OK阅读网

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

首页目录上一章下一章

CHAPTER FOUR - Number Twelve, Grimmauld Place

第四章　格里莫广场12号

'What's the Order of the - ?' Harry began.

“什么是凤——？”哈利刚要发问。

'Not here, boy!' snarled Moody. Wait till we're inside!'

“别在这儿说，孩子！”穆迪厉声吼道，“等我们进去再说！”

He pulled the piece of parchment out of Harry's hand and set fire to it with his wand-tip. As the message curled into flames and floated to the ground, Harry looked around at the houses again. They were standing outside number eleven; he looked to the left and saw number ten; to the right, however, was number thirteen.

他抽走了哈利手里的那张羊皮纸，用魔杖头把它点燃了。纸片卷曲着燃烧起来，飘落到地上。哈利抬头打量着周围的房屋，他们此时站在11号外面。他望望左边，看见的是10号，望望右边，却是13号。

'But where's - ?'

“可是怎么不见——？”

'Think about what you've just memorised,' said Lupin quietly.

“想想你刚才记住的话。”卢平轻声说。

Harry thought, and no sooner had he reached the part about number twelve, Grimmauld Place, than a battered door emerged out of nowhere between numbers eleven and thirteen, followed swiftly by dirty walls and grimy windows. It was as though an extra house had inflated, pushing those on either side out of its way. Harry gaped at it. The stereo in number eleven thudded on. Apparently the Muggles inside hadn't felt anything.

哈利专心地想着，刚想到格里莫广场12号，就有一扇破破烂烂的门在11号和13号之间凭空冒了出来，接着肮脏的墙壁和阴森森的窗户也出现了，看上去就像一座额外的房子突然膨胀起来，把两边的东西都挤开了。哈利看得目瞪口呆。11号的立体声音响还在沉闷地响着，显然住在里面的麻瓜们什么也没有感觉到。

'Come on, hurry,' growled Moody, prodding Harry in the back.

“走吧，快点儿。”穆迪粗声吼道，捅了一下哈利的后背。

Harry walked up the worn stone steps, staring at the newly materialised door. Its black paint was shabby and scratched. The silver doorknocker was in the form of a twisted serpent. There was no keyhole or letterbox.

哈利一边走上破烂的石头台阶，一边睁大眼睛望着刚变出来的房门。门上的黑漆都剥落了，布满左一道右一道的划痕。银制的门环是一条盘曲的大蛇形状。门上没有钥匙孔，也没有信箱。

Lupin, pulled out his wand and tapped the door once. Harry heard many loud, metallic clicks and what sounded like the clatter o' a chain. The door creaked open.

卢平抽出魔杖，在门上敲了一下。哈利听见许多金属撞击的响亮声音，以及像链条发出的哗啦哗啦声。门吱吱呀呀地打开了。

'Get in quick, Harry,' Lupin whispered, 'but don't go far inside and don't touch anything.'

“快点进去，哈利，”卢平小声说道，“但是别往里走得太远，别碰任何东西。”

Harry stepped over the threshold into the almost total darkness of the hall. He could smell damp, dust and a sweetish, rotting smell; the place had the feeling of a derelict building. He looked over his shoulder and saw the others filing in behind him, Lupin and Tonks carrying his trunk and Hedwig's cage. Moody was standing on the top step releasing the balls of light the Put-Outer had stolen from the streetlamps; they flew back to their bulbs and the square glowed momentarily with orange light before Moody limped inside and closed the front door, so that the darkness in the hall became complete.

哈利跨过门槛，走进几乎一片漆黑的门厅。他闻到湿乎乎、灰扑扑的气味，还有一股甜滋滋的腐烂味儿。这地方给人的感觉像是一座废弃的空房子。他扭头望望后面，看见其他人正跟着鱼贯而入。卢平和唐克斯抬着他的箱子，拎着海德薇的笼子。穆迪站在外面最上面一级台阶上，把刚才熄灯器从路灯上偷来的一个个光球释放出来。光球一个接一个地跳进了各自的灯泡，转眼间广场又被橙黄色灯光照得通亮了。穆迪一瘸一拐地走了进来，关上前门，这下子门厅更是黑得伸手不见五指了。

'Here - '

“这儿——”他用魔杖重重地敲了一下哈利的脑袋。这次哈利觉得仿佛有一股热乎乎的东西顺着后背流淌下去，他知道幻身咒被解除了。“好了，大家都待着别动，我给这里弄出点儿亮光。”穆迪轻声说。

He rapped Harry hard over the head with his wand; Harry felt as though something hot was trickling down his back this time and knew that the Disillusionment Charm must have lifted.

听到别人这样压低声音说话，哈利产生了一种奇怪的不祥之感，就好像他们走进了一座快要死人的房子。他听见了一阵窸窸窣窣的声音，然后墙上一排老式气灯都亮了起来，投下一片晃晃悠悠的不真实的亮光，照着长长的阴森森的门厅里剥落的墙纸和磨光绽线的地毯。头顶上一盏蛛网状的枝形吊灯闪烁着微光，墙上歪歪斜斜地挂着一些因年深日久而发黑的肖像。哈利听见壁脚板后面有什么东西急匆匆跑过。枝形吊灯和旁边一张摇摇晃晃的桌子上的枝形烛台都做成了大蛇的形状。

'Now stay still, everyone, while I give us a bit of light in here,' Moody whispered.

随着一阵匆匆的脚步声，罗恩的母亲韦斯莱夫人从门厅另一端的一扇门里走了出来。她三步并作两步地朝他们走来，脸上洋溢着热情的笑容，不过哈利注意到，她比他上回见到她时消瘦和苍白了许多。

The others' hushed voices were giving Harry an odd feeling of foreboding; it was as though they had just entered the house of a dying person. He heard a soft hissing noise and then old-fashioned gas lamps sputtered into life all along the walls, casting a flickering insubstantial light over the peeling wallpaper and threadbare carpet of a long, gloomy hallway, where a cobwebby chandelier glimmered overhead and age-blackened portraits hung crooked on the walls. Harry heard something scuttling behind the skirting board. Both the chandelier and the candelabra on a rickety table nearby were shaped like serpents.

“哦，哈利，见到你真是太高兴了！”她低声说，一把将他搂到怀里，差点儿把他的肋骨都挤断了，然后又把他推开一点，仔仔细细地端详着他。“你看上去瘦了；你需要多吃点东西，不过恐怕你得等一会儿才能吃晚饭。”

There were hurried footsteps and Ron's mother, Mrs Weasley, emerged from a door at the far end of the hall. She was beaming in welcome as she hurried towards them, though Harry noticed that she was rather thinner and paler than she had been last time he had seen her.

她转向哈利身后的那伙巫师，口气急促地小声说：“他刚来，会议已经开始了。”

'Oh, Harry, it's lovely to see you!' she whispered, pulling him into a rib-cracking hug before holding him at arm's length and examining him critically. 'You're looking peaky; you need feeding up, but you'll have to wait a bit for dinner, I'm afraid.'

哈利身后的巫师们都发出了关注和兴奋的声音，开始从他身边朝韦斯莱夫人刚才出来的那扇门走去。哈利正要跟着卢平过去，韦斯莱夫人把他拉住了。

She turned to the gang of wizards behind him and whispered urgently, 'He's just arrived, the meeting's started.'

“不行，哈利，只有凤凰社的成员才能参加会议。罗恩和赫敏都在楼上呢，你可以跟他们一起等到会议结束，然后我们就去吃晚饭。在门厅里说话要压低声音。”她又用急迫的语气小声说。

The wizards behind Harry all made noises of interest and excitement and began filing past him towards the door through which Mrs Weasley had just come. Harry made to follow Lupin, but Mrs Weasley held him back.

“为什么？”

'No, Harry, the meeting's only for members of the Order. Ron and Hermione are upstairs, you can wait with them until the meetings over, then we'll have dinner. And keep your voice down in the hall,' she added in an urgent whisper.

“我不想吵醒任何东西。”

'Why?'

“你说什——？”

'I don't want anything to wake up.'

“我待会儿再给你解释，现在我得赶紧过去了，我应该在会上的——我来告诉你睡在什么地方。”

'What d'you - ?'

她用一根手指压在嘴唇上，领着哈利蹑手蹑脚地走过两道长长的、布满虫眼的窗帘——哈利猜想那后面一定是另外一扇门，接着他们绕过一个看上去是用巨怪的一条断腿做成的大伞架，然后顺着黑暗的楼梯往上走，旁边墙上的饰板上聚着一排皱巴巴的脑袋。哈利仔细一看，发现那都是些家养小精灵的脑袋。他们都长着同样难看的大鼻子。

'I'll explain later, I've got to hurry, I'm supposed to be at the meeting - I'll just show you where you're sleeping.'

哈利每走一步，内心的困惑就更多一层。他们在这座看上去属于最邪恶的黑巫师的房子里做什么呢？“韦斯莱夫人，为什么——？”

Pressing her finger to her lips, she led him on tiptoe past a pair of long, moth-eaten curtains, behind which Harry supposed there must be another door, and after skirting a large umbrella stand that looked as though it had been made from a severed troll's leg they started up the dark staircase, passing a row of shrunken heads mounted on plaques on the wall. A closer look showed Harry that the heads belonged to house-elves. All of them had the same rather snout-like nose.

“罗恩和赫敏会把一切给你解释清楚的，亲爱的，我真的得赶紧过去了，”韦斯莱夫人心烦意乱地小声说，“到了——”他们来到楼梯第二层平台，“——你在右边的第二个门。会开完了我来叫你们。”

Harry's bewilderment deepened with every step he took. What on earth were they doing in a house that looked as though it belonged to the Darkest of wizards?

说完，她就急匆匆地又下楼去了。

'Mrs Weasley, why -?'

哈利走过昏暗的楼梯平台，转动了一下蛇头形状的卧室门把手，打开了门。

'Ron and Hermione will explain everything, dear, I've really got to dash,' Mrs Weasley whispered distractedly. There - ' they had reached the second landing, ' - you're the door on the right. I'll call you when it's over.'

他只匆匆扫了一眼这个光线昏暗的房间，高高的天花板，并排放着的两张单人床，就听见一阵刺耳的吱吱叫声，既而是一声更尖厉的惊叫，接着他的视线就被一大堆毛茸茸、乱糟糟的头发完全挡住了。赫敏猛地扑到他身上，差点儿把他撞得仰面摔倒，罗恩的那只小猫头鹰小猪，兴奋地在他们头顶上一圈一圈飞个不停。

And she hurried off downstairs again.

“哈利！罗恩，他来了，哈利来了！我们没听见你进来！哦，你怎么样？你一切都好吧？你是不是生我们的气了？肯定生气了。我知道我们的信都是没用的废话——但是我们什么也不能告诉你，邓布利多要我们发誓什么都不说的，哦，我们有太多事情要告诉你啊，你也有好多事情要告诉我们——摄魂怪！当我们听说——还有那个到魔法部受审的事儿——真是太不像话了。我仔细查过了，他们不能开除你，绝对不能，《对未成年巫师加以合理约束法》里规定在生命受到威胁的情况下可以使用魔法——”

Harry crossed the dingy landing, turned the bedroom doorknob, which was shaped like a serpent's head, and opened the door.

“让他喘口气吧，赫敏。”罗恩一边说一边微笑着在哈利身后把门关上。在他们分开的这个月里，他似乎又长高了几英寸，这使他比以前显得更瘦长、更笨拙了，不过那个长鼻子、那头火红色的头发，还有那一脸的雀斑仍然和以前一模一样。

He caught a brief glimpse of a gloomy high-ceilinged, twin-bedded room; then there was a loud twittering noise, followed by an even louder shriek, and his vision was completely obscured by a large quantity of very bushy hair. Hermione had thrown herself on to him in a hug that nearly knocked him flat, while Ron's tiny owl, Pigwidgeon, zoomed excitedly round and round their heads.

赫敏放开了哈利，仍然满脸喜色，但没等她再说什么，就听见传来一阵轻微的呼呼声，一个白色的东西从黑黑的衣柜顶上飞过来，轻捷地落在哈利肩头。

'HARRY! Ron, he's here, Harry's here! We didn't hear you arrive! Oh, how are you? Are you all right? Have you been furious with us? I bet you have, I know our letters were useless - but we couldn't tell you anything, Dumbledore made us swear we wouldn't, oh, we've got so much to tell you, and you've got things to tell us - 'the Dementors! When we heard - and that Ministry hearing - it's just outrageous, I've looked it all up, they can't expel you, they just can't, there's provision in the Decree for the Reasonable Restriction of Underage Sorcery for the use of magic in life-threatening situations - '

“海德薇！”哈利抚摸着这只雪白的猫头鹰的羽毛，它的嘴巴发出咔哒咔哒的声音，爱怜地轻轻啄着哈利的耳朵。

'Let him breathe, Hermione,' said Ron, grinning as he closed the door behind Harry. He seemed to have grown several more inches during their month apart, making him taller and more gangly looking than ever, though the long nose, bright red hair and freckles were the same.

“它一直烦躁不安，”罗恩说，“它捎来你最后那两封信时，差点把我们啄个半死，你看看这个——”他举起右手的食指给哈利看，上面有一个已经快要愈合、但显然很深的伤口。

Still beaming, Hermione let go of Harry, but before she could say another word there was a soft whooshing sound and something white soared from the top of a dark wardrobe and landed gently on Harry's shoulder.

“哎呀，”哈利说，“真是对不起，但我想得到答复，你知道——”

'Hedwig!'

“我们也想给你答复啊，哥们儿，”罗恩说，“赫敏担忧得要命，她不停地说，如果你一直困在那里，得不到一点儿消息，你肯定会做出什么傻事来的。但邓布利多逼着我们——”

The snowy owl clicked her beak and nibbled his ear affectionately as Harry stroked her feathers.

“——发誓不告诉我，”哈利说，“是啊，赫敏已经说过了。”

'She's been in a right state,' said Ron. 'Pecked us half to death when she brought your last letters, look at this - '

见到两个最要好朋友时的那种热乎乎的喜悦现在慢慢熄灭了，一股冷冰冰的东西涌进了他的内心深处。突然之间——虽然整整一个月眼巴巴地渴望见到他们——他却觉得情愿罗恩和赫敏走开，让他独自待着。

He showed Harry the index finger of his right hand, which sported a half-healed but clearly deep cut.

一阵令人紧张的沉默，哈利机械地抚摸着海德薇，眼睛连看都不看他们俩。

'Oh, yeah,' Harry said. 'Sorry about that, but I wanted answers, you know - '

“他似乎觉得这样做最合适，”赫敏呼吸有点急促地说，“我指的是邓布利多。”

'We wanted to give them to you, mate,' said Ron. 'Hermione was going spare, she kept saying you'd do something stupid if you were stuck all on your own without news, but Dumbledore made us - '

“是啊。”哈利说。他注意到赫敏的手上也留着被海德薇啄伤的疤痕，而他却没有丝毫歉意。

'- swear not to tell me,' said Harry. 'Yeah, Hermione's already said.'

“我想，他大概认为你跟麻瓜待在一起是最安全的——”罗恩说道。

The warm glow that had flared inside him at the sight of his two best friends was extinguished as something icy flooded the pit of his stomach. All of a sudden - after yearning to see them for a solid month - he felt he would rather Ron and Hermione left him alone.

“是吗？”哈利扬起眉毛反问道，“你们在这个暑假里谁遭到摄魂怪的袭击啦？”

There was a strained silence in which Harry stroked Hedwig automatically, not looking at either of the others.

“噢，没有——正因为那样，他才派了凤凰社的人随时跟踪你呀——”

'He seemed to think it was best,' said Hermione rather breathlessly. 'Dumbledore, I mean.'

哈利感到心里猛地忽悠一下，好像下楼梯时一脚踏空了一样。这么说大家都知道他被人跟踪，只有他一个人蒙在鼓里。

'Right,' said Harry. He noticed that her hands, too, bore the marks of Hedwig's beak and found that he was not at all sorry.

“看来并不怎么管用，是不是？”哈利说，拼命使声音保持平稳，“我还是得自己保护自己，是不是？”

'I think he thought you were safest with the Muggles -' Ron began.

“他气极了，”赫敏用一种几乎战战兢兢的口吻说，“邓布利多。我们看见他了。当他弄清蒙顿格斯不到换岗时间就擅自离开时，他那副样子简直吓人。”

'Yeah?' said Harry, raising his eyebrows. 'Have either of you been attacked by Dementors this summer?'

“噢，我倒巴不得他离开呢。”哈利冷冰冰地说，“如果他不离开，我就不会使用魔法，邓布利多大概会让我整个暑假都待在女贞路吧。”

'Well, no - but that's why he's had people from the Order of the Phoenix tailing you all the time - '

“你对于——对于到魔法部受审不感到担心吗？”赫敏轻声问。

Harry felt a great jolt in his guts as though he had just missed a step going downstairs. So everyone had known he was being followed, except him.

“不。”哈利倔强地没说实话。他从他们身边走开了，四下打量着，海德薇心满意足地歇在他的肩头，但这个房间似乎并不能使他的情绪有所好转。这里阴暗、潮湿。墙皮剥落的墙面上空荡荡的，只有一张空白的油画布镶在一个华丽的镜框里。哈利从它旁边经过时，仿佛听见有谁躲在暗处轻声发笑。

'Didn't work that well, though, did it?' said Harry, doing his utmost to keep his voice even. 'Had to look after myself after all, didn't I?'

“那么，邓布利多为什么这样热心地把我蒙在鼓里呢？”哈利问，仍然竭力保持着淡漠的声音，“你们——嗯——有没有费心问问他呢？”

'He was so angry,' said Hermione, in an almost awestruck voice. 'Dumbledore. We saw him. When he found out Mundungus had left before his shift had ended. He was scary.'

他一抬头，正好瞥见他们俩交换了一个眼神，似乎在说他的表现正像他们所担心的一样。这并没有使他的情绪好转一点。

'Well, I'm glad he left,' Harry said coldly 'II he hadn't, I wouldn't have done magic and Dumbledore would probably have left me at Privet Drive all summer.'

“我们对邓布利多说，我们很想告诉你到底发生了什么事，”罗恩说，“我们真的这么做了，哥们儿。但他现在忙得要命，我们到这里之后只见过他两次。他没有多少时间，他只是叫我们保证写信时不把重要的事情告诉你，他说猫头鹰可能会被人半路截走。”

'Aren't you . . . aren't you worried about the Ministry of Magic hearing?' said Hermione quietly.

“如果他真的愿意，还是可以把消息告诉我的。”哈利粗暴地说，“难道除了猫头鹰，他就不知道还有其他送信的办法吗？”

'No,' Harry lied defiantly. He walked away from them, looking around, with Hedwig nestled contentedly on his shoulder, but this room was not likely to raise his spirits. It was dank and dark. A blank stretch of canvas in an ornate picture frame was all that relieved the bareness of the peeling walls, and as Harry passed it he thought he heard someone, who was lurking out of sight, snigger.

赫敏扫了一眼罗恩，然后说道：“这点我也想过。但他就是不想让你知道任何事情。”

'So why's Dumbledore been so keen to keep me in the dark?'

“也许他认为我不可信任。”哈利一边说一边观察着他们的表情。

Harry asked, still trying hard to keep his voice casual. 'Did you - er - bother to ask him at all?'

“别说傻话啦。”罗恩说，显得有点儿惊慌失措。

He glanced up just in time to see them exchanging a look that told him he was behaving just as they had feared he would. It did nothing to improve his temper.

“或者认为我不能照顾好自己。”

'We told Dumbledore we wanted to tell you what was going on,' said Ron. 'We did, mate. But he's really busy now, we've only seen him twice since we came here and he didn't have much time, he just made us swear not to tell you important stuff when we wrote, he said the owls might be intercepted.'

“他当然不是这么想的！”赫敏焦急地说。

'He could still've kept me informed if he'd wanted to,' Harry said shortly. 'You're not telling me he doesn't know ways to send messages without owls.'

“那么我为什么不得不留在德思礼家，而你们俩却参与了这里发生的每件事情？”他的话一句接一句地喷了出来，声音越来越高，“为什么你们俩就允许知道所有发生的事情？”

Hermione glanced at Ron and then said, 'I thought that, too. But he didn't want you to know anything.'

“不是这样！”罗恩打断了他，“妈妈不让我们走进他们开会的地方，她说我们年纪太小——”

'Maybe he thinks I can't be trusted,' said Harry, watching their expressions.

哈利不知不觉地喊了起来：“这么说你们没能参加会议，真是太遗憾了！但你们一直待在这里，是不是？你们一直待在一起！而我呢，我被困在德思礼家整整一个月！可我经历过的事情比你们俩都多，邓布利多明明知道这一点——是谁保住了魔法石？是谁除掉了里德尔？是谁从摄魂怪手里救了你们两个人的命？”

'Don't be thick,' said Ron, looking highly disconcerted.

过去一个月里哈利有过的每一个痛苦、怨恨的想法现在都一股脑儿地涌了出来：得不到消息时的焦虑不安，得知他们一直待在一起、惟独把他撇在一边时的委屈，被人跟踪、自己却蒙在鼓里的愤怒——所有这些令他感到屈辱的感觉，终于像决堤的洪水一样冲了出来。海德薇被他的声音吓坏了，抖抖翅膀飞回到衣柜顶上去了。小猪惊慌地吱吱叫着，在他们头顶上嗖嗖地越飞越快。

'Or that I can't take care of myself.'

“是谁去年不得不穿越火龙和斯芬克司以及其他每一种令人恶心的东西？是谁亲眼看见那家伙复活？是谁不得不逃脱他的魔爪？是我！”

'Of course he doesn't think that!' said Hermione anxiously.

罗恩站在那里，半张着嘴巴，目瞪口呆，完全不知道该说什么，赫敏看上去快要哭了。

'So how come I have to stay at the Dursleys' while you two get to join in everything that's going on here?' said Harry, the words tumbling over one another in a rush, his voice growing louder with every word. 'How come you two are allowed to know everything that's going on?'

“可是，我凭什么知道现在的情况呢？别人凭什么要费心告诉我正在发生什么事情呢？”

'We're not!' Ron interrupted. 'Mum won't let us near the meetings, she says we're too young - '

“哈利，我们是想告诉你来着，我们真的——”赫敏急切地说。

But before he knew it, Harry was shouting.

“大概也不是特别想吧，不然你们就会派一只猫头鹰给我送信了，可是邓布利多叫你们发誓——”

'SO YOU HAVEN'T BEEN IN THE MEETINGS, BIG DEAL! YOU'VE STILL BEEN HERE, HAVEN'T YOU? YOU'VE STILL BEEN TOGETHER! ME, I'VE BEEN STUCK AT THE DURSLEYS' FOR A MONTH! AND I'VE HANDLED MORE THAN YOU TWO'VE EVER MANAGED AND DUMBLEDORE KNOWS IT - 'WHO SAVED THE PHILOSOPHER'S STONE? WHO GOT RID OF RIDDLE? WHO SAVED BOTH YOUR SKINS FROM THE DEMENTORS?'

“是啊，他确实——”

Every bitter and resentful thought Harry had had in the past month was pouring out of him: his frustration at the lack of news, the hurt that they had all been together without him, his fury at being followed and not told about it - all the feelings he was half-ashamed of finally burst their boundaries. Hedwig took fright at the noise and soared off to the top of the wardrobe again; Pigwidgeon twittered in alarm and zoomed even faster around their heads.

“我被困在女贞路整整四个星期，从垃圾箱里捡报纸看，就为了弄清情况到底怎么——”

'WHO HAD TO GET PAST DRAGONS AND SPHINXES AND EVERY OTHER FOUL THING LAST YEAR? WHO SAW HIM COME BACK? WHO HAD TO ESCAPE FROM HIM? ME!'

“我们想——”

Ron was standing there with his mouth half-open, clearly stunned and at a loss for anything to say, whilst Hermione looked on the verge of tears.

“我想你们一定开心得要命，是不是，舒舒服服地一块儿藏在这里——”

'BUT WHY SHOULD I KNOW WHAT'S GOING ON? WHY SHOULD ANYONE BOTHER TO TELL ME WHAT'S BEEN HAPPENING?'

“不，说老实话——”

'Harry, we wanted to tell you, we really did - ' Hermione began.

“哈利，我们真的很抱歉！”赫敏不顾一切地说道，眼睛里已经闪着泪花，“你说得非常对，哈利——换了我也会生气的！”

'CAN'T'VE WANTED TO THAT MUCH, CAN YOU, OR YOU'D HAVE SENT ME AN OWL, BUT DUMBLEDORE MADE YOU SWEAR - '

哈利气冲冲地瞪着她，仍然急促地喘着粗气，然后一转身离开了他们俩，在房间里踱来踱去。海德薇在衣柜顶上闷闷不乐地尖叫着。一阵长长的沉默，只有哈利脚下的地板发出哀怨的嘎吱声。

'Well, he did - '

“这里到底是什么地方？”他向罗恩和赫敏抛出这个问题。

'FOUR WEEKS I'VE BEEN STUCK IN PRIVET DRIVE, NICKING PAPERS OUT OF BINS TO TRY AND FIND OUT WHAT'S BEEN GOING ON - '

“凤凰社。”罗恩毫不迟疑地回答。

'We wanted to -

“有没有谁能行行好，告诉我什么是凤凰社？”

'I SUPPOSE YOU'VE BEEN HAVING A REAL LAUGH, HAVEN'T YOU, ALL HOLED UP HERE TOGETHER - '

“这是一个秘密社团，”赫敏赶紧说道，“由邓布利多负责，是他创建的。都是上次同神秘人作斗争的一些人。”

'No, honest - '

“里面都有谁？”哈利停住脚步，双手插在口袋里。

'Harry, we're really sorry!' said Hermione desperately, her eyes now sparkling with tears. 'You're absolutely right, Harry - I'd be furious if it was me!'

“有好些人呢——”

Harry glared at her, still breathing deeply, then turned away from them again, pacing up and down. Hedwig hooted glumly from the top of the wardrobe. There was a long pause, broken only by the mournful creak of the floorboards below Harry's feet.

“我们见过其中二十来个，”罗恩说，“但肯定不止这些。”

'What is this place, anyway?' he shot at Ron and Hermione.

哈利向他投去愤怒的目光。“然后呢？”他问道，目光从一个转向另一个。

'Headquarters of the Order of the Phoenix,' said Ron at once.

“嗯，”罗恩说，“然后什么？”

'Is anyone going to bother telling me what the Order of the Phoenix - ?'

“伏地魔！”哈利气愤地喊道，罗恩和赫敏都吓得缩起了脖子，“发生了什么事？他想干什么？他在哪儿？我们采取什么办法阻止他？”

'It's a secret society,' said Hermione quickly 'Dumbledore's in charge, he founded it. It's the people who fought against You-Know-Who last time.'

“我们已经对你说过了，凤凰社不让我们参加他们的会议，”赫敏不安地说道，“所以一些具体细节我们也不清楚——不过我们好歹知道一点儿大概。”看到哈利脸上的表情，她赶紧补充道。

'Who's in it?' said Harry coming to a halt with his hands in his pockets.

“弗雷德和乔治发明了伸缩耳，明白吗，”罗恩说，“真的很管用。”

'Quite a few people - '

“伸缩——？”

'We've met about twenty of them,' said Ron, 'but we think there are more.'

“伸缩耳，对呀。可是我们最近只好不用它们了，因为妈妈发现了，气得要命。弗雷德和乔治只好把它们藏了起来，免得妈妈把它们扔到垃圾箱里去。不过在妈妈发现是怎么回事之前，我们可用它们派了大用场呢。我们知道凤凰社的一些成员正在跟踪那些已暴露身份的食死徒，密切注意他们的行踪，你知道——”

Harry glared at them.

“他们当中有些人正在吸收更多的人加入凤凰社——”赫敏说。

'Well?' he demanded, looking from one to the other.

“还有些人正在为什么事情站岗放哨，”罗恩说，“他们一直在谈论什么警卫任务。”

'Er,' said Ron. 'Well what?'

“不会是保护我吧，啊？”哈利讥讽地说。

'Voldemort!' said Harry furiously, and both Ron and Hermione winced. 'What's happening? What's he up to? Where is he? What are we doing to stop him?'

“哦，没错。”罗恩说，脸上露出了恍然大悟的神情。

'We've told you, the Order don't let us in on their meetings,' said Hermione nervously 'So we don't know the details - but we've got a general idea,' she added hastily, seeing the look on Harry's face.

哈利轻蔑地哼了一声。他又在房间里一圈圈地踱起步来，看看这里又看看那里，就是不看罗恩和赫敏。“那么你们俩最近在做什么呢，既然不让你们参加会议？”他问道，“你们说你们一直很忙。”

'Fred and George have invented Extendable Ears, see,' said Ron. They're really useful.'

“是很忙啊，”赫敏急忙说，“我们给这座房子来了个彻底大扫除，这房子已经空了许多年头，里面滋生繁殖了许多东西。我们总算把厨房和大部分卧室打扫干净了，我想明天该去对付客厅——哎呀！”

'Extendable - ?'

啪、啪，随着两声刺耳的爆响，罗恩的两个双胞胎哥哥——弗雷德和乔治突然出现在房间中央。小猪吱吱地叫得更慌乱了，嗖地飞过去和海德薇一起歇在衣柜顶上。

'Ears, yeah. Only we've had to stop using them lately because Mum found out and went berserk. Fred and George had to hide them all to stop Mum binning them. But we got a good bit of use out of them before Mum realised what was going on. We know some of the Order are following known Death Eaters, keeping tabs on them, you know - '

“不许这么做！”赫敏惊魂未定地对双胞胎说。他们和罗恩一样长着一头红得耀眼的头发，不过身材比罗恩壮实，个头比罗恩略矮一些。

'Some of them are working on recruiting more people to the Order - ' said Hermione.

“你好，哈利，”乔治一边说一边朝哈利开心地笑着，“我们刚才好像听见你悦耳动听的演说了。”

'And some of them are standing guard over something,' said Ron. They're always talking about guard duty.'

“你用不着那样压抑自己的怒火，哈利，把它都发泄出来吧，”弗雷德也是满脸带笑，“五十英里之外大概还有两个人听不见你的声音呢。”

'Couldn't have been me, could it?' said Harry sarcastically.

“这么说，你们俩通过幻影显形的考试啦？”哈利没好气地问。

'Oh, yeah,' said Ron, with a look of dawning comprehension.

“成绩优异。”弗雷德说道，他手里拿着一个东西，像是一根长长的肉色细绳。

Harry snorted. He walked around the room again, looking anywhere but at Ron and Hermione. 'So, what have you two been doing, if you're not allowed in meetings?' he demanded. 'You said you'd been busy.'

“从楼梯上下来也不过就多花三十秒钟。”罗恩说。

'We have,' said Hermione quickly. 'We've been decontaminating this house, it's been empty for ages and stuff's been breeding in here. We've managed to clean out the kitchen, most of the bedrooms and I think we're doing the drawing room tomo- AARGH!'

“时间就是金加隆。”弗雷德说，“不管怎么说，哈利，你干扰接收了。伸缩耳，”他看到哈利扬起眉毛，又接着解释道，并举起了那根细绳，哈利这才看到它一直通到外面的楼梯平台上，“我们想听听楼下的动静。”

With two loud cracks, Fred and George, Ron's elder twin brothers, had materialised out of thin air in the middle of the room. Pigwidgeon twittered more wildly than ever and zoomed off to join Hedwig on top of the wardrobe.

“你们可得小心点儿，”罗恩盯着伸缩耳说，“如果又给妈妈看见了——”

'Stop doing that!' Hermione said weakly to the twins, who were as vividly red-haired as Ron, though stockier and slightly shorter.

“值得冒险，他们在开一个重要会议。”弗雷德说。

'Hello, Harry' said George, beaming at him. 'We thought we heard your dulcet tones.'

门开了，露出一头火红的长发。

'You don't want to bottle up your anger like that, Harry, let it all out,' said Fred, also beaming. There might be a couple of people fifty miles away who didn't hear you.'

“噢，你好，哈利！”罗恩的妹妹金妮高兴地说道，“我好像听见你的声音了。”她又转向弗雷德和乔治，对他们说：“伸缩耳不管用了，妈妈竟然给厨房门念了个抗扰咒。”

'You two passed your Apparation tests, then?' asked Harry grumpily.

“你怎么知道的？”乔治问，一副垂头丧气的样子。

'With distinction,' said Fred, who was holding what looked like a piece of very long, flesh-coloured string.

“是唐克斯告诉我怎么验证的，”金妮说，“你只要往门上扔东西，如果东西碰不到门，就说明念了抗扰咒。我一直在楼梯顶上往门上扔大粪蛋，可它们全都避开门飞到了别处，所以伸缩耳根本不可能从门缝底下钻进去。”

'It would have taken you about thirty seconds longer to walk down the stairs,' said Ron.

弗雷德长长地叹了口气。“可惜。我真想知道斯内普那老家伙想干什么。”

'Time is Galleons, little brother,' said Fred. 'Anyway, Harry, you're interfering with reception. Extendable Ears,' he added in response to Harry's raised eyebrows, and held up the string which Harry now saw was trailing out on to the landing. 'We're trying to hear what's going on downstairs.'

“斯内普！”哈利立刻问道，“他也在这儿？”

'You want to be careful,' said Ron, staring at the Ear, 'if Mum sees one of them again . . .'

“是啊，”乔治说着小心地关上房门，坐在一张床上。弗雷德和乔治也跟了过来。“念一份报告。绝密的。”

'It's worth the risk, that's a major meeting they're having,' said red.

“蠢蛋。”弗雷德懒洋洋地说。

The door opened and a long mane of red hair appeared.

“他现在是我们这边的人了。”赫敏责备地说。

'Oh, hello, Harry!' said Ron's younger sister, Ginny, brightly. 'I thought I heard your voice.'

罗恩哼了一声，说：“那也不能说他就不是蠢蛋了。瞧他看着我们时的那副眼光。”

Turning to Fred and George, she said, 'Its no-go with the Extendable Ears, she's gone and put an Imperturbable Charm on the kitchen door.'

“比尔也不喜欢他。”金妮说，似乎这就一锤定音了。

'How d'you know?' said George, looking crestfallen.

哈利不知道自己的火气是不是熄灭了，但此刻他迫不及待地想知道更多的情况，这份渴望压过了他大叫大嚷的冲动。他一屁股坐在其他人对面的那张床上。

'Tonks told me how to find out,' said Ginny. 'You just chuck stuff at the door and if it can't make contact the door's been Imperturbed. I've been flicking Dungbombs at it from the top of the stairs and they just soar away from it, so there's no way the Extendable Ears will be able to get under the gap.'

“比尔也在这儿？”他问，“他不是在埃及工作吗？”

Fred heaved a deep sigh.

“他申请了一个坐办公室的工作，这样就能回家，为凤凰社做事了。”弗雷德说。“他说他很想念那些古墓。不过，”他调皮地笑了，“也有所补偿啊。”

'Shame. I really fancied finding out what old Snape's been up to.'

“什么意思？”

'Snape!' said Harry quickly. 'Is he here?'

“还记得那个芙蓉德拉库尔吗？”乔治说，“她在古灵阁找了一份工作，为了提高英语——”

'Yeah,' said George, carefully closing the door and sitting down on one of the beds; Fred and Ginny followed. 'Giving a report. Top secret.'

“比尔一直在给她许多个别辅导。”弗雷德咯咯笑着说。

'Git,' said Fred idly

“查理也加入了凤凰社，”乔治说，“但他人还在罗马尼亚。邓布利多希望尽量多地吸收国外的巫师，所以查理在不上班的时候就与人广泛接触。”

'He's on our side now,' said Hermione reprovingly.

“珀西不能那么做吗？”哈利问。据他上次所知道的情况，韦斯莱家的第三个儿子在魔法部的国际魔法合作司工作。

Ron snorted. 'Doesn't stop him being a git. The way he looks at us when he sees us.'

听了哈利的话，韦斯莱家的几个兄妹和赫敏交换了一个忧郁的意味深长的眼神。

'Bill doesn't like him, either,' said Ginny, as though that settled the matter.

“你可千万别在妈妈和爸爸面前提到珀西。”罗恩用紧张的口气对哈利说。

Harry was not sure his anger had abated yet; but his thirst for information was now overcoming his urge to keep shouting. He sank on to the bed opposite the others.

“为什么呢？”

'Is Bill here?' he asked. 'I thought he was working in Egypt?'

“因为每次提到珀西的名字，爸爸就把手里拿的东西砸得粉碎，妈妈就放声大哭。”弗雷德说。

'He applied for a desk job so he could come home and work for the Order,' said Fred. 'He says he misses the tombs, but,' he smirked, 'there are compensations.'

“真是太可怕了。”金妮悲哀地说。

'What d'you mean?'

“我想我们总算摆脱他了。”乔治说，脸上露出一副很难看到的怪相。

'Remember old Fleur Delacour?' said George. 'She's got a job at Gringotts to eemprove 'er Eeenglish -

“出什么事了？”哈利问。

'And Bill's been giving her a lot of private lessons,' sniggered Fred.

“珀西和爸爸大吵了一架。”弗雷德说，“我从没见过爸爸跟谁吵成那样。平常总是妈妈大吵大嚷。”

'Charlie's in the Order, too,' said George, 'but he's still in Romania. Dumbledore wants as many foreign wizards brought in as possible, so Charlie's trying to make contacts on his days off.'

“那是学期结束后的第一个星期，”罗恩说，“我们正准备来加入凤凰社。珀西回家了，告诉我们他被提升了。”

'Couldn't Percy do that?' Harry asked. The last he had heard, the third Weasley brother was working in the Department of International Magical Co-operation at the Ministry of Magic.

“你开玩笑吧？”哈利说。

At Harry's words, all the Weasleys and Hermione exchanged darkly significant looks.

哈利虽然很清楚珀西一直野心勃勃，但他有个印象，似乎珀西在魔法部的第一份工作干得不是很成功。珀西犯了比较严重的失察罪，他没有发现他的上司是受伏地魔控制的（就连魔法部也不相信——他们都以为克劳奇先生疯了）。

'Whatever you do, don't mention Percy in front of Mum and Dad,' Ron told Harry in a tense voice.

“是啊，我们也都感到很意外，”乔治说，“因为珀西在克劳奇的事情上惹了一大堆麻烦，后来又是调查又是什么的。他们说珀西应该意识到克劳奇精神失常，并及时向上级报告。但你是了解珀西的，克劳奇让他独当一面，他正巴不得呢。”

'Why not?'

“那他们怎么还会提拔他呢？”

'Because every time Percy's name's mentioned, Dad breaks whatever he's holding and Mum starts crying,' Fred said.

“我们也为这个感到纳闷呢。”罗恩说，看到哈利不再大叫大嚷，他似乎特别愿意让谈话正常地进行下去，“他回家时一副得意洋洋的样子——比平常还要得意，你就想象一下吧——他告诉爸爸，他们给了他一个福吉部长办公室里的职位。对于一个从霍格沃茨刚毕业一年的人来说，这真是一份求之不得的好差使：部长助理啊。我想，他大概指望爸爸会很高兴呢。”

'It's been awful,' said Ginny sadly.

“可是爸爸没有。”弗雷德忧郁地说。

'I think we're well shot of him,' said George, with an uncharacteristically ugly look on his face.

“为什么呢？”哈利问。

'What's happened?' Harry said.

“嗯——似乎是因为福吉在部里大发雷霆，禁止任何人跟邓布利多有任何接触。”乔治说。

'Percy and Dad had a row,' said Fred. 'I've never seen Dad row with anyone like that. It's normally Mum who shouts.'

“这些日子邓布利多在部里名声扫地，知道吗？”弗雷德说，“他们都认为他散布神秘人回来了的消息是故意制造事端。”

'It was the first week back after term ended,' said Ron. 'We were about to come and join the Order. Percy came home and told us he'd been promoted.'

“爸爸说福吉明确指出，凡是与邓布利多有任何瓜葛的人都不能再待在部里了。”乔治说。

'You're kidding?' said Harry.

“问题是，福吉怀疑到爸爸头上了。他知道爸爸跟邓布利多关系不错，而且福吉一直觉得爸爸有点儿古怪，居然对麻瓜那么着迷。”

Though he knew perfectly well that Percy was highly ambitious, Harry's impression was that Percy had not made a great success of his first job at the Ministry of Magic. Percy had committed the fairly large oversight of failing to notice that his boss was being controlled by Lord Voldemort (not that the Ministry had believed it - they all thought Mr Crouch had gone mad).

“可那跟珀西有什么关系呢？”哈利迷惑不解地问。

'Yeah, we were all surprised,' said George, 'because Percy got into a load of trouble about Crouch, there was an inquiry and everything. They said Percy ought to have realised Crouch was off his rocker and informed a superior. But you know Percy, Crouch left him in charge, he wasn't going to complain.'

“我正要说到这一点上呢。爸爸琢磨，福吉把珀西安排在自己的办公室，是想利用他监视我们家——监视邓布利多。”

'So how come they promoted him?'

哈利轻轻吹出一声口哨，“我猜珀西肯定很爱听这话。”

That's exactly what we wondered,' said Ron, who seemed very keen to keep normal conversation going now that Harry had stopped yelling. 'He came home really pleased with himself - 'even more pleased than usual, if you can imagine that - and told Dad he'd been offered a position in Fudge's own office. A really good one for someone only a year out of Hogwarts: Junior Assistant to the Minister. He expected Dad to be all impressed, I think.'

罗恩发出空洞的笑声。

'Only Dad wasn't,' said Fred grimly.

“他简直气疯了。他说——唉，他说了一大堆可怕的话。他说自从他进了部里，就一直不得不拼命挣扎，摆脱爸爸的坏名声；他还说爸爸没有一点抱负，害得我们一直过得——你知道的——我指的是一直没有多少钱——”

'Why not?' said Harry.

“什么？”哈利不敢相信地说，金妮发出一种怒猫般的叫声。

'Well, apparently Fudge has been storming round the Ministry checking that nobody's having any contact with Dumbledore,' said George.

“我知道，”罗恩放低声音说，“后来更糟糕了。他说爸爸与邓布利多为伍真是蠢到了家，还说邓布利多眼看着就要有大麻烦了，爸爸会跟着他一块儿倒霉的，还说他——珀西——知道自己应该为谁效忠，他要忠于魔法部。他还说，如果妈妈和爸爸硬要背叛魔法部，他就要让每一个人知道他已经不再属于我们这个家了。当天晚上他就收拾行李走了。他眼下就住在伦敦这儿呢。”

'Dumbledore's name is mud with the Ministry these days, see,' said Fred. They all think he's just making trouble saying You-Know-Who's back.'

哈利不出声地骂了几句。在罗恩几个哥哥中间，他一直最不喜欢珀西，但他压根儿也想不到珀西居然对韦斯莱先生说出那样的话。

'Dad says Fudge has made it clear that anyone who's in league with Dumbledore can clear out their desks,' said George.

“妈妈一直烦躁不安，”罗恩说，“你知道，哭哭啼啼的。她赶到伦敦，想和珀西谈谈，但珀西当着她的面把门重重地关上了。我不知道他上班时碰见爸爸是怎么做的——大概假装没看见吧。”

Trouble is, Fudge suspects Dad, he knows he's friendly with Dumbledore, and he's always thought Dad's a bit of a weirdo because of his Muggle obsession.'

“但是珀西肯定知道伏地魔回来了，”哈利慢慢地说，“他不是傻瓜，他肯定知道如果没有证据，你们的爸爸妈妈是不会轻易冒险的。”

'But what's that got to do with Percy?' asked Harry, confused.

“是啊，后来，你的名字就被扯到争吵里来了，”罗恩说着偷偷瞥了哈利一眼。“珀西说，惟一的证据就是你说的话，而——我也说不好——他认为光凭这个是不够的。”

'I'm coming to that. Dad reckons Fudge only wants Percy in his office because he wants to use him to spy on the family - and Dumbledore.'

“珀西把《预言家日报》当真了。”赫敏尖刻地说，其他人都点了点头。

Harry let out a low whistle.

“你们在说什么呀？”哈利问，挨个儿看看他们每个人。他们都小心翼翼地注视着他。

'Bet Percy loved that.'

“你不是——你不是一直收到《预言家日报》吗？”赫敏不安地问。

Ron laughed in a hollow sort of way.

“是啊，一直收到！”哈利说。

'He went completely berserk. He said - well, he said loads of terrible stuff. He said he's been having to struggle against Dad's lousy reputation ever since he joined the Ministry and that Dad's got no ambition and that's why we've always been - you know - 'not had a lot of money, I mean - '

“你有没有——嗯——没有仔细看它吗？”赫敏问，口气更加不安了。

'What?' said Harry in disbelief, as Ginny made a noise like an angry cat.

“没有从头到尾地看。”哈利敏感地说，“如果他们要报道伏地魔的事情，肯定是头版头条的新闻，是不是？”

'I know,' said Ron in a low voice. 'And it got worse. He said Dad was an idiot to run around with Dumbledore, that Dumbledore was heading for big trouble and Dad was going to go down with him, and that he - Percy - knew where his loyalty lay and it was with the Ministry. And if Mum and Dad were going to become traitors to the Ministry he was going to make sure everyone knew he didn't belong to our family any more. And he packed his bags the same night and left. He's living here in London now.'

听到那个名字，其他人都吓得一缩脖子。赫敏急匆匆地说了下去：“噢，你需要从头到尾看一遍才会发现，他们——嗯——他们每个星期都要提到你一两次呢。”

Harry swore under his breath. He had always liked Percy least of Ron's brothers, but he had never imagined he would say such things to Mr Weasley.

“但我没有看见——”

'Mums been in a right state,' said Ron dully. 'You know - crying and stuff. She came up to London to try and talk to Percy but he slammed the door in her face. I dunno what he does if he meets Dad at work - ignores him, I s'pose.'

“你如果光看第一版，是不会看到的。”赫敏说着摇了摇脑袋，“我说的不是大块文章。他们只是顺带着提你一笔，把你当成一个笑料。”

'But Percy must know Voldemort's back,' said Harry slowly. 'He's not stupid, he must know your mum and dad wouldn't risk everything without proof.'

“你说什——？”

'Yeah, well, your name got dragged into the row,' said Ron, shooting Harry a furtive look. 'Percy said the only evidence was your word and . . . I dunno . . . he didn't think it was good enough.'

“确实，这非常可恶，”赫敏强迫自己的声音保持平静，“他们的根据就是丽塔的那些胡言乱语。”

'Percy takes the Daily Prophet seriously,' said Hermione tartly, and the others all nodded.

“但她不是不再给他们写稿了吗，是不是？”

'What are you talking about?' Harry asked, looking around at them all. They were all regarding him warily.

“噢，不写了，她遵守了自己的诺言——她也没有别的选择呀，”赫敏得意地解释道，“但是她为他们现在要做的事情打下了基础。”

'Haven't - haven't you been getting the Daily Prophet?' Hermione asked nervously.

“他们要做什么？”哈利不耐烦地问。

'Yeah, I have!' said Harry.

“是这样的，你知道她在文章里说你到处惹是生非，嚷嚷你的伤疤疼什么的吗？”

'Have you - er - been reading it thoroughly?' Hermione asked, still more anxiously.

“是啊。”哈利说道，他不太可能一下子就忘记丽塔斯基特编派他的那些鬼话。

'Not cover to cover,' said Harry defensively. 'If they were going to report anything about Voldemort it would be headline news, wouldn't it?'

“现在他们在文章里提到你的时候，似乎你就是这样一个受愚弄的、千方百计引起别人注意的人，以为自己是个悲壮的大英雄什么的。”赫敏说道，语速很快，似乎让哈利很快听到这些事实就会减少一些不快似的。“他们不断假装不经意地说几句关于你的刻毒评论。碰到一篇毫无根据的报道，他们就会说‘这只有哈利·波特才编得出来’之类的话；如果有人出了点可笑的事故什么的，他们就会说‘但愿他的额头上别弄出一道伤疤，不然接下来他就会要求我们崇拜他了’——”

The others flinched at the sound of the name. Hermione hurried on, 'Well, you'd need to read it cover to cover to pick it up, but they - um - they mention you a couple of times a week.'

“我并不想得到任何人的崇拜——”哈利气愤地说。

'But I'd have seen - '

“我知道你不想，”赫敏似乎吓坏了，赶紧说道，“我知道，哈利。但你明白他们在做什么吗？他们是想把你变成一个谁都不会相信的人。福吉是幕后操纵者，我敢打赌。他们想使外面的巫师都认为你只是一个蠢笨的男孩，是个笑料，尽说一些荒唐的无稽之谈，就为了使自己出人头地，使这种状况保持下去。”

'Not if you've only been reading the front page, you wouldn't,' said Hermione, shaking her head. 'I'm not talking about big articles. They just slip you in, like you're a standing joke.'

“我没有要求——我不想——伏地魔杀死了我的父母！”哈利气急败坏地说道，“我出名是因为他杀死了我的亲人却没能杀死我！谁想为了这个出名？他们难道不知道，我宁愿从来没有——”

'What d'you - ?'

“我们知道的，哈利。”金妮情真意切地说。

'It's quite nasty, actually,' said Hermione in a voice of forced calm. They're just building on Rita's stuff.'

“当然啦，他们一个字也没有提到摄魂怪攻击你的事。”赫敏说，“准是有人叫他们对这件事隐瞒不报。不然那应该是一个轰动性的好题材啊。失控的摄魂怪！他们甚至没有报道你违反《国际保密法》的事。我们猜想他们肯定是愿意报道的，那太符合你作为一个爱出风头的傻瓜的形象了。我们认为他们是在等到你被开除的那一天，然后他们就真的可以肆无忌惮了——我的意思是，万一你被开除，显然，”她急急忙忙地往下说，“实际上你不会，只要他们遵守他们自己的法律，情况就不会对你不利。”

'But she's not writing for them any more, is she?'

他们又回到受审的话题上来了，而哈利不愿意去想这件事。他想重新换个话题，就在这时楼梯上传来了脚步声，他也就没必要费心去找话题了。

'Oh, no, she's kept her promise - not that she's got any choice,' Hermione added with satisfaction. 'But she laid the foundation for what they're trying to do now.'

“哎哟。”弗雷德使劲扯了一下伸缩耳。随着又一声爆响，他和乔治都不见了。

'Which is what?' said Harry impatiently.

几秒钟后，韦斯莱夫人出现在卧室门口。“会开完了，现在你们可以下楼来吃晚饭了。哈利，大伙儿都渴望见到你呢。对了，谁在厨房门外丢了那么多大粪蛋？”

'OK, you know she wrote that you were collapsing all over the place and saying your scar was hurting and all that?'

“克鲁克山。”金妮毫不脸红地说，“它最喜欢玩大粪蛋了。”

'Yeah,' said Harry, who was not likely to forget Rita Skeeter's stories about him in a hurry.

“噢，”韦斯莱夫人说，“我还以为是克利切呢，他总是做出这种古怪的事情。好了，在门厅里别忘了压低声音说话。金妮，你怎么两只手这么脏，做什么去了？快去洗洗干净再吃晚饭。”

'Well, they're writing about you as though you're this deluded, attention-seeking person who thinks he's a great tragic hero or something,' said Hermione, very fast, as though it would be less unpleasant for Harry to hear these facts quickly. 'They keep slipping in snide comments about you. If some far-fetched story appears, they say something like, "A tale worthy of Harry Potter", and if anyone has a funny accident or anything it's, "Let's hope he hasn't got a scar on his forehead or we'll be asked to worship him next" - '

金妮朝其他人做了个鬼脸，跟着妈妈走了出去，房间里只留下哈利和罗恩、赫敏。那两人都忧心仲忡地望着哈利，似乎担心其他人一走，他又会大吵大嚷起来。看到他们俩神情这么紧张，哈利觉得有点儿不好意思。

'I don't want anyone to worship - ' Harry began hotly.

“这个——”他吞吞吐吐地说，但罗恩摇了摇头。

'I know you don't,' said Hermione quickly, looking frightened. 'I know, Harry. But you see what they're doing? They want to turn you into someone nobody will believe. Fudge is behind it, I'll bet anything. They want wizards on the street to think you're just some stupid boy who's a bit of a joke, who tells ridiculous tall stories because he loves being famous and wants to keep it going.'

赫敏轻声说道：“我们知道你会生气的，哈利，我们真的不怪你，但你一定要理解，我们确实试着说服邓布利多——”

'I didn't ask - I didn't want - Voldemort killed my parents!' Harry spluttered. 'I got famous because he murdered my family but couldn't kill me! Who wants to be famous for that? Don't I hey think I'd rather it'd never- '

“好啦，我知道了。”哈利烦躁地说。他想赶紧换一个与校长无关的话题，每次一想到邓布利多，哈利的内心就又呼呼地冒怒火。“克利切是谁？”他问。

'We know, Harry' said Ginny earnestly.

“一个住在这里的家养小精灵，”罗恩说，“一个疯子。从没见过像他这样的。”

'And of course, they didn't report a word about the Dementors attacking you,' said Hermione. 'Someone's told them to keep that quiet. That should've been a really big story, out-of-control Dementors. They haven't even reported that you broke the International Statute of Secrecy. We thought they would, it would be in so well with this image of you as some stupid show-off. We think they're biding their time until you're expelled, then they're really going to go to town - I mean, if you're expelled, obviously,' she went on hastily. 'You really shouldn't be, not if they abide by their own laws, there's no case against you.'

赫敏冲罗恩皱起眉头，“他不是疯子，罗恩。”

They were back on the hearing and Harry did not want to think about that. He cast around for another change of subject, but was saved the necessity of finding one by the sound of footsteps coming up the stairs.

“他人生的最大理想就是像他妈妈那样把脑袋割下来，粘在一块饰板上。”罗恩不耐烦地说，“那正常吗，赫敏？”

'Uh oh.'

“这个——可是，就算他有点儿古怪，那也不是他的过错。”

Fred gave the Extendable Ear a hearty tug; there was another loud crack and he and George vanished. Seconds later, Mrs Weasley appeared in the bedroom doorway.

罗恩朝哈利翻翻眼睛，“赫敏仍然没有放弃她的‘呕吐’①呢。”

The meetings over, you can come down and have dinner now. Everyone's dying to see you, Harry. And who's left all those Dungbombs outside the kitchen door?'

“不是‘呕吐’！”赫敏恼火地说，“是家养小精灵权益促进会。而且不光是我，邓布利多也说我们应该仁慈的对待克利切。”

'Crookshanks,' said Ginny unblushingly. 'He loves playing with them.'

“是啊，是啊，”罗恩说，“快走吧，我都饿坏了。”

'Oh,' said Mrs Weasley, 'I thought it might have been Kreacher, he keeps doing odd things like that. Now don't forget to keep your voices down in the hall. Ginny, your hands are filthy, what have you been doing? Go and wash them before dinner, please.'

他领头出了房门来到楼梯平台上，但没等他们开始下楼——

Ginny grimaced at the others and followed her mother out of the room, leaving Harry alone with Ron and Hermione. Both of them were watching him apprehensively, as though they feared he would start shouting again now that everyone else had gone. The sight of them looking so nervous made him feel slightly ashamed.

“慢着！”罗恩轻声说，伸出一只胳膊不让哈利和赫敏再往前走，“他们还在门厅里，说不定我们能听见什么呢。”

'Look . . .' he muttered, but Ron shook his head, and Hermione said quietly, 'We knew you'd be angry, Harry, we really don't blame you, but you've got to understand, we did try to persuade Dumbledore -

他们三个小心翼翼地从栏杆上往下看。下面昏暗的门厅里挤满了巫师，包括先前给哈利当警卫的那几个人。他们都在激动地小声议论着什么。在人群的最中间，哈利看到了那个头发乌黑油亮的脑袋和那个突出的大鼻子，那是他在霍格沃茨最不喜欢的老师——斯内普教授。哈利从栏杆上探出脑袋，他很想知道斯内普究竟在为凤凰社做些什么……

'Yeah, I know,' said Harry shortly.

一根细细的肉色绳子在哈利眼前垂了下去。他一抬头，看见弗雷德和乔治正在上一层楼梯平台上小心地把伸缩耳降落到下面黑压压的人群中间。然而，没过一会儿，那伙人就开始朝前门走去，很快就不见了。

He cast around for a topic that didn't involve his headmaster, because the very thought of Dumbledore made Harry's insides burn with anger again.

“见鬼！”哈利听见弗雷德小声骂了一句，把伸缩耳又拽了上去。

Who's Kreacher?' he asked.

他们听见前门打开了，然后又关上了。

The house-elf who lives here,' said Ron. 'Nutter. Never met one like him.'

“斯内普从来不在这里吃饭，”罗恩小声地告诉哈利，“谢天谢地。我们走吧。”

Hermione frowned at Ron.

“在门厅里别忘了压低声音说话，哈利。”赫敏悄声说。

'He's not a nutter, Ron.'

他们经过墙上那一排家养小精灵的脑袋时，看见那些人离开后，卢平、韦斯莱夫人和唐克斯站在门前用魔法给门上加了许多道门锁和门闩。

'His life's ambition is to have his head cut off and stuck up on plaque just like his mother,' said Ron irritably. 'Is that normal, Hermione?'

“我们在下面的厨房里吃饭。”韦斯莱夫人在楼梯底下迎接他们时压低声音说，“哈利，亲爱的，你只要轻手轻脚穿过门厅，再穿过这里这道门——”

'Well - well, if he is a bit strange, it's not his fault.'

砰。

Ron rolled his eyes at Harry.

“唐克斯！”韦斯莱夫人恼火地喊道，转身去看身后。

'Hermione still hasn't given up on SPEW.'

“对不起！”唐克斯惨叫道——她仰面朝天躺在地上，“都怪那个倒霉的伞架，我已经是第二次被它绊倒——”

'It's not SPEW!' said Hermione heatedly. 'It's the Society for the Promotion of Elfish Welfare. And it's not just me, Dumbledore says we should be kind to Kreacher too.'

她的话没说完，就被一阵可怕的、震耳欲聋的、令人毛骨悚然的尖叫声淹没了。

'Yeah, yeah,' said Ron. 'C'mon, I'm starving.'

哈利先前经过的那两道布满虫眼的天鹅绒帷幔，现在突然被掀开了，但后面并没有门。哈利一刹那间以为那是一扇窗户，窗户后面一个带黑帽子的老太太正在拼命地尖叫，一声紧似一声，好像正在经受严刑毒打——接着他才意识到，这只是一幅真人大小的肖像，但他有生以来从没见过这么逼真、这么令人不快的肖像。

He led the way out of the door and on to the landing, but be ore they could descend the stairs - '

那老太太流着口水，眼珠滴溜溜的转着，脸上的黄皮肤因为尖叫而绷得紧紧的。在他们身后的门厅里，其他肖像都被吵醒了，也开始尖叫起来，那声音简直把人的耳朵都吵聋了。哈利只好紧紧闭上眼睛，用手捂住耳朵。

'Hold it!' Ron breathed, flinging out an arm to stop Harry and Hermione walking any further. They're still in the hall, we might be able to hear something.'

卢平和韦斯莱夫人三步并作两步冲过去，想拉上帷幔，把老太太遮在里面，但怎么也拉不上。老太太的叫声越发刺耳了，她还挥动着利爪般的双手，好像要来抓他们的脸。

The three of them looked cautiously over the banisters. The gloomy hallway below was packed with witches and wizards, including all of Harry's guard. They were whispering excitedly together. In the very centre of the group Harry saw the dark, greasy-haired head and prominent nose of his least favourite teacher at Hogwarts, Professor Snape. Harry leant further over the banisters. He was very interested in what Snape was doing for the Order of the Phoenix . . .

“畜生！贱货！肮脏和罪恶的孽子！杂种，怪胎，丑八怪，赶快从这里滚出去！你们怎么敢玷污我祖上的家宅——”

A thin piece of flesh-coloured string descended in front of Harry's eyes. Looking up, he saw Fred and George on the landing above, cautiously lowering the Extendable Ear towards the dark knot of people below. A moment later, however, they all began to move towards the front door and out of sight.

唐克斯一个劲儿地道歉，一边把那条庞大而笨重的巨怪腿重新拖到原来的位置。韦斯莱夫人不再试着拉上帷幔了，而是转身匆匆朝门厅那里走去，一边用魔法给其他肖像都念了昏迷咒。接着，一个留着一头黑色长发的男人从哈利对面的一扇门里冲了出来。

'Dammit,' Harry heard Fred whisper, as he hoisted the Extendable Ear back up again.

“闭嘴，你这个可怕的老巫婆，闭嘴！”他吼道，一把抓住韦斯莱夫人刚才丢下的帷幔。

They heard the front door open, then close.

老太太顿时脸色煞白。

'Snape never eats here,' Ron told Harry quietly. Thank Clod. C'mon.'

“你——你！”她一看见那个男人就瞪大了双眼，厉声叫道。“败家子，家族的耻辱，我生下的孽种！”

'And don't forget to keep your voice down in the hall, Harry,' Hermione whispered.

“我说过了——闭——嘴！”那男人大吼道，他和卢平一起费了九牛二虎之力，总算把帷幔又拉上了。

As they passed the row of house-elf heads on the wall, they saw Lupin, Mrs Weasley and Tonks at the front door, magically sealing its many locks and bolts behind those who had just left.

老太太的尖叫声消失了，接着是一片余音回荡的寂静。

'We're eating down in the kitchen,' Mrs Weasley whispered, meeting them at the bottom of the stairs. 'Harry, dear, if you'll just tiptoe across the hall it's through this door here - '

微微喘着粗气，撩开挡着眼睛的长长黑发，哈利的教父小天狼星转过身来看着哈利。

CRASH.

“你好，哈利，”他板着脸说，“看来你已经见过我的母亲了。”

'Tonks!' cried Mrs Weasley in exasperation, turning to look behind her.

①家养小精灵权益促进会的英文字母缩写是“S．P．E．W．”，与“呕吐”（spew）同音。

'I'm sorry!' wailed Tonks, who was lying flat on the floor. 'It's that stupid umbrella stand, that's the second time I've tripped over - '

But the rest of her words were drowned by a horrible, ear-splitting, blood-curdling screech.

The moth-eaten velvet curtains Harry had passed earlier had flown apart, but there was no door behind them. For a split second, Harry thought he was looking through a window, a window behind which an old woman in a black cap was screaming and screaming as though she were being tortured - then he realised it was simply a life-size portrait, but the most realistic, and the most unpleasant, he had ever seen in his life.

The old woman was drooling, her eyes were rolling, the yellowing skin of her face stretched taut as she screamed; and all along the hall behind them, the other portraits awoke and began to yell, too, so that Harry actually screwed up his eyes at the noise and clapped his hands over his ears.

Lupin and Mrs Weasley darted forward and tried to tug the curtains shut over the old woman, but they would not close and she screeched louder than ever, brandishing clawed hands as though trying to tear at their faces.

'Filth! Scum! By-products of dirt and vileness! Half-breeds, mutants, freaks, begone from this place! How dare you befoul the house of my fathers - '

Tonks apologised over and over again, dragging the huge, heavy troll's leg back off the floor; Mrs Weasley abandoned the attempt to close the curtains and hurried up and down the hall, Stunning all the other portraits with her wand; and a man with long black hair came charging out of a door facing Harry.

'Shut up, you horrible old hag, shut UP!' he roared, seizing the curtain Mrs Weasley had abandoned.

The old woman's face blanched.

'Yoooou!' she howled, her eyes popping at the sight of the man. 'Blood traitor, abomination, shame of my flesh!'

'I said - shut - UP!' roared the man, and with a stupendous effort he and Lupin managed to force the curtains closed again.

The old woman's screeches died and an echoing silence tell. Panting slightly and sweeping his long dark hair out of his eyes, Harry's godfather Sirius turned to face him.

'Hello, Harry,' he said grimly, 'I see you've met my mother.'