OK阅读网

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

英文中文双语对照双语交替

首页目录上一章下一章

CHAPTER SIXTEEN - In the Hog's Head

第十六章　在猪头酒吧

Hermione made no mention of Harry giving Defence Against the Dark Arts lessons for two whole weeks after her original suggestion. Harry's detentions with Umbridge were finally over (he doubted whether the words now etched into the back of his hand would ever fade entirely); Ron had had four more Quidditch practices and not been shouted at during the last two; and all three of them had managed to Vanish their mice in Transfiguration (Hermione had actually progressed to Vanishing kittens), before the subject was broached again, on a wild, blustery evening at the end of September, when the three of them were sitting in the library, looking up potion ingredients for Snape.

自从第一次提出让哈利讲授黑魔法防御术课的建议之后，赫敏整整两个星期没有再提这件事。哈利在乌姆里奇那里的关禁闭终于结束了（他怀疑那行已深深刻进手背的文字恐怕永远不会完全消失了），罗恩又参加了四次魁地奇球训练，最后两次没有受到大声喝斥。在变形课上，他们三个都成功地念咒让老鼠消失了（实际上赫敏已经更进一步，在练习让小猫消失的魔咒了）。然后，在九月底一个狂风大作的夜晚，他们三个坐在图书馆里，为斯内普查找魔药成分时，这个话题又被提了出来。

'I was wondering,' Hermione said suddenly, 'whether you'd thought any more about Defence Against the Dark Arts, Harry.'

“我很想知道，”赫敏突然说道，“你有没有再考虑过黑魔法防御术的事，哈利。”

'Course I have,' said Harry grumpily, 'can't forget it, can we, with that hag teaching us - '

“当然考虑过，”哈利没好气地说，“怎么能忘记呢，有那个母夜叉在教我们——”

'I meant the idea Ron and I had - ' Ron cast her an alarmed, threatening kind of look. She frowned at him, '- Oh, all right, the idea I had, then - about you teaching us.'

“我指的是我和罗恩的那个主意——”罗恩用惊恐的、带有威胁的目光瞪了她一眼。她朝罗恩皱起眉头，“——哦，好吧，就说是我的那个主意——由你来教我们。”

Harry did not answer at once. He pretended to be perusing a page of Asiatic Anti-Venoms, because he did not want to say what was in his mind.

哈利没有马上回答。他在假装仔细阅读《亚洲抗毒大全》中的一页，因为他不想把脑子里的想法说出来。

He had given the matter a great deal of thought over the past fortnight. Sometimes it seemed an insane idea, just as it had on the night Hermione had proposed it, but at others, he had found himself thinking about the spells that had served him best in his various encounters with Dark creatures and Death Eaters - found himself, in fact, subconsciously planning lessons . . .

在刚刚过去的两个星期里，他对这件事情考虑了很多。有时觉得这是一个荒唐的念头，就像赫敏刚提出来的那天晚上一样，有时却发现自己在思索他与黑魔法生物和食死徒的各种交锋中，最起作用的那些魔咒——发现自己实际上是在备课……

'Well,' he said slowly, when he could no longer pretend to find Asiatic Anti-Venoms interesting, 'yeah, I - I've thought about it a bit.'

“嗯，”他不能再假装对《亚洲抗毒大全》感兴趣了，于是慢悠悠地说道，“是啊，我——我是想过一点儿。”

'And?' said Hermione eagerly.

“说下去。”赫敏急切地说。

'I dunno,' said Harry, playing for time. He looked up at Ron.

“我也说不好。”哈利拖延着时间。他抬头看着罗恩。

'I thought it was a good idea from the start,' said Ron, who seemed keener to join in this conversation now that he was sure Harry was not going to start shouting again.

“我从一开始就觉得这是一个好主意。”罗恩说，他看到哈利肯定不会再大吵大嚷了，便似乎比较热心参与这场谈话了。

Harry shifted uncomfortably in his chair.

哈利局促地在椅子上动来动去。

'You did listen to what I said about a load of it being luck, didn't you?'

“你们听我说了那一切全靠运气，是不是？”

'Yes, Harry,' said Hermione gently, 'but all the same, there's no point pretending that you're not good at Defence Against the Dark Arts, because you are. You were the only person last year who could throw off the Imperius Curse completely, you can produce a Patronus, you can do all sorts of stuff that full-grown wizards can't, Viktor always said - '

“是的，哈利，”赫敏温和地说，“可是，你假装在黑魔法防御术方面不出色是没有用的，因为你确实是出色的。去年，只有你一个人能彻底摆脱夺魂咒，你能变出一个守护神，你能做到各种就连成年巫师也做不到的事情，威克多尔以前总是说——”

Ron looked round at her so fast he appeared to crick his neck. Rubbing it, he said, 'Yeah? What did Vicky say?'

罗恩猛地把头转向她，速度太快，似乎把脖子都拧痛了。他一边揉着脖子一边说：“什么？威克多尔说什么啦？”

'Ho ho,' said Hermione in a bored voice. 'He said Harry knew how to do stuff even he didn't, and he was in the final year at Durmstrang.'

“哦，哦，”赫敏用腻烦的口吻说，“他说哈利会的魔法就连他也不会，而他当时在德姆斯特朗上最后一年级了。”

Ron was looking at Hermione suspiciously.

罗恩怀疑地打量着赫敏。

'You're not still in contact with him, are you?'

“你该不会还跟他保持着联系吧？”

'So what if I am.?' said Hermione coolly, though her face was a little pink. 'I can have a pen-pal if I - '

“是又怎么样？”赫敏冷冷地说，但她的脸微微有些泛红，“我也可以有一个笔友嘛——”

'He didn't only want to be your pen-pal,' said Ron accusingly.

“他可不只是想做你的笔友。”罗恩指责地说。

Hermione shook her head exasperatedly and, ignoring Ron, who was continuing to watch her, said to Harry, 'Well, what do you think? Will you teach us?'

赫敏气恼地摇了摇头，没理睬继续注视着她的罗恩，对哈利说道：“那么，你是怎么想的呢？你会教我们吗？”

'Just you and Ron, yeah?'

“就教你和罗恩，是吗？”

'Well,' said Hermione, looking a mite anxious again. 'Well . . . now, don't fly off the handle again, Harry, please . . . but I really think you ought to teach anyone who wants to learn. I mean, we're talking about defending ourselves against V-Voldemort. Oh, don't be pathetic, Ron. It doesn't seem fair if we don't offer the chance to other people.'

“嗯，”赫敏说道，看上去又有一点不安，“嗯……你听了可千万别再发脾气，哈利，求求你了……但我确实认为，只要有谁想学，你都应该教他们。我是说，我们是在谈论如何保护自己，抵抗伏……伏地魔。哦，别那么垂头丧气，罗恩。如果我们不给其他人提供机会，似乎不太公平。”

Harry considered this for a moment, then said, 'Yeah, but I doubt anyone except you two would want to be taught by me. I'm a nutter, remember?'

哈利考虑了片刻，然后说道：“是啊，但我怀疑除了你们俩，还有谁会愿意我去教他们呢。别忘了我是一个怪物！”

'Well, I think you might be surprised how many people would be interested in hearing what you've got to say,' said Hermione seriously. 'Look,' she leaned towards him - Ron, who was still watching her with a frown on his face, leaned forwards to listen too - 'you know the first weekend in October's a Hogsmeade weekend? How would it be if we tell anyone who's interested to meet us in the village and we can talk it over?'

“嘿，我想，当你知道竟然有那么多人有兴趣听你讲话时，你恐怕会感到吃惊的。”赫敏认真地说道。“瞧，”她朝他探过身——罗恩仍然皱着眉头注视着她，这时也凑上前来听——“知道吗，十月的第一个周末我们要去霍格莫德？我们不妨叫每个感兴趣的人在村里跟我们见见面，好好议一议这件事，怎么样？”

'Why do we have to do it outside school?' said Ron.

“我们为什么一定要弄到校外去呢？”罗恩问。

'Because,' said Hermione, returning to the diagram of the Chinese Chomping Cabbage she was copying, 'I don't think Umbridge would be very happy if she found out what we were up to.'

“因为，”赫敏说，一边低头继续抄写那张中国咬人甘蓝的图表，“如果乌姆里奇发现了我们要做的事情，我想她肯定不会很高兴的。”

哈利一直盼望着到霍格莫德村去过周末，但是有一件事让他很担心。小天狼星自从九月初在炉火中出现过一次之后，这么长时间都没有音讯。哈利知道，他们当时说不想让他来，一定惹得他很不高兴——但是他有时仍然担心小天狼星会不顾一切，鲁莽行事，出现在村子里。如果到了霍格莫德村，一条大黑狗在路上冲他们奔来，说不定就在德拉科·马尔福的鼻子底下，那可怎么办呢？

Harry had been looking forward to the weekend trip into Hogsmeade, but there was one thing worrying him. Sirius had maintained a stony silence since he had appeared in the fire at the beginning of September; Harry knew they had made him angry by saying they didn't want him to come - but he still worried from time to time that Sirius might throw caution to the winds and turn up anyway. What were they going to do if the great black dog came bounding up the street towards them in Hogsmeade, perhaps under the nose of Draco Malfoy?

“我说，你不能怪他想出来散心。”当哈利把他的担忧告诉罗恩和赫敏时，罗恩说道，“我是说，他在外面逃跑了两年多，是不是，我知道那并不是什么好玩的事，但至少那时候他是自由的，是不是？现在却整天跟那个可怕的小精灵关在一起。”

'Well, you can't blame him for wanting to get out and about,' said Ron, when Harry discussed his fears with him and Hermione. 'I mean, he's been on the run for over two years, hasn't he, and I know that can't have been a laugh, but at least he was free, wasn't he? And now he's just shut up all the time with that ghastly elf.'

赫敏气呼呼地瞪着罗恩，但她对罗恩这样轻视克利切并没有作更多的表示。

Hermione scowled at Ron, but otherwise ignored the slight on Kreacher.

“问题是，”她对哈利说，“在伏——伏地魔——哦，看在老天的分儿上，别这样，罗恩——在他公开出现之前，小天狼星不得不一直隐藏着，是不是？我是说，愚蠢的魔法部先要承认邓布利多说的关于他的话都是真的，才会意识到小天狼星是无辜的。一旦那些傻瓜又开始捉拿真正的食死徒时，大家便会看出小天狼星不是食死徒了……我是说，至少他没有标记呀。”

The trouble is,' she said to Harry, 'until V-Voldemort - oh, for heaven's sake, Ron - comes out into the open, Sirius is going to have to stay hidden, isn't he? I mean, the stupid Ministry isn't going to realise Sirius is innocent until they accept that Dumbledore's been telling the truth about him all along. And once the fools start catching real Death Eaters again, it'll be obvious Sirius isn't one . . . I mean, he hasn't got the Mark, for one thing.'

“我认为他不会傻乎乎地跑到这里来的。”罗恩安慰他们道，“如果他这么做，邓布利多肯定会气得发疯，而小天狼星是很听邓布利多的话的，尽管他并不喜欢那些意见。”

'I don't reckon he'd be stupid enough to turn up,' said Ron bracingly. 'Dumbledore'd go mad if he did and Sirius listens to Dumbledore even if he doesn't like what he hears.'

看到哈利还是一脸担忧的神情，赫敏说：“听着，罗恩和我一直在试探那些我们认为可能想学习一些正规的黑魔法防御术的人，有两三个人似乎很感兴趣。我们叫他们在霍格莫德村跟我们碰面。”

When Harry continued to look worried, Hermione said, 'Listen, Ron and I have been sounding out people who we thought might want to learn some proper Defence Against the Dark Arts, and there are a couple who seem interested. We've told them to meet us in Hogsmeade.'

“好的。”哈利淡淡地说，心里还在想着小天狼星。

'Right,' said Harry vaguely, his mind still on Sirius.

“不要担心，哈利，”赫敏轻声说，“你要做的事情已经够多，别老惦记着小天狼星了。”

'Don't worry, Harry,' Hermione said quietly. 'You've got enough on your plate without Sirius, too.'

她说得当然很对，哈利的家庭作业只是勉强能够按时完成，尽管现在不用每天晚上到乌姆里奇那里关禁闭了，他觉得轻松了不少。罗恩的功课落得比哈利还要多，因为他们俩都要参加每星期两次的魁地奇球训练，罗恩还要履行级长的职责。而赫敏呢，她选的科目比他们俩都多，却不仅做完了所有的家庭作业，还能找到时间给小精灵织衣服。哈利不得不承认她的手艺越来越好，现在几乎可以分得出哪些是帽子，哪些是袜子了。

She was quite right, of course, he was barely keeping up with his homework, though he was doing much better now that he was no longer spending every evening in detention with Umbridge. Ron was even further behind with his work than Harry, because while they both had Quidditch practice twice a week, Ron also had his prefect duties. However, Hermione, who was taking more subjects than either of them, had not only finished all her homework but was also finding time to knit more elf clothes. Harry had to admit that she was getting better; it was now almost always possible to distinguish between the hats and the socks.

到霍格莫德村去的那天早晨，天气晴朗，但是有风。吃过早饭，他们在费尔奇面前排起了长队，他要对着那张长长的名单核对他们的名字，名单上列的是家长或监护人允许他们拜访霍格莫德村的同学。哈利突然揪心地想到，如果不是小天狼星，他根本就去不成。

The morning of the Hogsmeade visit dawned bright but windy. Alter breakfast they queued up in front of Filch, who matched their names to the long list of students who had permission from their parents or guardian to visit the village. With a slight pang, Harry remembered that if it hadn't been for Sirius, he would not have been going at all.

哈利走到费尔奇面前时，管理员使劲嗅了嗅鼻子，似乎想从哈利身上闻出什么东西的气味。然后他草草点了下头，下巴上的垂肉又颤抖起来，哈利继续往前走，来到石阶上，来到寒冷的阳光灿烂的户外。

When Harry reached Filch, the caretaker gave a great sniff as though trying to detect a whiff of something from Harry. Then he gave a curt nod that set his jowls aquiver again and Harry walked on, out on to the stone steps and the cold, sunlit day.

“嗯——费尔奇为什么使劲嗅你？”罗恩问，这时候，他、哈利和赫敏正迈着轻快的脚步，走在通往大门的宽阔车道上。

'Er - why was Filch sniffing you?' asked Ron, as he, Harry and Hermione set off at: a brisk pace down the wide drive to the gates.

“我猜他是想闻闻有没有大粪蛋的气味吧，”哈利轻声笑着说，“我忘记告诉你们了……”

'I suppose he was checking for the smell of Dungbombs,' said Harry with a small laugh. T forgot to tell you . . .'

他把给小天狼星寄信、费尔奇几秒钟后冲进来要求看信的事原原本本地讲给他们听。使他微微感到吃惊的是，赫敏对这件事非常感兴趣，甚至比哈利自己还要感兴趣得多。

And he recounted the story of sending his letter to Sirius and Filch bursting in seconds later, demanding to see the letter. To his slight surprise, Hermione found this story highly interesting, much more, indeed, than he did himself.

“他说他得到情报，你在订购大粪蛋？那么是谁向他提供情报的呢？”

'He said he was tipped off you were ordering Dungbombs? But who tipped him off?'

“不知道，”哈利耸了耸肩膀说，“大概是马尔福吧，他会觉得这是一个笑柄。”

'I dunno,' said Harry, shrugging. 'Maybe Malfoy he'd think it was a laugh.'

他们从顶上立着带翼野猪的高高石柱之间穿过，向左拐到通往村子的路上，风把他们的头发吹得挡住了眼睛。

They walked between the tall stone pillars topped with winged boars and turned left on to the road into the village, the wind whip-, ping their hair into their eyes.

“马尔福？”赫敏表示怀疑地说，“嗯……是啊……有可能……”

'Malfoy?' said Hermione, sceptically. 'Well . . . yes . . . maybe . . .'

然后，在快到霍格莫德村的一路上，她一直在沉思默想。

And she remained deep in thought all the way into the outskirts of Hogsmeade.

“我们到底上哪儿去呀？”哈利问，“三把扫帚酒吧吗？”

'Where are we going, anyway?' Harry asked. The Three Broomsticks?'

“哦——不是，”赫敏从沉思中惊醒过来，说道，“不是，那里总是挤满了人，嘈杂得厉害。我叫其他人在猪头酒吧跟我们碰头，就是另外一家酒吧，你们知道的，不在大路上。我也觉得这有点儿……你们知道……不太保险……但同学们一般不上那儿去，所以我想我们不会被人偷听到。”

'Oh - no,' said Hermione, coming out of her reverie, 'no, it's always packed and really noisy. I've told the others to meet us in the Hog's Head, that other pub, you know the one, it's not on the main road. I think it's a bit . . . you know . . . dodgy . . . but students don't normally go in there, so I don't think we'll be overheard.'

他们顺着大路往前走，经过佐科笑话店时——不出所料，他们在这里看见了弗雷德、乔治和李·乔丹，经过邮局——每过一会儿就有一些猫头鹰从里面飞出来，然后他们拐进旁边的一条小路，路口有一家小酒吧。破破烂烂的木头招牌悬挂在门上锈迹斑斑的支架上，上面画着一个被砍下来的野猪头，血迹渗透了包着它的白布。他们走近时，招牌被风吹得吱吱嘎嘎作响。他们三人在门外迟疑着。

They walked down the main street past Zonko's Wizarding Joke Shop, where they were not surprised to see Fred, George and Lee Jordan, past the post office, from which owls issued at regular intervals, and turned up a side-street at the top of which stood a small inn. A battered wooden sign hung from a rusty bracket over the door, with a picture on it of a wild boar's severed head, leaking blood on to the white cloth around it. The sign creaked in the wind as they approached. All three of them hesitated outside the door.

“走，进去吧。”赫敏说，显得有点儿紧张。哈利领头走了进去。

'Well, come on,' said Hermione, slightly nervously. Harry led the way inside.

里面与三把扫帚酒吧完全不一样，那儿的大吧台总使人感到明亮、干净而温暖。猪头酒吧只有一间又小又暗、非常肮脏的屋子，散发着一股浓浓的羊膻味。几扇凸窗上积着厚厚的污垢，光线几乎透不进来，粗糙的木头桌子上点着一些蜡烛头。哈利第一眼望去，以为地面是压实的泥地，可是当踩在上面时才发现，原本是石头铺的地面上积了几个世纪的污垢。

It was not at all like the Three Broomsticks, whose large bar gave an impression of gleaming warmth and cleanliness. The Hog's Head bar comprised one small, dingy and very dirty room that smelled strongly of something that might have been goats. The bay windows were so encrusted with grime that very little daylight could permeate the room, which was lit instead with the stubs of candles sitting on rough wooden tables. The floor seemed at first glance to be compressed earth, though as Harry stepped on to it he realised that there was stone beneath what seemed to be the accumulated filth of centuries.

哈利想起一年级时海格说过这家酒吧：“猪头酒吧里有许多好玩的家伙。”他这么说，解释他是怎么从酒吧里一个戴兜帽的陌生人手里赢得了一只龙蛋的。当时哈利还纳闷，在他们交往时那人始终把脸挡得严严实实，为什么海格不觉得奇怪呢。现在他才发现，在猪头酒吧里似乎很流行把脸隐藏起来。吧台那儿有一个人，整个脑袋都裹在脏兮兮的灰色绷带里，不过仍然能一杯接一杯地把一种冒烟的、燃着火苗的东西从嘴上的一道绷带缝隙中灌进去。窗边的一张桌子旁坐着两个戴兜帽的人影，如果他们不是用很浓重的约克郡口音在说话，哈利简直以为他们是摄魂怪。在壁炉旁一个阴暗的角落里坐着一个女巫，厚厚的黑色纱巾一直垂到她的双脚。他们只能看见她的鼻尖，因为它把面罩顶得微微突起。

Harry remembered Hagrid mentioning this pub in his first year: 'Yeh get a lot o' funny folk in the Hog's Head,' he had said, explaining how he had won a dragon's egg from a hooded stranger there. At the time Harry had wondered why Hagrid had not found it odd that the stranger kept his face hidden throughout their encounter; now he saw that keeping your face hidden was something of a fashion in the Hog's Head. There was a man at the bar whose whole head was wrapped in dirty grey bandages, though he was still managing to gulp endless glasses of some smoking, fiery substance through a slit over his mouth; two figures shrouded in hoods sat at a table in one of the windows; Harry might have thought them Dementors if they had not been talking in strong Yorkshire accents, and in a shadowy corner beside the fireplace sat a witch with a thick, black veil that fell to her toes. They could just see the tip of her nose because it caused the veil to protrude slightly.

“我觉得不大对劲儿，赫敏。”他们朝吧台走去时，哈利低声说。他格外注意地望着那个全身裹着纱巾的女巫。“你有没有想到那里面会是乌姆里奇呢？”

'I don't know about this, Hermione,' Harry muttered, as they crossed to the bar. He was looking particularly at the heavily veiled witch. 'Has it occurred to you Umbridge might be under that?'

赫敏掂量着朝那裹着纱巾的身影扫了一眼。

Hermione cast an appraising eye over the veiled figure.

“乌姆里奇比那个女人矮，”她悄声说道，“而且，就算乌姆里奇上这儿来了，她也不能阻止我们，哈利，因为我把学校的规章制度反复看了两三遍。我们没有越轨。我还专门问过弗立维教授，学生可不可以进猪头酒吧，他说可以，但他一再建议我要自己带上杯子。我查遍了我能想到的关于组织学习小组和课外小组的规定，它们是在绝对被允许的范围内的。我只是觉得我们做这件事不应该过分张扬。”

'Umbridge is shorter than that woman,' she said quietly. 'And anyway, even if Umbridge does come in here there's nothing she can do to stop us, Harry, because I've double- and triple-checked the school rules. We're not out of bounds; I specifically asked Professor Flitwick whether students were allowed to come in the Hog's Head, and he said yes, but he advised me strongly to bring our own glasses. And I've looked up everything I can think of about study groups and homework groups and they're definitely allowed. I just don't think it's a good idea if we parade what we're doing.'

“对，”哈利干巴巴地说道，“特别是你所筹划的实际上并不是一个课外小组，对吗？”

'No,' said Harry drily, 'especially as it's not exactly a homework group you're planning, is it?'

酒吧老板侧身从一个后门闪出，朝他们迎上来。他是个看上去脾气暴躁的老头儿，长着一大堆长长的灰色头发和胡子。他的个子又高又瘦，哈利隐约感觉似乎在哪儿见过他。

The barman sidled towards them out of a back room. He was a grumpy-looking old man with a great deal of long grey hair and beard. He was tall and thin and looked vaguely familiar to Harry.

“要什么？”他嘟哝着问。

What? he grunted.

“请来三瓶黄油啤酒。”赫敏说。

'Three Butterbeers, please,' said Hermione.

那人弯腰从柜台下掏出三只布满灰尘、肮脏透顶的瓶子，重重放在吧台上。

The man reached beneath the counter and pulled up three very dusty, very dirty bottles, which he slammed on the bar.

“六个西可。”他说。

'Six Sickles,' he said.

“我来付。”哈利赶紧说道，把银币递了过去。酒吧老板的目光移向哈利，在他的伤疤上停留了一刹那。然后他移开目光，把哈利给他的钱放进一只古老的木头钱柜，抽屉自动滑开，把钱吞了进去。哈利、罗恩和赫敏退到离吧台最远的一张桌旁坐了下来，东张西望。那个裹着脏兮兮的灰色绷带的男人用指关节敲打着柜台，又从酒吧老板那儿得到了一杯冒烟的饮料。

'I'll get them,' said Harry quickly, passing over the silver. The barman's eyes travelled over Harry, resting for a fraction of a second on his scar. Then he turned away and deposited Harry's money in an ancient wooden till whose drawer slid open automatically to receive it. Harry, Ron and Hermione retreated to the furthest table from the bar and sat down, looking around. The man in the dirty grey bandages rapped the counter with his knuckles and received another smoking drink from the barman.

“你猜怎么着？”罗恩怀着极大的热情望着吧台，喃喃地说，“在这里我们可以想点什么就点什么。我敢说那家伙肯定会什么都卖给我们的，他才不管那么多呢。我一直想尝尝热火威士忌——”

'You know what?' Ron murmured, looking over at the bar with enthusiasm. 'We could order anything we liked in here. I bet that bloke would sell us anything, he wouldn't care. I've always wanted to try Firewhisky - '

“你——是——个——级长。”赫敏恶狠狠地说。

'You - are - a - prefect,' snarled Hermione.

“噢，”罗恩说，脸上的笑容隐去了，“是啊……”

'Oh,' said Ron, the smile fading from his face. 'Yeah . . .'

“那么，你说谁会来跟我们碰头呢？”哈利问，一边拧开他那瓶黄油啤酒的锈迹斑斑的瓶盖，喝了一大口。

'So, who did you say is supposed to be meeting us?' Harry asked, wrenching open the rusty top of his Butterbeer and taking a swig.

“就那么三两个人，”赫敏说着看了看表，焦急地朝门口张望，“我叫他们差不多这个时候到，我想他们肯定都知道在什么地方——哦，看，这大概就是他们了。”

'Just a couple of people,' Hermione repeated, checking her watch and looking anxiously towards the door. 'I told them to be here about now and I'm sure they all know where it is - oh, look, this might be them now.'

酒吧的门开了，一道粗粗的、弥漫着灰尘的阳光把屋子一分为二，转眼又消失了，是被拥进来的一大帮人挡住了。

The door of the pub had opened. A thick band of dusty sunlight split the room in two for a moment and then vanished, blocked by the incoming rush of a crowd of people.

首先进来的是纳威、迪安和拉文德，后面紧跟着帕瓦蒂和帕德玛·佩蒂尔，还有（哈利内心抽搐了一下）秋和她那帮叽叽喳喳的女友中的一个，然后是（独自一人，神情恍惚，仿佛是不经意间走进来的）卢娜·洛夫古德，再后面是凯蒂·贝尔、艾丽娅·斯平内特和安吉利娜·约翰逊、科林和丹尼斯·克里维兄弟、厄尼·麦克米兰、贾斯廷·芬列里、汉娜·艾博，还有一个哈利叫不出名字的赫奇帕奇女生，一根长长的辫子拖在背上，三个拉文克劳男生，哈利可以肯定他们分别名叫安东尼·戈德斯坦、迈克尔·科纳和泰瑞·布特，还有金妮，后面跟着一个瘦瘦高高、长着一个翘鼻子的黄头发男生，哈利模模糊糊记得他是赫奇帕奇魁地奇球队的队员，走在最后的是弗雷德、乔治和他们的朋友李·乔丹，三个人怀里都抱着大纸袋，里面装满了在佐科笑话店买的东西。

First came Neville with Dean and Lavender, who were closely followed by Parvati and Padma Patil with (Harry's stomach did a back-flip) Cho and one of her usually-giggling girlfriends, then (on her own and looking so dreamy she might have walked in by accident) Luna Lovegood; then Katie Bell, Alicia Spinnet and Angelina Johnson, Colin and Dennis Creevey Ernie Macmillan, Justin Finch-Fletchley, Hannah Abbott, a Hufflepuff girl with a long plait clown her back whose name Harry did not know; three Ravenclaw boys he was pretty sure were called Anthony Goldstein, Michael Corner and Terry Boot, Ginny, closely followed by a tall skinny blond boy with an upturned nose whom Harry recognised vaguely as being a member of the Hufflepuff Quidditch team and, bringing up the rear, Fred and George Weasley with their friend Lee Jordan, all three of whom were carrying large paper bags crammed with Zonko's merchandise.

“三两个人？”哈利声音嘶哑地对赫敏说，“三两个人？”

'A couple of people?' said Harry hoarsely to Hermione. 'A couple of people?'

“是啊，不错，看来这个主意很得人心。”赫敏高兴地说，“罗恩，你是不是再搬几把椅子过来？”

'Yes, well, the idea seemed quite popular,' said Hermione happily. 'Ron, do you want to pull up some more chairs?'

酒吧老板正在用一块脏得像是从来没洗过的破布擦一只玻璃杯，看到这情景不禁呆住了。他的酒吧大概从没来过这么多人。

The barman had frozen in the act of wiping out a glass with a rag so filthy it looked as though it had never been washed. Possibly, he had never seen his pub so full.

“嘿，”弗雷德说，抢先走到吧台旁，迅速数了数他的同伴，“劳驾，能不能给我们来……二十五瓶黄油啤酒？”

'Hi,' said Fred, reaching the bar first and counting his companions quickly, 'could we have . . . twenty-five Butterbeers, please?'

酒吧老板瞪了他片刻，然后恼怒地把破布扔下，似乎他在做一件非常重要的事情时被打断了，他开始从吧台下面拿出一瓶瓶灰扑扑的黄油啤酒。

The barman glared at him for a moment, then, throwing down his rag irritably as though he had been interrupted in something very important, he started passing up dusty Butterbeers from under the bar.

“谢谢，”弗雷德说着把啤酒传给大家，“每个人都出点钱吧，我可没有钱买这么多啤酒……”

'Cheers,' said Fred, handing them out. 'Cough up, everyone, I haven't got enough gold for all of these . . .'

哈利麻木地望着这一大帮叽叽喳喳的人从弗雷德手中接过啤酒，然后在袍子里摸索着寻找硬币。他想象不出这么多人是来做什么的，接着他突然产生了一个可怕的想法：他们大概是来听人讲话的，于是他恼怒地转向赫敏。

Harry watched numbly as the large chattering group took their beers from Fred and rummaged in their robes to find coins. He could not imagine what all these people had turned up for until the horrible thought occurred to him that they might be expecting same kind of speech, at which he rounded on Hermione.

“你对别人是怎么说的？”他压低声音问，“他们想得到什么？”

'What have you been telling people?' he said in a low voice. 'What are they expecting?'

“我已经告诉过你了，他们只是想听你说话，随便说什么都行。”赫敏安慰他道，但哈利还是怒气冲冲地看着她，她便赶紧补充道，“现在还不需要你做什么，我先对他们说几句。”

'I've told you, they just want to hear what you've got to say,' said Hermione soothingly; but Harry continued to look at her so furiously that she added quickly, 'you don't have to do anything yet, I'll speak to them first.'

“嘿，哈利。”纳威说，绽开满脸笑容，在他对面坐了下来。

'Hi, Harry' said Neville, beaming and taking a seat opposite him.

哈利勉强对他抱以微笑，但什么也没说。他嘴里突然变得特别干。秋刚才对他嫣然一笑，坐在了罗恩右边。她的朋友，就是那个长着一头泛红金色鬈发的女生，却没有笑，而是用完全不信任的眼光看了看哈利，似乎准确无误地告诉他，若依着她自己的意思，她是根本不会上这儿来的。

Harry tried to smile back, but did not speak; his mouth was exceptionally dry. Cho had just smiled at him and sat down on Ron's right. Her friend, who had curly reddish-blonde hair, did not smile, but gave Harry a thoroughly mistrustful look which plainly told him that, given her way, she would not be here at all.

这些新来的人三三两两地围着哈利、罗恩和赫敏坐了下来，有的显得非常兴奋，有的则充满好奇，卢娜·洛夫古德恍恍惚惚地独自发呆。每个人都在椅子上坐定后，说话声渐渐平静下来。大家的目光都盯在哈利身上。

In twos and threes the new arrivals settled around Harry, Ron and Hermione, some looking rather excited, others curious, Luna Lovegood gazing dreamily into space. When everybody had pulled up a chair, the chatter died out. Every eye was upon Harry.

“嗯，”赫敏说，因为紧张，她的声音比平常略高一些，“嗯——嗯——大家好。”

'Er,' said Hermione, her voice slightly higher than usual out of nerves. 'Well - er - hi.'

这伙人把注意力转向了她，但目光仍然不时地扫到哈利身上。

The group focused its attention on her instead, though eyes continued to dart back regularly to Harry.

“是这样……唔……咳，你们都知道为什么要上这儿来。嗯……是这样，哈利想出一个主意——我是说——”（哈利狠狠地瞪了她一眼）“——我想出一个主意——如果有谁愿意学习黑魔法防御术——我是说，学到真本事，而不是那个乌姆里奇教给我们的那堆垃圾——”（赫敏的声音突然变得坚定和理直气壮了许多）“——谁也不会管那玩意儿叫黑魔法防御术——”（“说得好，说得好！”安东尼·戈德斯坦说，赫敏似乎很受鼓舞）“——我想，我们不妨，嗯，自己解决问题。”

'Well . . . erm . . . well, you know why you're here. Erm . . . well, Harry here had the idea - I mean' (Harry had thrown her a sharp look) 'I had the idea - that it might be good if people who wanted to study Defence Against the Dark Arts - and I mean, really study it, you know, not the rubbish that Umbridge is doing with us - '(Hermione's voice became suddenly much stronger and more confident) ' - because nobody could call that Defence Against the Dark Arts - ' ('Hear, hear,' said Anthony Goldstein, and Hermione looked heartened) ' - Well, I thought it would be good if we, well, took matters into our own hands.'

她顿了顿，侧脸看看哈利，继续说道：“我的意思是学会如何有效地保护自己，不仅是学理论，还要练习真正的魔咒——”

She paused, looked sideways at Harry and went on, 'And by that I mean learning how to defend ourselves properly, not just in theory but doing the real spells - '

“但是我想，你肯定也需要通过黑魔法防御术课的O．W．Ls考试吧？”迈克尔·科纳说。

'You want to pass your Defence Against the Dark Arts OWL too, though, I bet?' said Michael Corner, who was watching her closely.

“当然是的，”赫敏立刻说道，“但是比那更重要的是，我想在防御术方面得到正规的训练，因为……因为……”她深深吸了口气才把话说完，“因为伏地魔回来了。”

'Of course I do,' said Hermione at once. 'But more than that, I want to be properly trained in defence because . . . because . . .' she took a great breath and finished, 'because Lord Voldemort is back.'

大家的反应立竿见影，不出所料。秋的女友尖叫一声，把黄油啤酒泼洒在自己身上；泰瑞·布特不由自主地抽搐了一下；帕德玛·佩蒂尔打了个寒战；纳威发出一声怪叫，又及时把它转化为咳嗽。但他们都眼巴巴地、甚至是迫切地望着哈利。

The reaction was immediate and predictable. Clio's friend shrieked and slopped Butterbeer down herself; Terry Boot gave a kind of involuntary twitch; Padma Patil shuddered, and Neville gave an odd yelp that he managed to turn into a cough. All of them, however, looked fixedly, even eagerly, at Harry.

“嗯……计划就是这样，”赫敏说，“如果你们想加入，我们需要决定一下我们今后怎么——”

Well . . . that's the plan, anyway,' said Hermione. 'If you want to join us, we need to decide how we're going to -

“有什么证据证明神秘人回来了？”那个黄头发的赫奇帕奇球员用咄咄逼人的口气问。

'Where's the proof You-Know-Who's back?' said the blond Hufflepuff player in a rather aggressive voice.

“噢，邓布利多相信——”赫敏话没说完。

'Well, Dumbledore believes it - ' Hermione began.

“你是想说，邓布利多相信他。”黄头发的男孩说着冲哈利点了点头。

'You mean, Dumbledore believes him,' said the blond boy, nodding at Harry.

“你是谁？”罗恩很不礼貌地问。

'Who are you?' said Ron, rather rudely.

“扎卡赖斯·史密斯，”那男孩说，“我认为我们有权知道他究竟为什么要说神秘人回来了。”

'Zacharias Smith,' said the boy, 'and I think we've got the right to know exactly what makes him say You-Know-Who's back.'

“注意，”赫敏敏捷地插进来说，“这其实不是这次聚会所要讨论的——”

'Look,' said Hermione, intervening swiftly, 'that's really not what this meeting was supposed to be about - '

“没关系，赫敏。”哈利说。

'It's OK, Hermione,' said Harry.

他这才明白为什么会来这么多人。他认为赫敏应该能看到这一点。这帮人中有一些——甚至是大多数——之所以来，是想亲耳听听哈利编的那些谎话。

It had just dawned on him why there were so many people there. He thought Hermione should have seen this coming. Some of these people - maybe even most of them - had turned up in the hopes of hearing Harry's story firsthand.

“我为什么要说神秘人回来了？”他直视着扎卡赖斯的脸问道，“因为我看见他了。邓布利多上学年结束时已经对全校同学讲了事情的经过，如果你不相信他，那么你也不会相信我，我不想浪费一下午时间说服别人相信我。”

'What makes me say You-Know-Who's back?' he repeated, looking Zacharias straight in the face. 'I saw him. But Dumbledore told the whole school what happened last year, and if you didn't believe him, you won't believe me, and I'm not wasting an afternoon trying to convince anyone.'

哈利说话时，大家似乎都屏住了呼吸。哈利似乎感觉到就连酒吧老板也在听着。他不停地用那块肮脏的破布擦同一只玻璃杯，把它擦得更脏了。

The whole group seemed to have held its breath while Harry spoke. Harry had the impression that even the barman was listening. He was wiping the same glass with the filthy rag, making it steadily dirtier.

扎卡赖斯轻蔑地说：“上学期邓布利多只告诉我们塞德里克·迪戈里被神秘人杀死了，你把迪戈里的尸体带回到霍格沃茨。他没有告诉我们具体的细节，他没有告诉我们迪戈里究竟是怎么被杀害的，我想我们都很想知道——”

Zacharias said dismissively, 'All Dumbledore told us last year was that Cedric Diggory got killed by You-Know-Who and that you brought Diggory's body back to Hogwarts. He didn't give us details, he didn't tell us exactly how Diggory got murdered, I think we'd all like to know - '

“如果你来是想听听伏地魔杀人是什么情形，我可没法帮助你。”哈利说。他的火气这些日子总是接近临界点，现在又噌噌地往上蹿了。他的眼睛仍然盯着扎卡赖斯·史密斯那张咄咄逼人的脸，并打定主意不去看秋。“我不想谈论塞德里克·迪戈里，明白吗？如果你上这儿来就是为了这个，你现在就可以走了。”

'If you've come to hear exactly what it looks like when Voldemort murders someone I can't help you,' Harry said. His temper, always so close to the surface these days, was rising again. He did not take his eyes from Zacharias Smith's aggressive face, and was determined not to look at Cho. 'I don't want to talk about Cedric Diggory, all right? So if that's what you're here for, you might as well clear out.'

他气呼呼地朝赫敏那边瞪了一眼。他觉得这一切都怪她，是她决定把他当个怪物一样拿出来展览的，不用问，他们都是想来看看他编的那些谎话到底有多离奇。然而，他们没有一个人离开座位，就连扎卡赖斯也不例外，尽管他仍然毫不示弱地盯着哈利。

He cast an angry look in Hermione's direction. This was, he felt, all her fault; she had decided to display him like some sort of freak and of course they had all turned up to see just now wild his story was. But none of them left their seats, not even Zacharias Smith, though he continued to gaze intently at Harry.

“所以，”赫敏说，她的声音又变得又尖又细，“所以……就像我刚才说的……如果你们想学习一些防御术，我们就需要筹划一下该怎么做，多长时间碰一次面，在什么地方碰面——”

'So,' said Hermione, her voice very high-pitched again. 'So . . . like I was saying . . . if you want to learn some defence, then we need to work out how we're going to do it, how often we're going to meet and where we're going to - '

“那是真的吗，”那个背后拖着一根长辫子的女生望着哈利，打断了赫敏的话，“你真的能变出一个守护神吗？”

'Is it true,' interrupted the girl with the long plait down her back, looking at Harry, 'that you can produce a Patronus?'

听了这话，大伙儿很感兴趣地低声议论着。

There was a murmur of interest around the group at this.

“是啊。”哈利有点提防地说。

'Yeah,' said Harry slightly defensively.

“一个肉身的守护神？”

'A corporeal Patronus?'

这句话使哈利想起了什么。

The phrase stirred something in Harry's memory.

“嗯——你不认识博恩斯夫人吧？”他问。

'Er - you don't know Madam Bones, do you?' he asked.

那女生笑了。

The girl smiled.

“她是我姑姑，”她说，“我叫苏珊·博恩斯。她对我说了你受审的事。那么——这是真的喽？你能变出一只牡鹿守护神？”

'She's my auntie,' she said. 'I'm Susan Bones. She told me about your hearing. So - is it really true? You make a stag Patronus?'

“是的。”哈利说。

'Yes,' said Harry.

“太棒了，哈利！”李说，显出十分钦佩的样子，“我以前从不知道！”

'Blimey, Harry!' said Lee, looking deeply impressed. 'I never knew that!'

“妈妈叫罗恩不要四处张扬，”弗雷德朝哈利咧嘴笑着说，“她说你受到的注意已经够多的了。”

'Mum told Ron not to spread it around,' said Fred, grinning at Harry. 'She said you got enough attention as it was.'

“她说得没错。”哈利低声说，有一两个人大声笑了起来。

'She's not wrong,' mumbled Harry, and a couple of people laughed.

裹着纱巾的女巫在座位上不易察觉地动了动。

The veiled witch sitting alone shifted very slightly in her seat.

“你用邓布利多办公室的那把剑杀死了蛇怪？”泰瑞·布特问道，“那是去年墙上一幅肖像告诉我的……”

'And did you kill a Basilisk with that sword in Dumbledore's office?' demanded Terry Boot. That's what one of the portraits on the wall told me when I was in there last year . . .'

“嗯——是的，确实是这样。”哈利说。

'Er - yeah, I did, yeah,' said Harry.

贾斯廷·芬列里吹了声口哨，克里维兄弟俩交换了一个震惊的目光，拉文德·布朗轻轻叫了一声：“哇！”哈利觉得领子周围开始有点发热了。他下定决心就是不去看秋。

Justin Finch-Fletchley whistled; the Creevey brothers exchanged awestruck looks and Lavender Brown said 'Wow!' softly. Harry was feeling slightly hot around the collar now; he was determinedly looking anywhere but at Cho.

“我们上一年级的时候，”纳威对大伙儿说，“他救出了那颗魔术石——”

'And in our first year,' said Neville to the group at large, 'he saved that Philological Stone - '

“是魔法石。”赫敏小声地纠正他。

'Philosopher's,' hissed Hermione.

“噢，对——从神秘人手中。”纳威把话说完。

'Yes, that - from You-Know-Who,' finished Neville.

汉娜·艾博的眼睛瞪得像金加隆那么圆。

Hannah Abbotts eyes were as round as Galleons.

“更不用说，”秋说（哈利猛地将目光转向她，她面带微笑看着他，他的内心又是一阵翻腾），“上学期他在三强争霸赛里完成的那些项目——穿越火龙、人鱼等等……”

'And that's not to mention,' said Cho (Harry's eyes snapped across to her; she was looking at him, smiling; his stomach did another somersault) 'all the tasks he had to get through in the Triwizard Tournament last year - getting past dragons and merpeople and Acromantula and things . . .'

桌旁响起一片表示钦佩和赞同的喃喃声音。哈利内心一阵悸动。他拼命调整自己的面部表情，不要显出太得意的样子。秋这样赞扬他，使得他刚才发誓要告诉他们的话现在很难说得出口了。

There was a murmur of impressed agreement around the table. Harry's insides were squirming. He was trying to arrange his face so that he did not look too pleased with himself. The fact that Cho had just praised him made it much, much harder for him to say the thing he had sworn to himself he would tell them.

“其实，”他说，大家立刻安静了下来，“我……我不想表现得故作谦虚什么的，可是……所有那些事情我都得到过许多帮助……”

'Look,' he said, and everyone fell silent at once, 'I . . . I don't want to sound like I'm trying to be modest or anything, but . . . I had a lot of help with all that stuff . . .'

“穿越火龙那次你没有得到帮助，”迈克尔·科纳立刻说，“你当时飞起来的样子真够酷的……”

'Not with the dragon, you didn't,' said Michael Corner at once. 'That was a seriously cool bit of flying . . .'

“是啊，嗯——”哈利说，觉得再表示反对就会显得无礼了。

'Yeah, well - ' said Harry, feeling it would be churlish to disagree.

“今年夏天你摆脱那些摄魂怪时也没有人帮助你。”苏珊·博恩斯说。

'And nobody helped you get rid of those Dementors this summer,' said Susan Bones.

“是的，”哈利说，“是的，对，我知道我做的有些事情没有得到帮助，但我想要说明的是——”

'No,' said Harry, 'no, OK, I know I did bits of it without help, but the point I'm trying to make is - '

“你是不是在耍滑头，不想把这些魔法展示给我们看？”扎卡赖斯·史密斯说。

'Are you trying to weasel out of showing us any of this stuff?' said Zacharias Smith.

“我有一个主意，”罗恩不等哈利说话就大声说，“你干吗不能闭上你的嘴呢？”

'Here's an idea,' said Ron loudly, before Harry could speak, 'why don't you shut your mouth?'

也许“耍滑头”这个词特别令罗恩反感①。反正，他此刻狠狠地瞪着扎卡赖斯，似乎恨不得上去揍他一顿。扎卡赖斯脸红了。

Perhaps the word 'weasel' had affected Ron particularly strongly. In any case, he was now looking at Zacharias as though he would like nothing better than to thump him. Zacharias flushed.

“我们都是来跟他学东西的，可是他却说他实际上什么都不会。”他说。

'Well, we've all turned up to learn from him and now he's telling us he can't really do any of it,' he said.

“他不是这么说的。”弗雷德气呼呼地说。

That's not what he said,' snarled Fred.

“你是不是要我们帮你洗洗耳朵呀？”乔治问道，一边从一只佐科笑话店的购物袋里掏出一只长长的、看着怪可怕的金属玩意儿。

'Would you like us to clean out you: ears for you?' enquired Greorge, pulling a long and lethal-looking metal instrument from inside one of the Zonko's bags.

“或者你身体上随便什么部位，我们才不管把它插在哪儿呢。”弗雷德说。

'Or any part of your body, really, we're not fussy where we stick this,' said Fred.

“好了，好了，”赫敏赶紧说道，“言归正传……关键是，我们一致同意让哈利给我们上课吗？”

'Yes, well, said Hermione hastily, moving on . . . the point is, are we agreed we want to take lessons from Harry?'

大家喃喃地表示赞同。扎卡赖斯抱着双臂什么也没说，不过这也许是因为他在紧张地用一只眼睛盯着弗雷德手里的那个东西。

There was a murmur of general agreement. Zacharias folded his arms and said nothing, though perhaps this was because he was too busy keeping an eye on the instrument in Fred's hand.

“好的，”赫敏说道，显得松了口气，总算有一件事情定下来了，“那么，第二个问题是，我们多长时间上一次课。我想，少于一星期一次恐怕没有什么用——”

'Right,' said Hermione, looking relieved that something had at last been settled. 'Well, then, the next question is how often we do it. I really don't think there's any point in meeting less than once a week - '

“慢着，”安吉利娜说，“一定要保证这跟我们的魁地奇球训练不冲突。”

'Hang on,' said Angelina, 'we need to make sure this doesn't clash with our Quidditch practice.'

“对，”秋说，“也不能跟我们的相冲突。”

'No,' said Cho, 'nor with ours.'

“还有我们的。”扎卡赖斯·史密斯说。

'Nor ours,' added Zacharias Smith.

“我相信我们能找到一个晚上适合所有的人，”赫敏说，略微有些不耐烦，“但是你们知道，这是很重要的，我们谈论的是学点本事保护自己，抵抗伏——伏地魔的食死徒——”

'I'm sure we can find a night that suits everyone,' said Hermione, slightly impatiently, 'but you know, this is rather important, we're talking about learning to defend ourselves against V-Voldemort's Death Eaters - '

“说得好！”厄尼·麦克米兰大喊道，哈利本来以为他早就会开口说话的，“我个人认为，这确实非常重要，大概比我们今年要做的其他任何事情都重要，甚至包括即将到来的O．W．Ls考试！”

'Well said!' barked Ernie Macmillan, who Harry had been expecting to speak long before this. 'Personally, I think this is really important, possibly more important than anything else we'll do this year, even with our OWLs coming up!'

他威严地扫视了一眼，似乎等着有人大声说“那可不行！”看到没人开口，他继续说：“我个人十分纳闷，为什么在这样一个至关重要的时期，魔法部给我们塞进来那样一个毫无用处的老师。显然，他们拒绝相信神秘人已经回来了，可是居然给我们派来这么个千方百计阻止我们使用防御魔咒的老师——”

He looked around impressively, as though waiting for people to cry 'Surely not!' When nobody spoke, he went on, 'I, personally, am at a loss to see why the Ministry has foisted such a useless teacher on us at this critical period. Obviously, they are in denial about the return of You-Know-Who, but to give us a teacher who is trying to actively prevent us from using defensive spells - '

“我们认为，乌姆里奇之所以不让我们练习黑魔法防御术，”赫敏说，“是因为她脑子里有一些……一些荒唐的想法，以为邓布利多会利用学校的学生作为一支秘密军队。她以为邓布利多会鼓动我们去对抗魔法部。”

'We think the reason Umbridge doesn't want us trained in Defence Against the Dark Arts,' said Hermione, 'is that she's got some . . . some mad idea that Dumbledore could use the students in the school as a kind of private army. She thinks he'd mobilise us against the Ministry'

听到这个消息，几乎每个人都惊得目瞪口呆，只有卢娜·洛夫古德例外，她插言道：“是的，这话很有道理。其实康奈利·福吉就有自己的秘密军队。”

Nearly everybody looked stunned at this news; everybody except Luna Lovegood, who piped up, 'Well, that makes sense. After all, Cornelius Fudge has got his own private army'

“什么？”哈利说，完全被这个意想不到的情况惊呆了。

'What?' said Harry, completely thrown by this unexpected piece of information.

“是的，他有一支黑利奥帕组成的军队。”卢娜一本正经地说。

'Yes, he's got an army of Heliopaths,' said Luna solemnly.

“不可能。”赫敏不客气地说。

'No, he hasn't,' snapped Hermione.

“千真万确。”卢娜说。

'Yes, he has,' said Luna.

“黑利奥帕是什么？”纳威问，显得很茫然。

'What are Heliopaths?' asked Neville, looking blank.

“它们是火精灵，”卢娜说，凸出的眼睛睁得大大的，使她显得比平常更加疯狂，“是浑身冒火的庞然大物，在大地上飞奔而过，能把面前的一切烧得精光——”

They're spirits of fire,' said Luna, her protuberant eyes widening so that she looked madder than ever, 'great tall flaming creatures that gallop across the ground burning everything in front of - '

“它们根本不存在，纳威。”赫敏尖刻地说。

They don't exist, Neville,' said Hermione tartly.

“哦，存在的！”卢娜生气地说。

'Oh, yes, they do!' said Luna angrily.

“对不起，请问有什么证据呢？”赫敏厉声地问。

'I'm sorry, but where's the proof of that?' snapped Hermione.

“有大量目击者的报道。就因为你这么孤陋寡闻，你需要所有的东西都塞到你的鼻子底下才会——”

There are plenty of eye-witness accounts. Just because you're so narrow-minded you need to have everything shoved under your nose before you - '

“咳，咳，”金妮惟妙惟肖地模仿乌姆里奇教授，几个人吃惊地东张西望，然后哈哈大笑起来，“刚才我们不是要决定多长时间聚会一次上防御课的吗？”

'Hem, hem,' said Ginny, in such a good imitation of Professor Umbridge that several people looked around in alarm and then laughed. 'Weren't we trying to decide how often we're going to meet and have defence lessons?'

“对啊，”赫敏立刻说道，“对啊，你说得对，金妮。”

'Yes,' said Hermione at once, 'yes, we were, you're right, Ginny.'

“我说，一星期一次再好不过了。”李·乔丹说。

Well, once a week sounds cool,' said Lee Jordan.

“只要——”安吉利娜刚想说话。

'As long as - ' began Angelina.

“是的，是的，我们知道还有魁地奇球。”赫敏用紧张的口气说，“还有一件事情需要决定，就是我们在什么地方聚会……”

'Yes, yes, we know about the Quidditch,' said Hermione in a tense voice. 'Well, the other thing to decide is where we're going to meet . . .'

这个问题比较复杂，大家都陷入了沉默。

This was rather more difficult; the whole group fell silent.

“图书馆？”片刻之后凯蒂·贝尔建议道。

'Library?' suggested Katie Bell after a few moments.

“我们在图书馆里练习恶咒，平斯夫人恐怕不会太高兴的。”哈利说。

'I can't see Madam Pince being too chuffed with us doing jinxes in the library,' said Harry.

“要么找一间不用的教室？”迪安说。

'Maybe an unused classroom?' said Dean.

“是啊，”罗恩说，“麦格大概会让我们用她的教室呢，上回哈利为三强争霸赛训练时，她就是这么做的。”

'Yeah,' said Ron, 'McGonagall might let us have hers, she did when Harry was practising for the Tri wizard.'

然而哈利可以肯定，麦格这次不会这么通融了。尽管赫敏说学习小组和课外小组是允许的，但他心里很清楚，别人会认为他们这个小组是大逆不道的。

But Harry was pretty certain that McGonagall would not be so accommodating this time. For all that Hermione had said about study and homework groups being allowed, he had the distinct feeling that this one might be considered a lot more rebellious.

“这样吧，我们想办法找一个地方，”赫敏说，“等我们确定了第一次聚会的时间和地点，就发消息通知大家。”

'Right, well, we'll try to find somewhere,' said Hermione. 'We'll send a message round to everybody when we've got a time and a place for the first meeting.'

她在包里翻找了一阵，拿出羊皮纸和一支羽毛笔，然后迟疑着，似乎在下决心强迫自己把话说出来。

She rummaged in her bag and produced parchment and a quill, then hesitated, rather as though she was steeling herself to say something.

“我——我想让每个人把自己的名字写下来，这样我们就知道今天来的都有谁了。我同时还认为，”她深深吸了口气，“我们应该一致同意不把我们要做的事情张扬出去。所以你们一旦签了名，就表示同意不把我们的事情告诉乌姆里奇或其他任何人。”

'I - I think everybody should write their name down, just so we know who was here. But I also think,' she took a deep breath, 'that we all ought to agree not to shout about what we're doing. So if you sign, you're agreeing not to tell Umbridge or anybody else what we're up to.'

弗雷德伸手接过羊皮纸，欣然地在上面签了自己的名字，可是哈利立刻注意到，有几个人听说要把他们的名字写在名单上，显得不太高兴。

Fred reached out for the parchment and cheerfully wrote his signature, but Harry noticed at once that several people looked less than happy at the prospect of putting their names on the list.

“嗯……”扎卡赖斯慢吞吞地说，没有接乔治递过去的羊皮纸，“嗯……我想厄尼肯定会告诉我什么时候聚会的。”

'Er . . .' said Zacharias slowly, not taking the parchment that George was trying to pass to him, 'well . . . I'm sure Ernie will tell me when the meeting is.'

可是厄尼对于签名也显得很犹豫。赫敏对他扬起了眉毛。

But Ernie was looking rather hesitant about signing, too. Hermione raised her eyebrows at him.

“我……嗯，我们是级长，”厄尼脱口而出，“如果名单被别人发现了……嗯，我的意思是说……你自己也说了，如果被乌姆里奇发现了——”

'I - well, we are prefects,' Ernie burst out. 'And if this list was found . . . well, I mean to say . . . you said yourself, if Umbridge finds out - '

“你刚才还说参加这个小组是你今年要做的最重要的事情。”哈利提醒他。

'You just said this group was the most important thing you'd do this year,' Harry reminded him.

“我——是的，”厄尼说，“是的，这点我相信，只是——”

'I - yes,' said Ernie, 'yes, I do believe that, it's just - '

“厄尼，你真的以为我会把这张名单到处乱扔吗？”赫敏恼火地说。

'Ernie, do you really think I'd leave that list lying around?' said Hermione testily.

“不，不，当然不是，”厄尼说，显得不那么担心了，“我——好吧，我当然要签名。”

'No. No, of course not,' said Ernie, looking slightly less anxious. 'I - yes, of course I'll sign.'

在厄尼之后，没有人再提出反对，不过哈利看见秋的女友朝她责备地白了一眼，才签上了自己的名字。当最后一个人——扎卡赖斯——也把名字签上后，赫敏把羊皮纸收回去仔细放进她的书包。现在小组里有了一种奇怪的感觉。似乎大家刚刚签了一份契约。

Nobody raised objections after Ernie, though Harry saw Cho's friend give her a rather reproachful look before adding her own name. When the last person - Zacharias - had signed, Hermione took the parchment back and slipped it carefully into her bag. There was an odd feeling in the group now. It was as though they had just signed some kind of contract.

“好了，时间过得真快。”弗雷德大大咧咧地说，一边站了起来，“乔治、李和我还要去买一些高度机密的东西，我们待会儿见！”

'Well, time's ticking on,' said Fred briskly, getting to his feet. 'George, Lee and I have got items of a sensitive nature to purchase, we'll be seeing you all later.'

其他人也三三两两地起身告辞。秋在离开前磨磨蹭蹭地系着书包上的搭扣，长长的、瀑布般的黑发飘到前面挡住了她的脸，但她的女友站在她旁边，抱着双臂，不耐烦地咂着舌头，秋别无选择，只好和她一起走了。就在她的女友陪她走出门时，秋回过脸，冲哈利挥了挥手。

In twos and threes the rest of the group took their leave, too.

“我觉得进行得还算顺利。”片刻之后，赫敏和哈利、罗恩一起走出猪头酒吧，来到阳光灿烂的户外，她高兴地说。哈利和罗恩手里还攥着各自的那瓶黄油啤酒。

Cho made rather a business of fastening the catch on her bag before leaving, her long dark curtain of hair swinging forwards to hide her face, but her friend stood beside her, arms folded, clicking her tongue, so that Cho had little choice but to leave with her. As her friend ushered her through the door, Cho looked back and waved at Harry.

“那个叫扎卡赖斯的家伙是个讨厌鬼。”罗恩说，他怒气冲冲地瞪着远处隐约可见的扎卡赖斯的背影。

'Well, I think that went quite well,' said Hermione happily, as she, Harry and Ron walked out of the Hog's Head into the bright sunlight a few moments later. Harry and Ron were clutching their bottles of Butterbeer.

“我也不太喜欢他，”赫敏承认道，“但那天我在赫奇帕奇桌上跟厄尼和汉娜说话时，被他听见了，他似乎特别感兴趣地要来，我能说什么呢？不过确实是人来得越多越好——我是说，迈克尔·科纳如果不是在跟金妮谈恋爱，他和他那些朋友是不会来的——”

'That Zacharias bloke's a wart,' said Ron, who was glowering after the figure of Smith, just discernible in the distance.

罗恩正在把瓶里最后几滴黄油啤酒倒进嘴里，听了这话，一下子呛住了，啤酒洒在了胸前。

'I don't like him much, either,' admitted Hermione, 'but he overheard me talking to Ernie and Hannah at the Hufflepuff table and he seemed really interested in coming, so what could I say? But the more people the better really - I mean, Michael Corner and his friends wouldn't have come if he hadn't been going out with Ginny - '

“他在什么？”罗恩气急败坏地问，两只耳朵活像两个生牛肉卷，“她在谈恋爱——我的妹妹在谈恋爱——你说什么，跟迈克尔·科纳谈恋爱？”

Ron, who had been draining the last few drops from his Butterbeer bottle, gagged and sprayed Butterbeer down his front.

“是啊，我想正因为这个，科纳和他那些朋友才会来的——是啊，他们显然对学习防御术很感兴趣，但如果金妮没有告诉迈克尔事情的经过——”

'He's WHAT?' spluttered Ron, outraged, his ears now resembling curls of raw beef. 'She's going out with - my sister's going - what d'you mean, Michael Corner?'

“什么时候开始——她什么时候——”

'Well, that's why he and his friends came, I think - well, they're obviously interested in learning defence, but if Ginny hadn't told Michael what was going on - '

“去年年底，他们在圣诞节舞会上遇见的，后来就开始约会。”赫敏镇静地说。他们拐上大路，她在文人居羽毛笔店外停住脚步，橱窗里陈列着许多讨人喜欢的羽毛笔，摆放得非常漂亮。“唔……我想买一支新笔。”

'When did this - when did she -?'

她转身进了商店。哈利和罗恩也跟了进去。

'They met at the Yule Ball and got together at the end of last year,' said Hermione composedly. They had turned into the High Street and she paused outside Scrivenshaft's Quill Shop, where there was a handsome display of pheasant feather quills in the window. 'Hmm . . . I could do with a new quill.'

“哪个家伙是迈克尔·科纳？”罗恩气呼呼地问。

She turned into the shop. Harry and Ron followed her.

“黑皮肤的那个。”赫敏说。

'Which one was Michael Corner?' Ron demanded furiously.

“我不喜欢他。”罗恩不假思索地说。

The dark one,' said Hermione.

“真让我吃惊。”赫敏压低声音说。

'I didn't like him,' said Ron at once.

“可是，”罗恩说，跟着赫敏走过一排排插在铜钵里的羽毛笔，“我还以为金妮喜欢哈利呢！”

'Big surprise,' said Hermione under her breath.

赫敏十分同情地看着他，摇了摇头。

'But, said Ron, following Hermione along a row of quills in copper pots, 'I thought Ginny fancied Harry!'

“金妮以前是喜欢哈利，但几个月前她对他绝望了。当然啦，她并不是不喜欢你。”她亲切地对哈利补充一句，一边仔细检查一支长长的、黑色和金色相间的羽毛笔。

Hermione looked at him rather pityingly and shook her head.

哈利脑子里还满是秋离开时朝他挥手的情景，对这个话题不像罗恩那么感兴趣，罗恩简直是气得发抖了。但哈利确实想起了一些他在此之前没怎么注意的情况。

'Ginny used to fancy Harry, but she gave up on him months ago. Not that she doesn't like you, of course,' she added kindly to Harry while she examined a long black and gold quill.

“怪不得她现在开始说话了，是吗？”他问赫敏，“她以前在我面前从不说话的。”

Harry, whose head was still full of Cho's parting wave, did not find this subject quite as interesting as Ron, who was positively quivering with indignation, but it did bring something home to him that until now he had not really registered.

“对极了。”赫敏说，“好吧，我想我就要这一支了……”

'So that's why she talks now?' he asked Hermione. 'She never used to talk in front of me.'

她走向柜台，递过去十五个西可和两个纳特，罗恩仍然对着她的脖子呼哧呼哧地喘粗气。

'Exactly,' said Hermione. 'Yes, I think I'll have this one . . .'

“罗恩，”她转身跺了跺脚，严厉地说，“金妮正是因为这个才没有告诉你她在跟迈克尔谈恋爱的，她就知道你一听就炸。所以，看在老天的分儿上，别再对这件事唠叨个没完了。”

She went up to the counter and handed over fifteen Sickles and two Knuts, with Ron still breathing down her neck.

“你这话是什么意思？谁一听就炸？我才不会为什么事唠叨个没完呢……”罗恩走在街上，还一直在不出声地嘀咕着。

'Ron,' she said severely as she turned and trod on his feet, 'this is exactly why Ginny hasn't told you she's seeing Michael, she knew you'd take it badly. So don't harp on about it, for heaven's sake.'

赫敏冲哈利翻了翻眼睛，然后趁罗恩仍在低声咒骂迈克尔·科纳的工夫低声说：“说起迈克尔和金妮……你和秋怎么样啦？”

'What d'you mean? Who's taking anything badly? I'm not going to harp on about anything . . .' Ron continued to chunter under his breath all the way down the street.

“你这是什么意思？”哈利赶紧问道。

Hermione rolled her eyes at Harry and then said in an undertone, while Ron was still muttering imprecations about Michael Corner, 'And talking about Michael and Ginny . . . what about Cho and you?'

似乎有一股沸腾的热水在身体里迅速奔涌，带给他一种火辣辣的感觉，使他的脸在寒风中感到刺痛——他表现得那么明显吗？

'What d'you mean?' said Harry quickly.

“嘿，”赫敏微微带笑地说道，“她简直就不能把目光从你身上挪开，是不是？”

It was as though boiling water was rising rapidly inside him; a burning sensation that was causing his face to smart in the cold - had he been that obvious?

哈利以前从没有发现霍格莫德村竟是这样美丽。

'Well,' said Hermione, smiling slightly, 'she just couldn't keep her eyes off you, could she?'

①在英语中，“耍滑头”这个词的发音和罗恩的姓“韦斯莱”比较接近。

Harry had never before appreciated just how beautiful the village of Hogsmeade was.