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哈利·波特与死亡圣器
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows 英文 中文 双语对照 双语交替 首页 目录 上一章 下一章 | |
| CHAPTER ELEVEN THE BRIBE
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| 第十一章 贿赂
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| If Kreacher could escape a lake full of Inferi, Harry was confident that the capture of Mundungus would take a few hours at most, and he prowled the house all morning in a state of high anticipation. However, Kreacher did not return that morning or even that afternoon. By nightfall, Harry felt discouraged and anxious, and a supper composed largely of moldy bread, upon which Hermione had tried a variety of unsuccessful Transfigurations, did nothing to help.
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| 既然克利切能摆脱满湖的阴尸，那么哈利相信，克利切抓回蒙顿格斯至多也只要几小时。他一上午都满怀期待地在屋里走来走去。然而，克利切上午没有回来，下午也没有。到了今晚，哈利感到灰心丧气，焦虑不安，而以发霉面包为主的晚饭也不能让人心情好一点儿，赫敏对它们试了许多变形魔法，都没有成功。
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| Kreacher did not return the following day, nor the day after that. However, two cloaked men had appeared in the square outside number twelve, and they remained there into the night, gazing in the direction of the house that they could not see.
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| 克利切第二天、第三天都没有回来。倒是有两个穿斗篷的人出现在12号门外的广场上，一直待到夜间，盯着这所他们并不能看见的房子。
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| “Death Eaters, for sure,” said Ron, as he, Harry, and Hermione watched from the drawing room windows. “Reckon they know we’re in here?”
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| “肯定是食死徒，”罗恩说道，他和哈利、赫敏一起从客厅窗口向外窥视，“你说他们知道我们在这儿吗？”
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| “I don’t think so,” said Hermione, though she looked frightened, “or they’d have sent Snape in after us, wouldn’t they?”
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| “我想不知道，”赫敏说，但她显得有些害怕，“要是知道就会派斯内普来抓我们了，是不是？”
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| “D’you reckon he’s been in here and had his tongue tied by Moody’s curse?” asked Ron.
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| “你说他是不是来过，中了穆迪的结舌咒？”罗恩问。
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| “Yes,” said Hermione, “otherwise he’d have been able to tell that lot how to get in, wouldn’t he? But they’re probably watching to see whether we turn up. They know that Harry owns the house, after all.”
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| “是，”赫敏说，“不然他就会告诉那帮人怎么进来了，对不对？但他们也许是在等我们现身，毕竟，他们知道哈利拥有这所房子。”
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| “How do they — ?” began Harry.
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| “他们怎么——”哈利说。
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| “Wizarding wills are examined by the Ministry, remember? They’ll know Sirius left you the place.”
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| “巫师的遗嘱都要经魔法部检查，记得吗？他们会知道小天狼星把这所房子留给你了。”
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| The presence of the Death Eaters outside increased the ominous mood inside number twelve. They had not heard a word from anyone beyond Grimmauld Place since Mr. Weasley’s Patronus, and the strain was starting to tell. Restless and irritable, Ron had developed an annoying habit of playing with the Deluminator in his pocket: This particularly infuriated Hermione, who was whiling away the wait for Kreacher by studying The Tales of Beedle the Bard and did not appreciate the way the lights kept flashing on and off.
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| 外面的食死徒增加了12号宅子中的不祥气氛。从韦斯莱先生的守护神来过之后，他们没有听到过格里莫广场以外任何人的音信，压抑感开始表现出来。罗恩烦燥不安，多了个爱玩衣袋里那个熄灯器的恼人习惯，这让赫敏大为不满，她一边读着《诗翁彼豆故事集》一边等待克利切，很是讨厌灯光忽明忽暗。
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| “Will you stop it!” she cried on the third evening of Kreacher’s absence, as all light was sucked from the drawing room yet again.
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| “你别玩了行不行！”克利切离开后的第三个晚上，客厅的灯光又一次被吸走时，赫敏嚷道。
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| “Sorry, sorry!” said Ron, clicking the Deluminator and restoring the lights. “I don’t know I’m doing it!”
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| “对不起，对不起！”罗恩咔哒一摁熄灯器，把灯点亮，“我没意识到自己在做什么！”
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| “Well, can’t you find something useful to occupy yourself?”
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| “你不能找点有用的事做做吗？”
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| “What, like reading kids’ stories?”
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| “什么事？看童话书？”
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| “Dumbledore left me this book, Ron —”
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| “这本书是邓布利多留给我的，罗恩——”
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| “— and he left me the Deluminator, maybe I’m supposed to use it!”
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| “——他把熄灯器留给了我，也许我应该使用它！”
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| Unable to stand the bickering, Harry slipped out of the room unnoticed by either of them. He headed downstairs toward the kitchen, which he kept visiting because he was sure that was where Kreacher was most likely to reappear. Halfway down the flight of stairs into the hall, however, he heard a tap on the front door, then metallic clicks and the grinding of the chain.
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| 哈利受不了这种斗嘴，悄悄溜出了房间，下楼朝厨房走去。他经常去那里，因为他相信克利切最有可能在那里出现。但走到通往门厅的楼梯中间，他听见前门响起敲门声，接着是金属撞击的响亮声音以及像链条发出的哗啦哗啦声。
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| Every nerve in his body seemed to tauten: He pulled out his wand, moved into the shadows beside the decapitated elf heads, and waited. The door opened: He saw a glimpse of the lamplit square outside, and a cloaked figure edged into the hall and closed the door behind it. The intruder took a step forward, and Moody’s voice asked, “Severus Snape?” Then the dust figure rose from the end of the hall and rushed him, raising its dead hand.
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| 哈利全身的每根神经都紧张起来，他拔出魔杖，躲进那些小精灵脑袋旁边的阴影里等待着。门开了，他瞥见外面路灯照亮的广场，一个穿斗篷的人影闪进门厅，关上了门。来人向前走了一步，穆迪的声音问道：“西弗勒斯·斯内普？”那个土灰色的身影从门厅尽头升起来向他扑去，举着枯槁的手。
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| “It was not I who killed you, Albus,” said a quiet voice.
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| “杀你的不是我，阿不思。”一个镇静的声音说道。
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| The jinx broke: The dust-figure exploded again, and it was impossible to make out the newcomer through the dense gray cloud it left behind.
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| 恶咒解除了，土灰色的身影又一次爆炸了，灰尘弥漫，看不清来人。
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| Harry pointed his wand into the middle of it.
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| 哈利用魔杖指着灰尘中间。
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| “Don’t move!”
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| “不许动！”
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| He had forgotten the portrait of Mrs. Black: At the sound of his yell, the curtains hiding her flew open and she began to scream, “Mudbloods and filth dishonoring my house —”
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| 他忘记了布莱克夫人的肖像。他刚喊出声，帘子马上掀开了，那女人尖叫起来：“泥巴种，脏货，沾污了我的房子——”
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| Ron and Hermione came crashing down the stairs behind Harry, wands pointing, like his, at the unknown man now standing with his arms raised in the hall below.
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| 罗恩和赫敏急忙冲下楼，像哈利一样举着魔杖，对准那个不速之客，那人现在举起双手站在楼下门厅中。
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| “Hold your fire, it’s me, Remus!”
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| “别开火，是我，莱姆斯！”
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| “Oh, thank goodness,” said Hermione weakly, pointing her wand at Mrs. Black instead; with a bang, the curtains swished shut again and silence fell. Ron too lowered his wand, but Harry did not.
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| “哦，谢天谢地。”赫敏虚弱地说，把魔杖转向布莱克夫人，砰的一声，帘子唰地拉上，屋里安静下来。罗恩也垂下了魔杖，然而哈利没有。
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| “Show yourself!” he called back.
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| “拿出证明！”他喊道。
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| Lupin moved forward into the lamplight, hands still held high in a gesture of surrender.
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| 卢平走进灯光中，仍然高举双手，做出投降的姿势。
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| “I am Remus John Lupin, werewolf, sometimes known as Moony, one of the four creators of the Marauder’s Map, married to Nymphadora, usually known as Tonks, and I taught you how to produce a Patronus, Harry, which takes the form of a stag.”
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| “我是莱姆斯·约翰·卢平，狼人，有时被称做月亮脸，是活点地图的四位作者之一，太太是尼法朵拉，通常叫唐克斯。我教过你怎么召出守护神，哈利，它是一只牡鹿。”
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| “Oh, all right,” said Harry, lowering his wand, “but I had to check, didn’t I?”
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| “哦，没错，”哈利垂下了魔杖，“但我必须核查一下，是不是？”
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| “Speaking as your ex-Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, I quite agree that you had to check. Ron, Hermione, you shouldn’t be quite so quick to lower your defenses.”
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| “作为你的前任黑魔法防御术课教师，我完全同意必须核查。罗恩、赫敏，你们不应该这么快就放松警惕。”
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| They ran down the stairs toward him. Wrapped in a thick black traveling cloak, he looked exhausted, but pleased to see them.
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| 他们向他奔过去。卢平穿着一件厚厚的黑色旅行斗篷，看上去疲惫不堪，但很高兴见到他们。
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| “No sign of Severus, then?” he asked.
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| “没见到西弗勒斯？”他问。
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| “No,” said Harry. “What’s going on? Is everyone okay?”
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| “没有，”哈利说，“怎么样？大家都好吗？”
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| “Yes,” said Lupin, “but we’re all being watched. There are a couple of Death Eaters in the square outside —”
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| “都好！”卢平说，“但我们受到了监视。外面广场上有两个食死徒——”
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| “We know —”
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| “——我们知道——”
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| “I had to Apparate very precisely onto the top step outside the front door to be sure that they would not see me. They can’t know you’re in here or I’m sure they’d have more people out there; they’re staking out everywhere that’s got any connection with you, Harry. Let’s go downstairs, there’s a lot to tell you, and I want to know what happened after you left the Burrow.”
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| “——我必须正好幻影显形到前门台阶顶上，才能确保他们不会看到我。他们不可能知道你们在这儿，不然肯定会派更多的人来。他们在所有与你有联系的地方都设了岗哨，哈利。到楼下去吧，我有很多事情要告诉你们，也想知道你们离开陋居后发生了什么。”
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| They descended into the kitchen, where Hermione pointed her wand at the grate. A fire sprang up instantly: It gave the illusion of coziness to the stark stone walls and glistened off the long wooden table. Lupin pulled a few butterbeers from beneath his traveling cloak and they sat down.
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| 他们下到厨房里，赫敏用魔杖指了指炉栅，火苗立刻蹿起，在冷硬的石墙上造成了舒适的幻觉，在木制长桌上映出火光。卢平从旅行斗篷里掏出几瓶黄油啤酒，四人坐了下来。
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| “I’d have been here three days ago but I needed to shake off the Death Eater tailing me,” said Lupin. “So, you came straight here after the wedding?”
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| “我本来三天前就要来的，可是得甩掉盯梢的食死徒。”卢平说，“那么，你们婚礼之后就直接来这儿了？”
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| “No,” said Harry, “only after we ran into a couple of Death Eaters in a café on Tottenham Court Road.”
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| “没有，”哈利说道，“是在托腾汉宫路的咖啡馆遭遇两个食死徒之后才来的。”
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| Lupin slopped most of his butterbeer down his front.
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| 卢平把大半瓶黄油啤酒洒到了胸前。
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| “What?”
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| “什么？”
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| They explained what had happened; when they had finished, Lupin looked aghast.
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| 他们说了事情的经过，讲完之后，卢平一脸惊骇。
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| “But how did they find you so quickly? It’s impossible to track anyone who Apparates, unless you grab hold of them as they disappear!”
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| “可是他们怎么会这么快就发现你们呢？要跟踪幻影显形的人是不可能的，除非你在他消失时抓住他！”
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| “And it doesn’t seem likely they were just strolling down Tottenham Court Road at the time, does it?” said Harry.
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| “他们也不大可能恰好那个时候在托腾汉宫路散步，是不是？”哈利说。
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| “We wondered,” said Hermione tentatively, “whether Harry could still have the Trace on him?”
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| “我们想过，”赫敏试探地说，“哈利是不是还带着踪丝？”
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| “Impossible,” said Lupin. Ron looked smug, and Harry felt hugely relieved. “Apart from anything else, they’d know for sure Harry was here if he still had the Trace on him, wouldn’t they? But I can’t see how they could have tracked you to Tottenham Court Road, that’s worrying, really worrying.”
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| “不可能！”卢平说，罗恩露出得意之色，哈利大大松了口气，“首先，如果他还带着踪丝，他们就会确定他在这里，是不是？可是我想不通他们怎么会跟到托腾汉宫路，这令人担心，真令人担心。”
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| He looked disturbed, but as far as Harry was concerned, that question could wait.
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| 他显得忧心忡忡，但在哈利看来，这个问题还可以放一放。
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| “Tell us what happened after we left, we haven’t heard a thing since Ron’s dad told us the family were safe.”
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| “说说我们走后发生的事吧，自从罗恩的爸爸说全家平安之后，我们什么消息也没有。”
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| “Well, Kingsley saved us,” said Lupin. “Thanks to his warning most of the wedding guests were able to Disapparate before they arrived.”
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| “哦，金斯莱救了我们，”卢平说，“多亏他报信，许多客人都在那帮人赶到之前幻影移形了。”
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| “Were they Death Eaters or Ministry people?” interjected Hermione.
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| “那帮人是食死徒还是魔法部的？”赫敏插进来问。
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| “A mixture; but to all intents and purposes they’re the same thing now,” said Lupin. “There were about a dozen of them, but they didn’t know you were there, Harry. Arthur heard a rumor that they tried to torture your whereabouts out of Scrimgeour before they killed him; if it’s true, he didn’t give you away.”
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| “都有。他们现在实际上是一回事了。”卢平说，“有十来个人，但他们不知道你在场，哈利。亚瑟听到传言说，他们在杀死斯克林杰之前，曾经给他用刑拷问过你的下落，如果真有此事，他没有出卖你。”
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| Harry looked at Ron and Hermione; their expressions reflected the mingled shock and gratitude he felt. He had never liked Scrimgeour much, but if what Lupin said was true, the man’s final act had been to try to protect Harry.
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| 哈利看了看罗恩和赫敏，他俩的表情反映出他所感到的震惊与感激。他从来都不怎么喜欢斯克林杰，但如果卢平说的是真事，那斯克林杰最后的行为却是竭力保护哈利。
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| “The Death Eaters searched the Burrow from top to bottom,” Lupin went on. “They found the ghoul, but didn’t want to get too close — and then they interrogated those of us who remained for hours. They were trying to get information on you, Harry, but of course nobody apart from the Order knew that you had been there.
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| “食死徒把陋居搜了个底朝天，”卢平接着说道，“他们发现了食尸鬼，但不愿靠近——后来又把我们那些没走的审问了几小时。他们想得到你的消息，哈利，但是当然啦，除了凤凰社成员之外，没人知道你曾经在那里。”
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| “At the same time that they were smashing up the wedding, more Death Eaters were forcing their way into every Order-connected house in the country. No deaths,” he added quickly, forestalling the question, “but they were rough. They burned down Dedalus Diggle’s house, but as you know he wasn’t there, and they used the Cruciatus Curse on Tonks’s family. Again, trying to find out where you went after you visited them. They’re all right — shaken, obviously, but otherwise okay.”
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| “在搅乱婚礼的同时，更多的食死徒闯进了全国每一户与凤凰社有联系的家族。没人死亡，”他不等他们询问就忙说，“可是那帮人很粗暴，烧掉了德达洛·迪歌的房子，可是你们知道他不在那儿。他们还对唐克斯一家用了钻心咒，也是试图问出你去过他们家之后的下落。他们没事——显然有些虚弱，但其他都还好。”
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| “The Death Eaters got through all those protective charms?” Harry asked, remembering how effective these had been on the night he had crashed in Tonks’s parents’ garden.
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| “食死徒突破了所有那些防护咒？”哈利问道，想起他坠落在唐克斯父母家花园的那天夜里，它们曾是多么有效。
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| “What you’ve got to realize, Harry, is that the Death Eaters have got the full might of the Ministry on their side now,” said Lupin. “They’ve got the power to perform brutal spells without fear of identification or arrest. They managed to penetrate every defensive spell we’d cast against them, and once inside, they were completely open about why they’d come.”
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| “你必须明白，哈利，食死徒现在有整个魔法部撑腰了，”卢平说道，“他们可以使用残酷的魔法，而不用担心被发现和逮捕。他们突破我们施的所有防护咒，进来之后，也毫不掩饰他们的来意。”
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| “And are they bothering to give an excuse for torturing Harry’s whereabouts out of people?” asked Hermione, an edge to her voice.
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| “他们为酷刑拷问哈利的下落找了什么借口吗？”赫敏问，声音有些尖锐。
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| “Well,” said Lupin. He hesitated, then pulled out a folded copy of the Daily Prophet.
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| “嗯，”卢平犹豫了一下，掏出一张折叠的《预言家日报》。“看看吧，”他说着，把报纸从桌面推给哈利，“反正你迟早会知道的。这就是他们搜捕你的借口。”
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| “Here,” he said, pushing it across the table to Harry, “you’ll know sooner or later anyway. That’s their pretext for going after you.”
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| 哈利展开报纸，一张他的大照片占满了头版篇幅。几个大字突出在照片上：
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| Harry smoothed out the paper. A huge photograph of his own face filled the front page. He read the headline over it:
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| 通缉追查阿不思·邓布利多死因
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| WANTED FOR QUESTIONING ABOUT
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| 罗恩和赫敏气愤地叫了起来，但哈利没有说话。他把报纸推到一边，不想再看。他知道里面会怎么说。除了当时在塔顶的人之外，没有人知道是谁杀死了邓布利多，而且丽塔·斯基特已经告诉魔法界，邓布利多坠楼后不久，便有人看到哈利逃离了现场。
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| THE DEATH OF ALBUS DUMBLEDORE
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| “对不起，哈利。”卢平说。
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| Ron and Hermione gave roars of outrage, but Harry said nothing. He pushed the newspaper away; he did not want to read any more: He knew what it would say. Nobody but those who had been on top of the tower when Dumbledore died knew who had really killed him and, as Rita Skeeter had already told the Wizarding world, Harry had been seen running from the place moments after Dumbledore had fallen.
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| “这么说，食死徒也控制了《预言家日报》？”赫敏愤怒地问。
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| “I’m sorry, Harry,” Lupin said.
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| 卢平点点头。
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| “So Death Eaters have taken over the Daily Prophet too?” asked Hermione furiously.
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| “可是人们一定知道是怎么回事吧？”
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| Lupin nodded.
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| “政变很平稳，几乎无声无息，”卢平说，“斯克林杰遇害的官方说法是他辞职了，接替他的是皮尔斯·辛克尼斯，被施了迷魂咒。”
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| “But surely people realize what’s going on?”
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| “伏地魔为什么不自封为魔法部长呢？”罗恩问道。
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| “The coup has been smooth and virtually silent,” said Lupin. “The official version of Scrimgeour’s murder is that he resigned; he has been replaced by Pius Thicknesse, who is under the Imperius Curse.”
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| 卢平笑了。
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| “Why didn’t Voldemort declare himself Minister of Magic?” asked Ron.
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| “他用不着，罗恩。他实际上就是部长，何必要坐在部里的办公桌后面呢？他的傀儡辛克尼斯处理日常事务，让伏地魔得以把势力延伸到魔法部之外。”
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| Lupin laughed.
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| “许多人自然推测到发生的事情：几天来魔法部的政策变化太大了，他们私下里说一定是伏地魔在幕后指使。但问题就在这里，他们只是私下里说，不敢互相交心，不知道谁可以相信。他们不敢畅所欲言，怕万一怀疑的情况属实，家人会受到迫害。伏地魔这一着棋非常聪明。宣布篡位也许会引来公开的反抗，躲在幕后却能造成迷惑、猜疑和恐惧。”
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| “He doesn’t need to, Ron. Effectively he is the Minister, but why should he sit behind a desk at the Ministry? His puppet, Thicknesse, is taking care of everyday business, leaving Voldemort free to extend his power beyond the Ministry.
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| “魔法部政策的显著变化，”哈利说，“也包括让魔法世界警惕我而不是伏地魔吗？”
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| “Naturally many people have deduced what has happened: There has been such a dramatic change in Ministry policy in the last few days, and many are whispering that Voldemort must be behind it. However, that is the point: They whisper. They daren’t confide in each other, not knowing whom to trust; they are scared to speak out, in case their suspicions are true and their families are targeted. Yes, Voldemort is playing a very clever game. Declaring himself might have provoked open rebellion: Remaining masked has created confusion, uncertainty, and fear.”
|
| “这确实是其中的一部分，”卢平说，“这是一手绝招。邓布利多死后，你——大难不死的男孩——必然会成为反抗伏地魔的象征和号召。而通过暗示你与老英雄之死有干系，伏地魔不仅可以悬赏缉拿你，而且在许多本来可能维护你的人中间撒下了怀疑和恐惧的种子。”
|
| “And this dramatic change in Ministry policy,” said Harry, “involves warning the Wizarding world against me instead of Voldemort?”
|
| “与此同时，魔法部开始排查麻瓜的后代。”卢平指着《预言家日报》“看第2版。”
|
| “That’s certainly part of it,” said Lupin, “and it is a masterstroke. Now that Dumbledore is dead, you — the Boy Who Lived — were sure to be the symbol and rallying point for any resistance to Voldemort. But by suggesting that you had a hand in the old hero’s death, Voldemort has not only set a price upon your head, but sown doubt and fear amongst many who would have defended you.
|
| 赫敏翻开报纸，脸上带着看《尖端黑魔法揭秘》时一样厌恶的表情。
|
| “Meanwhile, the Ministry has started moving against Muggleborns.”
|
| “‘麻瓜出身登记，’”她念道，“‘魔法部正在对所谓“麻瓜出身”进行调查，以便了解他们是如何拥有魔法秘密的。’”
|
| Lupin pointed at the Daily Prophet.
|
| “‘神秘事务司最新研究显示，魔法只能通过巫师的生育遗传。由此可见，如果没有验证确凿的巫师血统，所谓麻瓜出身的人就可能是通过盗窃或暴力而获取魔法能力的。’”
|
| “Look at page two.”
|
| “‘魔法部决心根除这些盗用魔法能力者，为此邀请每一位所谓麻瓜出身的人到新任命的麻瓜出身登记委员会面谈。’”
|
| Hermione turned the pages with much the same expression of distaste she had worn when handling Secrets of the Darkest Art.
|
| “人们不会允许这种事发生的。”罗恩说。
|
| “ ‘Muggle-born Register,’ ” she read aloud. “ ‘The Ministry of Magic is undertaking a survey of so-called “Muggle-borns,” the better to understand how they came to possess magical secrets.
|
| “它已经发生了，罗恩，”卢平说，“在我们说话的时候，就已经有麻瓜出身的人被抓了。”
|
| “ ‘Recent research undertaken by the Department of Mysteries reveals that magic can only be passed from person to person when Wizards reproduce. Where no proven Wizarding ancestry exists, therefore, the so-called Muggle-born is likely to have obtained magical power by theft or force.
|
| “可是他们怎么可能‘盗窃’魔法呢？”罗恩问，“真是神经病。要是能盗窃魔法的话，就不会有哑炮了，是不是？”
|
| “ ‘The Ministry is determined to root out such usurpers of magical power, and to this end has issued an invitation to every so-called Muggle-born to present themselves for interview by the newly appointed Muggle-born Registration Commission.’ ”
|
| “我理解，”卢平说，“可是，你必须证明你至少有一位巫师血统的近亲，否则就会被认为是非法获得魔法能力的，就要受到惩罚。”
|
| “People won’t let this happen,” said Ron.
|
| 罗恩看了看赫敏，说道：“如果纯种和混血的巫师发誓说某个麻瓜出身的人是自己的亲戚呢？我可以对所有的人说赫敏是我表姐——”
|
| “It is happening, Ron,” said Lupin. “Muggle-borns are being rounded up as we speak.”
|
| 赫敏双手拉住罗恩的手，紧紧地握着。
|
| “But how are they supposed to have ‘stolen’ magic?” said Ron. “It’s mental, if you could steal magic there wouldn’t be any Squibs, would there?”
|
| “谢谢你，罗恩，可是我不能让你——”
|
| “I know,” said Lupin. “Nevertheless, unless you can prove that you have at least one close Wizarding relative, you are now deemed to have obtained your magical power illegally and must suffer the punishment.”
|
| “你没有选择，”罗恩激动地说，也紧攥着她的手，“我要教你熟悉我的家谱，这样你就不怕提问了。”
|
| Ron glanced at Hermione, then said, “What if purebloods and half-bloods swear a Muggle-born’s part of their family? I’ll tell everyone Hermione’s my cousin —”
|
| 赫敏颤声笑了一下。
|
| Hermione covered Ron’s hand with hers and squeezed it.
|
| “罗恩，我想这已经不重要，因为我们在跟全国第一通缉犯哈利·波特一起逃亡。要是我们回到学校，情况就不一样了。伏地魔对霍格沃茨有什么计划？”她问卢平。
|
| “Thank you, Ron, but I couldn’t let you —”
|
| “现在每个少年巫师都必须入学，”他回答道，“昨天宣布的。这是一个变化，因为以前从来不是强制性的。当然，几乎所有的英国巫师都在霍格沃茨上过学，但父母有权让子女在家自学或到国外留学。而现在这样，伏地魔就能把所有的巫师从小就置于他的监视之下。这也是清除麻瓜出身者的办法之一，因为学生必须持有血统证明——表明他们已经向魔法部证明自己的巫师血统，才能获准入学。”
|
| “You won’t have a choice,” said Ron fiercely, gripping her hand back. “I’ll teach you my family tree so you can answer questions on it.
|
| 哈利感到恶心而愤怒：此刻有多少十一岁的孩子正在兴高采烈地翻看新买的魔法书，却不知他们永远也见不到霍格沃茨，甚至永远也见不到自己的家人了。
|
| Hermione gave a shaky laugh.
|
| “这……这……”他语塞了，找不到话能够表达他所感到的恐怖，但卢平轻声说：“我知道。”
|
| “Ron, as we’re on the run with Harry Potter, the most wanted person in the country, I don’t think it matters. If I was going back to school it would be different. What’s Voldemort planning for Hogwarts?” she asked Lupin.
|
| 卢平迟疑一下。
|
| “Attendance is now compulsory for every young witch and wizard,” he replied. “That was announced yesterday. It’s a change, because it was never obligatory before. Of course, nearly every witch and wizard in Britain has been educated at Hogwarts, but their parents had the right to teach them at home or send them abroad if they preferred. This way, Voldemort will have the whole Wizarding population under his eye from a young age. And it’s also another way of weeding out Muggle-borns, because students must be given Blood Status — meaning that they have proven to the Ministry that they are of Wizard descent — before they are allowed to attend.”
|
| “如果你不能证实，我可以理解，哈利，但凤凰社的印象是邓布利多给你留下了一个使命。”
|
| Harry felt sickened and angry: At this moment, excited eleven-year-olds would be poring over stacks of newly purchased spellbooks, unaware that they would never see Hogwarts, perhaps never see their families again either.
|
| “是的。”哈利答道：“罗恩和赫敏也知道，他们要跟我一起去。”
|
| “It’s . . . it’s . . .” he muttered, struggling to find words that did justice to the horror of his thoughts, but Lupin said quietly,
|
| “能不能告诉我这使命是什么？”
|
| “I know.”
|
| 哈利望着那张过早刻上皱纹的脸庞，浓密但已花白的头发，希望自己能有别的回答。
|
| Lupin hesitated.
|
| “我不能，莱姆斯，对不起。如果邓布利多没告诉你，我想我也不能说。”
|
| “I’ll understand if you can’t confirm this, Harry, but the Order is under the impression that Dumbledore left you a mission.”
|
| “我猜到你会这么说的，”卢平显得有些失望，“但我仍然可以对你有些用处。你知道我的身份和能耐。我可以与你们同行，提供保护。不用对我说你们在干什么。”
|
| “He did,” Harry replied, “and Ron and Hermione are in on it and they’re coming with me.”
|
| 哈利犹豫着，这是个非常诱人的提议，虽然他想象不出，如果卢平整天跟着他们，怎么还能对他保密下去。
|
| “Can you confide in me what the mission is?”
|
| 赫敏却显得有些疑惑。
|
| Harry looked into the prematurely lined face, framed in thick but graying hair, and wished that he could return a different answer.
|
| “唐克斯呢？”她问。
|
| “I can’t, Remus, I’m sorry. If Dumbledore didn’t tell you I don’t think I can.”
|
| “她怎么啦？”卢平说。
|
| “I thought you’d say that,” said Lupin, looking disappointed. “But I might still be of some use to you. You know what I am and what I can do. I could come with you to provide protection. There would be no need to tell me exactly what you were up to.”
|
| “哎呀，”赫敏皱眉道，“你们结婚了！你要跟我们走，她怎么想呢？”
|
| Harry hesitated. It was a very tempting offer, though how they would be able to keep their mission secret from Lupin if he were with them all the time he could not imagine.
|
| “唐克斯会很安全的，”卢平说，“住在她父母家。”
|
| Hermione, however, looked puzzled.
|
| 卢平的语气有一点怪，几乎有些冷淡。再说，唐克斯继续躲在她父母家里也有点不正常，她毕竟是凤凰社成员，据哈利所知，她可能希望投身于积极的行动中。
|
| “But what about Tonks?” she asked.
|
| “莱姆斯，”赫敏试探地说，“一切都好吗……我是说……你和——”
|
| “What about her?” said Lupin.
|
| “一切都好，谢谢你。”卢平刻板地说。
|
| “Well,” said Hermione, frowning, “you’re married! How does she feel about you going away with us?”
|
| 赫敏脸红了，又是一阵沉默，气氛拘束而尴尬，然后卢平像强迫自己承认一件不愉快的事情那样说道：“唐克斯怀孕了。”
|
| “Tonks will be perfectly safe,” said Lupin. “She’ll be at her parents’ house.”
|
| “哦，太好了！”赫敏尖叫道。
|
| There was something strange in Lupin’s tone; it was almost cold. There was also something odd in the idea of Tonks remaining hidden at her parents’ house; she was, after all, a member of the Order and, as far as Harry knew, was likely to want to be in the thick of the action.
|
| “真棒！”罗恩热情地说。
|
| “Remus,” said Hermione tentatively, “is everything all right . . . you know . . . between you and —”
|
| “恭喜呀。”哈利说。
|
| “Everything is fine, thank you,” said Lupin pointedly.
|
| 卢平不自然地笑了笑，看上去像做了个鬼脸，又说：“那么——你们接受我的提议吗？三个人可以变成四个人吗？我不相信邓布利多会反对。毕竟，他曾任命我做你们的黑魔法防御术课的老师。我必须告诉你们，我相信此行要面对许多人从没见过的和想象不到的邪恶魔法。”
|
| Hermione turned pink. There was another pause, an awkward and embarrassed one, and then Lupin said, with an air of forcing himself to admit something unpleasant, “Tonks is going to have a baby.”
|
| 罗恩和赫敏都望着哈利。
|
| “Oh, how wonderful!” squealed Hermione.
|
| “嗯——我想问清楚，”他说，“你想把唐克斯留在她父母家，自己跟我们走？”
|
| “Excellent!” said Ron enthusiastically.
|
| “她在那儿非常安全，他们会照料她的。”卢平说道，他语气坚决得近乎冷漠，“哈利，我相信詹姆也会希望我守护着你。”
|
| “Congratulations,” said Harry.
|
| “嗯，”哈利缓缓地说，“我不这样想。我倒相信我父亲会希望知道你为什么不守护着自己的孩子。”
|
| Lupin gave an artificial smile that was more like a grimace, then said, “So . . . do you accept my offer? Will three become four? I cannot believe that Dumbledore would have disapproved, he appointed me your Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, after all. And I must tell you that I believe that we are facing magic many of us have never encountered or imagined.”
|
| 卢平的脸上失去了血色。厨房里的温度好象降低了十度。罗恩环顾着这个房间，好像有人命令他要记住它似的，赫敏的目光在哈利和卢平之间来回移动。
|
| Ron and Hermione both looked at Harry.
|
| “你不明白。”卢平终于说。
|
| “Just — just to be clear,” he said. “You want to leave Tonks at her parents’ house and come away with us?”
|
| “那就解释吧。”哈利说。
|
| “She’ll be perfectly safe there, they’ll look after her,” said Lupin. He spoke with a finality bordering on indifference. “Harry, I’m sure James would have wanted me to stick with you.”
|
| 卢平咽了口唾沫。
|
| “Well,” said Harry slowly, “I’m not. I’m pretty sure my father would have wanted to know why you aren’t sticking with your own kid, actually.”
|
| “我——我和唐克斯结婚是个严重的错误，我丧失了理智，事后一直非常后悔。”
|
| Lupin’s face drained of color. The temperature in the kitchen might have dropped ten degrees. Ron stared around the room as though he had been bidden to memorize it, while Hermione’s eyes swiveled backward and forward from Harry to Lupin.
|
| “噢，”哈利说，“所以你就要抛弃她和孩子，跟我们跑掉？”
|
| “You don’t understand,” said Lupin at last.
|
| 卢平跳了起来，椅子都翻倒了。他那样狂暴地瞪着他们，哈利第一次在他那张脸上看到了狼的影子。
|
| “Explain, then,” said Harry.
|
| “你不明白我对我妻子和未出生的孩子做了什么吗？我根本不该和她结婚，我把她变成了被人排斥的人！”
|
| Lupin swallowed.
|
| 卢平一脚踢开被他弄翻的椅子。
|
| “I — I made a grave mistake in marrying Tonks. I did it against my better judgment and I have regretted it very much ever since.”
|
| “你们看到我都是在凤凰社里，或者是在霍格沃茨，在邓布利多的庇护下！你们知道大多数巫师怎样看待我的同类！知道我的情况之后，他们几乎都不肯跟我说话！你们没有看见我所做过的一切吗？就连她的家人也排斥我们的婚姻，哪个父母愿意自己的独生女儿嫁给狼人呢？还有孩子——孩子——”
|
| “I see,” said Harry, “so you’re just going to dump her and the kid and run off with us?”
|
| 卢平揪着自己的头发，他好像精神错乱了。
|
| Lupin sprang to his feet: His chair toppled over backward, and he glared at them so fiercely that Harry saw, for the first time ever, the shadow of the wolf upon his human face.
|
| “我的同类通常是不生育的！孩子会跟我一样，我知道肯定会——我怎么能原谅自己？明知自己的情况却仍然把它遗传给一个无辜的婴儿。即使奇迹发生，孩子不像我这样，那么没有一个永远让他羞耻的父亲岂不更好，好一百倍！”
|
| “Don’t you understand what I’ve done to my wife and my unborn child? I should never have married her, I’ve made her an outcast!”
|
| “莱姆斯！”赫敏轻声说，热泪盈眶，“别这么说——怎么会有孩子为你感到羞耻呢？”
|
| Lupin kicked aside the chair he had overturned.
|
| “哦，说不准，赫敏，”哈利说，“我就会为他感到羞耻。”
|
| “You have only ever seen me amongst the Order, or under Dumbledore’s protection at Hogwarts! You don’t know how most of the Wizarding world sees creatures like me! When they know of my affliction, they can barely talk to me! Don’t you see what I’ve done? Even her own family is disgusted by our marriage, what parents want their only daughter to marry a werewolf? And the child — the child —”
|
| 哈利不知自己哪来的火气，他也气得站了起来。卢平的表情好像哈利打了他一样。
|
| Lupin actually seized handfuls of his own hair; he looked quite deranged.
|
| “如果新政权认为麻瓜出身都是坏的，”哈利说，“他们对一个父亲是凤凰社成员的狼人混血儿又会怎样呢？我父亲是为保护我母亲和我而死的，你觉得他会叫你抛弃你的孩子，去跟我们一起冒险吗？”
|
| “My kind don’t usually breed! It will be like me, I am convinced of it — how can I forgive myself, when I knowingly risked passing on my own condition to an innocent child? And if, by some miracle, it is not like me, then it will be better off, a hundred times so, without a father of whom it must always be ashamed!”
|
| “你——你怎么敢？”卢平说，“这不是追求——不是追求冒险或个人出风头——你怎么也说出这种——”
|
| “Remus!” whispered Hermione, tears in her eyes. “Don’t say that — how could any child be ashamed of you?”
|
| “我认为你觉得自己英勇无畏，”哈利说，“你想步小天狼星的后尘——”
|
| “Oh, I don’t know, Hermione,” said Harry. “I’d be pretty ashamed of him.”
|
| “哈利，别说了！”赫敏恳求道，可是哈利继续瞪着卢平惨白的面孔。
|
| Harry did not know where his rage was coming from, but it had propelled him to his feet too. Lupin looked as though Harry had hit him.
|
| “我真不能相信，”哈利说，“教我打败摄魂怪的人——是个懦夫。”
|
| “If the new regime thinks Muggle-borns are bad,” Harry said, “what will they do to a half-werewolf whose father’s in the Order? My father died trying to protect my mother and me, and you reckon he’d tell you to abandon your kid to go on an adventure with us?”
|
| 卢平拔魔杖的动作太快了，哈利刚来得及抓到自己的魔杖，就听呯的一声，感到自己像被猛击了一下，身子向后飞去，撞在厨房的墙上，然后滑到地上。他瞥见卢平的斗篷后摆消失在门口。
|
| “How — how dare you?” said Lupin. “This is not about a desire for — for danger or personal glory — how dare you suggest such a —”
|
| “莱姆斯，莱姆斯，回来！”赫敏叫道，但卢平没有回答。片刻后，他们听到前门重重地关上了。
|
| “I think you’re feeling a bit of a daredevil,” Harry said. “You fancy stepping into Sirius’s shoes —”
|
| “哈利！”赫敏哭着说，“你怎么能这样？”
|
| “Harry, no!” Hermione begged him, but he continued to glare into Lupin’s livid face.
|
| “有什么不能的。”哈利说着站了起来，感到脑袋撞在墙上的地方正在肿起一个包。他仍然气得浑身发抖。
|
| “I’d never have believed this,” Harry said. “The man who taught me to fight dementors — a coward.”
|
| “别那样看着我！”他没好气地对赫敏说。
|
| Lupin drew his wand so fast that Harry had barely reached for his own; there was a loud bang and he felt himself flying backward as if punched; as he slammed into the kitchen wall and slid to the floor, he glimpsed the tail of Lupin’s cloak disappearing around the door.
|
| “你别又冲她来！”罗恩吼道。
|
| “Remus, Remus, come back!” Hermione cried, but Lupin did not respond. A moment later they heard the front door slam.
|
| “不要——不要——我们不能吵架！”赫敏冲到他俩中间说。
|
| “Harry!” wailed Hermione. “How could you?”
|
| “你不该对卢平说那样的话。”罗恩责备哈利说。
|
| “It was easy,” said Harry. He stood up; he could feel a lump swelling where his head had hit the wall. He was still so full of anger he was shaking.
|
| “他自找的。”哈利说。破碎的画面在他脑海中快速闪过：小天狼星穿过帷幔倒下；伤残的邓布利多悬在空中；一道绿光和他母亲哀求的声音……
|
| “Don’t look at me like that!” he snapped at Hermione.
|
| “身为父母，”哈利说，“不应该离开自己的孩子，除非——除非是迫不得已。”
|
| “Don’t you start on her!” snarled Ron.
|
| “哈利——”赫敏伸出一只抚慰的手，但他一耸肩甩掉了，走到一边，盯着赫敏变出的火苗。他曾经通过那个壁炉和卢平说话，希望能恢复对詹姆的信心，卢平给了他安慰。现在，卢平那痛苦、苍白的面容好像正在他面前晃动，一阵悔恨涌上心头，他感到非常难受。罗恩和赫敏都没有说话，但哈利觉得他们肯定在他背后面面相觑，无声地交流。
|
| “No — no — we mustn’t fight!” said Hermione, launching herself between them.
|
| 他转过身，看见他俩慌忙望向别处。
|
| “You shouldn’t have said that stuff to Lupin,” Ron told Harry.
|
| “我知道我不应该叫他懦夫。”
|
| “He had it coming to him,” said Harry. Broken images were racing each other through his mind: Sirius falling through the veil; Dumbledore suspended, broken, in midair; a flash of green light and his mother’s voice, begging for mercy . . .
|
| “你是不应该。”罗恩马上说。
|
| “Parents,” said Harry, “shouldn’t leave their kids unless — unless they’ve got to.”
|
| “可他的行为像懦夫。”
|
| “Harry —” said Hermione, stretching out a consoling hand, but he shrugged it off and walked away, his eyes on the fire Hermione had conjured. He had once spoken to Lupin out of that fireplace, seeking reassurance about James, and Lupin had consoled him. Now Lupin’s tortured white face seemed to swim in the air before him. He felt a sickening surge of remorse. Neither Ron nor Hermione spoke, but Harry felt sure that they were looking at each other behind his back, communicating silently.
|
| “但是……”赫敏说。
|
| He turned around and caught them turning hurriedly away from each other.
|
| “我知道，”哈利说，“但如果这能让他回到唐克斯身边，还是值得的，是不是？”
|
| “I know I shouldn’t have called him a coward.”
|
| 他无法消除语气中的恳求。赫敏露出同情的样子，罗恩则不置可否。哈利低头看着脚，想着自己的父亲。詹姆会支持哈利对卢平说那样的话吗，还是会因为儿子那样对待他的老朋友而生气呢？
|
| “No, you shouldn’t,” said Ron at once.
|
| 寂静的厨房里似乎在嗡嗡作响，带着刚才那一幕的震动和罗恩、赫敏无言的谴责。卢平带来的《预言家日报》还搁在桌上，哈利的面孔在头版上呆望着天花板。他走过去坐下，随手翻开报纸，假装在读，可是读不进去，脑子里还满是和卢平冲突的场面。他能肯定罗恩和赫敏在报纸的另一面又开始了无声的交流。他很响地翻动报纸，邓布利多的名字跳入了眼帘。他好一会儿才看明白那张照片，是一张全家合影。照片下面写着：邓布利多一家，左起：阿不思、珀西瓦尔（抱着刚出生的阿利安娜）、坎德拉和阿不福思。
|
| “But he’s acting like one.”
|
| 这吸引了他的注意。哈利仔细盯着这张照片看。邓布利多的父亲珀西瓦尔是个英俊的男子，一双眼睛在这张褪色的老照片上似乎仍闪着光芒。婴儿阿利安娜比一块面包大不了多少，也看不出更多的面部特征。母亲坎德拉乌黑的头发盘成一个高髻，五官有如刀刻一般。尽管她穿着高领的缎袍，但那黑眼睛、高颧骨和挺直的鼻梁令哈利联想到了印第安人。阿不思和阿不福思穿着一式的花边领短上衣，留着一式的披肩发。阿不思看上去大几岁，但其他方面两个男孩看上去非常相似，因为这是在邓布利多的鼻梁被打断和他开始戴眼镜之前。
|
| “All the same . . .” said Hermione.
|
| 一家人看上去相当幸福美满，安详地在报纸上微笑。婴儿阿利安娜的胳膊在襁褓外模糊地挥舞。哈利在照片的上方看到了一行标题：
|
| “I know,” said Harry. “But if it makes him go back to Tonks, it’ll be worth it, won’t it?”
|
| 独家摘录——即将出版的邓布利多传记 丽塔·斯基特著
|
| He could not keep the plea out of his voice. Hermione looked sympathetic, Ron uncertain. Harry looked down at his feet, thinking of his father. Would James have backed Harry in what he had said to Lupin, or would he have been angry at how his son had treated his old friend?
|
| 哈利心想反正不可能让自己的情绪更糟了，便读了起来：
|
| The silent kitchen seemed to hum with the shock of the recent scene and with Ron and Hermione’s unspoken reproaches. The Daily Prophet Lupin had brought was still lying on the table, Harry’s own face staring up at the ceiling from the front page. He walked over to it and sat down, opened the paper at random, and pretended to read. He could not take in the words; his mind was still too full of the encounter with Lupin. He was sure that Ron and Hermione had resumed their silent communications on the other side of the Prophet. He turned a page loudly, and Dumbledore’s name leapt out at him. It was a moment or two before he took in the meaning of the photograph, which showed a family group. Beneath the photograph were the words: The Dumbledore family, left to right: Albus; Percival, holding newborn Ariana; Kendra; and Aberforth.
|
| 坎德拉·邓布利多个性自尊而高傲，在丈夫珀西瓦尔被逮捕并关入阿兹卡班之事公之于众后，无法忍受继续居住在沃土原。于是她决定举家搬迁到戈德里克山谷，那个村子后来出了名，因为它就是哈利·波特奇迹般逃脱神秘人魔掌的地方。
|
| His attention caught, Harry examined the picture more carefully. Dumbledore’s father, Percival, was a good-looking man with eyes that seemed to twinkle even in this faded old photograph. The baby, Ariana, was little longer than a loaf of bread and no more distinctive-looking. The mother, Kendra, had jet-black hair pulled into a high bun. Her face had a carved quality about it. Harry thought of photos of Native Americans he’d seen as he studied her dark eyes, high cheekbones, and straight nose, formally composed above a high-necked silk gown. Albus and Aberforth wore matching lacy collared jackets and had identical, shoulder-length hairstyles. Albus looked several years older, but otherwise the two boys looked very alike, for this was before Albus’s nose had been broken and before he started wearing glasses.
|
| 像沃土原一样，戈德里克山谷也聚居了许多巫师家庭，但坎德拉一户也不认识，所以不会像在原来村子里那样总有人对她丈夫的罪行感到好奇。她多次拒绝新邻居的友好表示，很快使自己一家与外界隔绝了。
|
| The family looked quite happy and normal, smiling serenely up out of the newspaper. Baby Ariana’s arm waved vaguely out of her shawl. Harry looked above the picture and saw the headline:
|
| “我带了一批自己做的锅形蛋糕过去欢迎她，她当着我的面关上了门。”巴希达·巴沙特说，“他们搬来的第一年，我只见过两个男孩。要不是冬天里有一次，我在月光下摘悲啼果，看到坎德拉领着阿利安娜走进后花园，我根本不会知道她还有个女儿。她妈妈带她绕草坪走了一圈，一直紧紧抓着他，然后就领回屋里去了。搞不懂是怎么回事。”
|
| EXCLUSIVE EXTRACT FROM THE UPCOMING
|
| 看样子坎德拉认为搬到戈德里克山谷是隐藏阿利安娜的良机，这件事她或许已经筹划了多年。时机很重要，阿利安娜消失时刚刚七岁，而许多专家认为七岁是魔法能力应该显露的年龄。没有一位在世的人记得阿利安娜显示过丝毫的魔法能力。由此可见，坎德拉决定隐瞒女儿的存在，而羞于承认她生了一个哑炮。当然，离开认识阿利安娜的朋友和邻居，囚禁她就容易得多了。此后知道阿利安娜存在的人屈指可数，都是能保守秘密的，其中包括她的两个哥哥，他们用母亲教的话挡住尴尬的问题：“我妹妹身体太弱，上不了学。”
|
| BIOGRAPHY OF ALBUS DUMBLEDORE
|
| 下星期：阿不思·邓布利多在霍格沃茨——获奖与假象。
|
| by Rita Skeeter
|
| 哈利想错了，报上的内容实际上让他情绪更糟了。他看着照片上面那表面幸福的一家人。是真的吗？怎么才能知道？他想去戈德里克山谷，即使巴希达已经不能与他交谈，他也想去看看自己和邓布利多都曾经失去亲人的那个地方。他正在放下报纸问问罗恩和赫敏的想法，厨房里突然爆出一声震耳欲聋的巨响。
|
| Thinking that it could hardly make him feel any worse than he already did, Harry began to read:
|
| 三天来第一次，哈利把克利切忘得干干净净，他的第一个念头是卢平冲回来了。一瞬间，哈利搞不清椅子旁边这团扭打的胳膊和腿是怎么回事，他急忙站起身。克利切挣脱出来，低低地鞠了一躬，嘶哑地说：“克利切把小偷蒙顿格斯·弗莱奇抓回来了，主人。”
|
| Proud and haughty, Kendra Dumbledore could not
|
| 蒙顿格斯挣扎着爬起来，抽出了魔杖。但赫敏比他更快。
|
| bear to remain in Mould-on-the-Wold after her hus-
|
| “除你武器！”
|
| band Percival’s well-publicized arrest and imprison-
|
| 蒙顿格斯的魔杖飞到空中，被赫敏接住。他疯狂地朝楼梯冲去，罗恩把他撂倒了。蒙顿格斯摔到石板地上，发出一声闷响。
|
| ment in Azkaban. She therefore decided to uproot
|
| “干吗？”他吼道，扭动身体想挣脱罗恩，“我干什么了？派一个该死的家养小精灵来抓我。你们搞什么鬼，我干什么了，放开我，放开我，不然——”
|
| the family and relocate to Godric’s Hollow, the vil-
|
| “你没有资格威胁谁了。”哈利说着把报纸扔到一边，几步走到厨房那头，跪在蒙顿格斯的旁边。罗恩喘着气爬起来，哈利沉着地用魔杖指着蒙顿格斯的鼻子，这家伙散发着臭烘烘的汗味和烟味，头发纠结，袍子上污渍斑斑。
|
| lage that was later to gain fame as the scene of Harry
|
| “克利切道歉，抓小偷回来迟了，主人。”小精灵嘶声说道，“弗莱奇善于躲避抓捕，有许多窝穴和同伙。不过，克利切最后还是堵住了这个小偷。”
|
| Potter’s strange escape from You-Know-Who.
|
| “你做得很好，克利切。”哈利说。小精灵低低地鞠躬。
|
| Like Mould-on-the-Wold, Godric’s Hollow was
|
| “好，我们有几个问题要问你。”哈利对蒙顿格斯说。
|
| home to a number of Wizarding families, but as
|
| 这家伙立刻叫了起来：“我吓坏了，行了吧？我从来就没想参加。别生气，伙计，可我从来没有自愿为你去死，当时可是该死的神秘人朝我飞了过来啊，谁都会逃走的，我一直说不想干——”
|
| Kendra knew none of them, she would be spared
|
| “告诉你一下，我们其他人没有一个幻影移形的。”赫敏说。
|
| the curiosity about her husband’s crime she had
|
| “嗯，你们是一帮他娘的英雄，是不是，可我从来没假装说我打算搭上性命——”
|
| faced in her former village. By repeatedly rebuffing
|
| “我们对你为什么丢下疯眼汉逃跑不感兴趣，”哈利把魔杖凑近蒙顿格斯那双肿胀充血的眼睛，“我们已经知道你是个靠不住的渣子。”
|
| the friendly advances of her new Wizarding neigh-
|
| “那为什么家养小精灵缠住我不放？难道又是那些杯子的事？我一个也没有了，不然你们可以拿去——”
|
| bors, she soon ensured that her family was left well
|
| “也不是那些杯子的事，不过有点靠谱了，”哈利说，“闭上嘴巴听着。”
|
| alone.
|
| 能有点事情做做，能从某人那里问出一点实情，感觉真不错。哈利的魔杖现在离蒙顿格斯的鼻梁如此之近，这家伙的眼睛都成了对眼。
|
| “Slammed the door in my face when I went
|
| “当你掳走这所房子里值钱的东西时——”哈利说道。
|
| around to welcome her with a batch of homemade
|
| 但蒙顿格斯又打断了他：“小天狼星从来不在意那些垃圾——”
|
| Cauldron Cakes,” says Bathilda Bagshot. “The first year they were there I only ever saw the two boys. Wouldn’t have known there was a daughter if I hadn’t been picking Plangentines by moonlight the winter after they moved in, and saw Kendra leading Ariana out into the back garden. Walked her round the lawn once, keeping a firm grip on her, then took her back inside. Didn’t know what to make of it.”
|
| 脚板啪啪作响，黄铜的光一闪，响亮的哐当一声，伴着痛苦的嚎叫——克利切冲过去用长柄锅狠狠敲了一下蒙顿格斯的脑袋。
|
| It seems that Kendra thought the move to Godric’s Hollow was the perfect opportunity to hide Ariana once and for all, something she had probably been planning for years. The timing was significant. Ariana was barely seven years old when she vanished from sight, and seven is the age by which most experts agree that magic will have revealed itself, if present. Nobody now alive remembers Ariana ever demonstrating even the slightest sign of magical ability. It seems clear, therefore, that Kendra made a decision to hide her daughter’s existence rather than suffer the shame of admitting that she had produced a Squib. Moving away from the friends and neighbors who knew Ariana would, of course, make imprisoning her all the easier. The tiny number of people who henceforth knew of Ariana’s existence could be counted upon to keep the secret, including her two brothers, who deflected awkward questions with the answer their mother had taught them: “My sister is too frail for school.”
|
| “叫他住手，叫他住手，应该把他关起来！”蒙顿格斯畏缩着叫道，克利切又举起了那只厚底锅。
|
| Next week: Albus Dumbledore at Hogwarts — the Prizes and the Pretense.
|
| “克利切，不要！”哈利高喊道。
|
| Harry had been wrong: What he had read had indeed made him feel worse. He looked back at the photograph of the apparently happy family. Was it true? How could he find out? He wanted to go to Godric’s Hollow, even if Bathilda was in no fit state to talk to him; he wanted to visit the place where he and Dumbledore had both lost loved ones. He was in the process of lowering the newspaper, to ask Ron’s and Hermione’s opinions, when a deafening crack echoed around the kitchen.
|
| 克利切的瘦胳膊在沉重的锅子下颤抖，仍然高举着。
|
| For the first time in three days Harry had forgotten all about Kreacher. His immediate thought was that Lupin had burst back into the room, and for a split second, he did not take in the mass of struggling limbs that had appeared out of thin air right beside his chair. He hurried to his feet as Kreacher disentangled himself and, bowing low to Harry, croaked, “Kreacher has returned with the thief Mundungus Fletcher, Master.”
|
| “再来一下行吗，哈利少爷，讨个彩头？”
|
| Mundungus scrambled up and pulled out his wand; Hermione, however, was too quick for him.
|
| 罗恩笑了。
|
| “Expelliarmus!”
|
| “我们需要他神志清楚，克利切，但是如果他需要劝导的话，可以由你来执行。”哈利说。
|
| Mundungus’s wand soared into the air, and Hermione caught it. Wild-eyed, Mundungus dived for the stairs: Ron rugby-tackled him and Mundungus hit the stone floor with a muffled crunch.
|
| “非常感谢您，主人。”克利切鞠了一躬，退后几步，浅色的大眼睛仍然憎恶地盯着蒙顿格斯。
|
| “What?” he bellowed, writhing in his attempts to free himself from Ron’s grip. “Wha’ve I done? Setting a bleedin’ ’ouse-elf on me, what are you playing at, wha’ve I done, lemme go, lemme go, or —”
|
| “当你把这所房子里你能找到的值钱东西掳取一空时，”哈利重新说，“你从厨房碗柜里拿走了一批东西，其中有一个挂坠盒。”哈利突然嘴巴发干，他也能感到罗恩、赫敏的紧张和兴奋。“你把它弄哪儿去了？”
|
| “You’re not in much of a position to make threats,” said Harry. He threw aside the newspaper, crossed the kitchen in a few strides, and dropped to his knees beside Mundungus, who stopped struggling and looked terrified. Ron got up, panting, and watched as Harry pointed his wand deliberately at Mundungus’s nose. Mundungus stank of stale sweat and tobacco smoke: His hair was matted and his robes stained.
|
| “怎么？”蒙顿格斯问，“它很值钱吗？”
|
| “Kreacher apologizes for the delay in bringing the thief, Master,” croaked the elf. “Fletcher knows how to avoid capture, has many hidey-holes and accomplices. Nevertheless, Kreacher cornered the thief in the end.”
|
| “它还在你那儿！”赫敏叫道。
|
| “You’ve done really well, Kreacher,” said Harry, and the elf bowed low.
|
| “不，不在了，”罗恩精明地说道，“他在想，当时是不是应该卖得更贵一点。”
|
| “Right, we’ve got a few questions for you,” Harry told Mundungus, who shouted at once,
|
| “更贵？”蒙顿格斯说，“那倒一点也不难……该死的，我不是送掉了吗？没法子啊。”
|
| “I panicked, okay? I never wanted to come along, no offense, mate, but I never volunteered to die for you, an’ that was bleedin’ You-Know-Who come flying at me, anyone woulda got outta there, I said all along I didn’t wanna do it —”
|
| “什么意思？”
|
| “For your information, none of the rest of us Disapparated,” said Hermione.
|
| “我在对角巷卖货，那女的走过来问我有没有经销魔法制品的执照，该死的搅屎棍，她本来想要罚我款，忽然看上了挂坠盒，就说拿那个顶了，放过我这一回，还说算我走运。”
|
| “Well, you’re a bunch of bleedin’ ’eroes then, aren’t you, but I never pretended I was up for killing meself —”
|
| “那女的是谁？”哈利问。
|
| “We’re not interested in why you ran out on Mad-Eye,” said Harry, moving his wand a little closer to Mundungus’s baggy, bloodshot eyes. “We already knew you were an unreliable bit of scum.”
|
| “不知道，魔法部的老妖婆。”
|
| “Well then, why the ’ell am I being ’unted down by ’ouse-elves? Or is this about them goblets again? I ain’t got none of ’em left, or you could ’ave ’em —”
|
| 蒙顿格斯皱眉想了一会儿。
|
| “It’s not about the goblets either, although you’re getting warmer,” said Harry. “Shut up and listen.”
|
| “小矮个，头顶戴个蝴蝶结。”他紧蹙着眉头，又加了一句，“看上去像只癞蛤蟆。”
|
| It felt wonderful to have something to do, someone of whom he could demand some small portion of truth. Harry’s wand was now so close to the bridge of Mundungus’s nose that Mundungus had gone cross-eyed trying to keep it in view.
|
| 哈利的魔杖失手掉下，打中了蒙顿格斯的鼻子，红色火星喷到他的眉毛上，眉毛着火了。
|
| “When you cleaned out this house of anything valuable,” Harry began, but Mundungus interrupted him again.
|
| “清水如泉！”赫敏高叫，一股清水从她杖尖流出，浇在蒙顿格斯脸上，但他已呛得连咳带喘。
|
| “Sirius never cared about any of the junk —”
|
| 哈利抬起头，在罗恩和赫敏的脸上也看到了自己的震惊。他右手手背上的伤疤似乎又刺痛起来。
|
| There was the sound of pattering feet, a blaze of shining copper, an echoing clang, and a shriek of agony: Kreacher had taken a run at Mundungus and hit him over the head with a saucepan.
|
|
|
| “Call ’im off, call ’im off, ’e should be locked up!” screamed Mundungus, cowering as Kreacher raised the heavy-bottomed pan again.
|
| |
| “Kreacher, no!” shouted Harry.
|
| |
| Kreacher’s thin arms trembled with the weight of the pan, still held aloft.
|
| |
| “Perhaps just one more, Master Harry, for luck?”
|
| |
| Ron laughed.
|
| |
| “We need him conscious, Kreacher, but if he needs persuading you can do the honors,” said Harry.
|
| |
| “Thank you very much, Master,” said Kreacher with a bow, and he retreated a short distance, his great pale eyes still fixed upon Mundungus with loathing.
|
| |
| “When you stripped this house of all the valuables you could find,” Harry began again, “you took a bunch of stuff from the kitchen cupboard. There was a locket there.” Harry’s mouth was suddenly dry: He could sense Ron and Hermione’s tension and excitement too. “What did you do with it?”
|
| |
| “Why?” asked Mundungus. “Is it valuable?”
|
| |
| “You’ve still got it!” cried Hermione.
|
| |
| “No, he hasn’t,” said Ron shrewdly. “He’s wondering whether he should have asked more money for it.”
|
| |
| “More?” said Mundungus. “That wouldn’t have been effing difficult . . . bleedin’ gave it away, di’n’ I? No choice.”
|
| |
| “What do you mean?”
|
| |
| “I was selling in Diagon Alley and she come up to me and asks if I’ve got a license for trading in magical artifacts. Bleedin’ snoop. She was gonna fine me, but she took a fancy to the locket an’ told me she’d take it and let me off that time, and to fink meself lucky.”
|
| |
| “Who was this woman?” asked Harry.
|
| |
| “I dunno, some Ministry hag.”
|
| |
| Mundungus considered for a moment, brow wrinkled.
|
| |
| “Little woman. Bow on top of ’er head.”
|
| |
| He frowned and then added, “Looked like a toad.”
|
| |
| Harry dropped his wand: It hit Mundungus on the nose and shot red sparks into his eyebrows, which ignited.
|
| |
| “Aguamenti !” screamed Hermione, and a jet of water streamed from her wand, engulfing a spluttering and choking Mundungus.
|
| |
| Harry looked up and saw his own shock reflected in Ron’s and Hermione’s faces. The scars on the back of his right hand seemed to be tingling again.
|
| |
|
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