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

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CHAPTER TWELVE MAGIC IS MIGHT

第十二章　魔法即强权

As August wore on, the square of unkempt grass in the middle of Grimmauld Place shriveled in the sun until it was brittle and brown. The inhabitants of number twelve were never seen by anybody in the surrounding houses, and nor was number twelve itself. The Muggles who lived in Grimmauld Place had long since accepted the amusing mistake in the numbering that had caused number eleven to sit beside number thirteen.

八月一天天过去了，格里莫广场中间那片荒草在阳光中枯萎，变脆变黄。12号的房客一直没有被周围人家发现，12号本身也不为人知。格里莫广场的麻瓜住户早已习惯了11号紧挨着13号的可笑错误。

And yet the square was now attracting a trickle of visitors who seemed to find the anomaly most intriguing. Barely a day passed without one or two people arriving in Grimmauld Place with no other purpose, or so it seemed, than to lean against the railings facing numbers eleven and thirteen, watching the join between the two houses. The lurkers were never the same two days running, although they all seemed to share a dislike for normal clothing. Most of the Londoners who passed them were used to eccentric dressers and took little notice, though occasionally one of them might glance back, wondering why anyone would wear such long cloaks in this heat.

但广场现在吸引了一小批好像对这个异常现象很感兴趣的来客。几乎每天都有一两个人来到格里莫广场，没有别的目的（或似乎如此），只为倚在面向11号和13号的栏杆上，凝视两座房子的连接处。每天来的窥视者都与前一天不同，不过他们似乎都不喜欢正常的服饰。路过这里的伦敦人大都看惯了奇装异服，所以也并不留意，只是偶尔有人回头看一眼，奇怪怎么有人在这样的大热天还穿着长斗篷。

The watchers seemed to be gleaning little satisfaction from their vigil. Occasionally one of them started forward excitedly, as if they had seen something interesting at last, only to fall back looking disappointed.

窥视者似乎未能从守望中得到什么满足。偶尔有一个人兴奋地冲向前去，仿佛终于看到了什么有趣的东西，但又总是失望地退了回来。

On the first day of September there were more people lurking in the square than ever before. Half a dozen men in long cloaks stood silent and watchful, gazing as ever at houses eleven and thirteen, but the thing for which they were waiting still appeared elusive. As evening drew in, bringing with it an unexpected gust of chilly rain for the first time in weeks, there occurred one of those inexplicable moments when they appeared to have seen something interesting. The man with the twisted face pointed and his closest companion, a podgy, pallid man, started forward, but a moment later they had relaxed into their previous state of inactivity, looking frustrated and disappointed.

九月的第一天，逗留在广场上的人比以前更多了。六个穿着长斗篷的男人沉默警惕，像往常一样凝视着11号和13号房子，但他们等待的东西似乎仍然无影无踪。傍晚来临，意外地带来了几星期内第一场凉飕飕的阵雨，这里又出现了那种神秘时刻，他们似乎看到了什么有趣的东西。一个歪脸男人指点着，离他最近的同伴——一个矮胖而苍白的男人跃向前去，但片刻之后，他们又恢复了先前静止的状态，显得懊丧而失望。

Meanwhile, inside number twelve, Harry had just entered the hall. He had nearly lost his balance as he Apparated onto the top step just outside the front door, and thought that the Death Eaters might have caught a glimpse of his momentarily exposed elbow. Shutting the front door carefully behind him, he pulled off the Invisibility Cloak, draped it over his arm, and hurried along the gloomy hallway toward the door that led to the basement, a stolen copy of the Daily Prophet clutched in his hand.

与此同时，在12号房中，哈利刚刚走进门厅。他刚才幻影显形到前门外台阶顶上时差点失去平稳，心想食死徒可能看到了他一时暴露在外的胳膊肘。他小心地关上前门，脱下隐形衣搭在手臂上，沿着昏暗的走廊匆匆朝通往地下室的门口走去，手中还捏着一份偷来的《预言家日报》。

The usual low whisper of “Severus Snape?” greeted him, the chill wind swept him, and his tongue rolled up for a moment.

还是那个低低的声音：“西弗勒斯·斯内普？”一阵阴风刮过，他的舌头卷缩了片刻。

“I didn’t kill you,” he said, once it had unrolled, then held his breath as the dusty jinx-figure exploded. He waited until he was halfway down the stairs to the kitchen, out of earshot of Mrs. Black and clear of the dust cloud, before calling, “I’ve got news, and you won’t like it.”

“我没有杀死你。”舌头一松开，他就说道，然后屏住呼吸，土灰色的身影爆炸了。他一直下到通往厨房的楼梯中部，远离了炸出的灰尘，布莱克夫人也听不见时，他才叫道：“有新闻，你们不喜欢的。”

The kitchen was almost unrecognizable. Every surface now shone: Copper pots and pans had been burnished to a rosy glow; the wooden tabletop gleamed; the goblets and plates already laid for dinner glinted in the light from a merrily blazing fire, on which a cauldron was simmering. Nothing in the room, however, was more dramatically different than the house-elf who now came hurrying toward Harry, dressed in a snowy-white towel, his ear hair as clean and fluffy as cotton wool, Regulus’s locket bouncing on his thin chest.

厨房几乎认不出来了。现在所有东西的表面都焕然一新：铜锅和铜盘擦出了玫瑰色光泽，木头桌面也擦得发亮，晚餐的杯碟已经摆好，在炉火辉映下闪闪发光，欢乐的火苗上炖着一口大锅。但那快步迎向哈利的家养小精灵的变化比屋里的变化更大，他裹着一条雪白的毛巾，耳朵里的毛像棉絮一般洁白蓬松，雷古勒斯的挂坠盒在他瘦瘦的胸脯上跳动。

“Shoes off, if you please, Master Harry, and hands washed before dinner,” croaked Kreacher, seizing the Invisibility Cloak and slouching off to hang it on a hook on the wall, beside a number of old-fashioned robes that had been freshly laundered.

“请脱鞋，哈利少爷，洗过手再用晚餐。”克利切低沉沙哑地说，一边抓住隐形衣，疲惫地走过去把它挂到墙上，旁边还挂着好多件新洗的老式袍子。

“What’s happened?” Ron asked apprehensively. He and Hermione had been poring over a sheaf of scribbled notes and hand-drawn maps that littered the end of the long kitchen table, but now they watched Harry as he strode toward them and threw down the newspaper on top of their scattered parchment.

“有什么情况吗？”罗恩担心地问。他和赫敏刚才在研究一沓笔记和手绘地图，把厨房长桌的一头都摊满了，但现在两人都看着哈利。哈利大步走过去，把报纸丢在他们的那堆羊皮纸上。

A large picture of a familiar, hook-nosed, black-haired man stared up at them all, beneath a headline that read:

报上是一张大照片，一个熟悉的鹰钩鼻、黑头发的男子瞪着他们。上面的标题是：

SEVERUS SNAPE CONFIRMED AS HOGWARTS HEADMASTER

西弗勒斯·斯内普接任霍格沃茨校长

“No!” said Ron and Hermione loudly.

“不可能！”罗恩和赫敏同时叫道。

Hermione was quickest; she snatched up the newspaper and began to read the accompanying story out loud.

赫敏动作最快，她抓起报纸大声念了起来。

“ ‘Severus Snape, long-standing Potions master at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, was today appointed headmaster in the most important of several staffing changes at the ancient school. Following the resignation of the previous Muggle Studies teacher, Alecto Carrow will take over the post while her brother, Amycus, fills the position of Defense Against the Dark Arts professor.

“‘西弗勒斯·斯内普，霍格沃茨魔法学校的资深魔药课教师，今日被任命为校长，该决定系这所古老学校的几项人事变动中最重要的一项。原麻瓜研究课教师已经辞职，将由阿莱克托·卡罗接任，她的哥哥阿米库斯将出任黑魔法防御术课教师。’”

“ ‘I welcome the opportunity to uphold our finest Wizarding traditions and values —’ Like committing murder and cutting off people’s ears, I suppose! Snape, headmaster! Snape in Dumbledore’s study — Merlin’s pants!” she shrieked, making both Harry and Ron jump. She leapt up from the table and hurtled from the room, shouting as she went, “I’ll be back in a minute!”

“‘我很高兴有机会维护我们最优秀的魔法传统和价值观——’就是杀人和割耳朵吧，我想！斯内普，校长！斯内普坐在邓布利多的办公室里——梅林的裤子啊！”她尖声大叫，把哈利和罗恩都吓了一大跳。她从桌子边蹦起来，冲出厨房，嘴里喊着：“我马上回来！”

“ ‘Merlin’s pants’?” repeated Ron, looking amused. “She must be upset.” He pulled the newspaper toward him and perused the article about Snape.

“‘梅林的裤子！’？”罗恩似乎觉得好笑，“她准是气糊涂了。”他把报纸拉到面前，细看关于斯内普的文章。

“The other teachers won’t stand for this. McGonagall and Flitwick and Sprout all know the truth, they know how Dumbledore died. They won’t accept Snape as headmaster. And who are these Carrows?”

“其他教师不会容忍的，麦格、弗立维和斯普劳特都知道真相，知道邓布利多是怎么死的。他们不会同意斯内普做校长的。卡罗兄妹是什么人？”

“Death Eaters,” said Harry. “There are pictures of them inside. They were at the top of the tower when Snape killed Dumbledore, so it’s all friends together. And,” Harry went on bitterly, drawing up a chair, “I can’t see that the other teachers have got any choice but to stay. If the Ministry and Voldemort are behind Snape it’ll be a choice between staying and teaching, or a nice few years in Azkaban — and that’s if they’re lucky. I reckon they’ll stay to try and protect the students.”

“食死徒，”哈利说，“报纸里面有照片，斯内普杀死邓布利多时他们也在塔顶，所以都是狐朋狗党。而且，”哈利拉过一把椅子，激愤地说，“我看其他教师除了留下任教之外别无选择。如果魔法部和伏地魔都是斯内普的靠山，那么不是留下任教，就是到阿兹卡班蹲几年——这还算是运气好的。我估计他们会留下来设法保护学生。”

Kreacher came bustling to the table with a large tureen in his hands, and ladled out soup into pristine bowls, whistling between his teeth as he did so.

克利切端着大汤碗匆匆走到桌旁，把汤舀进洁净的小碗里，一边吹着口哨。

“Thanks, Kreacher,” said Harry, flipping over the Prophet so as not to have to look at Snape’s face. “Well, at least we know exactly where Snape is now.”

“谢谢，克利切，”哈利说着合上报纸，他不想看到斯内普的面孔，“至少我们现在知道斯内普在哪儿了。”

He began to spoon soup into his mouth. The quality of Kreacher’s cooking had improved dramatically ever since he had been given Regulus’s locket: Today’s French onion was as good as Harry had ever tasted.

他开始用勺子喝汤，自从得到雷古勒斯的挂坠盒之后，克利切的厨艺大大提高，今天的法式洋葱汤完全堪称哈利尝过的最好口味。

“There are still a load of Death Eaters watching the house,” he told Ron as he ate, “more than usual. It’s like they’re hoping we’ll march out carrying our school trunks and head off for the Hogwarts Express.”

“还有好多食死徒在监视这幢房子，”他边吃边告诉罗恩，“比平时多，好像指望我们拖着箱子出去乘坐霍格沃茨特快列车似的。”

Ron glanced at his watch.

罗恩看了看表。

“I’ve been thinking about that all day. It left nearly six hours ago. Weird, not being on it, isn’t it?”

“我一整天都在想这事。它六小时前就开走了，不在车上感觉怪怪的，是不是？”

In his mind’s eye Harry seemed to see the scarlet steam engine as he and Ron had once followed it by air, shimmering between fields and hills, a rippling scarlet caterpillar. He was sure Ginny, Neville, and Luna were sitting together at this moment, perhaps wondering where he, Ron, and Hermione were, or debating how best to undermine Snape’s new regime.

哈利仿佛看到那列红色的蒸汽机车，跟他和罗恩在空中追随它那次一样，闪闪发光地穿行在田野山岭之间，像一条蠕动的红色毛虫。他相信金妮、纳威和卢娜此刻正坐在一起，也许在猜测他、罗恩和赫敏在什么地方，或是在争论怎样才能破坏斯内普的新政权。

“They nearly saw me coming back in just now,” Harry said. “I landed badly on the top step, and the Cloak slipped.”

“刚才他们差点看见我回来。”哈利说，“我在台阶顶上没站稳，隐形衣滑开了。”

“I do that every time. Oh, here she is,” Ron added, craning around in his seat to watch Hermione reentering the kitchen. “And what in the name of Merlin’s most baggy Y Fronts was that about?”

“我每次都这样。哦，她来了，”罗恩扭过头去看赫敏走进厨房，“梅林最肥的三角短裤啊，这到底是怎么回事？”

“I remembered this,” Hermione panted.

“我想起了这个。”赫敏气喘吁吁地说。

She was carrying a large, framed picture, which she now lowered to the floor before seizing her small, beaded bag from the kitchen sideboard. Opening it, she proceeded to force the painting inside, and despite the fact that it was patently too large to fit inside the tiny bag, within a few seconds it had vanished, like so much else, into the bag’s capacious depths.

她抱来个大画框，放到地上，从厨房柜子里抓过她的串珠小包，打开来把画往里塞。虽然这画框明显太大，但几秒钟后它也像那么多东西一样，消失在小包宽敞无比的肚子里了。

“Phineas Nigellus,” Hermione explained as she threw the bag onto the kitchen table with the usual sonorous, clanking crash.

“菲尼亚斯·奈杰勒斯。”赫敏解释道，把小包扔在厨房桌子上，发出平常那种响亮沉重的撞击声。

“Sorry?” said Ron, but Harry understood. The painted image of Phineas Nigellus Black was able to flit between his portrait in Grimmauld Place and the one that hung in the headmaster’s office at Hogwarts: the circular tower-top room where Snape was no doubt sitting right now, in triumphant possession of Dumbledore’s collection of delicate, silver magical instruments, the stone Pensieve, the Sorting Hat and, unless it had been moved elsewhere, the sword of Gryffindor.

“什么？”罗恩说，可是哈利懂了。菲尼亚斯·奈杰勒斯·布莱克的肖像能在格里莫广场和霍格沃茨校长办公室的两个画框之间自由来去，斯内普现在肯定已坐在塔楼顶上那个圆形的房间，得意地占据了邓布利多那些精致的银色魔法仪器、石头冥想盆、分院帽，还有格兰芬多的宝剑——如果它未被转移的话。

“Snape could send Phineas Nigellus to look inside this house for him,” Hermione explained to Ron as she resumed her seat. “But let him try it now, all Phineas Nigellus will be able to see is the inside of my handbag.”

“斯内普可以派菲尼亚斯·奈杰勒斯到这所房子里来打探情况。”赫敏向罗恩解释着，坐了下来，“现在让他打探去吧，菲尼亚斯·奈杰勒斯只能看到我手提包里的东西。”

“Good thinking!” said Ron, looking impressed.

“高啊！”罗恩钦佩地说。

“Thank you,” smiled Hermione, pulling her soup toward her. “So, Harry, what else happened today?”

“谢谢。”赫敏微微一笑，把汤碗拉到了面前，“哈利，今天还有什么情况吗？”

“Nothing,” said Harry. “Watched the Ministry entrance for seven hours. No sign of her. Saw your dad, though, Ron. He looks fine.”

“没什么了，”哈利说，“在魔法部门口侦察了七个小时，没发现那女人，但见到了你爸爸，罗恩，他看上去挺好的。”

Ron nodded his appreciation of this news. They had agreed that it was far too dangerous to try and communicate with Mr. Weasley while he walked in and out of the Ministry, because he was always surrounded by other Ministry workers. It was, however, reassuring to catch these glimpses of him, even if he did look very strained and anxious.

罗恩点点头对这个消息表示感谢。他们一致认为在韦斯莱先生进出魔法部时跟他联络太危险了，因为他身边总是围着部里的其他人员。不过，能够看到他也是一种安慰，即使他看上去十分紧张和焦虑。

“Dad always told us most Ministry people use the Floo Network to get to work,” Ron said. “That’s why we haven’t seen Umbridge, she’d never walk, she’d think she’s too important.”

“爸爸常说部里大多数人都用飞路网上班，”罗恩说，“所以我们没看到乌姆里奇，她不会走路的，她那么妄自尊大。”

“And what about that funny old witch and that little wizard in the navy robes?” Hermione asked.

“那个可笑的老女巫和那个穿藏青色袍子的小男巫呢？”赫敏问。

“Oh yeah, the bloke from Magical Maintenance,” said Ron.

“哦，对了，就是魔法维修保养处的那小子。”罗恩说。

“How do you know he works for Magical Maintenance?” Hermione asked, her soupspoon suspended in midair.

“你怎么知道他在魔法维修保养处工作？”赫敏问，汤勺举在半空。

“Dad said everyone from Magical Maintenance wears navy blue robes.”

“爸爸说魔法维修保养处的人都穿藏青色袍子。”

“But you never told us that!”

“可你没跟我们说过！”

Hermione dropped her spoon and pulled toward her the sheaf of notes and maps that she and Ron had been examining when Harry had entered the kitchen.

赫敏放下汤勺，把哈利进来时她和罗恩正在研究的那沓笔记和地图拉到了面前。

“There’s nothing in here about navy blue robes, nothing!” she said, flipping feverishly through the pages.

“这里没提到藏青色袍子，压根儿没提！”她焦急地翻着那些纸片说。

“Well, does it really matter?”

“好啦，真的有关系吗？”

“Ron, it all matters! If we’re going to get into the Ministry and not give ourselves away when they’re bound to be on the lookout for intruders, every little detail matters! We’ve been over and over this, I mean, what’s the point of all these reconnaissance trips if you aren’t even bothering to tell us —”

“罗恩，全都有关系！魔法部现在肯定是戒备森严，如果我们要溜进部里而不被人发现，每个小细节都很重要！我们已经重复了很多遍，我的意思是，侦察这么多趟有什么用，如果你都不告诉我们——”

“Blimey, Hermione, I forget one little thing —”

“我的天哪，赫敏，我只忘记了一件小事——”

“You do realize, don’t you, that there’s probably no more dangerous place in the whole world for us to be right now than the Ministry of —”

“你知不知道，现在对我们来讲，也许全世界再没有哪个地方比魔法部更危——”

“I think we should do it tomorrow,” said Harry.

“我想我们应该明天就去。”哈利说。

Hermione stopped dead, her jaw hanging; Ron choked a little over his soup.

赫敏目瞪口呆。罗恩喝汤呛着了。

“Tomorrow?” repeated Hermione. “You aren’t serious, Harry?”

“明天？”赫敏问道，“你不是认真的吧，哈利？”

“I am,” said Harry. “I don’t think we’re going to be much better prepared than we are now even if we skulk around the Ministry entrance for another month. The longer we put it off, the farther away that locket could be. There’s already a good chance Umbridge has chucked it away; the thing doesn’t open.”

“我是，”哈利说，“我想，就算我们在魔法部门口再侦察一个月，也不会比现在准备更充分多少。拖得越久就会离挂坠盒越远。很可能乌姆里奇已经把它扔掉了，那玩意儿打不开。”

“Unless,” said Ron, “she’s found a way of opening it and she’s now possessed.”

“除非，”罗恩说，“她想办法打开了它，现在已经被它附身了。”

“Wouldn’t make any difference to her, she was so evil in the first place,” Harry shrugged.

“对她来说没什么区别，她本来就够邪恶了。”哈利耸耸肩说。

Hermione was biting her lip, deep in thought.

赫敏咬着嘴唇，在那里沉思。

“We know everything important,” Harry went on, addressing Hermione. “We know they’ve stopped Apparition in and out of the Ministry. We know only the most senior Ministry members are allowed to connect their homes to the Floo Network now, because Ron heard those two Unspeakables complaining about it. And we know roughly where Umbridge’s office is, because of what you heard that bearded bloke saying to his mate —”

“我们知道了所有重要的情况，”哈利对赫敏说，“他们不再幻影显形出入魔法部，现在只有部里最高级人员的家里才能连接飞路网，这是罗恩听那两个小人物抱怨时说的。我们大致知道乌姆里奇的办公室在哪儿，因为你听到那个山羊胡对他的同伴说——”

“ ‘I’ll be up on level one, Dolores wants to see me,’ ” Hermione recited immediately.

“‘我要上二层，多洛雷斯想见我。’”赫敏马上背诵道。

“Exactly,” said Harry. “And we know you get in using those funny coins, or tokens, or whatever they are, because I saw that witch borrowing one from her friend —”

“正是，”哈利说，“而且我们知道进门要用那些可笑的硬币样的玩意儿，或是证明币，管它叫什么呢，因为我看到那个女巫向朋友借了一个——”

“But we haven’t got any!”

“可我们没有！”

“If the plan works, we will have,” Harry continued calmly.

“如果计划成功，我们就会有的。”哈利平静地说。

“I don’t know, Harry, I don’t know. . . . There are an awful lot of things that could go wrong, so much relies on chance. . . .”

“我不知道，哈利，我不知道……有那么多环节可能出错，那么多地方都要靠运气……”

“That’ll be true even if we spend another three months preparing,” said Harry. “It’s time to act.”

“即使我们再花三个月准备，也还是如此。”哈利说，“该采取行动了。”

He could tell from Ron’s and Hermione’s faces that they were scared; he was not particularly confident himself, and yet he was sure the time had come to put their plan into operation.

从罗恩和赫敏的表情，哈利看出他们很害怕。他自己也不是那么有信心，然而他相信已经到了该实施计划的时间。

They had spent the previous four weeks taking it in turns to don the Invisibility Cloak and spy on the official entrance to the Ministry, which Ron, thanks to Mr. Weasley, had known since childhood. They had tailed Ministry workers on their way in, eavesdropped on their conversations, and learned by careful observation which of them could be relied upon to appear, alone, at the same time every day. Occasionally there had been a chance to sneak a Daily Prophet out of somebody’s briefcase. Slowly they had built up the sketchy maps and notes now stacked in front of Hermione.

在过去的四个星期里，他们轮流穿着隐形衣去魔法部门口侦察，由于韦斯莱先生的关系，罗恩自幼对那时很熟。他们跟踪进去上班的部里人员，偷听人家谈话，并通过仔细观察摸清了哪些人会在每天同一时间单独出现。偶尔有机会从某人公文包里偷一份《预言家日报》。一点一点地，他们积攒成了此刻堆在赫敏面前的草图和笔记。

“All right,” said Ron slowly, “let’s say we go for it tomorrow. . . . I think it should just be me and Harry.”

“好吧，”罗恩慢吞吞地说，“假设我们明天就去……我想应该就哈利和我两个人。”

“Oh, don’t start that again!” sighed Hermione. “I thought we’d settled this.”

“哦，不要又提这个！”赫敏叹着气说，“我想我们都已经说好了。”

“It’s one thing hanging around the entrances under the Cloak, but this is different, Hermione.” Ron jabbed a finger at a copy of the Daily Prophet dated ten days previously. “You’re on the list of Muggle-borns who didn’t present themselves for interrogation!”

“穿着隐形衣在门口侦察是一回事，可现在是另一回事，赫敏。”罗恩用手指戳着一份十天前的《预言家日报》，“你被列入了没去接受审查的麻瓜出身者名单！”

“And you’re supposed to be dying of spattergroit at the Burrow! If anyone shouldn’t go, it’s Harry, he’s got a ten-thousand-Galleon price on his head —”

“而你应该在陋居身患散花痘，生命垂危！如果有谁不应该去的话，那就是哈利，他被悬赏一万加隆——”

“Fine, I’ll stay here,” said Harry. “Let me know if you ever defeat Voldemort, won’t you?”

“好吧，我留在这儿，”哈利说，“你们要是打败了伏地魔，给我送个信，好不好？”

As Ron and Hermione laughed, pain shot through the scar on Harry’s forehead. His hand jumped to it: He saw Hermione’s eyes narrow, and he tried to pass off the movement by brushing his hair out of his eyes.

罗恩和赫敏笑了起来，哈利额上的伤疤突然一阵剧痛，他本能地用手一捂，看到赫敏眯起了眼睛，赶忙捋了捋头发加以掩饰。

“Well, if all three of us go we’ll have to Disapparate separately,” Ron was saying. “We can’t all fit under the Cloak anymore.”

“如果三个人都去，就必须分头幻影移形，”罗恩说，“隐形衣已经盖不住我们三个了。”

Harry’s scar was becoming more and more painful. He stood up. At once, Kreacher hurried forward.

哈利的伤疤越来越痛，他站起身，克利切立刻奔上前去。

“Master has not finished his soup, would Master prefer the savory stew, or else the treacle tart to which Master is so partial?”

“主人的汤没有喝完，主人是要美味的炖菜，还是要主人非常偏爱的糖浆水果馅饼？”

“Thanks, Kreacher, but I’ll be back in a minute — er — bathroom.”

“谢谢，克利切，我马上就回来——呃——去趟卫生间。”

Aware that Hermione was watching him suspiciously, Harry hurried up the stairs to the hall and then to the first landing, where he dashed into the bathroom and bolted the door again. Grunting with pain, he slumped over the black basin with its taps in the form of open-mouthed serpents and closed his eyes. . . .

感觉到赫敏在怀疑地盯着他，哈利急忙上楼经过门厅，到了二楼的楼梯口，冲进卫生间，插上了门。他痛苦的呻吟着，趴到那个龙头是蛇嘴形状的黑盆上，紧闭双眼……

He was gliding along a twilit street. The buildings on either side of him had high, timbered gables; they looked like gingerbread houses.

他在一条昏暗的巷子里飘行，两边的房屋都有高高的木板山墙，看上去像姜饼做的房子。

He approached one of them, then saw the whiteness of his own long-fingered hand against the door. He knocked. He felt a mounting excitement. . . .

他走近一座房子，看到他自己苍白修长的手指伸到门上，他在敲门，内心越来越兴奋……

The door opened: A laughing woman stood there. Her face fell as she looked into Harry’s face: humor gone, terror replacing it. . . .

门开了，一个女人笑着站在那里，看到哈利的面孔，她一下变了脸色，笑容消失了，被恐惧所代替……

“Gregorovitch?” said a high, cold voice.

“格里戈维奇？”一个高亢、冷酷的声音问。

She shook her head: She was trying to close the door. A white hand held it steady, prevented her shutting him out. . . .

她摇摇头，想要关门。一只苍白的手牢牢抵住它，不让她把他关在外面……

“I want Gregorovitch.”

“我找格里戈维奇。”

“Er wohnt hier nicht mehr!” she cried, shaking her head. “He no live here! He no live here! I know him not!”

“他不在这儿了！（原文是德语）”她摇着头喊道，“他不住这儿！他不住这儿！我不认识他！”

Abandoning the attempt to close the door, she began to back away down the dark hall, and Harry followed, gliding toward her, and his long-fingered hand had drawn his wand.

她放弃了关门，往黑暗的门厅里退去。哈利跟在后面，无声无息地向她飘过去，长长的手指已经抽出了魔杖。

“Where is he?”

“他在哪儿？”

“Das weiß ich nicht! He move! I know not, I know not!”

“我不知道！（原文是德语）他搬走了！我不知道，我不知道！”

He raised the wand. She screamed. Two young children came running into the hall. She tried to shield them with her arms. There was a flash of green light —

他举起魔杖，那女人尖叫起来，两个小孩跑进门厅。她张开双臂想要保护他们，一道绿光——

“Harry! HARRY!”

“哈利！哈利！”

He opened his eyes; he had sunk to the floor. Hermione was pounding on the door again.

他睁开眼，发现自己已经倒在地上，赫敏又在捶门。

“Harry, open up!”

“哈利，开门！”

He had shouted out, he knew it. He got up and unbolted the door; Hermione toppled inside at once, regained her balance, and looked around suspiciously. Ron was right behind her, looking unnerved as he pointed his wand into the corners of the chilly bathroom.

自己刚才喊出了声，他知道。他站起来打开了门，赫敏一头栽了进来，恢复平衡之后怀疑地打量着四周。罗恩也跟了进来，紧张地用魔杖指着阴冷的卫生间里各个角落。

“What were you doing?” asked Hermione sternly.

“你在干什么？”赫敏严厉地问。

“What d’you think I was doing?” asked Harry with feeble bravado.

“你认为我在干什么？”哈利虚张声势地反问。

“You were yelling your head off!” said Ron.

“你在里面大喊大叫！”罗恩说。

“Oh yeah . . . I must’ve dozed off or —”

“哦，是啊……我一定是睡着了，或者——”

“Harry, please don’t insult our intelligence,” said Hermione, taking deep breaths. “We know your scar hurt downstairs, and you’re white as a sheet.”

“哈利，请不要侮辱我们的智力，”赫敏大口吸着气说，“我们在楼下就知道你的伤疤又疼了，而且你的脸跟纸一样白。”

Harry sat down on the edge of the bath.

哈利在浴缸边沿坐了下来。

“Fine. I’ve just seen Voldemort murdering a woman. By now he’s probably killed her whole family. And he didn’t need to. It was Cedric all over again, they were just there. . . .”

“好吧，我刚才看到伏地魔杀死了一个女人。现在他可能已经杀死了她的全家。他不需要这么做，又像赛德里克那样，他们只是在那儿……”

“Harry, you aren’t supposed to let this happen anymore!” Hermione cried, her voice echoing through the bathroom. “Dumbledore wanted you to use Occlumency! He thought the connection was dangerous — Voldemort can use it, Harry! What good is it to watch him kill and torture, how can it help?”

“哈利，你不应该再让这样的事发生！”赫敏嚷道，回音响彻卫生间，“邓布利多要你学会大脑封闭术！他认为这种联系是危险的——伏地魔可以利用它，哈利！看他杀人和折磨人有什么好处，有什么用呢？”

“Because it means I know what he’s doing,” said Harry.

“我能知道他在干什么。”哈利说。

“So you’re not even going to try to shut him out?”

“所以你根本不想努力断了它？”

“Hermione, I can’t. You know I’m lousy at Occlumency, I never got the hang of it.”

“赫敏，我做不到。你知道我大脑封闭术练得多差，一直找不到诀窍。”

“You never really tried!” she said hotly. “I don’t get it, Harry — do you like having this special connection or relationship or what — whatever —”

“你从来没有真正努力过！”她激烈地说，“我不明白，哈利——你是不是喜欢有这种特殊的联系，或感应，或——管它叫什么——”

She faltered under the look he gave her as he stood up.

看到他的目光，她嗫嚅了。哈利站了起来。

“Like it?” he said quietly. “Would you like it?”

“喜欢？”他低声问，“你会喜欢吗？”

“I — no — I’m sorry, Harry, I didn’t mean —”

“我——不——对不起，哈利，我不是那个意思——”

“I hate it, I hate the fact that he can get inside me, that I have to watch him when he’s most dangerous. But I’m going to use it.”

“我讨厌它，我讨厌他闯进我的脑海，我讨厌不得不在他最可怕的时候看到他，但是我要利用它。”

“Dumbledore —”

“邓布利多——”

“Forget Dumbledore. This is my choice, nobody else’s. I want to know why he’s after Gregorovitch.”

“别提邓布利多。这是我的选择，不是其他人的。我想知道他为什么要找格里戈维奇。”

“Who?”

“谁？”

“He’s a foreign wandmaker,” said Harry. “He made Krum’s wand and Krum reckons he’s brilliant.”

“一个制作魔杖的外国人。”哈利说，“他做了克鲁姆的魔杖，克鲁姆认为他手艺高超。”

“But according to you,” said Ron, “Voldemort’s got Ollivander locked up somewhere. If he’s already got a wandmaker, what does he need another one for?”

“可是你说过，”罗恩说，“伏地魔把奥利凡德关在什么地方了。他既然已经有了一个会做魔杖的，为什么还要再找一个呢？”

“Maybe he agrees with Krum, maybe he thinks Gregorovitch is better . . . or else he thinks Gregorovitch will be able to explain what my wand did when he was chasing me, because Ollivander didn’t know.”

“也许他与克鲁姆的看法一样，也许他认为格里戈维奇手艺更好……或者，上次他追我时我魔杖的所作所为，他认为格里戈维奇能够解释，而奥利凡德不知道。”

Harry glanced into the cracked, dusty mirror and saw Ron and Hermione exchanging skeptical looks behind his back.

哈利朝着灰蒙蒙的破镜子里望去，看到罗恩和赫敏在他背后交换着怀疑的眼神。

“Harry, you keep talking about what your wand did,” said Hermione, “but you made it happen! Why are you so determined not to take responsibility for your own power?”

“哈利，你总是说你的魔杖的行为，”赫敏说，“其实是你使它发生的！你为什么这样坚决不肯为你自己的能力负责呢？”

“Because I know it wasn’t me! And so does Voldemort, Hermione! We both know what really happened!”

“因为我知道绝不是我！伏地魔也知道，赫敏！我和他都知道事实是什么样的！”

They glared at each other: Harry knew that he had not convinced Hermione and that she was marshaling counterarguments, against both his theory on his wand and the fact that he was permitting himself to see into Voldemort’s mind. To his relief, Ron intervened.

两人都瞪着对方，哈利知道他并未说服赫敏，她正在脑子里搜集论据，要批驳他的魔杖理论，还要批驳他允许自己看到伏地魔的思想。令他庆幸的是，罗恩来调停了。

“Drop it,” he advised her. “It’s up to him. And if we’re going to the Ministry tomorrow, don’t you reckon we should go over the plan?”

“算了，”他对赫敏说，“这是他的事。如果明天要去魔法部，你不觉得我们应该温习一下行动计划吗？”

Reluctantly, as the other two could tell, Hermione let the matter rest, though Harry was quite sure she would attack again at the first opportunity. In the meantime, they returned to the basement kitchen, where Kreacher served them all stew and treacle tart.

赫敏放开了这个话题，哈利和罗恩看得出她很不情愿，哈利相信她一有机会还要开火的。三个人回到地下室的厨房，克利切给他们端上了炖菜和糖浆水果馅饼。

They did not get to bed until late that night, after spending hours going over and over their plan until they could recite it, word perfect, to each other. Harry, who was now sleeping in Sirius’s room, lay in bed with his wandlight trained on the old photograph of his father, Sirius, Lupin, and Pettigrew, and muttered the plan to himself for another ten minutes. As he extinguished his wand, however, he was thinking not of Polyjuice Potion, Puking Pastilles, or the navy blue robes of Magical Maintenance; he thought of Gregorovitch the wandmaker, and how long he could hope to remain hidden while Voldemort sought him so determinedly.

他们一遍遍地温习行动计划，最后背得一字不差，直到深夜才上床睡觉。哈利现在睡在小天狼星的房间，他躺在床上，魔杖的光指着他父亲、小天狼星、卢平和小矮星的那张旧照片，又叽里咕噜地把计划背了十分钟。但熄灭魔杖时，他想的不是复方汤剂、吐吐糖和魔法维修保养处的藏青色袍子，而是制作魔杖的格里戈维奇，伏地魔如果决意要找到他，不知道他还能躲多久。

Dawn seemed to follow midnight with indecent haste.

黎明追着子夜来临了，似乎匆忙得乱了阵脚。

“You look terrible,” was Ron’s greeting as he entered the room to wake Harry.

“你的脸色很难看。”罗恩进来叫醒哈利时说。

“Not for long,” said Harry, yawning.

“很快就会好的。”哈利打着哈欠回答。

They found Hermione downstairs in the kitchen. She was being served coffee and hot rolls by Kreacher and wearing the slightly manic expression that Harry associated with exam review.

他们在楼下厨房里看到了赫敏，对着克利切端上的咖啡和热面包卷，她的脸上是那种有点疯狂的表情，哈利马上联想到考前复习。

“Robes,” she said under her breath, acknowledging their presence with a nervous nod and continuing to poke around in her beaded bag, “Polyjuice Potion . . . Invisibility Cloak . . . Decoy Detonators . . . You should each take a couple just in case. . . . Puking Pastilles, Nosebleed Nougat, Extendable Ears . . .”

“袍子，”她喃喃自语，紧张地朝他们点了下头，继续在她的串珠小包里摸索，“复方汤剂……隐形衣……诱饵炸弹……你们每人要拿两个，以防万一……吐吐糖、鼻血牛轧糖、伸缩耳……”

They gulped down their breakfast, then set off upstairs, Kreacher bowing them out and promising to have a steak-and-kidney pie ready for them when they returned.

他们大口吃完早饭，动身上楼，克利切鞠躬相送，并保证做好牛排腰子馅饼等他们回来。

“Bless him,” said Ron fondly, “and when you think I used to fantasize about cutting off his head and sticking it on the wall.”

“上帝保佑他，”罗恩感动地说道，“想想吧，我还曾经幻想把他脑袋割下来，钉在墙上呢。”

They made their way onto the front step with immense caution: They could see a couple of puffy-eyed Death Eaters watching the house from across the misty square.

他们小心翼翼地站到台阶顶上，可以看到两个肿眼睛的食死徒隔着雾蒙蒙的广场朝这边望着。赫敏先跟罗恩幻影移形，然后又回来带哈利。

Hermione Disapparated with Ron first, then came back for Harry.

经过那短暂的黑暗和窒息般的感觉，哈利发现自己站在一条小巷子里，按照计划，行动的第一部分将在这里进行。巷子里空荡荡的，只有两个大垃圾箱。第一批魔法部工作人员至少要到八点才会出现。

After the usual brief spell of darkness and near suffocation, Harry found himself in the tiny alleyway where the first phase of their plan was scheduled to take place. It was as yet deserted, except for a couple of large bins; the first Ministry workers did not usually appear here until at least eight o’clock.

“好啦，”赫敏看看手表，“她再过五分钟就该到了，我把她击昏后——”

“Right then,” said Hermione, checking her watch. “She ought to be here in about five minutes. When I’ve Stunned her —”

“赫敏，我们知道了，”罗恩不高兴地说，“而且，我记得我们应该在她来之前把门打开吧？”

“Hermione, we know,” said Ron sternly. “And I thought we were supposed to open the door before she got here?”

赫敏尖叫一声：“我差点忘了！闪开——”

Hermione squealed.

她用魔杖一指旁边那扇挂着铁锁、满是涂鸦的防火门，门砰的一声开了。他们通过多次仔细侦察知道，门后黑乎乎的走廊通向一个无人的剧院。赫敏把门拉上，使它看上去还像关着一样。

“I nearly forgot! Stand back —”

“现在，”她转过身，对着巷子里的两个同伴说道，“我们重新披上隐形衣——”

She pointed her wand at the padlocked and heavily graffitied fire door beside them, which burst open with a crash. The dark corridor behind it led, as they knew from their careful scouting trips, into an empty theater. Hermione pulled the door back toward her, to make it look as though it was still closed.

“——等着。”罗恩接口说完，把隐形衣披到赫敏头上，像用羊毛毯盖住一只虎皮鹦鹉似的，一边朝哈利转转眼珠。

“And now,” she said, turning back to face the other two in the alleyway, “we put on the Cloak again —”

一分多钟之后，他们听到噗的一声轻响，一个灰发飘飘的小个子魔法部女巫在他们面前几英尺处幻影显形，被突如其来的光亮照得有点睁不开眼睛。太阳刚刚从一片云后面出来，可是，她还没来得及享受这意外的温暖，赫敏无声的昏迷咒已经击中她的胸口，她倒了下去。

“— and we wait,” Ron finished, throwing it over Hermione’s head like a blanket over a birdcage and rolling his eyes at Harry.

“干得漂亮，赫敏。”罗恩赞道，从剧院门口的垃圾箱后钻了出来，哈利脱下隐形衣。三人一起把小个子女巫拖进通往后台的黑暗走廊。赫敏从女巫头上拔了几根头发，从串珠小包里拿出一瓶浑浊的复方汤剂，把头发加了进去。罗恩在女巫的手提包里翻找着。

Little more than a minute later, there was a tiny pop and a little Ministry witch with flyaway gray hair Apparated feet from them, blinking a little in the sudden brightness; the sun had just come out from behind a cloud. She barely had time to enjoy the unexpected warmth, however, before Hermione’s silent Stunning Spell hit her in the chest and she toppled over.

“她是马法尔达·霍普柯克，”他念着一张小卡片，被击昏的那人是禁止滥用魔法司的一名助理，“你最好拿着这个，赫敏，还有证明币。”

“Nicely done, Hermione,” said Ron, emerging from behind a bin beside the theater door as Harry took off the Invisibility Cloak. Together they carried the little witch into the dark passageway that led backstage. Hermione plucked a few hairs from the witch’s head and added them to a flask of muddy Polyjuice Potion she had taken from the beaded bag. Ron was rummaging through the little witch’s handbag.

他递给她几枚小小的金色硬币，都印着M．O．M．（魔法部的英文首字母缩写）的凸纹字样，是在那女巫的钱包里找到的。

“She’s Mafalda Hopkirk,” he said, reading a small card that identified their victim as an assistant in the Improper Use of Magic Office. “You’d better take this, Hermione, and here are the tokens.”

复方汤剂已经变成了令人愉快的淡紫色，赫敏把它喝下去，几秒钟后就变成了马法尔达·霍普柯克站在他们面前。她摘下马法尔达的眼镜戴上，哈利看了看表。

He passed her several small golden coins, all embossed with the letters M.O.M., which he had taken from the witch’s purse.

“我们有点晚了，魔法维修保养处先生就要来了。”

Hermione drank the Polyjuice Potion, which was now a pleasant heliotrope color, and within seconds stood before them, the double of Mafalda Hopkirk. As she removed Mafalda’s spectacles and put them on, Harry checked his watch.

他们赶紧把真马法尔达关在门后，哈利和罗恩披上隐形衣，赫敏仍然站在那里等候。几秒钟后，又是噗的一声，一个长得像白鼬的小个子男巫出现在他们面前。

“We’re running late, Mr. Magical Maintenance will be here any second.”

“哦，你好，马法尔达。”

They hurried to close the door on the real Mafalda; Harry and Ron threw the Invisibility Cloak over themselves but Hermione remained in view, waiting. Seconds later there was another pop, and a small, ferrety-looking wizard appeared before them.

“你好！”赫敏用发颤的嗓音说，“你今天怎么样？”

“Oh, hello, Mafalda.”

“不大好。”小个子男巫答道，他看上去萎靡不振。

“Hello!” said Hermione in a quavery voice. “How are you today?”

赫敏和那男巫朝主街道走去，哈利和罗恩蹑手蹑脚地跟在后面。

“Not so good, actually,” replied the little wizard, who looked thoroughly downcast.

“你觉得不舒服啊，我很同情。”小个子男巫想解释他的情况，赫敏坚决地提高嗓门把他的话压了回去，她必须在他走到街上之前拦住他，“给——吃块糖吧。”

As Hermione and the wizard headed for the main road, Harry and Ron crept along behind them.

“呃？哦，不用了，谢谢——”

“I’m sorry to hear you’re under the weather,” said Hermione, talking firmly over the little wizard as he tried to expound upon his problems; it was essential to stop him from reaching the street. “Here, have a sweet.”

“一定要吃！”赫敏强硬地说，在他面前挥舞着那吐吐糖，小个子男巫似乎被吓着了，就拿了一块。

“Eh? Oh, no thanks —”

效果立竿见影。吐吐糖一碰到他的舌头，小个子男巫就剧烈地呕吐起来，甚至没有注意到赫敏从他头顶扯下一撮头发。

“I insist!” said Hermione aggressively, shaking the bag of pastilles in his face. Looking rather alarmed, the little wizard took one.

“哦，天哪——”她说道，看到他在巷子里吐了一地，“你可能得休息一天了！”

The effect was instantaneous. The moment the pastille touched his tongue, the little wizard started vomiting so hard that he did not even notice as Hermione yanked a handful of hairs from the top of his head.

“不——不！”他一边干呕着，一边还在往前走，虽然路都走不直了，“我必须——今天——必须去——”

“Oh dear!” she said, as he splattered the alley with sick. “Perhaps you’d better take the day off!”

“可这样太愚蠢了！”赫敏惊恐地说，“你这个样子不能上班了——我想你应该去圣芒戈医院查一查！”

“No — no!” He choked and retched, trying to continue on his way despite being unable to walk straight. “I must — today — must go —”

那男巫已经站不起来了，还在试图往街上挪动。

“But that’s just silly!” said Hermione, alarmed. “You can’t go to work in this state — I think you ought to go to St. Mungo’s and get them to sort you out!”

“你不能这样去上班！”赫敏喊道。

The wizard had collapsed, heaving, onto all fours, still trying to crawl toward the main street.

他终于似乎接受了她所讲的事实，抓着一脸嫌恶的赫敏勉强站起来，原地旋转消失了，只留下罗恩在最后一刻从他手中扯下的一个包和一些飘飞的呕吐物。

“You simply can’t go to work like this!” cried Hermione.

“哟嗐，”赫敏拎起袍子下摆，避开地上吐的那一摊东西，“还不如把他也击昏干净得多。”

At last he seemed to accept the truth of her words. Using a repulsed Hermione to claw his way back into a standing position, he turned on the spot and vanished, leaving nothing behind but the bag Ron had snatched from his hand as he went and some flying chunks of vomit.

“是啊，”罗恩说，拿着男巫的包钻出隐形衣，“可我还是认为一堆昏迷的人更容易引起注意。他倒挺热爱工作，是不是？把头发和汤剂扔过来吧。”

“Urgh,” said Hermione, holding up the skirts of her robe to avoid the puddles of sick. “It would have made much less mess to Stun him too.”

两分钟后，罗恩站在他们面前，个子矮小，长得像白鼬，跟那个生病的男巫一样，并且穿上叠放在他包里的藏青色袍子。

“Yeah,” said Ron, emerging from under the cloak holding the wizard’s bag, “but I still think a whole pile of unconscious bodies would have drawn more attention. Keen on his job, though, isn’t he? Chuck us the hair and the potion, then.”

“奇怪他今天为什么没穿，是不是，既然他那么想上班？管他呢，我是雷吉·卡特莫尔，背后有名字。”

Within two minutes, Ron stood before them, as small and ferrety as the sick wizard, and wearing the navy blue robes that had been folded in his bag.

哈利等了十分钟，但是感觉过了好久，一个人躺在满地是呕吐物的巷子里，旁边的门里藏着被击昏的马法尔达。终于，罗恩和赫敏回来了。

“Weird he wasn’t wearing them today, wasn’t it, seeing how much he wanted to go? Anyway, I’m Reg Cattermole, according to the label in the back.”

“不知道他是谁，”赫敏递给哈利几根黑色的鬈发说，“但他已经回家了，鼻血流得一塌糊涂！他挺高的，你得换件大袍子……”

“Now wait here,” Hermione told Harry, who was still under the Invisibility Cloak, “and we’ll be back with some hairs for you.”

她抽出一套克利切为他们洗干净的旧袍子，哈利去喝汤剂变形。

He had to wait ten minutes, but it seemed much longer to Harry, skulking alone in the sick-splattered alleyway beside the door concealing the Stunned Mafalda. Finally Ron and Hermione reappeared.

痛苦的变化完成后，他身高六英尺多，从胳膊上的肌肉可以看出体魄十分健壮，下巴上还留着胡须。他把隐形衣和眼镜塞进新换的裤子里，站到另外两人旁边。

“We don’t know who he is,” Hermione said, passing Harry several curly black hairs, “but he’s gone home with a dreadful nosebleed! Here, he’s pretty tall, you’ll need bigger robes. . . .”

“我的天，好吓人哪。”罗恩仰望着铁塔般屹立在他面前的哈利说。

She pulled out a set of the old robes Kreacher had laundered for them, and Harry retired to take the potion and change.

“拿一个马法尔达的证明币，”赫敏提醒哈利，“我们走吧，快九点了。”

Once the painful transformation was complete he was more than six feet tall and, from what he could tell from his well-muscled arms, powerfully built. He also had a beard. Stowing the Invisibility Cloak and his glasses inside his new robes, he rejoined the other two.

三个人一起走出小巷。沿着拥挤的人行道走了五十米远，那儿有两道黑色尖头栅栏夹护在台阶，一边写着“男”，一边写着“女”。

“Blimey, that’s scary,” said Ron, looking up at Harry, who now towered over him.

“一会儿见。”赫敏紧张地说，摇摇摆摆地走下标着“女”字的台阶。哈利和罗恩随着一些衣着古怪的男人走下去，好像来到了一个普通的地下公厕，墙上贴着脏兮兮的黑白瓷砖。

“Take one of Mafalda’s tokens,” Hermione told Harry, “and let’s go, it’s nearly nine.”

“早上好，雷吉！”一个穿藏青色袍子的男巫叫道，把金色证明币塞入门上的一道狭缝中，进了一个小隔间，“真他妈讨厌，是吧？非要我们这样来上班！他们以为会有谁来，哈利·波特？”

They stepped out of the alleyway together. Fifty yards along the crowded pavement there were spiked black railings flanking two flights of steps, one labeled gentlemen, the other ladies.

那男巫为自己的俏皮话而嘎嘎大笑，罗恩勉强笑了两声。

“See you in a moment, then,” said Hermione nervously, and she tottered off down the steps to ladies. Harry and Ron joined a number of oddly dressed men descending into what appeared to be an ordinary underground public toilet, tiled in grimy black and white.

“嘿嘿，”他说，“够蠢的，是不是？”

“Morning, Reg!” called another wizard in navy blue robes as he let himself into a cubicle by inserting his golden token into a slot in the door. “Blooming pain in the bum, this, eh? Forcing us all to get to work this way! Who are they expecting to turn up, Harry Potter?”

他和哈利进了相邻的小隔间。

The wizard roared with laughter at his own wit. Ron gave a forced chuckle.

哈利的左右两边都响起了冲水声，他猫腰从隔板底下的空隙看过去，刚好看到一双靴子爬进了隔壁的抽水马桶。他又看看左边，见罗恩正惊愕地冲他眨着眼睛。

“Yeah,” he said, “stupid, isn’t it?”

“要把自己冲进去？”罗恩小声问。

And he and Harry let themselves into adjoining cubicles.

“看来是这样。”哈利小声回答，他的声音低沉而沙哑。

To Harry’s left and right came the sound of flushing. He crouched down and peered through the gap at the bottom of the cubicle, just in time to see a pair of booted feet climbing into the toilet next door. He looked left and saw Ron blinking at him.

两人都直起身，哈利爬进抽水马桶，感觉荒谬透顶。

“We have to flush ourselves in?” he whispered.

他立刻知道做对了，虽然好像站在水里，但他的鞋、脚和袍子都很干燥。他伸手一拉链绳，立即疾速地通过一条短短的滑道，从一个壁炉里冲出来，来到了魔法部。

“Looks like it,” Harry whispered back; his voice came out deep and gravelly.

他笨拙地爬起来，身子比平时庞大了许多，不太适应。大厅似乎比哈利记忆中的昏暗一些。原来中央是一个金色的喷泉，在光亮的木地板和墙壁上投射出点点光斑。而现在，一座巨大的黑色石像占据了中心位置，怪可怕的。这样一座巨型石像，一个女巫和一个男巫坐在雕刻华美的宝座上，俯视着从壁炉里滚出来的魔法部工作人员。石像底部刻着几个一英尺高的大字：魔法即强权。

They both stood up. Feeling exceptionally foolish, Harry clambered into the toilet.

哈利的腿后面被重重地撞了一下：一名男巫刚从壁炉里飞出来。

He knew at once that he had done the right thing; though he appeared to be standing in water, his shoes, feet, and robes remained quite dry. He reached up, pulled the chain, and next moment had zoomed down a short chute, emerging out of a fireplace into the Ministry of Magic.

“别挡道，行不——哦，对不起，伦考恩！”

He got up clumsily; there was a lot more of his body than he was accustomed to. The great Atrium seemed darker than Harry remembered it. Previously a golden fountain had filled the center of the hall, casting shimmering spots of light over the polished wooden floor and walls. Now a gigantic statue of black stone dominated the scene. It was rather frightening, this vast sculpture of a witch and a wizard sitting on ornately carved thrones, looking down at the Ministry workers toppling out of fireplaces below them. Engraved in foot-high letters at the base of the statue were the words magic is might.

谢顶的男巫显然很惶恐，急忙走开了。看来哈利现在冒充的这个人——伦考恩，是很厉害的。

Harry received a heavy blow on the back of the legs: Another wizard had just flown out of the fireplace behind him.

“嘘！”又一个声音说。哈利回过头，看到一个纤小的女巫和魔法维修保养处那个白鼬似的男巫在雕像旁边向他招手，就赶紧走了过去。

“Out of the way, can’t y — oh, sorry, Runcorn!”

“你们顺利地进来了？”赫敏悄声问哈利。

Clearly frightened, the balding wizard hurried away. Apparently the man whom Harry was impersonating, Runcorn, was intimidating.

“没有，他还卡在厕所里呢。”罗恩开玩笑说。

“Psst!” said a voice, and he looked around to see a wispy little witch and the ferrety wizard from Magical Maintenance gesturing to him from over beside the statue. Harry hastened to join them.

“哦，真滑稽……很恐怖，是不是？”她说，看见哈利仍在盯着雕像，“你看到他们坐在什么上面了吗？”

“You got in all right, then?” Hermione whispered to Harry.

哈利仔细一看，才发现他刚才以为雕刻华美的宝座，实际上是一堆石雕的人体，成百上千赤裸的人体：男人、女人和孩子，相貌都比较呆傻丑陋，肢体扭曲着挤压在一起，支撑着那个俊美的、穿袍子的巫师。

“No, he’s still stuck in the bog,” said Ron.

“麻瓜，”赫敏轻声说，“在他们应该待的地方。快，我们走吧。”

“Oh, very funny . . . It’s horrible, isn’t it?” she said to Harry, who was staring up at the statue. “Have you seen what they’re sitting on?

他们汇入了男女巫师的人流，向大厅尽头的金色大门走去，一边尽可能不引人注意地扫视着四周，但没有见到多洛雷斯·乌姆里奇那特征鲜明的身影。他们穿过金色大门来到一个较小的厅里，看见人们在二十部电梯的金色栅栏门前面排队。他们刚刚排进最近的队伍中，就有一个声音说道：“卡特莫尔！”

Harry looked more closely and realized that what he had thought were decoratively carved thrones were actually mounds of carved humans: hundreds and hundreds of naked bodies, men, women, and children, all with rather stupid, ugly faces, twisted and pressed together to support the weight of the handsomely robed wizards.

他们回过头，哈利胃中一阵痉挛。邓布利多死时在场的一个食死徒迎面大步走来。旁边的魔法部人员都垂下眼睛，不做声了。哈利能感觉到恐惧正在他们中间弥漫。那人阴沉的、略显残暴的面孔与他那身镶嵌着金丝的华丽、飘逸的长袍不太相称，电梯旁的队伍中有人讨好地叫道：“早上好，亚克斯利！”他没有理睬。

“Muggles,” whispered Hermione. “In their rightful place. Come on, let’s get going.”

“我叫魔法维修保养处的一个人去给我修办公室，卡特莫尔，屋里一直在下雨。”

They joined the stream of witches and wizards moving toward the golden gates at the end of the hall, looking around as surreptitiously as possible, but there was no sign of the distinctive figure of Dolores Umbridge. They passed through the gates and into a smaller hall, where queues were forming in front of twenty golden grilles housing as many lifts. They had barely joined the nearest one when a voice said, “Cattermole!”

罗恩环顾四周，好像希望有人插话，但没人吭气。

They looked around: Harry’s stomach turned over. One of the Death Eaters who had witnessed Dumbledore’s death was striding toward them. The Ministry workers beside them fell silent, their eyes downcast; Harry could feel fear rippling through them. The man’s scowling, slightly brutish face was somehow at odds with his magnificent, sweeping robes, which were embroidered with much gold thread. Someone in the crowd around the lifts called sycophantically, “Morning, Yaxley!” Yaxley ignored them.

“下雨……在您的办公室？那——那真糟糕，是不是？”

“I requested somebody from Magical Maintenance to sort out my office, Cattermole. It’s still raining in there.”

罗恩紧张地笑了一下，亚克斯利瞪圆了眼睛。

Ron looked around as though hoping somebody else would intervene, but nobody spoke.

“你觉得很好玩，是吗，卡特莫尔？”

“Raining . . . in your office? That’s — that’s not good, is it?”

“不，”罗恩说，“当然不是——”

Ron gave a nervous laugh. Yaxley’s eyes widened.

“你知道我正要下楼去审讯你老婆吧，卡特莫尔？我倒觉得挺意外，你怎么没在那里握着手陪她等着。已经要跟她划清界限了吗，啊？可能是明智的。下次记得找一个纯种的。”

“You think it’s funny, Cattermole, do you?”

赫敏惊恐地轻轻叫了一声。亚克斯利看着她。她忙假装虚弱地咳嗽起来，移开了目光。

A pair of witches broke away from the queue for the lift and bustled off.

“我——我——”罗恩结结巴巴地说。

“No,” said Ron, “no, of course —”

“我娶的女人决不会与那些垃圾混为一谈的，不过，假设我的老婆被指控为泥巴种，”亚克斯利说，“而魔法部法律执行司的头儿有个活要做，我一定会把这活当作头等大事去办，卡特莫尔，你明白我的意思吗？”

“You realize that I am on my way downstairs to interrogate your wife, Cattermole? In fact, I’m quite surprised you’re not down there holding her hand while she waits. Already given her up as a bad job, have you? Probably wise. Be sure and marry a pureblood next time.”

“明白。”罗恩低声说。

Hermione had let out a little squeak of horror. Yaxley looked at her. She coughed feebly and turned away.

“那就去办吧，卡特莫尔，如果我的办公室一小时后不能完全干燥，你老婆的血统成分就会比现在更成问题了。”

“I — I —” stammered Ron.

他们面前的金色栅栏门哗啦打开了，亚克斯利转身朝另一部电梯走去，临走时朝哈利点了点头，还露出一个令人厌恶的笑容，显然以为哈利会对他这样教训卡特莫尔表示欣赏。哈利、罗恩和赫敏进了他们的电梯，但没有别人进来，好像他们有传染病似的。栅栏门哐当关上，电梯开始上升。

“But if my wife were accused of being a Mudblood,” said Yaxley, “— not that any woman I married would ever be mistaken for such filth — and the Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement needed a job doing, I would make it my priority to do that job, Cattermole. Do you understand me?”

“我应该怎么办？”罗恩马上问两个同伴，好像大难临头一般，“我要是不去，我的老婆——我是说，卡特莫尔的老婆——”

“Yes,” whispered Ron.

“我们跟你一起去，我们不要分开——”哈利说，但罗恩拼命摇头。

“Then attend to it, Cattermole, and if my office is not completely dry within an hour, your wife’s Blood Status will be in even graver doubt than it is now.”

“那真是有病，我们没多少时间，你们两个去找乌姆里奇，我去修亚克斯利的办公室——可是怎么让它不下雨呢？”

The golden grille before them clattered open. With a nod and unpleasant smile to Harry, who was evidently expected to appreciate this treatment of Cattermole, Yaxley swept away toward another lift. Harry, Ron, and Hermione entered theirs, but nobody followed them: It was as if they were infectious. The grilles shut with a clang and the lift began to move upward.

“试试终止魔咒，”赫敏马上说，“如果是恶咒或咒语造成的下雨，应该会停的。如果停不了，那就是气象咒出了问题，比较麻烦一点，你暂时先用水火不侵咒保护他的东西——”

“What am I going to do?” Ron asked the other two at once; he looked stricken. “If I don’t turn up, my wife — I mean, Cattermole’s wife —”

“再说一遍，慢点儿——”罗恩一边说，一边着急地在口袋里找笔，但这时电梯震颤着停住了。一个空洞的女声说道：“第四层，神奇动物管理控制司，包含野兽、异类和幽灵办公室、妖精联络处和害虫咨询处。”栅栏门再次打开，放进来两个巫师，还有几架淡紫色的纸飞机，绕着电梯顶部的灯泡飞舞。

“We’ll come with you, we should stick together —” began Harry, but Ron shook his head feverishly.

“早上好，艾伯特。”一个大胡子男巫笑着对哈利说道，然后瞟了罗恩、赫敏一眼。电梯又吱嘎上升。赫敏在急急地小声给罗恩支招，那个男巫凑到哈利跟前，斜睨着他，低声道：“德克·克莱斯韦，嗯？妖精联络处的？干得好，艾伯特。现在，我很有把握会得到他的职位了！”

“That’s mental, we haven’t got much time. You two find Umbridge, I’ll go and sort out Yaxley’s office — but how do I stop it raining?”

他眨眨眼睛，哈利微笑了一下，希望这能让对方满意。电梯停了下来，栅栏门再次打开。

“Try Finite Incantatem,” said Hermione at once, “that should stop the rain if it’s a hex or curse; if it doesn’t, something’s gone wrong with an Atmospheric Charm, which will be more difficult to fix, so as an interim measure try Impervius to protect his belongings —”

“第二层，魔法法律执行司，包含禁止滥用魔法司、傲罗指挥部和威森加摩管理机构。”那个空洞的女声说。

“Say it again, slowly —” said Ron, searching his pockets desperately for a quill, but at that moment the lift juddered to a halt. A disembodied female voice said, “Level four, Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures, incorporating Beast, Being, and Spirit Divisions, Goblin Liaison Office, and Pest Advisory Bureau,” and the grilles slid open again, admitting a couple of wizards and several pale violet paper airplanes that fluttered around the lamp in the ceiling of the lift.

哈利看到赫敏轻轻推了罗恩一把，罗恩匆忙走出电梯，其他巫师也都下了，电梯里只剩下哈利和赫敏两个。金色栅栏门一关，赫敏就急促地说，“哈利，我想我最好跟着他去，我看他不知所措，如果他被抓住，整个计划——”

“Morning, Albert,” said a bushily whiskered man, smiling at Harry. He glanced over at Ron and Hermione as the lift creaked upward once more; Hermione was now whispering frantic instructions to Ron. The wizard leaned toward Harry, leering, and muttered, “Dirk Cresswell, eh? From Goblin Liaison? Nice one, Albert. I’m pretty confident I’ll get his job now!”

“第一层，魔法部长办公室及后勤处。”

He winked. Harry smiled back, hoping that this would suffice. The lift stopped; the grilles opened once more.

金色栅栏门再次拉开，赫敏倒吸一口凉气。四个人站在他们面前，其中两个正在密切交谈：一个长发男巫身穿黑底绣金的华丽长袍，一个矮矮胖胖、长得像癞蛤蟆的女巫短发上戴着天鹅绒蝴蝶结，胸前抱着个笔记板。

“Level two, Department of Magical Law Enforcement, including the Improper Use of Magic Office, Auror Headquarters, and Wizengamot Administration Services,” said the disembodied witch’s voice.

Harry saw Hermione give Ron a little push and he hurried out of the lift, followed by the other wizards, leaving Harry and Hermione alone. The moment the golden door had closed Hermione said, very fast, “Actually, Harry, I think I’d better go after him, I don’t think he knows what he’s doing and if he gets caught the whole thing —”

“Level one, Minister of Magic and Support Staff.”

The golden grilles slid apart again and Hermione gasped. Four people stood before them, two of them deep in conversation: a longhaired wizard wearing magnificent robes of black and gold, and a squat, toadlike witch wearing a velvet bow in her short hair and clutching a clipboard to her chest.

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