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 THIRTEEN THE MUGGLE-BORN REGISTRATION COMMISSION

第十三章　麻瓜出身登记委员会

“Ah, Mafalda!” said Umbridge, looking at Hermione. “Travers sent you, did he?”

“啊，马法尔达！”乌姆里奇看着赫敏说，“是特拉弗斯让你来的吧？”

“Y-yes,” squeaked Hermione.

“是——是的。”赫敏细声说。

“Good, you’ll do perfectly well.” Umbridge spoke to the wizard in black and gold. “That’s that problem solved, Minister, if Mafalda can be spared for record-keeping we shall be able to start straightaway.” She consulted her clipboard. “Ten people today and one of them the wife of a Ministry employee! Tut, tut . . . even here, in the heart of the Ministry!” She stepped into the lift beside Hermione, as did the two wizards who had been listening to Umbridge’s conversation with the Minister. “We’ll go straight down, Mafalda, you’ll find everything you need in the courtroom. Good morning, Albert, aren’t you getting out?”

“好，你会干好的。”乌姆里奇转向一个穿着镶金黑袍的男巫说，“这样一来问题就解决了，部长，如果马法尔达能来做记录，我们现在就可以开始。”她看看笔记板，“今天有十个人，其中一个还是魔法部雇员的妻子！啧，啧……就在这儿，魔法部的内部！”她走进电梯，站在赫敏旁边，另外两个聆听乌姆里奇和部长对话的巫师也跟了进来。“我们直接下去，马法尔达，你要用的东西法庭里都有。早上好，艾伯特，你不出去吗？”

“Yes, of course,” said Harry in Runcorn’s deep voice.

“出去，当然。”哈利用伦考恩那低沉的声音说。

Harry stepped out of the lift. The golden grilles clanged shut behind him. Glancing over his shoulder, Harry saw Hermione’s

哈利走出电梯。金色栅栏门在他们身后哐当关上。他回过头，看到赫敏焦急的面孔又降了下去，一边一个高大的男巫，乌姆里奇的天鹅绒蝴蝶结齐到赫敏的肩膀。

REGISTRATION COMMISSION anxious face sinking back out of sight, a tall wizard on either side of her, Umbridge’s velvet hair-bow level with her shoulder.

“你来这儿有何贵干，伦考恩？”新任魔法部长问道，他黑色的长发和胡须中夹着缕缕银丝，大脑门的阴影遮着闪烁的双眼，让哈利想到一只螃蟹正从岩石底下往外张望着。

“What brings you up here, Runcorn?” asked the new Minister of Magic. His long black hair and beard were streaked with silver, and a great overhanging forehead shadowed his glinting eyes, putting Harry in mind of a crab looking out from beneath a rock.

“要找，”哈利犹豫了零点几秒，“要找亚瑟·韦斯莱说句话。有人说他在一层。”

“Needed a quick word with,” Harry hesitated for a fraction of a second, “Arthur Weasley. Someone said he was up on level one.”

“啊，”皮尔斯·辛克尼斯说，“有人撞见他跟不良分子说话吗？”

“Ah,” said Pius Thicknesse. “Has he been caught having contact with an Undesirable?”

“不，”哈利嗓子发干，“不，不是的。”

“No,” said Harry, his throat dry. “No, nothing like that.”

“啊，哼，那只是时间问题，”辛克尼斯说，“要我说，纯血统的叛徒和泥巴种一样坏。再见，伦考恩。”

“Ah, well. It’s only a matter of time,” said Thicknesse. “If you ask me, the blood traitors are as bad as the Mudbloods. Good day, Runcorn.”

“再见，部长。”

“Good day, Minister.”

哈利目送辛克尼斯在铺着厚地毯的过道里走远。部长刚一消失，哈利就从沉重的黑袍子底下掏出隐形衣，披到身上，沿着相反的方向走去。伦考恩个子那么高，哈利不得不弯下身子，以确保他的大脚不会露出来。

Harry watched Thicknesse march away along the thickly carpeted corridor. The moment the Minister had passed out of sight, Harry tugged the Invisibility Cloak out from under his heavy black cloak, threw it over himself, and set off along the corridor in the opposite direction. Runcorn was so tall that Harry was forced to stoop to make sure his big feet were hidden.

恐惧一阵阵袭上心头，他经过一扇又一扇亮光光的木门，每扇门上都有一块小牌子，写着屋里人的姓名和职务。魔法部的威严、复杂和高深莫测似乎把他给镇住了，使他和罗恩、赫敏四个星期来精心筹划的行动方案显得像可笑的儿戏。他们把全部心思都放在怎样混进去，却根本没有想过倘若彼此被迫分开怎么办。现在赫敏困在法庭上，那无疑一拖就是几小时；罗恩在努力尝试哈利知道是超出他能力之外的魔法，而一个女人的自由可能取决于他的表现；哈利呢，还在顶层游荡，明明知道自己要找的人刚乘电梯下去了。

Panic pulsed in the pit of his stomach. As he passed gleaming wooden door after gleaming wooden door, each bearing a small plaque with the owner’s name and occupation upon it, the might of the Ministry, its complexity, its impenetrability, seemed to force itself upon him so that the plan he had been carefully concocting with Ron and Hermione over the past four weeks seemed laughably childish. They had concentrated all their efforts on getting inside without being detected: They had not given a moment’s thought to what they would do if they were forced to separate. Now Hermione was stuck in court proceedings, which would undoubtedly last hours; Ron was struggling to do magic that Harry was sure was beyond him, a woman’s liberty possibly depending on the outcome; and he, Harry, was wandering around on the top floor when he knew perfectly well that his quarry had just gone down in the lift.

他停住脚步，靠在墙上，试图拿定主意该怎么办。寂静压迫着他：这里没有忙碌声、讲话声和匆匆的脚步声，铺着紫红地毯的过道里鸦雀无声，好像施了闭耳塞听咒一样。

He stopped walking, leaned against a wall, and tried to decide what to do. The silence pressed upon him: There was no bustling or talk or swift footsteps here; the purple-carpeted corridors were as hushed as though the Muffliato charm had been cast over the place.

她的办公室一定在这儿，哈利想。

Her office must be up here, Harry thought.

乌姆里奇把珠宝藏在办公室的可能性似乎不大，然而不搜一搜，确定一下，又似乎是愚蠢的。于是他又沿着过道走去，路上只看到一个皱着眉头的男巫正在对一支羽毛笔念念有词地说着什么，那笔悬空在他面前的一卷羊皮纸上飞快地写着字。

It seemed most unlikely that Umbridge would keep her jewelry in her office, but on the other hand it seemed foolish not to search it to make sure. He therefore set off along the corridor again, passing nobody but a frowning wizard who was murmuring instructions to a quill that floated in front of him, scribbling on a trail of parchment.

哈利开始注意看门上的名字，转过一个拐角走了一段后，过道通入一块宽敞的区域。十来个男女巫师坐在一排排小桌子前，那些桌子与课桌相似，只是光滑得多，没有乱涂的痕迹。哈利不由得停下来观看，因为这景象有种催眠的效果。那些巫师动作一致地挥舞和转动着魔杖，许多方形彩纸像粉红色的小风筝一样飘在空中。几秒钟后，哈利意识到这是一种有节奏的程序，彩纸的聚散也有一定规律。又过了几秒钟，他意识到自己在观看小册子的制作过程，那些方纸是一页页内容，聚拢折叠，用魔法订牢之后，整齐地摞在每个巫师身边。

Now paying attention to the names on the doors, Harry turned a corner. Halfway along the next corridor he emerged into a wide, open space where a dozen witches and wizards sat in rows at small desks not unlike school desks, though much more highly polished and free from graffiti. Harry paused to watch them, for the effect was quite mesmerizing. They were all waving and twiddling their wands in unison, and squares of colored paper were flying in every direction like little pink kites. After a few seconds, Harry realized that there was a rhythm to the proceedings, that the papers all formed the same pattern; and after a few more seconds he realized that what he was watching was the creation of pamphlets — that the paper

哈利轻手轻脚地走近，其实，那些巫师工作那么专心，他怀疑他们并不会注意到他因地毯而减弱的脚步声。他从一个年轻女巫身边偷偷取了一份装订好的小册子，拿到隐形衣里来看。粉红色的封面上印着醒目的金字标题：

REGISTRATION COMMISSION squares were pages, which, when assembled, folded, and magicked into place, fell into neat stacks beside each witch or wizard.

泥巴种对祥和的纯血统社会的威胁

Harry crept closer, although the workers were so intent on what they were doing that he doubted they would notice a carpet-muffled footstep, and he slid a completed pamphlet from the pile beside a young witch. He examined it beneath the Invisibility Cloak. Its pink cover was emblazoned with a golden title:

下面画着一朵红玫瑰被一根长着毒牙、一副凶相的绿草紧紧地勒住，花瓣的中央是一张傻笑的面孔。小册子上没有署名，但哈利右手手背的伤疤又隐隐刺痛起来。这时身旁的女巫证实了他内心的怀疑，她一边挥舞和转动着魔杖，一边说道：“那老妖婆一整天都要在那儿审问泥巴种吗？有谁知道？”

MUDBLOODS

“当心。”她旁边的男巫不安地张望了一下说，他的一张纸滑落到地上。

and the Dangers They Pose to

“怎么，她不光有一只魔眼，现在又有了魔耳不成？”

a Peaceful Pure-Blood Society

女巫朝小册子制作者们对面的那扇油亮的红木门瞥了一眼。哈利也向那边看去，一股愤怒像毒蛇一样在他胸中蹿起。在麻瓜门上安门镜的的地方，红木中嵌着一只大大的圆眼球，明亮的蓝色虹膜，对任何认识阿拉斯托·穆迪的人来说，都熟悉得触目惊心。

Beneath the title was a picture of a red rose with a simpering face in the middle of its petals, being strangled by a green weed with fangs and a scowl. There was no author’s name upon the pamphlet, but again, the scars on the back of his right hand seemed to tingle as he examined it. Then the young witch beside him confirmed his suspicion as she said, still waving and twirling her wand, “Will the old hag be interrogating Mudbloods all day, does anyone know?”

在那一瞬间，哈利忘记了自己是在哪儿，要来做什么，甚至忘记了他是隐形的。他大步走到门前走看那只眼睛，它不再转动，只是呆滞地望着上方。下面的牌子上写着：

“Careful,” said the wizard beside her, glancing around nervously; one of his pages slipped and fell to the floor.

多洛雷斯·乌姆里奇

“What, has she got magic ears as well as an eye, now?”

魔法部高级副部长

The witch glanced toward the shining mahogany door facing the space full of pamphlet-makers; Harry looked too, and rage reared in him like a snake. Where there might have been a peephole on a Muggle front door, a large, round eye with a bright blue iris had been set into the wood — an eye that was shockingly familiar to anybody who had known Alastor Moody.

底下还有一块亮一点的新牌子：

For a split second Harry forgot where he was and what he was doing there: He even forgot that he was invisible. He strode straight over to the door to examine the eye. It was not moving: It gazed blindly upward, frozen. The plaque beneath it read:

麻瓜出身登记委员会主任

Dolores Umbridge

哈利回头看看那十几个做小册子的巫师，尽管他们都在忙着干活，但如果一间空办公室的门在他们面前打开，很难设想会没有人注意到。于是他从衣服里面的口袋里掏出一个奇形怪状的东西。它长着摆动的小腿，身体是个球形的橡皮喇叭。哈利在隐形衣里蹲下身，把诱饵炸弹搁到地板上。

Senior Undersecretary to the Minister

诱饵炸弹立刻动起来，疾速穿行在那群巫师的小腿之间。哈利把手扶在门把手上等着，少顷，便听到一声巨响，大量呛鼻的黑烟从一个角落里涌出。前排那个年轻女巫尖叫起来，粉红色纸页飞得到处都是，她和同伴们都跳了起来，四处寻找混乱的来源。哈利趁机转动门把手，踏进了乌姆里奇的办公室，把门在身后关上。

Below that, a slightly shinier new plaque read:

他感觉好像时光倒流一样，这间屋子与乌姆里奇在霍格沃茨的办公室一模一样：花边帷帘、装饰布垫和干花覆盖了每一处能装饰到的表面，墙上还是那些花盘子，图案都是一只戴着蝴蝶结、色彩鲜艳的大猫，在那里欢跳嬉戏，嗲得令人恶心。桌上盖着一块有荷叶边和花卉装饰的桌布。疯眼汉的眼球后面连着个望远镜似的装置，使乌姆里奇可以监视门外的员工。哈利凑上去看了一眼，见他们仍围在诱饵炸弹旁边。他把望远镜从门上扯下来，门上留下了一个洞。他拆下魔眼装进兜里，然后转身面向屋内，举起魔杖低声念道：“挂坠盒飞来。”

Head of the Muggle-born

没有动静，但他也没指望会有，乌姆里奇无疑对防护咒十分精通。他急忙走到办公桌后，拉开一个个抽屉，看到羽毛笔、笔记本和涂改带；施有魔法的回形针像蛇一样从抽屉里盘旋钻出，他不得不把它们打回去；还有一个考究的花边小盒子里装满蝴蝶结和发卡；就是不见挂坠盒。

Registration Commission

桌子后面有个档案柜，哈利过去翻找。它像霍格沃茨管理员费尔奇的那些档案柜一样，装满了文件夹，每个上面都贴有名字。哈利一直搜到最底层抽屉，才看见一样让他分心的东西：韦斯莱先生的档案。

Harry looked back at the dozen pamphlet-makers: Though they were intent upon their work, he could hardly suppose that they would not notice if the door of an empty office opened in front of them. He therefore withdrew from an inner pocket an odd object with little waving legs and a rubber-bulbed horn for a body. Crouching down beneath the Cloak, he placed the Decoy Detonator on the ground.

他把它抽出来，打开了。

It scuttled away at once through the legs of the witches and wizards in front of him. A few moments later, during which Harry waited with his hand upon the doorknob, there came a loud bang and a great deal of acrid black smoke billowed from a corner. The young witch in the front row shrieked: Pink pages flew everywhere as she and her fellows jumped up, looking around for the source of the commotion. Harry turned the doorknob, stepped into Umbridge’s office, and closed the door behind him.

亚瑟·韦斯莱

He felt he had stepped back in time. The room was exactly like Umbridge’s office at Hogwarts: Lace draperies, doilies, and dried flowers covered every available surface. The walls bore the same

血统：纯血统，但有不可容忍的亲麻瓜倾向。

REGISTRATION COMMISSION ornamental plates, each featuring a highly colored, beribboned kitten, gamboling and frisking with sickening cuteness. The desk was covered with a flouncy, flowered cloth. Behind Mad-Eye’s eye, a telescopic attachment enabled Umbridge to spy on the workers on the other side of the door. Harry took a look through it and saw that they were all still gathered around the Decoy Detonator. He wrenched the telescope out of the door, leaving a hole behind, pulled the magical eyeball out of it, and placed it in his pocket. Then he turned to face the room again, raised his wand, and murmured, “Accio Locket.”

已知凤凰社成员。

Nothing happened, but he had not expected it to; no doubt Umbridge knew all about protective charms and spells. He therefore hurried behind her desk and began pulling open the drawers. He saw quills and notebooks and Spellotape; enchanted paper clips that coiled snakelike from their drawer and had to be beaten back; a fussy little lace box full of spare hair bows and clips; but no sign of a locket.

家庭：妻子（纯血统）、七个子女，最小的两个尚在霍格沃茨。

There was a filing cabinet behind the desk: Harry set to searching it. Like Filch’s filing cabinets at Hogwarts, it was full of folders, each labeled with a name. It was not until Harry reached the bottommost drawer that he saw something to distract him from his search: Mr. Weasley’s file.

注：小儿子目前重病在家，已由魔法部检查员证实。

He pulled it out and opened it.

安全状况：跟踪。一切行动受到监视。头号不良分子很可能与其联络（曾在韦斯莱家住过）。

ARTHUR WEASLEY

“头号不良分子。”哈利轻声嘀咕道，把韦斯莱先生的档案放回去，关上抽屉。他知道指的是谁，果然，当他直起身，搜寻屋内还有什么藏东西的地方时，在墙上看到一幅自己的大肖像，胸口印着头号不良分子几个大字。画上还贴了一张一角画着小猫的粉红色小笺。哈利走过去看，发现乌姆里奇在上面写了“将受处罚”几个字。

Pureblood, but with unacceptable pro-

他更加怒火中烧，在干花的花瓶和篮子里摸索，但没摸到挂坠盒，他也并不意外。他最后扫视了一下这间办公室，突然心脏停跳了一下：桌边的书架上，邓布利多正从一面长方形的小镜子里望着他。

blood status:

哈利冲过去抓起它，但刚一摸到就发现那不是镜子，邓布利多是在一本书的光亮封皮上沉思微笑。哈利一时没注意到他帽子上绿色花体字：阿不思·邓布利多的生平和谎言，也没有看到他胸前还有更小的字：丽塔·斯基特，畅销书《阿芒多·迪佩特：大师还是白痴？》的作者。

Muggle leanings. Known member of the

哈利随手把书打开，看到一页照片，是两个十来岁的男孩，互相搭着肩膀，放肆地大笑。邓布利多头发已长及胳膊肘，还多了一绺淡淡的小胡子，让人想到克鲁姆下巴上让罗恩那么讨厌的细须。在邓布利多旁边无声大笑的那个少年给人一种快乐狂放的感觉，金色的鬈发垂到肩头。哈利猜想他是不是年轻时的多吉，但还没来得及看说明，办公室的门开了。

Order of the Phoenix.

如果不是辛克尼斯进来时扭头望了望外面，哈利都没有时间披上隐形衣。但是，他想辛克尼斯可能还是瞥见了一点儿动静，因为他有那么一会儿站着一动不动，惊奇地盯着哈利刚刚消失的地方，或许断定刚才看到的是邓布利多在封面上挠了挠鼻子（哈利已经匆忙把书放回架子上）。辛克尼斯终于走到桌前，用魔杖指着插在墨水瓶里的羽毛笔，它立刻跳出来，开始给乌姆里奇写一张便条。哈利屏住呼吸，慢慢退出办公室，回到那块宽敞的区域。

Wife (pureblood), seven children, two

做小册子的巫师们还围在诱饵炸弹的残骸旁。它冒着烟，还在微弱地呜呜叫着。哈利快步走入过道，听到年轻女巫说：“我猜准是从实验咒语委员会爬过来的，他们那么粗心，还记得那只毒鸭子吗？”

family:

哈利一边匆匆朝电梯走去，一边考虑自己的选择。本来挂坠盒在魔法部的可能性就不大，而乌姆里奇坐在围满了人的法庭上，用魔法从她那里找到挂坠盒的下落也不会有希望。现在当务之急是在暴露之前撤出魔法部，改天再试。首先要找到罗恩，然后一起想办法把赫敏从法庭里弄出来。

youngest at Hogwarts. NB: Youngest son

电梯来了，里面没人。哈利跳进去，在开始下降时扯下了隐形衣。令他万分庆幸的是，电梯在二层吱嘎停下时，浑身湿透，两眼发直的罗恩跨了进来。

currently at home, seriously ill, Ministry

“早——早上好。”他结结巴巴地说，电梯又开动了。

inspectors have confirmed.

“罗恩，是我，哈利！”

TRACKED. All movements are being

“哈利！我的天哪，我忘了你长什么样了——赫敏怎么不在？”

security status:

“她跟乌姆里奇到楼下法庭去了，没法拒绝，而且——”

monitored. Strong likelihood Undesirable

但哈利还没说完，电梯又停住了。门一开，韦斯莱先生走了进来，一边还在跟一个老女巫说话，她那浅黄色发髻高得像蚁丘。

No. 1 will contact (has stayed with

“……我很理解你说的情况，瓦坎达，可是我恐怕不能参与——”

Weasley family previously)

韦斯莱先生突然打住，因为他看到了哈利。韦斯莱先生那样厌恶地瞪着他，真是一种非常陌生的感受。电梯门关上了，四个人又呼噜噜地降下去。

“Undesirable Number One,” Harry muttered under his breath as he replaced Mr. Weasley’s folder and shut the drawer. He had an idea he knew who that was, and sure enough, as he straightened up and glanced around the office for fresh hiding places, he saw a poster of himself on the wall, with the words undesirable no. 1 emblazoned across his chest. A little pink note was stuck to it with a picture of a kitten in the corner. Harry moved across to read it and saw that Umbridge had written, “To be punished.”

“哦，你好，雷吉，”韦斯莱先生听到罗恩袍子滴水的声音，回过头来说，“你太太今天不是要出庭吗？咦——你怎么啦？身上这么湿？”

Angrier than ever, he proceeded to grope in the bottoms of the vases and baskets of dried flowers, but was not at all surprised that the locket was not there. He gave the office one last sweeping look, and his heart skipped a beat. Dumbledore was staring at him from a small rectangular mirror, propped up on a bookcase beside the desk.

“亚克斯利的办公室在下雨，”罗恩对着韦斯莱先生的肩头说，哈利想他准是害怕如果目光相对，父亲会认出他来，“我止不住，他们让我去找伯尼——皮尔思沃斯，我想他们说——”

Harry crossed the room at a run and snatched it up, but realized the moment he touched it that it was not a mirror at all. Dumbledore was smiling wistfully out of the front cover of a glossy book. Harry had not immediately noticed the curly green writing across his hat — The Life and Lies of Albus Dumbledore — nor the slightly smaller writing across his chest: “by Rita Skeeter, bestselling author of Armando Dippet: Master or Moron?”

“是啊，最近好多办公室都在下雨，”韦斯莱先生说道，“你试过云咒撤回吗？布莱奇用了挺灵的。”

REGISTRATION COMMISSION

“云咒撤回？”罗恩低声说道，“没试过，谢谢，老——我是说，谢谢，亚瑟。”

Harry opened the book at random and saw a full-page photograph of two teenage boys, both laughing immoderately with their arms around each other’s shoulders. Dumbledore, now with elbowlength hair, had grown a tiny wispy beard that recalled the one on Krum’s chin that had so annoyed Ron. The boy who roared in silent amusement beside Dumbledore had a gleeful, wild look about him. His golden hair fell in curls to his shoulders. Harry wondered whether it was a young Doge, but before he could check the caption, the door of the office opened.

门开了，顶着蚁丘的老女巫走出电梯，罗恩从她旁边冲过去跑没影了，哈利想跟上他，却被挡住了去路，珀西·韦斯莱跨进电梯，鼻子都快埋进他读的文件里了。

If Thicknesse had not been looking over his shoulder as he entered, Harry would not have had time to pull the Invisibility Cloak over himself. As it was, he thought Thicknesse might have caught a glimpse of movement, because for a moment or two he remained quite still, staring curiously at the place where Harry had just vanished. Perhaps deciding that all he had seen was Dumbledore scratching his nose on the front of the book, for Harry had hastily replaced it upon the shelf, Thicknesse finally walked to the desk and pointed his wand at the quill standing ready in the ink pot. It sprang out and began scribbling a note to Umbridge. Very slowly, hardly daring to breathe, Harry backed out of the office into the open area beyond.

门哐当关上了，珀西才意识到他跟父亲乘了同一部电梯。他抬起眼睛，看到韦斯莱先生，脸涨成了红萝卜，电梯门一开就出去了。哈利又想下去，这次却被韦斯莱先生的胳膊挡住了去路。

The pamphlet-makers were still clustered around the remains of the Decoy Detonator, which continued to hoot feebly as it smoked. Harry hurried off up the corridor as the young witch said, “I bet it sneaked up here from Experimental Charms, they’re so careless, remember that poisonous duck?”

“等一等，伦考恩。”

Speeding back toward the lifts, Harry reviewed his options. It had never been likely that the locket was here at the Ministry, and there was no hope of bewitching its whereabouts out of Umbridge while she was sitting in a crowded court. Their priority now had to be to leave the Ministry before they were exposed, and try again another day. The first thing to do was to find Ron, and then they could work out a way of extracting Hermione from the courtroom.

电梯门关了，丁丁当当又下了一层时，韦斯莱先生说：“我听说你揭发了德克·克雷斯韦。”

The lift was empty when it arrived. Harry jumped in and pulled off the Invisibility Cloak as it started its descent. To his enormous relief, when it rattled to a halt at level two, a soaking-wet and wildeyed Ron got in.

哈利感觉韦斯莱先生的怒气因为碰到珀西而有增无减，他决定最安全的办法是装傻。

“M-morning,” he stammered to Harry as the lift set off again.

“您说什么？”他说。

“Ron, it’s me, Harry!”

“别装了，伦考恩，”韦斯莱先生愤然说道，“你追捕了那个假造家谱的巫师，是不是？”

“Harry! Blimey, I forgot what you looked like — why isn’t Hermione with you?”

“我——是又怎么样？”哈利说。

“She had to go down to the courtrooms with Umbridge, she couldn’t refuse, and —”

“怎么样？德克·克雷斯韦作为巫师比你强十倍！”韦斯莱先生低声说，电梯还在下降，“如果他能从阿兹卡班出来，会找你算帐的，更别说他的妻儿和朋友——”

But before Harry could finish the lift had stopped again: The doors opened and Mr. Weasley walked inside, talking to an elderly witch whose blonde hair was teased so high it resembled an anthill.

“亚瑟，”哈利打断了他，“你知不知道，你正在被跟踪？”

“. . . I quite understand what you’re saying, Wakanda, but I’m afraid I cannot be party to —”

“这是威胁吗？伦考恩？”韦斯莱先生大声说。

Mr. Weasley broke off; he had noticed Harry. It was very strange to have Mr. Weasley glare at him with that much dislike. The lift doors closed and the four of them trundled downward once more.

“不，”哈利说，“这是事实！他们在监视你的每个行动——”

“Oh, hello, Reg,” said Mr. Weasley, looking around at the sound of steady dripping from Ron’s robes. “Isn’t your wife in for questioning today? Er — what’s happened to you? Why are you so wet?”

电梯门开了，他们已经到了大厅。韦斯莱先生严厉地瞪了哈利一眼，拂袖而去。哈利呆立在原地，希望自己冒充的不是伦考恩……电梯门哐当关上了。

“Yaxley’s office is raining,” said Ron. He addressed Mr. Weasley’s shoulder, and Harry felt sure he was scared that his father might recognize him if they looked directly into each other’s eyes. “I couldn’t

哈利掏出隐形衣重新披上，罗恩还在对付下雨的办公室，他得一个人想办法把赫敏解救出来。电梯门开后，他踏入了一条点着火把的石廊，与上层铺着地毯的镶着木板壁的过道截然不同。电梯当啷当啷开走了，哈利微微打了个寒战，望着远处那扇标志着神秘事务司入口的黑门。

REGISTRATION COMMISSION stop it, so they’ve sent me to get Bernie — Pillsworth, I think they said —”

他往前走去，目标不是黑门，而是他记忆中左侧的那个门口。那里有段楼梯下到法庭。悄悄下楼时，他脑子里想象着各种可能：他还有两个诱饵炸弹，但也许不如直接敲门，以伦考恩的身份进去要求跟马法尔达说句话？当然，他不知道伦考恩是否有这么大的权力，即使能行，赫敏一直不回去也可能引起搜查，而他们还没来得及撤离魔法部……

“Yes, a lot of offices have been raining lately,” said Mr. Weasley. “Did you try Meteolojinx Recanto? It worked for Bletchley.”

想着心事，他没有马上感到一股异常的寒气悄悄袭来，好像坠入雾中那样，每一步都更冷一分。那寒气灌入他的喉咙，冰彻心肺。他感觉到那种绝望无助侵上心头，蔓延到全身……

“Meteolojinx Recanto?” whispered Ron. “No, I didn’t. Thanks, D — I mean, thanks, Arthur.”

摄魂怪，他想。

The lift doors opened; the old witch with the anthill hair left, and Ron darted past her out of sight. Harry made to follow him, but found his path blocked as Percy Weasley strode into the lift, his nose buried in some papers he was reading.

他到了楼梯底部，向右一转，眼前是一幕恐怖的景象。法庭门外的昏暗走廊上，立满了戴着兜帽的高高黑影，面孔完全被遮住了，刺耳的呼吸声是那里惟一的声音。被传来出庭的麻瓜出身的巫师们恐惧地挤在一堆，在硬木板凳上瑟瑟发抖。许多人用手捂着脸，也许是本能地想挡开摄魂怪贪婪的大嘴。一些人有家人陪伴，其他人独自坐着。摄魂怪在他们面前飘来飘去，那寒气，那无助和绝望如魔咒一般向哈利逼来……

Not until the doors had clanged shut again did Percy realize he was in a lift with his father. He glanced up, saw Mr. Weasley, turned radish red, and left the lift the moment the doors opened again. For the second time, Harry tried to get out, but this time found his way blocked by Mr. Weasley’s arm.

抵抗，他对自己说，但是他知道如果在这里召出守护神，肯定会立刻暴露自己。于是他尽可能悄无声息地往前走去，每走一步，脑子里的麻木便增加一分，但他强迫自己想着赫敏和罗恩，他们需要他。

“One moment, Runcorn.”

穿行在那些高大的黑影间极其恐怖：当他走过时，一张张没有眼睛的面孔在兜帽下转过来，他确信它们能感觉到他，或许能感觉到一个人的躯体内仍然有的一些希望，一些活力……

The lift doors closed and as they clanked down another floor, Mr. Weasley said, “I hear you laid information about Dirk Cresswell.”

突然，在冰冻般的沉寂中，过道左边一间法庭的门开了，传出带着回音的高喊。

Harry had the impression that Mr. Weasley’s anger was no less because of the brush with Percy. He decided his best chance was to act stupid.

“不，不——我告诉你我是混血，我是混血。我父亲是巫师，他是，你们去查，阿基·阿尔德顿，他是出名的飞天扫帚设计师，你们去查呀。我告诉你——别碰我，别碰——”

“Sorry?” he said.

“这是最后一次警告，”乌姆里奇软声软气地说，声音经魔法放大，清楚地盖过了那男人绝望的叫喊，“你要是再抵抗，就会得到摄魂怪的亲吻。”

“Don’t pretend, Runcorn,” said Mr. Weasley fiercely. “You tracked down the wizard who faked his family tree, didn’t you?”

那男人的叫声低了下去，但抽噎声还在过道里回响。

“I — so what if I did?” said Harry.

“把他带走。”乌姆里奇说。

“So Dirk Cresswell is ten times the wizard you are,” said Mr. Weasley quietly, as the lift sank ever lower. “And if he survives Azkaban, you’ll have to answer to him, not to mention his wife, his sons, and his friends —”

两个摄魂怪出现在法庭门口，腐烂结痂的大手抓着一个男巫的上臂，他似乎晕过去了。摄魂怪拖着他在过道里飘远，它们身后的黑暗将他吞没了。

“Arthur,” Harry interrupted, “you know you’re being tracked, don’t you?”

“下一个——玛丽·卡特莫尔。”乌姆里奇叫道。

“Is that a threat, Runcorn?” said Mr. Weasley loudly.

一个瘦小的女人站了起来，浑身发抖。她身穿朴素的长袍，黑发在脑后梳成一个圆髻，脸上血色全无。这女人经过摄魂怪旁边时，哈利看到她哆嗦了一下。

“No,” said Harry, “it’s a fact! They’re watching your every move —”

他完全出于冲动，没有任何计划，只是不忍看到她一个人走进那法庭。门开始关上时，他跟着她后面溜了进去。

The lift doors opened. They had reached the Atrium. Mr. Weasley gave Harry a scathing look and swept from the lift. Harry stood there, shaken. He wished he was impersonating somebody other than Runcorn. . . . The lift doors clanged shut.

这不是上次以滥用魔法为由审讯他的那个法庭，虽然天花板一样高，但比那间小得多，有一种在深深的井底那样的恐怖感。

Harry pulled out the Invisibility Cloak and put it back on. He would try to extricate Hermione on his own while Ron was dealing with the raining office. When the doors opened, he stepped out into a torch-lit stone passageway quite different from the wood-paneled and carpeted corridors above. As the lift rattled away again, Harry shivered slightly, looking toward the distant black door that marked the entrance to the Department of Mysteries.

这里有更多的摄魂怪，寒气笼罩了整个房间。它们像没有面孔的哨兵，站在离高高的审讯台最远的角落里。台上栏杆后面坐着乌姆里奇，一边是亚克斯利，另一边是脸色像卡特莫尔太太一样苍白的赫敏。一只银亮的长毛大猫的高台底部踱来踱去，哈利意识到它是用来在那里保护起诉人的，不让他们感受到摄魂怪所散发出来的绝望。绝望是让被告而不是让审讯者感受的。

He set off, his destination not the black door, but the doorway he remembered on the left-hand side, which opened onto the flight of stairs down to the court chambers. His mind grappled with possibilities as he crept down them: He still had a couple of Decoy Detonators, but perhaps it would be better to simply knock on the courtroom door, enter as Runcorn, and ask for a quick word with Mafalda? Of course, he did not know whether Runcorn was sufficiently important to get away with this, and even if he managed it, Hermione’s non-reappearance might trigger a search before they were clear of the Ministry. . . .

“坐下。”乌姆里奇用她那甜腻的声音说。

Lost in thought, he did not immediately register the unnatural chill that was creeping over him, as if he were descending into fog. It was becoming colder and colder with every step he took: a cold

卡特莫尔太太蹒跚地走到台下中央那张孤零零的椅子旁。她刚坐下，扶手中便丁丁当当地甩出锁链把她固定在那儿了。

REGISTRATION COMMISSION that reached right down into his throat and tore at his lungs. And then he felt that stealing sense of despair, of hopelessness, filling him, expanding inside him. . . .

“你是玛丽·伊丽莎白·卡特莫尔？”乌姆里奇问。

Dementors, he thought.

卡特莫尔太太颤巍巍地点了一下头。

And as he reached the foot of the stairs and turned to his right he saw a dreadful scene. The dark passage outside the courtrooms was packed with tall, black-hooded figures, their faces completely hidden, their ragged breathing the only sound in the place. The petrified Muggle-borns brought in for questioning sat huddled and shivering on hard wooden benches. Most of them were hiding their faces in their hands, perhaps in an instinctive attempt to shield themselves from the dementors’ greedy mouths. Some were accompanied by families, others sat alone. The dementors were gliding up and down in front of them, and the cold, and the hopelessness, and the despair of the place laid themselves upon Harry like a curse. . . .

“魔法维修保养处雷吉纳尔德·卡特莫尔的妻子？”

Fight it, he told himself, but he knew that he could not conjure a Patronus here without revealing himself instantly. So he moved forward as silently as he could, and with every step he took numbness seemed to steal over his brain, but he forced himself to think of Hermione and of Ron, who needed him.

卡特莫尔太太哭了起来。

Moving through the towering black figures was terrifying: The eyeless faces hidden beneath their hoods turned as he passed, and he felt sure that they sensed him, sensed, perhaps, a human presence that still had some hope, some resilience. . . .

“我不知道他在哪儿，他本来应该在这儿陪我的！”

And then, abruptly and shockingly amid the frozen silence, one of the dungeon doors on the left of the corridor was flung open and screams echoed out of it.

乌姆里奇不予理睬。

“No, no, I’m half-blood, I’m half-blood, I tell you! My father was a wizard, he was, look him up, Arkie Alderton, he’s a well-known broomstick designer, look him up, I tell you — get your hands off me, get your hands off —”

“梅齐、埃莉和阿尔弗雷德·卡特莫尔的母亲？”

“This is your final warning,” said Umbridge’s soft voice, magically magnified so that it sounded clearly over the man’s desperate screams. “If you struggle, you will be subjected to the Dementor’s Kiss.”

卡特莫尔太太哭得更厉害了。

The man’s screams subsided, but dry sobs echoed through the corridor.

“他们很害怕，担心我可能回不去了——”

“Take him away,” said Umbridge.

“行了，”亚克斯利轻蔑地说，“泥巴种的崽子引不起我们的同情。”

Two dementors appeared in the doorway of the courtroom, their rotting, scabbed hands clutching the upper arms of a wizard who appeared to be fainting. They glided away down the corridor with him, and the darkness they trailed behind them swallowed him from sight.

卡特莫尔太太的抽泣掩盖了哈利的脚步声，他小心地朝高台的台阶走去。经过那银猫守护神走动的地方时，他马上感到了温度的变化：这里温暖舒适。他敢肯定这守护神是乌姆里奇的，它如果明亮，是因为她在这儿很开心，得其所哉，维护着她参与制订的被扭曲的法律。哈利一点一点地、小心翼翼地在乌姆里奇、亚克斯利和赫敏的后面移动，最后在赫敏身后坐了下来。他怕把赫敏吓一跳，本来想对乌姆里奇和亚克斯利施闭耳塞听咒，但轻声念咒也有可能吓着赫敏。这时乌姆里奇提高嗓门对卡特莫尔太太说话了，哈利抓住了机会。

“Next — Mary Cattermole,” called Umbridge.

“我在你后面。”他对赫敏耳语道。

A small woman stood up; she was trembling from head to foot. Her dark hair was smoothed back into a bun and she wore long, plain robes. Her face was completely bloodless. As she passed the dementors, Harry saw her shudder.

果然不出所料，她猛地一震，差点打翻了做记录用的墨水瓶。但乌姆里奇和亚克斯利的注意力都在卡特莫尔太太身上，没有察觉。

He did it instinctively, without any sort of plan, because he hated the sight of her walking alone into the dungeon: As the door began to swing closed, he slipped into the courtroom behind her.

“你今天到魔法部时，被收走了一根魔杖，卡特莫尔太太，”乌姆里奇说，“八又四分之三英寸，樱桃木，独角兽毛做的杖芯。你确认这一描述吗？”

It was not the same room in which he had once been interrogated for improper use of magic. This one was much smaller, though the ceiling was quite as high; it gave the claustrophobic sense of being stuck at the bottom of a deep well.

卡特莫尔太太点点头，用袖子擦着眼睛。

There were more dementors in here, casting their freezing aura over the place; they stood like faceless sentinels in the corners farthest from the high, raised platform. Here, behind a balustrade, sat

“能否告诉我们，你是从哪位巫师那里夺取这根魔杖的？”

REGISTRATION COMMISSION Umbridge, with Yaxley on one side of her, and Hermione, quite as white-faced as Mrs. Cattermole, on the other. At the foot of the platform, a bright-silver, long-haired cat prowled up and down, up and down, and Harry realized that it was there to protect the prosecutors from the despair that emanated from the dementors: That was for the accused to feel, not the accusers.

“夺——夺取？”卡特莫尔太太哭泣道，“我没有从谁那里夺——夺取。它是我十一岁的时候买——买的，它——它——它选择了我。”

“Sit down,” said Umbridge in her soft, silky voice.

她哭得更凶了。

Mrs. Cattermole stumbled to the single seat in the middle of the floor beneath the raised platform. The moment she had sat down, chains clinked out of the arms of the chair and bound her there.

乌姆里奇发出一声小姑娘似的娇笑，哈利真想把她痛揍一顿。她身子前倾，为了越过障碍更好地审视她的猎物，一个金色的东西随之荡到胸前，悬在那里：挂坠盒。

“You are Mary Elizabeth Cattermole?” asked Umbridge.

赫敏看见了，轻轻尖叫一声，但乌姆里奇和亚克斯利仍然一心盯着猎物，听不见别的声音。

Mrs. Cattermole gave a single, shaky nod.

“不，”乌姆里奇说，“不，我不这么认为，卡特莫尔太太。魔杖只选择巫师，而你不是巫师。我这里有上次发给你的问卷调查表。马法尔达，拿过来。”

“Married to Reginald Cattermole of the Magical Maintenance Department?”

乌姆里奇伸出一只小手：她看上去那么像癞蛤蟆，哈利一时很惊讶那短粗的手指间怎么没有蹼。赫敏的手因为震惊而发抖，她在身边椅子上的一堆文件中摸索了一阵，终于抽出了一卷有卡特莫尔太太名字的羊皮纸。

Mrs. Cattermole burst into tears.

“那个——那个很漂亮，多洛雷斯。”她指着乌姆里奇上衣褶裥里那个闪闪发亮的坠子。

“I don’t know where he is, he was supposed to meet me here!”

“什么？”乌姆里奇厉声说道，低头看了一眼，“哦，是啊——一件古老的传家宝。”她拍拍贴在她那丰满的胸脯上的挂坠盒说，“‘S’是塞尔温的缩写……我与塞尔温家族有亲威关系……实际上，很少有纯血统的家庭跟我没有亲戚关系……可惜，”她翻着卡特莫尔太太的问卷调查表，提高了嗓门说，“你就不能这样说了。父母职业：蔬菜商。”

Umbridge ignored her.

亚克斯利不屑地大笑。台下，毛茸茸的银猫在踱来踱去，摄魂怪立在屋角等候。

“Mother to Maisie, Ellie, and Alfred Cattermole?”

乌姆里奇的谎言使哈利血液直冲头顶，忘却了谨慎。她从一个不法小贩那里受贿得来的挂坠盒，现在却拿来证明自己的纯血统身份。哈利甚至没有顾到继续藏在隐形衣下面，就举起魔杖，喝道：“昏昏倒地！”

Mrs. Cattermole sobbed harder than ever.

红光一闪，乌姆里奇倒了下去，脑袋撞在栏杆边沿，卡特莫尔太太的文件从她腿上滑到了地上，那只来回走动的银猫消失了，冰冷的空气像风一样袭来。亚克斯利莫名其妙，扭头寻找骚乱的来源。他看见一只没有身子的手正拿魔杖指着他，赶紧去拔自己的魔杖，但为时已晚。

“They’re frightened, they think I might not come home —”

“昏昏倒地！”

“Spare us,” spat Yaxley. “The brats of Mudbloods do not stir our sympathies.”

亚克斯利滑到地上，蜷成一团。

Mrs. Cattermole’s sobs masked Harry’s footsteps as he made his way carefully toward the steps that led up to the raised platform. The moment he had passed the place where the Patronus cat patrolled, he felt the change in temperature: It was warm and comfortable here. The Patronus, he was sure, was Umbridge’s, and it glowed brightly because she was so happy here, in her element, upholding the twisted laws she had helped to write. Slowly and very carefully he edged his way along the platform behind Umbridge, Yaxley, and Hermione, taking a seat behind the latter. He was worried about making Hermione jump. He thought of casting the Muffliato charm upon Umbridge and Yaxley, but even murmuring the word might cause Hermione alarm. Then Umbridge raised her voice to address Mrs. Cattermole, and Harry seized his chance.

“哈利！”

“I’m behind you,” he whispered into Hermione’s ear.

“赫敏，如果你觉得我会坐在这里看着她假装——”

As he had expected, she jumped so violently she nearly overturned the bottle of ink with which she was supposed to be recording the interview, but both Umbridge and Yaxley were concentrating upon Mrs. Cattermole, and this went unnoticed.

“哈利，卡特莫尔太太！”

“A wand was taken from you upon your arrival at the Ministry today, Mrs. Cattermole,” Umbridge was saying. “Eight-and-three-quarter inches, cherry, unicorn-hair core. Do you recognize that description?”

哈利急忙转过身，甩掉了隐形衣。台下，摄魂怪已经从角落里出来，正朝捆在椅子上的女人飘去。不知是因为守护神消失，还是因为感觉到主人已经失控，它们似乎肆无忌惮了。卡特莫尔太太恐怖地尖叫起来，一只黏糊糊的、结痂的大手捏住了她的下巴，把她的脸向后扳去。

Mrs. Cattermole nodded, mopping her eyes on her sleeve.

“呼神护卫！”

“Could you please tell us from which witch or wizard you took that wand?”

银色的牡鹿从哈利的杖尖升起，向摄魂怪跃去，它们纷纷后退，又融进了黑影之中。银鹿在屋里一圈圈地慢跑，它的光芒比那只猫更强、更温暖，充满了整个法庭。

“T-took?” sobbed Mrs. Cattermole. “I didn’t t-take it from anybody. I b-bought it when I was eleven years old. It — it — it — chose me.”

“拿上魂器。”哈利对赫敏说。

She cried harder than ever.

他跑下台阶，一边把隐形衣塞进包里，来到了卡特莫尔太太身边。

Umbridge laughed a soft girlish laugh that made Harry want to attack her. She leaned forward over the barrier, the better to observe her victim, and something gold swung forward too, and dangled over the void: the locket.

“你？”她望着他的脸，低声说，“可是——可是雷吉说是你把我的名字报上去审查的！”

Hermione had seen it; she let out a little squeak, but Umbridge and Yaxley, still intent upon their prey, were deaf to everything else.

“是吗？”哈利嘟囔道，一边扯动他手臂上的锁链，“哦，我改主意了。四分五裂！”没有反应。“赫敏，怎么去掉这些锁链？”

REGISTRATION COMMISSION

“等等，我正在做一件事——”

“No,” said Umbridge, “no, I don’t think so, Mrs. Cattermole. Wands only choose witches or wizards. You are not a witch. I have your responses to the questionnaire that was sent to you here — Mafalda, pass them to me.”

“赫敏，我们周围都是摄魂怪！”

Umbridge held out a small hand: She looked so toadlike at that moment that Harry was quite surprised not to see webs between the stubby fingers. Hermione’s hands were shaking with shock. She fumbled in a pile of documents balanced on the chair beside her, finally withdrawing a sheaf of parchment with Mrs. Cattermole’s name on it.

“我知道，哈利，可是如果她醒来发现挂坠盒没了——我必须复制一个……复制成双！好了……这样她应该看不出来了……”

“That’s — that’s pretty, Dolores,” she said, pointing at the pendant gleaming in the ruffled folds of Umbridge’s blouse.

赫敏冲下台阶。

“What?” snapped Umbridge, glancing down. “Oh yes — an old family heirloom,” she said, patting the locket lying on her large bosom. “The S stands for Selwyn. . . . I am related to the Selwyns. . . . Indeed, there are few pure-blood families to whom I am not related. . . . A pity,” she continued in a louder voice, flicking through Mrs. Cattermole’s questionnaire, “that the same cannot be said for you. ‘Parents’ professions: greengrocers.’ ”

“我看看……力松劲泄！”

Yaxley laughed jeeringly. Below, the fluffy silver cat patrolled up and down, and the dementors stood waiting in the corners.

锁链丁丁当当缩进了椅子扶手里。卡特莫尔太太看上去还是非常害怕。

It was Umbridge’s lie that brought the blood surging into Harry’s brain and obliterated his sense of caution — that the locket she had taken as a bribe from a petty criminal was being used to bolster her own pure-blood credentials. He raised his wand, not even troubling to keep it concealed beneath the Invisibility Cloak, and said, “Stupefy!”

“我不明白。”她喃喃道。

There was a flash of red light; Umbridge crumpled and her forehead hit the edge of the balustrade: Mrs. Cattermole’s papers slid off her lap onto the floor and, down below, the prowling silver cat vanished. Ice-cold air hit them like an oncoming wind: Yaxley, confused, looked around for the source of the trouble and saw Harry’s disembodied hand and wand pointing at him. He tried to draw his own wand, but too late: “Stupefy!”

“你得跟我们离开这儿，”哈利说着把她拉了起来，“回家带上你的孩子们逃走吧，实在不行就逃出国去，化了装逃。你看到了现在是什么情况，你在这儿得不到公道的。”

Yaxley slid to the ground to lie curled on the floor.

“哈利，”赫敏说，“门口那么多摄魂怪，我们怎么出去？”

“Harry!”

“守护神。”哈利说，用魔杖指着他自己的守护神：银色的牡鹿放慢脚步，依然明亮地闪耀着，向门口走去，“越多越好，把你的也召出来，赫敏。”

“Hermione, if you think I was going to sit here and let her pretend —”

“呼神——呼神护卫。”赫敏说，什么也没出现。

“Harry, Mrs. Cattermole!”

“这对她是惟一有点困难的魔咒，”哈利对完全呆住了的卡特莫尔太太说，“有点不幸……加油，赫敏……”

Harry whirled around, throwing off the Invisibility Cloak; down below, the dementors had moved out of their corners; they were gliding toward the woman chained to the chair: Whether because the Patronus had vanished or because they sensed that their masters were no longer in control, they seemed to have abandoned restraint. Mrs. Cattermole let out a terrible scream of fear as a slimy, scabbed hand grasped her chin and forced her face back.

“呼神护卫！”

“EXPECTO PATRONUM!”

一只银色水獭从赫敏的魔杖尖里跳了出来，在空中优雅地游向银色的牡鹿。

The silver stag soared from the tip of Harry’s wand and leaped toward the dementors, which fell back and melted into the dark shadows again. The stag’s light, more powerful and more warming than the cat’s protection, filled the whole dungeon as it cantered around and around the room.

“走。”哈利领着赫敏和卡特莫尔太太朝门口走去。

“Get the Horcrux,” Harry told Hermione.

守护神飘出法庭时，等在外面的人群发出惊叫。哈利四下扫了一眼，两边的摄魂怪都在向后退却，融入黑暗中，被银色的灵物驱散了。

He ran back down the steps, stuffing the Invisibility Cloak back into his bag, and approached Mrs. Cattermole.

“现在决定了，你们都回家去，带着家人躲起来。”哈利对那些被守护神的光亮照花了眼，仍然有点畏缩的麻瓜出身的巫师说，“如果可能就到国外去，离魔法部远远的。这是——呃——新的官方立场。现在，只要跟随守护神，你们就能逃出大厅。”

“You?” she whispered, gazing into his face. “But — but Reg said you were the one who submitted my name for questioning!”

他们一直走到石梯顶上，都没有受到阻拦。但在向电梯走去时，哈利担心起来。要是他们跟着一头银色牡鹿和一只银色水獭走进大厅，还带着二十来个人，其中有一半是被指控的麻瓜出身的巫师，他不由得感到太引人注目了。正当他得出这个不愉快的结论时，他们面前的电梯门哐当一声开了。

“Did I?” muttered Harry, tugging at the chains binding her arms.

“雷吉！”卡特莫尔太太叫了起来，扑进罗恩的怀里，“伦考恩把我放出来了，他击昏了乌姆里奇和亚克斯利，还叫我们大家都逃出国去。我想我们应该这么做，雷吉，真的。赶快回家带上孩子——你怎么搞得这么湿？”

REGISTRATION COMMISSION “Well, I’ve had a change of heart. Diffindo!” Nothing happened. “Hermione, how do I get rid of these chains?”

“水，”罗恩嘟囔着，挣脱出来，“哈利，他们知道有人闯进魔法部了，好像乌姆里奇办公室门上有个洞。那样的话，我想我们还有五分钟——”

“Wait, I’m trying something up here —”

赫敏的守护神噗地消失了，她大惊失色地转向哈利。

“Hermione, we’re surrounded by dementors!”

“哈利，要是我们被困在这儿——！”

“I know that, Harry, but if she wakes up and the locket’s gone — I need to duplicate it — Geminio! There . . . That should fool her. . . .”

“只要行动迅速就不会。”哈利说道。他转向身后那群目瞪口呆地望着他的人。“谁有魔杖？”

Hermione came running downstairs.

约有一半人举手。

“Let’s see. . . . Relashio!”

“好，没有魔杖的找个有魔杖的跟着。我们动作要快——抢在被他们堵住之前。上吧。”

The chains clinked and withdrew into the arms of the chair. Mrs. Cattermole looked just as frightened as ever before.

大家挤进两部电梯，哈利的守护神在金色的栅栏门前守着，门关上了，电梯开始上升。

“I don’t understand,” she whispered.

“第八层，”女巫冷漠的声音说，“正厅。”

“You’re going to leave here with us,” said Harry, pulling her to her feet. “Go home, grab your children, and get out, get out of the country if you’ve got to. Disguise yourselves and run. You’ve seen how it is, you won’t get anything like a fair hearing here.”

哈利马上知道有麻烦了。正厅里有许多人，在那些壁炉前面走来走去，正在封闭壁炉。

“Harry,” said Hermione, “how are we going to get out of here with all those dementors outside the door?”

“哈利！”赫敏尖叫道，“我们怎么——？”

“Patronuses,” said Harry, pointing his wand at his own: The stag slowed and walked, still gleaming brightly, toward the door. “As many as we can muster; do yours, Hermione.”

“住手！”哈利大喝一声，伦考恩有力的声音在正厅中回响，那些封锁壁炉的巫师们都愣住了。“跟我来。”他低声对惊恐的麻瓜出身的巫师们说，这群人由罗恩和赫敏领着往前拥去。

“Expec — Expecto patronum,” said Hermione. Nothing happened.

“怎么啦，艾伯特？”先前跟着哈利滚出壁炉的那个秃顶男巫问道，他看上去很紧张。

“It’s the only spell she ever has trouble with,” Harry told a completely bemused Mrs. Cattermole. “Bit unfortunate, really . . . Come on, Hermione. . . .”

“这些人要在你们封闭出口前离开。”哈利竭力用威严的语调说。

“Expecto patronum!”

那帮巫师面面相觑。

A silver otter burst from the end of Hermione’s wand and swam gracefully through the air to join the stag.

“我们奉命封闭所有出口，不许任何人……”

“C’mon,” said Harry, and he led Hermione and Mrs. Cattermole to the door.

“你在违抗我吗？”哈利气势汹汹地说，“是不是要我调查一下你的家谱，像德克·克雷斯韦那样？”

When the Patronuses glided out of the dungeon there were cries of shock from the people waiting outside. Harry looked around; the dementors were falling back on both sides of them, melding into the darkness, scattering before the silver creatures.

“对不起！”秃顶男巫吃了一惊，朝后退去，“我没别的意思，艾伯特，只是我想……我想他们是受审讯的……”

“It’s been decided that you should all go home and go into hiding with your families,” Harry told the waiting Muggle-borns, who were dazzled by the light of the Patronuses and still cowering slightly. “Go abroad if you can. Just get well away from the Ministry. That’s the — er — new official position. Now, if you’ll just follow the Patronuses, you’ll be able to leave from the Atrium.”

“他们的血统很纯正，”哈利说，他低沉的嗓音在大厅中回响着，很有震慑力，“我敢说比你们中的许多人都要纯正。走吧。”他高声对那些麻瓜出身的巫师们说，他们急忙钻进壁炉，一对对地消失了。魔法部的巫师迟疑地留在后面，有的一脸困惑，有的惊恐不满。突然——

They managed to get up the stone steps without being intercepted, but as they approached the lifts Harry started to have misgivings. If they emerged into the Atrium with a silver stag, an otter soaring alongside it, and twenty or so people, half of them accused Muggleborns, he could not help feeling that they would attract unwanted attention. He had just reached this unwelcome conclusion when the lift clanged to a halt in front of them.

“玛丽！”

“Reg!” screamed Mrs. Cattermole, and she threw herself into Ron’s arms. “Runcorn let me out, he attacked Umbridge and Yaxley, and he’s told all of us to leave the country, I think we’d better do it, Reg, I really do, let’s hurry home and fetch the children and — why are you so wet?”

卡特莫尔太太回过头，真正的、不再呕吐的雷吉·卡特莫尔刚从一部电梯里跑出来。

“Water,” muttered Ron, disengaging himself. “Harry, they know there are intruders inside the Ministry, something about a hole in Umbridge’s office door, I reckon we’ve got five minutes if that —”

“雷——雷吉？”

Hermione’s Patronus vanished with a pop as she turned a horrorstruck face to Harry.

她看看丈夫又看看罗恩，后者大声诅咒了一句。

REGISTRATION COMMISSION

秃顶男巫张大了嘴巴，脑袋在两个雷吉·卡特莫尔之间可笑地转来转去。

“Harry, if we’re trapped here — !”

“嘿——这是怎么回事！”

“We won’t be if we move fast,” said Harry. He addressed the silent group behind them, who were all gawping at him.

“封闭出口！封闭！”

“Who’s got wands?”

亚克斯利从另一部电梯里冲出来，奔向壁炉旁的人群。这时，那些麻瓜出身的巫师除了卡特莫尔太太之外全都已经从壁炉消失了。秃顶男巫刚举起魔杖，哈利就举起硕大的拳头，一拳把他打飞出去。

About half of them raised their hands.

“他在帮麻瓜出身的巫师逃跑，亚克斯利！”哈利喊道。

“Okay, all of you who haven’t got wands need to attach yourself to somebody who has. We’ll need to be fast before they stop us. Come on.”

秃顶男巫的同伴们一片哗然，罗恩趁乱拽住卡特莫尔太太，把她拉进仍然敞开的壁炉里消失了。亚克斯利迷惑地看看哈利，又看看那挨打的男巫，这里真的雷吉·卡特莫尔高叫道：“我太太！跟我太太在一起的那个人是谁？发生了什么事？”

They managed to cram themselves into two lifts. Harry’s Patronus stood sentinel before the golden grilles as they shut and the lifts began to rise.

哈利看到亚克斯利转过头来，愚钝的脸上现出一丝醒悟的神情。

“Level eight,” said the witch’s cool voice, “Atrium.”

“快走！哈利大声对赫敏说，抓住她的手，两人一起跳进壁炉，亚克斯利的咒语从哈利头顶飞过。他们旋转了几秒钟，从抽水马桶中喷射出来。”

Harry knew at once that they were in trouble. The Atrium was full of people moving from fireplace to fireplace, sealing them off.

“雷吉，我不明白——”

“Harry!” squeaked Hermione. “What are we going to — ?”

“放开，我不是你丈夫，你必须回家去！”

“STOP!” Harry thundered, and the powerful voice of Runcorn echoed through the Atrium: The wizards sealing the fireplaces froze. “Follow me,” he whispered to the group of terrified Muggleborns, who moved forward in a huddle, shepherded by Ron and Hermione.

身后的小隔间里轰隆一响，哈利回过头，亚克斯利刚好跳了出来。

“What’s up, Albert?” said the same balding wizard who had followed Harry out of the fireplace earlier. He looked nervous.

“我们走！”哈利高喊，抓住赫敏的手和罗恩的胳膊，疾速旋转。

“This lot need to leave before you seal the exits,” said Harry with all the authority he could muster.

黑暗吞没了他们，还有那种被带子束紧的感觉，可是有点不对劲……赫敏的手似乎要从他手中滑脱……

The group of wizards in front of him looked at one another.

他怀疑自己要窒息了，他无法呼吸，也看不见，世界上惟一实在的东西就是罗恩的手臂和赫敏的手指，可他的手指正在慢慢滑落……

“We’ve been told to seal all exits and not let anyone —”

然后他看到了格里莫广场12号的大门和那蛇形的门环，但他还没来得及透一口气，就听到一声尖叫，紫光一闪，赫敏的手突然变得像钳子一般抓住他，一切重又没入黑暗。

“Are you contradicting me?” Harry blustered. “Would you like me to have your family tree examined, like I had Dirk Cresswell’s?”

“Sorry!” gasped the balding wizard, backing away. “I didn’t mean nothing, Albert, but I thought . . . I thought they were in for questioning and . . .”

“Their blood is pure,” said Harry, and his deep voice echoed impressively through the hall. “Purer than many of yours, I daresay. Off you go,” he boomed to the Muggle-borns, who scurried forward into the fireplaces and began to vanish in pairs. The Ministry wizards hung back, some looking confused, others scared and resentful. Then:

“Mary!”

Mrs. Cattermole looked over her shoulder. The real Reg Cattermole, no longer vomiting but pale and wan, had just come running out of a lift.

“R-Reg?”

She looked from her husband to Ron, who swore loudly.

The balding wizard gaped, his head turning ludicrously from one Reg Cattermole to the other.

“Hey — what’s going on? What is this?”

“Seal the exit! SEAL IT!”

Yaxley had burst out of another lift and was running toward the group beside the fireplaces, into which all of the Muggle-borns but Mrs. Cattermole had now vanished. As the balding wizard lifted his wand, Harry raised an enormous fist and punched him, sending him flying through the air.

“He’s been helping Muggle-borns escape, Yaxley!” Harry shouted.

The balding wizard’s colleagues set up an uproar, under cover of which Ron grabbed Mrs. Cattermole, pulled her into the still-open fireplace, and disappeared. Confused, Yaxley looked from Harry to

REGISTRATION COMMISSION the punched wizard, while the real Reg Cattermole screamed, “My wife! Who was that with my wife? What’s going on?”

Harry saw Yaxley’s head turn, saw an inkling of the truth dawn in that brutish face.

“Come on!” Harry shouted at Hermione; he seized her hand and they jumped into the fireplace together as Yaxley’s curse sailed over Harry’s head. They spun for a few seconds before shooting up out of a toilet into a cubicle. Harry flung open the door; Ron was standing there beside the sinks, still wrestling with Mrs. Cattermole.

“Reg, I don’t understand —”

“Let go, I’m not your husband, you’ve got to go home!”

There was a noise in the cubicle behind them; Harry looked around; Yaxley had just appeared.

“LET’S GO!” Harry yelled. He seized Hermione by the hand and Ron by the arm and turned on the spot.

Darkness engulfed them, along with the sensation of compressing bands, but something was wrong. . . . Hermione’s hand seemed to be sliding out of his grip. . . .

He wondered whether he was going to suffocate; he could not breathe or see and the only solid things in the world were Ron’s arm and Hermione’s fingers, which were slowly slipping away. . . .

And then he saw the door of number twelve, Grimmauld Place, with its serpent door knocker, but before he could draw breath, there was a scream and a flash of purple light; Hermione’s hand was suddenly vicelike upon his and everything went dark again.

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