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哈利·波特与凤凰社
Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix

英文中文双语对照双语交替

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CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE - OWLs

第三十一章　O．W．Ls考试

Ron's euphoria at helping Gryffindor scrape the Quidditch cup was such that he couldn't settle to anything next day. All he wanted to do was talk over the match, so Harry and Hermione found it very difficult to find an opening in which to mention Grawp. Not that either of them tried very hard; neither was keen to be the one to bring Ron back to reality in quite such a brutal fashion. As it was another fine, warm day, they persuaded him to join them in revising under the beech tree at the edge of the lake, where they had less chance of being overheard than in the common room. Ron was not particularly keen on this idea at first - he was thoroughly enjoying being patted on the back by every Gryffindor who walked past his chair, not to mention the occasional outbursts of 'Weasley is our King' - but after a while he agreed that some fresh air might do him good.

罗恩使格兰芬多队险中取胜，夺得了魁地奇杯，这让他兴奋不已，第二天他根本安不下心来做任何事。他惟一想做的就是滔滔不绝地谈论比赛情况，哈利和赫敏发现，很难找到机会跟他提起格洛普。他们俩也没有积极寻找这样的机会；两个人都不愿意用这样残酷的方式让罗恩回到现实中来。今天又是一个晴朗、温暖的日子，他们劝说罗恩一起去湖边的山毛榉树下复习功课，相比之下，在那里谈话被人无意中听到的机会要比在公共休息室里少多了。罗恩一开始对这个想法不是很热心——每一个从他椅子旁走过的格兰芬多同学都会拍拍他的后背，这让他十分开心，至于时不时突然响起的“韦斯莱是我们的王”就更不用提了——但是过了一会儿，他觉得呼吸一些新鲜空气也许有好处。

They spread their books out in the shade of the beech tree and sat down while Ron talked them through his first save of the match for what felt like the dozenth time.

他们在山毛榉树的阴影里摊开书本坐下来，罗恩又跟他们从头到尾地讲起自己在比赛中救下第一个球的情形，他好像已经是第十二次这么做了。

'Well, I mean, I'd already let in that one of Daviess, so I wasn't feeling all that confident, but I dunno, when Bradley came towards me, just out of nowhere, I thought - you can do this! And I had about a second to decide which way to fly, you know, because he looked like he was aiming for the right goalhoop - my right, obviously, his left - but I had a funny feeling that he was feinting, and so I took the chance and flew left - his right, I mean - and - well - you saw what happened,' he concluded modestly, sweeping his hair back quite unnecessarily so that it looked interestingly windswept and glancing around to see whether the people nearest

“嗯，我的意思是，我已经漏掉了戴维斯的一个球，所以没那么有信心了，可我也不知道是怎么回事，布拉德利不知从什么地方朝我冲过来时，我心想——你能做到！我大概用了一秒钟时间决定该往哪边飞，你知道，他看上去好像在瞄准右边的圆环——是我的右边，当然也就是他的左边——但是我心里怪怪的，觉得他是在做假动作，所以我就冒了个险朝左边飞去——也就是他的右边，我是说——然后——嗯——后来的情况你们都看到了。”他谦虚地停止了描述，多此一举地把头发拢到脑后，好像是头发被风吹了个乱七八糟，看上去挺引人注目的；他还朝四下里扫了一眼，看看最近的那些人——一群正在闲聊的三年级赫奇帕奇学生——有没有听到自己刚才那番话。“接着，大约五分钟后钱伯斯朝我攻上来时——你怎么了？”罗恩问，看见哈利脸上的表情后，他只讲了一半就打住了，“你在笑什么啊？”

to them - a bunch of gossiping third-year Hufflepulis - had heard him. 'And then, when Chambers came at me about five minutes later - What?' Ron asked, having stopped mid-sentence at the look on Harry's face. 'Why are you grinning?'

“我没笑。”哈利赶紧说，然后低头看着自己的变形课笔记，想把面孔板起来。其实刚才罗恩让哈利不禁想起了另一个格兰芬多魁地奇球队员，以前他也是坐在这棵树下弄乱自己的头发。“我只是为我们赢了比赛感到高兴，没别的。”

'I'm not,' said Harry quickly, and looked down at his Transfiguration notes, attempting to straighten his lace. The truth was that Ron had just reminded Harry forcibly of another Gryffindor Quidditch player who had once sat rumpling his hair under this very tree. 'I'm just glad we won, that's all.'

“是啊，”罗恩慢慢地说，品味着这几个词，“我们打赢了。金妮就在秋·张鼻子底下抓到了飞贼，当时你看见秋·张脸上的表情了吗？”

'Yeah,' said Ron slowly, savouring the words, 'we won. Did you see the look on Chang's face when Ginny got the Snitch right out from under her nose?'

“我猜她一定哭了，对吗？”哈利略带讥讽地说。

'I suppose she cried, did she?' said Harry bitterly.

“嗯，是啊——不过她更像是在发脾气，尽管……”罗恩微微皱起了眉头，“她一降落到地上就扔掉了自己的飞天扫帚，你看到了吧？”

'Well, yeah - more out of temper than anything, though . . .' Ron frowned slightly. 'But you saw her chuck her broom away when she got back to the ground, didn't you?'

“哦——”哈利说。

'Er - ' said Harry

“嗯，其实……没看到，罗恩，”赫敏深深地叹了口气，放下手里的书本抱歉地看着他，“实际上，哈利和我只看到戴维斯首次进球那段比赛。”

'Well, actually . . . no, Ron,' said Hermione with a heavy sigh, putting down her book and looking at him apologetically. 'As a matter of fact, the only bit of the match Harry and I saw was Davies's first goal.'

罗恩故意弄乱的头发似乎失望地耷拉了下来。“你们没看到？”他有气无力地说，挨个看了看他们，“你们没看到我救球吗？”

Ron's carefully ruffled hair seemed to wilt with disappointment. 'You didn't watch?' he said faintly, looking from one to the other. 'You didn't see me make any of those saves?'

“嗯——没有，”赫敏说着朝他伸出一只手安慰他，“罗恩，我们不想离开——可我们不得不走！”

Well - no,' said Hermione, stretching out a placatory hand towards him. 'But Ron, we didn't want to leave - we had to!'

“是吗？”罗恩说，脸色变得越来越红，“为什么？”

'Yeah?' said Ron, whose face was growing rather red. 'How come?'

“因为海格，”哈利说，“他决定告诉我们，为什么他从巨人那里回来以后就老是受伤。他想让我们跟他到禁林里去，我们别无选择，你知道他的习惯。总之……”

'It was Hagrid,' said Harry. 'He decided to tell us why he's been covered in injuries ever since he got back from the giants. He wanted us to go into the Forest with him, we had no choice, you know how he gets. Anyway . . ."

哈利讲了有五分钟，快讲完的时候，愤愤不平的罗恩已经换上了一副完全无法相信的表情。

The story was told in five minutes, by the end of which Ron's indignation had been replaced by a look of total incredulity.

“他带回来一个巨人，还把它藏在禁林里？”

'He brought one back and hid it in the Forest?'

“对。”哈利严肃地说。

'Yep,' said Harry grimly.

“不，”罗恩说，仿佛这么一否认，这件事就不是真实的了，“不，他不能这么做。”

'No,' said Ron, as though by saying this he could make it untrue. 'No, he can't have.'

“不是，他真的这么做了。”赫敏坚决地说，“格洛普大约有十六英尺高，喜欢拔起二十英尺高的松树，而且他还把我叫做——”她用鼻子哼了一声，“赫米。”

'Well, he has,' said Hermione firmly. 'Grawps about sixteen feet tall, enjoys ripping up twenty-foot pine trees, and knows me,' she snorted, 'as Hermy.'

罗恩不安地笑了笑。

Ron gave a nervous laugh.

“海格还想让我们……？”

'And Hagrid wants us to . . . ?'

“教他英语，没错。”哈利说。

Teach him English, yeah,' said Harry.

“他疯了。”罗恩说，语气中流露出近乎恐惧的感觉。

'He's lost his mind,' said Ron in an almost awed voice.

“是啊，”赫敏烦躁地说，翻开一页《中级变形术》，瞪着书里的一连串图解，里面演示出一只猫头鹰如何变成了一副小型望远镜，“是啊，我开始也觉得他疯了。但是，很不幸，他说服了哈利和我。”

'Yes,' said Hermione irritably, turning a page of Intermediate Transfiguration and glaring at a series of diagrams showing an owl turning into a pair of opera glasses. 'Yes, I'm starting to think he has. But, unfortunately, he made Harry and me promise.'

“咳，你们反悔就行了，不过如此。”罗恩坚决地说，“我的意思是，想想看吧……我们快考试了，而且我们只差这么一点——”他举起一只手，大拇指和食指几乎并在了一起，“——就被开除了。再说了……还记得诺伯吗？还记得阿拉戈克吗？只要我们跟海格的怪物朋友搅在一起，什么时候有过好结果？”

'Well, you're just going to have to break your promise, that's all,' said Ron firmly. 'I mean, come on . . . we've got exams and we're about that far - ' he held up his hand to show thumb and forefinger almost touching '- from being chucked out as it is. And anyway . . . remember Norbert? Remember Aragog? Have we ever come off better for mixing with any of Hagrid's monster mates?'

“我知道，只不过——我们已经答应了。”赫敏小声说。

'I know, it's just that - we promised,' said Hermione in a small voice.

罗恩抚平头发，露出心事重重的神情。

Ron smoothed his hair flat again, looking preoccupied.

“好吧，”他叹了口气，“海格还没有被解雇呢，是吧？他已经坚持了这么久，也许能一直坚持到期末，那我们就用不着接近格洛普了。”

'Well,' he sighed, 'Hagrid hasn't been sacked yet, has he? He's hung on this long, maybe he'll hang on till the end of term and we won't have to go near Grawp at all.'

城堡的场地在阳光下闪闪发亮，就像刚刷过油漆似的；晴朗的天空映照在闪耀、平静的湖面上；缎子一样平滑的绿草地偶尔在柔和的微风中泛起阵阵涟漪。六月到了，对五年级学生来说，这仅仅意味着一件事：他们的O．W．Ls考试终于来临了。

老师们不再给他们布置家庭作业；课堂时间全部用来复习老师们认为在考试中最有可能出现的题目。这种专心致志、焦虑不安的气氛几乎把O．W．Ls考试以外的事情全部赶出了哈利的脑子；不过在魔药课上，他有时琢磨卢平是否跟斯内普谈过他一定要接着教自己大脑封闭术。如果卢平这样说过，那么斯内普肯定没有理睬他，就像他现在不理睬哈利一样。哈利倒是觉得这样挺不错；即使没有斯内普的额外课程，他也已经够忙碌、够紧张的了。让他感到轻松的是，赫敏这些天始终全神贯注，没有为大脑封闭术的事情纠缠他；她经常自言自语地念叨着什么，而且有好几天没给家养小精灵做衣服了。

The castle grounds were gleaming in the sunlight as though freshly painted; the cloudless sky smiled at itself in the smoothly sparkling lake; the satin green lawns rippled occasionally in a gentle breeze. June had arrived, but to the fifth-years this meant only one thing: their OWLs were upon them at last.

随着O．W．Ls考试的临近，行为古怪的人并非只有赫敏一个。厄尼·麦克米兰越来越喜欢打听别人的复习时间，养成了一种很烦人的习惯。

Their teachers were no longer setting them homework; lessons were devoted to revising those topics the teachers thought most likely to come up in the exams. The purposeful, feverish atmosphere drove nearly everything but the OWLs from Harry's mind, though he did wonder occasionally during Potions lessons whether Lupin had ever told Snape that he must continue giving Harry Ooclumency tuition. If he had, then Snape had ignored Lupin as thoroughly as he was now ignoring Harry. This suited Harry very well; he was quite busy and tense enough without extra classes with Snape, and to his relief Hermione was much too preoccupied these days to badger him about Occlumency; she was spending a lot of time muttering to herself, and had not laid out any elf clothes for days.

“你觉得自己一天能复习多少个小时？”排队上草药课时，他眼神焦躁地问哈利和罗恩。

She was not the only person acting oddly as the OWLs drew steadily nearer. Ernie Macmillan had developed an irritating habit of interrogating people about their revision practices.

“我不知道，”罗恩说，“几个小时吧。”

'How many hours d'you think you're doing a day?' he demanded of Harry and Ron as they queued outside Herbology, a manic gleam in his eyes.

“比八个小时多还是少？”

'I dunno,' said Ron. 'A few.'

“我觉得要少。”罗恩说，脸上露出几分警惕的神色。

'More or less than eight?'

“我能复习八小时，”厄尼一边说一边挺起胸膛，“八到九个小时。我每天早饭前复习一小时。平均是八小时。顺利的话，周末我可以学十个小时。我星期一学了九个小时半。星期二不太好——只有七个小时一刻钟。然后星期三——”

'Less, I s'pose,' said Ron, looking slightly alarmed.

这时候斯普劳特教授把他们三个领进了温室，厄尼只好停止了独角戏，哈利觉得真是谢天谢地。

'I'm doing eight,' said Ernie, puffing out his chest. 'Eight or nine. I'm getting an hour in before breakfast every day. Eights my average. I can do ten on a good weekend day. I did nine and a half on Monday. Not so good on Tuesday - only seven and a quarter. Then on Wednesday - '

在此期间，德拉科·马尔福又找到了一种吓唬人的办法。

Harry was deeply thankful that Professor Sprout ushered them into greenhouse three at that point, forcing Ernie to abandon his recital.

“这还用说，那不是学习好坏的问题，”就在考试前几天，有人听见他在魔药课教室外面大声对克拉布和高尔说，“得有门路才行。现在，我爸爸和巫师考试管理局的头头有好几年交情了——老格丝尔达·玛奇班——我们请她吃过饭，事情都……”

Meanwhile, Draco Malfoy had found a different way to induce panic.

“你觉得真有这种事吗？”赫敏惊慌地小声问哈利和罗恩。

'Of course, it's not what you know,' he was heard to tell Crabbe and Goyle loudly outside Potions a few days before the exams were to start, 'it's who you know. Now, Father's been friendly with the head of the Wizarding Examinations Authority for years - old Griselda Marchbanks - we've had her round for dinner and everthing . . .'

“就算是真的我们也没办法。”罗恩沮丧地说。

'Do you think that's true?' Hermione whispered in alarm to Harry and Ron.

“我觉得不是。”纳威轻轻地在他们身后说，“格丝尔达·玛奇班是我奶奶的朋友，她从来没提起过马尔福家。”

'Nothing we can do about it if it is,' said Ron gloomily.

“她这人怎么样，纳威？”赫敏立刻问道，“她严厉吗？”

'I don't think it's true,' said Neville quietly from behind them. 'Because Griselda Marchbanks is a friend of my gran's, and she's never mentioned the Malfoy's.'

“有点儿像奶奶，真的。”纳威压低了嗓门说。

'What's she like, Neville?' asked Hermione at once. 'Is she strict?'

“就算这样，认识她也不是坏事啊，是不是？”罗恩鼓励他说。

'Bit like Gran, really,' said Neville in a subdued voice.

“唉，我觉得没什么区别，”纳威说着更难过了，“奶奶总是对玛奇班教授说，我没有我爸爸那么出色……嗯……你们在圣芒戈也看到我奶奶是什么样的人了……”

'Knowing her won't hurt your chances, though, will it?' Ron told him encouragingly.

纳威盯着地面。哈利、罗恩和赫敏互相瞥了一眼，但是不知道该说些什么。这还是纳威头一次提起他们曾经在巫师医院见过面。

'Oh, I don't think it will make any difference,' said Neville, still more miserably. 'Gran's always telling Professor Marchbanks I'm not as good as my dad . . . well . . . you saw what she's like at St Mungo's

现在，五年级和七年级学生为了集中精力、提高脑力和治疗失眠，他们中间出现了欣欣向荣的黑市交易。拉文克劳的六年级学生埃迪·卡米切尔想卖给哈利和罗恩一瓶巴费醒脑剂，他们俩对此很感兴趣。埃迪信誓旦旦地说，自己去年夏天在O．W．Ls考试中获得了九个“优秀”，全都是靠了这个，而且整整一品脱只要价十二个加隆。罗恩向哈利保证，等到一离开霍格沃茨找到工作，他就会把自己的那一半钱还给他，但是在他们成交之前，赫敏没收了卡米切尔的瓶子，把里面的东西都倒进了马桶里。

Neville looked fixedly at the floor. Harry, Ron and Hermione glanced at each other, but didn't know what to say. It was the first time Neville had acknowledged that they had met at the wizarding hospital.

“赫敏，我们想买下它！”罗恩喊道。

Meanwhile, a flourishing black-market trade in aids to concentration, mental agility and wakefulness had sprung up among the fifth- and seventh-years. Harry and Ron were much tempted by the bottle of Baruffio's Brain Elixir offered to them by Ravenclaw sixth-year Eddie Carmichael, who swore it was solely responsible for the nine 'Outstanding' OWLs he had gained the previous summer and was offering a whole pint for a mere twelve Galleons. Ron assured Harry he would reimburse him for his half the moment he left Hogwarts and got a job, but before they could close the deal, Hermione had confiscated the bottle from Carmichael and poured the contents down a toilet.

“别傻了，”她厉声说，“你没准还想买哈罗德·丁戈的龙爪粉，然后再把它们用完呢。”

'Hermione, we wanted to buy that!' shouted Ron.

“丁戈有龙爪粉？”罗恩急切地问。

'Don't be stupid,' she snarled. 'You might as well take Harold Dingle's powdered dragon claw and have done with it.'

“现在没有了，”赫敏说道，“也被我没收了。这些东西都不管用，你知道的。”

'Dingle's got powdered dragon claw?' said Ron eagerly.

“龙爪粉确实管用！”罗恩说道，“效果好得出奇，确实能够提高你的记忆力，有几小时你的脑子特别灵——赫敏，让我来一小点儿吧，好吗，不会有害处——”

'Not any more,' said Hermione. 'I confiscated that, too. None of these things actually work, you know.'

“这玩意儿有害。”赫敏严厉地说，“我仔细看过了，其实那是狐猸子的干大粪。”

'Dragon claw does work!' said Ron. 'It's supposed to be incredible, really gives your brain a boost, you come over all cunning for a few hours - Hermione, let me have a pinch, go on, it can't hurt - '

一听到这话，哈利和罗恩对醒脑剂就没那么感兴趣了。

This stuff can,' said Hermione grimly. 'I've had a look at it, and it's actually dried Doxy droppings.'

在下一堂变形课上，他们得知了O．W．Ls考试的时间和考试过程中的具体安排。

This information took the edge off Harry and Ron's desire for brain stimulants.

“正如你们看到的，”当学生们抄录黑板上的考试日期和时间时，麦格教授说道，“你们的O．W．Ls考试将持续两周。你们要在上午参加笔试，下午参加实践考试。当然了，你们的天文学实践考试安排在晚上。

They received their examination timetables and details of the procedure for OWLs during their next Transfiguration lesson.

“现在，我必须提醒你们，你们的试卷都被施加了最严格的反作弊咒语。严禁携带自动答题羽毛笔进入考试大厅，另外还有记忆球、拆卸式夹带袖口和自动纠错墨水。我恐怕要说，好像每年都至少有一个学生以为自己能够逃避巫师考试局的规定。我只希望格兰芬多没有这样的人。我们的新——校长——”麦格教授说这个词时，脸上的表情就跟佩妮姨妈看着一块特别顽固的污垢时一样，“——要求学院院长们通知他们的学生，作弊行为将会受到最严厉的惩罚——因为，当然了，你们的考试成绩会直接反映出校长施行的新制度——”

'As you can see,' Professor McGonagall told the class as they copied down the dates and times of their exams from the blackboard, 'your OWLs are spread over two successive weeks. You will sit the theory papers in the mornings and the practice in the afternoons. Your practical Astronomy examination will, of course, take place at night.

麦格教授轻轻叹了口气，哈利看到她那只尖鼻子的鼻孔张了张。

'Now, I must warn you that the most stringent anti-cheating charms have been applied to your examination papers. Auto-Answer Quills are banned from the examination hall, as are Remembralls, Detachable Cribbing Cuffs and Self-Correcting Ink. Every year, I am afraid to say, seems to harbour at least one student who thinks that he or she can get around the Wizarding Examinations Authority's rules. I can only hope that it is nobody in Gryffindor. Our new - Headmistress - ' Professor McGonagall pronounced the word with the same look on her face that Aunt Petunia had whenever she was contemplating a particularly stubborn bit of dirt '- has asked the Heads of House to tell their students that cheating will be punished most severely - because, of course, your examination results will reflect upon the Headmistress's new regime at the school - '

“——不管怎样，你们都应该竭尽全力。你们要为自己的前途想一想。”

Professor McGonagall gave a tiny sigh; Harry saw the nostrils of her sharp nose flare.

“请问，教授，”赫敏说，她的手举在空中，“我们什么时候能知道自己的成绩？”

' - however, that is no reason not to do your very best. You have your own futures to think about.'

“七月份会由一只猫头鹰给你们送去。”麦格教授说。

'Please, Professor,' said Hermione, her hand in the air, 'when will we find out our results?'

“太棒了，”迪安·托马斯小声说，“放假以前我们不用担心了。”

'An owl will be sent to you some time in July,' said Professcr McGonagall.

哈利想象着在女贞路的卧室里坐上六个星期，等待自己的O．W．Ls考试成绩会是什么心情。他闷闷不乐地想，至少自己今年夏天肯定能收到一封邮件了。

'Excellent,' said Dean Thomas in an audible whisper, 'so we don't have to worry about it till the holidays.'

他们的第一场考试是魔咒理论，预定在星期一上午进行。哈利答应赫敏在星期天吃完午饭后帮她复习，但是几乎立刻就后悔了；赫敏非常激动不安，总是从他手里夺回课本，检查自己的答案是否正确，最后《魔咒成就》尖锐的边角狠狠地撞上了哈利的鼻子。

Harry imagined sitting in his bedroom in Privet Drive in six weeks' time, waiting for his OWL results. Well, he thought dully', at least he would be sure of one bit of post that summer.

“你为什么不自己复习呢？”哈利坚决地说，把书递还给她，眼睛里泪汪汪的。

Their first examination, Theory of Charms, was scheduled for Monday morning. Harry agreed to test Hermione after lunch on Sunday, but regretted it almost at once; she was very agitated and kept snatching the book back from him to check that she had got the answer completely right, finally hitting him hard on the nose with the sharp edge of Achievements in Charming.

这时，罗恩正在阅读两年以来的魔咒笔记，他用手指堵住耳朵，嘴唇无声地蠕动着；西莫·斐尼甘平躺在地板上背诵基本魔咒的定义，迪安对照着《标准咒语，五级》帮他核对；帕瓦蒂和拉文德在练习基础运动魔咒，让她们的文具盒绕着桌面边缘赛跑。

'Why don't you just do it yourself?' he said firmly, handing the book back to her, his eyes watering.

那天的晚餐很安静。哈利和罗恩没有多说什么，他们一整天都在努力学习，所以吃得很起劲。而赫敏却时常放下刀叉，把头埋到桌子底下，从书包里掏出一本书查对一些事实或数字。罗恩告诉她应该好好吃顿饭，不然今天晚上会睡不着的，这时她手一软，叉子当啷一声滑落到盘子上。

Meanwhile, Ron was reading two years' worth of Charms notes with his fingers in his ears, his lips moving soundlessly; Seamus Finnigan was lying flat on his back on the floor, reciting the definition of a Substantive Charm while Dean checked it against The Standard Book of Spells, Grade 5; and Parvati and Lavender, who were practising basic Locomotion Charms, were making their pencil-cases race each other around the edge of the table.

“哦，天哪。”她盯着门厅胆怯地小声说，“是他们吗？主考官？”

Dinner was a subdued affair that night. Harry and Ron did not talk much, but ate with gusto, having studied hard all day. Hermione, on the other hand, kept putting down her knife and fork and diving under the table for her bag, from which she would seize a book to check some fact or figure. Ron was just telling her that she ought to eat a decent meal or she would not sleep that night, when her fork slid from her limp fingers and landed with a loud tinkle on her plate.

哈利和罗恩在长凳上猛地扭过身。他们朝礼堂门口望去，只见乌姆里奇正和一小群看起来年纪很老的巫师站在一起。哈利高兴地看到，乌姆里奇的表情相当紧张。

'Oh, my goodness,' she said faintly, staring into the Entrance Hall. 'Is that them? Is that the examiners?'

“我们要不要走近些看看？”罗恩问。

Harry and Ron whipped around on their bench. Through the doors to the Great Hall they could see Umbridge standing with a small group of ancient-looking witches and wizards. Umbridge, Harry was pleased to see, looked rather nervous.

哈利和赫敏点点头，他们急忙走向通往门厅的两扇大门，在跨过门槛时放慢了脚步，轻轻地从主考官旁边走过。哈利认为那位个子很小的驼背女巫一定是玛奇班教授，她满脸都是皱纹，就像挂上了蜘蛛网；乌姆里奇正恭恭敬敬地跟她交谈。玛奇班教授好像有点儿耳背；因为她离乌姆里奇只有一英尺，可答话时的嗓门却特别大。

'Shall we go and have a closer look?' said Ron.

“旅途很顺利，旅途很顺利，我们提前了不少时间到达！”她不耐烦地说，“对了，我近来没听说邓布利多有什么消息！”她加了一句，仔细地张望着门厅四周，仿佛在希望邓布利多会猛地从某个装扫帚的橱柜里出现似的。“我猜，还不知道他的下落吧？”

Harry and Hermione nodded and they hastened towards the double doors into the Entrance Hall, slowing down as they stepped over the threshold to walk sedately past the examiners. Harry thought Professor Marchbanks must be the tiny, stooped witch with a face so lined it looked as though it had been draped in cobwebs; Umbridge was speaking to her deferentially. Professor Marchbanks seemed to be a little deaf; she was answering Professor Umbridge very loudly considering they were only a foot apart.

“一点也不清楚，”乌姆里奇说着，恶狠狠地瞪了哈利、罗恩和赫敏一眼，他们在楼梯口磨蹭着，罗恩在假装系鞋带，“但是我认为魔法部也许很快就能抓到他。”

'Journey was fine, journey was fine, we've made it plenty of times before!' she said impatiently. 'Now, I haven't heard from Dumbledore lately!' she added, peering around the Hall as though hopeful he might suddenly emerge from a broom cupboard. 'No idea where he is, I suppose?'

“我很怀疑这一点，”矮小的玛奇班教授大声说，“要是邓布利多不想被别人发现，那就不可能抓到他！我还记得……他参加N．E．W．Ts考试时，是我本人考他的变形学和魔咒学……他用魔杖做出了我以前从来没见过的事情。”

'None at all,' said Umbridge, shooting a malevolent look at Harry, Ron and Hermione, who were now dawdling around the foot of the stairs as Ron pretended to do up his shoelace. 'But I daresay the Ministry of Magic will track him down soon enough.'

“是啊……那么……”乌姆里奇教授说，这时哈利、罗恩和赫敏正磨磨蹭蹭地走上大理石楼梯，尽量壮起胆子放慢脚步，“我来送你们去教师休息室吧。你们在旅行后也许想要喝杯茶？”

'I doubt it,' shouted tiny Professor Marchbanks, 'not it Dumbledore doesn't want to be found! I should know . . . examined him personally in Transfiguration and Charms when he did NEWTs . . . did things with a wand I'd never seen before.'

这是个让人心绪不宁的夜晚。每个人都想抓紧最后一刻再复习一下，但是似乎没人能有什么收获。哈利早早地就上床了，可是好像过了几个小时都睡不着。他想起了自己的就业咨询谈话，还想起了麦格教授怎样火冒三丈地宣布要帮助他成为一名傲罗，哪怕这是她能办的最后一件事情。现在就要考试了，哈利希望自己能表现得更出色一些。他知道躺在床上无法入睡的人不止自己一个，但是宿舍里没有人吭声，后来他们终于一个接一个地睡着了。

'Yes . . . well . . .' said Professor Umbridge as Harry, Ron and Hermione dragged their feet up the marble staircase as slowly as they dared, 'let me show you to the staff room. I daresay you'd like a cup of tea after your journey.'

第二天吃早饭时，五年级学生没有人多说些什么，帕瓦蒂正低声练习咒语，餐桌上的盐瓶在她面前抽搐着；赫敏飞快地复习《魔咒成就》，眼神都显得有点迷糊了；纳威老是失手掉下刀叉，打翻果酱。

It was an uncomfortable sort of an evening. Everyone was trying to do some last-minute revising but nobody seemed to be getting very far. Harry went to bed early but then lay awake for what felt like hours. He remembered his careers consultation and McGonagall's furious declaration that she would help him become an Auror if it was the last thing she did. He wished he had expressed a more achievable ambition now that exam time was here. He knew he was not the only one lying awake, but none of the others in the dormitory spoke and finally, one by one, they fell asleep.

早饭一结束，其他年级的学生就去上课了，七年级和五年级学生在门厅里漫无目的地转来转去；接着，等到九点半，他们被一个班一个班地叫到前面，回到礼堂里。礼堂已经被重新布置过了，跟哈利在冥想盆里看到他父亲、小天狼星和斯内普参加O．W．Ls考试的时候一模一样；四张学院桌子被搬走了，换上了许多单人小桌子，全都面向礼堂尽头的教工桌子，麦格教授面朝他们站在那里。当他们坐好、安静下来时，她说道：“你们可以开始了。”然后她把桌子上的一个巨大沙漏颠倒过来放在旁边，桌上还有备用的羽毛笔、墨水瓶和一卷卷羊皮纸。

None of the fifth-years talked very much at breakfast next day, either: Parvati was practising incantations under her breath while the salt cellar in front of her twitched; Hermione was rereading Achievements in Charming so fast that her eyes appeared blurred; and Neville kept dropping his knife and fork and knocking over the marmalade.

哈利翻开试卷，心里怦怦直跳——在他右边第三列向前第五个座位上，赫敏已经在匆匆地写答案了——他低头看着第一个问题：ａ）写出能使物体飞起来的咒语；ｂ）描述挥动魔杖的动作。

Once breakfast was over, the fifth- and seventh-years milled around in the Entrance Hall while the other students went off to lessons; then, at half past nine, they were called forwards class by class to re-enter the Great Hall, which had been rearranged exactly as Harry had seen it in the Pensieve when his father, Sirius and Snape had been taking their OWLs; the four house tables had been removed and replaced instead with many tables for one, all facing the staff-table end of the Hall where Professor McGonagall stood facing them. When they were all seated and quiet, she said, 'You may begin,' and turned over an enormous hour-glass on the desk beside her, on which there were also spare quills, ink bottles and rolls of parchment.

哈利立刻回想起一根木棒高高地飞到空中，然后响亮地敲在巨怪厚厚脑壳上的情形……他微微一笑，俯下身在试卷上动笔写了起来。

Harry turned over his paper, his heart thumping hard - three rows to his right and four seats ahead Hermione was already scribbling - and lowered his eyes to the first question: a) Give the incantation and b) describe the wand movement required to make objects fly.

“嗯，还不是很糟吧？”两个小时后，赫敏在门厅里不安地问道，手里还紧紧地抓着试卷，“我拿不准自己是不是把快乐咒都答出来了，时间刚好用完。你们写出打嗝的破解咒了吗？我不知道该不该写上去，我好像写得太多了——还有第二十三个问题——”

Harry had a fleeting memory of a club soaring high into the air and landing loudly on the thick skull of a troll . . . smiling slightly, he bent over the paper and began to write.

“赫敏，”罗恩口气强硬地说，“这场考试已经结束了……我们不想每回都重来一遍，考一次就够受的了。”

五年级学生和学校里的其他学生一起吃午饭（在午饭时间里，四张学院桌子又出现了），然后他们成群结队地进入了礼堂旁边的小房间，等候被叫去参加实践考试。一小群一小群的学生按照字母顺序进入考场，留下来的人还在咕哝着咒语，练习着挥动魔杖的动作，有时会一不小心戳到别人的后背或者眼睛。

'Well, it wasn't too bad, was it?' asked Hermione anxiously in the Entrance Hall two hours later, still clutching the exam paper. 'I'm not sure I did myself justice on Cheering Charms, I just ran out of time. Did you put in the counter-charm for hiccoughs? I wasn't sure whether I ought to, it felt like too much - and on question twenty-three - '

赫敏的名字被喊到了。她哆嗦着，跟安东尼·戈德斯坦、格雷戈里·高尔和达芙尼·格林格拉斯一起离开了。已经考完的学生没有再回来，所以哈利和罗恩不知道赫敏考得怎么样。

'Hermione,' said Ron sternly, 'we've been through this before . . . we're not going through every exam afterwards, it's bad enough doing them once.'

“她一定考得不错，你还记得吗，有一次魔咒测验，她得了一百二十分？”罗恩说。

The fifth-years ate lunch with the rest of the school (the four house tables had reappeared for the lunch hour), then they trooped off into the small chamber beside the Great Hall, where they were to wait until called for their practical examination. As small groups of students were called forwards in alphabetical order, those left behind muttered incantations and practised wand movements, occasionally poking each other in the back or eye by mistake.

十分钟后，弗立维教授喊道：“潘西·帕金森——帕德玛·佩蒂尔——帕瓦蒂·佩蒂尔——哈利·波特。”

Hermione's name was called. Trembling, she kit the chamber with Anthony Goldstein, Gregory Goyle and Daphne Greengrass. Students who had already been tested did not return afterwards, so Harry and Ron had no idea how Hermione had done.

“祝你好运。”罗恩轻轻地说。

'She'll be fine, remember she got a hundred and twelve per cent on one of our Charms tests?' said Ron.

哈利走进礼堂，紧紧地攥着魔杖，手在发抖。

Ten minutes later, Professor Flitwick called, 'Parkinson, Pansy - Patil, Padma - Patil, Parvati - Potter. Harry.'

“托福迪教授有空，波特。”站在门口的弗立维教授尖声说。他给哈利指了指一位看上去年纪最大、头发最少的主考官，那个人正坐在远处角落里的一张小桌子后面。在他近旁，玛奇班教授给德拉科·马尔福的考试已经进行了一半。

'Good luck,' said Ron quietly. Harry walked into the Great Hall, clutching his wand so tightly his hand shook.

“是波特吗？”托福迪教授说，他查看了一下自己的记录，然后从夹鼻眼镜上方盯着面前的哈利，“大名鼎鼎的波特？”

'Professor Tofty is free, Potter,' squeaked Professor Flitwick, who was standing just inside the door. He pointed Harry towards what looked like the very oldest and baldest examiner who was sitting behind a small table in a far corner, a short distance from Professor Marchbanks, who was halfway through testing Draco Malfoy.

哈利从眼角的余光中清楚地看到，马尔福狠狠地瞪了他一眼；被马尔福悬浮在空中的玻璃酒杯掉在地板上摔了个粉碎。哈利忍不住咧嘴笑了起来；托福迪教授也朝哈利笑了笑以示鼓励。

'Potter, is it?' said Professor Tofty, consulting his notes and peering over his pince-nez at Harry as he approached. 'The famous Potter?'

“好了，”他用老人颤巍巍的声音说，“没必要紧张。现在，我请你让这个蛋杯为我表演几个侧身翻。”

Out of the corner of his eye, Harry distinctly saw Malfoy throw a scathing look over at him; the wine-glass Malfoy had been levitating fell to the floor and smashed. Harry could not suppress a grin; Professor Tofty smiled back at him encouragingly.

哈利觉得基本上挺顺利的。他的飘浮咒肯定念得比马尔福好得多，不过他真希望自己没有把变色咒和生长咒弄混，本来应该被他变成橙色的老鼠吓人地膨胀起来，在哈利纠正错误之前，它已经变得有獾那么大了。他很高兴赫敏当时不在礼堂里，而且后来也没有把这件事告诉她。不过他可以告诉罗恩；罗恩把一个菜盘变成了巨大的蘑菇，而且连他自己也不清楚是怎么回事。

That's it,' he said in his quavery old voice, 'no need to be nervous. Now, if I could ask you to take this egg cup and make it do some cartwheels for me.'

到了晚上也没时间放松；他们吃过晚饭后马上回到公共休息室里，埋头准备第二天的变形课考试；哈利上床时，满脑子都是嗡嗡作响的复杂的咒语模型和理论。他第二天上午答题时忘了转换咒的定义，可他觉得自己的实践考试可能更糟糕。不过他至少还能让自己那条鬣蜥整个消失，而可怜的汉娜·艾博在他旁边的桌子前慌了神，莫名其妙地把她的雪貂变成了一群火烈鸟，结果为了把这些鸟抓住带出礼堂，考试中断了十分钟。

On the whole, Harry thought it went rather well. His Levitation Charm was certainly much better than Malfoy's had been, though he wished he had not mixed up the incantations for Colour Change and Growth Charms, so that the rat he was supposed to be turning orange swelled shockingly and was the size of a badger before Harry could rectify his mistake. He was glad Hermione had not been in the Hall at the time and neglected to mention it to her afterwards. He could tell Ron, though; Ron had caused a dinner plate to mutate into a large mushroom and had no idea how it had happened.

他们星期三参加的是草药学考试（除了被一株毒牙天竺葵咬了一小口之外，哈利觉得自己考得相当不错）；接下来星期四，是黑魔法防御术考试。这回哈利头一次觉得自己肯定能通过。他在笔试中没有碰到任何困难，感到非常满意；实践考试中，他当着乌姆里奇的面完成了所有的破解咒和防御咒，当时乌姆里奇正站在通向门厅的大门附近，一直冷冷地注视着他。

There was no time to relax that night; they went straight to the common room after dinner and submerged themselves in revision for Transfiguration next day; Harry went to bed with his head buzzing with complex spell models and theories.

“哎呀，真精彩！”在哈利示范出一个完美的博格特驱逐咒以后，托福迪教授喊道，这一次又是他给哈利主考，“真是太好了！嗯，我觉得这样就可以了，波特……除非……”

He forgot the definition of a Switching Spell during his written paper next morning but thought his practical could have been a lot worse. At least he managed to Vanish the whole of his iguana, whereas poor Hannah Abbott lost her head completely at the next table and somehow managed to multiply her ferret into a flock of flamingos, causing the examination to be halted for ten minute; while the birds were captured and carried out of the Hall.

哈利稍微向前倾了倾身子。

They had their Herbology exam on Wednesday (other than a small bite from a Fanged Geranium, Harry felt he had done reasonably well); and then, on Thursday, Deience Against the Dark Arts. Here, tor the first time, Harry felt sure he had passed. He had no problem with any of the written questions and took particular pleasure, during the practical examination, in performing all the counter-jinxes and defensive spells right in front of Umbridge, who was watching coolly from near the doors into the Entrance Hall.

“我从自己的好朋友提贝卢斯·奥格登那里听说，你可以召唤守护神？为了额外加分……？”

'Oh, bravo!' cried Professor Tolty, who was examining Harry again, when Harry demonstrated a perfect Boggart banishing spell. 'Very good indeed! Well, I think that's all, Potter . . . unless . . .'

哈利扬起魔杖，径直望着乌姆里奇，想象着她被解雇的情形①。

He leaned forwards a little.

“呼神护卫！”

'I heard, from my dear friend Tiberius Ogden, that you can produce a Patronus? For a bonus point . . . ?'

他的银色牡鹿从魔杖尖端喷出，慢慢地跑过整个礼堂。主考官们全都转过头注视着它的行进，当它融化成银色的薄雾时，托福迪教授用血管突出、皮肤纠结的双手热情地鼓起掌来。

Harry raised his wand, looked directly at Umbridge and imagined her being sacked.

“出色极了！”他说，“很好，波特，你可以走了！”

'Expecto patronum!'

哈利从门边的乌姆里奇身旁走过，他们的视线相遇了。她那宽大、松弛的嘴巴露出让人厌恶的笑容，但是哈利不在乎。刚才他已经在O．W．Ls考试中拿到了一个“优秀”，除非他判断有误（为了以防万一，他不打算告诉任何人）。

His silver stag erupted from the end of his wand and cantered the length of the Hall. All of the examiners looked around to watch its progress and when it dissolved into silver mist Professor Tofty clapped his veined and knotted hands enthusiastically.

星期五，赫敏去参加古代魔文笔试，而哈利和罗恩休息了一整天，因为接下来还有整个周末的时间，所以他们让自己暂时中断了一下复习。他们在敞开的窗户前伸着懒腰打着哈欠，当他们玩巫师棋的时候，夏日和煦的微风从窗口吹了进来。哈利看到海格正在远处的禁林边缘给一个班上课。他想猜猜看他们正在研究什么动物——他觉得那一定是独角兽，因为男生们好像站得靠后一些——肖像洞口打开后，赫敏爬了进来，看上去心情很不好。

'Excellent!' he said. 'Very well, Potter, you may go!'

“魔文考得怎么样？”罗恩打着哈欠伸着懒腰问。

As Harry passed Umbridge beside the door, their eyes met. There was a nasty smile playing around her wide, slack mouth, but he did not care. Unless he was very much mistaken (and he was not planning on telling anybody, in case he was), he had just achieved an 'Outstanding' OWL.

“我把ehwaz翻译错了，”赫敏气呼呼地说道，“这是合作的意思，不是防御；我把它跟eihwaz搞混了。”

On Friday, Harry and Ron had a day off while Hermione sat her Ancient Runes exam, and as they had the whole weekend in front of them they permitted themselves a break from revision. They stretched and yawned beside the open window, through which warm summer air was wafting as they played wizard chess. Harry could see Hagrid in the distance, teaching a class on the edge of the Forest. He was trying to guess what creatures they were examining - he thought it must be unicorns, because the boys seemed to be standing back a little - when the portrait hole opened and Hermione clambered in, looking thoroughly bad-tempered.

“哦，”罗恩懒洋洋地说，“就出了这么一个错误，对吗，你还有——”

'How were the Runes?' said Ron, yawning and stretching.

“得了，闭嘴吧！”赫敏生气地说，“一个错误就有可能决定及格还是不及格。还有，有人又把一只嗅嗅放进乌姆里奇的办公室了。我不知道他们是怎么让它通过那扇新门的，但是我刚才路过那里的时候，乌姆里奇正拼命地尖叫，听上去，嗅嗅是想从她腿上咬下一大块来——”

'I mis-translated ehwaz,' said Hermione furiously. 'It means partnership, not defence', I mixed it up with eihwaz.'

“太好了。”哈利和罗恩异口同声地说。

'Ah well,' said Ron lazily, 'that's only one mistake, isn't it, you'll still get - '

“一点儿也不好！”赫敏激烈地说，“她认为是海格干的，记得吗？我们不想让海格被赶走！”

'Oh, shut up!' said Hermione angrily. 'It could be the one mistake that makes the difference between a pass and a fail. And what's more, someone's put another Nifiler in Umbridge's office. I don't know how they got it through that new door, but I just walked past there and Umbridge is shrieking her head off - by the sound of it, it tried to take a chunk out of her leg - '

“他正在给学生们上课呢；乌姆里奇没理由赖到他头上。”哈利指着窗户外面说。

'Good,' said Harry and Ron together.

“唉——你有时候也太天真了，哈利。你真的以为乌姆里奇会等着拿到证据吗？”赫敏说，她就好像非要发脾气似的，快速走向女生宿舍，砰的一声关上了身后的门。

'It is not good!' said Hermione hotly. 'She thinks it's Hagrid doing it, remember? And we do not want Hagrid chucked out!'

“真是个可爱、温柔的女孩啊。”罗恩轻轻地说着，把他的王后推到前面去痛打哈利的骑士。

'He's teaching at the moment; she can't blame him,' said Harry, gesturing out of the window.

几乎整个周末，赫敏的心情一直都不好，可哈利和罗恩发现，不用费什么劲就能不去理睬赫敏的坏脾气，因为他们星期六和星期天的大部分时间都在复习魔药学，为星期一的考试做准备。哈利最不想考的就是这一门——他深信这场考试会毁掉自己成为傲罗的梦想。不出所料，他发现笔试很难，不过他认为自己在复方汤剂的问题上可能会得到满分；他曾在上二年级的时候违反校规服用过它，所以能准确地描述它的效果。

'Oh, you're so naive sometimes, Harry. You really think Umbridge will wait for proof?' said Hermione, who seemed determined to be in a towering temper, and she swept off towards the girls' dormitories, banging the door behind her.

下午的实践考试并没有他想象中的那么可怕。考试过程中斯内普不在场，所以他发现自己配制魔药时比往常轻松多了。纳威坐在离哈利很近的地方，哈利看到他也比以往上魔药课时高兴得多。当玛奇班说“请离开你们的坩埚，考试结束了”时，哈利一边给装有样品的细颈瓶塞好塞子，一边觉得自己也许不会得到很好的成绩，但幸运的是起码已经过关了。

'Such a lovely, sweet-tempered girl,' said Ron, very quietly, prodding his queen forward to beat up one of Harry's knights.

“只剩下四门考试了。”他们回到格兰芬多公共休息室时，帕瓦蒂·佩蒂尔疲惫地说。

Hermione's bad mood persisted for most of the weekend, though Harry and Ron found it quite easy to ignore as they spent most of Saturday and Sunday revising for Potions on Monday, the exam which Harry had been looking forward to least - and which he was sure would be the downfall of his ambitions to become an Auror. Sure enough, he found the written paper difficult, though he thought he might have got full marks on the question about Polyjuice Potion; he could describe its effects accurately, having taken it illegally in his second year.

“只剩！”赫敏暴躁地说道，“我还要考算术占卜呢，这大概是最难的科目了！”

The afternoon practical was not as dreadful as he had expected, it to be. With Snape absent from the proceedings, he found that he was much more relaxed than he usually was while making potions. Neville, who was sitting very near Harry, also looked happier than Harry had ever seen him during a Potions class. When Professor Marchbanks said, 'Step away from your cauldrons, please, the examination is over,' Harry corked his sample flask feeling that he might not have achieved a good grade but he had, with luck, avoided a fail.

没人会傻到去反驳她，所以她没办法朝他们发脾气，只好去责备一些在公共休息室里笑得太响的一年级学生。

'Only four exams left,' said Parvati Patil wearily as they headed back to Gryffindor common room.

哈利决定在星期二的保护神奇生物课考试中好好表现一番，不让海格失望。下午的实践考试在禁林边缘的草地上进行，学生们被要求准确无误地辨认出藏在一打刺猬之中的刺佬儿（窍门是轮流喂给它们牛奶：刺佬儿是一种非常多疑的动物，当它们认为有人想毒害自己时，身上具有魔力的刺就会竖起来）；然后演示怎样正确地触摸护树罗锅；怎样在不被严重烧伤的情况下给一只火螃蟹喂食、清洁；以及从很多食物中挑选出可以喂给一只生病的独角兽的食物。

'Only!' said Hermione snappishly. 'I've got Arithmancy and it's probably the toughest subject there is!'

哈利看到，海格正从小屋的窗户里担心地望着外面。这回哈利的主考官是个圆胖矮小的女巫，她笑着告诉哈利可以离开了，哈利在返回城堡之前飞快地朝海格翘起了大拇指。

Nobody was foolish enough to snap back, so she was unable to vent her spleen on any of them and was reduced to telling off some first-years for giggling too loudly in the common room.

星期三上午的天文学理论考试非常顺利。哈利认为自己并没有把木星所有卫星的名字都写对，但他至少确信那些卫星上面都没有老鼠居住。他们必须等到晚上才能进行天文学实践考试，所以下午就改为占卜考试了。

Harry was determined to perform well in Tuesday's Care of Magical Creatures exam so as not to let Hagrid down. The practical examination took place in the afternoon on the lawn on the edge of the Forbidden Forest, where students were required to correctly identify the Knarl hidden among a dozen hedgehogs (the trick was to offer them all milk in turn: Knarls, highly suspicious creatures whose quills had many magical properties, generally went berserk at what they saw as an attempt to poison them); then demonstrate correct handling of a Bowtruckle; feed and clean out a Fire Crab without sustaining serious burns; and choose, from a wide selection of food, the diet they would give a sick unicorn.

即使用哈利对占卜学的那种低标准来衡量，他也算得上考得非常糟糕了。让他在一片空白的水晶球里看活动的影像倒不如让他在桌面上看电影；他在读茶叶时脑子里一片空白，在他看来，这些茶叶好像预示着玛奇班教授将很快见到一个肥胖、缺乏教养和无知的陌生人，而且他还弄混了玛奇班教授手掌上的生命线和智慧线，说她上个星期二就应该死了，以此给自己的惨败画上了个圆满的句号。

Harry could see Hagrid watching anxiously out of his cabin window. When Harry's examiner, a plump little witch this time, smiled at him and told him he could leave, Harry gave Hagrid a fleeting thumbs-up before heading back to the castle.

“唉，这一门我们总是不及格。”他们走下大理石楼梯时，罗恩沮丧地说。刚才他让哈利的心情好转了一些，他对哈利说，他在考试的时候详细地告诉主考官，水晶球里有一个鼻子上长了个肉瘤的丑陋男人，可等他抬眼一看，才明白过来自己是在描述水晶球里主考官的倒影。

The Astronomy theory paper on Wednesday morning went well enough. Harry was not convinced he had got the names of all Jupiter's moons right, but was at least confident that none of them was inhabited by mice. They had to wait until evening for their practical Astronomy; the afternoon was devoted instead to Divination.

“我们当初就不该选这门愚蠢的科目。”哈利说。

Even by Harry's low standards in Divination, the exam went very badly. He might as well have tried to see moving pictures on the desktop as in the stubbornly blank crystal ball; he lost his head completely during tea-leaf reading, saying it looked to him as though Professor Marchbanks would shortly be meeting a round, dark, soggy stranger, and rounded off the whole fiasco by mixing up the life and head lines on her palm and informing her that she ought to have died the previous Tuesday.

“不管怎样，至少我们现在可以放弃它了。”

'Well, we were always going to fail that one,' said Ron gloomily as they ascended the marble staircase. He had just made Harry feel rather better by telling him how he had told the examiner in detail about the ugly man with a wart on his nose in his crystal ball, only to look up and realise he had been describing his examiner's reflection.

“是啊，”哈利说，“我们再用不着假装关心木星和天王星太靠近时会发生什么事情了。”

'We shouldn't have taken the stupid subject in the first place,' said Harry.

“而且从今后，我再也不会关心我的茶叶是否意味着死亡，罗恩，死亡——我只会把它们倒进垃圾箱，那才是它们应该去的地方。”

'Still, at least we can give it up now.'

哈利笑起来，这时赫敏从他们身后跑了上来。他马上收起笑容，以免惹得她生气。

'Yeah,' said Harry. 'No more pretending we care what happens when Jupiter and Uranus get too friendly.'

“嗯，我觉得算术占卜考得很顺利，”她说，哈利和罗恩都松了口气，“晚饭前刚好够时间快速查看一下我们的星象图，然后……”

'And from now on, I don't care if my tea-leaves spell die, Ron, die - I'm just chucking them in the bin where they belong.'

十一点，他们来到天文塔顶，发现今晚的天空万里无云，而且没有风，很适合观测星象。场地沐浴在银色的月光里，空气中微微有些寒意。他们都架起各自的望远镜，等玛奇班教授发出命令后，就开始填写已经发给他们的空白星象图。

Harry laughed just as Hermione came running up behind them. He stopped laughing at once, in case it annoyed her.

玛奇班和托福迪教授在他们中间溜达，看着他们把观测到的恒星和行星的准确位置记录下来。除了羊皮纸的沙沙声、望远镜在架子上移动时偶尔发出的吱吱声和许多羽毛笔急匆匆的书写声以外，周围一片寂静。半小时过去了，接着又过去了一小时；城堡窗户里的灯光熄灭后，那些在下面场地上闪动的正方形金色小光斑也消失了。

'Well, I think I've done all right in Arithmancy,' she said, and Harry and Ron both sighed with relief. 'Just time for a quick look over our star-charts before dinner, then . . .'

哈利在自己的星象图上标出了猎户星座，这时就在他面前的胸墙正下方，城堡的前门打开了，灯光顺着石头台阶投射出来，照亮了下面的一小片草地。哈利稍微调整了了一下望远镜，同时朝下面瞥了一眼，他看到五六个长长的阴影正在走过被灯光照亮的草地，随后大门关了起来，草地又陷入一片黑暗之中。

When they reached the top of the Astronomy Tower at eleven o'clock, they found a perfect night for stargazing, cloudless and still. The grounds were bathed in silvery moonlight and there was a slight chill in the air. Each of them set up his or her telescope and, when Professor Marchbanks gave the word, proceeded to fill in the blank star-chart they had been given.

现在哈利又把眼睛贴近望远镜，重新调整了一下焦距观察金星。他低头看着自己的星象图，准备把金星的位置记上去，但是有东西分散了他的注意力；手里的羽毛笔悬在羊皮纸上空停了下来，他眯起眼睛望着下面幽暗的场地，看到六个身影正走过草地。如果他们没有走动，如果月光没有照亮他们的头顶，那么在漆黑的场地上他们是不容易被发现的。虽然离得这么远，可哈利还是莫名其妙地感到，自己认出了那些人当中最矮胖的那个人的走路姿势，那个人好像在带领着这个队伍。

Professors Marchbanks and Tofty strolled among them, watching as they entered the precise positions of the stars and planets the) were observing. All was quiet except for the rustle of parchment, the occasional creak of a telescope as it was adjusted on its stand, and the scribbling of many quills. Half an hour passed, then ar hour; the little squares of reflected gold light flickering on the: ground below started to vanish as lights in the castle windows were extinguished.

他不明白乌姆里奇为什么在下半夜到外面散步，更想不出她为什么要另外五个人陪着自己。接着有人在他身后咳嗽了一声，他才记起自己还在考试。他已经完全忘记了金星的位置。他把眼睛贴在望远镜上重新找到金星，再次准备把它记录在星象图上，这时一些奇怪的声音引起了他的注意。他听到一阵敲击声穿过空荡荡的场地从远处传了过来，接着立刻响起了一条大狗低沉的吠叫声。

As Harry completed the constellation Orion on his chart, however, the front doors of the castle opened directly below the parapet where he was standing, so that light spilled down the stone steps a little way across the lawn. Harry glanced down as he made a slight adjustment to the position of his telescope and saw five or six elongated shadows moving over the brightly lit grass before the doors swung shut and the lawn became a sea of darkness once more.

他抬眼望去，心头猛烈地跳动着。海格的窗户里透出了灯光，现在穿过草地的那些人被灯光映出了黑影。门开了，他清楚地看到六个轮廓分明的身影跨进了门槛。门又关上了，接着是一片沉寂。

Harry put his eye back to his telescope and refocused it, now examining Venus. He looked down at his chart to enter the planet there, but something distracted him; pausing with his quill suspended over the parchment, he squinted down into the shadowy grounds and saw half a dozen figures walking over the lawn. If they had not been moving, and the moonlight had not been gilding the tops of their heads, they would have been indistinguishable from the dark ground on which they walked. Even at this distance, Harry had a funny feeling he recognised the walk of the squattest of them, who seemed to be leading the group.

哈利觉得心神不定。他朝周围扫了一眼，看看罗恩或者赫敏有没有注意到他所看见的情况，可就在这时玛奇班教授从后面朝他走过来，哈利不想让人觉得自己好像在偷看别人的答案，急忙朝自己的星象图俯下身去，假装正在添加一些记录，实际上他是在越过胸墙窥视着海格的小屋。几个身影正在小屋的窗口晃动，暂时挡住了亮光。

He could not think why Umbridge would be taking a stroll outside after midnight, much less accompanied by five others. Then somebody coughed behind him, and he remembered that he was halfway through an exam. He had quite forgotten Venus's position. Jamming his eye to his telescope, he found it again and was once more about to enter it on his chart when, alert for any odd sound, he heard a distant knock which echoed through the deserted grounds, followed immediately by the muffled barking of a large dog.

哈利能感觉到玛奇班教授正盯着自己的后脖颈，于是他又把眼睛紧贴在望远镜上，盯着上空的月亮，其实一个小时以前他就标下了它的位置。当玛奇班教授又开始走动时，他听到远处的小屋传来一声怒吼，那声音回荡着穿过黑暗直达天文塔顶。哈利周围的几个人猛地从望远镜后面探出头来，盯着海格的小屋那个方向。

He looked up, his heart hammering. There were lights on in Hagrids windows and the people he had observed crossing the lawn were now silhouetted against them. The door opened and he distinctly saw six sharply defined figures walk over the threshold. The door closed again and there was silence.

托福迪又轻轻干咳了一声。

Harry felt very uneasy. He glanced around to see whether Ron or Hermione had noticed what he had, but Professor Marchbanks came walking behind him at that moment and, not wanting to look as though he was sneaking looks at anyone else's work, Harry hastily bent over his star-chart and pretended to be adding notes to it while really peering over the top of the parapet towards Hagrid's cabin. Figures were now moving across the cabin windows, temporarily blocking the light.

“好了，尽量集中精力，同学们。”他轻轻地说。

He could feel Professor Marchbanks's eyes on the back of his neck and pressed his eye again to his telescope, staring up at the moon though he had marked its position an hour ago, but as Professor Marchbanks moved on he heard a roar from the distant cabin that echoed through the darkness right to the top of the Astronomy Tower. Several of the people around Harry ducked out from behind their telescopes and peered instead in the direction of Hagrid's cabin.

大多数人又把眼睛贴到了望远镜上。哈利看了看自己左边。赫敏正呆呆地盯着海格的小屋。

Professor Tofty gave another dry little cough.

“嗯——还有二十分钟。”托福迪教授说。

Try and concentrate, now, boys and girls,' he said softly.

赫敏吓了一跳，马上重新看着自己的星象图；哈利低下头看了看自己的星象图，注意到金星被错标成了火星。他弯下腰改了过来。

Most people returned to their telescopes. Harry looked to his left. Hermione was gazing transfixed at Hagrid's cabin.

从场地传来砰的一声巨响。几个学生发出“哎呀！”的喊声，他们想赶紧看看下面发生了什么事情，结果被望远镜的尾端戳着了脸。

'Ahem - twenty minutes to go,' said Professor Tofty.

海格的门突然打开了，借着从小屋里透出的灯光，他们十分清楚地看到，一个魁梧的身影在怒吼着挥舞双拳，被六个人围在中间。那些人一起朝他那个方向发射出一道道细细的红光，从这一点可以看出，他们似乎想用昏迷咒击昏他。

Hermione jumped and returned at once to her star-chart; Harry looked down at his own and noticed that he had mis-labelled Venus as Mars. He bent to correct it.

“不要！”赫敏喊道。

There was a loud BANG from the grounds. Several people cried 'Ouch!' when they poked themselves in the face with the ends of their telescopes as they hastened to see what was going on below.

“我的天哪！”托福迪教授震惊地说，“现在可是在考试！”

Hagrid's door had burst open and by the light flooding out of the cabin they saw him quite clearly, a massive figure roaring and brandishing his fists, surrounded by six people, all of whom, judging by the tiny threads of red light they were casting in his direction, seemed to be attempting to Stun him.

但是大家根本没有注意自己的星象图。喷射出的红光还在海格的小屋旁到处飞舞，可不知为什么，咒语好像从他身上弹开了；他依然挺立着，而且在哈利看来，他仍然在战斗。叫喊声回荡着越过了场地；一个男人在大声嚷嚷：“你理智一点儿，海格！”

'No!' cried Hermione.

海格怒吼道：“该死的理智，你别想就这样抓住我，德力士！”

'My dear!' said Professor Tofty in a scandalised voice. This is an examination!'

哈利能看到牙牙小小的身影正试图保卫海格，它一次又一次朝包围海格的巫师扑过去，直到被一个昏迷咒击倒在地上。海格狂怒地大吼一声，把那个凶手整个举到空中扔了出去；那个男人看上去好像飞出去了十英尺远，而且再也没有站起来。赫敏倒抽了一口气，用双手捂住了嘴巴；哈利转头瞧了瞧罗恩，看到他也被吓坏了。他们以前从来没见过海格真正动怒时的样子。

But nobody was paying the slightest attention to their star-charts any more. Jets of red light were still flying about beside Hagrid's cabin, yet somehow they seemed to be bouncing off him; he was still upright and still, as far as Harry could see, fighting. Cries and yells echoed across the grounds; a man yelled, 'Be reasonable, Hagrid!'

“瞧！”帕瓦蒂尖叫着，她正靠在胸墙上指着城堡脚下，前门又打开了；更多的灯光投射到黑暗的草地上，一道长长的阴影正像波浪一样起伏着，独自越过草地。

Hagrid roared, 'Reasonable be damned, yeh won' take me like this, Dawlish!'

“现在，说真的！”托福迪不安地说，“只剩十六分钟了，你们知道的！”

Harry could see the tiny outline of Fang, attempting to defend Hagrid, leaping repeatedly at the wizards surrounding him until a Stunning Spell caught him and he fell to the ground. Hagrid gave a howl of fury, lifted the culprit bodily from the ground and threw him; the man flew what looked like ten feet and did not get up again. Hermione gasped, both hands over her mouth; Harry looked round at Ron and saw that he, too, was looking scared. None of them had ever seen Hagrid in a real temper before.

但是根本没人注意他，他们正盯着那个人全速跑向海格小屋旁的搏斗现场。

'Look!' squealed Parvati, who was leaning over the parapet and pointing to the foot of the castle where the front doors had opened again; more light was spilling out on to the dark lawn and a single long black shadow was now rippling across the lawn.

“你们怎么敢！”这个身影边跑边喊，“你们怎么敢！”

'Now, really!' said Professor Tofty anxiously. 'Only sixteen minutes left, you know!'

“是麦格！”赫敏低声说。

But nobody paid him the slightest attention: they were watching the person now sprinting towards the battle beside Hagrid's cabin.

“放开他！放开，听我说！”从黑暗中传来麦格教授的声音，“你们凭什么攻击他？他什么也没做，没做任何事情让你们有理由这样对——”

'How dare you!' the figure shouted as she ran. 'How dare you!'

赫敏、帕瓦蒂和拉文德都尖叫起来。小屋周围的身影向麦格教授发射了至少四道昏迷咒。在小屋和城堡之间的半路上，这些红光猛地击中了她；一刹那间，她变得那么明亮，散发出一种怪异的红光，然后她腾空而起，重重地仰面摔在地上，不再动弹了。

'It's McGonagall!' whispered Hermione.

“天哪！”托福迪教授喊道，他好像也把考试全都忘记了，“这样警告别人也太过分了！太残暴了！”

'Leave him alone! Alone, I say!' said Professor McGonagall's voice through the darkness. 'On what grounds are you attacking him? He has done nothing, nothing to warrant such - '

“懦夫！”海格怒吼道，他的声音清晰地传到塔顶，城堡里有几处地方重新闪起了灯光，“卑鄙的懦夫！用这样——这样——”

Hermione, Parvati and Lavender all screamed. The figures around the cabin had shot no fewer than lour Stunners at Professor McGonagall. Halfway between cabin and castle the red beams collided with her; for a moment she looked luminous and glowed an eerie red, then she lifted right off her feet, landed hard on her back, and moved no more.

“哦，我的——”赫敏倒吸了一口气。

'Galloping gargoyles!' shouted Professor Tofty, who also seemed to have forgotten the exam completely. 'Not so much as a warning! Outrageous behaviour!'

海格抡起胳膊，朝两个离他最近的攻击者狠狠地打过去；他们立刻倒下了，看来是被打昏了。哈利看到海格弯下腰，以为他最终还是被咒语制服了。但是，恰恰相反，海格马上又挺起身子，背上好像背了一只口袋——接着哈利明白过来了，那是牙牙软绵绵的身体搭在他的双肩上。

'COWARDS!' bellowed Hagrid; his voice carried clearly to the top of the tower, and several lights flickered back on inside the castle. 'RUDDY COWARDS! HAVE SOME O' THAT - AN' THAT - '

“抓住他，抓住他！”乌姆里奇尖着嗓子喊道，但是她剩下的那个帮手好像非常不愿意走进海格双拳的打击范围；真的，他后退得那么快，结果被一个不省人事的同伴绊倒了。海格已经转过身，开始背着绕在脖子上的牙牙奔跑。乌姆里奇在他身后发射了最后一个昏迷咒，可是没打中；海格朝远处的大门全速跑去，消失在夜幕中。

'Oh my - ' gasped Hermione.

大家都张开嘴巴盯着场地，颤抖着沉默了好几分钟。然后托福迪教授无力地说：“嗯，大家注意……还有五分钟。”尽管哈利的星象图只填写了三分之二，可他还是盼着考试快点结束。考试终于结束时，他、罗恩和赫敏马马虎虎地把望远镜放回盒子里，顺着螺旋形楼梯猛冲下去。没有一个学生想去睡觉，他们都站在楼梯脚下，激动地高声谈论着所目睹的事情。

Hagrid took two massive swipes at his closest attackers; judging by their immediate collapse, they had been knocked cold. Harry saw Hagrid double over, and thought he had finally been overcome by a spell. But, on the contrary, next moment Hagrid was standing again with what appeared to be a sack on his back - then Harry realised that bangs limp body was draped around his shoulders.

“这个恶毒的女人！”赫敏气喘吁吁地说道，她好像愤怒得连说话都有困难了，“想在夜深人静的时候偷偷对付海格！”

'Get him, get him!' screamed Umbridge, but her remaining helper seemed highly reluctant to go within reach of Hagrid's fists; indeed, he was backing away so fast he tripped over one of his unconscious colleagues and fell over. Hagrid had turned and begun to run with Fang still hung around his neck. Umbridge sent one last Stunning Spell after him but it missed; and Hagrid, running full-pelt towards the distant gates, disappeared into the darkness.

“很明显，她不想再出现特里劳妮那样的场面。”厄尼·麦克米兰一本正经地说，挤过来与他们会合在一起。

There was a long minute's quivering silence as everybody gazed open-mouthed into the grounds. Then Professor Tofty's voice said feebly, 'Um . . . five minutes to go, everybody.'

“海格干得真棒，对不对？”罗恩说道，看上去惊恐的神色比钦佩的神色还多，“那些咒语怎么都从他身上弹开了？”

Though he had only filled in two-thirds of his chart, Harry was desperate for the exam to end. When it came at last he, Ron and Hermione forced their telescopes haphazardly back into their holders and dashed back down the spiral staircase. None of the students were going to bed; they were all talking loudly and excitedly at the foot of the stairs about what they had witnessed.

“可能是因为他的巨人血统。”赫敏颤抖着说，“一个巨人很难被击昏，他们就像巨怪，非常强壮……但是可怜的麦格教授……四个昏迷咒直接打在她胸口上，她又确实不年轻了，是不是？”

That evil woman!' gasped Hermione, who seemed to be having difficulty talking due to rage. Trying to sneak up on Hagrid in the dead of night!'

“太可怕了，太可怕了，”厄尼夸张地摇着头说，“好了，我要去睡觉了，晚安，各位。”他们周围的人在渐渐散去，离开时仍在激动地谈论着刚才看到的事情。

'She clearly wanted to avoid another scene like Trelawney's,' said Ernie Macmillan sagely, squeezing over to join them.

“至少他们没能把海格抓住送进阿兹卡班，”罗恩说，“我猜他去找邓布利多了，是不是？”

'Hagrid did well, didn't he?' said Ron, who looked more alarmed than impressed. 'How come all the spells bounced off him?'

“我想是的。”赫敏含着眼泪说，“哦，这太可怕了，以前我真的以为邓布利多很快就会回来，可现在我们又失去了海格。”

'It'll be his giant blood,' said Hermione shakily. 'Its very hard to Stun a giant, they're like trolls, really tough . . . but poor Professor McGonagall . . . four Stunners straight in the chest and she's net exactly young, is she?'

他们疲惫地走回格兰芬多公共休息室，发现那里挤满了人。外面场地里的喧哗惊醒了几个学生，他们又赶紧叫醒了自己的朋友。西莫和迪安比哈利、罗恩和赫敏先到了一步，正跟大家描述在天文塔上的所见所闻。

'Dreadful, dreadful,' said Ernie, shaking his head pompously. 'Well, I'm off to bed. Night, all.'

“可为什么要现在解雇海格呢？”安吉利娜·约翰逊摇着头说，“他跟特里劳妮的情况不一样；今年他教的课比以往进步多了！”

People around them were drifting away, still talking excitedly about what they had just seen.

“乌姆里奇讨厌半人类，”赫敏痛苦地说，猛地倒在扶手椅上，“她一直想赶走海格。”

'At least they didn't get to take Hagrid off to Azkaban,' said Ron. 'I 'spect he's gone to join Dumbledore, hasn't he?'

“她还认为是海格把嗅嗅放进了她的办公室里。”凯蒂·贝尔尖声说。

'I suppose so,' said Hermione, who looked tearful. 'Oh, this is awful, I really thought Dumbledore would be back before long, but now we've lost Hagrid too.'

“哦，哎呀，”李·乔丹捂住嘴巴说，“是我把嗅嗅放进她办公室的。弗雷德和乔治给我留下了两只，我把它们升到空中让它们从她的窗户里进去的。”

They traipsed back to the Gryffindor common room to find it full. The commotion out in the grounds had woken several people, who had hastened to rouse their friends. Seamus and Dean, who had arrived ahead of Harry, Ron and Hermione, were now telling everyone what they had seen and heard from the top of the Astronomy Tower.

“不管怎样，她都会解雇他的。”迪安说道，“他和邓布利多的关系太密切了。”

'But why sack Hagrid now?' asked Angelina Johnson, shaking her head. 'It's not like Trelawney; he's been teaching much better than usual this year!'

“没错。”哈利说着把身体深深埋进了赫敏旁边的一张扶手椅里。

'Urnbridge hates part-humans,' said Hermione bitterly, flopping down into an armchair. 'She was always going to try and get Hagrid out.'

“我真希望麦格教授能平安无事。”拉文德泪汪汪地说。

'And she thought Hagrid was putting Nifflers in her office,' piped up Katie Bell.

“他们把她送回了城堡，我们从宿舍窗口看到的。”科林·克里维说，“她看起来情况不妙。”

'Oh, blimey,' said Lee Jordan, covering his mouth. 'It's me who's been putting the Nifflers in her office. Fred and George left me a couple; I've been levitating them in through her window.'

“庞弗雷夫人会治好她的，”艾丽娅·斯平内特坚决地说，“庞弗雷夫人还从来没失败过。”

'She'd have sacked him anyway,' said Dean. 'He was too close to Dumbledore.'

快到凌晨四点时，公共休息室里的人才走空了。哈利毫无睡意；海格全速冲进夜幕的景象一直萦绕在他脑海中；他对乌姆里奇的怒火是那么强烈，觉得无论用什么方法都不足以狠狠地惩罚她，尽管罗恩提出了一个很不错的建议，那就是把她扔给一箱饥肠辘辘的炸尾螺。他琢磨着可怕的复仇方法渐渐地睡着了，三个小时后他就起了床，觉得根本没有休息过来。

That's true,' said Harry, sinking into an armchair beside Hermione's.

他们最后一场考试是魔法史，要到下午才进行。哈利吃过早饭后很想回去睡觉，可他原本指望在今天上午临阵磨枪复习一下的。所以他只好用手托着脑袋，坐在公共休息室的窗户旁，竭力忍住睡意，从头到尾读一遍笔记，这一摞笔记是赫敏借给他的，大约有三英尺半厚。

'I just hope Professor McGonagall's all right,' said Lavender tearfully.

两点钟，五年级学生走进礼堂，在倒扣着的试卷面前坐下来。哈利觉得精疲力竭。他只想考试结束后能去睡一觉；然后明天，他和罗恩要去魁地奇球场——他想骑上罗恩的飞天扫帚飞一飞——享受一下摆脱复习后那种自由自在的感觉。

They carried her back up to the castle, we watched through the dormitory window,' said Colin Creevey. 'She didn't look very well.'

“翻开你们的试卷，”玛奇班教授在礼堂前面一边说一边立刻把巨大的沙漏倒扣过来，“你们可以开始了。”

'Madam Pomfrey will sort her out,' said Alicia Spinnet firmly. 'She's never failed yet.'

哈利凝视着第一个问题。过了几秒钟，他才意识到自己一个字也没读进去；有只黄蜂紧贴着一扇高高的窗户嗡嗡地响，很让人分心。最后他终于慢慢地、难受地开始答题。

It was nearly four in the morning before the common room cleared. Harry felt wide awake; the image of Hagrid sprinting away into the dark was haunting him; he was so angry with Umbridge he could not think of a punishment bad enough for her, though Ron's suggestion of having her fed to a box of starving Blast-Ended Skrewts had its merits. He fell asleep contemplating hideous revenges and arose from bed three hours later feeling distinctly unrested.

他发现很难记起那些人名，而且还老是搞混日期。他干脆跳过了第四个问题（按照你的看法，魔杖条例是促成了还是有助于更好地控制了十八世纪的妖精暴动？），打算要是最后有时间的话再回头做这道题。他努力回答第五题（《保密法》在一七四九年是如何被违反的，后来提出了什么法案以防止类似情况重新发生？），但总是谨小慎微地怀疑自己漏掉了几个要点；他觉得吸血鬼应该在什么地方卷入了这件事。

Their final exam, History of Magic, was not to take place until that afternoon. Harry would very much have liked to go back to bed after breakfast, but he had been counting on the morning for a spot of last-minute revision, so instead he sat with his head in his hands by the common-room window, trying hard not to doze off as he read through some of the three-and-a-half-feet-high stack of notes that Hermione had lent him.

他向后找找自己能准确回答的问题，在看到第十题时眼睛一亮：陈述促成国际巫师联合会成立的原因和情况，并解释列支敦士登②的巫师拒绝加入的原因。

The fifth-years entered the Great Hall at two o'clock and took their places in front of their face-down examination papers. Harry felt exhausted. He just wanted this to be over, so that he could go and sleep; then tomorrow, he and Ron were going to go down to the Quidditch pitch - he was going to have a fly on Ron's broom - and savour their freedom from revision.

尽管脑子已经麻木、迟钝了，但哈利还是想道，这个我知道。他的脑海中浮现出用赫敏的笔迹写下的一个标题：国际巫师联合会成立于……他今天上午正好读过这一部分笔记。

Turn over your papers,' said Professor Marchbanks from the front of the Hall, flicking over the giant hour-glass. 'You may begin '

他动笔写着答案，不时抬眼查看一下玛奇班教授桌子上的大沙漏。他坐在帕瓦蒂·佩蒂尔身后，她黑色的长发垂在椅背上。有那么一两回，他发现当帕瓦蒂微微移动脑袋时，那些头发竟然闪出了微弱的金色光芒，而自己就在盯着这些光芒，他必须稍微摇摇自己的脑袋才能让这些光芒消失。

Harry stared fixedly at the first question. It was several seconds before it occurred to him that he had not taken in a word of it; there was a wasp buzzing distractingly against one of the high windows. Slowly, tortuously, he at last began to write an answer.

……国际巫师联合会的第一位会长是皮埃尔·波拿库德，但是列支敦士登魔法界对这个任命提出了质疑，因为——

He was finding it very difficult to remember names and kept confusing dates. He simply skipped question four (In your opinion, did wand legislation contribute to, or lead to better control of, goblin riots of the eighteenth century?), thinking that he would go back to it if he had time at the end. He had a stab at question five (How was the Statute of Secrecy breached in 1749 and what measures were introduced to prevent a recurrence?) but had a nagging suspicion that he had missed several important points; he had a feeling vampires had come into the story somewhere.

在哈利四周，羽毛笔正从羊皮纸上匆匆划过，就像正在急忙挖洞的老鼠。灼热的阳光照在他后脑勺上。波拿库德做了什么事冒犯了列支敦士登的巫师们呢？哈利觉得是和巨怪有关的什么事情……他又在茫然地盯着帕瓦蒂的后脑勺。要是他能用摄神取念在她后脑勺打开一扇窗户，看看巨怪为什么引起了皮埃尔·波拿库德和列支敦士登之间的决裂……

He looked ahead for a question he could definitely answer and his eyes alighted upon number ten: Describe the circumstances that led to the formation of the International Confederation of Wizards and explain why the warlocks of Liechtenstein refused to join.

哈利闭上眼睛，两手捂在脸上，于是眼睑中炽热的红光渐渐暗淡清凉起来。波拿库德试图阻止猎杀巨怪，给巨怪应有的权利……但是列支敦士登与一个特别邪恶残忍的山地巨怪部落有矛盾……就是这样。

I know this, Harry thought, though his brain felt torpid and slack. He could visualise a heading, in Hermione's handwriting: The formation of the International Confederation of Wizards . . . he had read those notes only this morning.

他睁开眼睛，明亮的白色羊皮纸刺痛了他的双眼，刺得他想流泪。他慢慢写出两行关于巨怪的内容，然后通读了一遍已经写下的答案。好像还不是很丰富、详细，而且他能肯定，赫敏关于国际巫师联合会的笔记有很多页。

He began to write, looking up now and again to check the large hour-glass on the desk beside Professor Marchbanks. He was sitting right behind Parvati Patil, whose long dark hair fell below the back of her chair. Once or twice he found himself staring at the tiny golden lights that glistened in it when she moved her head slightly, and had to give his own head a little shake to clear it.

他又闭上眼睛回忆起来，想看到那些笔记……国际巫师联合会首届会议是在法国召开的，对，他已经写过了……

. . . the first Supreme Mugwump of the International Confederation of Wizards was Pierre Bonaccord, hut his appointment was contested by the wizarding community of Liechtenstein, because - '

妖精们想出席会议，但是被赶走了……这个他也写过了……

All around Harry quills were scratching on parchment like scurrying, burrowing rats. The sun was very hot on the back of his head. What was it that Bonaccord had done to offend the wizards of Liechtenstein? Harry had a feeling it had something to do with trolls . . . he gazed blankly at the back of Parvati's head again. If he could only perform Legilimency and open a window in the back of her head and see what it was about trolls that had caused the breach between Pierre Bonaccord and Liechtenstein . . .

还有列支敦士登没人想来……

Harry closed his eyes and buried his face in his hands, so that the glowing red of his eyelids grew dark and cool. Bonaccord had wanted to stop troll-hunting and give the trolls rights . . . but Liechtenstein was having problems with a tribe of particularly vicious mountain trolls . . . that was it.

快想啊，他用双手捂住脸告诉自己，这时候他周围的羽毛笔正在不断地写出答案，他前面沙漏中的沙子也正在慢慢地漏下去……

He opened his eyes; they stung and watered at the sight of the blazing white parchment. Slowly, he wrote two lines about the foils, then read through what he had done so far. It did not seem very informative or detailed, yet he was sure Hermione's notes on the Confederation had gone on for pages and pages.

他又一次走在那条阴冷、黑暗的神秘事务司走廊上，步子坚定、果断，偶尔会跑上几步，他终于下决心一定要到达自己的目的地……黑色大门像以往一样为他打开了，他来到那间有许多门的圆形屋子里……

He closed his eyes again, trying to see them, trying to remember . . . the Confederation had met for the first time in France, yes, he had written that already . . .

径直走过黑色的石头地板，穿过第二道门……几块光斑在墙上和地板上舞动着，还有奇怪的机器的滴答声，但是没时间看个究竟，他必须赶紧……

Goblins had tried to attend and been ousted . . . he had written that, too . . .

他最后慢跑几步来到第三道门前，它也像其他的门一样打开了……

And nobody from Liechtenstein had wanted to come . . .

他又一次置身于大小如同大教堂，摆满架子和玻璃球的屋子里……现在他的心跳得非常快……他这次就要到达那里了……他走到第97排架子时向左一转，顺着两排架子之间狭长的过道急匆匆地走去……

Think, he told himself, his face in his hands, while all around him quills scratched out never-ending answers and the sand trickled through the hour-glass at the front . . .

可是在过道尽头的地板上有个身影，一个正在地板上挪动的身影，好像是一头受了伤的动物……哈利的胃害怕得收紧了……兴奋得收紧了……

He was walking along the cool, dark corridor to the Department of Mysteries again, walking with a firm and purposeful tread, breaking occasionally into a run, determined to reach his destination at last . . . the black door swung open for him as usual, and here he was in the circular room with its many doors . . .

他自己的嘴巴冒出了声音，那是一种尖厉的、冷冰冰的声音，没有一点儿人类的善意……

Straight across the stone floor and through the second door . . . patches of dancing light on the walls and floor and that odd mechanical clicking, but no time to explore, he must hurry . . .

“为我拿到它……把它拿下来，快……我不能碰它……但是你可以……”

He jogged the last few feet to the third door, which swung open just like the others . . .

地板上的黑色身影稍微动了动。哈利看到一只手指又长又白的手紧紧抓住一根魔杖，在自己的胳膊末端举起来……听到那个尖厉的、冷冰冰的声音说：“钻心剜骨！”

Once again he was in the cathedral-sized room full of shelves and glass spheres . . . his heart was beating very fast now . . . he was going to get there this time . . . when he reached number ninety-seven he turned left and hurried along the aisle between two rows . . .

地板上的男人疼得尖叫起来，他想站起身，但是扭动着身体摔倒了。哈利在笑。他扬起自己的魔杖，咒语停止了，那个身影呻吟着不再动弹。

But there was a shape on the floor at the very end, a black shape moving on the floor like a wounded animal . . . Harry's stomach contracted with fear . . . with excitement . . .

“黑魔头伏地魔正在等……”

A voice issued from his own mouth, a high, cold voice empty of any human kindness . . .

地上的男人双臂在颤抖，他非常缓慢地将肩膀撑起几英寸，抬起了脑袋。他的脸染着血迹，很憔悴，疼得扭曲着，可还是带着刚毅不屈的神色。

'Take it for me . . . lift it down, now . . . I cannot touch it . . . but you can . . .'

“你必须杀了我。”小天狼星小声说。

The black shape on the floor shifted a little. Harry saw a long-fingered white hand clutching a wand rise at the end of his own arm . . . heard the high, cold voice say 'Crucio!'

“毫无疑问，我最后会这么做的。”那个冷冰冰的声音说，“但是你首先要把它拿来交给我，布莱克……你认为自己感受到的疼痛就这么多吗？再想想……我们接下来还有几个小时，没人能听到你的尖叫……”

The man on the floor let out a scream of pain, attempted to stand but fell back, writhing. Harry was laughing. He raised his wand, the curse lifted and the figure groaned and became motionless.

但是当伏地魔放下自己的魔杖时，有人尖叫起来，有人大声叫喊着，从一张灼热的桌子后面倒在身边冰凉的石头地板上。哈利摔倒在地时惊醒了，还在大声叫喊，他的伤疤火辣辣的，在他周围，礼堂里的人都被惊动了。

'Lord Voldemort is waiting . . .'

①这大概是目前让哈利最高兴的事情。

Very slowly, his arms trembling, the man on the ground raised his shoulders a few inches and lifted his head. His face was bloodstained and gaunt, twisted in pain yet rigid with defiance . . .

②列支敦士登，欧洲中部阿尔卑斯山中的一个小公国，位于瑞士和奥地利之间。

'You'll have to kill me,' whispered Sirius.

'Undoubtedly I shall in the end,' said the cold voice. 'But you will fetch it for me first, Black . . . you think you have felt pain thus far? Think again . . . we have hours ahead of us and nobody to hear you scream . . .'

But somebody screamed as Voldemort lowered his wand again; somebody yelled and fell sideways off a hot desk on to the cold stone floor; Harry awoke as he hit the ground, still yelling, his scar on fire, as the Great Hall erupted all around him.