer than usual to find the correct greenhouse.

第二天上午，哈利的第一节课是草药课。在吃早饭的时候，他因为怕别人听见，没能把邓布利多给他上课的内容告诉罗恩和赫敏。当他们穿过一片片菜地朝暖房走去时，他才把事情的经过一五一十地告诉了他们。周末的凶猛狂风终于平息了，但是那种怪异的浓雾又回来了，他们用了比平常更多的时间才找到上课的那座暖房。

“Wow, scary thought, the boy You-Know-Who,” said Ron quietly, as they took their places around one of the gnarled Snargaluff stumps that formed this term’s project, and began pulling on their protective gloves. “But I still don’t get why Dumbledore’s showing you all this. I mean, it’s really interesting and everything, but what’s the point?”

“哇，多么恐怖啊，少年时期的神秘人。”罗恩轻声说，这时他们正围在一棵布满节疤的疙瘩藤的残根旁，开始戴防护手套。疙瘩藤是他们这学期所学课程的一部分。“但是我仍然不明白，邓布利多为什么要让你看这些呢？我是说，有趣倒是挺有趣的，但是有什么用呢？”

“Dunno,” said Harry, inserting a gum shield. “But he says it’s all important and it’ll help me survive.”

“不知道，”哈利说着戴上了一只防树胶的面罩，“但他说非常重要，会帮助我活下来。”

“I think it’s fascinating,” said Hermione earnestly. “It makes absolute sense to know as much about Voldemort as possible. How else will you find out his weaknesses?”

“我认为这很吸引人。”赫敏认真地说，“尽量了解伏地魔这个人是绝对有意义的，不然你怎么能发现他的弱点呢？”

“So how was Slughorn’s latest party?” Harry asked her thickly through the gum shield.

“对了，斯拉格霍恩最近的那次晚会怎么样？”哈利隔着树胶防护罩闷声闷气地问赫敏。

“Oh, it was quite fun, really,” said Hermione, now putting on protective goggles. “I mean, he drones on about famous ex-pupils a bit, and he absolutely fawns on McLaggen because he’s so wellconnected, but he gave us some really nice food and he introduced us to Gwenog Jones.”

“哦，其实挺好玩的，”赫敏一边戴上防护眼镜一边说道，“我是说，他虽然没完没了地唠叨他以前那些学生多么出名，而且明显是在讨好麦克拉根，因为麦克拉根认识许多头面人物，不过，他给我们吃了一些很美味的东西，还介绍我们认识了格韦诺格·琼斯。”

“Gwenog Jones?” said Ron, his eyes widening under his own goggles. “The Gwenog Jones? Captain of the Holyhead Harpies?”

“格韦诺格·琼斯？”罗恩说，防护眼镜后面的眼睛一下子睁得老大，“是那个格韦诺格·琼斯吗？霍利黑德哈比队的队长？”

“That’s right,” said Hermione. “Personally, I thought she was a bit full of herself, but —”

“没错，”赫敏说，“我个人认为她有点儿以自我为中心，不过——”

“Quite enough chat over here!” said Professor Sprout briskly, bustling over and looking stern. “You’re lagging behind, everybody else has started, and Neville’s already got his first pod!”

“这里不许再说话了！”斯普劳特教授厉声说道，她匆匆走了过来，神色很严厉，“你们落后了，别的同学都动手了，纳威已经弄到一颗荚果了！”

They looked around; sure enough, there sat Neville with a bloody lip and several nasty scratches along the side of his face, but clutching an unpleasantly pulsating green object about the size of a grapefruit.

他们转脸望去，果然，纳威坐在那里，嘴唇滴着血，半边脸上被挠出了几道血痕，惨不忍睹，可是他手里抓着一个扑扑跳动的令人恶心的东西，有一个葡萄柚那么大。

“Okay, Professor, we’re starting now!” said Ron, adding quietly, when she had turned away again, “should’ve used Muffliato, Harry.”

“好的，教授，我们这就动手！”罗恩看到老师转身去了，又低声补充道，“我们应该用闭耳塞听咒的，哈利。”

“No, we shouldn’t!” said Hermione at once, looking, as she always did, intensely cross at the thought of the Half-Blood Prince and his spells. “Well, come on . . . we’d better get going. . . .”

“不，绝对不行！”赫敏立刻反对，她跟平常一样，一想到混血王子和他那些魔咒就气不打一处来，“好了，快点儿吧……我们最好赶紧……”

She gave the other two an apprehensive look; they all took deep breaths and then dived at the gnarled stump between them.

她担忧地看了两个伙伴一眼，他们深吸了几口气，便埋头去对付他们中间的那个疙里疙瘩的残根了。

It sprang to life at once; long, prickly, bramblelike vines flew out of the top and whipped through the air. One tangled itself in Hermione’s hair, and Ron beat it back with a pair of secateurs; Harry succeeded in trapping a couple of vines and knotting them together; a hole opened in the middle of all the tentaclelike branches; Hermione plunged her arm bravely into this hole, which closed like a trap around her elbow; Harry and Ron tugged and wrenched at the vines, forcing the hole to open again, and Hermione snatched her arm free, clutching in her fingers a pod just like Neville’s. At once, the prickly vines shot back inside, and the gnarled stump sat there looking like an innocently dead lump of wood.

残根立刻活了起来，长长的刺藤从顶上蹿出来，在空中甩来甩去。其中一根缠在了赫敏的头发上，罗恩赶紧用一把整枝剪刀把它打了回去。哈利总算抓住了两根藤蔓，挽在一起打了个结。这些触手般的枝条中间露出了一个小洞。赫敏勇敢地把手臂插进洞里，洞口立刻像捕鼠夹一样咬住了她的肘部。哈利和罗恩拼命地拖拽、扭动那些藤蔓，让洞口重新张开了，赫敏总算把胳膊从里面挣脱出来，手里抓着一个像纳威弄到的那种荚果。顿时，那些刺藤全部缩了进去，布满节疤的残根静静地躺在那里，像一截毫无生气的死木头。

“You know, I don’t think I’ll be having any of these in my garden when I’ve got my own place,” said Ron, pushing his goggles up onto his forehead and wiping sweat from his face.

“咳，等我将来有了自己的房子，我可不想在花园里种这些玩意儿。”罗恩说着把防护眼镜推到额头上，擦了擦脸上的汗水。

“Pass me a bowl,” said Hermione, holding the pulsating pod at arm’s length; Harry handed one over and she dropped the pod into it with a look of disgust on her face.

“把碗递给我。”赫敏说，她把手里那颗扑扑跳动的荚果举得远远的。哈利把一只碗递了过去，赫敏把荚果扔进碗里，脸上是一种厌恶的表情。

“Don’t be squeamish, squeeze it out, they’re best when they’re fresh!” called Professor Sprout.

“别缩手缩脚的，快把汁挤出来，趁着新鲜，质量最好！”斯普劳特教授喊道。

“Anyway,” said Hermione, continuing their interrupted conversation as though a lump of wood had not just attacked them, “Slughorn’s going to have a Christmas party, Harry, and there’s no way you’ll be able to wriggle out of this one because he actually asked me to check your free evenings, so he could be sure to have it on a night you can come.”

“反正，”赫敏继续着刚才被打断的谈话，就好像没有遭到树桩袭击似的，“斯拉格霍恩还要举办一个圣诞晚会，哈利，这次你可没有办法逃脱了，因为他特意叫我看看你哪一天晚上有空，这样他就肯定能把晚会安排在一个你能来的晚上。”

Harry groaned. Meanwhile, Ron, who was attempting to burst the pod in the bowl by putting both hands on it, standing up, and squashing it as hard as he could, said angrily, “And this is another party just for Slughorn’s favorites, is it?”

哈利叫苦不迭。罗恩正在用两只手按着荚果，想把它的汁液挤进碗里，听了这话，他猛地站起来，使出吃奶的劲儿挤压荚果，一边气呼呼地说：“这个晚会又是专门招待斯拉格霍恩的那些宠儿的吧？”

“Just for the Slug Club, yes,” said Hermione.

“对，专门为鼻涕虫俱乐部举办的。”赫敏说。

The pod flew out from under Ron’s fingers and hit the greenhouse glass, rebounding onto the back of Professor Sprout’s head and knocking off her old, patched hat. Harry went to retrieve the pod; when he got back, Hermione was saying, “Look, I didn’t make up the name ‘Slug Club’ —”

荚果从罗恩的手里飞了出去，撞在暖房玻璃上，又弹回来砸在斯普劳特教授的后脑勺上，把她那顶打着补丁的旧帽子打掉了。哈利去捡荚果，回来时听见赫敏在说：“喏，‘鼻涕虫俱乐部’这个名字可不是我发明的——”

“ ‘Slug Club,’ ” repeated Ron with a sneer worthy of Malfoy. “It’s pathetic. Well, I hope you enjoy your party. Why don’t you try hooking up with McLaggen, then Slughorn can make you King and Queen Slug —”

“‘鼻涕虫俱乐部’，”罗恩用马尔福特有的那种讥讽口吻说，“真难听。喂，我希望你在晚会上玩得开心。你为什么不跟麦克拉根交朋友呢，这样斯拉格霍恩就能把你们封为鼻涕虫国王和王后——”

“We’re allowed to bring guests,” said Hermione, who for some reason had turned a bright, boiling scarlet, “and I was going to ask you to come, but if you think it’s that stupid then I won’t bother!”

“我们还允许带客人去呢，”赫敏说，她的脸不知怎的突然涨得通红，“我正准备邀请你去呢，既然你认为晚会那么无聊，我就不费这个事了！”

Harry suddenly wished the pod had flown a little farther, so that he need not have been sitting here with the pair of them. Unnoticed by either, he seized the bowl that contained the pod and began to try and open it by the noisiest and most energetic means he could think of; unfortunately, he could still hear every word of their conversation.

哈利突然希望那颗荚果刚才飞得更远一点儿，这样他就用不着跟他们俩坐在一起了。罗恩和赫敏都没有注意到他，他抓起盛荚果的碗，尽量用他所能想出来的最大声音、以最卖力气的方式折腾着荚果。不幸的是，他仍然能听清他们俩说的每一个字。

“You were going to ask me?” asked Ron, in a completely different voice.

“你本来准备邀请我的？”罗恩问，他的声音完全变了。

“Yes,” said Hermione angrily. “But obviously if you’d rather I hooked up with McLaggen . . .”

“对，”赫敏气冲冲地说道，“但是……如果你情愿让我跟麦克拉根交朋友……”

There was a pause while Harry continued to pound the resilient pod with a trowel.

停顿，哈利继续用一把小铲子敲打着那颗有弹性的荚果。

“No, I wouldn’t,” said Ron, in a very quiet voice.

“不，我不情愿。”罗恩用很轻很轻的声音说。

Harry missed the pod, hit the bowl, and shattered it.

哈利一铲子下去没敲中荚果，把碗砸碎了。

“Reparo,” he said hastily, poking the pieces with his wand, and the bowl sprang back together again. The crash, however, appeared to have awoken Ron and Hermione to Harry’s presence. Hermione looked flustered and immediately started fussing about for her copy of Flesh-Eating Trees of the World to find out the correct way to juice Snargaluff pods; Ron, on the other hand, looked sheepish but also rather pleased with himself.

“恢复如初！”他赶紧用魔杖捅捅碎片，念了一句咒语，碗立刻自动粘合，恢复了原来的样子。但是，碗被砸碎的声音似乎惊醒了罗恩和赫敏，他们这才意识到哈利的存在。赫敏显得很慌乱，立刻开始在她那本《食肉树大全》里查找给疙瘩藤的荚果挤汁的正确方法。罗恩有点不好意思，但似乎心里美滋滋的。

“Hand that over, Harry,” said Hermione hurriedly. “It says we’re supposed to puncture them with something sharp. . . .”

“把那个递过来，哈利，”赫敏急急地说，“这上面说，我们应该用尖东西把它们刺破……”

Harry passed her the pod in the bowl; he and Ron both snapped their goggles back over their eyes and dived, once more, for the stump.

哈利把碗里的荚果递给了赫敏，他和罗恩一起重新戴好防护眼镜，再一次埋头对付着那棵疙瘩藤。

It was not as though he was really surprised, thought Harry, as he wrestled with a thorny vine intent upon throttling him; he had had an inkling that this might happen sooner or later. But he was not sure how he felt about it. . . . He and Cho were now too embarrassed to look at each other, let alone talk to each other; what if Ron and Hermione started going out together, then split up? Could their friendship survive it? Harry remembered the few weeks when they had not been talking to each other in the third year; he had not enjoyed trying to bridge the distance between them. And then, what if they didn’t split up? What if they became like Bill and Fleur, and it became excruciatingly embarrassing to be in their presence, so that he was shut out for good?

他其实并不怎么吃惊，哈利一边跟一根想要掐住他脖子的刺藤扭打着，一边转开了心思。他早就模模糊糊地知道这件事早晚会发生。但是他不清楚自己对此会有什么感觉……如今他和秋·张尴尬得看都不敢看对方一眼，更不用说互相交谈了。如果罗恩和赫敏开始谈恋爱，然后又闹分手，那可怎么办？他们的友谊能经得起这番折腾吗？哈利想起三年级时罗恩和赫敏有几个星期互相不说话，他不得不两边周旋，给他们调解，搞得苦不堪言。还有，如果他们最后没有分手呢？如果他们变得像比尔和芙蓉那样，别人在他们面前都会感到尴尬、难以忍受，结果他就只好永远被排斥在外呢？

“Gotcha!” yelled Ron, pulling a second pod from the stump just as Hermione managed to burst the first one open, so that the bowl was full of tubers wriggling like pale green worms.

“抓住啦！”罗恩大喊一声，从残根里拽出了第二颗荚果。这时候赫敏正好把第一个弄开了，顿时，碗里满是蠕动的、像浅绿色毛毛虫一样的小疙瘩。

The rest of the lesson passed without further mention of Slughorn’s party. Although Harry watched his two friends more closely over the next few days, Ron and Hermione did not seem any different except that they were a little politer to each other than usual. Harry supposed he would just have to wait to see what happened under the influence of butterbeer in Slughorn’s dimly lit room on the night of the party. In the meantime, however, he had more pressing worries.

这节课剩下来的时间里，他们没有再提到斯拉格霍恩的晚会。随后的几天，哈利更加密切地注意着他的两位朋友，但罗恩和赫敏似乎没有什么异样，只是相互间比过去客气了一些。哈利想，他只能等到晚会举办的那天晚上，在斯拉格霍恩房间朦胧的灯光下，在黄油啤酒的作用下，看看会出现什么情况了。眼下，他还有更加紧迫的事情需要考虑。

Katie Bell was still in St. Mungo’s Hospital with no prospect of leaving, which meant that the promising Gryffindor team Harry had been training so carefully since September was one Chaser short. He kept putting off replacing Katie in the hope that she would return, but their opening match against Slytherin was looming, and he finally had to accept that she would not be back in time to play.

凯蒂·贝尔还住在圣芒戈魔法伤病医院里，短期内不会出院，这就意味着，九月份以来哈利精心调教的那支很有希望的格兰芬多魁地奇球队缺少了一名追球手。他迟迟不肯找人替换凯蒂，希望她能回来，可是眼看他们对斯莱特林的第一场比赛就要临近，他终于不得不承认凯蒂赶不回来打比赛了。

Harry did not think he could stand another full-House tryout. With a sinking feeling that had little to do with Quidditch, he cornered Dean Thomas after Transfiguration one day. Most of the class had already left, although several twittering yellow birds were still zooming around the room, all of Hermione’s creation; nobody else had succeeded in conjuring so much as a feather from thin air.

哈利觉得他再也不能忍受搞一场全院选拔赛了。一天变形课后，他堵住了迪安·托马斯，他心里有一种跟魁地奇无关的沉甸甸的感觉。班上大多数同学都走了，只有几只叽叽喳喳的小黄鸟还在教室里飞来飞去，它们都是赫敏的作品。其他同学连一根羽毛都没有变出来。

“Are you still interested in playing Chaser?”

“你对打追球手还有兴趣吗？”

“Wha — ? Yeah, of course!” said Dean excitedly. Over Dean’s shoulder, Harry saw Seamus Finnigan slamming his books into his bag, looking sour. One of the reasons why Harry would have preferred not to have to ask Dean to play was that he knew Seamus would not like it. On the other hand, he had to do what was best for the team, and Dean had outflown Seamus at the tryouts.

“什——？有啊，当然有！”迪安兴奋地说。哈利看见迪安身后的西莫·斐尼甘重重地把课本塞进了书包，脸色很是难看。哈利之所以不愿意让迪安参加比赛，就是因为他知道西莫肯定会不高兴。然而，他必须把球队利益放在第一位，而迪安在选拔赛上飞得比西莫快。

“Well then, you’re in,” said Harry. “There’s a practice tonight, seven o’clock.”

“好吧，你可以加入了。”哈利说，“今天晚上训练，七点钟。”

“Right,” said Dean. “Cheers, Harry! Blimey, I can’t wait to tell Ginny!”

“好，”迪安说，“太棒了，哈利！哎呀，我要马上把这消息告诉金妮！”

He sprinted out of the room, leaving Harry and Seamus alone together, an uncomfortable moment made no easier when a bird dropping landed on Seamus’s head as one of Hermione’s canaries whizzed over them.

他飞快地跑走了，教室里只剩下了哈利和西莫两个人，这真是令人尴尬的一刻，赫敏的一只金丝雀正好从他们头顶上飞过，把一滴鸟粪拉在西莫的头上，气氛变得更加尴尬了。

Seamus was not the only person disgruntled by the choice of Katie’s substitute. There was much muttering in the common room about the fact that Harry had now chosen two of his classmates for the team. As Harry had endured much worse mutterings than this in his school career, he was not particularly bothered, but all the same, the pressure was increasing to provide a win in the upcoming match against Slytherin. If Gryffindor won, Harry knew that the whole House would forget that they had criticized him and swear that they had always known it was a great team. If they lost . . . well, Harry thought wryly, he had still endured worse mutterings. . . .

哈利选迪安接替凯蒂，对此感到不满的并不止西莫一个人。公共休息室里对于哈利挑选两名同班同学入队的事议论纷纷。哈利上学以来已经忍受过比这糟糕得多的议论，所以倒并不特别往心里去，但是，他们的压力越来越大，必须保证在即将到来的对斯莱特林的比赛中取胜。如果格兰芬多赢了，哈利知道整个学院的人都会忘记他们曾经批评过他，并且会声称他们早就知道这是一支了不起的球队。可一旦输了……管它呢，哈利苦笑着想，比这更难听的议论他都忍受过来了……

Harry had no reason to regret his choice once he saw Dean fly that evening; he worked well with Ginny and Demelza. The Beaters, Peakes and Coote, were getting better all the time. The only problem was Ron.

那天晚上，哈利一看到迪安飞起来，就觉得没有理由后悔自己的选择了。迪安跟金妮、德米尔扎配合得十分默契。击球手珀克斯和古特的表现也越来越好。惟一有麻烦的是罗恩。

Harry had known all along that Ron was an inconsistent player who suffered from nerves and a lack of confidence, and unfortunately, the looming prospect of the opening game of the season seemed to have brought out all his old insecurities. After letting in half a dozen goals, most of them scored by Ginny, his technique became wilder and wilder, until he finally punched an oncoming Demelza Robins in the mouth.

哈利一向知道罗恩的状态不稳定，他怯场，缺乏自信，不幸的是，本赛季即将到来的第一场比赛似乎把他过去的这些心理问题全都诱发出来了。他一连漏掉了六个球，其中大多数都是金妮打来的，然后他的技术变得越来越没有章法，竟然一拳打中了迎面飞来的德米尔扎·罗宾斯的嘴巴。

“It was an accident, I’m sorry, Demelza, really sorry!” Ron shouted after her as she zigzagged back to the ground, dripping blood everywhere. “I just —”

“都怪我不小心，对不起，德米尔扎，太对不起了！”罗恩冲着她的背影喊道，德米尔扎歪歪斜斜地飞回地面，鲜血滴得到处都是，“我只是——”

“Panicked,” Ginny said angrily, landing next to Demelza and examining her fat lip. “You prat, Ron, look at the state of her!”

“太紧张了，”金妮气愤地说，她落在德米尔扎身边，检查她肿得老高的嘴唇，“你这个草包，罗恩，你看看她现在的样子！”

“I can fix that,” said Harry, landing beside the two girls, pointing his wand at Demelza’s mouth, and saying “Episkey.” “And Ginny, don’t call Ron a prat, you’re not the Captain of this team —”

“我可以修补好。”哈利落在两个姑娘身边说道，他用魔杖指着德米尔扎的嘴，念了一声“愈合如初”。“还有，金妮，不许你管罗恩叫草包，这个球队的队长不是你——”

“Well, you seemed too busy to call him a prat and I thought someone should —”

“噢，你似乎太忙了，没工夫管他叫草包，我认为应该有人——”

Harry forced himself not to laugh.

哈利强忍着没笑出来。

“In the air, everyone, let’s go. . . .”

“全体队员，升到空中，我们再来……”

Overall it was one of the worst practices they had had all term, though Harry did not feel that honesty was the best policy when they were this close to the match.

总的来说，这是他们这学期以来最糟糕的一次训练。眼看比赛就要临近了，哈利认为实话实说并不是最佳的策略。

“Good work, everyone, I think we’ll flatten Slytherin,” he said bracingly and the Chasers and Beaters left the changing room looking reasonably happy with themselves.

“干得不错，诸位，我认为我们准能把斯莱特林打扁。”他给大家鼓劲儿，因此，追球手和找球手们离开更衣室时情绪似乎都还不错。

“I played like a sack of dragon dung,” said Ron in a hollow voice when the door had swung shut behind Ginny.

“我表现得像一堆臭大粪。”门在金妮身后关上后，罗恩用空洞的声音说。

“No, you didn’t,” said Harry firmly. “You’re the best Keeper I tried out, Ron. Your only problem is nerves.”

“不，不是，”哈利毫不含糊地说，“你是我选拔出来的最棒的守门员，罗恩。你惟一的问题就是心理紧张。”

He kept up a relentless flow of encouragement all the way back to the castle, and by the time they reached the second floor, Ron was looking marginally more cheerful. When Harry pushed open the tapestry to take their usual shortcut up to Gryffindor Tower, however, they found themselves looking at Dean and Ginny, who were locked in a close embrace and kissing fiercely as though glued together.

在他们返回城堡的路上，哈利不断地说着一些鼓励的话，最后当他们走到三楼时，罗恩的情绪总算好了一点儿。哈利推开那幅挂毯，想走他们平常走的那条近路去格兰芬多塔楼，却发现迪安和金妮在他们眼前搂抱在一起，如漆似胶地热烈亲吻着。

It was as though something large and scaly erupted into life in Harry’s stomach, clawing at his insides: Hot blood seemed to flood his brain, so that all thought was extinguished, replaced by a savage urge to jinx Dean into a jelly. Wrestling with this sudden madness, he heard Ron’s voice as though from a great distance away.

似乎有个全身长鳞的大家伙在哈利心头突然活了起来，并用爪子抓挠着他的五脏六腑，热血一下子冲上了他的脑袋，所有的理性都被压制住了，取而代之的是一股强烈的冲动，只想用恶咒把迪安变成一堆果子冻。他与这种突如其来的疯狂念头搏斗着，听见罗恩的声音像是从很远的地方传来。

“Oi!”

“喂！”

Dean and Ginny broke apart and looked around.

迪安和金妮一下子分开了，扭头张望着。

“What?” said Ginny.

“怎么啦？”金妮说。

“I don’t want to find my own sister snogging people in public!”

“我不愿意看见我的亲妹妹在大庭广众之下跟别人搂搂抱抱的！”

“This was a deserted corridor till you came butting in!” said Ginny.

“这个走廊本来就没有人，是你自己闯进来的！”金妮说。

Dean was looking embarrassed. He gave Harry a shifty grin that Harry did not return, as the newborn monster inside him was roaring for Dean’s instant dismissal from the team.

迪安显得很尴尬。他躲躲闪闪地朝哈利笑了一下，哈利没有理他，因为他内心里那个刚刚诞生的怪兽正在大吼着要把迪安立刻从球队里开除出去。

“Er . . . c’mon, Ginny,” said Dean, “let’s go back to the common room. . . .”

“嗯……走吧，金妮，”迪安说，“我们回公共休息室去……”

“You go!” said Ginny. “I want a word with my dear brother!”

“你走你的！”金妮说，“我要跟我亲爱的哥哥说几句话！”

Dean left, looking as though he was not sorry to depart the scene.

迪安走了，他似乎巴不得赶紧离开这个地方。

“Right,” said Ginny, tossing her long red hair out of her face and glaring at Ron, “let’s get this straight once and for all. It is none of your business who I go out with or what I do with them, Ron —”

“好，”金妮说着甩去脸上长长的红头发，怒冲冲地瞪着罗恩，“让我们一下子把话都说清楚。罗恩，我跟谁好，我跟他做什么，跟你没有任何关系——”

“Yeah, it is!” said Ron, just as angrily. “D’you think I want people saying my sister’s a —”

“是啊，没错！”罗恩同样怒气冲冲地说，“你以为我愿意别人说我的妹妹是——”

“A what?” shouted Ginny, drawing her wand. “A what, exactly?”

“是什么？”金妮大喊一声，拔出了魔杖，“是什么，你说清楚！”

“He doesn’t mean anything, Ginny —” said Harry automatically, though the monster was roaring its approval of Ron’s words.

“他只是随便说说的，金妮——”哈利下意识地说，而他内心那头怪兽正在吼叫着赞同罗恩的话。

“Oh yes he does!” she said, flaring up at Harry. “Just because he’s never snogged anyone in his life, just because the best kiss he’s ever had is from our Auntie Muriel —”

“哼，他就是这么想的！”她突然朝哈利发起火来，“就因为他这辈子从来没有跟别人搂搂抱抱过，就因为他从小到大只被我们的穆丽尔姨妈吻过——”

“Shut your mouth!” bellowed Ron, bypassing red and turning maroon.

“你闭嘴！”罗恩吼道，脸色从红变成了酱紫。

“No, I will not!” yelled Ginny, beside herself. “I’ve seen you with Phlegm, hoping she’ll kiss you on the cheek every time you see her, it’s pathetic! If you went out and got a bit of snogging done yourself, you wouldn’t mind so much that everyone else does it!”

“不，我就不闭嘴！”金妮疯狂般地说，“我看见过你跟黏痰在一起，你每次看见她都眼巴巴地盼着她能吻你的脸，真是可怜！如果你自己也跟别人来点儿搂搂抱抱，就不会这么在乎别人在做什么了！”

Ron had pulled out his wand too; Harry stepped swiftly between them.

罗恩也抽出了魔杖。哈利赶紧挡在他俩中间。

“You don’t know what you’re talking about!” Ron roared, trying to get a clear shot at Ginny around Harry, who was now standing in front of her with his arms outstretched. “Just because I don’t do it in public — !”

“你知不知道你在胡说些什么！”罗恩嚷道，哈利伸着胳膊挡在金妮前面，罗恩想绕过哈利结结实实地给金妮一下子，“就因为我没有在大庭广众——！”

Ginny screamed with derisive laughter, trying to push Harry out of the way.

金妮发出刺耳的嘲笑，使劲想把哈利推开。

“Been kissing Pigwidgeon, have you? Or have you got a picture of Auntie Muriel stashed under your pillow?”

“你在亲吻小猪吗？还是在枕头底下藏了一张穆丽尔姨妈的照片？”

“You—”

“你——”

A streak of orange light flew under Harry’s left arm and missed Ginny by inches; Harry pushed Ron up against the wall.

哈利的左胳膊底下射出一道橘黄色的光，差几寸就击中金妮了。哈利把罗恩顶到了墙上。

“Don’t be stupid —”

“别干傻事——”

“Harry’s snogged Cho Chang!” shouted Ginny, who sounded close to tears now. “And Hermione snogged Viktor Krum, it’s only you who acts like it’s something disgusting, Ron, and that’s because you’ve got about as much experience as a twelve-year-old!”

“哈利跟秋·张亲热过！”金妮还在嚷嚷，声音里已经带着哭腔，“赫敏跟威克多尔·克鲁姆亲热过，只有你，罗恩，把这看成一件令人恶心的事儿，那是因为你的经验还不如一个十二岁的毛孩子！”

And with that, she stormed away. Harry quickly let go of Ron; the look on his face was murderous. They both stood there, breathing heavily, until Mrs. Norris, Filch’s cat, appeared around the corner, which broke the tension.

说完，她气冲冲地走了。哈利赶紧放开罗恩。罗恩脸上的表情像是要杀人。他们俩站在那儿，呼哧呼哧地喘着粗气，后来，费尔奇的猫洛丽丝夫人出现在墙角，才打破了这紧张的气氛。

“C’mon,” said Harry, as the sound of Filch’s shuffling feet reached their ears.

“走吧。”哈利说，他们已经听见费尔奇踢踢踏踏的脚步声了。

They hurried up the stairs and along a seventh-floor corridor. “Oi, out of the way!” Ron barked at a small girl who jumped in fright and dropped a bottle of toadspawn.

他们匆匆上了楼，顺着八楼的一道走廊往前走去。“喂，滚开！”罗恩朝一个小女生吼道，那女生吓了一大跳，手里的一瓶蟾蜍卵掉在了地上。

Harry hardly noticed the sound of shattering glass; he felt disoriented, dizzy; being struck by a lightning bolt must be something like this. It’s just because she’s Ron’s sister, he told himself. You just didn’t like seeing her kissing Dean because she’s Ron’s sister. . . .

哈利几乎没有听到玻璃摔碎的声音。他只觉得脑子晕乎乎的，找不到方向。被闪电击中的感觉肯定就像这样。这只是因为她是罗恩的妹妹，他对自己说，因为他是罗恩的妹妹，所以你才不愿意看见她跟迪安接吻……

But unbidden into his mind came an image of that same deserted corridor with himself kissing Ginny instead. . . . The monster in his chest purred . . . but then he saw Ron ripping open the tapestry curtain and drawing his wand on Harry, shouting things like “betrayal of trust” . . . “supposed to be my friend” . . .

可是他脑海里自动浮现出一幅画面：在那条空无一人的走廊里，是他自己在亲吻金妮……他心里的那头怪兽快乐得直哼哼……但紧接着他看见罗恩扯开挂毯帘子，拔出魔杖对准了哈利，嘴里吼着一些话，什么“背信弃义”……什么“还说是我的朋友呢”……

“D’you think Hermione did snog Krum?” Ron asked abruptly, as they approached the Fat Lady. Harry gave a guilty start and wrenched his imagination away from a corridor in which no Ron intruded, in which he and Ginny were quite alone —

“你说，赫敏真的跟克鲁姆亲热过吗？”罗恩突然问道，这时他们已经快要走到胖夫人肖像跟前了。哈利心虚地吃了一惊，赶紧把他的思绪从那条走廊上扯了回来。走廊里没有突然闯入的罗恩，只有他和金妮单独在一起——

“What?” he said confusedly. “Oh . . . er . . .”

“什么？”他慌乱地说，“哦……嗯……”

The honest answer was “yes,” but he did not want to give it. However, Ron seemed to gather the worst from the look on Harry’s face.

如果照实回答，应该说“是的”，但哈利不愿意这么说。不过，罗恩似乎从哈利的脸上得出了最坏的结论。

“Dilligrout,” he said darkly to the Fat Lady, and they climbed through the portrait hole into the common room.

“茴香麦片。”他阴沉着脸对胖夫人说，两人爬过肖像洞口，进入了公共休息室。

Neither of them mentioned Ginny or Hermione again; indeed, they barely spoke to each other that evening and got into bed in silence, each absorbed in his own thoughts.

他们谁也没有再提金妮或赫敏，事实上，那天晚上他们几乎没怎么说话，各自想着心事，默默地上床睡觉了。

Harry lay awake for a long time, looking up at the canopy of his four-poster and trying to convince himself that his feelings for Ginny were entirely elder-brotherly. They had lived, had they not, like brother and sister all summer, playing Quidditch, teasing Ron, and having a laugh about Bill and Phlegm? He had known Ginny for years now. . . . It was natural that he should feel protective . . . natural that he should want to look out for her . . . want to rip Dean limb from limb for kissing her . . . No . . . he would have to control that particular brotherly feeling. . . .

哈利很长时间都没有睡着，他盯着四柱床的帐顶，努力想使自己相信他对金妮的感情完全是哥哥一样的。整个夏天，他们不是像兄妹一般生活，一起打魁地奇，一起奚落罗恩，一起嘲笑比尔和黏痰吗？他认识金妮已经好几年了……他自然觉得自己有责任保护她……他自然想要照看她……想要把迪安撕成碎片，因为他竟然敢吻她……不……他必须控制这种特殊的兄长之情……

Ron gave a great grunting snore.

罗恩发出了呼噜呼噜的响亮鼾声。

She’s Ron’s sister, Harry told himself firmly. Ron’s sister. She’s out-of-bounds. He would not risk his friendship with Ron for anything. He punched his pillow into a more comfortable shape and waited for sleep to come, trying his utmost not to allow his thoughts to stray anywhere near Ginny.

她是罗恩的妹妹，哈利坚决地对自己说，罗恩的妹妹，我不能对她有非分之想。无论如何不能拿他和罗恩的友谊去冒险。他把枕头拍打成一个更加舒适的形状，等着睡意来临，他用全部的力量控制着自己，不让思绪游移到金妮那儿去。

Harry awoke next morning feeling slightly dazed and confused by a series of dreams in which Ron had chased him with a Beater’s bat, but by midday he would have happily exchanged the dream Ron for the real one, who was not only cold-shouldering Ginny and Dean, but also treating a hurt and bewildered Hermione with an icy, sneering indifference. What was more, Ron seemed to have become, overnight, as touchy and ready to lash out as the average Blast-Ended Skrewt. Harry spent the day attempting to keep the peace between Ron and Hermione with no success; finally, Hermione departed for bed in high dudgeon, and Ron stalked off to the boys’ dormitory after swearing angrily at several frightened first years for looking at him.

第二天早晨，哈利醒来时觉得脑子有点昏沉，晕晕乎乎的，因为他夜里做了一连串的怪梦，都是罗恩拿着一根击球手的球棒在追他。可是到了中午，他倒情愿让梦里的那个罗恩来取代这个真正的罗恩。罗恩不仅对金妮和迪安阴沉着脸，而且对赫敏也铁着脸，连嘲带讽，弄得赫敏又委屈又迷惑不解。更糟糕的是，罗恩似乎一夜之间变得像炸尾螺一样敏感易怒，一碰就炸。哈利花了一整天时间在罗恩和赫敏之间调停，都没有奏效。最后，赫敏非常愤怒地回去睡觉了，罗恩气势汹汹地痛骂了几个盯着他看的一年级学生一顿，把他们吓得够呛，然后他自己昂首阔步地回男生宿舍去了。

To Harry’s dismay, Ron’s new aggression did not wear off over the next few days. Worse still, it coincided with an even deeper dip in his Keeping skills, which made him still more aggressive, so that during the final Quidditch practice before Saturday’s match, he failed to save every single goal the Chasers aimed at him, but bellowed at everybody so much that he reduced Demelza Robins to tears.

在随后的几天里，罗恩这种火暴脾气并没有缓解，这使哈利感到很沮丧。更糟糕的是，随之而来的是罗恩的守门技术一落千丈，这使他的脾气变得更加暴躁了。在星期六比赛前的最后一次魁地奇训练中，追球手打来的球他一个也没有救起，反而朝每个人大吼大叫，还把德米尔扎·罗宾斯给气哭了。

“You shut up and leave her alone!” shouted Peakes, who was about two-thirds Ron’s height, though admittedly carrying a heavy bat.

“你闭嘴，别惹她！”珀克斯说，他虽然手里拿着一根沉甸甸的球棒，但个头只有罗恩的三分之二。

“ENOUGH!” bellowed Harry, who had seen Ginny glowering in Ron’s direction and, remembering her reputation as an accomplished caster of the Bat-Bogey Hex, soared over to intervene before things got out of hand. “Peakes, go and pack up the Bludgers. Demelza, pull yourself together, you played really well today. Ron . . .” he waited until the rest of the team were out of earshot before saying it, “you’re my best mate, but carry on treating the rest of them like this and I’m going to kick you off the team.”

“够了！”哈利吼道，他看见金妮气冲冲地瞪着罗恩那边，想起她在施蝙蝠精魔咒方面是公认的一把好手，便急忙飞过去，赶在事态失控之前及时调停。

He really thought for a moment that Ron might hit him, but then something much worse happened: Ron seemed to sag on his broom; all the fight went out of him and he said, “I resign. I’m pathetic.”

“珀克斯，快去把游走球收起来。德米尔扎，打起精神来，你今天表现真不错。罗恩……”他等到其他队员都走远听不见了才说道，“你是我最好的朋友，但如果你继续这样对待别人，我就把你从队里踢出去。”

“You’re not pathetic and you’re not resigning!” said Harry fiercely, seizing Ron by the front of his robes. “You can save anything when you’re on form, it’s a mental problem you’ve got!”

他本以为罗恩会扑上来揍他，没想到接下来的情况更加糟糕——骑在扫帚上的罗恩似乎完全泄了气，彻底丧失了斗志，他说：“我退出。我糟透了。”

“You calling me mental?”

“你没有糟透，你不许退出！”哈利揪住罗恩长袍的衣襟，发着狠劲儿说，“你状态好的时候什么球都能救起，你只是精神问题！”

“Yeah, maybe I am!”

“你说我有精神问题？”

They glared at each other for a moment, then Ron shook his head wearily. “I know you haven’t got any time to find another Keeper, so I’ll play tomorrow, but if we lose, and we will, I’m taking myself off the team.”

“对，可能我就是这个意思！”

Nothing Harry said made any difference. He tried boosting Ron’s confidence all through dinner, but Ron was too busy being grumpy and surly with Hermione to notice. Harry persisted in the common room that evening, but his assertion that the whole team would be devastated if Ron left was somewhat undermined by the fact that the rest of the team was sitting in a huddle in a distant corner, clearly muttering about Ron and casting him nasty looks. Finally Harry tried getting angry again in the hope of provoking Ron into a defiant, and hopefully goal-saving, attitude, but this strategy did not appear to work any better than encouragement; Ron went to bed as dejected and hopeless as ever.

他们互相怒目而视，然后罗恩疲惫地摇了摇头。

Harry lay awake for a very long time in the darkness. He did not want to lose the upcoming match; not only was it his first as Captain, but he was determined to beat Draco Malfoy at Quidditch even if he could not yet prove his suspicions about him. Yet if Ron played as he had done in the last few practices, their chances of winning were very slim. . . .

“我知道你来不及再找一名守门员了，所以我明天还是参加比赛，但如果我们输了——我们肯定会输的，我就自动离开球队。”

If only there was something he could do to make Ron pull himself together . . . make him play at the top of his form . . . something that would ensure that Ron had a really good day. . . .

不管哈利再说什么都无济于事。吃饭的时候，他一直在给罗恩打气，可是罗恩只顾对着赫敏横眉瞪眼，根本没有注意听。那天晚上在公共休息室里，哈利继续鼓励他，一再强调说如果罗恩离开的话，整个球队就完蛋了。可是，其他队员就聚在那边的墙角窃窃私语，显然是在议论罗恩，还不时地朝罗恩投来不满的目光，这使哈利的劝解效果大打折扣。最后，哈利想再发一次脾气，希望用激将法让罗恩进入那种不服输的、频频救球的状态，可是看样子这种策略和给他打气一样没有多少作用。罗恩上床睡觉时还是那样情绪低落，灰心绝望。

And the answer came to Harry in one, sudden, glorious stroke of inspiration.

哈利在黑暗中躺了很长时间。他不想输掉即将到来的这场比赛。这不仅是他担任队长以来的第一场比赛，而且，他虽然还没能证明自己对德拉科·马尔福的怀疑，但一心想在魁地奇赛场上打败他。可是，如果罗恩的表现还跟最近这几次训练一样，那他们获胜的希望就太渺茫了……

Breakfast was the usual excitable affair next morning; the Slytherins hissed and booed loudly as every member of the Gryffindor team entered the Great Hall. Harry glanced at the ceiling and saw a clear, pale blue sky: a good omen.

但愿能想出一个办法让罗恩振作起来……让他以最佳状态参加比赛……想个办法让罗恩那一天事事顺利……

The Gryffindor table, a solid mass of red and gold, cheered as Harry and Ron approached. Harry grinned and waved; Ron grimaced weakly and shook his head.

突然，哈利脑子里灵光一现，有了答案。

“Cheer up, Ron!” called Lavender. “I know you’ll be brilliant!”

第二天早晨，早饭还像平常一样热闹。格兰芬多队的每个队员走进礼堂时，斯莱特林们就大声地喝倒彩，发嘘声。哈利扫了一眼天花板，看见一片清澈、瓦蓝的天空——这是一个好兆头。

Ron ignored her.

格兰芬多的餐桌上是红彤彤金灿灿，当哈利和罗恩走过来时，同学们热烈欢呼。哈利笑着挥挥手，罗恩勉强做了个鬼脸，摇了摇头。

“Tea?” Harry asked him. “Coffee? Pumpkin juice?”

“打起精神来，罗恩！”拉文德喊道，“我知道你肯定很棒！”

“Anything,” said Ron glumly, taking a moody bite of toast.

罗恩没有理睬她。

A few minutes later Hermione, who had become so tired of Ron’s recent unpleasant behavior that she had not come down to breakfast with them, paused on her way up the table.

“茶？”哈利问罗恩，“咖啡？南瓜汁？”

“How are you both feeling?” she asked tentatively, her eyes on the back of Ron’s head.

“随便。”罗恩愁眉苦脸地说，郁闷地咬了一口面包。

“Fine,” said Harry, who was concentrating on handing Ron a glass of pumpkin juice. “There you go, Ron. Drink up.”

几分钟后，赫敏来了，她因为受够了罗恩最近的古怪别扭，没有跟他们一起下楼来吃早饭。她快走到桌边时停住了脚步。

Ron had just raised the glass to his lips when Hermione spoke sharply.

“你们俩感觉怎么样？”她试探地问，眼睛望着罗恩的后脑勺。

“Don’t drink that, Ron!”

“不错。”哈利说道，他正忙着把一杯南瓜汁递给罗恩，“给，罗恩，喝了吧。”

Both Harry and Ron looked up at her.

罗恩刚把杯子举到嘴边，赫敏突然厉声说道。

“Why not?” said Ron.

“别喝，罗恩！”

Hermione was now staring at Harry as though she could not believe her eyes.

哈利和罗恩都抬头望着她。

“You just put something in that drink.”

“为什么？”罗恩说。

“Excuse me?” said Harry.

赫敏正呆呆地瞪着哈利，似乎不敢相信自己的眼睛。

“You heard me. I saw you. You just tipped something into Ron’s drink. You’ve got the bottle in your hand right now!”

“你刚才往那杯饮料里放东西了。”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” said Harry, stowing the little bottle hastily in his pocket.

“你说什么？”哈利说。

“Ron, I warn you, don’t drink it!” Hermione said again, alarmed, but Ron picked up the glass, drained it in one gulp, and said, “Stop bossing me around, Hermione.”

“你听见我说什么了。我都看见了。你刚才把什么东西倒进了罗恩的饮料。现在那瓶子还在你手里攥着呢！”

She looked scandalized. Bending low so that only Harry could hear her, she hissed, “You should be expelled for that. I’d never have believed it of you, Harry!”

“真听不懂你在说什么。”哈利一边说一边赶紧把一个小瓶子塞进口袋里。

“Hark who’s talking,” he whispered back. “Confunded anyone lately?”

“罗恩，我警告你，别喝！”赫敏惊慌地又说了一遍，可是罗恩端起杯子，一口喝了个精光，然后说，“你少对我指手画脚的，赫敏。”

She stormed up the table away from them. Harry watched her go without regret. Hermione had never really understood what a serious business Quidditch was. He then looked around at Ron, who was smacking his lips.

赫敏看上去又震惊又愤怒。她弯下腰压低声音，为的是不让别人听见，“你会因为这件事被开除的。我真不敢相信你会干出这种事，哈利！”

“Nearly time,” said Harry blithely.

“是谁在说话呀？”哈利低声说道，“是谁最近给人念了混淆咒呀？”

The frosty grass crunched underfoot as they strode down to the stadium.

赫敏气冲冲地走到桌子那头去了。哈利望着她的背影，心里并不感到懊悔。赫敏始终不明白魁地奇是一件多么重要的事情。哈利转过脸来看着罗恩，罗恩正在那里咂着嘴。

“Pretty lucky the weather’s this good, eh?” Harry asked Ron.

“时间快到了。”哈利轻松愉快地说。

“Yeah,” said Ron, who was pale and sick-looking.

他们大步朝体育场走去，霜冻的草踩在脚下，发出嘎吱嘎吱的响声。

Ginny and Demelza were already wearing their Quidditch robes and waiting in the changing room.

“天气这么好，运气真不错，是不是？”哈利问罗恩。

“Conditions look ideal,” said Ginny, ignoring Ron. “And guess what? That Slytherin Chaser Vaisey — he took a Bludger in the head yesterday during their practice, and he’s too sore to play! And even better than that — Malfoy’s gone off sick too!”

“是啊。”罗恩脸色苍白，好像身体很虚弱的样子。

“What?” said Harry, wheeling around to stare at her. “He’s ill? What’s wrong with him?”

金妮和德米尔扎已经换上了魁地奇球袍，正在更衣室里等着。

“No idea, but it’s great for us,” said Ginny brightly. “They’re playing Harper instead; he’s in my year and he’s an idiot.”

“条件看来很理想，”金妮睬也不睬罗恩，只管说道，“你猜怎么着？斯莱特林的追球手瓦赛——他昨天训练时被一只游走球击中脑袋，疼得不能参加比赛了！更妙的是——马尔福也请了病假！”

Harry smiled back vaguely, but as he pulled on his scarlet robes his mind was far from Quidditch. Malfoy had once before claimed he could not play due to injury, but on that occasion he had made sure the whole match was rescheduled for a time that suited the Slytherins better. Why was he now happy to let a substitute go on? Was he really ill, or was he faking?

“什么？”哈利转过身来盯着她，“他病了？什么病？”

“Fishy, isn’t it?” he said in an undertone to Ron. “Malfoy not playing?”

“不知道，但对我们来说太棒了。”金妮兴高采烈地说，“现在他们换上了哈珀。他跟我同级，是个大傻瓜。”

“Lucky, I call it,” said Ron, looking slightly more animated. “And Vaisey off too, he’s their best goal scorer, I didn’t fancy — hey!” he said suddenly, freezing halfway through pulling on his Keeper’s gloves and staring at Harry.

哈利淡淡地笑了笑，可是当他套上深红色的球袍时，他的思路却游移到了魁地奇以外的事情上。马尔福以前也有一次声称自己受伤了，不能参加比赛，但那次他是为了改变整个比赛的日程，换一个对斯莱特林更加有利的日子。他这次怎么这样痛快就让替补队员上场呢？他是真的病了，还是装病呢？

“What?”

“真可疑，是不是？”他压低声音对罗恩说，“马尔福竟然不参加比赛！”

“I . . . you . . .” Ron had dropped his voice, he looked both scared and excited. “My drink . . . my pumpkin juice . . . you didn’t . . . ?”

“这是我们运气好。”罗恩说道，似乎有了一些活力，“瓦赛也不来了，他是他们队最好的得分手啊，真没想到——嘿！”他突然叫了一声，呆呆地望着哈利，守门员手套戴到一半停住了。

Harry raised his eyebrows, but said nothing except, “We’ll be starting in about five minutes, you’d better get your boots on.”

“怎么啦？”

They walked out onto the pitch to tumultuous roars and boos. One end of the stadium was solid red and gold; the other, a sea of green and silver. Many Hufflepuffs and Ravenclaws had taken sides too: Amidst all the yelling and clapping Harry could distinctly hear the roar of Luna Lovegood’s famous lion-topped hat.

“我……你……”罗恩放低声音，显得既害怕又兴奋，“我那杯饮料……我的南瓜汁……你没有……？”

Harry stepped up to Madam Hooch, the referee, who was standing ready to release the balls from the crate.

哈利扬起眉毛，只说了一句：“五分钟后比赛就开始了，你最好赶紧穿上靴子。”

“Captains shake hands,” she said, and Harry had his hand crushed by the new Slytherin Captain, Urquhart. “Mount your brooms. On the whistle . . . three . . . two . . . one . . .”

他们来到外面人声鼎沸的球场上。看台一边是一片红彤彤金灿灿的人海，另一边则是一片绿色和银色的汪洋。许多赫奇帕奇和拉文克劳也各有自己支持的球队。在所有这些尖叫声、鼓掌声中，哈利清清楚楚地听见了卢娜·洛夫古德那顶著名的狮子帽的咆哮声。

The whistle sounded, Harry and the others kicked off hard from the frozen ground, and they were away.

哈利走到裁判霍琦夫人的面前，霍琦夫人站在那里正准备把球从箱子里放出来。

Harry soared around the perimeter of the grounds, looking around for the Snitch and keeping one eye on Harper, who was zigzagging far below him. Then a voice that was jarringly different to the usual commentator’s started up.

“双方队长握手，”她说道，哈利的手几乎被斯莱特林的新队长厄克特捏碎了。“骑上扫帚。听我的哨声……三……二……一……”

“Well, there they go, and I think we’re all surprised to see the team that Potter’s put together this year. Many thought, given Ronald Weasley’s patchy performance as Keeper last year, that he might be off the team, but of course, a close personal friendship with the Captain does help. . . .”

哨声一响，哈利和其他队员使劲一蹬冻得硬邦邦的地面，升上了空中。

These words were greeted with jeers and applause from the Slytherin end of the pitch. Harry craned around on his broom to look toward the commentator’s podium. A tall, skinny blond boy with an upturned nose was standing there, talking into the magical megaphone that had once been Lee Jordan’s; Harry recognized Zacharias Smith, a Hufflepuff player whom he heartily disliked.

哈利绕着球场周围盘旋，寻找金色飞贼，同时警惕地提防着在他下面绕来绕去的哈珀。这时，一个跟以往的解说员截然不同的声音响了起来。

“Oh, and here comes Slytherin’s first attempt on goal, it’s Urquhart streaking down the pitch and —”

“好，现在他们出发了。我想，看到波特这学期拼凑起来的这支球队，大家都会感到吃惊的。许多人以为，守门员罗恩·韦斯莱上学期表现时好时坏，大概不会再待在球队了，但是他跟队长私人关系密切，这无疑帮了他的忙……”

Harry’s stomach turned over.

这番话赢得了球场那端斯莱特林们的讥笑和喝彩。哈利在扫帚上伸长脖子朝解说员的台子看去。一个瘦瘦高高、黄头发、塌鼻子的男生正站在那儿，对着那只曾经属于李·乔丹的魔法麦克风滔滔不绝。哈利认出来了，是扎卡赖斯·史密斯——他非常讨厌的一名赫奇帕奇队员。

“— Weasley saves it, well, he’s bound to get lucky sometimes, I suppose. . . .”

“哦，斯莱特林队第一次向球门发起进攻，是厄克特快速飞过球场——”

“That’s right, Smith, he is,” muttered Harry, grinning to himself, as he dived amongst the Chasers with his eyes searching all around for some hint of the elusive Snitch.

哈利的心都揪起来了。

With half an hour of the game gone, Gryffindor were leading sixty points to zero, Ron having made some truly spectacular saves, some by the very tips of his gloves, and Ginny having scored four of Gryffindor’s six goals. This effectively stopped Zacharias wondering loudly whether the two Weasleys were only there because Harry liked them, and he started on Peakes and Coote instead.

“——韦斯莱把球救起，是啊，我想他偶尔也会交点儿好运……”

“Of course, Coote isn’t really the usual build for a Beater,” said Zacharias loftily, “they’ve generally got a bit more muscle —”

“没错，史密斯，说得对。”哈利低声嘟囔着，暗暗地笑了。他从一群追球手中间俯冲下去，眼睛四处寻找着那只捉摸不定的金色飞贼的踪影。

“Hit a Bludger at him!” Harry called to Coote as he zoomed past, but Coote, grinning broadly, chose to aim the next Bludger at Harper instead, who was just passing Harry in the opposite direction. Harry was pleased to hear the dull thunk that meant the Bludger had found its mark.

比赛进行了半个小时，格兰芬多六十比零领先，罗恩身手不凡，很漂亮地救起了一些险球，有几个球他甚至是用手套尖扑出去的。在格兰芬多投中的六个球中，金妮就占了四个。这一下扎卡赖斯收敛多了，不再大声念叨韦斯莱兄妹是因为哈利偏心才进入球队的。他改变目标，开始编派起珀克斯和古特来。

It seemed as though Gryffindor could do no wrong. Again and again they scored, and again and again, at the other end of the pitch, Ron saved goals with apparent ease. He was actually smiling now, and when the crowd greeted a particularly good save with a rousing chorus of the old favorite “Weasley Is Our King,” he pretended to conduct them from on high.

“当然啦，古特并不具备一般击球手那样的体格，”扎卡赖斯傲慢地说道，“击球手总的来说肌肉都比较发达——”

“Thinks he’s something special today, doesn’t he?” said a snide voice, and Harry was nearly knocked off his broom as Harper collided with him hard and deliberately. “Your blood-traitor pal . . .”

“给他一记游走球！”哈利飞过古特身边时朝他喊了一声，古特脸上露出灿烂的笑容，却将那只游走球瞄准了正迎面朝哈利飞来的哈珀。哈利听见砰的一声闷响，知道那只球击中了目标，心头暗暗高兴。

Madam Hooch’s back was turned, and though Gryffindors below shouted in anger, by the time she looked around, Harper had already sped off. His shoulder aching, Harry raced after him, determined to ram him back. . . .

格兰芬多队似乎怎么打都顺手。他们一次次进球得分，而在球场另一端，罗恩轻松地救起了一个又一个球，简直是手到擒来。他现在脸上居然也有了笑容。当他特别漂亮地救起一个险球、观众齐声高唱那首最受欢迎的老歌“韦斯莱是我们的王”时，他还假装从高处给他们当指挥呢。

“And I think Harper of Slytherin’s seen the Snitch!” said Zacharias Smith through his megaphone. “Yes, he’s certainly seen something Potter hasn’t!”

“他还觉得自个儿今天是个人物呢，嗯？”一个阴险的声音说道，随即哈珀故意狠狠地撞了过来，把哈利撞得差点儿从扫帚上摔下去，“你那个败类哥儿们……”

Smith really was an idiot, thought Harry, hadn’t he noticed them collide? But next moment, his stomach seemed to drop out of the sky — Smith was right and Harry was wrong: Harper had not sped upward at random; he had spotted what Harry had not: The Snitch was speeding along high above them, glinting brightly against the clear blue sky.

霍琦夫人背对着他们，下面的格兰芬多们气愤地大声喊叫起来，可是当她转过身来时，哈珀已经迅速飞走了。哈利肩膀生疼，立刻朝他追了过去，打定主意也要撞他一下……

Harry accelerated; the wind was whistling in his ears so that it drowned all sound of Smith’s commentary or the crowd, but Harper was still ahead of him, and Gryffindor was only a hundred points up; if Harper got there first Gryffindor had lost . . . and now Harper was feet from it, his hand outstretched. . . .

“我认为斯莱特林队的哈珀已经看见飞贼了！”扎卡赖斯·史密斯对着魔法麦克风说，“没错，他肯定看见了什么，波特没看见！”

“Oi, Harper!” yelled Harry in desperation. “How much did Malfoy pay you to come on instead of him?”

史密斯真是个白痴，哈利想，他难道没有看见他撞自己吗？紧接着哈利的心忽悠一下，简直要从空中沉向地面了——史密斯说得对，哈利判断错了。哈珀刚才突然上升不是无缘无故的，他确实看见了哈利没有看见的东西：金色飞贼在他们的高处疾飞，在明朗的蓝天衬托下闪着耀眼的光芒。

He did not know what made him say it, but Harper did a dou-ble-take; he fumbled the Snitch, let it slip through his fingers, and shot right past it. Harry made a great swipe for the tiny, fluttering ball and caught it.

哈利立刻加速，风在他耳边呼呼地掠过，史密斯的解说声、观众的喧闹声都听不见了，可是哈珀还是在他前面。格兰芬多只领先一百分，如果哈珀先飞到那儿，格兰芬多就输了……现在哈珀离飞贼只有几英尺远了，他的手向前伸着……

“YES!” Harry yelled. Wheeling around, he hurtled back toward the ground, the Snitch held high in his hand. As the crowd realized what had happened, a great shout went up that almost drowned the sound of the whistle that signaled the end of the game.

“喂，哈珀！”哈利孤注一掷地喊道，“马尔福给了你多少钱让你来替他打比赛？”

“Ginny, where’re you going?” yelled Harry, who had found himself trapped in the midst of a mass midair hug with the rest of the team, but Ginny sped right on past them until, with an almighty crash, she collided with the commentator’s podium. As the crowd shrieked and laughed, the Gryffindor team landed beside the wreckage of wood under which Zacharias was feebly stirring; Harry heard Ginny saying blithely to an irate Professor McGonagall, “Forgot to brake, Professor, sorry.”

他不知道自己为什么要说这话，可是哈珀吃了一惊，一下子没有抓牢飞贼，球从他手指间滑脱，他的身子嗖地飞了过去。哈利朝那只扑扇着翅膀的小球猛冲过去，把它抓住了。

Laughing, Harry broke free of the rest of the team and hugged Ginny, but let go very quickly. Avoiding her gaze, he clapped a cheering Ron on the back instead as, all enmity forgotten, the Gryffindor team left the pitch arm in arm, punching the air and waving to their supporters.

“有了！”哈利喊道，他转身飞快地冲向地面，手里高高地举着那只飞贼。当观众们意识到是怎么回事时，立刻爆发出一阵震耳欲聋的喧闹，把比赛结束的哨声都淹没了。

The atmosphere in the changing room was jubilant.

“金妮，你去哪儿？”哈利大喊，队员们在空中热烈拥抱，他发现自己被他们挤在了最中间，可是金妮径直从他们旁边飞过，然后哗啦一声，撞上了解说员的台子。随着观众们的尖叫声和哄笑声，格兰芬多的队员们降落在那堆被撞得乱七八糟的木板旁，扎卡赖斯在木板下面有气无力地挣扎着。

“Party up in the common room, Seamus said!” yelled Dean exuberantly. “C’mon, Ginny, Demelza!”

哈利听见金妮轻快地对愤怒的麦格教授说：“忘记刹车了，教授，抱歉。”

Ron and Harry were the last two in the changing room. They were just about to leave when Hermione entered. She was twisting her Gryffindor scarf in her hands and looked upset but determined.

哈利哈哈大笑地挣脱其他队员，冲过去搂抱着金妮，但又赶紧放开了。他躲着金妮的目光，转而去拍打欢呼雀跃的罗恩的后背。格兰芬多的队员们忘记了前嫌，手挽着手走出球场，一边朝空中挥舞着拳头，向支持他们的观众挥手致意。

“I want a word with you, Harry.” She took a deep breath. “You shouldn’t have done it. You heard Slughorn, it’s illegal.”

更衣室里一片欢腾的气氛。

“What are you going to do, turn us in?” demanded Ron.

“楼上的公共休息室里在开晚会，西莫说的！”迪安兴高采烈地喊道，“快走，金妮、德米尔扎！”

“What are you two talking about?” asked Harry, turning away to hang up his robes so that neither of them would see him grinning.

更衣室里只剩下哈利和罗恩了。他们正要离开，赫敏突然闯了进来。她两只手里攥着她那条格兰芬多的围巾，一副心烦意乱、但决心已定的样子。

“You know perfectly well what we’re talking about!” said Hermione shrilly. “You spiked Ron’s juice with lucky potion at breakfast! Felix Felicis!”

“我想跟你谈谈，哈利。”她深深吸了一口气，“你不应该这么做。你听见斯拉格霍恩怎么说的，这是不合法的。”

“No, I didn’t,” said Harry, turning back to face them both.

“你准备怎么办，揭发我们？”罗恩问道。

“Yes you did, Harry, and that’s why everything went right, there were Slytherin players missing and Ron saved everything!”

“你们俩在说些什么呀？”哈利问，一边转身去挂他的球袍，这样他们俩就看不见他脸上得意的笑容了。

“I didn’t put it in!” said Harry, grinning broadly. He slipped his hand inside his jacket pocket and drew out the tiny bottle that Hermione had seen in his hand that morning. It was full of golden potion and the cork was still tightly sealed with wax. “I wanted Ron to think I’d done it, so I faked it when I knew you were looking.” He looked at Ron. “You saved everything because you felt lucky. You did it all yourself.”

“你完全清楚我们在说什么！”赫敏声音尖利地说，“你早饭的时候往罗恩的南瓜汁里搀了幸运药水！福灵剂！”

He pocketed the potion again.

“不，我没有。”哈利说着转过去面对着他们俩。

“There really wasn’t anything in my pumpkin juice?” Ron said, astounded. “But the weather’s good . . . and Vaisey couldn’t play. . . . I honestly haven’t been given lucky potion?”

“你就是搀了，哈利，所以一切才这么顺利，斯莱特林怎么投都投不中，罗恩每个球都能救起来！”

Harry shook his head. Ron gaped at him for a moment, then rounded on Hermione, imitating her voice. “You added Felix Felicis to Ron’s juice this morning, that’s why he saved everything! See! I can save goals without help, Hermione!”

“我没有把它搀进去！”哈利说着，忍不住绽开了笑容。他把手伸进外衣的口袋，掏出赫敏早上看见他拿在手里的那个小瓶。满满一瓶金黄色的药水，塞子仍然用蜡封得死死的。“我想让罗恩以为我搀了药水，所以，我知道你在旁边看着，就假装这么做了。”他看着罗恩。“你每个球都能救起来，是因为你自己感觉运气好。你是靠自己的能力做到的。”

“I never said you couldn’t — Ron, you thought you’d been given it too!”

他把药水又放回了口袋。

But Ron had already strode past her out of the door with his broomstick over his shoulder.

“我的南瓜汁里真的什么也没有？”罗恩大为震惊地说，“可是天气这么好……瓦赛不能来比赛……你真的没有给我喝幸运药水？”

“Er,” said Harry into the sudden silence; he had not expected his plan to backfire like this, “shall . . . shall we go up to the party, then?”

哈利摇了摇头。

“You go!” said Hermione, blinking back tears. “I’m sick of Ron at the moment, I don’t know what I’m supposed to have done. . . .”

罗恩呆呆地望了他片刻，然后猛地转向赫敏，模仿她的声音说：“你今天早晨在罗恩的南瓜汁里搀了福灵剂，所以他才能救起那么多球！看见了吗！我不用帮助也能把球救起来，赫敏！”

And she stormed out of the changing room too.

“我从来没说过你不能——罗恩，你自己也以为喝了药水！”

Harry walked slowly back up the grounds toward the castle through the crowd, many of whom shouted congratulations at him, but he felt a great sense of letdown; he had been sure that if Ron won the match, he and Hermione would be friends again immediately. He did not see how he could possibly explain to Hermione that what she had done to offend Ron was kiss Viktor Krum, not when the offense had occurred so long ago.

可是罗恩已经扛着扫帚，大摇大摆地从赫敏身边走出了更衣室。

Harry could not see Hermione at the Gryffindor celebration party, which was in full swing when he arrived. Renewed cheers and clapping greeted his appearance, and he was soon surrounded by a mob of people congratulating him. What with trying to shake off the Creevey brothers, who wanted a blow-by-blow match analysis, and the large group of girls that encircled him, laughing at his least amusing comments and batting their eyelids, it was some time before he could try and find Ron. At last, he extricated himself from Romilda Vane, who was hinting heavily that she would like to go to Slughorn’s Christmas party with him. As he was ducking toward the drinks table, he walked straight into Ginny, Arnold the Pygmy Puff riding on her shoulder and Crookshanks mewing hopefully at her heels.

“嗯，”哈利打破突然出现的沉默说道，真没想到他的计划竟然这样事与愿违，“我们……我们上去参加晚会吧？”

“Looking for Ron?” she asked, smirking. “He’s over there, the filthy hypocrite.”

“你自己去吧！”赫敏说，她眨眨眼皮忍住了泪水，“眼下我对罗恩感到腻烦了，真不明白我到底做错了什么……”

Harry looked into the corner she was indicating. There, in full view of the whole room, stood Ron wrapped so closely around Lavender Brown it was hard to tell whose hands were whose.

说完，她也一头冲出了更衣室。

“It looks like he’s eating her face, doesn’t it?” said Ginny dispassionately. “But I suppose he’s got to refine his technique somehow. Good game, Harry.”

哈利穿过拥挤的人群，走过场地，返回城堡，许多人都大喊大叫地祝贺他，但是他觉得内心沮丧极了。他本来以为只要罗恩赢了这场比赛，罗恩和赫敏肯定就会立刻重归于好。他不知道他怎么才能跟赫敏解释得清，是因为她吻了威克多尔·克鲁姆才得罪了罗恩，事情已经过去那么久了，这叫他怎么说呢？

She patted him on the arm; Harry felt a swooping sensation in his stomach, but then she walked off to help herself to more butterbeer. Crookshanks trotted after her, his yellow eyes fixed upon Arnold.

哈利在格兰芬多的庆祝晚会上没有看见赫敏。他赶到时，晚会正在热烈地进行着。人们看到他进来，又爆发出一片掌声和欢呼声，祝贺的人群很快就把他团团围住了。他没有能够马上去找罗恩。克里维兄弟俩想写一篇极为详细的比赛分析，他好不容易才摆脱了他们。接着一大群女生又把他围在中间，不管他说什么没趣儿的话，她们都放声大笑，还一个劲儿地冲他挤眉弄眼，他费了好大工夫才脱了身。最后，他总算甩掉了罗米达·万尼——她强烈地暗示希望能跟哈利一起去参加斯拉格霍恩的圣诞晚会。哈利躲闪着朝饮料桌走去时，迎面撞上了金妮，侏儒蒲阿囡趴在她的肩膀上，克鲁克山眼巴巴地跟在她脚边喵喵地叫着。

Harry turned away from Ron, who did not look like he would be surfacing soon, just as the portrait hole was closing. With a sinking feeling, he thought he saw a mane of bushy brown hair whipping out of sight.

“你在找罗恩？”她问道，然后嘲笑地说，“他在那儿呢，这个卑鄙的伪君子。”

He darted forward, sidestepped Romilda Vane again, and pushed open the portrait of the Fat Lady. The corridor outside seemed to be deserted.

哈利朝她手指的那个墙角望去。果然，罗恩和拉文德·布朗当着整个休息室的人紧紧地搂抱在一起，难解难分，简直分不清哪只手是谁的。

“Hermione?”

“他好像在啃她的脸，是不是？”金妮冷静地说，“我想他需要提高一下技术。比赛打得不错，哈利。”

He found her in the first unlocked classroom he tried. She was sitting on the teacher’s desk, alone except for a small ring of twittering yellow birds circling her head, which she had clearly just conjured out of midair. Harry could not help admiring her spellwork at a time like this.

她拍了拍他的胳膊。哈利感到他的心陡然往下一沉，可是接着她就走过去给自己倒黄油啤酒了。克鲁克山颠儿颠儿地跟在她后面，一双黄眼睛死死地盯着阿囡。

“Oh, hello, Harry,” she said in a brittle voice. “I was just practicing.”

看来罗恩一时半会儿清醒不过来，哈利便转回身，却正好看到肖像洞口合上了。他心知不妙，因为他好像瞥见一蓬乱糟糟的褐色头发从那里一闪而过。

“Yeah . . . they’re — er — really good. . . .” said Harry.

他赶紧再次避开罗米达·万尼冲了过去，一把推开胖夫人的肖像。外面的走廊里似乎空无一人。

He had no idea what to say to her. He was just wondering whether there was any chance that she had not noticed Ron, that she had merely left the room because the party was a little too rowdy, when she said, in an unnaturally high-pitched voice, “Ron seems to be enjoying the celebrations.”

“赫敏？”

“Er . . . does he?” said Harry.

他试着推开了第一间没上锁的教室，果然看见了赫敏。她独自一人坐在讲台上，一群叽叽喳喳的小黄鸟在她的头顶飞来飞去，显然是她刚才凭空变出来的。即使在这样的时刻，哈利也忍不住赞叹她的魔法技艺实在高超。

“Don’t pretend you didn’t see him,” said Hermione. “He wasn’t exactly hiding it, was — ?”

“噢，你好，哈利，”她用一种冷漠的声音说，“我正在练习呢。”

The door behind them burst open. To Harry’s horror, Ron came in, laughing, pulling Lavender by the hand.

“是啊……它们——嗯……真不错……”哈利说。

“Oh,” he said, drawing up short at the sight of Harry and Hermione.

他不知道应该对她说些什么。他正猜想她是不是并没有注意到罗恩，她是不是因为晚会太吵了才离开休息室的，可是，紧接着便听见她用不自然的尖细声音说：“罗恩好像在庆祝会上玩得蛮开心的。”

“Oops!” said Lavender, and she backed out of the room, giggling. The door swung shut behind her.

“嗯……是吗？”哈利说。

There was a horrible, swelling, billowing silence. Hermione was staring at Ron, who refused to look at her, but said with an odd mixture of bravado and awkwardness, “Hi, Harry! Wondered where you’d got to!”

“你别假装没有看见他。”赫敏说，“他可没有刻意躲起来，不是吗——”

Hermione slid off the desk. The little flock of golden birds continued to twitter in circles around her head so that she looked like a strange, feathery model of the solar system.

他们身后的门突然被撞开了。哈利惊恐地看见罗恩拽着拉文德的手，嘻嘻哈哈地走了进来。

“You shouldn’t leave Lavender waiting outside,” she said quietly. “She’ll wonder where you’ve gone.”

“噢。”他看见了哈利和赫敏，便一下子停住了。

She walked very slowly and erectly toward the door. Harry glanced at Ron, who was looking relieved that nothing worse had happened.

“哎哟！”拉文德咯咯笑着退出了教室。门在她身后关上了。

“Oppugno!” came a shriek from the doorway.

教室里一片可怕的、酝酿着惊涛骇浪的沉默。赫敏盯着罗恩，罗恩没看她，却用一种尴尬的、虚张声势的古怪腔调说：“嘿，哈利！我还纳闷你跑哪儿去了呢！”

Harry spun around to see Hermione pointing her wand at Ron, her expression wild: The little flock of birds was speeding like a hail of fat golden bullets toward Ron, who yelped and covered his face with his hands, but the birds attacked, pecking and clawing at every bit of flesh they could reach.

赫敏从讲台上滑了下来。那群金黄色的小鸟继续围着她的脑袋叽叽喳喳地飞着，这使她看上去像一个奇怪的、长着羽毛的太阳系模型。

“Gerremoffme!” he yelled, but with one last look of vindictive fury, Hermione wrenched open the door and disappeared through it. Harry thought he heard a sob before it slammed.

“你不应该让拉文德在外面等你。”她平静地说道，“她会纳闷你跑哪儿去了。”

她昂着头，很慢很慢地朝门口走去。哈利看了一眼罗恩，罗恩似乎因为没出现更糟的局面而松了口气。

“万弹齐发！”门口传来一声尖叫。

哈利猛地转身，看见赫敏正用魔杖指着罗恩，脸上的表情十分激动。那群小鸟像一片沉甸甸的金色子弹一齐朝罗恩射去，罗恩惨叫着用手捂住脸，可是小鸟来势凶猛，在它们够得着的每片皮肤上又啄又挠。

“让它们滚！”他大叫，可是赫敏脸上带着最后一点复仇的怒火，猛地拧开门走了出去。在门砰然关上时，哈利仿佛听见了一声抽泣。

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