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


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    CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE THE SEER OVERHEARD
    第二十五章 被窃听的预言
    
    
    The fact that Harry Potter was going out with Ginny Weasley seemed to interest a great number of people, most of them girls, yet Harry found himself newly and happily impervious to gossip over the next few weeks. After all, it made a very nice change to be talked about because of something that was making him happier than he could remember being for a very long time, rather than because he had been involved in horrific scenes of Dark Magic.
    哈利·波特和金妮·韦斯莱约会的事好像引起了很多人的兴趣,大多数是女孩子,然而哈利觉得自己这几个星期丝毫没有受到这些闲言碎语的影响,并且心情愉快。毕竟,这是一个很不错的改变,人们谈论的是一件让他感到久违了的快乐事情,比起一天到晚谈论黑魔法的恐怖场面强多了。
    “You’d think people had better things to gossip about,” said Ginny, as she sat on the common room floor, leaning against Harry’s legs and reading the Daily Prophet. “Three dementor attacks in a week, and all Romilda Vane does is ask me if it’s true you’ve got a hippogriff tattooed across your chest.”
    “我还以为别人会有更有趣的事情来闲谈呢。”金妮说,她正坐在公共休息室的地板上,靠着哈利的腿,在读《预言家日报》,“摄魂怪一星期内捣了三次乱,罗米达·万尼所做的一切就是让我问问你胸口上是不是文了一只鹰头马身有翼兽。”
    Ron and Hermione both roared with laughter. Harry ignored them.
    罗恩和赫敏两个哈哈大笑。哈利没理睬他们。
    “What did you tell her?”
    “那你对她说了什么呢?”
    “I told her it’s a Hungarian Horntail,” said Ginny, turning a page of the newspaper idly. “Much more macho.”
    “我告诉她是一头匈牙利树蜂,”金妮说,懒懒地翻了一页报纸,“更有男子汉气概。”
    “Thanks,” said Harry, grinning. “And what did you tell her Ron’s got?”
    “谢谢,”哈利露齿一笑,“那你对他说罗恩的是什么?”
    “A Pygmy Puff, but I didn’t say where.”
    “一只侏儒蒲,但我没说在哪儿。”
    Ron scowled as Hermione rolled around laughing.
    赫敏笑得前仰后合,罗恩皱起了眉头。
    “Watch it,” he said, pointing warningly at Harry and Ginny. “Just because I’ve given my permission doesn’t mean I can’t withdraw it —”
    “小心点儿,”他警告地指着哈利和金妮说,“不要因为我允许你们交往,就以为我不能收回——”
    “ ‘Your permission,’ ” scoffed Ginny. “Since when did you give me permission to do anything? Anyway, you said yourself you’d rather it was Harry than Michael or Dean.”
    “‘你允许’,”金妮嘲笑道,“从什么时候开始我做事要你允许了?不管怎样,你自己说过,宁可他是哈利,也不要是迈克尔或迪安。”
    “Yeah, I would,” said Ron grudgingly. “And just as long as you don’t start snogging each other in public —”
    “那是,”罗恩勉强地说,“只要你们不在公共场所接吻——”
    “You filthy hypocrite! What about you and Lavender, thrashing around like a pair of eels all over the place?” demanded Ginny.
    “你这个卑鄙的伪君子!你和拉文德那是怎么回事?到处亲热,就像一对鳗鱼黏在一起!”金妮质问道。
    But Ron’s tolerance was not to be tested much as they moved into June, for Harry and Ginny’s time together was becoming increasingly restricted. Ginny’s O.W.L.s were approaching and she was therefore forced to study for hours into the night. On one such evening, when Ginny had retired to the library, and Harry was sitting beside the window in the common room, supposedly finishing his Herbology homework but in reality reliving a particularly happy hour he had spent down by the lake with Ginny at lunchtime, Hermione dropped into the seat between him and Ron with an unpleasantly purposeful look on her face.
    进入六月,罗恩的忍耐没有受到多少考验,因为哈利和金妮在一起的时间越来越有限。金妮的O.W.Ls考试日渐临近,她每晚不得不花好几个小时来复习功课。在这样一个晚上,金妮去了图书馆,哈利坐在公共休息室的窗边,本想完成他的草药课家庭作业,但事实上他正在重温午饭时与金妮在湖边度过的一段非常愉快的时光。这时赫敏挤进了他和罗恩中间的座位,脸上是一种很坚决的表情,让人看了很不舒服。
    “I want to talk to you, Harry.”
    “我想和你谈谈,哈利。”
    “What about?” said Harry suspiciously. Only the previous day, Hermione had told him off for distracting Ginny when she ought to be working hard for her examinations.
    “谈什么?”哈利疑惑地问。赫敏昨天刚数落过他,怪他打扰了应该努力复习迎考的金妮。
    “The so-called Half-Blood Prince.”
    “那个所谓的混血王子。”
    “Oh, not again,” he groaned. “Will you please drop it?”
    “哦,又来了,”他嘟囔道,“你能不能换个话题?”
    He had not dared to return to the Room of Requirement to retrieve his book, and his performance in Potions was suffering accordingly (though Slughorn, who approved of Ginny, had jocularly attributed this to Harry being lovesick). But Harry was sure that Snape had not yet given up hope of laying hands on the Prince’s book, and was determined to leave it where it was while Snape remained on the lookout.
    他还没敢返回有求必应屋去拿他的那本书,他的魔药课成绩也因此掉了下来(不过,斯拉格霍恩对金妮很有好感,他诙谐地将哈利成绩下降归于相思病)。哈利觉得斯内普一定还没有放弃搜查王子的课本,由于斯内普一直在监视他,他决定暂时不去碰那本书。
    “I’m not dropping it,” said Hermione firmly, “until you’ve heard me out. Now, I’ve been trying to find out a bit about who might make a hobby of inventing Dark spells —”
    “我就不换话题,”赫敏坚定地说,“直到你听我说完。我一直想找出是谁把发明黑魔咒当成了嗜好——”
    “He didn’t make a hobby of it —”
    “此兄没有把这当成嗜好——”
    “He, he — who says it’s a he?”
    “此兄,此兄——你说他是男的?”
    “We’ve been through this,” said Harry crossly. “Prince, Hermione, Prince!”
    “我们已经说过了,”哈利不耐烦地说,“王子,赫敏,王子!”
    “Right!” said Hermione, red patches blazing in her cheeks as she pulled a very old piece of newsprint out of her pocket and slammed it down on the table in front of Harry. “Look at that! Look at the picture!”
    “好吧!”赫敏说着脸颊上泛起红晕,从口袋里掏出一张很旧的报纸,朝哈利的桌子上猛地一扔,“看这个!看看上面的照片!”
    Harry picked up the crumbling piece of paper and stared at the moving photograph, yellowed with age; Ron leaned over for a look too. The picture showed a skinny girl of around fifteen. She was not pretty; she looked simultaneously cross and sullen, with heavy brows and a long, pallid face. Underneath the photograph was the caption: Eileen Prince, Captain of the Hogwarts Gobstones Team.
    哈利拿起那张破报纸,盯着上面年久发黄的活动照片;罗恩也凑过来看。照片上是个大约十五岁的瘦瘦女孩。她并不漂亮,看起来既有点乖戾,又有点闷闷不乐。她的眉毛粗重,一张脸长长的,面色苍白。照片下面的说明是:艾琳·普林斯,霍格沃茨高布石队队长。
    “So?” said Harry, scanning the short news item to which the picture belonged; it was a rather dull story about interschool competitions.
    “怎么了?”哈利说着扫了一眼相关的短文,那仅仅是一条校际比赛的平淡新闻。
    “Her name was Eileen Prince. Prince, Harry.”
    “她的名字叫做艾琳·普林斯。普林斯①,哈利。”
    They looked at each other, and Harry realized what Hermione was trying to say. He burst out laughing.
    他们互相对视了一眼,哈利意识到赫敏要说什么。他突然大笑起来。
    “No way.”
    “不可能。”
    “What?”
    “什么?”
    “You think she was the Half-Blood . . . ? Oh, come on.”
    “你认为她是混血……?哦,别逗了。”
    “Well, why not? Harry, there aren’t any real princes in the Wizarding world! It’s either a nickname, a made-up title somebody’s given themselves, or it could be their actual name, couldn’t it? No, listen! If, say, her father was a wizard whose surname was Prince, and her mother was a Muggle, then that would make her a ‘halfblood Prince’!”
    “为什么不可能?哈利,在巫师界里没有真正的王子!这个词要么是昵称,要么是某个人自封的头衔,也有可能就是个名字,不可能吗?听我说!如果她有一个姓‘普林斯’的巫师爸爸,并且她的妈妈是麻瓜,那么她就可能是‘混血王子’啊!”
    “Yeah, very ingenious, Hermione . . .”
    “对,真是天才,赫敏……”
    “But it would! Maybe she was proud of being half a Prince!”
    “但这很有可能啊!也许她就以自己是‘混血王子’为荣呢!”
    “Listen, Hermione, I can tell it’s not a girl. I can just tell.”
    “听着,赫敏,我知道不是女的,我能感觉出来。”
    “The truth is that you don’t think a girl would have been clever enough,” said Hermione angrily.
    “你就是认为女孩子不可能有这么聪明。”赫敏生气地说。
    “How can I have hung round with you for five years and not think girls are clever?” said Harry, stung by this. “It’s the way he writes, I just know the Prince was a bloke, I can tell. This girl hasn’t got anything to do with it. Where did you get this anyway?”
    “我和你相处五年了,怎么可能还认为女孩子不聪明呢?”哈利说,觉得被刺痛了,“是因为他写字的方式,我就是知道这个‘王子’是男的,我判断得出来。跟这女孩子一点儿关系也没有,你是从哪儿弄到这张照片的?”
    “The library,” said Hermione predictably. “There’s a whole collection of old Prophets up there. Well, I’m going to find out more about Eileen Prince if I can.”
    “图书馆,”赫敏胸有成竹地说,“那里有全部的旧《预言家日报》。我会尽量找到更多的有关艾琳·普林斯的材料。”
    “Enjoy yourself,” said Harry irritably.
    “祝你找得愉快。”哈利烦躁地说。
    “I will,” said Hermione. “And the first place I’ll look,” she shot at him, as she reached the portrait hole, “is records of old Potions awards!”
    “我会的。”赫敏说,走到肖像洞口时,又冲他扔下一句,“我首先要找的地方,就是所有魔药课的奖励记录!”
    Harry scowled after her for a moment, then continued his contemplation of the darkening sky.
    哈利冲她皱了皱眉头,然后继续凝视着逐渐黑下来的夜空。
    “She’s just never got over you outperforming her in Potions,” said Ron, returning to his copy of A Thousand Magical Herbs and Fungi.
    “她还没有原谅你在魔药课上超过她。”罗恩说完,继续看起他的《千种神奇草药及蕈类》。
    “You don’t think I’m mad, wanting that book back, do you?”
    “我想把那本书拿回来,你不认为我有点发疯吧?”
    “ ’Course not,” said Ron robustly. “He was a genius, the Prince. Anyway . . . without his bezoar tip . . .” He drew his finger significantly across his own throat. “I wouldn’t be here to discuss it, would I? I mean, I’m not saying that spell you used on Malfoy was great —”
    “当然不,”罗恩坚定地说,“王子,他是一个天才。不管怎样……没有他的粪石秘诀……”他意味深长地摸着自己的喉咙,“我就不可能在这儿和你讨论这个了,是吧?当然,我不是说你对马尔福施的那个魔咒很棒——”
    “Nor am I,” said Harry quickly.
    “我也不认为。”哈利迅速地说。
    “But he healed all right, didn’t he? Back on his feet in no time.”
    “但他恢复了,是吧?很快就站起来了。”
    “Yeah,” said Harry; this was perfectly true, although his conscience squirmed slightly all the same. “Thanks to Snape . . .”
    “是,”哈利说,这确是事实,尽管他的良心一直隐隐不安,“多亏斯内普……”
    “You still got detention with Snape this Saturday?” Ron continued.
    “这星期六你还要到斯内普那儿关禁闭?”罗恩接着问。
    “Yeah, and the Saturday after that, and the Saturday after that,” sighed Harry. “And he’s hinting now that if I don’t get all the boxes done by the end of term, we’ll carry on next year.”
    “是啊,还有下个星期六,下下个星期六。”哈利叹着气说道,“他还暗示说,如果我这学期结束前不把所有的文件盒整理完,明年还要继续。”
    He was finding these detentions particularly irksome because they cut into the already limited time he could have been spending with Ginny. Indeed, he had frequently wondered lately whether Snape did not know this, for he was keeping Harry later and later every time, while making pointed asides about Harry having to miss the good weather and the varied opportunities it offered.
    他发现这些禁闭特别讨厌,占用了本来就很少的和金妮在一起的时间。事实上,他最近常常想,斯内普是不是知道这一点,因为他把哈利关得越来越久,并且有意提及哈利错过了美好的天气及其带来的各种机会。
    Harry was shaken from these bitter reflections by the appearance at his side of Jimmy Peakes, who was holding out a scroll of parchment.
    吉米·珀克斯手拿一卷羊皮纸出现在哈利的身旁,把他从痛苦的沉思中唤醒了。
    “Thanks, Jimmy . . . Hey, it’s from Dumbledore!” said Harry excitedly, unrolling the parchment and scanning it. “He wants me to go to his office as quick as I can!”
    “谢谢你,吉米……嘿,是邓布利多的!”哈利激动地说,连忙展开羊皮纸看了起来,“他要我去他的办公室,越快越好!”
    They stared at each other.
    哈利和罗恩对视着。
    “Blimey,” whispered Ron. “You don’t reckon . . . he hasn’t found . . . ?”
    “啊呀,”罗恩小声道,“你认为……他会不会找到了……?”
    “Better go and see, hadn’t I?” said Harry, jumping to his feet.
    “最好去看看,不是吗?”哈利说着一跃而起。
    He hurried out of the common room and along the seventh floor as fast as he could, passing nobody but Peeves, who swooped past in the opposite direction, throwing bits of chalk at Harry in a routine sort of way and cackling loudly as he dodged Harry’s defensive jinx. Once Peeves had vanished, there was silence in the corridors; with only fifteen minutes left until curfew, most people had already returned to their common rooms.
    他赶忙走出公共休息室,顺着八楼向前急奔,一个人都没遇到,只碰到皮皮鬼迎面飞来,像往常一样一边朝哈利扔着粉笔头,一边咯咯笑着躲避哈利的防御咒。皮皮鬼消失后,走廊里一片寂静,还有十五分钟就要敲宵禁的钟了,大部分人已经回到公共休息室。
    And then Harry heard a scream and a crash. He stopped in his tracks, listening.
    这时,哈利听到一声尖叫和一声撞击。他停下脚步,侧耳细听。
    “How — dare — you — aaaaargh!”
    “你——竟——敢——啊——!”
    The noise was coming from a corridor nearby; Harry sprinted toward it, his wand at the ready, hurtled around another corner, and saw Professor Trelawney sprawled upon the floor, her head covered in one of her many shawls, several sherry bottles lying beside her, one broken.
    声音是从旁边的一个走廊里传出来的,哈利握紧魔杖冲了过去,又转过一个拐弯,看见特里劳妮教授倒在地板上,脑袋被她那许多披肩中的一条盖住了,几个雪利酒瓶散落在一边,有一个已经碎了。
    “Professor —”
    “教授——”
    Harry hurried forward and helped Professor Trelawney to her feet. Some of her glittering beads had become entangled with her glasses. She hiccuped loudly, patted her hair, and pulled herself up on Harry’s helping arm.
    哈利急忙跑上前去扶她。她的一些闪亮的珠子和她的眼镜缠在了一起。她大声地打了个嗝,拍了拍头发,在哈利的搀扶下站了起来。
    “What happened, Professor?”
    “这是怎么了,教授?”
    “You may well ask!” she said shrilly. “I was strolling along, brooding upon certain dark portents I happen to have glimpsed . . .”
    “你问得好!”她刺耳地说,“我刚才在一个人散步,一边想着某些我碰巧瞥见的不祥征兆……”
    But Harry was not paying much attention. He had just noticed where they were standing: There on the right was the tapestry of dancing trolls, and on the left, that smoothly impenetrable stretch of stone wall that concealed —
    哈利没太注意她在说什么。他刚刚注意到他们站在什么地方:右边是巨怪跳舞的挂毯,左边是光滑坚硬的石墙,后面藏着——
    “Professor, were you trying to get into the Room of Requirement?”
    “教授,你刚才是不是想进有求必应屋?”
    “. . . omens I have been vouchsafed — what?” She looked suddenly shifty.
    “……天赐我的征兆——你说什么?”
    “The Room of Requirement,” repeated Harry. “Were you trying to get in there?”
    她目光突然变得有点躲躲闪闪的。
    “I — well — I didn’t know students knew about —”
    “有求必应屋,”哈利重复道,“你是想要进去吗?”
    “Not all of them do,” said Harry. “But what happened? You screamed. . . . It sounded as though you were hurt. . . .”
    “我——嗯——我不知道学生们也知道——”
    “I — well,” said Professor Trelawney, drawing her shawls around her defensively and staring down at him with her vastly magnified eyes. “I wished to — ah — deposit certain — um — personal items in the room. . . .” And she muttered something about “nasty accusations.”
    “不是所有的人都知道。”哈利说,“但出了什么事?你尖叫了……听起来好像受了伤……”
    “Right,” said Harry, glancing down at the sherry bottles. “But you couldn’t get in and hide them?”
    “我——嗯,”特里劳妮教授说,一边警惕地用披肩围住自己,低头用她那双放大了好几倍的眼睛盯着哈利,“我本来希望——啊——存放一些——呃——个人用品在有求必应屋里……”她嘟哝了句什么“恶毒的指控”。
    He found this very odd; the room had opened for him, after all, when he had wanted to hide the Half-Blood Prince’s book.
    “噢,”哈利说着扫了一眼地上的雪利酒瓶,“但你没能进去藏它们?”
    “Oh, I got in all right,” said Professor Trelawney, glaring at the wall. “But there was somebody already in there.”
    他觉得很奇怪,当初他想藏起混血王子的课本时,有求必应屋为他开过门。
    “Somebody in — ? Who?” demanded Harry. “Who was in there?”
    “哦,我可以进去,”特里劳妮教授瞪着那堵墙说道,“但是里面已经有人了。”
    “I have no idea,” said Professor Trelawney, looking slightly taken aback at the urgency in Harry’s voice. “I walked into the room and I heard a voice, which has never happened before in all my years of hiding — of using the room, I mean.”
    “有人在里面——?谁?”哈利问道,“谁在里面?”
    “A voice? Saying what?”
    “我也不知道,”特里劳妮教授说,看上去有点被哈利急切的问话吓着了,“我进了屋里,听到有人的声音,这是我这些年藏——用这个屋子的时候从未碰到过的。”
    “I don’t know that it was saying anything,” said Professor Trelawney. “It was . . . whooping.”
    “有人的声音?说些什么?”
    “Whooping?”
    “我不知道是不是在说什么,”特里劳妮教授说,“那是……叫喊声。”
    “Gleefully,” she said, nodding.
    “叫喊声?”
    Harry stared at her.
    “愉快的叫喊声。”她点着头说道。
    “Was it male or female?”
    哈利盯着她。
    “I would hazard a guess at male,” said Professor Trelawney.
    “是男的还是女的?”
    “And it sounded happy?”
    “我猜是男的。”特里劳妮教授说。
    “Very happy,” said Professor Trelawney sniffily.
    “听起来有点高兴?”
    “As though it was celebrating?”
    “很高兴。”特里劳妮教授轻蔑地说。
    “Most definitely.”
    “好像是在庆祝什么?”
    “And then — ?”
    “肯定。”
    “And then I called out ‘Who’s there?’ ”
    “那后来呢——?”
    “You couldn’t have found out who it was without asking?” Harry asked her, slightly frustrated.
    “后来我叫了一声‘谁在那里?’”
    “The Inner Eye,” said Professor Trelawney with dignity, straightening her shawls and many strands of glittering beads, “was fixed upon matters well outside the mundane realms of whooping voices.”
    “你不问就没法知道是谁吗?”哈利有点失望地问她。
    “Right,” said Harry hastily; he had heard about Professor Trelawney’s Inner Eye all too often before. “And did the voice say who was there?”
    “天目,”特里劳妮教授端着架子说,一边拉拉她的披肩以及那许多串闪亮的珠子,“不是用来关注叫喊这种世俗领域的事情的。”
    “No, it did not,” she said. “Everything went pitch-black and the next thing I knew, I was being hurled headfirst out of the room!”
    “没错,”哈利连忙说,他已经太多次地听说特里劳妮教授的天目了,“那个声音回答说是谁了吗?”
    “And you didn’t see that coming?” said Harry, unable to help himself.
    “不,没有,”她说道,“一切变得漆黑,接着我就知道我头朝前被扔了出来!”
    “No, I did not, as I say, it was pitch —” She stopped and glared at him suspiciously.
    “你没有看到这事是怎么发生的?”哈利忍不住问道。
    “I think you’d better tell Professor Dumbledore,” said Harry. “He ought to know Malfoy’s celebrating — I mean, that someone threw you out of the room.”
    “我没看到,我刚才说了,当时一片漆黑——”她停住话,怀疑地瞪着他。
    To his surprise, Professor Trelawney drew herself up at this suggestion, looking haughty.
    “我认为你最好告诉邓布利多教授,”哈利说,“应当让他知道马尔福在庆祝——我是说,那个把你从屋里扔出来的人。”
    “The headmaster has intimated that he would prefer fewer visits from me,” she said coldly. “I am not one to press my company upon those who do not value it. If Dumbledore chooses to ignore the warnings the cards show —” Her bony hand closed suddenly around Harry’s wrist. “Again and again, no matter how I lay them out —” And she pulled a card dramatically from underneath her shawls. “— the lightning-struck tower,” she whispered. “Calamity. Disaster. Coming nearer all the time . . .”
    令他惊讶的是,特里劳妮教授听到这个建议后挺直了身体,一副很傲慢的样子。
    “Right,” said Harry again. “Well . . . I still think you should tell Dumbledore about this voice, and everything going dark and being thrown out of the room. . . .”
    “校长暗示过希望我最好少去拜访他,”她冷淡地说,“我不会死乞白赖地缠着不尊重我的人。如果邓布利多决定不理会纸牌的警示——”
    “You think so?” Professor Trelawney seemed to consider the matter for a moment, but Harry could tell that she liked the idea of retelling her little adventure.
    她那瘦骨嶙峋的手突然一把抓住了哈利的手腕。
    “I’m going to see him right now,” said Harry. “I’ve got a meeting with him. We could go together.”
    “一次又一次,无论我怎么摆——”
    “Oh, well, in that case,” said Professor Trelawney with a smile. She bent down, scooped up her sherry bottles, and dumped them unceremoniously in a large blue-and-white vase standing in a nearby niche.
    她戏剧性地从层层披肩下拿出一张纸牌。
    “I miss having you in my classes, Harry,” she said soulfully as they set off together. “You were never much of a Seer . . . but you were a wonderful Object . . .”
    “——闪电击中的塔楼,”她喃喃道,“灾难,不幸,越来越近……”
    Harry did not reply; he had loathed being the Object of Professor Trelawney’s continual predictions of doom.
    “没错,”哈利又说,“嗯……我还是认为你应该告诉邓布利多,关于这个声音,后来的漆黑一片,以及你被扔出有求必应屋……”
    “I am afraid,” she went on, “that the nag — I’m sorry, the centaur — knows nothing of cartomancy. I asked him — one Seer to another — had he not, too, sensed the distant vibrations of coming catastrophe? But he seemed to find me almost comical. Yes, comical!”
    “你这么认为?”特里劳妮教授似乎考虑了一会儿,但是哈利看得出来,她喜欢再讲述一遍她这段小小的历险。
    Her voice rose rather hysterically, and Harry caught a powerful whiff of sherry even though the bottles had been left behind.
    “我正要去见他,”哈利说,“我和他约好的,我们可以一同去。”
    “Perhaps the horse has heard people say that I have not inherited my great-great-grandmother’s gift. Those rumors have been bandied about by the jealous for years. You know what I say to such people, Harry? Would Dumbledore have let me teach at this great school, put so much trust in me all these years, had I not proved myself to him?”
    “哦,那好吧。”特里劳妮教授笑着说。她弯下腰,抱起她的雪利酒瓶,随手扔进了旁边壁龛上一个蓝白色大花瓶里。
    Harry mumbled something indistinct.
    “我真怀念你在班上的时光,哈利,”当他们一起往邓布利多的办公室走去时,她深情地说道,“你从来不是一个好的预言家……但你是一个很理想的对象……”
    “I well remember my first interview with Dumbledore,” went on Professor Trelawney, in throaty tones. “He was deeply impressed, of course, deeply impressed. . . . I was staying at the Hog’s Head, which I do not advise, incidentally — bedbugs, dear boy — but funds were low. Dumbledore did me the courtesy of calling upon me in my room. He questioned me. . . . I must confess that, at first, I thought he seemed ill-disposed toward Divination . . . and I remember I was starting to feel a little odd, I had not eaten much that day . . . but then . . .”
    哈利没有回答,他一直不愿意成为特里劳妮教授连续预测厄运的对象。
    And now Harry was paying attention properly for the first time, for he knew what had happened then: Professor Trelawney had made the prophecy that had altered the course of his whole life, the prophecy about him and Voldemort.
    “我担心,”她接着道,“那匹老马——对不起,是马人——对纸牌占卜一窍不通。我问过他——预言家之间的对话——难道他没有感觉到灾难来临前那隐隐的振动吗?但他似乎觉得我很滑稽。对,是滑稽!”
    “. . . but then we were rudely interrupted by Severus Snape!”
    她的声音歇斯底里地提高了很多,尽管瓶子已经在身后很远的地方,哈利突然闻到了一股非常浓烈的雪利酒的气味。
    “What?”
    “那匹马大概听别人说过我没有继承我曾曾祖母的天赋。这些谣言已经由嫉妒的人传播好几年了。哈利,你知道我对这些人是怎么说的吗?如果我没有向邓布利多证明我的能力,他会让我在这所优秀的学校里教书,这些年来会对我如此信任吗?”
    “Yes, there was a commotion outside the door and it flew open, and there was that rather uncouth barman standing with Snape, who was waffling about having come the wrong way up the stairs, although I’m afraid that I myself rather thought he had been apprehended eavesdropping on my interview with Dumbledore — you see, he himself was seeking a job at the time, and no doubt hoped to pick up tips! Well, after that, you know, Dumbledore seemed much more disposed to give me a job, and I could not help thinking, Harry, that it was because he appreciated the stark contrast between my own unassuming manners and quiet talent, compared to the pushing, thrusting young man who was prepared to listen at keyholes — Harry, dear?”
    哈利嘟囔了一声。
    She looked back over her shoulder, having only just realized that Harry was no longer with her; he had stopped walking and they were now ten feet from each other.
    “我清楚地记得邓布利多对我的第一次面试,”特里劳妮教授用沙哑的声音接着说,“他深深地被我打动了,当然,深深地打动了……我住的是猪头酒吧,那地方我不推荐给别人——有臭虫,亲爱的孩子——但是当时经费紧张。邓布利多很客气,亲自到旅馆里来拜访我。他问我……我必须承认,一开始我觉得他对占卜似乎没什么好感……我记得我开始感到有点奇怪,我那天没吃多少东西……但是后来……”
    “Harry?” she repeated uncertainly.
    现在哈利才开始真正注意听了,因为他知道当时发生了什么——特里劳妮教授做出了那个改变他一生经历的预言,那个关于他和伏地魔的预言。
    Perhaps his face was white to make her look so concerned and frightened. Harry was standing stock-still as waves of shock crashed over him, wave after wave, obliterating everything except the information that had been kept from him for so long. . . .
    “……但是后来我们被西弗勒斯·斯内普粗暴地打断了!”
    It was Snape who had overheard the prophecy. It was Snape who had carried the news of the prophecy to Voldemort. Snape and Peter Pettigrew together had sent Voldemort hunting after Lily and James and their son. . . .
    “什么?”
    Nothing else mattered to Harry just now.
    “是这样的,当时门外一阵骚动,随即门被撞开了,那个十分粗俗的酒吧招待和斯内普站在外面,斯内普胡扯说是上错了楼梯,然而我疑心他是在偷听邓布利多对我的面试被抓到了——你瞧,他自己当时也在找工作,无疑想学到一些经验。嗯,在那之后,你是知道的,邓布利多似乎十分愿意给我一份工作,哈利,我不禁想到那是因为他欣赏我从不装腔作势的风格和从容的天赋,与那个藏起来从钥匙孔偷听、自以为是、咄咄逼人的男青年形成了鲜明的对照——哈利,亲爱的?”
    “Harry?” said Professor Trelawney again. “Harry — I thought we were going to see the headmaster together?”
    她这才意识到哈利已经不在身边,回过头看了看,他站在那里,离她已有十步之遥。
    “You stay here,” said Harry through numb lips.
    “哈利?”她疑惑地又叫了一声。
    “But dear . . . I was going to tell him how I was assaulted in the Room of —”
    可能是因为哈利脸色苍白,所以她才显得这么担心和害怕。哈利一动不动地站在那里,一波又一波的震惊向他袭来,一波接着一波,淹没了一切,只剩下那个他以前一直不知道的情况……
    “You stay here!” Harry repeated angrily.
    是斯内普偷听了预言。是斯内普把预言的消息告诉了伏地魔。是斯内普和小矮星彼得两个人让伏地魔去追杀莉莉、詹姆和他们的儿子……
    She looked alarmed as he ran past her, around the corner into Dumbledore’s corridor, where the lone gargoyle stood sentry. Harry shouted the password at the gargoyle and ran up the moving spiral staircase three steps at a time. He did not knock upon Dumbledore’s door, he hammered; and the calm voice answered, “Enter” after Harry had already flung himself into the room.
    现在哈利再也不关心其他事情了。
    Fawkes the phoenix looked around, his bright black eyes gleaming with reflected gold from the sunset beyond the windows. Dumbledore was standing at the window looking out at the grounds, a long, black traveling cloak in his arms.
    “哈利?”特里劳妮教授又喊了一遍,“哈利——我想我们是要一起去见校长的吧?”
    “Well, Harry, I promised that you could come with me.”
    “你待在这里。”哈利用麻木的嘴唇说道。
    For a moment or two, Harry did not understand; the conversation with Trelawney had driven everything else out of his head and his brain seemed to be moving very slowly.
    “但是,亲爱的……我想告诉他,我是怎么在有求必应屋受到攻击的——”
    “Come . . . with you . . . ?”
    “你待在这里。”哈利生气地又说了一遍。
    “Only if you wish it, of course.”
    她看起来有点惊慌。哈利从她身边跑过,拐入通往邓布利多办公室的走廊,那个孤零零的石头怪兽守卫在那里。哈利冲着怪兽大声喊出了口令,然后一步三级地冲上了移动的螺旋形楼梯。他不是轻轻地敲响邓布利多的门,而是咚咚地捶着门。哈利已经冲进了门内,那个镇静的声音才回答说:“进来。”
    “If I . . .”
    凤凰福克斯转身看了一眼,它明亮的黑眼睛里映着窗外金色的落日,闪闪发光。邓布利多正站在窗前看着校园,臂上搭着一条长长的黑色的旅行斗篷。
    And then Harry remembered why he had been eager to come to Dumbledore’s office in the first place. “You’ve found one? You’ve found a Horcrux?”
    “嗯,哈利,我答应过你可以跟我一道去。”
    “I believe so.”
    哈利愣了一下,同特里劳妮教授的交谈似乎使哈利忘记了所有的事情,他的头脑也好像反应迟钝了。
    Rage and resentment fought shock and excitement: For several moments, Harry could not speak.
    “跟……你一起去……?”
    “It is natural to be afraid,” said Dumbledore.
    “当然啦,如果你愿意的话。”
    “I’m not scared!” said Harry at once, and it was perfectly true; fear was one emotion he was not feeling at all. “Which Horcrux is it? Where is it?”
    “如果我……”
    “I am not sure which it is — though I think we can rule out the snake — but I believe it to be hidden in a cave on the coast many miles from here, a cave I have been trying to locate for a very long time: the cave in which Tom Riddle once terrorized two children from his orphanage on their annual trip; you remember?”
    这时,哈利才想起他最初迫切想赶到邓布利多办公室来的原因。
    “Yes,” said Harry. “How is it protected?”
    “你找到一个了?你找到一个魂器了?”
    “I do not know; I have suspicions that may be entirely wrong.” Dumbledore hesitated, then said, “Harry, I promised you that you could come with me, and I stand by that promise, but it would be very wrong of me not to warn you that this will be exceedingly dangerous.”
    “我想是的。”
    “I’m coming,” said Harry, almost before Dumbledore had finished speaking. Boiling with anger at Snape, his desire to do something desperate and risky had increased tenfold in the last few minutes. This seemed to show on Harry’s face, for Dumbledore moved away from the window and looked more closely at Harry, a slight crease between his silver eyebrows.
    愤怒和憎恨在他心中与震惊和激动斗争着。有好大一会儿,哈利几乎一句话也说不出来。
    “What has happened to you?”
    “感到害怕是很自然的。”邓布利多说。
    “Nothing,” lied Harry promptly.
    “我不害怕!”哈利马上说,这话是绝对真实的,害怕是他此刻完全没有的感觉,“哪一个魂器?在哪儿?”
    “What has upset you?”
    “我也不能确定是哪一个——不过我认为可以排除那条蛇——但是我相信它藏在遥远的海边的一个山洞里,一个我努力寻找了很久的山洞里。汤姆·里德尔在孤儿院每年一次的旅行中曾经恐吓过两个孤儿的那个山洞,你记得吗?”
    “I’m not upset.”
    “记得,”哈利说,“它有些什么防御机关呢?”
    “Harry, you were never a good Occlumens —”
    “我不知道,只有一些猜测,也可能完全不对……”邓布利多犹豫了一下说道,“哈利,我答应过你可以跟着我一道去,我遵守那个诺言,但是如果我不事先警告你,这会有超乎寻常的危险,我可就太不应该了。”
    The word was the spark that ignited Harry’s fury.
    “我去。”几乎还没等邓布利多说完,哈利就抢着说。他内心充满了对斯内普的憎恨,想不顾一切地去冒险做点什么的欲望在这几分钟里陡增了十倍。这一切似乎都写在哈利的脸上,邓布利多把目光从窗前移开,更仔细地看着哈利,他银色的双眉紧锁着,中间形成一条浅浅的竖纹。
    “Snape!” he said, very loudly, and Fawkes gave a soft squawk behind them. “Snape’s what’s happened! He told Voldemort about the prophecy, it was him, he listened outside the door, Trelawney told me!”
    “你怎么了?”
    Dumbledore’s expression did not change, but Harry thought his face whitened under the bloody tinge cast by the setting sun. For a long moment, Dumbledore said nothing. “When did you find out about this?” he asked at last.
    “没什么。”哈利赶紧撒谎道。
    “Just now!” said Harry, who was refraining from yelling with enormous difficulty. And then, suddenly, he could not stop himself. “AND YOU LET HIM TEACH HERE AND HE TOLD VOLDEMORT TO GO AFTER MY MUM AND DAD!”
    “什么让你这么不高兴?”
    Breathing hard as though he was fighting, Harry turned away from Dumbledore, who still had not moved a muscle, and paced up and down the study, rubbing his knuckles in his hand and exercising every last bit of restraint to prevent himself knocking things over. He wanted to rage and storm at Dumbledore, but he also wanted to go with him to try and destroy the Horcrux; he wanted to tell him that he was a foolish old man for trusting Snape, but he was terrified that Dumbledore would not take him along unless he mastered his anger. . . .
    “我没有不高兴。”
    “Harry,” said Dumbledore quietly. “Please listen to me.”
    “哈利,你大脑封闭术从来就不高——”
    It was as difficult to stop his relentless pacing as to refrain from shouting. Harry paused, biting his lip, and looked into Dumbledore’s lined face.
    这句话像火星一样点燃了哈利的愤怒。
    “Professor Snape made a terrible —”
    “斯内普!”哈利极其大声地说道,他们身后的福克斯轻轻地尖叫了一声,“原来都是斯内普!是他把预言告诉了伏地魔,就是他,他在房间外偷听了,特里劳妮告诉我的!”
    “Don’t tell me it was a mistake, sir, he was listening at the door!”
    邓布利多的表情毫无变化,但哈利似乎觉得,在鲜红的落日映衬下,邓布利多的脸色还是变白了。过了好一会儿,邓布利多一句话也没说。
    “Please let me finish.” Dumbledore waited until Harry had nodded curtly, then went on. “Professor Snape made a terrible mistake. He was still in Lord Voldemort’s employ on the night he heard the first half of Professor Trelawney’s prophecy. Naturally, he hastened to tell his master what he had heard, for it concerned his master most deeply. But he did not know — he had no possible way of knowing — which boy Voldemort would hunt from then onward, or that the parents he would destroy in his murderous quest were people that Professor Snape knew, that they were your mother and father —”
    “你是什么时候知道这些的?”他最终问道。
    Harry let out a yell of mirthless laughter.
    “刚刚知道!”哈利说,他竭力控制着自己不要吼出来。然后,他突然不能自已。“你还让他在这里教书,是他告诉伏地魔去追杀我的父母的!”
    “He hated my dad like he hated Sirius! Haven’t you noticed, Professor, how the people Snape hates tend to end up dead?”
    哈利喘着粗气,像是在搏斗一样,他转过身背向仍然一动不动的邓布利多,在书房里来回踱步,搓着手指的关节,尽力克制着要摔东西的冲动。他想冲邓布利多发火和咆哮,同时又想跟着他去摧毁魂器;他想说邓布利多是老糊涂,居然相信斯内普,但又害怕如果自己控制不住愤怒,邓布利多就不会带他一起去……
    “You have no idea of the remorse Professor Snape felt when he realized how Lord Voldemort had interpreted the prophecy, Harry. I believe it to be the greatest regret of his life and the reason that he returned —”
    “哈利,”邓布利多平静地说,“请听我说。”
    “But he’s a very good Occlumens, isn’t he, sir?” said Harry, whose voice was shaking with the effort of keeping it steady. “And isn’t Voldemort convinced that Snape’s on his side, even now? Professor . . . how can you be sure Snape’s on our side?”
    他想停下脚步,但这竟和控制自己的怒吼一样困难。哈利顿了一下,咬着嘴唇,看着邓布利多满是皱纹的脸。
    Dumbledore did not speak for a moment; he looked as though he was trying to make up his mind about something. At last he said, “I am sure. I trust Severus Snape completely.”
    “斯内普教授犯了一个严重的——”
    Harry breathed deeply for a few moments in an effort to steady himself. It did not work.
    “别告诉我是一个错误,先生,他当时在房间外偷听!”
    “Well, I don’t!” he said, as loudly as before. “He’s up to something with Draco Malfoy right now, right under your nose, and you still —”
    “请让我说完。”邓布利多等哈利草草地点了点头,接着说道,“斯内普教授犯了一个严重的错误。他在听到特里劳妮教授上半部分预言的时候,仍然受雇于伏地魔。由于他的主人对这些十分在意,自然地,他就急急忙忙地把他所听到的告诉了他的主人。但他当时不知道——他也不可能知道——从那以后伏地魔会追杀哪个男孩,也不知道被屠戮的父母会是斯内普教授认识的人,也就是你的母亲和父亲——”
    “We have discussed this, Harry,” said Dumbledore, and now he sounded stern again. “I have told you my views.”
    哈利大声地冷笑着。
    “You’re leaving the school tonight, and I’ll bet you haven’t even considered that Snape and Malfoy might decide to —”
    “他恨我爸爸就像恨小天狼星一样!你没注意到吗,教授,为什么斯内普恨的人最后都以死亡而告终呢?”
    “To what?” asked Dumbledore, his eyebrows raised. “What is it that you suspect them of doing, precisely?”
    “哈利,当斯内普教授意识到伏地魔会那样去理解预言时,你不知道他有多么懊悔。我相信这是他一生中最大的遗憾,也是他回来的理由——”
    “I . . . they’re up to something!” said Harry, and his hands curled into fists as he said it. “Professor Trelawney was just in the Room of Requirement, trying to hide her sherry bottles, and she heard Malfoy whooping, celebrating! He’s trying to mend something dangerous in there and if you ask me, he’s fixed it at last and you’re about to just walk out of school without —”
    “但他是一个很厉害的大脑封闭大师,不是吗,先生?”哈利说,他尽力保持镇静,但声音还是有点颤抖,“难道伏地魔不是很相信斯内普站在他那一边,即使是现在?教授……你怎么能确定斯内普是站在我们这一边的呢?”
    “Enough,” said Dumbledore. He said it quite calmly, and yet Harry fell silent at once; he knew that he had finally crossed some invisible line. “Do you think that I have once left the school unprotected during my absences this year? I have not. Tonight, when I leave, there will again be additional protection in place. Please do not suggest that I do not take the safety of my students seriously, Harry.”
    邓布利多有一会儿没有说话,他似乎正在下一个决心。最后他说道:“我确定。我完全信任西弗勒斯·斯内普。”
    “I didn’t —” mumbled Harry, a little abashed, but Dumbledore cut across him.
    哈利做了几个深呼吸,想努力稳定一下自己的情绪,但没有效果。
    “I do not wish to discuss the matter any further.”
    “哼,我不信!”他同刚才一样大声地说,“他现在同德拉科·马尔福在一些事情上勾勾搭搭,就在你的鼻子底下,你仍然——”
    Harry bit back his retort, scared that he had gone too far, that he had ruined his chance of accompanying Dumbledore, but Dumbledore went on, “Do you wish to come with me tonight?”
    “我们已经讨论过这些了,哈利,”邓布利多说,他的声音又显得严厉了,“我已经把我的观点告诉过你。”
    “Yes,” said Harry at once.
    “你今天晚上要离开学校,我敢打赌你肯定没有考虑过斯内普和马尔福可能会决定——”
    “Very well, then: Listen.” Dumbledore drew himself up to his full height. “I take you with me on one condition: that you obey any command I might give you at once, and without question.”
    “什么?”邓布利多扬起眉毛问,“你怀疑他们会做什么?说明确一点。”
    “Of course.”
    “我——他们有阴谋!”哈利说着,双手攥成了拳头,“特里劳妮教授刚才在有求必应屋,准备藏她的雪利酒瓶,结果她听到了马尔福的叫喊声,庆贺声!他在那里面试图修复什么危险的东西,据我看,他已经终于修好了。而你却要离开学校,不去——”
    “Be sure to understand me, Harry. I mean that you must follow even such orders as ‘run,’ ‘hide,’ or ‘go back.’ Do I have your word?”
    “够了。”邓布利多说。虽然他说得极其平静,但是哈利马上沉默下来,因为他知道自己最终越过了一道看不见的底线,“你以为今年我有哪次是毫无保护措施就离开学校的吗?我还没有过。今晚,当我离开时,各处将会有额外的防御措施。请不要认为我没有认真对待我的学生们的安全,哈利。”
    “I — yes, of course.”
    “我没有——”哈利喃喃道,有点惭愧。
    “If I tell you to hide, you will do so?”
    但邓布利多打断了他。“我不想就这个问题再深入讨论下去了。”
    “Yes.”
    哈利忍住反驳的话,他害怕自己说得太多,丧失了陪同邓布利多的机会。但邓布利多接着问道:“你愿意今晚跟我一道去吗?”
    “If I tell you to flee, you will obey?”
    “愿意。”哈利马上答道。
    “Yes.”
    “很好,那么听着。”邓布利多挺直了腰。“我带你去有一个条件:你必须毫无疑问地立刻服从我的任何命令。”
    “If I tell you to leave me and save yourself, you will do as I tell you?
    “当然。”
    “I —”
    “你要听明白,哈利。我是说你甚至必须服从像‘跑’、‘藏起来’或‘回去’这样的命令。你答应吗?”
    “Harry?”
    “我——答应,当然。”
    They looked at each other for a moment.
    “如果我叫你藏起来,你会吗?”
    “Yes, sir.”
    “会。”
    “Very good. Then I wish you to go and fetch your Invisibility Cloak and meet me in the entrance hall in five minutes’ time.”
    “如果我叫你逃走,你会服从吗?”
    Dumbledore turned back to look out of the fiery window; the sun was now a ruby red glare along the horizon. Harry walked quickly from the office and down the spiral staircase. His mind was oddly clear all of a sudden. He knew what to do.
    “会。”
    Ron and Hermione were sitting together in the common room when he came back. “What does he want?” Hermione said at once. “Harry, are you okay?” she added anxiously.
    “如果我叫你离开我,保全自己,你会照我说的做吗?”
    “I’m fine,” said Harry shortly, racing past them. He dashed up the stairs and into his dormitory, where he flung open his trunk and pulled out the Marauder’s Map and a pair of balled-up socks. Then he sped back down the stairs and into the common room, skidding to a halt where Ron and Hermione sat, looking stunned.
    “我——”
    “I’ve got to be quick,” Harry panted. “Dumbledore thinks I’m getting my Invisibility Cloak. Listen. . . .”
    “哈利?”
    Quickly he told them where he was going and why. He did not pause either for Hermione’s gasps of horror or for Ron’s hasty questions; they could work out the finer details for themselves later.
    他们对视了一会儿。
    “. . . so you see what this means?” Harry finished at a gallop. “Dumbledore won’t be here tonight, so Malfoy’s going to have another clear shot at whatever he’s up to. No, listen to me!” he hissed angrily, as both Ron and Hermione showed every sign of interrupting. “I know it was Malfoy celebrating in the Room of Requirement. Here —” He shoved the Marauder’s Map into Hermione’s hands. “You’ve got to watch him and you’ve got to watch Snape too. Use anyone else who you can rustle up from the D.A., Hermione, those contact Galleons will still work, right? Dumbledore says he’s put extra protection in the school, but if Snape’s involved, he’ll know what Dumbledore’s protection is, and how to avoid it — but he won’t be expecting you lot to be on the watch, will he?”
    “会,先生。”
    “Harry —” began Hermione, her eyes huge with fear.
    “很好。那么我希望你去拿你的隐形衣,五分钟后我们在门厅见面。”
    “I haven’t got time to argue,” said Harry curtly. “Take this as well —”
    邓布利多转过身,看着火红的窗户外面,现在太阳正在天边闪耀着红宝石一般的光芒。哈利快速地走出办公室,走下螺旋形楼梯。他的思维很奇怪地突然变得很清晰,他知道要做什么了。
    He thrust the socks into Ron’s hands.
    哈利回来时,罗恩和赫敏正一起坐在公共休息室里。
    “Thanks,” said Ron. “Er — why do I need socks?”
    “邓布利多想要什么?”赫敏马上问道。“哈利,你没事吧?”她又担心地说。
    “You need what’s wrapped in them, it’s the Felix Felicis. Share it between yourselves and Ginny too. Say good-bye to her for me. I’d better go, Dumbledore’s waiting —”
    “我没事。”哈利简单地回答,他从他们身边跑过,冲上楼梯进了宿舍,猛地打开衣箱,拿出活点地图和一双卷好的袜子,然后又快速冲下楼梯,进了公共休息室,在罗恩和赫敏坐的地方刹住脚。他们俩满脸惊讶。
    “No!” said Hermione, as Ron unwrapped the tiny little bottle of golden potion, looking awestruck. “We don’t want it, you take it, who knows what you’re going to be facing?”
    “我没有多少时间,”哈利喘着气说道,“邓布利多要我来拿隐形衣。听着……”
    “I’ll be fine, I’ll be with Dumbledore,” said Harry. “I want to know you lot are okay. . . . Don’t look like that, Hermione, I’ll see you later. . . .”
    他很快讲了他要去哪里和为什么要去。尽管赫敏惊恐地抽了一口冷气,罗恩匆忙地提着问题,他都没有做任何停顿,待会儿他们自己可以弄清楚更详尽的细节。
    And he was off, hurrying back through the portrait hole and toward the entrance hall.
    “……你们明白吗?”哈利飞快地讲完了,“邓布利多今天晚上不在,所以马尔福可以放手去干他的阴谋。不,听我说!”因为罗恩和赫敏都显出要打断他的迹象,哈利生气地压低声音说道,“我知道那是马尔福在有求必应屋里庆贺。喏——”他猛地把活点地图塞进赫敏手里,“你们必须盯着他,也必须盯着斯内普。调用每一个你们能找到的D.A.的人。赫敏,这些联络用的加隆硬币仍然能用,对吗?邓布利多说他已经加强了学校的保卫,但如果斯内普搀和进来,他会知道邓布利多的保护措施是什么,知道怎么去避免——但他不会知道你们俩也被分配了监视的任务,不是吗?”
    Dumbledore was waiting beside the oaken front doors. He turned as Harry came skidding out onto the topmost stone step, panting hard, a searing stitch in his side.
    “哈利——”赫敏开始发问,她由于害怕而瞪大了双眼。
    “I would like you to wear your cloak, please,” said Dumbledore, and he waited until Harry had thrown it on before saying, “Very good. Shall we go?”
    “我没有时间和你们争辩,”哈利急忙说,“也拿上这个——”他把袜子扔进罗恩的手里。
    Dumbledore set off at once down the stone steps, his own traveling cloak barely stirring in the still summer air. Harry hurried alongside him under the Invisibility Cloak, still panting and sweating rather a lot.
    “谢谢,”罗恩说,“呃——为什么要给我袜子?”
    “But what will people think when they see you leaving, Professor?” Harry asked, his mind on Malfoy and Snape.
    “你们需要裹在袜子里面的东西,那是福灵剂。也分一点给金妮。替我向她说声再见。我得走了,邓布利多在等着呢——”
    “That I am off into Hogsmeade for a drink,” said Dumbledore lightly. “I sometimes offer Rosmerta my custom, or else visit the Hog’s Head . . . or I appear to. It is as good a way as any of disguising one’s true destination.”
    “不!”赫敏说,这时罗恩拿出了那个装有金色药水的小瓶子,满脸敬畏的表情,“我们不需要这个,你带着它,谁知道你会遇上什么情况?”
    They made their way down the drive in the gathering twilight. The air was full of the smells of warm grass, lake water, and wood smoke from Hagrid’s cabin. It was difficult to believe that they were heading for anything dangerous or frightening.
    “我没事的,我和邓布利多在一起,”哈利说,“我想知道你们没问题……别那样,赫敏,再见……”
    “Professor,” said Harry quietly, as the gates at the bottom of the drive came into view, “will we be Apparating?”
    然后他就走了,匆匆钻过肖像洞口朝门厅赶去。
    “Yes,” said Dumbledore. “You can Apparate now, I believe?”
    邓布利多正在橡木大门口等着。他转过身,哈利正好刹住脚,站在最上面的石头台阶上,喘着粗气,两肋间火辣辣地刺痛。
    “Yes,” said Harry, “but I haven’t got a license.”
    “我希望你穿上隐形衣,”邓布利多说,等哈利穿上后,他又说,“很好。我们走吧?”
    He felt it best to be honest; what if he spoiled everything by turning up a hundred miles from where he was supposed to go?
    邓布利多立刻下了石头台阶,他的旅行斗篷在夏日静止的空气里几乎纹丝不动。哈利穿着隐形衣匆匆地跟着他,仍在喘气,身上出了很多汗。
    “No matter,” said Dumbledore, “I can assist you again.”
    “可是别人看到你出去会怎么想呢,教授?”哈利问,脑子里想着马尔福和斯内普。
    They turned out of the gates into the twilit, deserted lane to Hogsmeade. Darkness descended fast as they walked, and by the time they reached the High Street night was falling in earnest. Lights twinkled from windows over shops and as they neared the Three Broomsticks they heard raucous shouting.
    “我去霍格莫德喝一杯,”邓布利多轻松地说道,“我有时候去罗斯默塔那儿坐坐,或者去猪头酒吧……或者假装去那里,这是一个掩饰真实目的地的好方法。”
    “— and stay out!” shouted Madam Rosmerta, forcibly ejecting a grubby-looking wizard. “Oh, hello, Albus . . . You’re out late . . .”
    他们在渐浓的暮色中往外走去。空气中充满温暖的青草气息、湖水的味道,以及从海格的小屋飘来的烧木头的烟味。很难相信他们要去做危险的、令人恐惧的事情。
    “Good evening, Rosmerta, good evening . . . forgive me, I’m off to the Hog’s Head. . . . No offense, but I feel like a quieter atmosphere tonight. . . .”
    “教授,”当车道尽头处的大门映入眼帘时,哈利轻轻地问,“我们要幻影显形吗?”
    A minute later they turned the corner into the side street where the Hog’s Head’s sign creaked a little, though there was no breeze. In contrast to the Three Broomsticks, the pub appeared to be completely empty.
    “是的,”邓布利多说,“你现在已经能够幻影显形了,是吧?”
    “It will not be necessary for us to enter,” muttered Dumbledore, glancing around. “As long as nobody sees us go . . . now place your hand upon my arm, Harry. There is no need to grip too hard, I am merely guiding you. On the count of three . . . One . . . two . . . three . . .”
    “是的,”哈利说,“但我还没有证书。”
    Harry turned. At once, there was that horrible sensation that he was being squeezed through a thick rubber tube; he could not draw breath, every part of him was being compressed almost past endurance and then, just when he thought he must suffocate, the invisible bands seemed to burst open, and he was standing in cool darkness, breathing in lungfuls of fresh, salty air.
    他觉得最好实话实说,不然显形后离他要去的地方还有一百英里,那不就坏了事吗?
    
    “没关系,”邓布利多说,“我可以再帮助你一次。”
    
    他们出了大门,走上了暮色笼罩的通往霍格莫德的荒凉小路。夜色降临的速度同他们的脚步一般快,当他们来到大马路上时天已经完全黑下来了。店铺的窗户里闪着灯光,他们走近三把扫帚酒吧时,听到了沙哑的叫喊声。
    
    “——不许进来!”罗斯默塔大喊道,强行撵出一个看起来很邋遢的巫师,“哦,你好,阿不思……这么晚出来……”
    
    “晚上好,罗斯默塔,晚上好……原谅我,我要去猪头酒吧……别见怪,只是我今晚想有一个更安静的氛围……”
    
    过了一小会儿,他们拐进了一条小街,猪头酒吧的标记在吱吱地发出轻响,尽管没有风。与三把扫帚相比,这间酒吧里显得空空荡荡的。
    
    “我们没有必要进去,”邓布利多扫视了一圈,喃喃地说,“只要没有人看见我们离开……现在你把手放在我的胳膊上,哈利。不用抓得太紧,我只是引着你。我数三声……一……二……三……”
    
    哈利旋转起来。立刻又是那种恐怖的感觉,就像是被挤在一个厚厚的橡皮管子里,他不能呼吸,身体的每一个部位都遭受着挤压,简直要超过他忍耐的极限了。然后,就在他认为自己肯定要窒息时,无形的管子突然迸裂开来,他站在凉爽的黑暗中,大口大口地呼吸着新鲜的、咸丝丝的空气。
    
    ①在英语中,普通名词“王子”和姓氏专有名词“普林斯”都是Prince。
    
    

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