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哈利·波特与火焰杯
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire

英文中文双语对照双语交替

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CHAPTER TWENTY - THE FIRST TASK

第二十章　第一个项目

Harry got up on Sunday morning and dressed so inattentively that it was a while before he realized he was trying to pull his hat onto his foot instead of his sock.

星期日早晨，哈利一觉醒来，心不在焉地穿着衣服，过了一会儿他才意识到自己正把帽子当袜子往脚上套呢。他终于把每件衣服都穿在了合适的部位，便匆匆出来寻找赫敏，最后在礼堂里格兰芬多的桌子旁找到了她。赫敏正和金妮一起吃早饭呢。哈利觉得胃不舒服，吃不下东西，就在一旁等着。赫敏刚咽下最后一勺粥，他就拉着她来到外面的场地上。他们沿着湖边走了很长时间，他把火龙的事和小天狼星所说的话一股脑儿都告诉了赫敏。

When he'd finally got all his clothes on the right parts of his body, he hurried off to find Hermione, locating her at the Gryffindor table in the Great Hall, where she was eating breakfast with Ginny. Feeling too queasy to eat, Harry waited until Hermione had swallowed her last spoonful of porridge, then dragged her out onto the grounds. There, he told her all about the dragons, and about everything Sirius had said, while they took another long walk around the lake.

赫敏听说小天狼星提醒他们警惕卡卡洛夫，也感到十分震惊，但她仍然认为当务之急是要想办法对付火龙。

Alarmed as she was by Sirius's warnings about Karkaroff, Hermione still thought that the dragons were the more pressing problem.

“我们先要保证你活到星期二晚上，”她非常焦虑地说，“然后再去考虑卡卡洛夫。”

"Let's just try and keep you alive until Tuesday evening," she said desperately, "and then we can worry about Karkaroff."

他们沿着湖边走了三圈，绞尽脑汁，苦苦思索一个能降服火龙的简单咒语，结果一无所获，于是他们又退回到图书馆内。在这里，哈利把他所能找到的每一本跟龙有关的书都抽了出来，两人像大海捞针一样，开始在一大摞书中搜寻。

They walked three times around the lake, trying all the way to think of a simple spell that would subdue a dragon. Nothing whatsoever occurred to them, so they retired to the library instead. Here, Harry pulled down every book he could find on dragons, and both of them set to work searching through the large pile.

“‘用魔法修剪爪子……鳞片溃烂的治疗方法……’没有用，这是给那些像海格那样希望火龙身强力壮的怪人看的……”

"Talon-clipping by charms. .. treating scale-rot. . .' This is no good, this is for nutters like Hagrid who want to keep them healthy. ..

“‘龙是极难宰杀的，因为它们的厚皮里渗透着古代魔法，只有最强大的魔咒才能穿透……’可是小天狼星说，一个简单的咒语就能解决问题……”

"Dragons are extremely difficult to slay, owing to the ancient magic that imbues their thick hides, which none but the most powerful spells can penetrate. . .' But Sirius said a simple one would do it.. .

“我们再试试一些简单的咒语书吧。”哈利说着，把《溺爱龙的人》扔到一边。

"Let's try some simple spellbooks, then," said Harry, throwing aside Men Who Love Dragons Too Much.

他把一大摞咒语书抱到桌边放下，开始一本本地翻阅起来，赫敏在他旁边不停地嘀咕着。

He returned to the table with a pile of spellbooks, set them down, and began to flick through each in turn, Hermione whispering nonstop at his elbow.

“对了，还有转换咒……可是转换有什么用呢？除非你把它的獠牙转换成酒胶糖什么的，使它变得不那么危险……问题是，就像那本书上所说的，没有多少东西能够穿透龙皮……要么给它变形？可是给那样一个庞然大物变形，你肯定不会成功，我怀疑就连麦格教授也……除非你把咒语施在自己身上？使自己增加力量？可是它们也不是简单的咒语啊，我的意思是我们在课堂上还没有学过，我是在做普通巫师等级考试的练习题时才了解它们的……”

"Well, there are Switching Spells. . . but what's the point of Switching it? Unless you swapped its fangs for wine-gums or something that would make it less dangerous.. . . The trouble is, like that book said, not much is going to get through a dragon's hide. . . .

“赫敏，”哈利咬着牙根说，“拜托，你能不能安静一会儿？我要集中注意力呢。”

I'd say Transfigure it, but something that big, you really haven't got a hope, I doubt even Professor McGonagall. . . unless you're supposed to put the spell on yourself?

赫敏不说话了，可是哈利史觉得脑子里充斥着空洞的嗡嗡声，似乎没有空间容他集中思想。他绝望地盯着面前《对付多动和烦躁动物的基本魔咒》的索引。快剥头发……可是龙没有头发……闻胡椒粉……那大概只会增强龙的火力……把舌头变硬……那正是他需要的，给火龙再加一个武器……

Maybe to give yourself extra powers? But they're not simple spells, I mean, we haven't done any of those in class, I only know about them because I've been doing O.W.L.

“哦，糟糕，他又回来了，他为什么不能待在他那艘蠢头蠢脑的大船上看书呢？”赫敏烦躁地说——威克多尔·克鲁姆无精打采地走进来，阴沉沉地扫了他俩一眼，然后抱着一摞书在远处一个角落里坐了下来，“走吧，哈利，我们还是回公共休息室去吧……他的追星俱乐部成员很快就会过来，叽叽喳喳，烦死人了……”

practice papers. . . ."

果然，当他们离开图书馆时，一群女生踮着脚尖从他们身边走过，其中一个的腰上系着一条保加利亚围巾。

"Hermione," Harry said, through gritted teeth, "will you shut up for a bit, please? I m trying to concentrate."

哈利那天夜里几乎没有睡着。星期一早晨他醒来时，生平第一次开始认真考虑从霍格沃茨逃跑。可是，早饭时他在礼堂里不顾四周，想到离开城堡将意味着什么，他便知道他不可能这么做。他只有在这个地方才感受过快乐……对了，他猜他和父母在一起时肯定也是快乐的，但他已不记得那时的情景了。

But all that happened, when Hermione fell silent, was that Harry's brain filled with a sort of blank buzzing, which didn't seem to allow room for concentration. He stared hopelessly down the index of Basic Hexes for the Busy and Vexed. Instant scalping. . .

不知怎的，想到自己宁愿待在这里面对火龙，也不愿回到女贞路去和德思礼一家相处，他觉得很宽慰，心情也平静了一些。他费力地咽下他那份熏咸肉（他的嗓子好像出了点儿毛病），然后和赫敏一起站起身来。就在这时，他看见塞德里克·迪戈里正准备离开赫奇帕奇桌子。

but dragons had no hair. . . pepper breath.. . that would probably increase a dragon's firepower. . . horn tongue. . . just what he needed, to give it an extra weapon...

塞德里克仍然对火龙一无所知……他是几位勇士中惟一不知情的。如果哈利的想法没错，马克西姆夫人和卡卡洛夫一定已经向芙蓉和克鲁姆透露了真相……

"Oh no, he's back again, why can't he read on his stupid ship?" said Hermione irritably as Viktor Krum slouched in, cast a surly look over at the pair of them, and settled himself in a distant corner with a pile of books. "Come on, Harry, we'll go back to the common room. . . his fan club'll be here in a moment, twittering away... ."

“赫敏，我到暖房来找你。”哈利注视着塞德里克离开礼堂，在刹那间拿定了主意，说道，“走吧，我待会儿赶上你。”

And sure enough, as they left the library, a gang of girls tiptoed past them, one of them wearing a Bulgaria scarf tied around her waist.

“哈利，你会迟到的，上课铃马上就要响了——”

Harry barely slept that night. When he awoke on Monday morning, he seriously considered for the first time ever just running away from Hogwarts. But as he looked around the Great Hall at breakfast time, and thought about what leaving the castle would mean, he knew he couldn't do it. It was the only place he had ever been happy. . . well, he supposed he must have been happy with his parents too, but he couldn't remember that.

“我会赶上你的，好吗？”

Somehow, the knowledge that he would rather be here and facing a dragon than back on Privet Drive with Dudley was good to know; it made him feel slightly calmer. He finished his bacon with difficulty (his throat wasn't working too well), and as he and Hermione got up, he saw Cedric Diggory leaving the Hufflepuff table.

当哈利来到大理石楼梯底部时，塞德里克已经和他那一大帮六年级同学们一起到了顶上。哈利不想当着那些人的面跟塞德里克说话。每次他走近他们时，都有人引用丽塔·斯基特文章里的话来嘲笑他，这些人也在其中。他远远地跟着塞德里克，看见他朝魔咒课教室的走廊走去。这使哈利有了主意。他远远地停下脚步，抽出魔杖，仔细地瞄准。

Cedric still didn't know about the dragons. . . the only champion who didn't, if Harry was right in thinking that Maxime and Karkaroff would have told Fleur and Krum....

“四分五裂！”

"Hermione, I'll see you in the greenhouses," Harry said, coming to his decision as he watched Cedric leaving the Hall. "Go on, I'll catch you up."

塞德里克的书包裂开了。羊皮纸、羽毛笔和书本稀里哗啦地掉出来，撒了一地，几瓶墨水摔得粉碎。

"Harry, you'll be late, the bell's about to ring -"

“别捡了，”塞德里克的朋友们弯腰帮他收拾，他焦急地说道，“告诉弗立维，我马上就来，你们走吧……”

"I'll catch you up, okay?"

这正是哈利希望的。他把魔杖插进长袍，等塞德里克的朋友们都进了教室，便匆匆走上前去，现在走廊只有他和塞德里克两个人了。

By the time Harry reached the bottom of the marble staircase, Cedric was at the top. He

“你好，”塞德里克说，一边捡起一本被墨水溅污的《高级变形术指南》，“我的书包刚才裂开了……不是新书包呢……”

was with a load of sixth-year friends. Harry didn't want to talk to Cedric in front of them; they were among those who had been quoting Rita Skeeter's article at him every time he went near them. He followed Cedric at a distance and saw that he was heading toward the Charms corridor. This gave Harry an idea. Pausing at a distance from them, he pulled out his wand, and took careful aim.

“塞德里克，”哈利说，“第一个项目是火龙。”

"Diffindo!"

“什么？”塞德里克抬起头来说。

Cedric's bag split. Parchment, quills, and books spilled out of it onto the floor.

“是火龙，”哈利飞快地说着，生怕弗立维教授会出来查看塞德里克到什么地方去了，“一共有四条，我们每人一条，我们必须从它们身边通过。”

Several bottles of ink smashed.

塞德里克呆呆地望着他。哈利看见星期六以来他感到的恐惧，此刻正在塞德里克灰色的眼睛里闪动。

"Don't bother," said Cedric in an exasperated voice as his friends bent down to help him.

“你能肯定？”塞德里克压低声音说。

"Tell Flitwick I'm coming, go on. . .

“绝对肯定，”哈利说，“我亲眼看见了。”

This was exactly what Harry had been hoping for. He slipped his wand back into his robes, waited until Cedric's friends had disappeared into their classroom, and hurried up the corridor, which was now empty of everyone but himself and Cedric.

“你是怎么发现的？我们不应该知道……”

"Hi," said Cedric, picking up a copy of A Guide to Advanced Transfiguration that was now splattered with ink. "My bag just split. . . brand-new and all. . ."

“你就别管了，”哈利赶紧说道——他知道如果他说出实情，海格就会遇到麻烦，“知道的不只我一个人。芙蓉和克鲁姆现在也知道了——马克西姆夫人和卡卡洛夫都看见火龙了。”

"Cedric," said Harry, "the first task is dragons."

塞德里克站直身子，怀里抱着一大堆沾染了墨水的羽毛笔、羊皮纸和书本，撕裂的书包从一个肩膀上耷拉了下来。他盯着哈利，眼睛里有一种困惑的、几乎可以说是怀疑的神情。

"What?" said Cedric, looking up.

“你为什么要告诉我？”他问。

"Dragons," said Harry, speaking quickly, in case Professor Flitwick came out to see where Cedric had got to. "They've got four, one for each of us, and we've got to get past them."

哈利不敢相信地望着他。他可以肯定，如果塞德里克亲眼看见了那些火龙，就不会问这个问题了。哈利不能让他最强劲的竞争对手在毫无防备的情况下面对那些庞然大物——也许，换了马尔福或斯内普就……

Cedric stared at him. Harry saw some of the panic he'd been feeling since Saturday night flickering in Cedric's gray eyes.

“这样才……公平，是不是？”他对塞德里克说，“我们现在都知道了……都站在同样的起点上，是不是？”

"Are you sure?" Cedric said in a hushed voice.

塞德里克仍然以有些怀疑的目光望着他，就在这时，噔，噔，噔，哈利听见身后传来一个熟悉的声音。他转身一看，疯眼汉穆迪从旁边的一个教室里走了出来。

"Dead sure," said Harry. "I've seen them."

“波特，你跟我来。”他粗声粗气地说，“迪戈里，你走吧。”

"But how did you find out? We're not supposed to know. . . ."

哈利惊恐地望着穆迪。他听见他们刚才的对话了？

"Never mind," said Harry quickly - he knew Hagrid would be in trouble if he told the truth. "But I'm not the only one who knows. Fleur and Krum will know by now - Maxime and Karkaroff both saw the dragons too."

“嗯——教授，我要去上草药课了——”

Cedric straightened up, his arms full of inky quills, parchment, and books, his ripped bag dangling off one shoulder. He stared at Harry, and there was a puzzled, almost suspicious look in his eyes.

“别管那个，波特。请到我的办公室来……”

"Why are you telling me?" he asked.

哈利跟着他往前走，心里忐忑不安，不知道接下来会发生什么事。如果穆迪追问他是怎么发现火龙的，他该怎么办呢？穆迪会不会去找邓布利多告发海格，还是干脆把哈利变成一只白鼬？对了，如果他是一只白鼬，从火龙身边通过就容易多了。哈利杂乱无章地想着，白鼬的个头要小得多，从五十英尺的高度不太容易看见……

Harry looked at him in disbelief. He was sure Cedric wouldn't have asked that if he had seen the dragons himself. Harry wouldn't have let his worst enemy face those monsters unprepared - well, perhaps Malfoy or Snape...

他跟着穆迪走进办公室。两人都进去后，穆迪把门关上，转身望着哈利，那只带魔法的眼睛和正常的眼睛同时都盯着哈利。

"It's just . . . fair, isn't it?" he said to Cedric. "We all know now. . . we're on an even footing, aren't we?"

“你刚才做了一件很有风度的事，波特。”穆迪轻声地说。

Cedric was still hooking at him in a slightly suspicious way when Harry heard a familiar clunking noise behind him. He turned around and saw Mad-Eye Moody emerging from a nearby classroom.

哈利不知道怎样回答。他压根儿没想到穆迪会是这样的态度。

"Come with me, Potter," he growled. "Diggory, off you go."

“坐下吧。”穆迪说。哈利坐了下来，环顾着四周。

Harry stared apprehensively at Moody. Had he overheard them?

办公室的前两位主人在的时候，哈利曾经来过这里。洛哈特教授在的那些日子，墙上贴满了洛哈特教授本人笑眯眯的眨着眼睛的照片。卢平在这里的时候，你经常会碰到一些十分奇妙和新鲜的黑魔法生物，那是卢平弄来让他们在课学堂上学习用的。现在，办公室里放着一大堆稀奇古怪的玩艺儿，哈利猜想这些都是穆迪当傲罗时用过的东西。

"Er - Professor, I'm supposed to be in Herbology -"

在穆迪的办公桌上，有一只像是裂了缝的玻璃大陀螺般的东西。哈利一眼就认出来了，这是一个窥镜，因为他自己也有一只，不过比穆迪的这只要小得多。在一张小桌子的角上，放着一个古怪的东西，看上去有点像金色的电视天线，不过扭曲得特别厉害，不停地发出轻轻的嗡嗡声。哈利对面的墙上挂着一面类似镜子的东西，但照出的不是房间里的情景，里面有许多黑乎乎的人影晃来晃去，却都模模糊糊，看不真切。

"Never mind that, Potter. In my office, please...

“你喜欢我的黑魔法探测器，是吗？”穆迪问，他一直在仔细打量着哈利。

Harry followed him, wondering what was going to happen to him now. What if Moody wanted to know how he'd found out about the dragons? Would Moody go to Dumbledore and tell on Hagrid, or just turn Harry into a ferret? Well, it might be easier to get past a dragon if he were a ferret, Harry thought dully, he'd be smaller, much less easy to see from a height of fifty feet..

“那是什么？”哈利指着那个扭曲的金色天线，问道。

He followed Moody into his office. Moody closed the door behind them and turned to look at Harry, his magical eye fixed upon him as well as the normal one.

“探密器。探测到密谋和谎言时就会颤动……当然啦，在这里派不上用场，干扰太多了——到处都有学生为自己没做家庭作业编造谎话。我搬进来以后，它就一直嗡嗡叫个不停。我不得不把我的窥镜弄坏，因为它一刻不停地鸣笛尖叫。它太敏感了，方圆一英里之内的动静都能探测到。当然啦，它能探测的可不光是小孩子们的把戏。”他用粗哑的声音说道。

"That was a very decent thing you just did, Potter," Moody said quietly.

“那面镜子是做什么用的？”

Harry didn't know what to say; this wasn't the reaction he had expected at all.

“噢，那是我的照妖镜。看见那些鬼鬼祟祟的人影了吗？我如果看清楚了他们的眼白，就真的遇到麻烦了。那时我就要打开我的箱子。”

"Sit down," said Moody, and Harry sat, looking around.

他短促而嘶哑地笑了一声，指着窗户下面的那只大箱子。那上面有七个排成一排的钥匙孔。哈利正猜想着箱子里会是什么，忽然，穆迪的下一个问题又把他拉回现实中来了。

He had visited this office under two of its previous occupants. In Professor Lockhart's day, the walls had been plastered with beaming, winking pictures of Professor Lockhart himself. When Lupin had lived here, you were more likely to come across a specimen of some fascinating new Dark creature he had procured for them to study in class. Now, however, the office was full of a number of exceptionally odd objects that Harry supposed Moody had used in the days when he had been an Auror.

“这么说……你发现了火龙的事，是吗？”

On his desk stood what looked hike a large, cracked, glass spinning top; Harry recognized

哈利迟疑着。他一直在担心这个——海格违反章程的事，他没有告诉塞德里克，当然也不会告诉穆迪。

it at once as a Sneakoscope, because he owned one himself, though it was much smaller than Moody's. In the corner on a small table stood an object that looked something like an extra-squiggly, golden television aerial. It was humming slightly. What appeared to be a mirror hung opposite Harry on the wall, but it was not reflecting the room. Shadowy figures were moving around inside it, none of them clearly in focus.

“没关系，”穆迪说着，坐了下来，呻吟着伸直那条木腿，“作弊向来是三强争霸赛的传统组成部分。”

"Like my Dark Detectors, do you?" s aid Moody, who was watching Harry closely.

“我没有作弊，”哈利明确地说，“我是——我是偶然发现的。”

"What's that?" Harry asked, pointing at the squiggly golden aerial.

穆迪咧开嘴笑了。“我没有责备你，孩子。我从一开始就告诉邓布利多，他尽可以发扬高尚的风格，但我敢说卡卡洛夫和马克西姆绝没有这样超脱。他们会尽可能把一切都告诉他们的勇士。他们想赢。他们想打败邓布利多。他们希望证明他只是一个凡人。”

"Secrecy Sensor. Vibrates when it detects concealment and lies.. . no use here, of course, too much interference - students in every direction lying about why they haven't done their homework Been humming ever since I got here. I had to disable my Sneakoscope because it wouldn't stop whistling. It's extra-sensitive, picks up stuff about a mile around. Of course, it could be picking up more than kid stuff," he added in a growl.

穆迪又发出一声嘶哑地干笑，那只带魔法的眼睛滴溜溜地转得飞快，哈利看着都觉得恶心了。

"And what's the mirror for?"

“那么……你有没有想好怎样通过你的那条龙呢？”穆迪问。

"Oh that's my Foe-Glass. See them out there, skulking around? I'm not really in trouble until I see the whites of their eyes. That's when I open my trunk."

“没有。”哈利说。

He let out a short, harsh laugh, and pointed to the large trunk under the window. It had seven keyholes in a row. Harry wondered what was in there, until Moody's next question brought him sharply back to earth.

“喔，我是不会告诉你的，”穆迪生硬地说，“我不能偏心，是吧？我只想给你一些善意的、泛泛的忠告。第一条是——要发挥自己的强项。”

"So. . . found out about the dragons, have you?"

“我没有强项。”哈利脱口而出，想收回也来不及了。

Harry hesitated. He'd been afraid of this - but he hadn't told Cedric, and he certainly wasn't going to tell Moody, that Hagrid had broken the rules.

“对不起，我不同意。”穆迪粗声粗气地说道，“我说你有强项，你就有强项。好好想想。你最擅长什么？”

"It's all right," said Moody, sitting down and stretching out his wooden leg with a groan. "Cheating's a traditional part of the Triwizard Tournament and always has been."

哈利拼命集中思想。他最擅长什么？噢，那是显而易见的——

"I didn't cheat," said Harry sharply. "It was - a sort of accident that I found out."

“魁地奇，”他干巴巴地说，“那是在许多人的帮助下——”

Moody grinned. "I wasn't accusing you, laddie. I've been telling Dumbledore from the start, he can be as high-minded as he likes, but you can bet old Karkaroff and Maxime won't be. They'll have told their champions everything they can. They want to win.

“那就对了，”穆迪说着，死地死盯着哈利，那只带魔法的眼睛几乎一动不动，“据我所知，你是个很出色的飞人。”

They want to beat Dumbledore. They'd like to prove he's only human."

“是的，可是……”哈利望着他说道，“我不能使用扫帚，我只能带着魔杖——”

Moody gave another harsh laugh, and his magical eye swiveled around so fast it made Harry feel queasy to watch it.

“我给你的第二条泛泛的忠告是，”穆迪打断了他，大声地说，“念一个简单而有效的咒语，使你能够得到你需要的东西。”

"So. . . got any ideas how you're going to get past your dragon yet?" said Moody.

哈利茫然地望着他。他需要什么呢。

"No," said Harry.

“好好想想，孩子……”穆迪小声说，“把它们联系起来……并没有那么难……”

"Well, I'm not going to tell you," said Moody gruffly. "I don't show favoritism, me.

突然，哈利脑子里灵光一现。他最擅长飞翔。他需要从空中越过巨龙。这样的话，他就需要他的火弩箭。而要得到他的火弩箭，他就需要——

I'm just going to give you some good, general advice. And the first bit is - play to your strengths."

“赫敏，”三分钟后，哈利飞快地冲进暖房，走过斯普劳特教授身边时匆匆向她说了句道歉的话，然后压低声音对赫敏说，“赫敏——我需要你的帮助。”

"I haven't got any," said Harry, before he could stop himself. "Excuse me," growled Moody, "you've got strengths if I say you've got them. Think now. What are you best at?"

“我不是一直在帮助你吗，哈利？”赫敏悄声回答。她正在修剪振翅灌木，一双眼睛在颤动着的灌木丛上睁得圆圆的，里面满是焦虑。

Harry tried to concentrate. What was he best at? Well, that was easy, really -- "Quidditch," he said dully, "and a fat lot of help -"

“赫敏，我必须在明天下午以前掌握飞来咒。”

"That's right," said Moody, staring at him very hard, his magical eye barely moving at all. "You're a damn good flier from what I've heard."

于是他们开始苦苦练习。他们没有吃午饭，直接找了一间空教室，哈利集中全部的意念，迫使房间里各种各样的东西朝他飞来。他仍然没有完全掌握。书本啦，羽毛笔啦，总是在飞到一半的时候泄了气，像石头一样落到地板上。

"Yeah, but.. ." Harry stared at him. "I'm not allowed a broom, I've only got my wand..."

“专心，哈利，专心……”

"My second piece of general advice," said Moody loudly, interrupting him, "is to use a nice, simple spell that will enable you to get what you need."

“我难道还不够专心吗？”哈利气呼呼地说，“不知怎的，我脑子里不停地冒出一条特别大的火龙……好吧，再试一次……”

Harry looked at him blankly. What did he need?

他本想逃过占卜课，继续练习，但是赫敏坚决不肯放弃算术占卜课，而如果她不在，哈利留在这里就毫无意义了。因此，他只好又花一个多小时忍受特里劳妮教授的唠叨，特里劳妮教授用半节课的时间告诉全班同学，从当时火星与土星的相对位置来看，七月份出生的人将有突然惨死的巨大危险。

"Come on, boy. . ." whispered Moody. "Put them together... it's not that difficult..."

“嗯，那倒不错，”哈利大声说，他已经无法按捺内心的怒火，“但愿时间不要拖得太长。我不想忍受折磨。”

And it clicked. He was best at flying. He needed to pass the dragon in the air. For that, he needed his Firebolt. And for his Fire-bolt, he needed - "Hermione," Harry whispered, when he had sped into greenhouse three minutes later, uttering a hurried apology to Professor Sprout as he passed her. "Hermione - I need you to help me."

有那么片刻工夫，罗恩似乎想放声大笑。他的目光无疑是与哈利的目光相遇了，这是许多天来的第一次，但是哈利还在生罗恩的气，没有理会他。在这节课剩余的时间里，哈利一直在桌子底下用魔杖吸引小东西朝他飞来。他总算使一只苍蝇一头飞进他的手心，但他不能完全肯定这是他飞来咒的威力——也许是那只苍蝇自己昏了头吧。

"What d'you think I've been trying to do, Harry?" she whispered back, her eyes round with anxiety over the top of the quivering Flutterby Bush she was pruning.

占卜课后，他强迫自己吃下几口晚饭，又和赫敏一起回到那间空教室里。为了躲避教师的注意，他穿上了隐形衣。他们一直练习到午夜以后。本来他们还可以再待一些时候，可是皮皮鬼出现了。他大概以为哈利想把东西都朝他抛去，便开始抡起椅子在房间里乱扔。哈利和赫敏趁这声音还没有把费尔奇吸引过来，赶紧离开了那里。他们回到格兰芬多的公共休息室，谢天谢地，里面空无一人。

"Hermione, I need to learn how to do a Summoning Charm properly by tomorrow afternoon."

凌晨两点钟的时候，哈利站在壁炉旁，周围堆着许多东西：书本、羽毛笔、几张翻倒的椅子、一套旧的戈布石，还有纳威的瘌蛤蟆莱福。就在刚才，哈利才终于真正掌握了飞来咒。

And so they practiced. They didn't have lunch, but headed for a free classroom, where Harry tried with all his might to make various objects fly across the room toward him.

“好多了，哈利，真是大有长进。”赫敏说。她显得疲倦，但十分高兴。

He was still having problems. The books and quills kept losing heart halfway across the room and dropping hike stones to the floor.

“噢，现在我知道下次我学不会魔咒该怎么办了，”哈利说着，把一本魔文词典扔还给赫敏，这样他可以再试一次，“就拿一条火龙来威胁我。没错……”他又一次举起魔杖。“词典飞来！”

"Concentrate, Harry, concentrate. . . ."

厚重的词典从赫敏手中腾空而起，飞到房间的另一边，被哈利一把接住。

"What d'you think I'm trying to do?" said Harry angrily. "A great big dragon keeps popping up in my head for some reason...Okay, try again. . . ."

“哈利，我认为你真的掌握了！”赫敏高兴地说。

He wanted to skip Divination to keep practicing, but Hermione refused point-blank to skive off Arithmancy, and there was no point in staying without her. He therefore had to endure over an hour of Professor Trelawney, who spent half the lesson telling everyone that the position of Mars with relation to Saturn at that moment meant that people born in July were in great danger of sudden, violent deaths.

“但愿明天还能成功，”哈利说，“火弩箭比这里的东西远得多，明天它在城堡里，我在外面的场地上……”

"Well, that's good," said Harry loudly, his temper getting the better of him, "just as long as it's not drawn-out. I don't want to suffer."

“没关系，”赫敏肯定地说，“只要你真正集中意念，全神贯注，它就会飞来。哈利，我们最好回去睡一会儿……你需要休息。”

Ron looked for a moment as though he was going to laugh; he certainly caught Harry's eye for the first time in days, but Harry was still feeling too resentful toward Ron to care.

那天晚上，哈利一直把注意力全部集中在学习飞来咒上，他内心的一些茫然的恐慌暂时离开了他。然而，到了第二天早晨，它们又全都回来了。学校的气氛非常紧张和兴奋。中午就停课了，让全校学生有时间到下面圈龙的场地上去——当然啦，他们并不知道会在那里看到什么。

He spent the rest of the lesson trying to attract small objects toward him under the table with his wand. He managed to make a fly zoom straight into his hand, though he wasn't entirely sure that was his prowess at Summoning Charms - perhaps the fly was just stupid.

哈利感到自己就像个局外人。当他走过时，旁边的人祝他走运也好，咬牙切齿地说“我们准备了一大堆纸巾为你哭泣，波特”也好，他都觉得跟自己没有关系。这种紧张的情绪太强烈了，他简直怀疑自己在被领去见火龙的路上就会失去控制，对着自己看见的每一人念起咒来。时间的运行方式越发古怪了，好像是快马加鞭地往前跑，前一分钟他似乎还坐在教室里上第一节课——魔法史，转眼间就走进礼堂吃午饭了……然后（上午到哪里去了？没有火龙袭击的最后几个小时到哪里去了？），麦格教授在礼堂里匆匆向他走来。许多人都望着他们。

He forced down some dinner after Divination, then returned to the empty classroom with Hermione, using the Invisibility Cloak to avoid the teachers. They kept practicing until past midnight. They would have stayed longer, but Peeves turned up and, pretending to think that Harry wanted things thrown at him, started chucking chairs across the room.

“波特，现在勇士们都要到下面的场地上去……你们必须做好准备，完成第一个项目。”

Harry and Hermione left in a hurry before the noise attracted Filch, and went back to the Gryffindor common room, which was now mercifully empty.

“好吧。”哈利说着站了起来，他的叉子掉地了盘里，当啷一响。

At two o'clock in the morning, Harry stood near the fireplace, surrounded by heaps of objects: books, quills, several upturned chairs, an old set of Gobstones, and Neville's toad, Trevor. Only in the last hour had Harry really got the hang of the Summoning Charm.

“祝你好运，哈利，”赫敏小声说，“你会成功的！”

"That's better, Harry, that's loads better," Hermione said, looking exhausted but very pleased.

“是啊。”哈利说，他的声音简直不像是他自己的了。

"Well, now we know what to do next time I can't manage a spell," Harry said, throwing a rune dictionary back to Hermione, so he could try again, "threaten me with a dragon.

他和麦格教授一起离开了礼堂。麦格教授看上去也心慌意乱。实际上，她简直和赫敏一样焦虑不安。她陪伴哈利走下石阶，来到户外，这是一个十一月寒冷的下午，她把手放在了他的肩头上。

Right..." He raised his wand once more. "Accio Dictionary!"

“好了，不要紧张，”她说，“保持头脑冷静……我们安排了一些巫师在旁边，如果情况不妙，他们会上前控制局势的……最重要的是充分发挥你自己的能力，谁也不会认为你比别人逊色……你没事吧？”

The heavy book soared out of Hermione's hand, flew across the room, and Harry caught it.

“没事，”哈利听见自己这么说，“没事，我很好。”

"Harry, I really think you've got it!" said Hermione delightedly.

麦格教授领着他绕过禁林边缘，朝火龙所在的地方走去。当他们走近本来可以看清场地的那片树丛时，哈利发现那里竖起一个帐篷，挡住了那些火龙，帐篷的入口正对着他们。

"Just as long as it works tomorrow," Harry said. "The Firebolt's going to be much farther away than the stuff in here, it's going to be in the castle, and I'm going to be out there on the grounds. . . ."

“你必须和另外几位勇士一起进去，”麦格教授说道，她的声音有些颤抖，“等着轮到你的时候，波特。巴格曼先生也在里面……他会把——步骤告诉你们……祝你好运。”

"That doesn't matter," said Hermione firmly." Just as long as you're concentrating really, really hard on it, it'll come. Harry, we'd better get some sleep.. . you're going to need it."

“谢谢。”哈利用一种单调的、飘飘忽忽的声音说。麦格教授把他领到帐篷入口处。哈利走了进去。

Harry had been focusing so hard on learning the Summoning Charm that evening that some of his blind panic had heft him. It returned in full measure, however, on the following morning. The atmosphere in the school was one of great tension and excitement. Lessons were to stop at midday, giving all the students time to get down to the dragons' enclosure - though of course, they didn't yet know what they would find there.

芙蓉·德拉库尔坐在角落里一张低矮的木凳子上。她一点儿不像平时那样镇定自若，脸色显得非常苍白，一副病恹恹的样子。威克多尔·克鲁姆看上去比往常更加阴沉，哈利猜想这大概是他显示内心紧张的方式。塞德里克不停地来回踱步。哈利进来时，塞德里克朝他淡淡地笑了一下，哈利也对他报以微笑。哈利觉得脸上的肌肉牵动得很别扭，好像它们已经忘记怎么笑了。

Harry felt oddly separate from everyone around him, whether they were wishing him good luck or hissing "We'll have a box of tissues ready, Potter" as he passed. It was a state of nervousness so advanced that he wondered whether he mightn't just lose his head when they tried to lead him out to his dragon, and start trying to curse everyone in sight.

“哈利！太好了！”巴格曼扭过头来望着他，愉快地说：“进来，进来，放松点儿，跟在自己家里一样！”

Time was behaving in a more peculiar fashion than ever, rushing past in great dollops, so that one moment he seemed to be sitting down in his first lesson, History of Magic, and the next, walking into lunch.. . and then (where had the morning gone? the last of the dragon-free hours?), Professor McGonagall was hurrying over to him in the Great Hall.

巴格曼站在那几个脸色苍白的勇士中间，活像一个大块头的卡通形象。他又穿上了那套黄蜂队的旧队袍。

Lots of people were watching.

“好了，现在大家都到齐了——该向你们介绍一下情况了！”巴格曼兴高采烈地说道，“观众聚齐以后，我要把这只布袋轮流递到你们每个个面前，”——他举起一只紫色的绸布袋，对着他们摇了摇——“你们从里面挑出各自将要面对的那个东西的小模型！它们有不同的——嗯——种类。我还有一件事要告诉你们……啊，对了……你们的任务是拾取金蛋！”

"Potter, the champions have to come down onto the grounds now... . You have to get ready for your first task."

哈利看了看四周。塞德里克点了一下头，表示他明白了巴格曼的话，然后又在帐篷里踱来踱去，他的脸色微微有些发绿。芙蓉·德拉库尔和克鲁姆没有丝毫反应。大概他们觉得一旦开口说话，就会心慌得呕吐吧。这正是哈利的感觉。但他们几个至少是自愿来比赛的……

"Okay," said Harry, standing up, his fork falling onto his plate with a clatter.

转眼之间，就听见成百上千双脚走过帐篷的声音，脚的主人们都在兴奋地交谈、说笑……哈利觉得自己与那些人格格不入，就好像他们属于另一种类似的。接着——在哈利的感觉中只是一眨眼的工夫——巴格曼已经在解开紫色的绸布袋了。

"Good luck, Harry," Hermione whispered. "You'll be fine!"

“女士优先。”他说，把袋子递到芙蓉·德拉库尔面前。

"Yeah," said Harry in a voice that was most unlike his own.

她把一只颤抖的手伸进布袋，掏出一只小巧的、维妙维肖的龙的模型——是威尔士绿龙，脖子上系着一个号码：二号。哈利看见芙蓉没有表现出丝毫惊讶，而是一副听天由命的神情，他便知道自己的推测是正确的：马克西姆夫人告诉了芙蓉即将面临的挑战是什么。

He heft the Great Hall with Professor McGonagall. She didn't seem herself either; in fact, she looked nearly as anxious as Hermione. As she walked him down the stone steps

克鲁姆也证实了同样的情况。他掏出了那条鲜红色的中国火球，脖子上系着号码是三号。他连眼睛都没有眨一下，就一屁股坐下来，眼睛盯着地面。

and out into the cold November afternoon, she put her hand on his shoulder.

塞德里克把手伸进口袋里，掏出来的是那条银蓝色的瑞典短鼻龙，脖子上系的号码是一号。哈利知道留给自己的是什么了，他把手伸进绸布口袋，掏出了那条匈牙利树蜂，是第四号。他低头望着的时候，那小龙展开翅膀，露出它小小的獠牙。

"Now, don't panic," she said, "just keep a cool head. . . . We've got wizards standing by to control the situation if it gets out of hand. . . . The main thing is just to do your best, and nobody will think any the worse of you. . . . Are you all right?"

“好了，你们都拿到了！”巴格曼说道，“你们都抽到了自己将要面对的火龙，它脖子上的号码是你们去与火龙周旋的顺序，明白了吗？好了，我现在要暂时离开你们一下，因为我要给观众作解说。迪戈里先生，你是第一个，你一听见哨声就走进那片场地，知道了吗？那么……哈利……我可以跟你说几句话吗？到外面来？”

"Yes," Harry heard himself say. "Yes, I'm fine."

“嗯……好的。”哈利茫然地说。他站起来，和巴格曼一起来到帐篷外面。巴格曼把他带到稍远一点儿的地方，进入树丛中，然后转过来望着他，脸上带着一种慈父般的表情。

She was leading him toward the place where the dragons were, around the edge of the forest, but when they approached the clump of trees behind which the enclosure would be clearly visible, Harry saw that a tent had been erected, its entrance facing them, screening the dragons from view.

“感觉怎么样，哈利？有什么需要我帮助的吗？”

"You're to go in here with the other champions," said Professor McGonagall, in a rather shaky sort of voice, "and wait for your turn, Potter. Mr. Bagman is in there. . . he'll be telling you the - the procedure. . . . Good luck."

“什么？”哈利说，“我——不，不需要。”

"Thanks," said Harry, in a flat, distant voice. She left him at the entrance of the tent. Harry went inside.

“心里有谱了吗？”巴格曼鬼鬼祟祟地放低声音，问道。“如果你愿意，我倒可以给你提供几个点子。我的意思是，”巴格曼把声音压得更低，继续说道，“你在这里处于劣势，哈利……只要我帮得上忙……”

Fleur Delacour was sitting in a corner on a how wooden stool. She didn't look nearly as composed as usual, but rather pale and clammy. Viktor Krum looked even surlier than usual, which Harry supposed was his way of showing nerves. Cedric was pacing up and down. When Harry entered, Cedric gave him a small smile, which Harry returned, feeling the muscles in his face working rather hard, as though they had forgotten how to do it.

“不，”哈利唐突地说，知道自己显得有些失礼，“不——我——我知道自己该怎么做，谢谢。”

"Harry! Good-o!" said Bagman happily, looking around at him. "Come in, come in, make yourself at home!"

“不会有人知道的，哈利。”巴格曼说着，朝眨了眨眼睛。

Bagman looked somehow like a slightly overblown cartoon figure, standing amid all the pale-faced champions. He was wearing his old Wasp robes again.

“不用了，我没事。”哈利说。他不明白他为什么反复告诉别人这一点，实际上他不知道自己什么时候感觉这么糟糕过。“我已经想出一个方案，我——”

"Well, now we're all here - time to fill you in!" said Bagman brightly. "When the audience has assembled, I'm going to be offering each of you this bag" - he held up a small sack of purple silk and shook it at them - "from which you will each select a small model of the thing you are about to face! There are different - er - varieties, you see.

什么地方响起了哨声。

And I have to tell you something else too.. . ah, yes... your task is to collect the golden egg!"

“上帝啊，我必须跑着去了！”巴格曼惊慌地说，撒腿就跑。

Harry glanced around. Cedric had nodded once, to show that he understood Bagman's words, and then started pacing around the tent again; he looked slightly green. Fleur Delacour and Krum hadn't reacted at all. Perhaps they thought they might be sick if they opened their mouths; that was certainly how Harry felt. But they, at least, had volunteered for this. .

哈利朝帐篷走去，恰好看见塞德里克从里面出来，脸色比刚才更绿了。两人擦肩而过时，哈利本想祝他好运，但嘴里只发出了一声粗哑的嘟哝。

And in no time at all, hundreds upon hundreds of pairs of feet could be heard passing the tent, their owners talking excitedly, laughing, joking. . . . Harry felt as separate from the crowd as though they were a different species. And then - it seemed like about a second later to Harry - Bagman was opening the neck of the purple silk sack.

哈利回到帐篷里，回到芙蓉和克鲁姆身边。几秒钟后，他们听见人群里传来一片喧嚣，这意味着塞德思克已经进入场地，正面对着与他那个模型一模一样的活物……

"Ladies first," he said, offering it to Fleur Delacour.

哈利坐在那里侧耳倾听，一切比他想象的还要糟糕。当塞德里克想方设法通过瑞典短鼻龙时，人群就像一个长着许多脑袋的统一体，在尖叫……在高喊……在倒吸冷气。克鲁姆仍然盯着地面。芙蓉现在步塞德里克的后尘，在帐篷里一圈接一圈地踱步。巴格曼的解说使一切变得更加、更加糟糕……“喔唷，好危险，太危险了。”……“他这一招真够悬的！”……

She put a shaking hand inside the bag and drew out a tiny, perfect model of a dragon - a Welsh Green. It had the number two around its neck And Harry knew, by the fact that Fleur showed no sign of surprise, but rather a determined resignation, that he had been right: Madame Maxime had told her what was coming.

“很聪明的办法——可惜没有成功！”哈利听着这些解说，脑子里不断浮现出可怕的画面。

The same held true for Krum. He pulled out the scarlet Chinese Fireball. It had a number three around its neck. He didn't even blink, just sat back down and stared at the ground.

大约十五分钟后，哈利听见一阵震耳欲聋的欢呼声，这只能说明一件事：塞德里克终于通过了他那条龙，抓到了金蛋。

Cedric put his hand into the bag, and out came the blueish-gray Swedish Short-Snout, the number one tied around its neck. Knowing what was left, Harry put his hand into the silk bag and pulled out the Hungarian Horntail, and the number four. It stretched its wings as he looked down at it, and bared its minuscule fangs.

“确实非常出色！”巴格曼扯着嗓子喊道，“现在请裁判打分！”

"Well, there you are!" said Bagman. "You have each pulled out the dragon you will face, and the numbers refer to the order in which you are to take on the dragons, do you see?

然而他没有高声报出得分，哈利猜想裁判可能把分数举起来让观众看了。

Now, I'm going to have to leave you in a moment, because I'm commentating. Mr. Diggory, you're first, just go out into the enclosure when you hear a whistle, all right? Now. .

“一个下去了，还有三个！”口哨再次响时，巴格曼大声嚷道，“德拉库尔小姐，请上场！”

. Harry. . . could I have a quick word? Outside?"

芙蓉从头到脚都在发抖。当她昂着脑袋、手里紧紧攥着魔杖离开帐篷时，哈利对她产生了前所未有的亲近感。现在只剩他和克鲁姆面对面坐在帐篷的两边，互相躲避着对方的目光。

"Er. . . yes," said Harry blankly, and he got up and went out of the tent with Bagman, who walked him a short distance away, into the trees, and then turned to him with a fatherly expression on his face.

同样的程序又开始了……“哦，我不能肯定这样做是明智的！”他们听见巴格曼兴高采烈地大喊道，“哦……就差一点点！小心……我的天哪，我还以为她已经得手了！”

"Feeling all right, Harry? Anything I can get you?"

十分钟后，哈利听见观众们再一次爆发出欢呼喝彩……芙蓉一定也成功了。接着是片刻的静场，等着裁判给芙蓉打分……又是掌声雷动……然后，口哨第三次吹响了。

"What?" said Harry. "I - no, nothing."

“现在出场的是克鲁姆先生！”巴格曼喊道。克鲁姆耷拉着肩膀走了出去，把哈利一个人留在了帐篷里。

"Got a plan?" said Bagman, lowering his voice conspiratorially. "Because I don't mind

他觉得自己对身体的意识比平常敏感多了。他十分强烈地意识到他的心脏在狂跳，他的手指因为恐惧而刺痛……然而与此同时，他又似乎游离于自己之外，好像从某个遥远的地方望着帐篷四壁，听着人群的喧嚣……

sharing a few pointers, if you'd like them, you know. I mean," Bagman continued, lowering his voice still further, "you're the underdog here, Harry. . . . Anything I can do to help. . ."

“非常胆大！”巴格曼在高喊——哈利听见中国火龙发出一声可怕的、石破天惊的尖叫，观众们不约而同地吸了口气，“他表现出了过人的胆量——啊——没错，他拿到了金蛋！”

"No," said Harry so quickly he knew he had sounded rude, "no - I - I know what I'm going to do, thanks."

铺天盖地的掌声像打碎玻璃一样，把冬天的空气震得粉碎。克鲁姆已经完成了他的使命——现在随时都会轮到哈利上场。

"Nobody would know, Harry," said Bagman, winking at him.

他站起来，模模糊糊地发现自己的双腿仿佛是糖稀做的。他等待着。接着他听见外面传来口哨声。他穿过帐篷的入口走到外面，内心的紧张一点点儿增强，达到了无以复加的程度。现在他正从树丛旁走过，穿过场地栅栏上的一道豁口。

"No, I'm fine," said Harry, wondering why he kept telling people this, and wondering whether he had ever been less fine. "I've got a plan worked out, I -"

他看见了面前的一切，就好像一个色彩鲜明的梦境。成百上千张面孔从上面的看台上望着他，他那天晚上站在这里时这些看台还没有，是后来用魔法搭建的。

A whistle had blown somewhere.

在场地的另一端，赫然耸立着那条匈牙利树蜂。它低低地蹲伏着，守着它的那一窝蛋，翅膀收拢了一半，那双恶狠狠的黄眼睛死死盯着哈利。这是一条无比庞大、周身覆盖着鳞甲的类蜥蜴爬行动物。它剧烈扭动着长满尖刺的尾巴，在坚硬的地面上留下几米长的坑坑洼洼的痕迹。观众席里发出鼎沸的喧嚣声，这些声音是友好的还是恶意的，哈利无从知晓，也不再介意。现在他要做他必须做的事情了……排除杂念，完全地、绝对地集中意念，想着那件东西，那是他惟一的希望……

"Good lord, I've got to run!" said Bagman in alarm, and he hurried off.

他举起魔杖。

Harry walked back to the tent and saw Cedric emerging from it, greener than ever. Harry tried to wish him luck as he walked past, but all that came out of his mouth was a sort of hoarse grunt.

“火弩箭飞来！”他喊道。

Harry went back inside to Fleur and Krum. Seconds hater, they heard the roar of the crowd, which meant Cedric had entered the enclosure and was now face-to-face with the living counterpart of his model.

哈利等待着，他的每一个细胞都在祈祷、希冀……如果这一招没有成功……如果火弩箭没有飞来……他望着周围的一切，眼前仿佛隔着一层微光闪烁的透明屏障。它如同一层热腾腾的烟雾，使场地和他周围的几百张面孔都在奇怪地飘浮不定……

It was worse than Harry could ever have imagined, sitting there and listening. The crowd screamed. . . yelled.. . gasped like a single many-headed entity, as Cedric did whatever he was doing to get past the Swedish Short-Snout. Krum was still staring at the ground.

接着，他听见了，什么东西在他后面嗖嗖地穿过空气疾飞而来。他转过身，看见他的火弩箭绕过禁林边缘，朝他快速飞来；它飞进场地，猛地停在他身旁的半空中，等着他跨上去。人群里发出的声音更响了……巴格曼在喊叫着什么……可是哈利的耳朵此刻已经不管用了……现在重要的不是听……

Fleur had now taken to retracing Cedric's steps, around and around the tent. And Bagman's commentary made everything much, much worse.. . . Horrible pictures formed in Harry's mind as he heard: "Oooh, narrow miss there, very narrow". . . "He's taking risks, this one!". . . "Clever move - pity it didn't work!"

他抬腿跨上飞天扫帚，一蹬地面，腾空飞了起来。一秒钟后，一桩奇迹般的事情发生了……

And then, after about fifteen minutes, Harry heard the deafening roar that could mean only one thing: Cedric had gotten past his dragon and captured the golden egg.

当他飞速地盘旋而上，当风呼呼地吹动他的头发，当下面观众们的脸都变成了肉色的小针眼，树蜂缩小成一条狗那么大时，他意识到了：他抛弃的不仅是地面，更有他的恐惧……他回到了他如鱼得水的地方……

"Very good indeed!" Bagman was shouting. "And now the marks from the judges!"

这只是另外一场魁地奇比赛，如此而已……这不过是另外一场魁地奇比赛，树蜂不过是另外一支难缠的对手球队……

But he didn't shout out the marks; Harry supposed the judges were holding them up and showing them to the crowd.

他低头望着那一窝蛋，辨认出了那只金蛋，它在那些安安稳稳躺在火龙前腿中间的石灰色的伙伴中闪闪发亮。“好嘞，”哈利对自己说，“调虎离山计……来吧……”

"One down, three to go!" Bagman yelled as the whistle blew again. "Miss Delacour, if you please!"

他俯冲下去。树蜂的脑袋跟着他移动。哈利知道它想做什么，便及时停止俯冲，腾跃而起。一团烈火喷了出来，如果他没有及时避开，便会被喷个正着……可是哈利并不在乎……那不过是躲避一只游走球而已……

Fleur was trembling from head to foot; Harry felt more warmly toward her than he had done so far as she heft the tent with her head held high and her hand clutching her wand. He and Krum were left alone, at opposite sides of the tent, avoiding each other's gaze.

“我的天哪，他能飞啊！”巴格曼喊道——观众们都在惊叫和喘气，“你看见了吗，克鲁姆先生？”

The same process started again. . . ."Oh I'm not sure that was wise!" they could hear Bagman shouting gleefully. "Oh. . . nearly! Careful now. . . good lord, I thought she'd had it then!"

哈利盘旋着越飞越高，树蜂的目光仍然跟着他移动，它的脑袋在长长的脖子上转了一圈又一圈——如果他一直这样上升，树蜂肯定会被弄得晕头转向——不过最好不要把它逼得太狠，不然它又要喷火了——

Ten minutes later, Harry heard the crowd erupt into applause once more. . . . Fleur must have been successful too. A pause, while Fleur's marks were being shown. . . more clapping.. . then, for the third time, the whistle.

哈利就在树蜂张开嘴巴的瞬间骤然下降，但这次他就不太走运了——他躲过了火焰，但树蜂的尾巴迎头向他抽来。当他转向左边时，那尾巴上的一根长长的尖刺扎进了他的肩膀，撕裂了他的长袍——

"And here comes Mr. Krum!" cried Bagman, and Krum slouched out, leaving Harry quite alone.

他可以感到一阵剧痛，可以听见观众们失声尖叫和叹息，但看来伤口并不很深……现在他绕着树蜂的背后飞来飞去，突然，他想到了一个办法……

He felt much more aware of his body than usual; very aware of the way his heart was pumping fast, and his fingers tingling with fear. . . yet at the same time, he seemed to be outside himself, seeing the walls of the tent, and hearing the crowd, as though from far away.

树蜂似乎不想动窝，它太注意保护它的蛋了。它尽管不停地盘绕、扭动，把翅膀展开又收拢，收拢又展开，那双吓人的黄眼睛死死盯着哈利，但它不敢过分远离它的蛋……而哈利必须诱惑它这么做，不然他就永远无法接近那些蛋……诀窍就是要循序渐进，步步为营……

"Very daring!" Bagman was yelling, and Harry heard the Chinese Fireball emit a horrible, roaring shriek, while the crowd drew its collective breath. "That's some nerve he's showing - and - yes, he's got the egg!"

他开始不停地飞来飞去，一会儿这边，一会儿那边，小心着不要靠得太近，以免它喷出的火焰把他击着，但又要构成足够的威胁，确保它的眼睛一直盯着自己。树蜂的脑袋左右摆动着，目光从一对垂直的瞳孔中注视着他，嘴里的獠牙全部露在外面……

Applause shattered the wintery air like breaking glass; Krum had finished - it would be Harry's turn any moment.

哈利飞得更高了。树蜂的脑袋跟着他一起上升，它的脖子已经完全伸直，仍然左右摆动着，像一条蛇在耍蛇人面前起舞……

He stood up, noticing dimly that his legs seemed to be made of marshmallow. He waited.

哈利又升高了几英尺，树蜂发出一声绝望的吼叫。哈利在它眼里就像一只苍蝇，一只它想拍死的苍蝇。它的尾巴又连续甩打起来，但哈利飞得太高了，尾巴够不着他……树蜂朝着空中喷出火焰，哈利闪身躲过……树蜂的嘴巴张得大大的……

And then he heard the whistle blow. He walked out through the entrance of the tent, the panic rising into a crescendo inside him. And now he was walking past the trees, through a gap in the enclosure fence.

“过来，”哈利嘶嘶地说道，在树蜂上方转过来、掉过去，挑逗着它，“过来，过来抓我呀……你上来吧……”

He saw everything in front of him as though it was a very highly colored dream. There were hundreds and hundreds of faces staring down at him from stands that had been magicked there since he'd last stood on this spot. And there was the Horntail, at the other end of the enclosure, crouched low over her clutch of eggs, her wings half-furled, her evil, yellow eyes upon him, a monstrous, scaly, black lizard, thrashing her spiked tail, heaving yard-long gouge marks in the hard ground. The crowd was making a great deal of noise, but whether friendly or not, Harry didn't know or care. It was time to do

终于，树蜂竖起身子，黑乎乎的、粗糙的巨大翅膀完全展开了，像一架小型飞机那么宽——哈利立刻俯冲下去。不等火龙明白他做了什么、消失到什么地方去了，他就以迅雷不及掩耳之势，拼命冲向地面，冲向那窝蛋，现在不再有那对带利爪的前腿保护着它们了——他松开火弩箭，腾出双手——他抓住了金蛋——

what he had to do. . . to focus his mind, entirely and absolutely, upon the thing that was his only chance.

随即他嗖地腾空而起，飞离巨龙，在看台上空盘旋，沉重的金蛋夹在那只没有受伤的胳膊底下，这时才好像有人刚刚把音量调了上去——哈利第一次听清了观众席里发出的声音，人们都在呐喊尖叫、鼓掌喝彩，声音震耳欲聋，就像爱尔兰队的支持者们在世界杯赛上一样——

He raised his wand.

“看呀！”巴格曼在高声大喊，“你们快看呀！我们年级最小的勇士以最快的速度拿到了金蛋！这将会缩小波特先生与其他勇士之间的差距！”

"Accio Firebolt!" he shouted.

哈利看见驯龙者纷纷冲过去，平息树蜂的怒火。在场地的入口处那边，麦格教授、穆迪教授和海格匆匆走过来迎接他。他们都在朝他招手，要他过去，即使隔着这么远的距离，他们脸上的笑容也清晰可见。哈利飞回到看台上方，人群的喧哗声敲击着他的隔膜。他平稳地降落到地面，几个月来，心情第一次这么轻松……他通过了第一个项目，他活了下来……

Harry waited, every fiber of him hoping, praying. . . . If it hadn't worked. . . if it wasn't coming. . . He seemed to be looking at everything around him through some sort of shimmering, transparent barrier, like a heat haze, which made the enclosure and the hundreds of faces around him swim strangely....

“真是太精彩了，波特！”他刚从火弩箭上下来，麦格教授就大声说——这话从她嘴里说出来，已经是很高的赞扬了。哈利注意到她指着他肩膀的手在微微颤抖。“在裁判打分前，你需要去找一下庞弗雷夫人……就在那儿，已经有迪戈里需要她照料……”

And then he heard it, speeding through the air behind him; he turned and saw his Firebolt hurtling toward him around the edge of the woods, soaring into the enclosure, and stopping dead in midair beside him, waiting for him to mount. The crowd was making even more noise. . . . Bagman was shouting something. . . but Harry's ears were not working properly anymore. . . listening wasn't important....

“你成功了，哈利！”海格声音粗哑地说，“你成功了！而且你对付的是树蜂啊，你知道查理说树蜂是最凶猛的——”

He swung his leg over the broom and kicked off from the ground. And a second later, something miraculous happened....

“谢谢你，海格。”哈利大声说，这样海格就不会冒冒失失地说下去，把他事先带自己去看火龙的事泄露出来了。

As he soared upward, as the wind rushed through his hair, as the crowd's faces became mere flesh-colored pinpnicks below, and the Horntail shrank to the size of a dog, he realized that he had heft not only the ground behind, but also his fear. . . . He was back where he belonged....

穆迪教授看上去也很高兴，他那只带魔法的眼睛在眼窝里跳个不停。

This was just another Quidditch match, that was all. . . just another Quidditch match, and that Horntail was just another ugly opposing team.

“你那一招既漂亮又干脆，波特。”他粗声粗气地说。

He looked down at the clutch of eggs and spotted the gold one, gleaming against its cement-colored fellows, residing safely between the dragon's front legs. "Okay," Harry told himself, "diversionary tactics. . . let's go. . ."

“好了，波特，请你赶紧到急救帐篷去吧……”麦格教授说。

He dived. The Horntail's head followed him; he knew what it was going to do and pulled out of the dive just in time; a jet of fire had been released exactly where he would have been had he not swerved away. . . but Harry didn't care.. . that was no more than dodging a Bludger.

哈利走出场地，仍然气喘吁吁的。他看见庞弗雷夫人站在第二个帐篷的入口处，神情显得很焦虑。

"Great Scott, he can fly!" yelled Bagman as the crowd shrieked and gasped. "Are you watching this, Mr. Krum?"

“火龙！”她用一种厌恶的口吻说，一把将哈利拉了进去。帐篷里分成几个小隔间，他隔着帆布辨认出塞德里克的身影。看来塞德里克伤得并不严重，至少他已经坐了起来。庞弗雷夫人仔细察看着哈利的肩膀，一边气呼呼地说个不停。“去年是摄魂怪，今年是火龙，接下来他们还要把什么东西带进这所学校？你还算幸运……伤口很浅……不过先要清洗一下，我再给你治疗……”

Harry soared higher in a circle; the Horntail was still following his progress; its head revolving on its long neck - if he kept this up, it would be nicely dizzy - but better not push it too long, or it would be breathing fire again - Harry plummeted just as the Horntail opened its mouth, but this time he was less lucky - he missed the flames, but the tail came whipping up to meet him instead, and as he swerved to the left, one of the long spikes grazed his shoulder, ripping his robes -- He could feel it stinging, he could hear screaming and groans from the crowd, but the cut didn't seem to be deep. . . . Now he zoomed around the back of the Horntail, and a possibility occurred to him....

她用一种冒烟的、气味很难闻的紫色液体清洗了伤口，然后她用魔杖捅了捅哈利的肩膀，他觉得伤口立刻就愈合了。

The Horntail didn't seem to want to take off, she was too protective of her eggs. Though she writhed and twisted, furling and unfurling her wings and keeping those fearsome yellow eyes on Harry, she was afraid to move too far from them. . . but he had to persuade her to do it, or he'd never get near them. . . . The trick was to do it carefully, gradually....

“好了，安安静静地坐一分钟——坐下！然后你就可以去看你的得分了。”

He began to fly, first this way, then the other, not near enough to make her breathe fire to stave him off, but still posing a sufficient threat to ensure she kept her eyes on him. Her head swayed this way and that, watching him out of those vertical pupils, her fangs bared...

她快步走出了帐篷，哈利听见她走进隔间，说道：“你感觉怎么样了，迪戈里？”

He flew higher. The Horntail's head rose with him, her neck now stretched to its fullest extent, still swaying, hike a snake before its charmer. . .

哈利不想一动不动地坐着：他太兴奋了。他站了起来，想看看外面的情况，但没等他走到帐篷口，就有两个人迎面冲了进来——是赫敏，后面紧跟着罗恩。

Harry rose a few more feet, and she let out a roar of exasperation. He was like a fly to her, a fly she was longing to swat; her tail thrashed again, but he was too high to reach now. . . . She shot fire into the air, which he dodged.. . . Her jaws opened wide....

“哈利，你真出色！”赫敏尖声尖气地说道。她脸上左一道右一道的，都是指甲抓的痕迹，因为她一直在惊恐地抓挠自己的脸。“你真是太棒了！真是太棒了！”

"Come on," Harry hissed, swerving tantalizingly above her, "come on, come and get me. . .

然而哈利正望着罗恩。罗恩的脸白得吓人，他呆呆地瞪着哈利，就好像哈利是一个鬼魂。

up you get now. ."

“哈利，”他说，神情非常严肃，“不管是什么人把你的名字扔进了那只火焰杯——我——我认为他们是想要你的命！”

And then she reared, spreading her great, black, leathery wings at last, as wide as those of a small airplane - and Harry dived. Before the dragon knew what he had done, or where he had disappeared to, he was speeding toward the ground as fast as he could go, toward the eggs now unprotected by her clawed front legs - he had taken his hands off his

就好像前几个星期什么事都没有发生——就好像这是哈利被选为勇士后第一次见到罗恩。

Firebolt - he had seized the golden egg - And with a huge spurt of speed, he was off, he was soaring out over the stands, the heavy egg safely under his uninjured arm, and it was as though somebody had just turned the volume back up - for the first time, he became properly aware of the noise of the crowd, which was screaming and applauding as loudly as the Irish supporters at the World Cup - "Look at that!" Bagman was yelling. "Will you look at that! Our youngest champion is quickest to get his egg! Well, this is going to shorten the odds on Mr. Potter!"

“你终于明白了？”哈利冷冷地说，“时间够长的啊。”

Harry saw the dragon keepers rushing forward to subdue the Horntail, and, over at the entrance to the enclosure, Professor McGonagalh, Professor Moody, and Hagrid hurrying to meet him, all of them waving him toward them, their smiles evident even from this distance. He flew back over the stands, the noise of the crowd pounding his eardrums, and came in smoothly to land, his heart lighter than it had been in weeks. . . . He had got through the first task, he had survived.

赫敏紧张地站在他们中间，看看这个，又看看那个。罗恩迟疑地张开嘴巴。哈利知道罗恩要向他道歉，而他突然发现自己不需要听他道歉了。

"That was excellent, Potter!" cried Professor McGonagall as he got off the Firebolt -which from her was extravagant praise. He noticed that her hand shook as she pointed at his shoulder. "You'll need to see Madam Pomfrey before the judges give out your score. .

“没关系，”他趁罗恩还没有把话说出来，赶紧说道，“忘了这件事吧。”

. . Over there, she's had to mop up Diggory already. . . ."

“不，”罗恩说，“我不应该——”

"Yeh did it, Harry!" said Hagrid hoarsely. "Yeh did it! An' agains' the Horntail an' all, an' yeh know Charlie said that was the wors' - "

“忘了这件事吧。”哈利说。

"Thanks, Hagrid," said Harry loudly, so that Hagrid wouldn't blunder on and reveal that he had shown Harry the dragons beforehand.

罗恩局促不安地咧嘴朝他微笑着，哈利也对他报以微笑。

Professor Moody looked very pleased too; his magical eye was dancing in its socket.

赫敏突然哭了起来。

"Nice and easy does the trick, Potter," he growled.

“这有什么可哭的！”哈利感到莫名其妙，对她说。

"Right then, Potter, the first aid tent, please. . ." said Professor McGonagall.

“你们俩个真傻！”她大声喊道，一边使劲儿用脚跺着地面，眼泪扑簌簌地洒到胸前。然后，没等他们俩来得及阻止，她就拥抱了他们一下，转身奔走了，这时她已是在号啕大哭了。

Harry walked out of the enclosure, still panting, and saw Madam Pomfrey standing at the mouth of a second tent, looking worried.

“真是疯了，”罗恩摇了摇头，说道，“哈利，我们走吧，他们要给你打分了……”

"Dragons!" she said, in a disgusted tone, pulling Harry inside. The tent was divided into cubicles; he could make out Cedric's shadow through the canvas, but Cedric didn't seem to be badly injured; he was sitting up, at least. Madam Pomfrey examined Harry's shoulder, talking furiously all the while. "Last year dementors, this year dragons, what are they going to bring into this school next? You're very lucky. . . this is quite shallow. . . it'll need cleaning before I heal it up, though... ."

哈利拿起金蛋和火弩箭，觉得心情无比愉快，一小时前他简直不相信自己会有这么好的心情。他低头走出帐篷，罗恩跟在他身旁，像连珠炮一样说个不停。

She cleaned the cut with a dab of some purple liquid that smoked and stung, but then poked his shoulder with her wand, and he felt it heal instantly.

“你知道吗，你是最棒的，谁也比不上你。塞德里克做了件古怪的事，他给地上的一块岩石念了变形咒……把它变成一条狗……他想转移火龙的注意力，让它去追狗。啊，那真是一个很厉害的变形咒，而且真的有点管用，塞德里克拿到了金蛋，但他还是被烧伤了——火龙半途改变了主意，觉得情愿先抓住他，而不是那条纽芬兰猎狗；他差一点儿就逃不掉了。那个叫芙蓉的姑娘施了一种魔法，我想她大概是想使火龙陷入一种催眠状态——不错，那也差不多成功了，火龙一下子就昏昏欲睡了，可是接着它打起呼噜来，喷出好厉害的一道火焰，芙蓉的裙子着了火——她从魔杖里变出水来，把火浇灭了。还有克鲁姆——你简直不会相信，他居然没有想到飞！不过他也很棒，大概仅次于你了。他用一种魔咒直接击中了火龙的眼睛。可惜的是，火龙痛苦地挣扎着，脚踩来踩去，把那些真蛋踩碎了一半——这个他们要扣分的，他不应该破坏那些蛋。”

"Now, just sit quietly for a minute - sit! And then you can go and get your score."

罗恩使劲地大喘了一口气，这时他和哈利来到了场地边缘。树蜂已经被弄走了，哈利可以看见五位裁判坐的地方——就在右边，坐在升高的金色椅子上。

She bustled out of the tent and he heard her go next door and say, "How does it feel now, Diggory?"

“每个人的最高评分不超过十分。”罗恩说，哈利咪着眼睛朝场地眺望，看见第一位裁判——马克西姆夫人——把她的魔杖举向空中。一缕长长的银丝带般的东西从魔杖里喷了出来，扭曲着形成一个大大的“8”字。

Harry didn't want to sit still: He was too full of adrenaline. He got to his feet, wanting to see what was going on outside, but before he'd reached the mouth of the tent, two people had come darting inside - Hermione, followed closely by Ron.

“还行！”罗恩在观众的鼓掌喝彩声中说，“她大概是因为你肩膀受伤才扣你分数的……”

"Harry, you were brilliant!" Hermione said squeakily. There were fingernail marks on her face where she had been clutching it in fear. "You were amazing! You really were!"

接下来是克劳奇先生。他朝空中喷出一个“9”字。

But Harry was looking at Ron, who was very white and staring at Harry as though he were a ghost.

“很有希望啊！”罗恩拍打着哈利的后背，大声嚷道。

"Harry," he said, very seriously, "whoever put your name in that goblet - I - I reckon they're trying to do you in!"

接着是邓布利多。他给了九分。观众们的欢呼声更响亮了。

It was as though the last few weeks had never happened - as though Harry were meeting Ron for the first time, right after he'd been made champion.

卢多·巴格曼——10分。

"Caught on, have you?" said Harry coldly. "Took you long enough."

“十分？”哈利不敢相信地说道，“可是……我受伤了呀……他在开什么玩笑？”

Hermione stood nervously between them, looking from one to the other. Ron opened his mouth uncertainly. Harry knew Ron was about to apologize and suddenly he found he didn't need to hear it.

“哈利，你就别抱怨了！”罗恩兴奋地喊道。

"It's okay," he said, before Ron could get the words out. "Forget it."

这时卡卡洛夫举起魔杖。他停顿片刻，然后他的魔杖里也喷出一个数字——“4”。

"No," said Ron, "I shouldn't've -"

“什么？”罗恩气愤地吼道，“四分？你这个讨厌的、偏心的家伙，你给了克鲁姆十分！”

"Forget it, "Harry said.

可是哈利并不在乎，即使卡卡洛夫给他零分，他也不会在乎。罗恩为他打抱不平，这对他来说比一百分还宝贵。当然啦，他没有把这个想法告诉罗恩，但当他转身离开场地时，他觉得自己的心情比空气还要轻盈。而且，为他高兴的不仅是罗恩……人群里为他欢呼的不仅是格兰芬多的学生们。事到临头，当他们看到哈利所面对的挑战时，学校的大多数同学都开始支持他，就像支持塞德里克一样……他不在乎斯莱特林的学生，现在不管他们朝他泼什么脏水，他都能够忍受。

Ron grinned nervously at him, and Harry grinned back Hermione burst into tears.

“你们一上来就打了个平手，哈利！你和克鲁姆！”查理·韦斯莱说，他们出发返回学校时，他匆匆赶上来迎接他们，“听着，我得跑着去了，我要派一只猫头鹰给妈妈送信，我发誓要把一切都告诉她的——哦，真叫人不敢相信！噢，差点儿忘了——他们叫我对你说一声，你还得在这里再待几分钟……巴格曼有几句话要说，就在勇士们的帐篷里。”

"There's nothing to cry about!" Harry told her, bewildered.

罗恩说愿意等他，哈利便再次走进帐篷，现在那帐篷给人的感觉完全不一样了：变得亲切而温馨了。他回想着他躲避树蜂攻击时的感觉，再拿这种感觉与他刚才出去面对树蜂前漫长的等待相比……那种等待的滋味痛苦万分，是没有什么能够比拟的。

"You two are so stupid!" she shouted, stamping her foot on the ground, tears splashing down her front. Then, before either of them could stop her, she had given both of them a hug and dashed away, now positively howling.

芙蓉、塞德里克和克鲁姆一同进来了。塞德里克的半边脸上涂着一块厚厚的桔黄色，大概是为了治疗他的烧伤吧。他看见哈利，咧开嘴笑了。

"Barking mad," said Ron, shaking his head. "Harry, c'mon, they'll be putting up your scores. . . ."

“干得不错，哈利。”

Picking up the golden egg and his Firebolt, feeling more elated than he would have believed possible an hour ago, Harry ducked out of the tent, Ron by his side, talking fast.

“你也是。”哈利说，也对他报以微笑。

"You were the best, you know, no competition. Cedric did this weird thing where he Transfigured a rock on the ground. . . turned it into a dog. . . he was trying to make the dragon go for the dog instead of him. Well, it was a pretty cool bit of Transfiguration, and it sort of worked, because he did get the egg, but he got burned as well - the dragon changed its mind halfway through and decided it would rather have him than the Labrador; he only just got away. And that Fleur girl tried this sort of charm, I think she was trying to put it into a trance - well, that kind of worked too, it went all sleepy, but then it snored, and this great jet of flame shot out, and her skirt caught fire - she put it out with a bit of water out of her wand. And Krum - you won't believe this, but he didn't even think of flying! He was probably the best after you, though.

“你们都干得不错！”卢多·巴格曼说，他轻快地跳进帐篷，一副欢天喜地的样子，仿佛刚才是他本人成功穿越了一条火龙。“好了，我只有几句话要说。第二个项目将于明年2月24日上午九点半开始，在此之前，你们可以休息很长一段时间——不过我们要留一些问题给你们考虑！你们低头看着手里拿着的那些金蛋，就会发现它们可以打开……看见那里的接缝吗？你们必须解开蛋里提供的线索——那将告诉你第二个项目是什么，你们可以做好准备！都清楚了吧？没问题了？好了，你们走吧！”

Hit it with some sort of spell right in the eye. Only thing is, it went trampling around in agony and squashed half the real eggs - they took marks off for that, he wasn't supposed to do any damage to them."

哈利离开了帐篷，找到罗恩，两人一起绕过禁林边缘往回走，一路上聊个不停。哈利想更详细地了解其他勇士是怎么做的。后来，他们刚绕过那片树丛——哈利就是在这片树丛后面第一次听见火龙吼叫的，一个女巫突然从树丛后面跳了出来。

Ron drew breath as he and Harry reached the edge of the enclosure. Now that the Horntail had been taken away, Harry could see where the five judges were sitting - right at the other end, in raised seats draped in gold.

是丽塔·斯基特。她今天穿着一身艳绿色的袍子，她手里速记笔与袍子的颜色十分般配。

"It's marks out of ten from each one," Ron said, and Harry squinting up the field, saw the first judge - Madame Maxime - raise her wand in the air. What hooked like a long silver ribbon shot out of it, which twisted itself into a large figure eight.

“祝贺你，哈利！”她说，满脸微笑地看着哈利，“不知道你能不能跟我说一句话？你面对火龙时有什么感觉？你现在有什么感觉，你觉得裁判打分是否公平？”

"Not bad!" said Ron as the crowd applauded. "I suppose she took marks off for your shoulder. . .

“好的，我可以跟你说一句话，”哈利恼火地说，“再见。”

Mr. Crouch came next. He shot a number nine into the air.

说完，他和罗恩一起拔腿朝城堡走去。

"Looking good!" Ron yelled, thumping Harry on the back.

Next, Dumbledore. He too put up a nine. The crowd was cheering harder than ever.

Ludo Bagman - ten.

"Ten?" said Harry in disbelief. "But. . . I got hurt. . . . What's he playing at?"

"Harry, don't complain!" Ron yelled excitedly.

And now Karkaroff raised his wand. He paused for a moment, and then a number shot out of his wand too - four.

"What?" Ron bellowed furiously. "Four? You lousy, biased scum-bag, you gave Krum ten!"

But Harry didn't care, he wouldn't have cared if Karkaroff had given him zero; Ron's indignation on his behalf was worth about a hundred points to him. He didn't tell Ron this, of course, but his heart felt lighter than air as he turned to leave the enclosure.

And it wasn't just Ron. . . those weren't only Gryffindors cheering in the crowd. When it had come to it, when they had seen what he was facing, most of the school had been on his side as well as Cedric's. . . . He didn't care about the Slytherins, he could stand whatever they threw at him now.

"You're tied in first place, Harry! You and Krum!" said Charlie Weasley, hurrying to meet them as they set off back toward the school. "Listen, I've got to run, I've got to go and send Mum an owl, I swore I'd tell her what happened - but that was unbelievable!

Oh yeah - and they told me to tell you you've got to hang around for a few more minutes..

. . Bagman wants a word, back in the champions' tent."

Ron said he would wait, so Harry reentered the tent, which somehow looked quite different now: friendly and welcoming. He thought back to how he'd felt while dodging the Horntail, and compared it to the long wait before he'd walked out to face it.... There was no comparison; the wait had been immeasurably worse.

Fleur, Cedric, and Krum all came in together. One side of Cedric's face was covered in a thick orange paste, which was presumably mending his burn. He grinned at Harry when he saw him.

"Good one, Harry."

"And you," said Harry, grinning back.

"Well done, all of you!" said Ludo Bagman, bouncing into the tent and looking as pleased as though he personally had just got past a dragon. "Now, just a quick few words. You've got a nice long break before the second task, which will take place at half past nine on the morning of February the twenty-fourth - but we're giving you something to think about in the meantime! If you look down at those golden eggs you're all holding, you will see

that they open. . . see the hinges there? You need to solve the clue inside the egg -because it will tell you what the second task is, and enable you to prepare for it! All clear? Sure? Well, off you go, then!"

Harry left the tent, rejoined Ron, and they started to walk back around the edge of the forest, talking hard; Harry wanted to hear what the other champions had done in more detail. Then, as they rounded the clump of trees behind which Harry had first heard the dragons roar, a witch leapt out from behind them.

It was Rita Skeeter. She was wearing acid-green robes today; the Quick-Quotes Quill in her hand blended perfectly against them.

"Congratulations, Harry!" she said, beaming at him. "I wonder if you could give me a quick word? How you felt facing that dragon? How you feel now, about the fairness of the scoring?"

"Yeah, you can have a word," said Harry savagely. "Good-bye."

And he set off back to the castle with Ron.