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哈利·波特与混血王子
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince

英文中文双语对照双语交替

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CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE THE UNKNOWABLE ROOM

第二十一章　神秘的房间

Harry wracked his brains over the next week as to how he was to persuade Slughorn to hand over the true memory, but nothing in the nature of a brain wave occurred and he was reduced to doing what he did increasingly these days when at a loss: poring over his Potions book, hoping that the Prince would have scribbled something useful in a margin, as he had done so many times before.

在接下来的一个星期里，哈利绞尽脑汁地考虑着怎么能让斯拉格霍恩交出真实的记忆，可是没有一点儿灵感，他只好做起如今他在无计可施时做得越来越多的事情：翻他的魔药课本，希望王子在空白处写了点高招。

“You won’t find anything in there,” said Hermione firmly, late on Sunday evening.

“你找不到的。”星期天的晚上，赫敏断言道。

“Don’t start, Hermione,” said Harry. “If it hadn’t been for the Prince, Ron wouldn’t be sitting here now.”

“别说了，赫敏，”哈利说，“要不是王子，罗恩现在不会坐在这儿了。”

“He would if you’d just listened to Snape in our first year,” said Hermione dismissively.

“他会的，只要你在一年级时认真听斯内普讲课。”赫敏不以为然地说。

Harry ignored her. He had just found an incantation (“Sectumsempra!”) scrawled in a margin above the intriguing words “For Enemies,” and was itching to try it out, but thought it best not to in front of Hermione. Instead, he surreptitiously folded down the corner of the page.

哈利不理她，他刚发现空白处写了个咒语（神锋无影！），下面还有“对敌人”三个有趣的字。哈利心痒痒的很想试一下，但觉得最好不要在赫敏跟前试，便偷偷把页角折了起来。

They were sitting beside the fire in the common room; the only other people awake were fellow sixth years. There had been a certain amount of excitement earlier when they had come back from dinner to find a new sign on the notice board that announced the date for their Apparition Test. Those who would be seventeen on or before the first test date, the twenty-first of April, had the option of signing up for additional practice sessions, which would take place (heavily supervised) in Hogsmeade.

他们坐在公共休息室的炉边，还没睡觉的都是六年级学生，今天有些兴奋：吃过晚饭回来时，他们发现布告牌上贴出了一张新告示，通知幻影显形考试的日期。第一场考试（四月二十一日）前，年满十七岁的同学可报名到霍格莫德参加特殊训练（有严格监督）。

Ron had panicked on reading this notice; he had still not managed to Apparate and feared he would not be ready for the test. Hermione, who had now achieved Apparition twice, was a little more confident, but Harry, who would not be seventeen for another four months, could not take the test whether ready or not.

罗恩看了告示后惊慌起来，他还不会幻影显形，担心考试通不过。已经成功了两次的赫敏要自信一些。哈利还有四个月才满十七岁，不管练没练好都不能参加考试。

“At least you can Apparate, though!” said Ron tensely. “You’ll have no trouble come July!”

“可你至少会幻影显形了！”罗恩紧张地说道，“你到了七月份不会有问题的。”

“I’ve only done it once,” Harry reminded him; he had finally managed to disappear and rematerialize inside his hoop during their previous lesson.

“我才成功了一次。”哈利提醒道。他上节课终于做到了消失后在木圈里现身。

Having wasted a lot of time worrying aloud about Apparition, Ron was now struggling to finish a viciously difficult essay for Snape that Harry and Hermione had already completed. Harry fully expected to receive low marks on his, because he had disagreed with Snape on the best way to tackle dementors, but he did not care: Slughorn’s memory was the most important thing to him now.

浪费了很多时间唠叨对幻影显形的担心之后，罗恩正在痛苦地给斯内普写一篇特别难的论文。哈利跟赫敏都已写完了。哈利等着得低分，因为他在对付摄魂怪的最佳办法上与斯内普不一致。但哈利不在乎，现在对他来说，拿到斯拉格霍恩的记忆才是最重要的。

“I’m telling you, the stupid Prince isn’t going to be able to help you with this, Harry!” said Hermione, more loudly. “There’s only one way to force someone to do what you want, and that’s the Imperius Curse, which is illegal —”

“我告诉你，那个蠢王子不会帮你的，哈利！”赫敏说，她的声音更响了，“只有一个办法可以强迫别人做你想让他们做的事，那就是夺魂咒，但那是违法的——”

“Yeah, I know that, thanks,” said Harry, not looking up from the book. “That’s why I’m looking for something different. Dumbledore says Veritaserum won’t do it, but there might be something else, a potion or a spell. . . .”

“嗯，我知道，谢谢，”哈利看着书，头也不抬地说，“所以我才找不同的东西。邓布利多说吐真剂没用，但可能有别的东西，魔药或魔咒……”

“You’re going about it the wrong way,” said Hermione. “Only you can get the memory, Dumbledore says. That must mean you can persuade Slughorn where other people can’t. It’s not a question of slipping him a potion, anyone could do that —”

“你的方法不对头，”赫敏说，“邓布利多说只有你才能搞到那段记忆，这肯定是说你能说服斯拉格霍恩，而别人不能。不是给他下魔药的问题，那谁都会——”

“How d’you spell ‘belligerent’?” said Ron, shaking his quill very hard while staring at his parchment. “It can’t be B — U — M —”

“‘挑衅’怎么写？”罗恩问，一边盯着羊皮纸使劲摇羽毛笔，“不可能是‘桃畔’——”

“No, it isn’t,” said Hermione, pulling Ron’s essay toward her. “And ‘augury’ doesn’t begin O — R — G either. What kind of quill are you using?”

“不是，”赫敏说着拉过罗恩的论文，“‘占卜’也不是‘古十’。你用的什么笔呀？”

“It’s one of Fred and George’s Spell-Check ones . . . but I think the charm must be wearing off. . . .”

“是弗雷德和乔治的查错字笔……但我想魔法开始失灵了……”

“Yes, it must,” said Hermione, pointing at the title of his essay, “because we were asked how we’d deal with dementors, not ‘Dugbogs,’ and I don’t remember you changing your name to ‘Roonil Wazlib’ either.”

“一定是，”赫敏指着他的论文题目说，“我们要写的是如何对付摄魂怪，不是对付‘挖泥泽’，我也不记得你什么时候改名叫‘罗鸟·卫其利’了。”

“Ah no!” said Ron, staring horror-struck at the parchment. “Don’t say I’ll have to write the whole thing out again!”

“啊？！”罗恩惊恐地瞪着羊皮纸说，“可别叫我重写啊！”

“It’s okay, we can fix it,” said Hermione, pulling the essay toward her and taking out her wand.

“没事，可以改好。”赫敏说着把论文拉过去，抽出了魔杖。

“I love you, Hermione,” said Ron, sinking back in his chair, rubbing his eyes wearily.

“我爱你，赫敏。”罗恩说着倒回椅子上，困乏地揉着眼睛。

Hermione turned faintly pink, but merely said, “Don’t let Lavender hear you saying that.”

赫敏脸微微一红，但只说了句：“可别让拉文德听到了。”

“I won’t,” said Ron into his hands. “Or maybe I will . . . then she’ll ditch me . . .”

“不会的，”罗恩捂着嘴说，“也许我会……这样她就会甩掉我了……”

“Why don’t you ditch her if you want to finish it?” asked Harry.

“如果你想结束，为什么不甩掉她呢？”哈利问。

“You haven’t ever chucked anyone, have you?” said Ron. “You and Cho just —”

“你从来没有甩过人，是不是？”罗恩说，“你和秋只是——”

“Sort of fell apart, yeah,” said Harry

“分开了。”哈利说。

“Wish that would happen with me and Lavender,” said Ron gloomily, watching Hermione silently tapping each of his misspelled words with the end of her wand, so that they corrected themselves on the page. “But the more I hint I want to finish it, the tighter she holds on. It’s like going out with the giant squid.”

“希望我跟拉文德也能那样，”罗恩阴郁地说，一边看着赫敏默默地用魔杖尖轻叩他的每个错别字，把它们改正过来，“可是我越暗示想结束，她就越缠得厉害，跟巨乌贼似的。”

“There,” said Hermione, some twenty minutes later, handing back Ron’s essay.

“好了。”大约二十分钟后，赫敏把论文还给了罗恩。

“Thanks a million,” said Ron. “Can I borrow your quill for the conclusion?”

“多谢多谢，”罗恩说，“我能借你的笔写结论吗？”

Harry, who had found nothing useful in the Half-Blood Prince’s notes so far, looked around; the three of them were now the only ones left in the common room, Seamus having just gone up to bed cursing Snape and his essay. The only sounds were the crackling of the fire and Ron scratching out one last paragraph on dementors using Hermione’s quill. Harry had just closed the Half-Blood Prince’s book, yawning, when —

哈利在混血王子的笔记中没找到什么帮助，他环顾四周，休息室内只剩下他们三个人，西莫刚刚诅咒着斯内普和他布置的论文上楼睡觉去了。这里惟有炉火的噼啪声和罗恩用赫敏的笔写最后一段摄魂怪论文的沙沙声。哈利刚打着哈欠合上混血王子的书，忽然——

Crack.

噼啪。

Hermione let out a little shriek; Ron spilled ink all over his freshly completed essay, and Harry said, “Kreacher!”

赫敏发出了一声短促的尖叫，罗恩把墨水洒到了论文上，哈利叫道：“克利切！”

The house-elf bowed low and addressed his own gnarled toes.

家养小精灵低低地弯下腰，对着他那疙疙瘩瘩的脚趾说：“主人说要经常向他汇报马尔福少爷的动向，所以克利切来——”

“Master said he wanted regular reports on what the Malfoy boy is doing, so Kreacher has come to give —”

噼啪。

Crack.

多比出现在克利切身旁，茶壶罩做的帽子歪在一边。

Dobby appeared alongside Kreacher, his tea-cozy hat askew.

“多比也在帮忙，哈利·波特！”他尖声说道，又怨恨地看了克利切一眼，“克利切应该告诉多比他什么时候来见哈利·波特，这样可以一起汇报！”

“Dobby has been helping too, Harry Potter!” he squeaked, casting Kreacher a resentful look. “And Kreacher ought to tell Dobby when he is coming to see Harry Potter so they can make their reports together!”

“什么呀？”赫敏问，似乎还在为他们的突然出现而吃惊，“怎么回事，哈利？”

“What is this?” asked Hermione, still looking shocked by these sudden appearances. “What’s going on, Harry?”

哈利犹豫着，他还没把让克利切和多比跟踪马尔福的事告诉赫敏，因为家养小精灵对于她总是一个敏感的话题。

Harry hesitated before answering, because he had not told Hermione about setting Kreacher and Dobby to tail Malfoy; houseelves were always such a touchy subject with her.

“嗯……他们在为我跟踪马尔福。”

“Well . . . they’ve been following Malfoy for me,” he said.

“日日夜夜。”克利切声音沙哑地说。

“Night and day,” croaked Kreacher.

“多比一星期没睡觉了，哈利·波特！”多比自豪地说，一边摇晃着身体。

“Dobby has not slept for a week, Harry Potter!” said Dobby proudly, swaying where he stood.

赫敏马上愤然。

Hermione looked indignant.

“你没睡觉，多比？可是哈利，你没跟他说不许——”

“You haven’t slept, Dobby? But surely, Harry, you didn’t tell him not to —”

“当然没有，”哈利忙说，“多比，你可以睡觉，对不对？可你们发现什么了吗？”他趁赫敏插嘴之前赶紧问道。

“No, of course I didn’t,” said Harry quickly. “Dobby, you can sleep, all right? But has either of you found out anything?” he hastened to ask, before Hermione could intervene again.

“马尔福少爷举止高贵，不愧是纯血统，”克利切立刻又沙哑地说道，“他的外貌让人想起我女主人那精致的轮廓，他的风度是——”

“Master Malfoy moves with a nobility that befits his pure blood,” croaked Kreacher at once. “His features recall the fine bones of my mistress and his manners are those of —”

“德拉科·马尔福是个坏男孩！”多比气愤地叫道，“一个坏男孩，他——他——”

“Draco Malfoy is a bad boy!” squeaked Dobby angrily. “A bad boy who — who —”

他浑身上下从茶壶罩的流苏到袜子头都哆嗦起来，然后他冲向炉火，好像要跳进去。哈利不是完全没有料到，连忙紧紧抱住他的腰，多比挣扎几秒钟后软了下来。

He shuddered from the tassel of his tea cozy to the toes of his socks and then ran at the fire, as though about to dive into it; Harry, to whom this was not entirely unexpected, caught him around the middle and held him fast. For a few seconds Dobby struggled, then went limp.

“谢谢你，哈利·波特，”他喘着气说道，“多比还是很难说旧主人的坏话……”

“Thank you, Harry Potter,” he panted. “Dobby still finds it difficult to speak ill of his old masters. . . .”

哈利放开了他。多比把茶壶罩戴好，挑战似的对克利切说：“但克利切应该知道德拉科·马尔福不是家养小精灵的好主人！”

Harry released him; Dobby straightened his tea cozy and said defiantly to Kreacher, “But Kreacher should know that Draco Malfoy is not a good master to a house-elf!”

“是啊，我们不需要听你有多爱马尔福，”哈利说，“还是快说他到哪儿去了吧。”

“Yeah, we don’t need to hear about you being in love with Malfoy,” Harry told Kreacher. “Let’s fast forward to where he’s actually been going.”

克利切又怒冲冲地鞠了个躬，说道：“马尔福少爷在礼堂吃饭，睡在地下教室的一间宿舍里，他到许多教室上课——”

Kreacher bowed again, looking furious, and then said, “Master Malfoy eats in the Great Hall, he sleeps in a dormitory in the dungeons, he attends his classes in a variety of —”

“多比，你来说，”哈利打断了克利切，“他有没有去不该去的地方？”

“Dobby, you tell me,” said Harry, cutting across Kreacher. “Has he been going anywhere he shouldn’t have?”

“哈利·波特，先生，”多比尖声说，大大的圆眼睛在火光中闪亮，“多比没发现马尔福少爷违反任何规定，但他仍然小心防止被人发现。他经常带着不同的学生去八楼，他们给他放哨，他走进——”

“Harry Potter, sir,” squeaked Dobby, his great orblike eyes shining in the firelight, “the Malfoy boy is breaking no rules that Dobby can discover, but he is still keen to avoid detection. He has been making regular visits to the seventh floor with a variety of other students, who keep watch for him while he enters —”

“有求必应屋！”哈利把《高级魔药制作》在头上重重地一拍。赫敏和罗恩都瞪着他。“他就是溜到那儿去了！那就是他干那个……鬼知道什么事的地方！我打赌这就是他从地图上消失的原因——现在想起来，我从没在地图上看到过有求必应屋！”

“The Room of Requirement!” said Harry, smacking himself hard on the forehead with Advanced Potion-Making. Hermione and Ron stared at him. “That’s where he’s been sneaking off to! That’s where he’s doing . . . whatever he’s doing! And I bet that’s why he’s been disappearing off the map — come to think of it, I’ve never seen the Room of Requirement on there!”

“说不定制作活点地图的人根本不知道有那间屋子。”罗恩说。

“Maybe the Marauders never knew the room was there,” said Ron.

“我想这是那间屋子魔法的一部分，”赫敏说，“如果你需要它在地图上显示不出来，就显示不出来。”

“I think it’ll be part of the magic of the room,” said Hermione. “If you need it to be Unplottable, it will be.”

“多比，你进去看见马尔福在干什么了吗？”哈利急切地问。

“Dobby, have you managed to get in to have a look at what Malfoy’s doing?” said Harry eagerly.

“没有，哈利·波特，这不可能。”多比说。

“No, Harry Potter, that is impossible,” said Dobby.

“没有什么不可能，”哈利马上说，“马尔福去年闯进了我们总部，所以我也能进去偷看他，没问题。”

“No, it’s not,” said Harry at once. “Malfoy got into our headquarters there last year, so I’ll be able to get in and spy on him, no problem.”

“我想不行，哈利。”赫敏慢慢地说，“那次是因为玛丽埃塔这个笨蛋走漏了消息，马尔福已经知道我们怎么用那间屋子，他要那间屋子变成D．A．总部，它就变成了。可现在，你不知道马尔福进去时那间屋子是什么样子，所以你不知道让它变成什么样子。”

“But I don’t think you will, Harry,” said Hermione slowly. “Malfoy already knew exactly how we were using the room, didn’t he, because that stupid Marietta had blabbed. He needed the room to become the headquarters of the D.A., so it did. But you don’t know what the room becomes when Malfoy goes in there, so you don’t know what to ask it to transform into.”

“会有办法的，”哈利不以为然地说，“你干得很好，多比。”

“There’ll be a way around that,” said Harry dismissively. “You’ve done brilliantly, Dobby.”

“克利切也干得很不错，”赫敏好心地补了一句，但克利切不仅没有显出感激，反而把充血的大眼睛一翻，对着天花板沙哑地说，“泥巴种跟克利切说话，克利切假装听不见——”

“Kreacher’s done well too,” said Hermione kindly; but far from looking grateful, Kreacher averted his huge, bloodshot eyes and croaked at the ceiling, “The Mudblood is speaking to Kreacher, Kreacher will pretend he cannot hear —”

“住口。”哈利厉声说，克利切最后深鞠一躬，幻影移形了，“你也去睡一觉吧，多比。”

“Get out of it,” Harry snapped at him, and Kreacher made one last deep bow and Disapparated. “You’d better go and get some sleep too, Dobby.”

“谢谢，哈利·波特，先生！”多比快乐地尖声说，也消失不见了。

“Thank you, Harry Potter, sir!” squeaked Dobby happily, and he too vanished.

“这好吧？”屋里一没了小精灵，哈利马上转向罗恩和赫敏，兴奋地说道，“我们知道马尔福到哪儿去了！现在可以堵到他了！”

“How good’s this?” said Harry enthusiastically, turning to Ron and Hermione the moment the room was elf-free again. “We know where Malfoy’s going! We’ve got him cornered now!”

“是，好极了。”罗恩阴沉地说，他正试图擦去纸上那一大片墨水，那儿刚才是一篇快写完的论文。赫敏把它拖了过去，开始用魔杖把墨水吸走。

“Yeah, it’s great,” said Ron glumly, who was attempting to mop up the sodden mass of ink that had recently been an almost completed essay. Hermione pulled it toward her and began siphoning the ink off with her wand.

“可是带着‘不同的学生’是怎么回事？”赫敏问，“有多少人参与？按说他应该不会让很多人知道他在干什么……”

“But what’s all this about him going up there with a ‘variety of students’?” said Hermione. “How many people are in on it? You wouldn’t think he’d trust lots of them to know what he’s doing. . . .”

“是啊，这很蹊跷，”哈利皱着眉道，“我听到他叫克拉布别管他在干什么……现在怎么又告诉这么些……这么些……”

“Yeah, that is weird,” said Harry, frowning. “I heard him telling Crabbe it wasn’t Crabbe’s business what he was doing . . . so what’s he telling all these . . . all these . . .”

哈利的声音低了下去，眼睛望着炉火。

Harry’s voice tailed away; he was staring at the fire.

“天哪，我真笨，”他轻声说，“很明显，是不是？地下教室里有一大缸呢……他那节课上随时都可能偷到……”

“God, I’ve been stupid,” he said quietly. “It’s obvious, isn’t it? There was a great vat of it down in the dungeon. . . . He could’ve nicked some any time during that lesson. . . .”

“偷到什么？”罗恩问。

“Nicked what?” said Ron.

“复方汤剂。他偷了斯拉格霍恩在第一堂魔药课上给我们看的复方汤剂……并没有什么不同的学生给马尔福放哨……就是克拉布和高尔……对，这下都对上了！”哈利跳了起来，在火炉前踱着步，“因为只有这两个人才会蠢到即使马尔福不说他在干什么，也能听他吩咐……但他不想让人看到这两个人总守在有求必应屋外头，所以就让他们喝了复方汤剂，变成别人的样子……魁地奇比赛那天我看到的两个女孩——哈！就是克拉布和高尔！”

“Polyjuice Potion. He stole some of the Polyjuice Potion Slughorn showed us in our first Potions lesson. . . . There aren’t a whole variety of students standing guard for Malfoy . . . it’s just Crabbe and Goyle as usual. . . . Yeah, it all fits!” said Harry, jumping up and starting to pace in front of the fire. “They’re stupid enough to do what they’re told even if he won’t tell them what he’s up to . . . but he doesn’t want them to be seen lurking around outside the Room of Requirement, so he’s got them taking Polyjuice to make them look like other people. . . . Those two girls I saw him with when he missed Quidditch — ha! Crabbe and Goyle!”

“你是说，”赫敏屏着气说，“我帮助修天平的那个小女生——？”

“Do you mean to say,” said Hermione in a hushed voice, “that that little girl whose scales I repaired — ?”

“对，当然！”哈利望着她大声说道，“当然！马尔福当时一定在有求必应屋，所以那女生——那男生丢掉了天平，告诉马尔福别出来，外面有人！还有，那个把癞蛤蟆卵掉到地上的女生！我们一直在他旁边走来走去，却不知道！”

“Yeah, of course!” said Harry loudly, staring at her. “Of course! Malfoy must’ve been inside the room at the time, so she — what am I talking about? — he dropped the scales to tell Malfoy not to come out, because there was someone there! And there was that girl who dropped the toadspawn too! We’ve been walking past him all the time and not realizing it!”

“他把克拉布和高尔变成了女生？”罗恩说着大笑起来，“老天……难怪他们最近不大开心……我奇怪他们怎么没对他说‘见鬼去吧’……”

“He’s got Crabbe and Goyle transforming into girls?” guffawed Ron. “Blimey . . . No wonder they don’t look too happy these days. . . . I’m surprised they don’t tell him to stuff it. . . .”

“他们不会的，是不是？如果他给他们看过他的黑魔标记。”哈利说。

“Well, they wouldn’t, would they, if he’s shown them his Dark Mark?” said Harry.

“哦……那个不知是否存在的黑魔标记。”赫敏怀疑地说，一边卷起擦干的论文还给罗恩，免得它再遭不测。

“Hmmm . . . the Dark Mark we don’t know exists,” said Hermione skeptically, rolling up Ron’s dried essay before it could come to any more harm and handing it to him.

“看着吧。”哈利自信地说。

“We’ll see,” said Harry confidently.

“好，那就看着吧。”赫敏说着站起来伸了伸懒腰，“可是哈利，你先别太兴奋了，我还是觉得，你如果不知道里面有什么，是进不了有求必应屋的。而且我认为你不应该忘记，”她把书包甩到肩上，十分严肃地看了他一眼，“你应该集中精力搞到斯拉格霍恩的记忆。晚安。”

“Yes, we will,” Hermione said, getting to her feet and stretching. “But, Harry, before you get all excited, I still don’t think you’ll be able to get into the Room of Requirement without knowing what’s there first. And I don’t think you should forget” — she heaved her bag onto her shoulder and gave him a very serious look — “that what you’re supposed to be concentrating on is getting that memory from Slughorn. Good night.”

哈利看着她走了，感觉有点儿不悦。通往女生宿舍的门在她身后一关上，他就转向了罗恩。

Harry watched her go, feeling slightly disgruntled. Once the door to the girls’ dormitories had closed behind her he rounded on Ron.

“你是怎么想的？”

“What d’you think?”

“我希望能像家养小精灵一样幻影移形，”罗恩盯着多比消失的地方说道，“那么幻影显形考试就十拿九稳了。”

“Wish I could Disapparate like a house-elf,” said Ron, staring at the spot where Dobby had vanished. “I’d have that Apparition Test in the bag.”

哈利这一夜没睡好，自己感觉醒着躺了好几个小时，一直在猜测马尔福用有求必应屋干什么，想象着自己明天进去后会看到什么。尽管赫敏泼了凉水，哈利还是相信既然马尔福能看到D．A．总部，他就能看到马尔福的……什么呢？约会地点？藏身处？储藏室？工作间？哈利的脑子飞快地转动着，后来终于睡着了，梦中仍受到马尔福形象的侵扰，他一会儿变成斯拉格霍恩，一会儿又变成斯内普……

Harry did not sleep well that night. He lay awake for what felt like hours, wondering how Malfoy was using the Room of Requirement and what he, Harry, would see when he went in there the following day, for whatever Hermione said, Harry was sure that if Malfoy had been able to see the headquarters of the D.A., he would be able to see Malfoy’s . . . what could it be? A meeting place? A hideout? A storeroom? A workshop? Harry’s mind worked feverishly and his dreams, when he finally fell asleep, were broken and disturbed by images of Malfoy, who turned into Slughorn, who turned into Snape. . . .

第二天吃早饭时哈利满怀期待。黑魔法防御术课前有一段空闲时间，他决定设法进入有求必应屋。赫敏夸张地表示对他悄声说出的方案不感兴趣。哈利有些恼火，因为他觉得赫敏如果愿意是可以帮上大忙的。

Harry was in a state of great anticipation over breakfast the following morning; he had a free period before Defense Against the Dark Arts and was determined to spend it trying to get into the Room of Requirement. Hermione was rather ostentatiously showing no interest in his whispered plans for forcing entry into the room, which irritated Harry, because he thought she might be a lot of help if she wanted to.

“喂，”他凑向前悄悄地说，一只手按住赫敏刚从送信的猫头鹰身上解下的《预言家日报》，不让她躲到报纸后面去，“我没忘记斯拉格霍恩，可我不知道怎么搞到他的记忆，在有灵感之前我为什么不能去看看马尔福在干什么呢？”

“Look,” he said quietly, leaning forward and putting a hand on the Daily Prophet, which she had just removed from a post owl, to stop her from opening it and vanishing behind it. “I haven’t forgotten about Slughorn, but I haven’t got a clue how to get that memory off him, and until I get a brain wave why shouldn’t I find out what Malfoy’s doing?”

“我已经告诉过你了，”赫敏说，“你得说服斯拉格霍恩，而不是对他下药或者施魔法。否则邓布利多一下子就办到了。你不要在有求必应屋外面浪费时间了。”她把《预言家日报》从哈利手底下抽出，折起来看着第一版，“你应该去找斯拉格霍恩，努力感化他。”

“I’ve already told you, you need to persuade Slughorn,” said Hermione. “It’s not a question of tricking him or bewitching him, or Dumbledore could have done it in a second. Instead of messing around outside the Room of Requirement” — she jerked the Prophet out from under Harry’s hand and unfolded it to look at the front page — “you should go and find Slughorn and start appealing to his better nature.”

“有没有我们认识的——？”赫敏浏览报纸标题时，罗恩问道。

“Anyone we know — ?” asked Ron, as Hermione scanned the headlines.

“有！”赫敏说，哈利和罗恩一听都噎着了，“不过还好，他没死——是蒙顿格斯，给抓起来送进阿兹卡班了！说是扮成阴尸入室行窃……有一个叫奥塔维·佩珀的失踪了……哎呀，多可怕，一名九岁男孩企图杀死祖父母而被逮捕，据说是中了夺魂咒……”

“Yes!” said Hermione, causing both Harry and Ron to gag on their breakfast. “But it’s all right, he’s not dead — it’s Mundungus, he’s been arrested and sent to Azkaban! Something to do with impersonating an Inferius during an attempted burglary . . . and someone called Octavius Pepper has vanished. . . . Oh, and how horrible, a nine-year-old boy has been arrested for trying to kill his grandparents, they think he was under the Imperius Curse. . . .”

他们默默吃完早饭，赫敏马上赶去上古代魔文课，罗恩去了公共休息室，准备把斯内普要的摄魂怪论文写完。哈利直奔八楼走廊，目标是傻巴拿巴教巨怪跳芭蕾舞的挂毯对面的那段空墙。

They finished their breakfast in silence. Hermione set off immediately for Ancient Runes; Ron for the common room, where he still had to finish his conclusion on Snape’s dementor essay; and Harry for the corridor on the seventh floor and the stretch of wall opposite the tapestry of Barnabas the Barmy teaching trolls to do ballet.

一到僻静地段，哈利就披上了隐形衣。其实没有必要。他发现目的地根本没有人。哈利不知道马尔福在里面还是在外面时自己进去的机会更大，但至少他的初次尝试不会被假扮成十一岁女生的克拉布或高尔打搅了。

Harry slipped on his Invisibility Cloak once he had found an empty passage, but he need not have bothered. When he reached his destination he found it deserted. Harry was not sure whether his chances of getting inside the room were better with Malfoy inside it or out, but at least his first attempt was not going to be complicated by the presence of Crabbe or Goyle pretending to be an eleven-year-old girl.

走近隐藏着有求必应屋的地方，他闭上眼睛。他知道该做什么，去年已经练得很熟了。他专心致志地想：我需要看看马尔福在这儿干什么……我需要看看马尔福在这儿干什么……我需要看看马尔福在这儿干什么……

He closed his eyes as he approached the place where the Room of Requirement’s door was concealed. He knew what he had to do; he had become most accomplished at it last year. Concentrating with all his might he thought, I need to see what Malfoy’s doing in here. . . . I need to see what Malfoy’s doing in here. . . . I need to see what Malfoy’s doing in here. . . .

他三次走过那个地方，激动得心咚咚地跳着，然后，他睁开眼睛转向它——可眼前还是一段普通的白墙。

Three times he walked past the door; then, his heart pounding with excitement, he opened his eyes and faced it —

他走上前推了推，石头还是硬邦邦的，一动不动。

But he was still looking at a stretch of mundanely blank wall.

“好吧，”哈利大声说，“好吧……我想得不对……”

He moved forward and gave it an experimental push. The stone remained solid and unyielding.

他想了一会儿，又走了起来，闭着眼睛，集中意念。

“Okay,” said Harry aloud. “Okay . . . I thought the wrong thing. . . .”

我需要看马尔福经常偷偷进入的地方……我需要看马尔福经常偷偷进入的地方……我需要看马尔福经常偷偷进入的地方……

He pondered for a moment then set off again, eyes closed, concentrating as hard as he could.

走过三次之后，他期待地睁开眼睛。

I need to see the place where Malfoy keeps coming secretly. . . . I need to see the place where Malfoy keeps coming secretly. . . .

没有出现门。

After three walks past, he opened his eyes expectantly.

“哦，别这样，”他烦躁地对着墙壁说道，“我的要求提得很清楚嘛……好吧……”

There was no door.

他使劲想了几分钟，又大步走了起来。

“Oh, come off it,” he told the wall irritably. “That was a clear instruction. . . . Fine . . .”

我需要你变成你为德拉科·马尔福变成的地方……我需要你变成你为德拉科·马尔福变成的地方……我需要你变成你为德拉科·马尔福变成的地方……

He thought hard for several minutes before striding off once more.

走完后，他没有马上睁开眼睛，而是侧耳聆听，好像希望听见门突然出现的声音。可是没有听见，只有远处小鸟的啁啾。他睁开了眼睛。

I need you to become the place you become for Draco Malfoy. . . .

还是没有出现门。

He did not immediately open his eyes when he had finished his patrolling; he was listening hard, as though he might hear the door pop into existence. He heard nothing, however, except the distant twittering of birds outside. He opened his eyes.

哈利诅咒了一声，听到有人尖叫。他转过头，看到一群一年级新生逃回了拐角，显然是以为碰到了一个说话特别粗鲁的幽灵。

There was still no door.

哈利试了“我需要看看德拉科·马尔福在你里面做什么”的各种变化形式，最后不得不承认赫敏可能说得有道理，那间屋子就是不想让他进去。他沮丧而恼火地赶去上黑魔法防御术课，在路上脱下隐形衣，塞进了书包。

Harry swore. Someone screamed. He looked around to see a gaggle of first years running back around the corner, apparently under the impression that they had just encountered a particularly foulmouthed ghost.

“又迟到了，波特，”哈利匆匆跑进点着蜡烛的教室时，斯内普冷冷地说，“格兰芬多扣十分。”

Harry tried every variation of “I need to see what Draco Malfoy is doing inside you” that he could think of for a whole hour, at the end of which he was forced to concede that Hermione might have had a point: The room simply did not want to open for him. Frustrated and annoyed, he set off for Defense Against the Dark Arts, pulling off his Invisibility Cloak and stuffing it into his bag as he went.

哈利对着斯内普怒目而视，冲到罗恩旁边的椅子上坐下。班上半数人都还站着，在拿书和整理东西，他并没有晚多少。

“Late again, Potter,” said Snape coldly, as Harry hurried into the candlelit classroom. “Ten points from Gryffindor.”

“在开始上课之前，我想看到你们的摄魂怪论文。”斯内普说着漫不经心地一挥魔杖，二十五卷羊皮纸升到空中，在他桌上整齐地落成一堆，“我替你们希望，这次比那篇抵御夺魂咒的狗屁不通的东西好些。现在，请打开书，翻到——什么事，斐尼甘同学？”

Harry scowled at Snape as he flung himself into the seat beside Ron; half the class was still on its feet, taking out books and organizing their things; he could not be much later than any of them.

“先生，”西莫说，“我有个问题，怎么区分阴尸和幽灵呢？因为《预言家日报》中提到了阴尸——”

“Before we start, I want your dementor essays,” said Snape, waving his wand carelessly, so that twenty-five scrolls of parchment soared into the air and landed in a neat pile on his desk. “And I hope for your sakes they are better than the tripe I had to endure on resisting the Imperius Curse. Now, if you will all open your books to page — what is it, Mr. Finnigan?”

“没有，没有这回事。”斯内普用厌倦的语气说。

“Sir,” said Seamus, “I’ve been wondering, how do you tell the difference between an Inferius and a ghost? Because there was something in the paper about an Inferius —”

“可是先生，我听到人们说——”

“No, there wasn’t,” said Snape in a bored voice.

“如果你好好读了那篇文章，斐尼甘同学，就会知道所谓的阴尸只是一个臭烘烘的小偷，蒙顿格斯·弗莱奇。”

“But sir, I heard people talking —”

“斯内普跟蒙顿格斯不是一边的吗？”哈利小声问罗恩和赫敏，“蒙顿格斯被抓起来了，他不应该难受吗？”

“If you had actually read the article in question, Mr. Finnigan, you would have known that the so-called Inferius was nothing but a smelly sneak thief by the name of Mundungus Fletcher.”

“波特似乎对这个问题有很多话要说，”斯内普说着突然朝教室后面一指，黑眼睛盯着哈利，“让我们问问波特，如何区分阴尸和幽灵。”

“I thought Snape and Mundungus were on the same side,” muttered Harry to Ron and Hermione. “Shouldn’t he be upset Mundungus has been arrest —”

全班都回头看着哈利，他急忙回忆那天晚上去拜访斯拉格霍恩时邓布利多说的话。

“But Potter seems to have a lot to say on the subject,” said Snape, pointing suddenly at the back of the room, his black eyes fixed on Harry “Let us ask Potter how we would tell the difference between an Inferius and a ghost.”

“呃——这个——幽灵是透明的——”

The whole class looked around at Harry, who hastily tried to recall what Dumbledore had told him the night that they had gone to visit Slughorn.

“哦，很好，”斯内普撇着嘴打断了他，“对，显而易见，近六年的魔法教育在你身上没有白费，波特。幽灵是透明的。”

“Er — well — ghosts are transparent —” he said.

潘西·帕金森发出高声尖笑。还有几个人也傻笑起来。哈利深深吸了口气，镇静地说了下去，尽管怒火中烧：“幽灵是透明的，但阴尸是死尸，是吧？所以它们应该是实心的——”

“Oh, very good,” interrupted Snape, his lip curling. “Yes, it is easy to see that nearly six years of magical education have not been wasted on you, Potter. ‘Ghosts are transparent.’ ”

“五岁小孩也能讲出这些。”斯内普讥笑道，“阴尸是被黑巫师的魔咒唤起的死尸。它没有生命，只是像木偶一样被用来执行巫师的命令。而幽灵，我相信大家现在都已知道，是离去的灵魂留在世间的印记……当然，正如波特英明指出的那样，它是透明的。”

Pansy Parkinson let out a high-pitched giggle. Several other people were smirking. Harry took a deep breath and continued calmly, though his insides were boiling, “Yeah, ghosts are transparent, but Inferi are dead bodies, aren’t they? So they’d be solid —”

“但，哈利说的是最实用的区分方法！”罗恩说，“假使在黑巷子里迎面碰到一个，我们会赶快看一看它是不是实心的，而不会问：‘对不起，你是不是一个离去的灵魂留在世间的印记？’”

“A five-year-old could have told us as much,” sneered Snape. “The Inferius is a corpse that has been reanimated by a Dark wizard’s spells. It is not alive, it is merely used like a puppet to do the wizard’s bidding. A ghost, as I trust that you are all aware by now, is the imprint of a departed soul left upon the earth . . . and of course, as Potter so wisely tells us, transparent.”

教室里发出一片笑声，但立刻被斯内普的眼色压了下去。

“Well, what Harry said is the most useful if we’re trying to tell them apart!” said Ron. “When we come face-to-face with one down a dark alley, we’re going to be having a shufti to see if it’s solid, aren’t we, we’re not going to be asking, ‘Excuse me, are you the imprint of a departed soul?’ ”

“格兰芬多再扣十分。我不指望你能说出更高明的话，罗恩·韦斯莱——一个实心到在这间屋子里连幻影显形半英寸都做不到的学生。”

There was a ripple of laughter, instantly quelled by the look Snape gave the class.

“不要！”赫敏见哈利愤怒地张嘴要说话，忙抓住他的胳膊小声说，“没有意义的，只会又被关禁闭，算了吧。”

“Another ten points from Gryffindor,” said Snape. “I would expect nothing more sophisticated from you, Ronald Weasley, the boy so solid he cannot Apparate half an inch across a room.”

“现在打开书，翻到一百三十页。”斯内普得意地微笑道，“读关于钻心咒的前两段……”

“No!” whispered Hermione, grabbing Harry’s arm as he opened his mouth furiously. “There’s no point, you’ll just end up in detention again, leave it!”

罗恩整堂课都特别蔫，下课铃响了，拉文德追上罗恩和哈利（她走近时赫敏神秘蒸发了），为了在课堂上嘲笑罗恩幻影显形的事而痛骂斯内普。可这似乎只能更加激怒了罗恩，他跟哈利拐进男生盥洗室，把她甩掉了。

“Now open your books to page two hundred and thirteen,” said Snape, smirking a little, “and read the first two paragraphs on the Cruciatus Curse. . . .”

“斯内普说得对，是不是？”罗恩盯着破镜子看了一两分钟后说，“我不知道去考试有没有意义，我就是学不会幻影显形。”

Ron was very subdued all through the class. When the bell sounded at the end of the lesson, Lavender caught up with Ron and Harry (Hermione mysteriously melted out of sight as she approached) and abused Snape hotly for his jibe about Ron’s Apparition, but this seemed to merely irritate Ron, and he shook her off by making a detour into the boys’ bathroom with Harry.

“你可以参加霍格莫德的特殊训练，看看会怎么样，”哈利理智地说，“至少，那会比显形到一个愚蠢的木圈里有趣些。然后，如果你还是不能——嗯——做到像你希望的那样好，还可以推迟考试，到夏天跟我一起——桃金娘，这是男生盥洗室！”

“Snape’s right, though, isn’t he?” said Ron, after staring into a cracked mirror for a minute or two. “I dunno whether it’s worth me taking the test. I just can’t get the hang of Apparition.”

一个女孩的幽灵从他们后面的一个抽水马桶里升了起来，在半空中飘浮着，一双眼睛从厚厚的白色圆形眼镜后面瞪着他们。

“You might as well do the extra practice sessions in Hogsmeade and see where they get you,” said Harry reasonably. “It’ll be more interesting than trying to get into a stupid hoop anyway. Then, if you’re still not — you know — as good as you’d like to be, you can postpone the test, do it with me over the summ — Myrtle, this is the boys’ bathroom!”

“哦，”她闷闷不乐地说，“是你们两个。”

The ghost of a girl had risen out of the toilet in a cubicle behind them and was now floating in midair, staring at them through thick, white, round glasses.

“你在等谁？”罗恩问，一边从镜子里看着她。

“Oh,” she said glumly. “It’s you two.”

“没等谁。”桃金娘忧郁地抠着下巴上一个小点说，“他说他会回来看我，后来你又说会来看我……”她责备地看了哈利一眼，“好多个月都没看到你们，我已经学会对男孩不抱太多期望了。”

“Who were you expecting?” said Ron, looking at her in the mirror.

“我以为你住在女生盥洗室呢。”哈利说，那个地方他已经避开好几年了。

“Nobody,” said Myrtle, picking moodily at a spot on her chin. “He said he’d come back and see me, but then you said you’d pop in and visit me too” — she gave Harry a reproachful look — “and I haven’t seen you for months and months. I’ve learned not to expect too much from boys.”

“是啊，”她说着气呼呼地耸了耸肩膀，“可那并不意味着我不能访问别的地方。有一次我来看过你洗澡，记得吗？”

“I thought you lived in that girls’ bathroom?” said Harry, who had been careful to give the place a wide berth for some years now.

“记忆犹新。”哈利说。

“I do,” she said, with a sulky little shrug, “but that doesn’t mean I can’t visit other places. I came and saw you in your bath once, remember?”

“可我以为他喜欢我，”她哀怨地说道，“也许等你们走了，他还会回来的……我们有很多共同点……我相信他感觉到了……”

“Vividly,” said Harry.

她期待地望着门口。

“But I thought he liked me,” she said plaintively. “Maybe if you two left, he’d come back again. . . . We had lots in common. . . . I’m sure he felt it. . . .”

“你说你们有很多共同点，”罗恩说，现在似乎被逗乐了，“是指他也住在水管里吗？”

And she looked hopefully toward the door.

“不是，”桃金娘大声抗议道，声音在老式的瓷砖盥洗室中回响，“我是说他很敏感，他也被人欺负，觉得孤单，没人说话，他不怕暴露自己的感情，想哭就哭！”

“When you say you had lots in common,” said Ron, sounding rather amused now, “d’you mean he lives in an S-bend too?”

“有个男生在这儿哭过？”哈利好奇地问，“小男生？”

“No,” said Myrtle defiantly, her voice echoing loudly around the old tiled bathroom. “I mean he’s sensitive, people bully him too, and he feels lonely and hasn’t got anybody to talk to, and he’s not afraid to show his feelings and cry!”

“不要你管！”桃金娘说，那漏水的小眼睛盯着已在咧着嘴笑的罗恩，“我保证过不告诉任何人，我要把他的秘密带进——”

“There’s been a boy in here crying?” said Harry curiously. “A young boy?”

“——不是坟墓吧？”罗恩笑道，“也许是下水道……”

“Never you mind!” said Myrtle, her small, leaky eyes fixed on Ron, who was now definitely grinning. “I promised I wouldn’t tell anyone, and I’ll take his secret to the —”

桃金娘发出一声愤怒的号叫，钻回了抽水马桶里，水溅在马桶的周围和地板上。刺激桃金娘似乎让罗恩重新获得了勇气。

“— not the grave, surely?” said Ron with a snort. “The sewers, maybe . . .”

“你说得对，”他说着把书包甩回肩上，“我要参加霍格莫德的特殊训练，然后再决定去不去考试。”

Myrtle gave a howl of rage and dived back into the toilet, causing water to slop over the sides and onto the floor. Goading Myrtle seemed to have put fresh heart into Ron.

到了周末，罗恩加入了赫敏和其他一些两星期后年满十七岁的六年级学生当中。哈利看着他们都准备去村子里，感到有些嫉妒。天气又特别好，春意融融，是很久以来难得看到的一个晴天。不过，他已决定利用这个时间再去偷袭一下有求必应屋。

“You’re right,” he said, swinging his schoolbag back over his shoulder, “I’ll do the practice sessions in Hogsmeade before I decide about taking the test.”

“你还不如直接去斯拉格霍恩的办公室，把他的记忆搞到手。”当他在门厅那儿对罗恩和赫敏透露这一计划时，赫敏说。

And so the following weekend, Ron joined Hermione and the rest of the sixth years who would turn seventeen in time to take the test in a fortnight. Harry felt rather jealous watching them all get ready to go into the village; he missed making trips there, and it was a particularly fine spring day, one of the first clear skies they had seen in a long time. However, he had decided to use the time to attempt another assault on the Room of Requirement.

“我一直在努力啊！”哈利烦躁地说，这倒是真的，那个星期的每节魔药课后他都留下来，想堵住斯拉格霍恩，可是魔药教师总是溜得很快，他一次都没堵到。哈利两次去敲他办公室的门，可是敲不开，虽然第二次他确信听到了被迅速掐断的留声机声。

“You’d do better,” said Hermione, when he confided this plan to Ron and her in the entrance hall, “to go straight to Slughorn’s office and try and get that memory from him.”

“他不想跟我说话，赫敏！他看得出我又想跟他单独谈话，他不肯给我这个机会！”

“I’ve been trying!” said Harry crossly, which was perfectly true. He had lagged behind after every Potions lesson that week in an attempt to corner Slughorn, but the Potions master always left the dungeon so fast that Harry had not been able to catch him. Twice, Harry had gone to his office and knocked, but received no reply, though on the second occasion he was sure he had heard the quickly stifled sounds of an old gramophone.

“可你必须锲而不舍，是不是？”

“He doesn’t want to talk to me, Hermione! He can tell I’ve been trying to get him on his own again, and he’s not going to let it happen!”

排在费尔奇面前的一小队人往前走了几步，哈利怕被这个像往常那样拿着探密器捣捣戳戳的管理员听到，就没有回答。他祝罗恩和赫敏好运，然后转身爬上大理石台阶，决心不管赫敏怎么说，他要花一两个小时去对付有求必应屋。

“Well, you’ve just got to keep at it, haven’t you?”

等到看不见门厅了，哈利从包里抽出活点地图和隐形衣。隐形之后，他敲敲地图念道：“我庄严宣誓我不干好事。”然后仔细查看起来。

The short queue of people waiting to file past Filch, who was doing his usual prodding act with the Secrecy Sensor, moved forward a few steps and Harry did not answer in case he was overheard by the caretaker. He wished Ron and Hermione both luck, then turned and climbed the marble staircase again, determined, whatever Hermione said, to devote an hour or two to the Room of Requirement.

因为是星期天上午，几乎所有的学生都在各自的公共休息室里，格兰芬多的在一座塔楼，拉文克劳的在另一座，斯莱特林的在地下教室里，赫奇帕奇的在厨房附近的地下室。有零零星星的人在图书馆或走廊上闲逛……还有几个人在操场上……看到了，高尔一个人在八楼走廊上。在地图上看不到有求必应屋，但哈利并不担心这一点。如果高尔在外面放哨，那么屋子就是开着的，无论地图知不知道。他箭步冲上楼梯，到了走廊口的拐角处才放慢脚步。他蹑手蹑脚地向赫敏两星期前好心帮过的那个端着铜天平的小女孩走去，一直走到她身后，才弯下腰小声说：“你好……你很漂亮，是不是？”

Once out of sight of the entrance hall, Harry pulled the Marauder’s Map and his Invisibility Cloak from his bag. Having concealed himself, he tapped the map, murmured, “I solemnly swear that I am up to no good,” and scanned it carefully.

高尔惊恐地尖叫了一声，把天平扔向空中，撒腿就跑，在天平摔到地上的回响散去前早就跑得没踪影了。哈利大笑着转身面对着那段空墙，他相信德拉科·马尔福正僵立在后面，知道外面有不受欢迎的人却不敢出来。这给了哈利一种非常痛快的气势，他开始想还有哪种说法没试过。

As it was Sunday morning, nearly all the students were inside their various common rooms, the Gryffindors in one tower, the Ravenclaws in another, the Slytherins in the dungeons, and the Hufflepuffs in the basement near the kitchens. Here and there a stray person meandered around the library or up a corridor. . . . There were a few people out in the grounds . . . and there, alone in the seventh-floor corridor, was Gregory Goyle. There was no sign of the Room of Requirement, but Harry was not worried about that; if Goyle was standing guard outside it, the room was open, whether the map was aware of it or not. He therefore sprinted up the stairs, slowing down only when he reached the corner into the corridor, when he began to creep, very slowly, toward the very same little girl, clutching her heavy brass scales, that Hermione had so kindly helped a fortnight before. He waited until he was right behind her before bending very low and whispering, “Hello . . . you’re very pretty, aren’t you?”

可是乐观的情绪没有维持多久。他花了半个小时，又试了很多说法，墙上还是没有出现门。哈利感到遭受了难以置信的挫折，马尔福近在咫尺，却半点也看不出他在干什么。哈利彻底失去了耐心，冲过去朝墙上踢了一脚。

Goyle gave a high-pitched scream of terror, threw the scales up into the air, and sprinted away, vanishing from sight long before the sound of the scales smashing had stopped echoing around the corridor. Laughing, Harry turned to contemplate the blank wall behind which, he was sure, Draco Malfoy was now standing frozen, aware that someone unwelcome was out there, but not daring to make an appearance. It gave Harry a most agreeable feeling of power as he tried to remember what form of words he had not yet tried.

“哎哟！”

Yet this hopeful mood did not last long. Half an hour later, having tried many more variations of his request to see what Malfoy was up to, the wall was just as doorless as ever. Harry felt frustrated beyond belief; Malfoy might be just feet away from him, and there was still not the tiniest shred of evidence as to what he was doing in there. Losing his patience completely, Harry ran at the wall and kicked it.

他觉得脚趾头可能折断了，抱着脚跳着，隐形衣滑落了。

“OUCH!”

“哈利？”

He thought he might have broken his toe; as he clutched it and hopped on one foot, the Invisibility Cloak slipped off him.

他单腿来了个急转身，结果摔倒了。他十分吃惊地看到唐克斯正朝他走来，好像她经常来这条走廊上散步似的。

“Harry?”

“你来这儿干什么？”他问，一边急忙爬起来，为什么唐克斯总是看到他躺在地上呢？

He spun around, one-legged, and toppled over. There, to his utter astonishment, was Tonks, walking toward him as though she frequently strolled up this corridor.

“我来见邓布利多。”

“What’re you doing here?” he said, scrambling to his feet again; why did she always have to find him lying on the floor?

哈利觉得她的样子很可怕，比平常更瘦，灰褐色的头发很稀疏。

“I came to see Dumbledore,” said Tonks.

“他的办公室不在这儿，”哈利说，“在城堡那一边，石头怪兽后面——”

Harry thought she looked terrible: thinner than usual, her mouse-colored hair lank.

“我知道，”唐克斯说，“他不在那儿，显然又走了。”

“His office isn’t here,” said Harry, “it’s round the other side of the castle, behind the gargoyle —”

“是吗？”哈利说着把踢伤的脚轻轻放回地面，“嘿——你不知道他去哪儿了吧？”

“I know,” said Tonks. “He’s not there. Apparently he’s gone away again.”

“不知道。”

“Has he?” said Harry, putting his bruised foot gingerly back on the floor. “Hey — you don’t know where he goes, I suppose?”

“你找他有什么事吗？”

“No,” said Tonks.

“没什么，”唐克斯说，仿佛是在无心地扯着她袍子的袖子，“我只是想他可能了解情况……我听到传闻……有人受伤……”

“What did you want to see him about?”

“是啊，我知道，都见报了，”哈利说，“那个小孩企图杀死他的……”

“Nothing in particular,” said Tonks, picking, apparently unconsciously, at the sleeve of her robe. “I just thought he might know what’s going on. . . . I’ve heard rumors . . . people getting hurt . . .”

“《预言家日报》的报道经常滞后。”唐克斯说，似乎没在听他说话，“你最近没收到凤凰社成员的信吧？”

“Yeah, I know, it’s all been in the papers,” said Harry. “That little kid trying to kill his —”

“凤凰社没人给我写信了，自从小天狼星——”

“The Prophet’s often behind the times,” said Tonks, who didn’t seem to be listening to him. “You haven’t had any letters from anyone in the Order recently?”

他看到她的眼中已泪水盈盈。

“No one from the Order writes to me anymore,” said Harry, “not since Sirius —”

“对不起，”他不安地说，“我……我也很怀念他……”

He saw that her eyes had filled with tears.

“什么？”唐克斯茫然地问道，仿佛没听到他的话，“……回头见吧，哈利……”

“I’m sorry,” he muttered awkwardly. “I mean . . . I miss him, as well. . . .”

她突然转身往回走去，留下哈利呆呆地望着她。约莫一分钟后，他又披上隐形衣，继续设法进入有求必应屋，但心已经不在上头。终于，腹中空空的感觉和罗恩、赫敏就要回来吃午饭的事实使他放弃了尝试，把走廊让给了马尔福，希望他吓得再待上几小时也不敢出来。

“What?” said Tonks blankly, as though she had not heard him. “Well . . . I’ll see you around, Harry . . .”

他在大礼堂里找到罗恩和赫敏，他们都已经吃到一半了。

And she turned abruptly and walked back down the corridor, leaving Harry to stare after her. After a minute or so, he pulled the Invisibility Cloak on again and resumed his efforts to get into the Room of Requirement, but his heart was not in it. Finally, a hollow feeling in his stomach and the knowledge that Ron and Hermione would soon be back for lunch made him abandon the attempt and leave the corridor to Malfoy who, hopefully, would be too afraid to leave for some hours to come.

“我成功了——差不多！”罗恩一看到哈利就兴奋地说，“本来应该幻影显形到帕笛芙夫人茶馆的外面，我超过了一点儿，到了文人居旁边，但至少我移动了！”

He found Ron and Hermione in the Great Hall, already halfway through an early lunch.

“太棒了。”哈利说，“你怎么样，赫敏？”

“I did it — well, kind of!” Ron told Harry enthusiastically when he caught sight of him. “I was supposed to be Apparating to outside Madam Puddifoot’s Tea Shop and I overshot it a bit, ended up near Scrivenshaft’s, but at least I moved!”

“哦，她显然是完美的，”罗恩抢先回答说道，“完美的目光、决绝和从容——管它是哪几点呢。结束后我们一起在三把扫帚喝了一杯，你没听到泰克罗斯怎么不停地夸她呢。他要是过两天不求婚才怪——”

“Good one,” said Harry. “How’d you do, Hermione?”

“你呢？”赫敏问道，没去理睬罗恩，“一直在有求必应屋那儿？”

“Oh, she was perfect, obviously,” said Ron, before Hermione could answer. “Perfect deliberation, divination, and desperation or whatever the hell it is — we all went for a quick drink in the Three Broomsticks after and you should’ve heard Twycross going on about her — I’ll be surprised if he doesn’t pop the question soon —”

“是，”哈利说，“猜猜我在那儿碰到谁了？唐克斯！”

“And what about you?” asked Hermione, ignoring Ron. “Have you been up at the Room of Requirement all this time?”

“唐克斯？”罗恩和赫敏一齐惊讶地说。

“Yep,” said Harry. “And guess who I ran into up there? Tonks!”

“对，她说是来找邓布利多……”

“Tonks?” repeated Ron and Hermione together, looking surprised.

“依我看，”哈利说完他和唐克斯的对话后，罗恩立刻说道，“她有点崩溃了，在魔法部发生了那些事之后六神无主了。”

“Yeah, she said she’d come to visit Dumbledore. . . .”

“这有点怪，”赫敏说，显得很担心，“她应该守护学校，为什么突然擅离职守来找邓布利多，何况他还不在？”

“If you ask me,” said Ron once Harry had finished describing his conversation with Tonks, “she’s cracking up a bit. Losing her nerve after what happened at the Ministry.”

“我有个想法，”哈利试探地说，他觉得说这个有点怪，这似乎更像是赫敏的领域，“你觉得她会不会……会不会……爱着小天狼星？”

“It’s a bit odd,” said Hermione, who for some reason looked very concerned. “She’s supposed to be guarding the school, why’s she suddenly abandoning her post to come and see Dumbledore when he’s not even here?”

赫敏瞪着他。

“I had a thought,” said Harry tentatively. He felt strange about voicing it; this was much more Hermione’s territory than his. “You don’t think she can have been . . . you know . . . in love with Sirius?”

“你怎么会这么说？”

Hermione stared at him.

“我不知道，”哈利耸了耸肩膀，“可我提到小天狼星的名字时，她差点哭出来……她的守护神现在是个四条腿的庞然大物……我想会不会是变成……变成……他了。”

“What on earth makes you say that?”

“是个想法，”赫敏慢吞吞地说，“可我还是不明白她为什么要冲进城堡找邓布利多，如果这真是她来的原因……”

“I dunno,” said Harry, shrugging, “but she was nearly crying when I mentioned his name . . . and her Patronus is a big fourlegged thing now. . . . I wondered whether it hadn’t become . . . you know . . . him.”

“还是我说的吧？”罗恩说，他正在把土豆泥舀进嘴里，“她有点儿反常，六神无主，女人嘛，”他煞有介事地对哈利说，“就是容易沉不住气。”

“It’s a thought,” said Hermione slowly. “But I still don’t know why she’d be bursting into the castle to see Dumbledore, if that’s really why she was here. . . .”

“可是，”赫敏说道，她已经从沉思中回过神来，“我怀疑你找不到一个女人会为罗斯默塔夫人听了那巫婆、治疗师和米布米宝的笑话没有笑而生半小时闷气。”

“Goes back to what I said, doesn’t it?” said Ron, who was now shoveling mashed potato into his mouth. “She’s gone a bit funny. Lost her nerve. Women,” he said wisely to Harry, “they’re easily upset.”

罗恩瞪起了眼睛。

“And yet,” said Hermione, coming out of her reverie, “I doubt you’d find a woman who sulked for half an hour because Madam Rosmerta didn’t laugh at their joke about the hag, the Healer, and the Mimbulus mimbletonia.”

Ron scowled.