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 EIGHTEEN BIRTHDAY SURPRISES

第十八章　生日的意外

The next day Harry confided in both Ron and Hermione the task that Dumbledore had set him, though separately, for Hermione still refused to remain in Ron’s presence longer than it took to give him a contemptuous look.

第二天，哈利把邓布利多给他布置的作业告诉了罗恩和赫敏，是分别说的，因为赫敏在罗恩面前仍然不肯久待，最多只是轻蔑地白他一眼。

Ron thought that Harry was unlikely to have any trouble with Slughorn at all.

罗恩认为哈利在斯拉格霍恩那里不可能会遇到什么麻烦。

“He loves you,” he said over breakfast, waving an airy forkful of fried egg. “Won’t refuse you anything, will he? Not his little Potions Prince. Just hang back after class this afternoon and ask him.”

“他喜欢你，”吃早饭时，罗恩轻松地挥着一叉子煎鸡蛋说，“不会拒绝你任何事的，是不是？你是他的魔药小王子。今天下午课后留下来问他好了。”

Hermione, however, took a gloomier view. “He must be determined to hide what really happened if Dumbledore couldn’t get it out of him,” she said in a low voice, as they stood in the deserted, snowy courtyard at break. “Horcruxes . . . Horcruxes . . . I’ve never even heard of them. . . .”

赫敏则悲观一些。

“You haven’t?” Harry was disappointed; he had hoped that Hermione might have been able to give him a clue as to what Horcruxes were.

“他一定是决心隐瞒真相了，如果连邓布利多都拿不到的话。”她低声说，这时是课间休息，他们站在积满白雪、冷冷清清的院子里，“魂器……魂器……我都没听说过……”

“They must be really advanced Dark Magic, or why would Voldemort have wanted to know about them? I think it’s going to be difficult to get the information, Harry, you’ll have to be very careful about how you approach Slughorn, think out a strategy. . . .”

“你没听说过？”

“Ron reckons I should just hang back after Potions this afternoon. . . .”

哈利很失望，他还指望赫敏能提供一些线索呢。

“Oh, well, if Won-Won thinks that, you’d better do it,” she said, flaring up at once. “After all, when has Won-Won’s judgment ever been faulty?”

“准是很高级的魔法，不然伏地魔为什么想知道？我觉得要搞到这个情报很困难，哈利，你必须非常谨慎，怎么接近斯拉格霍恩，要想个计策。”

“Hermione, can’t you — ?”

“罗恩说只要我今天魔药课后留下来……”

“No!” she said angrily, and stormed away, leaving Harry alone and ankle-deep in snow.

“哦，如果罗－罗说了，你最好照办，”她顿时火冒三丈，“罗－罗的判断什么时候错过啊？”

Potions lessons were uncomfortable enough these days, seeing as Harry, Ron, and Hermione had to share a desk. Today, Hermione moved her cauldron around the table so that she was close to Ernie, and ignored both Harry and Ron.

“赫敏，你就不能——”

“What’ve you done?” Ron muttered to Harry, looking at Hermione’s haughty profile.

“不能！”她怒气冲冲地甩了一句，转身就走，把哈利一个人丢在齐踝深的雪地里。

But before Harry could answer, Slughorn was calling for silence from the front of the room.

这些天的魔药课已经够不自在的了，因为哈利、罗恩和赫敏都坐在一张桌子上。今天赫敏把她的坩埚挪到一边，和厄尼挨着坐，对哈利和罗恩两个人都不理了。

“Settle down, settle down, please! Quickly, now, lots of work to get through this afternoon! Golpalott’s Third Law . . . who can tell me — ? But Miss Granger can, of course!”

“你怎么得罪她了？”罗恩看着赫敏高傲的侧影，小声问哈利。

Hermione recited at top speed: “Golpalott’s-Third-Law-states-that-the-antidote-for-a-blended-poison-will-be-equal-to-more-than-the-sum-of-the-antidotes-for-each-of-the-separate-components.”

哈利还没来得及答话，斯拉格霍恩就在前面叫大家安静了。

“Precisely!” beamed Slughorn. “Ten points for Gryffindor! Now, if we accept Golpalott’s Third Law as true . . .”

“请静一静，静一静！快点儿，今天下午有很多事要做！戈巴洛特第三定律……谁能给我讲讲——？当然是格兰杰小姐啦！”

Harry was going to have to take Slughorn’s word for it that Golpalott’s Third Law was true, because he had not understood any of it. Nobody apart from Hermione seemed to be following what Slughorn said next either.

赫敏用最快的速度背道：“戈巴洛特第三定律称，混合毒药之解药大于每种单独成份之解药之总和。”

“. . . which means, of course, that assuming we have achieved correct identification of the potion’s ingredients by Scarpin’s Revelaspell, our primary aim is not the relatively simple one of selecting antidotes to those ingredients in and of themselves, but to find that added component that will, by an almost alchemical process, transform these disparate elements —”

“完全正确！”斯拉格霍恩微笑道，“格兰芬多加十分！现在，如果我们承认戈巴洛特第三定律成立……”

Ron was sitting beside Harry with his mouth half open, doodling absently on his new copy of Advanced Potion-Making. Ron kept forgetting that he could no longer rely on Hermione to help him out of trouble when he failed to grasp what was going on.

哈利只能按斯拉格霍恩的话相信戈巴洛特第三定律成立，因为他压根儿没听懂。除了赫敏之外，似乎谁也没听懂斯拉格霍恩下面的话：

“. . . and so,” finished Slughorn, “I want each of you to come and take one of these phials from my desk. You are to create an antidote for the poison within it before the end of the lesson. Good luck, and don’t forget your protective gloves!”

“……当然，这意味着，假使我们已用斯卡平的现形咒正确分析出魔药的成份，我们的首要目标不是简单地选择每种个体成份的解药，而是找到附加成份，它能通过近乎于炼金术的程序，把各种互不相干的成份变形——”

Hermione had left her stool and was halfway toward Slughorn’s desk before the rest of the class had realized it was time to move, and by the time Harry, Ron, and Ernie returned to the table, she had already tipped the contents of her phial into her cauldron and was kindling a fire underneath it.

罗恩半张着嘴坐在哈利旁边，心不在焉地在他那本崭新的《高级魔药制作》上乱画着。罗恩总是忘记他现在听不懂课已经不能再靠赫敏救他了。

“It’s a shame that the Prince won’t be able to help you much with this, Harry,” she said brightly as she straightened up. “You have to understand the principles involved this time. No shortcuts or cheats!”

“……所以，”斯拉格霍恩最后说，“我要你们每人来我的讲台上拿一个小瓶子，在下课前必须配出瓶中之物的解药。祝你们好运，别忘了戴防护手套！”

Annoyed, Harry uncorked the poison he had taken from Slughorn’s desk, which was a garish shade of pink, tipped it into his cauldron, and lit a fire underneath it. He did not have the faintest idea what he was supposed to do next. He glanced around at Ron, who was now standing there looking rather gormless, having copied everything Harry had done.

赫敏马上离开凳子朝讲台走去，她都走到一半了，其他人才意识到要行动。等哈利、罗恩和厄尼回到桌前，她已经把瓶里的东西倒进了坩埚，在下面点起了火。

“You sure the Prince hasn’t got any tips?” Ron muttered to Harry.

“可惜那个王子这次也帮不上你了，哈利，”她直起腰，愉快地说，“你必须理解其中的原理，没法投机取巧！”

Harry pulled out his trusty copy of Advanced Potion-Making and turned to the chapter on antidotes. There was Golpalott’s Third Law, stated word for word as Hermione had recited it, but not a single illuminating note in the Prince’s hand to explain what it meant. Apparently the Prince, like Hermione, had had no difficulty understanding it.

哈利恼火地拔出瓶塞，把那鲜艳的粉红色毒药倒进坩埚，点着了火，一点儿也不知道下面该干什么了。他看看罗恩，罗恩傻头傻脑地站在那儿，只是依样做完了哈利所做的事。

“Nothing,” said Harry gloomily.

“王子真的没有提示吗？”罗恩小声问哈利。

Hermione was now waving her wand enthusiastically over her cauldron. Unfortunately, they could not copy the spell she was doing because she was now so good at nonverbal incantations that she did not need to say the words aloud. Ernie Macmillan, however, was muttering, “Specialis Revelio!” over his cauldron, which sounded impressive, so Harry and Ron hastened to imitate him.

哈利抽出他那本宝贝的《高级魔药制作》，翻到解药那一章。有戈巴洛特第三定律，跟赫敏背的一字不差，但没有王子写的注释。显然王子跟赫敏一样毫不费力就理解了。

It took Harry only five minutes to realize that his reputation as the best potion-maker in the class was crashing around his ears. Slughorn had peered hopefully into his cauldron on his first circuit of the dungeon, preparing to exclaim in delight as he usually did, and instead had withdrawn his head hastily, coughing, as the smell of bad eggs overwhelmed him. Hermione’s expression could not have been any smugger; she had loathed being outperformed in every Potions class. She was now decanting the mysteriously separated ingredients of her poison into ten different crystal phials. More to avoid watching this irritating sight than anything else, Harry bent over the Half-Blood Prince’s book and turned a few pages with unnecessary force.

“没有。”哈利沮丧地说。

And there it was, scrawled right across a long list of antidotes:

赫敏劲头十足地在坩埚上方挥舞着魔杖，可惜他们模仿不了她的魔法，因为她现在已很擅长无声咒，不用说出咒语。这时厄尼正对着他的坩埚念叨着“原形立现！”听起来挺像回事，哈利和罗恩赶紧效仿。

Just shove a bezoar down their throats.

只过了五分钟，哈利就意识到他那班上第一魔药师的名声将要毁于一旦。斯拉格霍恩第一次巡视时期待地朝他的坩埚里看了看，正准备像往常那样兴奋地欢呼，可是他立即缩回了头，被臭鸡蛋味熏得连连咳嗽。赫敏的表情得意到极点，她受够了每次魔药课上自己都被人超过。现在她正把那些神秘分离的成份小心地注入到十个不同的小水晶瓶里。哈利为了避免看到这恼人的情形，只好埋头去看混血王子的书，他猛地翻了几页。

Harry stared at these words for a moment. Hadn’t he once, long ago, heard of bezoars? Hadn’t Snape mentioned them in their firstever Potions lesson? “A stone taken from the stomach of a goat, which will protect from most poisons.”

有了，在那一长串解药名字的右边潦草地写着：

It was not an answer to the Golpalott problem, and had Snape still been their teacher, Harry would not have dared do it, but this was a moment for desperate measures. He hastened toward the store cupboard and rummaged within it, pushing aside unicorn horns and tangles of dried herbs until he found, at the very back, a small cardboard box on which had been scribbled the word bezoars.

只需在嗓子里塞入一块粪石

He opened the box just as Slughorn called, “Two minutes left, everyone!” Inside were half a dozen shriveled brown objects, looking more like dried-up kidneys than real stones. Harry seized one, put the box back in the cupboard, and hurried back to his cauldron.

哈利盯着这行字看了一会儿。粪石他不是听说过吗，很久以前，斯内普在第一堂魔药课上就提到：“山羊胃中的结石，可抵御多种毒药。”

“Time’s . . . UP!” called Slughorn genially. “Well, let’s see how you’ve done! Blaise . . . what have you got for me?”

这不是戈巴洛特问题的答案，如果这课还是斯内普教，哈利也不敢这么做，但此刻他顾不得了。他冲向储藏柜，推开独角兽角和一堆堆干草药，在里面胡乱地翻找着，终于在最里面找到了一个小硬纸盒，上面潦草地写着“粪石”。

Slowly, Slughorn moved around the room, examining the various antidotes. Nobody had finished the task, although Hermione was trying to cram a few more ingredients into her bottle before Slughorn reached her. Ron had given up completely, and was merely trying to avoid breathing in the putrid fumes issuing from his cauldron. Harry stood there waiting, the bezoar clutched in a slightly sweaty hand.

斯拉格霍恩叫道：“还有两分钟，各位！”哈利打开盒子，看到了六块皱缩的褐色物体，与其说像石头，不如说像干腰子。他拿了一块，把盒子放回柜中，快步走回坩埚旁。

Slughorn reached their table last. He sniffed Ernie’s potion and passed on to Ron’s with a grimace. He did not linger over Ron’s cauldron, but backed away swiftly, retching slightly.

“时间……到！”斯拉格霍恩愉快地说道，“看看你们做得怎么样！布雷司……你有些什么？”

“And you, Harry,” he said. “What have you got to show me?”

斯拉格霍恩在教室中缓缓地巡视，检查着那些五花八门的解药。谁都没有做完，赫敏正争取在斯拉格霍恩过来之前往她的瓶里再塞入几样成份。罗恩彻底放弃了，只是在努力避免吸入他坩埚发出的腐臭气。哈利站在那儿等着，粪石攥在有点汗津津的手里。

Harry held out his hand, the bezoar sitting on his palm.

斯拉格霍恩最后踱到了他们桌前，闻了闻厄尼的解药，皱着眉朝罗恩走去。他在罗恩的坩埚前没有多待，迅速退开了，有一点作呕。

Slughorn looked down at it for a full ten seconds. Harry wondered, for a moment, whether he was going to shout at him. Then he threw back his head and roared with laughter.

“你呢，哈利，”他说，“你要给我看什么？”

“You’ve got nerve, boy!” he boomed, taking the bezoar and holding it up so that the class could see it. “Oh, you’re like your mother. . . . Well, I can’t fault you. . . . A bezoar would certainly act as an antidote to all these potions!”

哈利伸出手，掌心里躺着那块粪石。

Hermione, who was sweaty-faced and had soot on her nose, looked livid. Her half-finished antidote, comprising fifty-two ingredients, including a chunk of her own hair, bubbled sluggishly behind Slughorn, who had eyes for nobody but Harry.

斯拉格霍恩低头看了足足十秒钟，哈利都担心他要吼起来了，但他扬起头，放声大笑。

“And you thought of a bezoar all by yourself, did you, Harry?” she asked through gritted teeth.

“你真有胆量，孩子！”他捏起粪石，高高地举起来让全班同学看，“哦，真像你母亲……我不能判你错……粪石当然能解所有这些魔药！”

“That’s the individual spirit a real potion-maker needs!” said Slughorn happily, before Harry could reply. “Just like his mother, she had the same intuitive grasp of potion-making, it’s undoubtedly from Lily he gets it. . . . Yes, Harry, yes, if you’ve got a bezoar to hand, of course that would do the trick . . . although as they don’t work on everything, and are pretty rare, it’s still worth knowing how to mix antidotes. . . .”

赫敏满脸是汗，鼻子上粘着灰，面色铁青。她那没做完的解药在斯拉格霍恩身后慢吞吞地冒着泡，其中含有五十二种成份，包括一团她自己的头发。可斯拉格霍恩眼中只有哈利。

The only person in the room looking angrier than Hermione was Malfoy, who, Harry was pleased to see, had spilled something that looked like cat-sick over himself. Before either of them could express their fury that Harry had come top of the class by not doing any work, however, the bell rang.

“你是自己想到粪石的，是不是，哈利？”赫敏咬着牙问。

“Time to pack up!” said Slughorn. “And an extra ten points to Gryffindor for sheer cheek!”

“这就是真正的魔药师需要的独立精神！”哈利还没答话，斯拉格霍恩高兴地说，“正像他母亲，对魔药有着天生的悟性，他无疑得了莉莉的遗传……对，哈利，对，如果你有粪石，那当然管用……不过，因为它不是什么毒都能解，而且它很稀少，所以了解怎样配制解药还是有用的……”

Still chuckling, he waddled back to his desk at the front of the dungeon.

全班惟一比赫敏更恼火的人是马尔福。哈利开心地看到他身上洒了猫屎似的东西。但他们还没来得及对哈利什么也没做就得了全班第一表示愤慨，下课铃就响了。

Harry dawdled behind, taking an inordinate amount of time to do up his bag. Neither Ron nor Hermione wished him luck as they left; both looked rather annoyed. At last Harry and Slughorn were the only two left in the room.

“收拾东西！”斯拉格霍恩说，“格兰芬多敢于冒险，加十分！”

“Come on, now, Harry, you’ll be late for your next lesson,” said Slughorn affably, snapping the gold clasps shut on his dragon-skin briefcase.

他呵呵地笑着，摇摇摆摆地走回了讲台前。

“Sir,” said Harry, reminding himself irresistibly of Voldemort, “I wanted to ask you something.”

哈利有意落后，磨磨蹭蹭地收拾着书包。罗恩跟赫敏走时都没祝他好运。两人都气鼓鼓的。最后教室里只剩下了哈利和斯拉格霍恩两个人。

“Ask away, then, my dear boy, ask away. . . .”

“快点儿吧，哈利，你下节课要迟到了。”斯拉格霍恩亲切地说，一边扣上了他那火龙皮公文包的金搭扣。

“Sir, I wondered what you know about . . . about Horcruxes?”

“先生，我想问你一点儿事。”哈利说，不禁想起了伏地魔。

Slughorn froze. His round face seemed to sink in upon itself. He licked his lips and said hoarsely, “What did you say?”

“那就快问，亲爱的孩子，快问……”

“I asked whether you know anything about Horcruxes, sir. You see —”

“先生，我想问你知不知道……魂器。”

“Dumbledore put you up to this,” whispered Slughorn. His voice had changed completely. It was not genial anymore, but shocked, terrified. He fumbled in his breast pocket and pulled out a handkerchief, mopping his sweating brow. “Dumbledore’s shown you that — that memory. Well? Hasn’t he?”

斯拉格霍恩僵住了，他的圆脸似乎凹陷下去。他舔舔嘴唇，沙哑地问：“你说什么？”

“Yes,” said Harry, deciding on the spot that it was best not to lie.

“我问你知不知道魂器，先生。”

“Yes, of course,” said Slughorn quietly, still dabbing at his white face. “Of course . . . well, if you’ve seen that memory, Harry, you’ll know that I don’t know anything — anything” — he repeated the word forcefully — “about Horcruxes.”

“邓布利多让你来的？”斯拉格霍恩低声问。

He seized his dragon-skin briefcase, stuffed his handkerchief back into his pocket, and marched to the dungeon door.

他的语气完全变了，不再亲切，而是充满了震惊和恐惧。他在胸前的口袋里摸了一会儿，抽出一条手帕擦了擦冒汗的额头。

“Sir,” said Harry desperately, “I just thought there might be a bit more to the memory —”

“邓布利多给你看了那个——那个记忆，是不是？”

“Did you?” said Slughorn. “Then you were wrong, weren’t you? WRONG!”

“是的。”哈利临时决定最好不要撒谎。

He bellowed the last word and, before Harry could say another word, slammed the dungeon door behind him.

“当然啦，”斯拉格霍恩轻声说，一边还在擦拭着苍白的面孔，“当然……如果你看了记忆，哈利，你就会知道我对魂器一无所知——一无所知。”他用力重复着这几个字。

Neither Ron nor Hermione was at all sympathetic when Harry told them of this disastrous interview. Hermione was still seething at the way Harry had triumphed without doing the work properly. Ron was resentful that Harry hadn’t slipped him a bezoar too.

然后他抓起火龙皮公文包，把手帕塞回口袋里，朝地下教室外走去。

“It would’ve just looked stupid if we’d both done it!” said Harry irritably. “Look, I had to try and soften him up so I could ask him about Voldemort, didn’t I? Oh, will you get a grip!” he added in exasperation, as Ron winced at the sound of the name.

“先生，”哈利急切地说，“我只是想，记忆里可能还有一点儿东西——”

Infuriated by his failure and by Ron’s and Hermione’s attitudes, Harry brooded for the next few days over what to do next about Slughorn. He decided that, for the time being, he would let Slughorn think that he had forgotten all about Horcruxes; it was surely best to lull him into a false sense of security before returning to the attack.

“是吗？那你就错了，是不是？错了！”

When Harry did not question Slughorn again, the Potions master reverted to his usual affectionate treatment of him, and appeared to have put the matter from his mind. Harry awaited an invitation to one of his little evening parties, determined to accept this time, even if he had to reschedule Quidditch practice. Unfortunately, however, no such invitation arrived. Harry checked with Hermione and Ginny: Neither of them had received an invitation and nor, as far as they knew, had anybody else. Harry could not help wondering whether this meant that Slughorn was not quite as forgetful as he appeared, simply determined to give Harry no additional opportunities to question him.

他吼出最后一个词，不等哈利说话，就砰地带上门走了。

Meanwhile, the Hogwarts library had failed Hermione for the first time in living memory. She was so shocked, she even forgot that she was annoyed at Harry for his trick with the bezoar.

听哈利讲述完这次灾难性的谈话，罗恩跟赫敏都毫不同情。赫敏还在为哈利没好好做功课就取胜而愤愤不平，罗恩则怨恨哈利没有塞给他一块粪石。

“I haven’t found one single explanation of what Horcruxes do!” she told him. “Not a single one! I’ve been right through the restricted section and even in the most horrible books, where they tell you how to brew the most gruesome potions — nothing! All I could find was this, in the introduction to Magick Moste Evile — listen — ‘Of the Horcrux, wickedest of magical inventions, we shall not speak nor give direction. . . .’ I mean, why mention it then?” she said impatiently, slamming the old book shut; it let out a ghostly wail. “Oh, shut up,” she snapped, stuffing it back into her bag.

“如果我们两个人都那么做只会显得很愚蠢！”哈利暴躁地说，“你看，我必须设法软化他，才能问他伏地魔的事，是吧？唉，你能不能振作点儿？”见罗恩听到那个名字畏缩了一下，哈利恼怒地说。

The snow melted around the school as February arrived, to be replaced by cold, dreary wetness. Purplish-gray clouds hung low over the castle and a constant fall of chilly rain made the lawns slippery and muddy. The upshot of this was that the sixth years’ first Apparition lesson, which was scheduled for a Saturday morning so that no normal lessons would be missed, took place in the Great Hall instead of in the grounds.

哈利对自己的失败以及罗恩、赫敏对自己的态度而感到窝火，在以后的几天中，他一直在寻思着下一步该拿斯拉格霍恩怎么办，最后他决定暂时让斯拉格霍恩以为他已忘掉了魂器。显然，最好先让对方产生一种安全感，再攻其不备。

When Harry and Hermione arrived in the Hall (Ron had come down with Lavender), they found that the tables had disappeared. Rain lashed against the high windows and the enchanted ceiling swirled darkly above them as they assembled in front of Professors McGonagall, Snape, Flitwick, and Sprout — the Heads of Houses — and a small wizard whom Harry took to be the Apparition instructor from the Ministry. He was oddly colorless, with transparent eyelashes, wispy hair, and an insubstantial air, as though a single gust of wind might blow him away. Harry wondered whether constant disappearances and reappearances had somehow diminished his substance, or whether this frail build was ideal for anyone wishing to vanish.

哈利没再去问斯拉格霍恩，魔药教师便对他又恢复了平日的宠爱，似乎把那件事忘到了脑后。哈利等着再接到他那种小聚会的邀请，打定主意这次聚会就是跟魁地奇训练冲突他也要参加。可是他没有等到。他问了赫敏和金妮，她们俩也没接到邀请，并且据她们所知，别人也没有接到。哈利不禁想到也许斯拉格霍恩并非真的那么健忘，也许他是决心不让哈利有机会来问他了。

“Good morning,” said the Ministry wizard, when all the students had arrived and the Heads of Houses had called for quiet. “My name is Wilkie Twycross and I shall be your Ministry Apparition instructor for the next twelve weeks. I hope to be able to prepare you for your Apparition Tests in this time —”

与此同时，霍格沃茨的图书馆破天荒的第一次令赫敏失望了。她大为震惊，甚至忘了自己还在为哈利用粪石投机取巧而生气。

“Malfoy, be quiet and pay attention!” barked Professor McGonagall.

“我没找到一条关于魂器用途的资料！”她对哈利说，“一条都没有！我翻遍了禁书区，甚至看了最可怕的书，教你怎么熬制最恐怖的魔药的那些——都没有！我只在《至毒魔法》的序言中找到了这个，你听——‘关于魂器这一最邪恶的魔法发明，在此不加论述，亦不予指导’……那干吗要提啊？”赫敏恼火地合上那本旧书，旧书发出幽灵般的哀号。“闭嘴！”她没好气地说，一边把它塞进了书包。

Everybody looked around. Malfoy had flushed a dull pink; he looked furious as he stepped away from Crabbe, with whom he appeared to have been having a whispered argument. Harry glanced quickly at Snape, who also looked annoyed, though Harry strongly suspected that this was less because of Malfoy’s rudeness than the fact that McGonagall had reprimanded one of his House.

进入二月，学校周围的积雪融化了，取而代之的是凄冷的阴湿。灰紫色的云块低低地压在城堡上空，连绵的寒雨使得草坪变得湿滑、泥泞。结果六年级学生的第一节幻影显形课就从操场移到了大礼堂里，这门课被安排在星期六上午，以免耽误常规课程。

“— by which time, many of you may be ready to take your tests,” Twycross continued, as though there had been no interruption.

哈利和赫敏来到大礼堂时（罗恩和拉文德一起走了），发现桌子都不见了。雨水敲打着高高的窗户，施了魔法的天花板在头顶上昏暗地旋转着。他们集合在麦格、斯内普、弗立维和斯普劳特教授（四位院长）和一个小个子巫师的面前。哈利猜想那位应该就是魔法部来的幻影显形课指导教师。他苍白得出奇，睫毛透明，头发纤细，有一种不真实感，好像一阵风就会把他吹走。哈利想，或许是因为经常移形和显形削弱了他的体质，或是这种纤弱的体形最适于消失。

“As you may know, it is usually impossible to Apparate or Disapparate within Hogwarts. The headmaster has lifted this enchantment, purely within the Great Hall, for one hour, so as to enable you to practice. May I emphasize that you will not be able to Apparate outside the walls of this Hall, and that you would be unwise to try.

“上午好，”当学生们到齐了、院长们叫大家安静下来之后，魔法部的巫师说，“我叫威基·泰克罗斯，在接下来的十二周中将担任你们的幻影显形课指导教师，希望能帮你们为这次幻影显形考试做好准备——”

“I would like each of you to place yourselves now so that you have a clear five feet of space in front of you.”

“马尔福，安静听讲！”麦格教授厉声说。

There was a great scrambling and jostling as people separated, banged into each other, and ordered others out of their space. The Heads of Houses moved among the students, marshaling them into position and breaking up arguments.

大家转过头，马尔福脸色暗红，满面怒容地从克拉布身边走开了，他们刚才似乎正在小声争吵。哈利瞥了一眼斯内普，他好像也很恼火，不过哈利怀疑这更多的是因为麦格教授批评了他学院的学生，而不是因为马尔福不守纪律。

“Harry, where are you going?” demanded Hermione.

“——到那时，许多同学也许已有能力参加考试。”泰克罗斯继续说，仿佛没有被打断似的。

But Harry did not answer; he was moving quickly through the crowd, past the place where Professor Flitwick was making squeaky attempts to position a few Ravenclaws, all of whom wanted to be near the front, past Professor Sprout, who was chivying the Hufflepuffs into line, until, by dodging around Ernie Macmillan, he managed to position himself right at the back of the crowd, directly behind Malfoy, who was taking advantage of the general upheaval to continue his argument with Crabbe, standing five feet away and looking mutinous.

“大家也许知道，在霍格沃茨校内一般无法幻影显形和移形。校长特地撤销了魔法，将这一限制解除一小时，仅仅在大礼堂里，让大家可以练习。我强调一下，不可幻影显形到这礼堂的墙外，谁要是尝试谁就是不明智的。

“I don’t know how much longer, all right?” Malfoy shot at him, oblivious to Harry standing right behind him. “It’s taking longer than I thought it would.”

“现在我希望大家各自站好，在身前留够五英尺的空间。”

Crabbe opened his mouth, but Malfoy appeared to second-guess what he was going to say. “Look, it’s none of your business what I’m doing, Crabbe, you and Goyle just do as you’re told and keep a lookout!”

礼堂里一片混乱，学生们开始散开，撞到一起，叫别人走出自己的领地。院长们在学生中走来走去，帮他们排好位置，调解纠纷。

“I tell my friends what I’m up to, if I want them to keep a lookout for me,” Harry said, just loud enough for Malfoy to hear him.

“哈利，你去哪儿？”赫敏问。

Malfoy spun around on the spot, his hand flying to his wand, but at that precise moment the four Heads of House shouted, “Quiet!” and silence fell again. Malfoy turned slowly to face the front again.

哈利没有回答，他迅速穿过人群，从正在尖叫着给几个都想靠前站的拉文克劳学生找位子的弗立维教授面前走了过去，又从正在轰赶赫奇帕奇学生站队的斯普劳特教授面前走了过去，随后又躲开了厄尼·麦克米兰，钻到了人群的末尾，站在正趁乱继续跟克拉布争吵的马尔福身后。克拉布站在五英尺外，看上去挺不服气。

“Thank you,” said Twycross. “Now then . . .”

“我不知道还要多久，知道吗？”马尔福凶狠地说，没注意哈利就在后头，“时间比我想的要长。”

He waved his wand. Old-fashioned wooden hoops instantly appeared on the floor in front of every student.

克拉布张开嘴巴，但马尔福似乎猜到了他要说什么。

“The important things to remember when Apparating are the three D’s!” said Twycross. “Destination, Determination, Deliberation!

“听着，我干什么不关你的事，克拉布，你和高尔只管执行命令和放哨！”

“Step one: Fix your mind firmly upon the desired destination,” said Twycross. “In this case, the interior of your hoop. Kindly concentrate upon that destination now.”

“我要是想让朋友为我放哨，就会告诉他们我在干什么。”哈利用刚好能让马尔福听见的声音说。

Everybody looked around furtively to check that everyone else was staring into their hoop, then hastily did as they were told. Harry gazed at the circular patch of dusty floor enclosed by his hoop and tried hard to think of nothing else. This proved impossible, as he couldn’t stop puzzling over what Malfoy was doing that needed lookouts.

马尔福猛然转过身来，一只手疾速抓向魔杖，但此时四位院长正在高喊“安静！”礼堂里静了下来，他慢慢地转过身去。

“Step two,” said Twycross, “focus your determination to occupy the visualized space! Let your yearning to enter it flood from your mind to every particle of your body!”

“谢谢，”泰克罗斯说，“现在……”

Harry glanced around surreptitiously. A little way to his left, Ernie Macmillan was contemplating his hoop so hard that his face had turned pink; it looked as though he was straining to lay a Quaffle-sized egg. Harry bit back a laugh and hastily returned his gaze to his own hoop.

他一挥魔杖。每个学生面前的地上立刻出现了一个老式的木圈。

“Step three,” called Twycross, “and only when I give the command . . . Turn on the spot, feeling your way into nothingness, moving with deliberation! On my command, now . . . one —”

“幻影显形时最重要的是要记住三个D！”泰克罗斯说，“即目标，决心，从容①！”

Harry glanced around again; lots of people were looking positively alarmed at being asked to Apparate so quickly.

“第一步，把注意力集中到你的目标上，”泰克罗斯说，“当前，就是你们面前的木圈里面。现在请把注意力集中到你们的目标上。”

“— two —”

每个人都在偷偷看着周围，看大家是否都在盯着木圈，然后赶紧按要求做。哈利凝视着他的木圈里那块灰扑扑的圆形地面，努力不去想其他事情。结果发现这根本不可能，因为他忍不住总是在想马尔福到底在做什么事，会需要有人替他放哨。

Harry tried to fix his thoughts on his hoop again; he had already forgotten what the three D’s stood for.

“第二步，”泰克罗斯说，“决心去占据你所想的那个空间！让想要进去的渴望淹没你们全身每个最小的部位！”

“— THREE!”

哈利偷眼看了看四周，左边稍远一点的地方，厄尼正铆足了劲儿盯着他的木圈，脸都涨红了，仿佛正努力下一个鬼飞球大小的蛋。哈利咬住嘴唇没敢笑，赶紧把视线转回到自己的木圈中。

Harry spun on the spot, lost balance, and nearly fell over. He was not the only one. The whole Hall was suddenly full of staggering people; Neville was flat on his back; Ernie Macmillan, on the other hand, had done a kind of pirouetting leap into his hoop and looked momentarily thrilled, until he caught sight of Dean Thomas roaring with laughter at him.

“第三步，”泰克罗斯喊道，“等我下令之后……原地旋转，让自己进入虚空状态，动作要从容！现在听我的口令……一……”

“Never mind, never mind,” said Twycross dryly, who did not seem to have expected anything better. “Adjust your hoops, please, and back to your original positions. . . .”

哈利又朝周围看了看，许多人似乎都对这么快就要他们幻影显形感到吃惊。

The second attempt was no better than the first. The third was just as bad. Not until the fourth did anything exciting happen. There was a horrible screech of pain and everybody looked around, terrified, to see Susan Bones of Hufflepuff wobbling in her hoop with her left leg still standing five feet away where she had started.

“——二……”

The Heads of House converged on her; there was a great bang and a puff of purple smoke, which cleared to reveal Susan sobbing, reunited with her leg but looking horrified.

哈利努力重新把注意力集中到他的木圈上，他已经忘记了三个D是什么。

“Splinching, or the separation of random body parts,” said Wilkie Twycross dispassionately, “occurs when the mind is insufficiently determined. You must concentrate continuously upon your destination, and move, without haste, but with deliberation . . . thus.”

“——三！”

Twycross stepped forward, turned gracefully on the spot with his arms outstretched, and vanished in a swirl of robes, reappearing at the back of the Hall.

哈利原地旋转起来，一下子失去了平衡，差点儿摔倒。不止是他一个，礼堂中突然到处是摇摇晃晃的人。纳威仰面躺在地上，厄尼以芭蕾舞似的动作跳到了木圈里，兴奋了片刻，直到看到迪安在冲着他哈哈大笑。

“Remember the three D’s,” he said, “and try again . . . one — two — three —”

“没关系，没关系，”泰克罗斯干巴巴地说道，似乎他也没指望有更好的结果，“摆好木圈，站回原位……”

But an hour later, Susan’s Splinching was still the most interesting thing that had happened. Twycross did not seem discouraged. Fastening his cloak at his neck, he merely said, “Until next Saturday, everybody, and do not forget: Destination. Determination. Deliberation.”

第二次尝试并不比第一次好，第三次也一样糟糕。直到第四次时才出现了一点刺激。有人发出一声可怕的尖叫，大家惊恐地转过身，只见赫奇帕奇的苏珊·博恩斯正在木圈中摇摇晃晃，可左腿还留在五英尺外的原地。

With that, he waved his wand, Vanishing the hoops, and walked out of the Hall accompanied by Professor McGonagall. Talk broke out at once as people began moving toward the entrance hall.

院长们聚到她身边，砰的一声巨响，一阵紫色的烟雾散尽后，大家看到苏珊抽泣着，腿被安上了，但她仍面带恐惧。

“How did you do?” asked Ron, hurrying toward Harry. “I think I felt something the last time I tried — a kind of tingling in my feet.”

“分体，即身体某部分的分离，”威基·泰克罗斯淡淡地说道，“发生在决心不够坚定的时候。必须始终把注意力集中在目标上，不要慌，要从容……像这样。”

“I expect your trainers are too small, Won-Won,” said a voice behind them, and Hermione stalked past, smirking.

泰克罗斯走向前去，张开双臂，优雅地原地旋转起来，在袍子的飘旋中消失了，随后出现在礼堂的后面。

“I didn’t feel anything,” said Harry, ignoring this interruption. “But I don’t care about that now —”

“记住三个D，”他说，“再来一次……一……二……三……”

“What d’you mean, you don’t care? Don’t you want to learn to Apparate?” said Ron incredulously.

可是一个小时过后，苏珊的分体还是这节课上最有趣的事件。泰克罗斯似乎并不气馁。他系上斗篷，只是说：“下星期六再见，各位，不要忘记：目标，决心，从容。”

“I’m not fussed, really, I prefer flying,” said Harry, glancing over his shoulder to see where Malfoy was, and speeding up as they came into the entrance hall. “Look, hurry up, will you, there’s something I want to do. . . .”

他一挥魔杖消去木圈，然后跟麦格教授一起走出了礼堂。

Perplexed, Ron followed Harry back to the Gryffindor Tower at a run. They were temporarily detained by Peeves, who had jammed a door on the fourth floor shut and was refusing to let anyone pass until they set fire to their own pants, but Harry and Ron simply turned back and took one of their trusted shortcuts. Within five minutes, they were climbing through the portrait hole.

“你做得怎么样？”罗恩急忙跑向哈利，问道，“我最后一次好像有点儿感觉了——脚底麻酥酥的。”

“Are you going to tell me what we’re doing, then?” asked Ron, panting slightly.

“我想是你的运动鞋太小了吧，罗－罗。”后面一个声音说，赫敏得意地走了过来。

“Up here,” said Harry, and he crossed the common room and led the way through the door to the boys’ staircase.

“我没感觉，”哈利说，没理会赫敏的打岔，“可现在我不关心了——”

Their dormitory was, as Harry had hoped, empty. He flung open his trunk and began to rummage in it, while Ron watched impatiently.

“你说什么，不关心……你不想学幻影显形？”罗恩不相信地问。

“Harry . . .”

“我真的不大起劲，我更喜欢飞行。”哈利说，一边转头想看看马尔福在哪儿。走进门厅后，他加快了脚步。“快点好吗，我有点事……”

“Malfoy’s using Crabbe and Goyle as lookouts. He was arguing with Crabbe just now. I want to know — aha.”

罗恩纳闷地跟着哈利跑回格兰芬多塔楼，他们被皮皮鬼耽搁了一小会儿。皮皮鬼堵上了五楼的一扇门，非要每人把自己裤子烧着才让过去，但哈利和罗恩掉头走了一条可靠的近道。五分钟后，两人爬进了肖像洞口。

He had found it, a folded square of apparently blank parchment, which he now smoothed out and tapped with the tip of his wand.

“能告诉我我们去干什么吗？”罗恩问，微微有点气喘。

“I solemnly swear that I am up to no good . . . or Malfoy is anyway.”

“上去。”哈利说着穿过公共休息室，走进通往男生宿舍楼梯的门。

At once, the Marauder’s Map appeared on the parchment’s surface. Here was a detailed plan of every one of the castle’s floors and, moving around it, the tiny, labeled black dots that signified each of the castle’s occupants.

正如他希望的那样，宿舍里没人。他打开箱子翻找起来，罗恩不耐烦地看着他。

“Help me find Malfoy,” said Harry urgently.

“哈利……”

He laid the map upon his bed, and he and Ron leaned over it, searching.

“马尔福让克拉布和高尔放哨，他刚才和克拉布吵起来了。我想知道……啊哈！”

“There!” said Ron, after a minute or so. “He’s in the Slytherin common room, look . . . with Parkinson and Zabini and Crabbe and Goyle . . .”

哈利找到了——一张折成方形、看似空白的羊皮纸。他把它展开来，用魔杖尖敲了敲。

Harry looked down at the map, disappointed, but rallied almost at once.

“我庄严宣誓我不干好事……或马尔福不干好事。”

“Well, I’m keeping an eye on him from now on,” he said firmly. “And the moment I see him lurking somewhere with Crabbe and Goyle keeping watch outside, it’ll be on with the old Invisibility Cloak and off to find out what he’s —”

羊皮纸上立刻现出活点地图，绘着城堡每一层的详细平面图，许多带标记的小黑点正在上面移动，代表着城堡里的每个人。

He broke off as Neville entered the dormitory, bringing with him a strong smell of singed material, and began rummaging in his trunk for a fresh pair of pants.

“帮我找马尔福。”哈利急切地说。

Despite his determination to catch Malfoy out, Harry had no luck at all over the next couple of weeks. Although he consulted the map as often as he could, sometimes making unnecessary visits to the bathroom between lessons to search it, he did not once see Malfoy anywhere suspicious. Admittedly, he spotted Crabbe and Goyle moving around the castle on their own more often than usual, sometimes remaining stationary in deserted corridors, but at these times Malfoy was not only nowhere near them, but impossible to locate on the map at all. This was most mysterious. Harry toyed with the possibility that Malfoy was actually leaving the school grounds, but could not see how he could be doing it, given the very high level of security now operating within the castle. He could only suppose that he was missing Malfoy amongst the hundreds of tiny black dots upon the map. As for the fact that Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle appeared to be going their different ways when they were usually inseparable, these things happened as people got older — Ron and Hermione, Harry reflected sadly, were living proof.

他把地图摊在床上，两人趴在上面找了起来。

February moved toward March with no change in the weather except that it became windy as well as wet. To general indignation, a sign went up on all common room notice boards that the next trip into Hogsmeade had been canceled. Ron was furious.

“这儿！”一两分钟后罗恩叫道，“他在斯莱特林的公共休息室里，看……跟帕金森、沙比尼、克拉布和高尔在一起……”

“It was on my birthday!” he said. “I was looking forward to that!”

哈利看着地图，显得有点失望，但立刻又振作起来。

“Not a big surprise, though, is it?” said Harry. “Not after what happened to Katie.”

“从现在起我要监视他，”他坚决地说，“只要一看到他在什么地方，克拉布和高尔在外面放哨，我就披上隐形衣，去搞清他在——”

She had still not returned from St. Mungo’s. What was more, further disappearances had been reported in the Daily Prophet, including several relatives of students at Hogwarts.

他突然打住了，纳威带着一股很重的焦糊味走了进来，径直到他箱子里找裤子。

“But now all I’ve got to look forward to is stupid Apparition!” said Ron grumpily. “Big birthday treat . . .”

虽然哈利决心要抓到马尔福在干什么，但他后两个星期的运气实在不佳。他尽可能频繁地查看着地图，有时在课间不必要地去上盥洗室，可是一次都没在可疑地点发现马尔福。他倒是看到克拉布和高尔单独在城堡里活动的时间比平时多了，有时停在空走廊上一动不动，但那时马尔福不仅不在附近，而且在地图上都找不到他。这太神秘了，哈利想过他会不会出了学校，但城堡中的安全措施这么严，他想不出马尔福怎么会出得去。他只能猜想马尔福是混在图上那几百个黑点之中。原来形影不离的马尔福、克拉布和高尔分开了，也许人长大了就会这样吧——罗恩跟赫敏就是活生生的例子，哈利悲哀地想。

Three lessons on, Apparition was proving as difficult as ever, though a few more people had managed to Splinch themselves. Frustration was running high and there was a certain amount of illfeeling toward Wilkie Twycross and his three D’s, which had inspired a number of nicknames for him, the politest of which were Dogbreath and Dunghead.

由二月进入三月，天气没什么变化，只是潮湿又加上了多风。所有公共休息室布告牌上都贴出一张告示，说这次去霍格莫德的旅行取消了，大家都很不满，罗恩怨气冲天。

“Happy birthday, Ron,” said Harry, when they were woken on the first of March by Seamus and Dean leaving noisily for breakfast. “Have a present.”

“是我的生日啊！我一直盼着呢！”

He threw the package across onto Ron’s bed, where it joined a small pile of them that must, Harry assumed, have been delivered by house-elves in the night.

“并不特别意外，是不是？”哈利说，“在凯蒂出事之后。”

“Cheers,” said Ron drowsily and, as he ripped off the paper, Harry got out of bed, opened his own trunk, and began rummaging in it for the Marauder’s Map, which he hid after every use. He turfed out half the contents of his trunk before he found it hiding beneath the rolled-up socks in which he was still keeping his bottle of lucky potion, Felix Felicis.

凯蒂还没从圣芒戈魔法伤病医院回来。而且《预言家日报》又报道了新的失踪事件，包括几位霍格沃茨学生的亲戚。

“Right,” he murmured, taking it back to bed with him, tapping it quietly and murmuring, “I solemnly swear that I am up to no good,” so that Neville, who was passing the foot of his bed at the time, would not hear.

“现在我能盼的只有无聊的幻影显形了！”罗恩丧气地说。

“Nice one, Harry!” said Ron enthusiastically, waving the new pair of Quidditch Keeper’s gloves Harry had given him.

三节课下来，幻影显形还是那么困难，只是又有几个人做得分了身。挫折感在增强，学生中对威基·泰克罗斯以及他那三个D有不少抵触情绪，因此给他起了好些绰号，最礼貌的是狗臭屁和粪脑袋。

“No problem,” said Harry absentmindedly, as he searched the Slytherin dormitory closely for Malfoy. “Hey . . . I don’t think he’s in his bed. . . .”

“生日快乐，罗恩，”三月一日早上，当他们被去吃早饭的西莫和迪安吵醒后，哈利说，“送你一件礼物。”

Ron did not answer; he was too busy unwrapping presents, every now and then letting out an exclamation of pleasure.

他把纸包扔到罗恩床上，落在一小堆包裹中间，哈利猜想那些包裹是家养小精灵夜里送来的。

“Seriously good haul this year!” he announced, holding up a heavy gold watch with odd symbols around the edge and tiny moving stars instead of hands. “See what Mum and Dad got me? Blimey, I think I’ll come of age next year too. . . .”

“同喜同喜。”罗恩迷迷糊糊地说。

“Cool,” muttered Harry, sparing the watch a glance before peering more closely at the map. Where was Malfoy? He did not seem to be at the Slytherin table in the Great Hall, eating breakfast. . . . He was nowhere near Snape, who was sitting in his study. . . . He wasn’t in any of the bathrooms or in the hospital wing. . . .

在罗恩撕开纸包时，哈利下了床，打开箱子找活点地图，他每次用完都把它藏在箱子里。哈利翻出了半箱东西，才在一堆卷好的袜子底下找到了地图，那里还藏着他那瓶幸运药水，福灵剂。

“Want one?” said Ron thickly, holding out a box of Chocolate Cauldrons.

“好了，”他把地图拿到床上，轻轻敲了敲，小声念道：“我庄严宣誓我不干好事。”以免从床脚走过的纳威听见。

“No thanks,” said Harry, looking up. “Malfoy’s gone again!”

“太棒了，哈利！”罗恩兴奋地叫了起来，挥舞着哈利送给他的魁地奇守门员手套。

“Can’t have done,” said Ron, stuffing a second Cauldron into his mouth as he slid out of bed to get dressed. “Come on, if you don’t hurry up, you’ll have to Apparate on an empty stomach. . . . Might make it easier, I suppose . . .” Ron looked thoughtfully at the box of Chocolate Cauldrons, then shrugged and helped himself to a third.

“小意思。”哈利心不在焉地说道，一边在斯莱特林的宿舍里仔细寻找马尔福，“嘿……我想他不在床上……”

Harry tapped the map with his wand, muttered, “Mischief managed,” though it hadn’t been, and got dressed, thinking hard. There had to be an explanation for Malfoy’s periodic disappearances, but he simply could not think what it could be. The best way of finding out would be to tail him, but even with the Invisibility Cloak this was an impractical idea: Harry had lessons, Quidditch practice, homework, and Apparition; he could not follow Malfoy around school all day without his absence being remarked upon.

罗恩没回答，正忙着拆礼物，不时发出开心的大叫。

“Ready?” he said to Ron.

“今年真是大丰收！”他宣布说，一边举起一块沉甸甸的金表，那表的边缘有奇特的符号，指针是用移动的小星星做的，“看，爸妈送给我什么了？嘿，我打算明年还要成年一次……”

He was halfway to the dormitory door when he realized that Ron had not moved, but was leaning on his bedpost, staring out of the rain-washed window with a strangely unfocused look on his face.

“酷。”哈利抬眼看了一下罗恩的手表，嘟囔了一声，又更加仔细地查看着地图。马尔福在哪儿？他好像不在礼堂中斯莱特林的餐桌旁吃早饭……不在坐在书房中的斯内普旁边……也不在盥洗室和校医院……

“Ron? Breakfast.”

“要吗？”罗恩举着一盒巧克力坩埚含混地问。

“I’m not hungry.”

“不了，谢谢。”哈利抬头看了一眼，说道，“马尔福又不见了！”

Harry stared at him.

“不可能。”罗恩把第二块巧克力坩埚塞进嘴里，从床上溜下来开始穿衣，“好啦，再不快一点儿，你就只好空着肚子幻影显形了……也许倒容易些，我想……”

“I thought you just said — ?”

罗恩若有所思地看着那盒巧克力坩埚，然后耸耸肩，拿起了第三块。

“Well, all right, I’ll come down with you,” sighed Ron, “but I don’t want to eat.”

哈利用魔杖敲了敲地图，念道：“恶作剧完毕！”（虽然并未完毕）。他一边穿衣服一边苦苦思索：马尔福的不时失踪肯定有原因，但他就是想不出这原因是什么。最好的办法是盯他的梢，但即使有隐形衣这也是不切实际的，因为要上课，还有魁地奇训练、作业和幻影显形，若是整天在学校里跟踪马尔福，不可能不被人注意到。

Harry scrutinized him suspiciously.

“好了吗？”他问罗恩。

“You’ve just eaten half a box of Chocolate Cauldrons, haven’t you?”

快走到宿舍门口时，他发现罗恩还没动身，而是倚在床柱上，凝视着被雨水洗刷的窗户，脸上带着一种古怪的茫然表情。

“It’s not that,” Ron sighed again. “You . . . you wouldn’t understand.”

“罗恩，吃早饭。”

“Fair enough,” said Harry, albeit puzzled, as he turned to open the door.

“我不饿。”

“Harry!” said Ron suddenly.

哈利瞪着他。

“What?”

“你刚才不是说——？”

“Harry, I can’t stand it!”

“唉，好吧，我跟你下去，”罗恩叹了口气，“可我不想吃。”

“You can’t stand what?” asked Harry, now starting to feel definitely alarmed. Ron was rather pale and looked as though he was about to be sick.

哈利怀疑地打量着他。

“I can’t stop thinking about her!” said Ron hoarsely.

“你刚才吃了半盒巧克力坩埚，是不是？”

Harry gaped at him. He had not expected this and was not sure he wanted to hear it. Friends they might be, but if Ron started calling Lavender “Lav-Lav,” he would have to put his foot down.

“不是这么回事，”罗恩又叹了口气，“你……你不懂。”

“Why does that stop you having breakfast?” Harry asked, trying to inject a note of common sense into the proceedings.

“算了吧。”哈利说着转身去开门，虽然心中疑惑。

“I don’t think she knows I exist,” said Ron with a desperate gesture.

“哈利！”罗恩突然叫道。

“She definitely knows you exist,” said Harry, bewildered. “She keeps snogging you, doesn’t she?”

“什么？”

Ron blinked. “Who are you talking about?”

“哈利，我受不了了！”

“Who are you talking about?” said Harry, with an increasing sense that all reason had dropped out of the conversation.

“你受不了什么了？”哈利问，不禁吃了一惊，他看到罗恩脸色很苍白，好像要生病的样子。

“Romilda Vane,” said Ron softly, and his whole face seemed to illuminate as he said it, as though hit by a ray of purest sunlight.

“我没法不想她！”罗恩沙哑地说。

They stared at each other for almost a whole minute, before Harry said, “This is a joke, right? You’re joking.”

哈利目瞪口呆，他没有料到，也拿不准自己想不想听到这个。虽然他们是朋友，但如果罗恩开始叫拉文德“拉－拉”，他将不得不采取强硬立场。

“I think . . . Harry, I think I love her,” said Ron in a strangled voice.

“那也不妨碍你吃早饭吧？”哈利问，试图在这件事中注入一点正常思维。

“Okay,” said Harry, walking up to Ron to get a better look at the glazed eyes and the pallid complexion, “okay. . . Say that again with a straight face.”

“我想她不知道我的存在。”罗恩说着绝望地一摆手。

“I love her,” repeated Ron breathlessly. “Have you seen her hair, it’s all black and shiny and silky . . . and her eyes? Her big dark eyes? And her —”

“她当然知道你的存在，”哈利被搞糊涂了，“她不是老吻你吗？”

“This is really funny and everything,” said Harry impatiently, “but joke’s over, all right? Drop it.”

罗恩吃惊地眨了眨眼睛。

He turned to leave; he had got two steps toward the door when a crashing blow hit him on the right ear. Staggering, he looked around. Ron’s fist was drawn right back; his face was contorted with rage; he was about to strike again.

“你说的是谁啊？”

Harry reacted instinctively; his wand was out of his pocket and the incantation sprang to mind without conscious thought: Levicorpus!

“你说的是谁啊？”哈利说，越来越感到这谈话已经完全失去了理智。

Ron yelled as his heel was wrenched upward once more; he dangled helplessly, upside down, his robes hanging off him.

“罗米达·万尼，”罗恩柔声道，整个面孔都亮了，好像被一道最纯净的阳光照透了。

“What was that for?” Harry bellowed.

两人对视了近一分钟，哈利才说：“这是个玩笑，对吧？你在开玩笑。”

“You insulted her, Harry! You said it was a joke!” shouted Ron, who was slowly turning purple in the face as all the blood rushed to his head.

“我想……哈利，我想我爱她。”罗恩用奇怪的声音说。

“This is insane!” said Harry. “What’s got into — ?”

“好，”哈利说着走近了罗恩，细细打量着他那呆滞的眼睛和苍白的脸色，“好……严肃地再说一遍。”

And then he saw the box lying open on Ron’s bed, and the truth hit him with the force of a stampeding troll.

“我爱她，”罗恩屏息道，“你看到她的秀发了吗，又黑又亮，像缎子似的……还有她的眼睛？她那双乌黑的大眼睛？还有她的——”

“Where did you get those Chocolate Cauldrons?”

“真好笑，”哈利不耐烦地说，“可是玩笑结束了，好吗？别闹了。”

“They were a birthday present!” shouted Ron, revolving slowly in midair as he struggled to get free. “I offered you one, didn’t I?”

他转身离开了，刚走出两步，他的右耳上重重挨了一击。他摇晃了两下，回过头去，罗恩刚把拳头收回去，脸都气歪了，正要再打。

“You just picked them up off the floor, didn’t you?”

哈利本能地拔出魔杖，想都没想咒语就跳入了脑中：倒挂金钟！

“They’d fallen off my bed, all right? Let me go!”

罗恩大叫一声，脚跟又被猛然拽起。他无助地倒挂在空中，袍子翻垂下来。

“They didn’t fall off your bed, you prat, don’t you understand? They were mine, I chucked them out of my trunk when I was looking for the map, they’re the Chocolate Cauldrons Romilda gave me before Christmas, and they’re all spiked with love potion!”

“这是为什么？”哈利吼道。

But only one word of this seemed to have registered with Ron.

“你侮辱了她，哈利！你说是个玩笑！”罗恩大声说，他的血涌到了头部，脸渐渐地变紫了。

“Romilda?” he repeated. “Did you say Romilda? Harry — do you know her? Can you introduce me?”

“真是荒唐！”哈利说，“你中了什么——”

Harry stared at the dangling Ron, whose face now looked tremendously hopeful, and fought a strong desire to laugh. A part of him — the part closest to his throbbing right ear — was quite keen on the idea of letting Ron down and watching him run amok until the effects of the potion wore off. . . . But on the other hand, they were supposed to be friends, Ron had not been himself when he had attacked, and Harry thought that he would deserve another punching if he permitted Ron to declare undying love for Romilda Vane.

他忽然注意到了罗恩床上那个打开的盒子，心头像被狂奔的巨怪撞了一下。

“Yeah, I’ll introduce you,” said Harry, thinking fast. “I’m going to let you down now, okay?”

“这巧克力坩埚是哪儿来的？”

He sent Ron crashing back to the floor (his ear did hurt quite a lot), but Ron simply bounded to his feet again, grinning.

“是生日礼物！”罗恩叫道。他吊在那儿缓缓转动着，竭力想挣脱。“我不是还给了你一块吗？”

“She’ll be in Slughorn’s office,” said Harry confidently, leading the way to the door.

“你从地上捡的，是不是？”

“Why will she be in there?” asked Ron anxiously, hurrying to keep up.

“是我床上掉下去的。好了吧？放我下来！”

“Oh, she has extra Potions lessons with him,” said Harry, inventing wildly.

“不是从你床上掉下去的，你这笨蛋，你不明白吗？这是我的，我找地图时从箱子里扔出来的。这是罗米达·万尼圣诞节前送给我的巧克力坩埚，里面加了迷情剂！”

“Maybe I could ask if I can have them with her?” said Ron eagerly.

但罗恩似乎只听进去了一个词。

“Great idea,” said Harry.

“罗米达！你刚才说罗米达？哈利——你认识她？能给我介绍介绍吗？”

Lavender was waiting beside the portrait hole, a complication Harry had not foreseen.

哈利瞪着倒挂着的罗恩，瞪着那张现在带着无限渴望的面孔，忍住一阵强烈的笑意。他的一部分——最靠近灼痛的右耳的那部分——很想把罗恩放下来，看他去发疯，一直到药力消失。可另一方面，他们还是朋友，罗恩打他时是神志失常的。哈利想，如果他让罗恩去向罗米达·万尼表达不朽的爱情，他就真该再挨一拳。

“You’re late, Won-Won!” she pouted. “I’ve got you a birthday —”

“行，我给你介绍。”哈利脑筋一转，说道，“我这就放你下来，好吗？”

“Leave me alone,” said Ron impatiently. “Harry’s going to introduce me to Romilda Vane.”

他让罗恩摔在地上（他的耳朵真的很疼），但是罗恩马上跳了起来，眉开眼笑。

And without another word to her, he pushed his way out of the portrait hole. Harry tried to make an apologetic face to Lavender, but it might have turned out simply amused, because she looked more offended than ever as the Fat Lady swung shut behind them.

“她在斯拉格霍恩的办公室。”哈利蛮有把握地说道，一边带着他朝门口走去。

Harry had been slightly worried that Slughorn might be at breakfast, but he answered his office door at the first knock, wearing a green velvet dressing gown and matching nightcap and looking rather bleary-eyed.

“她为什么在那儿？”罗恩赶紧跟上，着急地问。

“Harry,” he mumbled. “This is very early for a call. . . . I generally sleep late on a Saturday. . . .”

“哦，她跟他上魔药课。”哈利信口胡诌道。

“Professor, I’m really sorry to disturb you,” said Harry as quietly as possible, while Ron stood on tiptoe, attempting to see past Slughorn into his room, “but my friend Ron’s swallowed a love potion by mistake. You couldn’t make him an antidote, could you? I’d take him to Madam Pomfrey, but we’re not supposed to have anything from Weasleys’ Wizard Wheezes and, you know . . . awkward questions . . .”

“也许我可以申请跟她一起上？”罗恩热切地说。

“I’d have thought you could have whipped him up a remedy, Harry, an expert potioneer like you?” asked Slughorn.

“好主意。”哈利说道。

“Er,” said Harry, somewhat distracted by the fact that Ron was now elbowing him in the ribs in an attempt to force his way into the room, “well, I’ve never mixed an antidote for a love potion, sir, and by the time I get it right, Ron might’ve done something serious —”

拉文德等在肖像洞口旁边，这是哈利没料到的。

Helpfully, Ron chose this moment to moan, “I can’t see her, Harry — is he hiding her?”

“你迟到了，罗－罗！”她撅着嘴说，“我给你带了件生日——”

“Was this potion within date?” asked Slughorn, now eyeing Ron with professional interest. “They can strengthen, you know, the longer they’re kept.”

“走开，”罗恩不耐烦地说，“哈利要把我介绍给罗米达·万尼。”

“That would explain a lot,” panted Harry, now positively wrestling with Ron to keep him from knocking Slughorn over. “It’s his birthday, Professor,” he added imploringly.

他没再跟她说话，径自挤出了肖像洞口。哈利想对拉文德做个抱歉的表情，但可能显出的只是愉快，因为当胖夫人在他们身后旋上时，拉文德看上去已经气急败坏。

“Oh, all right, come in, then, come in,” said Slughorn, relenting. “I’ve got the necessary here in my bag, it’s not a difficult antidote. . . .”

哈利担心斯拉格霍恩在吃早饭，但才敲了一声门就开了。他穿着一件绿天鹅绒的晨衣，戴着一顶一样颜色的睡帽，还是睡眼惺忪的。

Ron burst through the door into Slughorn’s overheated, crowded study, tripped over a tasseled footstool, regained his balance by seizing Harry around the neck, and muttered, “She didn’t see that, did she?”

“哈利，”他嘟囔道，“太早了吧……我星期六一般起得晚……”

“She’s not here yet,” said Harry, watching Slughorn opening his potion kit and adding a few pinches of this and that to a small crystal bottle.

“教授，很抱歉打搅您，”哈利尽量轻声说道，罗恩踮着脚尖，企图越过斯拉格霍恩朝房间里看，“可是我的朋友罗恩误服了迷情剂，您能不能给他配点解药？我本想带他去找庞弗雷夫人，但我们不可以买韦斯莱魔法把戏坊的东西，所以，您知道……问起来会很尴尬……”

“That’s good,” said Ron fervently. “How do I look?”

“我以为你已经给他弄出了解药呢，哈利，你不是个魔药专家吗？”斯拉格霍恩问。

“Very handsome,” said Slughorn smoothly, handing Ron a glass of clear liquid. “Now drink that up, it’s a tonic for the nerves, keep you calm when she arrives, you know.”

“呃，”哈利有点分神，因为罗恩用胳膊肘在捅他的肋骨，想要挤进屋去，“我从没配过迷情剂的解药，先生，等我配出来，罗恩可能已经做出了什么严重的——”

“Brilliant,” said Ron eagerly, and he gulped the antidote down noisily.

罗恩帮忙似的恰好在这时哀呼起来：“我看不到她，哈利——他把她藏起来了吗？”

Harry and Slughorn watched him. For a moment, Ron beamed at them. Then, very slowly, his grin sagged and vanished, to be replaced by an expression of utmost horror.

“药水没过期吧？”斯拉格霍恩开始带着职业的兴趣打量着罗恩，“你知道——放的时间越长药劲会越强。”

“Back to normal, then?” said Harry, grinning. Slughorn chuckled. “Thanks a lot, Professor.”

“怪不得呢。”哈利气喘吁吁地说，他现在简直是在跟罗恩搏斗，以免他把斯拉格霍恩撞倒，“今天是他的生日，教授。”他哀求道。

“Don’t mention it, m’boy, don’t mention it,” said Slughorn, as Ron collapsed into a nearby armchair, looking devastated. “Pick-me-up, that’s what he needs,” Slughorn continued, now bustling over to a table loaded with drinks. “I’ve got butterbeer, I’ve got wine, I’ve got one last bottle of this oak-matured mead . . . hmm . . . meant to give that to Dumbledore for Christmas . . . ah, well . . .” He shrugged. “He can’t miss what he’s never had! Why don’t we open it now and celebrate Mr. Weasley’s birthday? Nothing like a fine spirit to chase away the pangs of disappointed love. . . .”

“哦，好吧，进来吧，进来，”斯拉格霍恩发了慈悲，“我包里有必需品，这个解药不难……”

He chortled again, and Harry joined in. This was the first time he had found himself almost alone with Slughorn since his disastrous first attempt to extract the true memory from him. Perhaps, if he could just keep Slughorn in a good mood . . . perhaps if they got through enough of the oak-matured mead . . .

罗恩冲进斯拉格霍恩那热烘烘的拥挤的书房，被一个带穗的脚凳绊了一下，赶紧抱住哈利的脖子才恢复了平衡。他小声说：“她没看见，没看见吧？”

“There you are then,” said Slughorn, handing Harry and Ron a glass of mead each before raising his own. “Well, a very happy birthday, Ralph —”

“她还没来呢。”哈利说，一边看着斯拉格霍恩打开配药包，往一个小水晶瓶里加点儿这个又加点儿那个。

“Ron —” whispered Harry.

“那就好，”罗恩热切地说，“我看上去怎么样？”

But Ron, who did not appear to be listening to the toast, had already thrown the mead into his mouth and swallowed it.

“非常英俊，”斯拉格霍恩递给罗恩一杯澄清的液体，“把它喝了，这是滋补神经的，能让你在她来时保持镇静。”

There was one second, hardly more than a heartbeat, in which Harry knew there was something terribly wrong and Slughorn, it seemed, did not.

“太棒了。”罗恩迫不及待地说，咕嘟一声喝下了解药。

“— and may you have many more —”

哈利和斯拉格霍恩观察着他。有那么一刻，罗恩笑嘻嘻地望着他们，然后，他的笑容很慢很慢地消失了，变成了极度的恐惧。

“Ron!”

“恢复正常了？”哈利笑着问，斯拉格霍恩呵呵地笑了。

Ron had dropped his glass; he half-rose from his chair and then crumpled, his extremities jerking uncontrollably. Foam was dribbling from his mouth, and his eyes were bulging from their sockets.

“非常感谢您，教授。”

“Professor!” Harry bellowed. “Do something!”

“不客气，孩子，不客气。”斯拉格霍恩说，罗恩跌坐到旁边的扶手椅上，像霜打了一般。“提提精神，这是他现在需要的。”斯拉格霍恩继续说，一边急忙走到一个摆满饮料的桌子前，“我有黄油啤酒、葡萄酒，还有最后一瓶橡木陈酿的蜂蜜酒……嗯……本想送给邓布利多做圣诞礼物的……算了……”他耸了耸肩膀，“他反正不知道！我们为什么不打开它，庆祝一下韦斯莱先生的生日呢？要驱散爱情幻灭的痛苦，莫过于一杯好酒……”

But Slughorn seemed paralyzed by shock. Ron twitched and choked: His skin was turning blue.

他又大笑起来，哈利也笑了。这是自上回灾难性的试探之后，他算是第一次单独跟斯拉格霍恩在一起。也许，只要让斯拉格霍恩保持好心情……让他喝够橡木陈酿的蜂蜜酒……

“What — but —” spluttered Slughorn.

“来吧，”斯拉格霍恩递给哈利和罗恩每人一杯蜂蜜酒，举着杯子说，“生日快乐，拉尔弗——”

Harry leapt over a low table and sprinted toward Slughorn’s open potion kit, pulling out jars and pouches, while the terrible sound of Ron’s gargling breath filled the room. Then he found it — the shriveled kidneylike stone Slughorn had taken from him in Potions.

“——罗恩——”哈利小声说。

He hurtled back to Ron’s side, wrenched open his jaw, and thrust the bezoar into his mouth. Ron gave a great shudder, a rattling gasp, and his body became limp and still.

可罗恩似乎没听到祝酒，已经把酒倒进嘴里，咽了下去。

有那么一秒钟，几乎只是一下心跳的时间，哈利感到出了可怕的问题，而斯拉格霍恩似乎没有发觉。

“——祝你有更多——”

“罗恩！”

罗恩掉了杯子，想从椅子上站起来，但却倒了下去。他四肢剧烈地痉挛着，口吐白沫，眼珠凸了出来。

“教授！”哈利大叫，“快想想办法！”

可是斯拉格霍恩好像吓呆了。罗恩抽搐着，呼吸困难，皮肤开始变青。

“怎么——可是——”斯拉格霍恩结结巴巴地说。

哈利跃过一张矮桌，冲向斯拉格霍恩打开的配药包，抽出瓶瓶罐罐。罗恩那可怕的咕噜咕噜的呼吸声充满了房间。终于找到了——斯拉格霍恩在魔药课上收去的那块腰子状的石头。

他奔回罗恩身边，撬开他的嘴巴，把粪石塞进了他嘴里。罗恩剧烈地哆嗦了一下，咕噜噜倒吸了一口气，身体瘫软不动了。

①“目标，决心，从容”这三个词在英语中均以字母D开头。

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