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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-TWO - THE UNEXPECTED TASK

第二十二章　意外的挑战

Potter! Weasley! Will you pay attention?"

“波特！韦斯莱！你们能不能专心一点儿？”

Professor McGonagall's irritated voice cracked like a whip through the Transfiguration class on Thursday, and Harry and Ron both jumped and looked up.

麦格教授恼火的声音像鞭子一样，在星期四的变形课教室里噼啪响起，惊得哈利和罗恩都抬起头来。

It was the end of the lesson; they had finished their work; the guinea fowl they had been changing into guinea pigs had been shut away in a large cage on Professor McGonagall's desk (Neville's still had feathers); they had copied down their homework from the blackboard ("Describe, with examples, the ways in which Transforming Spells must be adapted when performing Cross-Species Switches"}. The bell was due to ring at any moment, and Harry and Ron, who had been having a sword fight with a couple of Fred and George's fake wands at the back of the class, looked up, Ron holding a tin parrot and Harry, a rubber haddock.

这堂课快要结束了。他们完成了老师布置的工作：刚才被他们变成天竺鼠的那些珍珠鸡，现在已关在麦格教授讲台上的一只大笼子里（纳威的那只身上还留着羽毛）；黑板上的家庭作业，他们也已经抄在了本子上（“试举例说明，进行跨物种转换时，变形咒必须作怎样的调整”）。下课铃随时都会响起，哈利和罗恩正拿着弗雷德和乔治发明的两根假魔杖，在教室后排你来我往地比剑术，两人一惊之下抬起头来，罗恩手里拿着一只镀锡的鹦鹉，哈利手里是一条橡皮的黑线鳕鱼。

"Now that Potter and Weasley have been kind enough to act their age," said Professor McGonagall, with an angry look at the pair of them as the head of Harry's haddock drooped and fell silently to the floor - Ron's parrot's beak had severed it moments before - "I have something to say to you all.

“波特和韦斯莱能不能使自己的行为年龄相称呢？”麦格教授一边说，一边愤怒地扫了他俩一眼，就在这时，哈利那条黑线鳕鱼的脑袋掉了下来，无声地落到地板上——刚才罗恩那只鹦鹉的利喙把它割断了——“我有几句话要对你们大家说。”

"The Yule Ball is approaching - a traditional part of the Triwizard Tournament and an opportunity for us to socialize with our foreign guests. Now, the ball will be open only to fourth years and above - although you may invite a younger student if you wish -"

“圣诞舞会就要来临了——这是三强争霸赛的一个传统部分，也是我们与外国客人交往的一个大好机会。是这样，舞会只对四年级以上的学生开放——不过如果你们愿意，可以邀请一个低年级学生——”

Lavender Brown let out a shrill giggle. Parvati Patil nudged her hard in the ribs, her face working furiously as she too fought not to giggle. They both looked around at Harry, Professor McGonagall ignored them, which Harry thought was distinctly unfair, as she had just told off him and Ron.

拉文德·布朗发出一声刺耳的傻笑。帕瓦蒂·佩蒂尔用劲捅了捅她，帕瓦蒂自己脸上的肌肉也在使劲绷着，因为她在拼命克制着不笑出来。她俩都转过脸来望着哈利。麦格教授没有理会她们，哈利觉得这特别不公平，刚才她还数落他和罗恩来着。

"Dress robes will be worn," Professor McGonagall continued, "and the ball will start at eight o'clock on Christmas Day, finishing at midnight in the Great Hall. Now then -"

“要穿上你们的礼服长袍，”麦格教授继续说道，“舞会将于圣诞节晚上八点在礼堂举行，午夜十二点结束。听着——”

Professor McGonagall stared deliberately around the class.

麦格教授从容不迫地打量着全班同学。

"The Yule Ball is of course a chance for us all to - er - let our hair down," she said, in a disapproving voice.

“圣诞舞会无疑使我们有机会——嗯——散开头发，放松自己。”她以一种不以为然的口吻说。

Lavender giggled harder than ever, with her hand pressed hard against her mouth to stifle the sound. Harry could see what was funny this time: Professor McGonagall, with her hair in a tight bun, looked as though she had never let her hair down in any sense.

拉文德笑得更厉害了，使劲用手捂住嘴巴，不让声音发出来。哈利知道这次可笑在什么地方：麦格教授的头发总是挽成紧紧的小圆髻，她似乎从来没有把头发散开过。

"But that does NOT mean," Professor McGonagall went on, "that we will be relaxing the standards of behavior we expect from Hogwarts students. I will be most seriously displeased if a Gryffindor student embarrasses the school in any way."

“但是那并不意味着，”麦格教授继续说道，“我们会放松对霍格沃茨学生的行为要求。如果格兰芬多的某个学生以任何方式给学校丢脸，我将感到十分痛心。”

The bell rang, and there was the usual scuffle of activity as everyone packed their bags and swung them onto their shoulders.

下课铃响了，大家和往常一样，把书本塞进书包，再把书包甩到肩头，教室里一阵忙乱。

Professor McGonagall called above the noise, "Potter - a word, if you please."

麦格教授提高嗓门，在一片噪声中喊道：“波特——请留一下，我要对你说几句话。”

Assuming this had something to do with his headless rubber haddock, Harry proceeded gloomily to the teacher's desk. Professor McGonagall waited until the rest of the class had gone, and then said, "Potter, the champions and their partners -"

哈利心想一定为了他那条无头的橡皮黑线鳕鱼，便无精打采地朝讲台走去。麦格教授等全班同学都走光了，才说道：“波特，勇士都有自己的伴侣——”

"What partners?" said Harry.

“什么伴侣？”哈利说。

Profesor McGonagall looked suspiciously at him, as though she thought he was trying to be funny.

麦格教授怀疑地望着他，似乎以为他在开玩笑。

"Your partners for the Yule Ball, Potter," she said coldly. "Your dance partners."

“你带去参加圣诞舞会的伴侣呀，波特，”她冷冷地说，“你的舞伴。”

Harry's insides seemed to curl up and shrivel.

哈利觉得仿佛自己的内脏在扭曲、皱缩。

"Dance partners?" He felt himself going red. "I don't dance," he said quickly.

“舞伴？”他感到自己的脸红了，“我不跳舞。”他急忙说道。

"Oh yes, you do," said Professor McGonagall irritably. "That's what I'm telling you.

“哦，你必须跳舞，”麦格教授烦躁地说，“我正要告诉你这一点。按传统惯例，舞会是由勇士和他们的舞伴开舞的。”

Traditionally, the champions and their partners open the ball."

哈利的脑海里突然浮现出自己头戴黑色高顶大礼帽、身穿燕尾服的模样，他身边还有一个姑娘，她穿着满是褶边的裙子，就是佩妮姨妈参加弗农姨父公司里的舞会时穿的那种。

Harry had a sudden mental image of himself in a top hat and tails, accompanied by a girl in the sort of frilly dress Aunt Petunia always wore to Uncle Vernon's work parties.

“我不跳舞。”他说。

"I'm not dancing," he said.

“这是传统惯例，”麦格教授坚决地说，“你霍格沃茨的勇士，作为学校的一位代表，你必须照大家期望的那样去做。所以，你必须给自己找一个舞伴，波特。”

"It is traditional," said Professor McGonagall firmly. "You are a Hogwarts champion, and you will do what is expected of you as a representative of the school. So make sure you get yourself a partner, Potter."

“可是——我不——”

"But-I don't-"

“你听见我的话了，波特！”麦格教授用一种不容置疑的口吻说。

"You heard me, Potter," said Professor McGonagall in a very final sort of way.

一星期前哈利会说，找一个舞伴跟对付一条匈牙利树蜂比起来，简直是小菜一碟。可是现在他战胜了树蜂，正面临着找一个姑娘跳舞的挑战。他觉得自己宁愿再与火龙搏斗一个回合。

A week ago. Harry would have said finding a partner for a dance would be a cinch compared to taking on a Hungarian Horntail. But now that he had done the latter, and was facing the prospect of asking a girl to the ball, he thought he'd rather have another round with the dragon.

哈利不认识多少在霍格沃茨登记过圣诞节的同学。当然啦，他自己总是留校过圣诞节的，因为如果不这样，他就要回女贞路去，但以前留校的人总是极小一部分。今年就不同了，四年级以上的所有同学似乎都要留下来，在哈利看来，他们都对即将到来的舞会非常痴迷——至少所有的女生都是这样，他忽然惊讶地发现霍格沃茨竟然容纳了这么多女生，他以前根本就没有留意。女生们在走廊里吃吃笑着、窃窃私语，女生们每当有男生走过时就尖声大笑，女生们兴奋地交换意见，谈论圣诞节晚上穿什么衣服……

Harry had never known so many people to put their names down to stay at Hogwarts for Christmas; he always did, of course, because the alternative was usually going back to Privet Drive, but he had always been very much in the minority before now. This year, however, everyone in the fourth year and above seemed to be staying, and they all seemed to Harry to be obsessed with the coming ball - or at least all the girls were, and it was amazing how many girls Hogwarts suddenly seemed to hold; he had never quite noticed that before. Girls giggling and whispering in the corridors, girls shrieking with laughter as boys passed them, girls excitedly comparing notes on what they were going to wear on Christmas night... .

“她们为什么都成群结队地活动呢？”哈利问罗恩——这时正好有十来个女生从旁边走过，她们打量着哈利，偷偷地傻笑着，“你怎么才能等到她们单独活动，抓住一个提出要求呢？”

"Why do they have to move in packs?" Harry asked Ron as a dozen or so girls walked past them, sniggering and staring at Harry. "How're you supposed to get one on their own to ask them?"

“用绳套套住一个？”罗恩建议道，“你有没有想好你请谁？”

"Lasso one?" Ron suggested. "Got any idea who you're going to try?"

哈利没有回答。他很清楚自己愿意请谁，但能不能鼓起勇气就是别外一回事了……秋·张比他高一年级，长得非常漂亮，还是一个非常出色的魁地奇球员，她的人缘也很好。

Harry didn't answer. He knew perfectly well whom he'd like to ask, but working up the nerve was something else. . . . Cho was a year older than he was; she was very pretty; she was a very good Quidditch player, and she was also very popular.

罗恩似乎看透了哈利的内心。

Ron seemed to know what was going on inside Harry's head.

“听着，你是不会有什么麻烦的。你是勇士嘛。你刚打败了匈牙利树蜂。我敢说她们会排着队争着跟你跳舞的。”

"Listen, you're not going to have any trouble. You're a champion. You've just beaten a Hungarian Horntail. I bet they'll be queuing up to go with you."

为了维护他们刚刚修复的友谊，罗恩把声音里的苦涩味道控制到最低限度。而且哈利惊讶地发现，事实证明罗恩的判断非常正确。

In tribute to their recently repaired friendship, Ron had kept the bitterness in his voice to a bare minimum. Moreover, to Harry's amazement, he turned out to be quite right.

就在第二天，一个赫奇帕奇学院三年级的鬈发女生——哈利以前从未与她说过话，主动来邀请哈利与她一起去参加舞会。哈利太吃惊了，连想也没想就拒绝了。那女生走开了，一副备受伤害的样子。在整个魔法史课上，哈利不得不忍受着迪安、西莫和罗恩对那女生的挖苦和嘲笑。接下来的一天，又有两个女生来邀请他，一个是二年级的，还有一个（他惊恐地发现）竟然是五年级的，看她那样子，似乎如果哈利胆敢拒绝，她就会把他打昏过去。

A curly-haired third-year Hufflepuff girl to whom Harry had never spoken in his life asked him to go to the ball with her the very next day. Harry was so taken aback he said no before he'd even stopped to consider the matter. The girl walked off looking rather hurt, and Harry had to endure Dean's, Seamus's, and Ron's taunts about her all through History of Magic. The following day, two more girls asked him, a second year and (to his horror) a fifth year who looked as though she might knock him out if he refused.

“她长得蛮漂亮的。”罗恩笑够了以后，公正地说。

"She was quite good-looking," said Ron fairly, after he'd stopped laughing.

“她比我高一英尺呢。”哈利说，仍然惊魂未定，“想象一下吧，我跟她一起跳舞，那还不出洋相！”

"She was a foot taller than me," said Harry, still unnerved. "Imagine what I'd look like trying to dance with her."

哈利经常想起赫敏谈论克鲁姆的话：“她们喜欢他，只是因为他名气大！”哈利十分怀疑，如果自己不是学校的勇士，那些邀请他作舞伴的女生是否还愿意跟他一起去参加舞会。接着他又问自己，如果是秋·张主动邀请他，他还会考虑这个问题吗？

Hermione's words about Krum kept coming back to him. "They only like him because he's famous!" Harry doubted very much if any of the girls who had asked to be his partner so far would have wanted to go to the ball with him if he hadn't been a school champion.

总的来说，哈利不得不承认，尽管他面临着举行舞会这件令人尴尬的事，但自从他通过第一个项目之后，生活还是大有改变。他在走廊里不再遇到那么多不愉快的冲突了，他怀疑这在很大程度上是因为塞德里克——他总觉得是塞德里克叫赫奇帕奇的同学放哈利一马的，为的是感谢哈利向他通风报信，告诉他火龙的事。而且，周围支持塞德里克·迪戈里的徽章也少多了。当然啦，德拉科·马尔福只要一有机会，还是引用丽塔·斯基特文章里的话来嘲笑他，但他得到的笑声越来越少——大概是为了给哈利愉快的心情锦上添花吧，《预言家日报》上并没有出现有关海格的报道。

Then he wondered if this would bother him if Cho asked him.

“实话对你们说吧，她好像对神奇生物不怎么感兴趣。”海格说，这是在这个学期的最后一节保护神奇生物课上，哈利、罗恩和赫敏询问他和丽塔·斯基特面谈的情况。现在，海格终于放弃了直接接触炸尾螺的做法，这使他们松了一口气。今天，他们只是躲在海格的小屋后面，坐在一张搁板桌旁准备一批新挑选的食物，要用它们勾起炸尾螺的食欲。

On the whole. Harry had to admit that even with the embarrassing prospect of opening the ball before him, life had definitely improved since he had got through the first task.

“她只是要我谈你，哈利，”海格继续压低声音说，“我嘛，我就告诉她，自从我把你从德思礼家接来的那天起，我们就是好朋友。‘这四年里，你从来不需要训斥他吗？’她问，‘他从来没有在课堂上调皮捣蛋？’我对她说没有，她就显得很不高兴。她好像希望我把你说得很糟糕，哈利。”

He wasn't attracting nearly as much unpleasantness in the corridors anymore, which he suspected had a lot to do with Cedric - he had an idea Cedric might have told the Hufflepuffs to leave Harry alone, in gratitude for Harry's tip-off about the dragons.

“她当然是这样，”哈利说着，把一块龙肝扔进一只大金属碗里，又拿起刀子准备再切一些，“她不能总写我是一个多么富有悲剧色彩的小英雄啊，那会使人厌烦的。”

There seemed to be fewer Support Cedric Diggory! badges around too. Draco Malfoy, of course, was still quoting Rita Skeeter's article to him at every possible opportunity, but he was getting fewer and fewer laughs out of it - and just to heighten Harry's feeling of well-being, no story about Hagrid had appeared in the Daily Prophet.

“她需要换一个新的角度，海格，”罗恩明智地说，一边剥着火蛇的蛋壳，“你应该说哈利是一个无法无天的少年犯！”

"She didn' seem very int'rested in magical creatures, ter tell yeh the truth," Hagrid said, when Harry, Ron, and Hermione asked him how his interview with Rita Skeeter had gone during the last Care of Magical Creatures lesson of the term. To their very great relief, Hagrid had given up on direct contact with the skrewts now, and they were merely sheltering behind his cabin today, sitting at a trestle table and preparing a fresh selection of food with which to tempt the skrewts.

“但他不是啊！”海格说，似乎完全惊呆了。

"She jus' wanted me ter talk about you, Harry," Hagrid continued in a low voice. "Well, I told her we'd been friends since I went ter fetch yeh from the Dursleys. 'Never had to tell him off in four years?' she said. 'Never played you up in lessons, has he?' I told her no, an she didn' seem happy at all. Yeh'd think she wanted me to say yeh were horrible, Harry."

“她应该采访一下斯内普，”哈利气呼呼地说，“他总有一天会在她面前告我一状。波特自打进了这个学校之后，就一直在违反校规……”

" 'Course she did," said Harry, throwing lumps of dragon liver into a large metal bowl and picking up his knife to cut some more. "She can't keep writing about what a tragic little hero I am, it'll get boring."

“他说过这样的话，是吗？”海格问——罗恩和赫敏都在哈哈大笑，“说起来，你大概确实违反过几条校规，哈利，但你的表现一直很不错，是不是？”

"She wants a new angle, Hagrid," said Ron wisely as he shelled salamander eggs. "You were supposed to say Harry's a mad delinquent!"

“谢谢你，海格。”哈利说着，咧开嘴笑了。

"But he's not!" said Hagrid, looking genuinely shocked.

“圣诞节那天，你来参加那倒霉的舞会吗，海格？”罗恩说。

"She should've interviewed Snape," said Harry grimly. "He'd give her the goods on me any day. 'Potter has been crossing lines ever since he first arrived at this school. . . .'"

“我想顺便去看看，”海格声音粗哑地说，“我认为应该会很热闹。舞会由你开舞，是不是，哈利？你带谁去？”

"Said that, did he?" said Hagrid, while Ron and Hermione laughed. "Well, yeh might've bent a few rules. Harry, bu' yeh're all righ' really, aren' you?"

“还没有人。”哈利说，觉得自己的脸又红了。海格没有追问下去。

"Cheers, Hagrid," said Harry, grinning.

学期的最后一星期，学校里一天比一天热闹、嘈杂。人们四处谣传着关于圣诞舞会的消息，但其中大部分哈利都不相信——比如说，邓布利多从三把扫帚的罗斯默塔那里买了八百桶香精蜂蜜酒。不过，他预定古怪姐妹的事倒有可能是真的。至于古怪姐妹究竟是谁或什么东西，哈利并不知道，因为他从来没有听过巫师无线电广播，但从那些从小就听WWN（巫师无线电联播）的同学们的兴奋劲儿上看，古怪姐妹似乎是一个非常有名的音乐小组。

"You coming to this ball thing on Christmas Day, Hagrid?" said Ron.

有些老师，如小个子的弗立维教授，看到同学们显然都心不在焉，便索性不再讲课了。他允许他们在星期三他的课上做游戏，自己则大部分时间都在跟哈利说话，谈论哈利在三强争霸赛中的第一个项目里使用的那个精彩的飞来咒。其他老师就没有这么好说话了。比如，宾斯教授的注意力是没有事情能够转移的，他还是继续在他那堆妖精造反的笔记中艰难跋涉——同学们推测，宾斯教授既然没有让自己的死亡阻挡他继续教书的道路，像圣诞节这样的小事，根本就不可能使他分心。说来真是奇怪，他居然能把血淋淋、惊心动魄的妖精造反讲得像珀西的坩埚底报告那样枯燥乏味。麦格教授和穆迪也不让学生们闲着，直到下课前的最后一秒钟。期内普就更不用说了，他宁愿收养哈利当干儿子，也不愿让同学们在课堂上做游戏。他目光阴沉地打量着全班同学，告诉他们说，他将在学期的最后一节课上测验他们的解毒药剂。

"Though' I might look in on it, yeah," said Hagrid gruffly. "Should be a good do, I reckon. You'll be openin the dancin', won yeh, Harry? Who're you takin'?"

“他真坏，”那天晚上，罗恩在格兰芬多的公共休息室里气愤地说，“在最后一天来测验我们。用一大堆功课破坏学期最后的一点儿时光。”

"No one, yet," said Harry, feeling himself going red again. Hagrid didn't pursue the subject.

“嗯……实际上你并没有过分用功，是不是？”赫敏从她的魔药课笔记上望着罗恩。罗恩正忙着用他那副噼啪爆炸牌搭城堡——这种消遣可比麻瓜的扑克牌有趣多了，如果弄得不好，他搭的东西随时都会整个儿爆炸。

The last week of term became increasingly boisterous as it progressed. Rumors about the Yule Ball were flying everywhere, though Harry didn't believe half of them - for instance, that Dumbledore had bought eight hundred barrels of mulled mead from Madam Rosmerta. It seemed to be fact, however, that he had booked the Weird Sisters. Exactly who or what the Weird Sisters were Harry didn't know, never having had access to a wizard's wireless, but he deduced from the wild excitement of those who had grown up

“这是圣诞节啊，赫敏。”哈利懒洋洋地说道。他坐在炉火边的一张扶手椅上，第十遍阅读《和火炮队一起飞翔》。

listening to the WWN (Wizarding Wireless Network) that they were a very famous musical group.

赫敏又用严肃的目光望着他。“哈利，我认为你即便不想学习解药，也会做一些更有创造性的事情吧。”

Some of the teachers, like little Professor Flitwick, gave up trying to teach them much when their minds were so clearly elsewhere; he allowed them to play games in his lesson on Wednesday, and spent most of it talking to Harry about the perfect Summoning Charm Harry had used during the first task of the Triwizard Tournament. Other teachers were not so generous. Nothing would ever deflect Professor Binns, for example, from plowing on through his notes on goblin rebellions - as Binns hadn't let his own death stand in the way of continuing to teach, they supposed a small thing like Christmas wasn't going to put him off. It was amazing how he could make even bloody and vicious goblin riots sound as boring as Percys cauldron-bottom report. Professors McGonagall and Moody kept them working until the very last second of their classes too, and Snape, of course, would no sooner let them play games in class than adopt Harry. Staring nastily around at them all, he informed them that he would be testing them on poison antidotes during the last lesson of the term.

“比如什么？”哈利一边问，一边注视着火炮队的乔艾·詹肯斯把一只游走球狠狠地击向巴里堡蝙蝠队的一名追球手。

"Evil, he is," Ron said bitterly that night in the Gryffindor common room. "Springing a test on us on the last day. Ruining the last bit of term with a whole load of studying."

“那只金蛋！”赫敏咬着牙小声说。

"Mmm . . . you're not exactly straining yourself, though, are you?" said Hermione, looking at him over the top of her Potions notes. Ron was busy building a card castle out of his Exploding Snap pack - a much more interesting pastime than with Muggle cards, because of the chance that the whole thing would blow up at any second.

“好了，赫敏，我可以休息到2月24日呢。”哈利说。

"It's Christmas, Hermione," said Harry lazily; he was rereading Flying with the Cannons for the tenth time in an armchair near the fire.

哈利把那只金蛋放在楼上他的箱子里了，自从第一个项目的庆祝晚会结束以后，他就再也没有打开过它。反正还有两个半月他才需要知道那一声声刺耳的惨叫意味着什么呢。

Hermione looked severely over at him too. "I'd have thought you'd be doing something constructive, Harry, even if you don't want to learn your antidotes!"

“但是解开那个谜可能要花好几个星期！”赫敏说，“如果别人都知道下一个项目是什么，就你一个人蒙在鼓里，你可就真的成为一个大傻瓜了！”

"Like what?" Harry said as he watched Joey Jenkins of the Cannons belt a Bludger toward a Ballycastle Bats Chaser.

“别烦他了，赫敏，他应该休息休息了。”罗恩说着，把最后两张牌放到城堡顶上，轰隆一声，整个城堡爆炸了，烧焦了他的眉毛。

"That egg!" Hermione hissed.

“真好看，罗恩……跟你的礼袍倒是很般配。”

"Come on, Hermione, I've got till February the twenty-fourth," Harry said.

是弗雷德和乔治。他们在哈利、罗恩和赫敏的桌旁坐下，罗恩摸着眉毛，检查自己被烧伤的程度。

He had put the golden egg upstairs in his trunk and hadn't opened it since the celebration party after the first task. There were still two and a half months to go until he needed to know what all the screechy wailing meant, after all.

“罗恩，我们可以借小猪用一下吗？”乔治问道。

"But it might take weeks to work it out!" said Hermione. "You're going to look a real idiot if everyone else knows what the next task is and you don't!"

“不行，它出去送信了。”罗恩说，“做什么？”

"Leave him alone, Hermione, he's earned a bit of a break," said Ron, and he placed the last two cards on top of the castle and the whole lot blew up, singeing his eyebrows.

“因为乔治想邀请它参加舞会。”弗雷德讽刺地说。

"Nice look, Ron ... go well with your dress robes, that will."

“因为我们有一封信要送，你这个愚蠢的大呆瓜。”乔治说。

It was Fred and George. They sat down at the table with Harry, Ron, and Hermione as Ron felt how much damage had been done.

“你们两个给谁写信，嗯？”罗恩说。

"Ron, can we borrow Pigwidgeon?" George asked.

“别多管闲事，罗恩，不然我把你鼻子也烧焦。”弗雷德说，一边挥舞着魔杖威胁罗恩，“怎么……你们这些家伙还没有找到舞伴？”

"No, he's off delivering a letter," said Ron. "Why?"

“没有。”罗恩说。

"Because George wants to invite him to the ball," said Fred sarcastically.

“我说，伙计，最好加快速度，不然好姑娘就被挑光了。”弗雷德说。

"Because we want to send a letter, you stupid great prat," said George.

“那么你和谁一起去呢？”罗恩说。

"Who d'you two keep writing to, eh?" said Ron.

“安吉利娜。”弗雷德不假思索地回答，没有一点儿不好意思。

"Nose out, Ron, or I'll burn that for you too," said Fred, waving his wand threateningly.

“什么？”罗恩吃惊地问，“你已经邀请她了？”

"So . . . you lot got dates for the ball yet?"

“问得好。”弗雷德说。他转过头，朝公共休息室的那头喊道：“喂，安吉利娜！”

"Nope," said Ron.

安吉利娜正在炉火旁边与艾丽娅·斯平内特聊天，听到喊声，朝弗雷德望过来。

"Well, you'd better hurry up, mate, or all the good ones will be gone," said Fred.

“怎么啦？”她大声问道。

"Who're you going with, then?" said Ron.

“愿意和我一起参加舞会吗？”

"Angelina," said Fred promptly, without a trace of embarrassment.

安吉利娜用掂量的目光看了看弗雷德。

"What?" said Ron, taken aback. "You've already asked her?"

“好吧。”她说，然后又转过脸去跟艾丽娅继续聊天，脸上带着一丝淡淡的微笑。

"Good point," said Fred. He turned his head and called across the common room, "Oi!

“成了，”弗雷德对哈利和罗恩说，“小菜一碟。”

Angelina!"

他站起来，打了个哈欠，说道：“我们最好用一只学校的猫头鹰吧，乔治，快走……”

Angelina, who had been chatting with Alicia Spinnet near the fire, looked over at him.

他们离去了。罗恩不再摸他的眉毛，而隔着已成废墟的还在冒烟的纸牌城堡望着哈利。

"What?" she called back.

“我们也应该采取行动了……邀请一个人。他说得对。我们可不想最后跟一对丑八怪跳舞。”

"Want to come to the ball with me?"

赫敏气坏了，说话也显得有些结巴。

Angelina gave Fred an appraising sort of look.

“对不起……对……什么？”

"All right, then," she said, and she turned back to Alicia and carried on chatting with a bit of a grin on her face.

“唉——不说你也知道，”罗恩耸了耸肩膀，说道，“我情愿一个人去——也不愿找，比如说吧，艾洛伊丝·米德根。”

"There you go," said Fred to Harry and Ron, "piece of cake."

“最近她的粉刺好多了——她其实长得挺漂亮的！”

He got to his feet, yawning, and said, "We'd better use a school owl then, George, come

“她的鼻子有点儿歪。”罗恩说。

on. .. ."

“哦，我明白了，”赫敏被激怒了，说道，“原来，从根本上说，你是想邀请一个愿意接受你的最漂亮的姑娘，即使她是个彻头彻尾的大坏蛋？”

They left. Ron stopped feeling his eyebrows and looked across the smoldering wreck of his card castle at Harry.

“嗯——是啊，说的基本正确。”罗恩说。

"We should get a move on, you know . . . ask someone. He's right. We don't want to end up with a pair of trolls."

“我要去睡觉了。”赫敏没好气地说，然后没再说一字便快步朝女生宿舍的楼梯走去。

Hermione let out a sputter of indignation.

霍格沃茨的师生不断表现出想给布斯巴顿和德姆斯特朗的客人留下深刻印象的欲望，他们似乎决心在这个圣诞节展示出城堡的最佳风貌。学校里张灯结彩地布置起来，哈利发现他进校以来从来没有见过这么漂亮的装饰。大理石楼梯的扶手上挂满了永远不化的冰柱，礼堂里惯常摆放的那十二棵圣诞树上，装饰着各种各样的小玩艺儿，从闪闪发亮的冬青果，到不停鸣叫的活的金色猫头鹰。那些盔甲都被施了魔法，只要一有人经过，它们就会演唱圣诞颂歌。听一只空头盔唱出“哦，来吧，你们这些虔诚的人，”真是特别滑稽。盔甲只知道一半的歌词，看门人费尔奇有好几次不得不把皮皮鬼从盔甲里拽出来，因为皮皮鬼躲在里面，逢到盔甲唱不下去的地方，他就自己编一些歌词填补进去，都是些非常粗野难听的话。

"A pair of... what, excuse me?"

然而，哈利还没有邀请秋·张参加舞会。他和罗恩现在非常着急了，尽管哈利指出，罗恩即使没有舞伴，也不会像他那样大出洋相。哈利应该和其他勇士一起首先开始跳舞啊。

"Well - you know," said Ron, shrugging. "I'd rather go alone than with - with Eloise Midgen, say."

“我想哭泣的桃金娘总是在那里的。”他愁闷地说，指的是躲在三楼女生盥洗室里的那个女鬼。

"Her acne's loads better lately - and she's really nice!"

“哈利——我们必须咬着牙豁出去了。”星期五的时候，罗恩说道，听他的口气就好像他们正在计划攻破一座固若金汤的要塞，“今晚我们回到公共休息室时，必须都找到了舞伴——说定了？”

"Her nose is off-center," said Ron.

“嗯……好吧。”哈利说。

"Oh I see," Hermione said, bristling. "So basically, you're going to take the best-looking girl who'll have you, even if she's completely horrible?"

可是，那天他几次看见秋·张——课间休息时、午饭时，还有一次是在去上魔法史课的路上——她身边总是围着好多朋友。难道她从不独自去什么地方吗？也许他可以在她上厕所时打她的埋伏？不行——她即使是上厕所，身边也跟着四五个学生。可是如果他再不采取行动，她肯定被别人邀请去了。

"Er - yeah, that sounds about right," said Ron.

在斯内普魔药课的测验上，他觉得很难集中思想，结果忘记加入一种主要成分——粪石，这就意味着他只能得最低分了。不过他并不在乎。他正忙着鼓起勇气，准备采取果断行动。下课铃一响，他就抓起书包，朝地下教室的门口冲去。

"I'm going to bed," Hermione snapped, and she swept off toward the girls' staircase without another word.

“晚饭桌上见。”他对罗恩和赫敏说，一边冲上楼去。

The Hogwarts staff, demonstrating a continued desire to impress the visitors from Beauxbatons and Durmstrang, seemed determined to show the castle at its best this Christmas. When the decorations went up. Harry noticed that they were the most stunning he had yet seen inside the school. Everlasting icicles had been attached to the banisters of the marble staircase; the usual twelve Christmas trees in the Great Hall were bedecked with everything from luminous holly berries to real, hooting, golden owls, and the suits of armor had all been bewitched to sing carols whenever anyone passed them.

他只要单独问秋·张一句话，就这么简单……他匆匆穿过拥挤的走廊，寻找她的身影，很快（他没想到会这么快）他就看见了她。她正从黑魔法防御术课的教室里走出来。

It was quite something to hear "0 Come, All Ye Faithful" sung by an empty helmet that only knew half the words. Several times, Filch the caretaker had to extract Peeves from inside the armor, where he had taken to hiding, filling in the gaps in the songs with lyrics of his own invention, all of which were very rude.

“嗯——秋·张？我能跟你说一句话吗？”

And still. Harry hadn't asked Cho to the ball. He and Ron were getting very nervous now, though as Harry pointed out, Ron would look much less stupid than he would without a partner; Harry was supposed to be starting the dancing with the other champions.

法律应该规定不许咯咯地笑，哈利气愤地想，因为秋·张周围的女生都咯咯地笑了起来。还好，秋·张没有笑。她说了声“好吧”，便跟着哈利走到她的同班同学们听不到的地方。

"I suppose there's always Moaning Myrtle," he said gloomily, referring to the ghost who haunted the girls' toilets on the second floor.

哈利转身望着她，他的内心突然出现了一阵古怪的痉挛，就好像他下楼时踏空了一级台阶。

"Harry - we've just got to grit our teeth and do it," said Ron on Friday morning, in a tone that suggested they were planning the storming of an impregnable fortress. "When we get back to the common room tonight, we'll both have partners - agreed?"

“嗯。”他支吾着。

"Er . . . okay," said Harry.

他不能问她，他不能，但他必须问。秋·张站在那里，带着困惑的神情望着他。

But every time he glimpsed Cho that day - during break, and then lunchtime, and once on the way to History of Magic - she was surrounded by friends. Didn't she ever go anywhere alone? Could he perhaps ambush her as she was going into a bathroom? But no - she even seemed to go there with an escort of four or five girls. Yet if he didn't do it soon, she was bound to have been asked by somebody else.

那句话从哈利跟里脱口而出，说得语无伦次，字音都没来得及咬准。

He found it hard to concentrate on Snape's Potions test, and consequently forgot to add the key ingredient - a bezoar - meaning that he received bottom marks. He didn't care, though; he was too busy screwing up his courage for what he was about to do. When the bell rang, he grabbed his bag, and hurried to the dungeon door.

“做伴跟我？”

"I'll meet you at dinner," he said to Ron and Hermione, and he dashed off upstairs.

“对不起，你说什么？”秋·张问。

He'd just have to ask Cho for a private word, that was all. ... He hurried off through the packed corridors looking for her, and (rather sooner than he had expected) he found her, emerging from a Defense Against the Dark Arts lesson.

“你——你愿不愿意跟我一起去参加舞会？”哈利问。他为什么要脸红呢？为什么？

"Er - Cho? Could I have a word with you?"

“噢！”秋·张说——她的脸也红了，“唉，哈利，我真的很抱歉，”她坦诚地望着他，“我已经说好要跟另外一个人去了。”

Giggling should be made illegal. Harry thought furiously, as all the girls around Cho started doing it. She didn't, though. She said, "Okay," and followed him out of earshot other classmates.

“噢。”哈利说。

Harry turned to look at her and his stomach gave a weird lurch as though he had missed a step going downstairs.

这感觉真是古怪：一分钟前，他觉得内脏像蛇一般地蠕动不停，现在突然之间，他觉得自己仿佛根本没有内脏了。

"Er," he said.

“噢，好吧，”他说，“没关系。”

He couldn't ask her. He couldn't. But he had to. Cho stood there looking puzzled, watching him. The words came out before Harry had quite got his tongue around them.

“我真的很抱歉。”她又说了一遍。

"Wangoballwime?"

“没关系。”哈利说。

"Sorry?" said Cho.

他们站在那里互相对视着，然后秋·张说：“就这样吧——”

"D'you - d'you want to go to the ball with me?" said Harry. Why did he have to go red now? Why?

“行。”哈利说。

"Oh!" s aid Cho, and she went red too. "Oh Harry, I'm really sorry," and she truly looked it. "I've already said I'll go with someone else."

“好吧，再见了。”秋·张说，脸仍然很红。她转身离开了。

"Oh," said Harry.

哈利从后面叫住了她，他没来得及阻止自己这么做。

It was odd; a moment before his insides had been writhing like snakes, but suddenly he didn't seem to have any insides at all.

“你和谁一起去？”

"Oh okay," he said, "no problem."

“噢——塞德里克，”她说，“塞德里克·迪戈里。”

"I'm really sorry," she said again.

“噢，好吧。”哈利。

"That's okay," said Harry.

他的内脏又回来了。他觉得它们刚才被人拿去灌满了铅。

They stood there looking at each other, and then Cho said, "Well-"

哈利把晚饭忘得一干二净。他慢慢走回楼上的格兰芬多公共休息室，每走一步，耳边就回响起秋·张的声音：“塞德里克——塞德里克·迪戈里。”他本来已经有些喜欢塞德里克了——他已经准备原谅那些事情，如塞德里克曾在魁地奇比赛中打败过他。塞德里克长得英俊，人缘好，是几乎人人都喜爱的勇士。现在哈利突然意识到，塞德里克实际上是一个没用的帅哥儿，他那点脑子还不够装满一只鸡蛋壳呢。

"Yeah," said Harry.

“仙镜之光。”他干巴巴地对胖夫人说——口令是前一天改的。

"Well, 'bye," said Cho, still very red. She walked away.

“对了，对了，亲爱的！”她带着颤音说道，捋了捋她那新系上的金银丝发带，一边向前转开，让他进去。

Harry called after her, before he could stop himself.

进了公共休息室，哈利环顾四周，惊奇地看见罗恩脸色灰白地坐在远处一个角落里。金妮坐在他身边，用很低的声音跟他说话，像是在安慰他。

"Who're you going with?"

“怎么啦，罗恩？”哈利问道，向他们走去。

"Oh - Cedric," she said. "Cedric Diggory."

罗恩抬头望着哈利，脸上带有一种惊魂未定的神情。

"Oh right," said Harry.

“我干吗要那么做呢？”他迷乱地说，“我不知道我怎么会做出那种事！”

His insides had come back again. It felt as though they had been filled with lead in their absence.

“什么？”哈利说。

Completely forgetting about dinner, he walked slowly back up to Gryffindor Tower, Cho's voice echoing in his ears with every step he took. "Cedric - Cedric Diggory." He had been starting to quite like Cedric - prepared to overlook the fact that he had once beaten him at Quidditch, and was handsome, and popular, and nearly everyone's favorite champion. Now he suddenly realized that Cedric was in fact a useless pretty boy who didn't have enough brains to fill an eggcup.

“他——嗯——他刚才邀请芙蓉·德拉库尔和他一起参加舞会。”金妮说。她似乎正拼命忍住笑，但仍然同情地拍着罗恩的胳膊。

"Fairy lights," he said dully to the Fat Lady - the password had been changed the previous day.

“你怎么回事？”哈利问。

"Yes, indeed, dear!" she trilled, straightening her new tinsel hair band as she swung forward to admit him.

“我不知道我怎么会做出这种事！”罗恩喘着粗气又说，“我在开什么玩笑呢？那里都是人——挤满了人——我真是昏了头——大家都在看着！我走过门厅时遇见了她——她站在那里正和迪戈里说话——我突然就控制不住自己——就上前问了她！”

Entering the common room, Harry looked around, and to his surprise he saw Ron sitting ashen-faced in a distant corner. Ginny was sitting with him, talking to him in what seemed to be a low, soothing voice.

罗恩呻吟着，用手捂住脸。他还在不停地说，但他的话勉强能听得清楚了。

"What's up, Ron?" said Harry, joining them.

“她望着我，就好像我是一条海参什么的。根本不屑于回答。然后——我也不知道——我就突然回过神来，赶紧跑了。”

Ron looked up at Harry, a sort of blind horror in his face.

“她有一部分媚娃的血统，”哈利说道，“你原先说得对——她奶奶就是媚娃。这不是你的错，我敢说她当时正在对迪戈里施那个魔法，你正巧经过，就被击中了——不过她这次是白费工夫了。迪戈里和秋·张一起去。”

"Why did I do it?" he said wildly. "I don't know what made me do it!

罗恩抬起头来。

"What?" said Harry.

“我刚才请她和我一起去，”哈利干巴巴地说，“她就告诉了我。”

"He - er - just asked Fleur Delacour to go to the ball with him," said Ginny. She looked as though she was fighting back a smile, but she kept patting Ron's arm sympathetically.

金妮突然不笑了。

"You what?' said Harry.

“这简直太荒唐了，”罗恩说，“只剩下我们俩没有舞伴——对了，除了纳威。对了——你猜他邀请谁了？赫敏！”

"I don't know what made me do it!" Ron gasped again. "What was I playing at? There were people - all around - I've gone mad - everyone watching! I was just walking past her in the entrance hall - she was standing there talking to Diggory - and it sort of came over me - and I asked her!"

“什么？”哈利说，他完全被这个令人惊讶的消息吸引住了。

Ron moaned and put his face in his hands. He kept talking, though the words were barely distinguishable.

“是啊，这事儿我知道！”罗恩说着笑了起来，脸上恢复了一些血色，“他在魔药课后告诉我的！他说她一直这么善良，帮他做功课什么的——但赫敏对他说，她已经答应别人了。哈！说的跟真的似的！她只是不想跟纳威去罢了……我的意思是，谁会请她？”

"She looked at me like I was a sea slug or something. Didn't even answer. And then - I dunno - I just sort of came to my senses and ran for it."

“不许笑！”金妮恼怒地说，“不许笑——”

"She's part veela," said Harry. "You were right - her grandmother was one. It wasn't your fault, I bet you just walked past when she was turning on the old charm for Diggory and got a blast of it - but she was wasting her time. He's going with Cho Chang."

就在这时，赫敏从肖像画后的洞口爬了进来。

Ron looked up.

“你们俩为什么不去吃晚饭？”她说，走过来跟他们坐在一起。

"I asked her to go with me just now," Harry said dully, "and she told me."

“因为——别笑了，你们两个——因为他们俩邀请姑娘参加舞会，都遭到了拒绝！”金妮说。

Ginny had suddenly stopped smiling.

哈利和罗恩立刻不吭气儿了。

"This is mad," said Ron. "We're the only ones left who haven't got anyone - well, except Neville. Hey - guess who he asked? Hermione!"

“多谢你了，金妮。”罗恩阴阳怪气地说。

"What?" said Harry, completely distracted by this startling news.

“漂亮姑娘都被人抢走了，是吗，罗恩？”赫敏高傲地说，“艾洛伊丝·米德根也开始变得很漂亮了，是吗？没关系，我相信你总会在什么地方找到一个愿意接受你的人的。”

"Yeah, I know!" said Ron, some of the color coming back into his face as he started to laugh. "He told me after Potions! Said she's always been really nice, helping him out with work and stuff- but she told him she was already going with someone. Ha! As if!

罗恩瞪着赫敏，似乎突然用全新的目光审视着她。

She just didn't want to go with Neville ... I mean, who would?"

“赫敏，纳威是对的——你是个好姑娘……”

"Don't!" said Ginny, annoyed. "Don't laugh -"

“噢，观察得很敏锐嘛。”她尖刻地说。

Just then Hermione climbed in through the portrait hole.

“那么——你可以在我们俩中间挑一个！”

"Why weren't you two at dinner?" she said, coming over to join them.

“不行，我不能。”赫敏断然拒绝。

"Because - oh shut up laughing, you two - because they've both just been turned down by girls they asked to the ball!" said Ginny.

“哦，快点儿吧，”他不耐烦地说，“我们需要舞伴，如果别人都有，就我们没有，就显得太没面子了……”

That shut Harry and Ron up.

“我不能跟你们一起去，”赫敏说道，她的脸红了，“因为我已经答应了别人。”

"Thanks a bunch, Ginny," said Ron sourly.

“不会的，你没有！”罗恩说，“你那么说只是为了摆脱纳威！”

"All the good-looking ones taken, Ron?" said Hermione loftily. "Eloise Midgen starting to look quite pretty now, is she? Well, I'm sure you'll find someone somewhere who'll have you."

“哦，是吗？”赫敏说，她的眼里放出吓人的光，“你花了三年时间才发现我是个好姑娘，罗恩，这并不意味着就没有别人注意到这一点！”

But Ron was staring at Hermione as though suddenly seeing her in a whole new light.

罗恩呆呆地望着她，接着，他又咧开嘴笑了。

"Hermione, Neville's right - you are a girl. . . ."

“好了，好了，我们知道你是个好姑娘，”他说，“行了吗？你可以答应了吧？”

"Oh well spotted," she said acidly.

“我已经告诉你们了！”赫敏非常气愤地说，“我已经答应了另外的人！”

"Well - you can come with one of us!"

说完，她气冲冲地朝女生宿舍奔去。

"No, I can't," snapped Hermione.

“她在撒谎。”罗恩望着她的背影，毫无表情地说。

"Oh come on," he said impatiently, "we need partners, we're going to look really stupid if we haven't got any, everyone else has . . ."

“她没有。”金妮小声说。

"I can't come with you," said Hermione, now blushing, "because I'm already going with someone."

“哦，那个人是谁？”罗恩厉声问道。

"No, you're not!" said Ron. "You just said that to get rid of Neville!"

“我不能告诉你，那是她的私事。”金妮说。

"Oh did I?" said Hermione, and her eyes flashed dangerously. "Just because it's taken you three years to notice, Ron, doesn't mean no one else has spotted I'm a girl!"

“好吧，”罗恩说道，他显得完全不知所措了，“这真是越来越荒唐了。金妮，你可以跟哈利一起去，我就——”

Ron stared at her. Then he grinned again.

“我不能，”金妮说道，她的脸也涨得通红，“我已经答应了——答应了纳威。赫敏拒绝他以后，他就邀请我，我想……反正……反正，如果不答应他，我也去不成，我还没上四年级呢。”她显得非常沮丧。“我想我得去吃晚饭了。”说着，她站起来，低垂着脑袋向肖像画后的洞口走去。

"Okay, okay, we know you're a girl," he said. "That do? Will you come now?"

罗恩瞪大眼睛望着哈利。

"I've already told you!" Hermione said very angrily. "I'm going with someone else!"

“她们都出了什么毛病？”他问道。

And she stormed off toward the girls' dormitories again.

哈利正巧看见帕瓦蒂和拉文德从肖像画后的洞口进来。这次必须一不做二不休了。

"She's lying," said Ron flatly, watching her go.

“你等在这里，”他对罗恩说，然后他站起来，径直朝帕瓦蒂走去，说道，“帕瓦蒂？你愿意跟我一起去参加舞会吗？”

"She's not," said Ginny quietly.

帕瓦蒂发出一串咯咯的笑声。哈利等着她的笑声过去，他的手指在长袍的口袋里交叉着。

"Who is it then?" said Ron sharply.

“行，好吧。”她终于说道，脸红得像要滴出血来。

"I'm not telling you, it's her business," said Ginny.

“谢谢。”哈利说道，总算松了一口气，“拉文德——你愿意跟罗恩一起去吗？”

"Right," said Ron, who looked extremely put out, "this is getting stupid. Ginny, you can go with Harry, and I'll just -"

“她已经答应西莫了。”帕瓦蒂说，她们俩笑得更厉害了。

"I can't," said Ginny, and she went scarlet too. "I'm going with - with Neville. He asked me when Hermione said no, and I thought. . . well. . . I'm not going to be able to go otherwise, I'm not in fourth year." She looked extremely miserable. "I think I'll go and have dinner," she said, and she got up and walked off to the portrait hole, her head bowed.

哈利叹了口气。

Ron goggled at Harry.

“你们能不能想一想，有谁能跟罗恩一起去呢？”他说，压低了声音，不让罗恩听见。

"What's got into them?" he demanded.

“赫敏·格兰杰怎么样？”帕瓦蒂说。

But Harry had just seen Parvati and Lavender come in through the portrait hole. The time had come for drastic action.

“她已经答应了别人。”

"Wait here," he said to Ron, and he stood up, walked straight up to Parvati, and said, "Parvati? Will you go to the ball with me?"

帕瓦蒂显得非常吃惊。

Parvati went into a fit of giggles. Harry waited for them to subside, his fingers crossed in the pocket of his robes.

“哦——谁？”她急切地问。

"Yes, all right then," she said finally, blushing furiously.

哈利耸了耸肩膀。“不知道。”他说，“那么罗恩怎么办？”

"Thanks," said Harry, in relief. "Lavender - will you go with Ron?"

“让我想想……”帕瓦蒂慢悠悠地说，“我妹妹大概可以……她叫帕德玛，你知道……在拉文克劳。如果你们愿意，我就去问问她。”

"She's going with Seamus," said Parvati, and the pair of them giggled harder than ever.

“行，那太好了，”哈利说，“有消息就告诉我们，行吗？”

Harry sighed.

他回到罗恩身边，觉得这场舞会实在太麻烦了，真有些划不来。他满心希望帕德玛·佩蒂尔的鼻子长得周正些。

"Can't you think of anyone who'd go with Ron?" he said, lowering his voice so that Ron wouldn't hear.

"What about Hermione Granger?" said Parvati.

"She's going with someone else."

Parvati looked astonished.

"Ooooh - who?" she said keenly.

Harry shrugged. "No idea," he said. "So what about Ron?"

"Well. . ." said Parvati slowly, "I suppose my sister might. . . Padma, you know ... in Ravenclaw. I'll ask her if you like."

"Yeah, that would be great," said Harry. "Let me know, will you?"

And he went back over to Ron, feeling that this ball was a lot more trouble than it was worth, and hoping very much that Padma Patil's nose was dead center.