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哈利·波特与死亡圣器
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

英文中文双语对照双语交替

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CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT THE MISSING MIRROR

第二十八章　丢失的镜子

Harry’s feet touched road. He saw the achingly familiar Hogsmeade High Street: dark shop fronts, and the outline of black mountains beyond the village, and the curve in the road ahead that led off toward Hogwarts, and light spilling from the windows of the Three Broomsticks, and with a lurch of the heart he remembered, with piercing accuracy, how he had landed here nearly a year before, supporting a desperately weak Dumbledore; all this in a second, upon landing — and then, even as he relaxed his grip upon Ron’s and Hermione’s arms, it happened.

哈利的脚触到了路面。他看见了熟悉得令他心痛的霍格莫德大街：漆黑的店面，村外远处黑黢黢的群山轮廓，前方通往霍格沃茨的弯道，还有三把扫帚酒吧窗户里透出的灯光。他的心猛地抽搐了一下，想起就在差不多一年前，他搀扶着奄奄一息的邓布利多降落在这里，那一幕情景如刀割一般逼真。所有这些都是在降落的一瞬间感到的——就在他松开罗恩和赫敏的胳膊时，出事了。

The air was rent by a scream that sounded like Voldemort’s when he had realized the cup had been stolen: It tore at every nerve in Harry’s body, and he knew immediately that their appearance had caused it. Even as he looked at the other two beneath the Cloak, the door of the Three Broomsticks burst open and a dozen cloaked and hooded Death Eaters dashed into the street, their wands aloft.

一声尖叫划破了夜空，听着像伏地魔发现金杯被盗时的喊叫，这声音折磨着哈利全身的神经，他立刻明白了这是他们引起的。就在他看着隐形衣下的另外两个人时，三把扫帚的门突然打开，十几个穿斗篷、戴兜帽的食死徒高举着魔杖冲到了街上。

Harry seized Ron’s wrist as he raised his wand; there were too many of them to Stun: Even attempting it would give away their position. One of the Death Eaters waved his wand and the scream stopped, still echoing around the distant mountains.

罗恩举起魔杖，哈利一把抓住他的手腕。敌人太多，不能使用昏迷咒，就连试一试都会暴露他们的方位。一个食死徒挥了挥魔杖，尖叫声停止了，但仍在远处的群山间回荡不绝。

“Accio Cloak!” roared one of the Death Eaters.

“隐形衣飞来！”一个食死徒吼道。

Harry seized its folds, but it made no attempt to escape: The Summoning Charm had not worked on it.

哈利揪住斗篷，但它并没有溜走的意思，飞来咒对它不起作用。

“Not under your wrapper, then, Potter?” yelled the Death Eater who had tried the charm, and then to his fellows, “Spread out. He’s here.”

“这么说你没包裹着，波特？”念飞来咒的那个食死徒喊道，然后又对同伙说，“小心散开。他就在这儿。”

Six of the Death Eaters ran toward them: Harry, Ron, and Hermione backed as quickly as possible down the nearest side street, and the Death Eaters missed them by inches. They waited in the darkness, listening to the footsteps running up and down, beams of light flying along the street from the Death Eaters’ searching wands.

六七个食死徒朝他们跑来，哈利、罗恩和赫敏迅速后退，拐进了最后的一条小街，仅差几英寸就被他们撞上了。他们在黑暗中等待着，听着脚步声跑过来跑过去，食死徒举着魔杖搜寻，一道道魔杖的光在街上穿梭扫射。

“Let’s just leave!” Hermione whispered. “Disapparate now!”

“我们离开吧！”赫敏小声说，“现在就幻影移形！”

“Great idea,” said Ron, but before Harry could reply a Death Eater shouted,

“好主意。”罗恩说。没等哈利回答，一个食死徒就叫了起来：“我们知道你在这儿，波特，你逃不了啦！我们会找到你的！”

“We know you’re here, Potter, and there’s no getting away! We’ll find you!”

“他们早有准备，”哈利小声说，“弄了那个咒语，我们一来就发出警报。我想他们肯定也采取了什么办法要把我们留在这里，困在这里——”

“They were ready for us,” whispered Harry. “They set up that spell to tell them we’d come. I reckon they’ve done something to keep us here, trap us —”

“摄魂怪怎么样？”另一个食死徒大声喊道，“把它们放出来吧，它们会很快找到他的！”

“What about dementors?” called another Death Eater. “Let ’em have free rein, they’d find him quick enough!”

“黑魔王想要亲手杀死波特——”

“The Dark Lord wants Potter dead by no hand but his —”

“——摄魂怪不会杀死他的！黑魔王要的是波特的命，不是他的灵魂。如果他先被吻过，再要杀死他就容易了！”

“— an’ dementors won’t kill him! The Dark Lord wants Potter’s life, not his soul. He’ll be easier to kill if he’s been Kissed first!”

食死徒们嚷嚷着表示同意。哈利心头掠过一阵恐惧：驱散摄魂怪必须召来守护神，那样立刻就会暴露自己。

There were noises of agreement. Dread filled Harry: To repel dementors they would have to produce Patronuses, which would give them away immediately.

“只能试试幻影移形了。哈利！”赫敏小声说。

“We’re going to have to try to Disapparate, Harry!” Hermione whispered.

她话音没落，哈利就感到一股不同寻常的寒意从街上袭来。四周的灯光都被吸走了，就连星星也消失了。在伸手不见五指的黑暗中，他感到赫敏抓住了他的胳膊，他们一起原地旋转。

Even as she said it, he felt the unnatural cold begin to steal over the street. Light was sucked from the environment right up to the stars, which vanished. In the pitch-blackness, he felt Hermione take hold of his arm and together, they turned on the spot.

需要穿越的空气似乎变成了坚实的固体，他们不能幻影移形了。食死徒的魔咒还真厉害。寒意一点一点地渗透进哈利的肌肤。他和罗恩、赫敏在小街上一步一步后退，顺着墙壁摸索，尽量不发出一点声音。接着，摄魂怪在街角出现了，有十多个，无声无息地飘移过来。他之所以能看得到它们，是因为它们黑色的斗篷、结痂腐烂的手比周围的黑暗更加深浓。它们能感觉到附近的恐惧吗？哈利知道肯定能。它们现在似乎移动得更快了，发出令他憎恶的那种又长又慢、咯咯作响的呼吸声，品尝着空气里的绝望，围拢了过来——

The air through which they needed to move seemed to have become solid: They could not Disapparate; the Death Eaters had cast their charms well. The cold was biting deeper and deeper into Harry’s flesh. He, Ron, and Hermione retreated down the side street, groping their way along the wall, trying not to make a sound. Then, around the corner, gliding noiselessly, came dementors, ten or more of them, visible because they were of a denser darkness than their surroundings, with their black cloaks and their scabbed and rotting hands. Could they sense fear in the vicinity? Harry was sure of it: They seemed to be coming more quickly now, taking those dragging, rattling breaths he detested, tasting despair on the air, closing in —

他举起魔杖。不管后面会发出什么事，他都不能、也不愿经受摄魂怪的吻。“呼神护卫！”他小声说，心里想的是罗恩和赫敏。

He raised his wand: He could not, would not, suffer the Dementor’s Kiss, whatever happened afterward. It was of Ron and Hermione that he thought as he whispered, “Expecto Patronum!”

银色的牡鹿从他的魔杖里奔出来往前冲去。摄魂怪四散逃开，从看不见的地方传来一声得意的叫嚷。

The silver stag burst from his wand and charged: The dementors scattered and there was a triumphant yell from somewhere out of sight.

“是他，就在那儿，就在那儿，我看见他的守护神了，是一头牡鹿！”

“It’s him, down there, down there, I saw his Patronus, it was a stag!

摄魂怪退去了，星星又开始眨动着眼睛，食死徒的脚步声越来越响。情急之下，哈利一时不知如何应对。就在这时，旁边传来门闩吱吱嘎嘎的声音，小街左侧的一扇门打开了，一个粗暴的声音说：“波特，快进来，快！”

The dementors had retreated, the stars were popping out again, and the footsteps of the Death Eaters were becoming louder; but before Harry in his panic could decide what to do, there was a grinding of bolts nearby, a door opened on the left-hand side of the narrow street, and a rough voice said, “Potter, in here, quick!”

哈利毫不犹豫地照办了，三个人冲进了敞开的门。

He obeyed without hesitation: The three of them hurtled through the open doorway.

“上楼，别脱隐形衣，别出声！”一个高高的身影说，从他们身边走到小街上，重重地关上了门。

“Upstairs, keep the Cloak on, keep quiet!” muttered a tall figure, passing them on his way into the street and slamming the door behind him.

哈利刚才不知道他们身在何处，此刻在一根孤零零的蜡烛摇曳的微光下，他看见了猪头酒吧那破烂肮脏、散着锯末的吧台。他们跑到柜台后面，又穿过一扇门，那里有一道摇摇晃晃的木头楼梯，他们尽快爬了上去。楼梯顶上是客厅，铺着破旧的地毯，还有个小小的壁炉，壁炉上方挂着一幅很大的油画，画上是一个金发的姑娘茫然而温柔地望着屋内。

Harry had had no idea where they were, but now he saw, by the stuttering light of a single candle, the grubby, sawdust-strewn bar of the Hog’s Head Inn. They ran behind the counter and through a second doorway, which led to a rickety wooden staircase that they climbed as fast as they could. The stairs opened onto a sitting room with a threadbare carpet and a small fireplace, above which hung a single large oil painting of a blonde girl who gazed out at the room with a kind of vacant sweetness.

下面的街道上传来喊叫声。他们仍然披着隐形衣，悄悄走到满是污垢的窗前向下张望。他们的救命恩人——这时哈利认出他是猪头酒吧的老板——是惟一没戴兜帽的人。

Shouts reached them from the street below. Still wearing the Invisibility Cloak, they crept toward the grimy window and looked down. Their savior, whom Harry now recognized as the Hog’s Head’s barman, was the only person not wearing a hood.

“怎么啦？”他朝一个戴兜帽的面孔吼道，“怎么啦？你们敢把摄魂怪弄到我的小街上来，我就要召守护神来对付它们！我不能让它们靠近我，我跟你们说过的，绝对不能！”

“So what?” he was bellowing into one of the hooded faces. “So what? You send dementors down my street, I’ll send a Patronus back at ’em! I’m not having ’em near me, I’ve told you that, I’m not having it!”

“那不是你的守护神！”一个食死徒说，“那是一头牡鹿，是波特的！”

“That wasn’t your Patronus!” said a Death Eater. “That was a stag, it was Potter’s!”

“牡鹿！”酒店老板大吼一声，抽出魔杖，“牡鹿！你这个白痴——呼神护卫！”

“Stag!” roared the barman, and he pulled out a wand. “Stag! You idiot — Expecto Patronum!”

他的杖尖冒出一个长着犄角的大家伙，它埋着脑袋冲向大街，消失不见了。

Something huge and horned erupted from the wand: Head down, it charged toward the High Street and out of sight.

“我看见的不是这个——”那个食死徒说，但不像刚才那么肯定了。

“That’s not what I saw —” said the Death Eater, though with less certainty.

“有人违反了宵禁，你听见声音了，”他的一个同伙对酒吧老板说，“有人违反规定跑到了街上——”

“Curfew’s been broken, you heard the noise,” one of his companions told the barman. “Someone was out in the street against regulations —”

“如果我想把猫放出去，我自然要放，去你妈的什么宵禁！”

“If I want to put my cat out, I will, and be damned to your curfew!”

“是你触响了啸叫咒？”

“You set off the Caterwauling Charm?”

“是我又怎么样？要把我押到阿兹卡班去吗？就因为我把鼻子探出了自己的家门而杀死我吗？好吧，想这么做，你们尽管动手吧！不过为你们考虑，我奉劝你们不要去摁你们的黑魔小标记把他召来。他来了只看见我和我的老猫，肯定不会高兴的，是不是？”

“What if I did? Going to cart me off to Azkaban? Kill me for sticking my nose out my own front door? Do it, then, if you want to! But I hope for your sakes you haven’t pressed your little Dark Marks and summoned him. He’s not going to like being called here for me and my old cat, is he, now?”

“你就别替我们操心了，”一个食死徒说，“还是考虑考虑你自己吧，违反宵禁！”

“Don’t you worry about us,” said one of the Death Eaters, “worry about yourself, breaking curfew!”

“如果我的酒吧关门了，你们这帮人上哪儿去倒卖魔药和毒品呢？你们的小副业怎么办呢？”

“And where will you lot traffick potions and poisons when my pub’s closed down? What’ll happen to your little sidelines then?”

“你胆敢威胁——？”

“Are you threatening — ?”

“我保证守口如瓶，你们就是为了这个来的，是不是？”

“I keep my mouth shut, it’s why you come here, isn’t it?”

“我还是认为我看见了一头牡鹿守护神！”第一个食死徒大喊。

“I still say I saw a stag Patronus!” shouted the first Death Eater.

“牡鹿？”酒吧老板吼道，“那是只山羊，白痴！”

“Stag?” roared the barman. “It’s a goat, idiot!”

“好了好了，我们弄错了。”第二个食死徒说，“再敢违反宵禁，我们就不会这么客气了！”

“All right, we made a mistake,” said the second Death Eater. “Break curfew again and we won’t be so lenient!”

食死徒们转身返回大街上。赫敏放心地舒了口气，从隐形衣下面钻了出来，坐在一张摇摇晃晃的椅子上。哈利把窗帘拉严了，把隐形衣从自己和罗恩身上脱了下来。他们听见酒吧老板在下面闩上酒吧的门，走上了楼梯。

The Death Eaters strode back toward the High Street. Hermione moaned with relief, wove out from under the Cloak, and sat down on a wobble-legged chair. Harry drew the curtains tight shut, then pulled the Cloak off himself and Ron. They could hear the barman down below, rebolting the door of the bar, then climbing the stairs.

哈利的注意力被壁炉台上的一个东西吸引住了：一面长方形的小镜子支在台上，就在那个姑娘肖像的下面。

Harry’s attention was caught by something on the mantelpiece: a small, rectangular mirror propped on top of it, right beneath the portrait of the girl.

酒吧老板进了房间。

The barman entered the room.

“你们这些该死的傻瓜，”他粗暴地说，挨个儿看看他们三个，“你们是怎么想的，竟然跑到这儿来了？”

“You bloody fools,” he said gruffly, looking from one to the other of them. “What were you thinking, coming here?”

“谢谢你，”哈利说，“真不知该怎么感谢你。你救了我们的命。”

“Thank you,” said Harry. “We can’t thank you enough. You saved our lives.”

酒吧老板气哼哼地嘟囔着。哈利走上前去，抬头端详着他的脸，努力透过一缕缕金属丝般的灰色头发和胡须看清他的模样。他戴着眼镜，在脏兮兮的镜片后面，一双蓝色的眼睛明亮、锐利。

The barman grunted. Harry approached him, looking up into the face, trying to see past the long, stringy, wire-gray hair and beard. He wore spectacles. Behind the dirty lenses, the eyes were a piercing, brilliant blue.

“我在镜子里看见的就是你的眼睛。”

“It’s your eye I’ve been seeing in the mirror.”

房间里一片寂静。哈利和酒吧老板互相对视着。

There was silence in the room. Harry and the barman looked at each other.

“多比是你派来的。”

“You sent Dobby.”

酒吧老板点点头，左右张望着寻找那个小精灵。

The barman nodded and looked around for the elf.

“我以为他会和你在一起。你把他留在哪儿了？”

“Thought he’d be with you. Where’ve you left him?”

“他死了，”哈利说，“贝拉特里克斯·莱斯特兰奇杀死了他。”

“He’s dead,” said Harry. “Bellatrix Lestrange killed him.”

酒吧老板的脸上毫无表情。过了片刻，他说：“这消息让我很难过。我喜欢那个小精灵。”

The barman’s face was impassive. After a few moments he said, “I’m sorry to hear it. I liked that elf.”

他转过身，不再看他们三个，兀自用魔杖把一盏盏灯点亮了。

He turned away, lighting lamps with prods of his wand, not looking at any of them.

“你是阿不福思。”哈利对着他的后背说。

“You’re Aberforth,” said Harry to the man’s back.

他不置可否，弯腰去点炉火。

He neither confirmed nor denied it, but bent to light the fire.

“你是怎么弄得这个的？”哈利问，一边走到小天狼星的镜子跟前，它跟两年前被哈利打碎的那面镜子是一对。

“How did you get this?” Harry asked, walking across to Sirius’s mirror, the twin of the one he had broken nearly two years before. “Bought it from Dung ’bout a year ago,” said Aberforth. “Albus told me what it was. Been trying to keep an eye out for you.”

“大约一年前从蒙顿格斯手里买的，”阿不福思说，“阿不思跟我讲过。我一直在密切注意你。”

Ron gasped.

罗恩吃惊得喘不过气来。

“The silver doe!” he said excitedly. “Was that you too?”

“那头银色的牝鹿！”他激动地说，“也是你吗？”

“What are you talking about?” said Aberforth.

“你在说什么呀？”阿不福思问。

“Someone sent a doe Patronus to us!”

“有人派了一头雌鹿守护神来找我们！”

“Brains like that, you could be a Death Eater, son. Haven’t I just proved my Patronus is a goat?”

“这种脑子，可以去当食死徒了，小子。我不是刚证实我的守护神是只山羊吗？”

“Oh,” said Ron. “Yeah . . . well, I’m hungry!” he added defensively as his stomach gave an enormous rumble.

“噢，”罗恩说道，“是啊……唉，我饿了！”他的肚子突然咕噜咕噜叫起来，他便像是替自己辩护似的说。

“I got food,” said Aberforth, and he sloped out of the room, reappearing moments later with a large loaf of bread, some cheese, and a pewter jug of mead, which he set upon a small table in front of the fire. Ravenous, they ate and drank, and for a while there was silence but for the crackle of the fire, the clink of goblets, and the sound of chewing.

“我有吃的。”阿不福思说。他走出房间，片刻之后又回来了，拿来了一大块面包、几片奶酪和一罐蜂蜜酒，放在炉火前的一张小桌上。三个人狼吞虎咽地又吃又喝，房间里一时安静下来，只有炉火的噼啪声，高脚酒杯的碰撞声，以及咀嚼食物的声音。

“Right then,” said Aberforth when they had eaten their fill, and Harry and Ron sat slumped dozily in their chairs. “We need to think of the best way to get you out of here. Can’t be done by night, you heard what happens if anyone moves outdoors during darkness: Caterwauling Charm’s set off, they’ll be onto you like bowtruckles on doxy eggs. I don’t reckon I’ll be able to pass off a stag as a goat a second time. Wait for daybreak when curfew lifts, then you can put your Cloak back on and set out on foot. Get right out of Hogsmeade, up into the mountains, and you’ll be able to Disapparate there. Might see Hagrid. He’s been hiding in a cave up there with Grawp ever since they tried to arrest him.”

“好了，”阿不福思说，这时他们已经吃饱喝足，哈利和罗恩昏昏欲睡地瘫坐在椅子上，“需要想个最好的办法把你们从这里转移出去。夜里不行，你们刚才也听见了，如果有人夜里在户外活动会怎么样：触响啸叫咒，他们就会像护树罗锅扑向狐媚子蛋一样扑向你们。我恐怕不能第二次再用山羊去冒充牡鹿了。等到天亮吧，宵禁解除后，你们可以重新穿上隐形衣，步行出发。赶快离开霍格莫德，到大山里去，在那里可以幻影移形，说不定还会看见海格。自从他们想要抓他，他就和格洛普一起躲在了一个山洞里。”

“We’re not leaving,” said Harry. “We need to get into Hogwarts.”

“我们不离开，”哈利说，“我们需要进入霍格沃茨。”

“Don’t be stupid, boy,” said Aberforth.

“别犯傻，孩子。”阿不福思说。

“We’ve got to,” said Harry.

“我们必须去。”哈利说。

“What you’ve got to do,” said Aberforth, leaning forward, “is to get as far from here as you can.”

“你们必须做的，”阿不福思向前探着身子，说道，“是尽量远远地离开这儿。”

“You don’t understand. There isn’t much time. We’ve got to get into the castle. Dumbledore — I mean, your brother — wanted us —”

“你不了解。时间不多了，我们必须进入城堡。邓布利多——也就是你哥哥——想要我们——”

The firelight made the grimy lenses of Aberforth’s glasses momentarily opaque, a bright flat white, and Harry remembered the blind eyes of the giant spider, Aragog.

火光照在阿不福思的眼镜上，满是污垢的镜片突然变成不透明的、夹板一样的亮白色，哈利想起了巨蜘蛛阿拉戈克的那双瞎眼。

“My brother Albus wanted a lot of things,” said Aberforth, “and people had a habit of getting hurt while he was carrying out his grand plans. You get away from this school, Potter, and out of the country if you can. Forget my brother and his clever schemes. He’s gone where none of this can hurt him, and you don’t owe him anything.”

“我哥哥阿不思想要许多东西，”阿不福思说道，“在他贯彻他的宏伟计划时，人们经常受到伤害。波特，你赶快离开这所学校，如果可能的话，离开这个国家。忘记我的哥哥和他那些巧妙的计划吧。他去了一个这些都伤害不了他的地方，你并不欠他任何东西。”

“You don’t understand,” said Harry again.

“你不了解。”哈利又说。

“Oh, don’t I?” said Aberforth quietly. “You don’t think I understood my own brother? Think you knew Albus better than I did?”

“哦，是吗？”阿不福思小声说，“你认为我不了解我自己的哥哥？你认为你比我还要了解阿不思？”

“I didn’t mean that,” said Harry, whose brain felt sluggish with exhaustion and from the surfeit of food and wine. “It’s . . . he left me a job.”

“我不是那个意思，”哈利说，疲惫再加上酒足饭饱，他的脑袋显得有些迟钝，“是……他留给了我一项任务。”

“Did he now?” said Aberforth. “Nice job, I hope? Pleasant? Easy? Sort of thing you’d expect an unqualified wizard kid to be able to do without overstretching themselves?”

“哦，是吗？”阿不福思说，“一桩美差，是吗？令人愉快？简单易行？一个资历不够的小巫师用不着勉为其难就能完成的事情？”

Ron gave a rather grim laugh. Hermione was looking strained.

罗恩不自然地冷笑一声。赫敏看上去有些紧张。

“I-it’s not easy, no,” said Harry. “But I’ve got to —”

“我——事情不容易，不容易，”哈利说，“但我非做不可——”

“ ‘Got to’? Why ‘got to’? He’s dead, isn’t he?” said Aberforth roughly. “Let it go, boy, before you follow him! Save yourself!”

“‘非做不可’？为什么‘非做不可’？他已经死了，不是吗？”阿不福思粗暴地说，“别想这事了，孩子，免得你也步他的后尘！保住你的命吧！”

“I can’t.”

“我不能。”

“Why not?”

“为什么？”

“I —” Harry felt overwhelmed; he could not explain, so he took the offensive instead. “But you’re fighting too, you’re in the Order of the Phoenix —”

“我——”哈利觉得无言以对，他没法解释，便转守为攻，“可是你也在战斗呀，你在凤凰社里——”

“I was,” said Aberforth. “The Order of the Phoenix is finished. You-Know-Who’s won, it’s over, and anyone who’s pretending different’s kidding themselves. It’ll never be safe for you here, Potter, he wants you too badly. So go abroad, go into hiding, save yourself. Best take these two with you.” He jerked a thumb at Ron and Hermione. “They’ll be in danger long as they live now everyone knows they’ve been working with you.”

“现在不是了，”阿不福思说，“凤凰社完了，神秘人赢了，大势已去，那些假装不承认这些的人是在欺骗自己。波特，你待在这里永远不会安全，他急不可待地想抓住你。所以，到国外去吧，躲藏起来吧，保全自己的性命吧。最好把这两个也带上，”他用大拇指点了点罗恩和赫敏，“他们只要活着就有危险，现在大家都知道他们跟你一起做事。”

“I can’t leave,” said Harry. “I’ve got a job —”

“我不能离开，”哈利说，“我有任务——”

“Give it to someone else!”

“交给别人！”

“I can’t. It’s got to be me, Dumbledore explained it all —”

“不能，必须是我，邓布利多解释得很清楚——”

“Oh, did he now? And did he tell you everything, was he honest with you?”

“哦，是吗？那么，他把一切都告诉你了吗，他对你诚实吗？”

Harry wanted with all his heart to say “Yes,” but somehow the simple word would not rise to his lips. Aberforth seemed to know what he was thinking.

哈利多么想说“是的”，然而不知怎么，这个简单的词就是不肯来到他的嘴边。阿不福思似乎知道他在想什么。

“I knew my brother, Potter. He learned secrecy at our mother’s knee. Secrets and lies, that’s how we grew up, and Albus . . . he was a natural.”

“我了解我的哥哥，波特。他在我母亲的膝头就学会了保密。秘密和谎言，我们就是这样成长起来的，而阿不思……他天生如此。”

The old man’s eyes traveled to the painting of the girl over the mantelpiece. It was, now Harry looked around properly, the only picture in the room. There was no photograph of Albus Dumbledore, nor of anyone else.

老人的目光转向了壁炉台上的那幅少女画像。此刻哈利已经把周围打量清楚了，知道这是房间里惟一的一幅画。这里没有阿不思·邓布利多和别人的照片。

“Mr. Dumbledore?” said Hermione rather timidly. “Is that your sister? Ariana?”

“邓布利多先生，”赫敏有点胆怯地说，“这是你的妹妹？阿利安娜？”

“Yes,” said Aberforth tersely. “Been reading Rita Skeeter, have you, missy?”

“对，”阿不福思生硬地说，“读了丽塔·斯基特，是吗，小姑娘？”

Even by the rosy light of the fire it was clear that Hermione had turned red.

即使在红红的火光映照下，也能看出赫敏的脸红了。

“Elphias Doge mentioned her to us,” said Harry, trying to spare Hermione.

“埃菲亚斯·多吉向我们提到过她。”哈利说，想替赫敏解围。

“That old berk,” muttered Aberforth, taking another swig of mead. “Thought the sun shone out of my brother’s every orifice, he did. Well, so did plenty of people, you three included, by the looks of it.”

“那个老傻瓜，”阿不福思低声说，喝了一大口蜂蜜酒，“他认为我哥哥每一个毛孔都放射出阳光，哼，许多人都那么想，看样子，你们三个也不例外。”

Harry kept quiet. He did not want to express the doubts and uncertainties about Dumbledore that had riddled him for months now. He had made his choice while he dug Dobby’s grave, he had decided to continue along the winding, dangerous path indicated for him by Albus Dumbledore, to accept that he had not been told everything that he wanted to know, but simply to trust. He had no desire to doubt again; he did not want to hear anything that would deflect him from his purpose. He met Aberforth’s gaze, which was so strikingly like his brother’s: The bright blue eyes gave the same impression that they were X-raying the object of their scrutiny, and Harry thought that Aberforth knew what he was thinking and despised him for it.

哈利没有说话。他不想说出几个月来困扰心头的对邓布利多的怀疑和犹豫。他为多比掘墓时就做出了选择，他已经决定沿着阿不思·邓布利多指点的危险，曲折的道路继续前行，虽然邓布利多没有把他需要知道的事情都告诉他，但他只有深信不疑。他不愿意再去怀疑，他不想听到任何会使他偏离目标的东西。哈利碰到了阿不福思的目光，跟他哥哥的目光惊人地相似：都是明亮的蓝眼睛，都像在透视被审视的对象。哈利觉得阿不福思知道他在想什么，并因此而看不起他。

“Professor Dumbledore cared about Harry, very much,” said Hermione in a low voice.

“邓布利多教授关心哈利，非常关心。”赫敏低声说。

“Did he now?” said Aberforth. “Funny thing, how many of the people my brother cared about very much ended up in a worse state than if he’d left ’em well alone.”

“哦，是吗？”阿不福思说，“真是可笑，有多少我哥哥非常关心的人最后下场可悲，还不如他当初不管他们呢。”

“What do you mean?” asked Hermione breathlessly.

“什么意思？”赫敏屏住呼吸问。

“Never you mind,” said Aberforth.

“不关你的事。”阿不福思说。

“But that’s a really serious thing to say!” said Hermione. “Are you — are you talking about your sister?”

“但是这句话真的说得很重！”赫敏说，“你——你说的是你妹妹吗？”

Aberforth glared at her: His lips moved as if he were chewing the words he was holding back. Then he burst into speech.

阿不福思狠狠地瞪着她，嘴唇蠕动着，像是在咀嚼他忍住不说的话。然后，他突然打开了话匣子。

“When my sister was six years old, she was attacked, set upon, by three Muggle boys. They’d seen her doing magic, spying through the back garden hedge: She was a kid, she couldn’t control it, no witch or wizard can at that age. What they saw scared them, I expect. They forced their way through the hedge, and when she couldn’t show them the trick, they got a bit carried away trying to stop the little freak doing it.”

“我妹妹六岁时，遭到三个麻瓜男孩的袭击。他们透过后花园的树篱看见她在变魔法。她还是个孩子，还不能收放自如，那个年纪的巫师都不能。我猜，那些男孩是被眼前的情景吓着了。他们从树篱中挤了进来，我妹妹没法告诉他们魔法是怎么变的，他们就失去控制，想阻止小怪物再变魔法。”

Hermione’s eyes were huge in the firelight; Ron looked slightly sick. Aberforth stood up, tall as Albus, and suddenly terrible in his anger and the intensity of his pain.

火光里，赫敏的眼睛睁得大大的，罗恩看上去有点不舒服。阿不福思站了起来，和阿不思一样高大，因为愤怒，因为剧烈的痛苦，他突然显得很可怕。

“It destroyed her, what they did: She was never right again. She wouldn’t use magic, but she couldn’t get rid of it; it turned inward and drove her mad, it exploded out of her when she couldn’t control it, and at times she was strange and dangerous. But mostly she was sweet and scared and harmless.

“他们做的事情把她毁了，她再也没有恢复正常。她不愿意使用魔法，但又没法摆脱。魔法转入了她的内心，把她逼疯了，在她不能控制的时候，魔法就会在她身上发作。她有时候又古怪又危险，但大多数时候很可爱，怯生生的，对人没有伤害。”

“And my father went after the bastards that did it,” said Aberforth, “and attacked them. And they locked him up in Azkaban for it. He never said why he’d done it, because if the Ministry had known what Ariana had become, she’d have been locked up in St. Mungo’s for good. They’d have seen her as a serious threat to the International Statute of Secrecy, unbalanced like she was, with magic exploding out of her at moments when she couldn’t keep it in any longer.

“我父亲去找那几个混蛋算账，”阿不福思说道，“把他们教训了一顿，结果被关进了阿兹卡班。他从来没说他为什么那么做，如果魔法部知道了阿利安娜的状况，她将被终生囚禁在圣芒戈医院里。他们会把她看作是对《国际保密法》的一个严重威胁，因为她精神错乱，在无法控制的时候她内在的魔法就会爆发出来。”

“We had to keep her safe and quiet. We moved house, put it about she was ill, and my mother looked after her, and tried to keep her calm and happy.

“我们必须保证她的安全，并把她隐藏起来。我们搬了家，谎称她病了，我母亲负责照料她，尽量使她平静、快乐。”

“I was her favorite,” he said, and as he said it, a grubby schoolboy seemed to look out through Aberforth’s wrinkles and tangled beard. “Not Albus, he was always up in his bedroom when he was home, reading his books and counting his prizes, keeping up with his correspondence with ‘the most notable magical names of the day,’ ” Aberforth sneered. “He didn’t want to be bothered with her. She liked me best. I could get her to eat when she wouldn’t do it for my mother, I could get her to calm down when she was in one of her rages, and when she was quiet, she used to help me feed the goats.

“她最喜欢我，”阿不福思说，他说这话的时候，似乎一个邋遢的男生正在透过阿不福思满脸的皱纹和纠结的胡子朝外窥视，“而不是阿不思。阿不思在家时总待在楼上自己的卧室里，读他的书，数他的奖状，跟‘当时最有名的魔法大师’通信，”阿不福思饥笑地说，“阿不思根本不愿意为她操心。她最喜欢我。我母亲没法让她吃饭时，我能哄她吃下去；她脾气发作时，我能让她平静下来；她安静时，经常帮我一起喂羊。”

“Then, when she was fourteen . . . See, I wasn’t there,” said Aberforth. “If I’d been there, I could have calmed her down. She had one of her rages, and my mother wasn’t as young as she was, and . . . it was an accident. Ariana couldn’t control it. But my mother was killed.”

“后来，她十四岁了……唉，当时我不在，”阿不福思说，“如果我在，就会让她平静下来。她脾气又发作了，我母亲已不像以前那么年轻，结果……那是个意外，阿利安娜没法控制自己，我母亲被杀死了。”

Harry felt a horrible mixture of pity and repulsion; he did not want to hear any more, but Aberforth kept talking, and Harry wondered how long it had been since he had spoken about this; whether, in fact, he had ever spoken about it.

哈利感到一种强烈的同情和抵触情绪，他不想再听了。可是阿不福思还在继续往下说，哈利心想老人不知多长时间没有说过这件事了，也许他从来就没对人说起过。

“So that put paid to Albus’s trip round the world with little Doge. The pair of ’em came home for my mother’s funeral and then Doge went off on his own, and Albus settled down as head of the family. Ha!”

“这样，阿不思和小多吉一起周游世界的计划就破灭了。他们俩回来参加了我母亲的葬礼，然后多吉独自出发了，阿不思作为一家之长留了下来。呸！”

Aberforth spat into the fire.

阿不福思朝火里啐了一口。

“I’d have looked after her, I told him so, I didn’t care about school, I’d have stayed home and done it. He told me I had to finish my education and he’d take over from my mother. Bit of a comedown for Mr. Brilliant, there’s no prizes for looking after your half-mad sister, stopping her blowing up the house every other day. But he did all right for a few weeks . . . till he came.”

“我对他说，我愿意照顾妹妹，我不在乎上学的事，我可以待在家里自学。他却说我必须完成学业，他来接替我母亲。这对于精英先生来说是有点失落的。照顾一个半疯的妹妹，每隔一天就要阻止她把房子炸飞，这可没人给他发奖。不过最初几个星期他做得挺好……后来那个人来了。”

And now a positively dangerous look crept over Aberforth’s face.

这时，阿不福思脸上露出了一种十分危险的神情。

“Grindelwald. And at last, my brother had an equal to talk to, someone just as bright and talented as he was. And looking after Ariana took a backseat then, while they were hatching all their plans for a new Wizarding order, and looking for Hallows, and whatever else it was they were so interested in. Grand plans for the benefit of all Wizardkind, and if one young girl got neglected, what did that matter, when Albus was working for the greater good?

“格林德沃。终于，我哥哥有了个谈话的对手，有了个跟他一样聪明、有才华的人。照顾阿利安娜就成了第二位的了，他们整天都在酝酿建立新巫师秩序的计划，寻找圣器，做他们所有非常感兴趣的事情。为了宏伟的计划，为了整个巫师界的利益，一个小姑娘受到忽视又有什么关系？阿不思在为更伟大的利益工作呢！”

“But after a few weeks of it, I’d had enough, I had. It was nearly time for me to go back to Hogwarts, so I told ’em, both of ’em, face-to-face, like I am to you, now,” and Aberforth looked down at Harry, and it took little imagination to see him as a teenager, wiry and angry, confronting his elder brother. “I told him, you’d better give it up now. You can’t move her, she’s in no fit state, you can’t take her with you, wherever it is you’re planning to go, when you’re making your clever speeches, trying to whip yourselves up a following. He didn’t like that,” said Aberforth, and his eyes were briefly occluded by the firelight on the lenses of his glasses: They shone white and blind again. “Grindelwald didn’t like that at all. He got angry. He told me what a stupid little boy I was, trying to stand in the way of him and my brilliant brother. . . . Didn’t I understand, my poor sister wouldn’t have to be hidden once they’d changed the world, and led the wizards out of hiding, and taught the Muggles their place?

“几个星期后，我受够了，真是受够了。那时我快要回霍格沃茨了，于是我告诉他们，告诉他们两个，面对面地，就像我现在对着你一样，”阿不福思低头看着哈利，不难想象他十几岁时的模样，精瘦结实，满腔怒火，勇敢地面对自己的哥哥。“我告诉他，你最好趁早放弃。你不能转移她，她的状态不行，你不能带她一起走，去你打算去的地方，发表你那些聪明的讲话，给自己煽动起一批追随者。他不爱听。”阿不福思说，火光照在他的镜片上，暂时遮住了他的眼睛，镜片上又是白光一片，“格林德沃听了很不高兴，他生气了，说我是个愚蠢的小男孩，想当他和我那出色的哥哥的绊脚石……还说难道我不明白？一旦他们改变了世界，让巫师们不再躲躲藏藏，让麻瓜们安分守己，我那可怜的妹妹就再也不用东藏西藏了。”

“And there was an argument . . . and I pulled out my wand, and he pulled out his, and I had the Cruciatus Curse used on me by my brother’s best friend — and Albus was trying to stop him, and then all three of us were dueling, and the flashing lights and the bangs set her off, she couldn’t stand it —”

“我们争论起来……我抽出我的魔杖，他也抽出了他的，我中了钻心咒，是我哥哥最好的朋友下的手——阿不思试图阻止他。于是我们三人展开了决斗，一道道闪光和一声声巨响刺激了我妹妹，她无法承受——”

The color was draining from Aberforth’s face as though he had suffered a mortal wound.

阿不福思的脸上突然没了血色，仿佛受了致命的创伤。

“— and I think she wanted to help, but she didn’t really know what she was doing, and I don’t know which of us did it, it could have been any of us — and she was dead.”

“——我猜她是想来帮忙，但她不清楚自己在做什么，我不知道究竟是我们中间谁干的，谁都有可能——她死了。”

His voice broke on the last word and he dropped down into the nearest chair. Hermione’s face was wet with tears, and Ron was almost as pale as Aberforth. Harry felt nothing but revulsion: He wished he had not heard it, wished he could wash his mind clean of it.

说到最后一句，他声音哽咽了，扑通跌坐在最近的那张椅子上。赫敏满脸泪水，罗恩的脸色几乎和阿不福思的一样苍白。哈利只感到一阵难受：他希望没有听见，希望能把这件事从脑子里洗掉。

“I’m so . . . I’m so sorry,” Hermione whispered.

“我……我很抱歉。”赫敏小声说。

“Gone,” croaked Aberforth. “Gone forever.”

“没了，”阿不福思哑着嗓子说，“永远没了。”

He wiped his nose on his cuff and cleared his throat.

他用袖口擦擦鼻子，清了清嗓子。

“ ’Course, Grindelwald scarpered. He had a bit of a track record already, back in his own country, and he didn’t want Ariana set to his account too. And Albus was free, wasn’t he? Free of the burden of his sister, free to become the greatest wizard of the —”

“当然啦，格林德沃逃跑了。他在自己国内已经有了点前科，可不希望把阿利安娜的账也算在他头上。阿不思解脱了，不是吗？摆脱了妹妹这个负担，可以无牵无挂地去做最伟大的巫师——”

“He was never free,” said Harry.

“他从来没有解脱。”哈利说。

“I beg your pardon?” said Aberforth.

“你说什么？”阿不福思说。

“Never,” said Harry. “The night that your brother died, he drank a potion that drove him out of his mind. He started screaming, pleading with someone who wasn’t there. ‘Don’t hurt them, please . . . hurt me instead.’ ”

“从来没有，”哈利说，“你哥哥死去的那天夜里喝了一种毒药，变得精神错乱。他开始喊叫，向一个不在场的人发出恳求：‘别伤害他们，求求你……冲我来吧。’”

Ron and Hermione were staring at Harry. He had never gone into details about what had happened on the island on the lake: The events that had taken place after he and Dumbledore had returned to Hogwarts had eclipsed it so thoroughly.

罗恩和赫敏都吃惊地看着哈利。他从来没有跟他们讲过在湖心小岛的具体细节。他和邓布利多回到霍格沃茨后发生的事情，使那一幕显得毫不重要了。

“He thought he was back there with you and Grindelwald, I know he did,” said Harry, remembering Dumbledore whimpering, pleading. “He thought he was watching Grindelwald hurting you and Ariana. . . . It was torture to him, if you’d seen him then, you wouldn’t say he was free.”

“他以为自己回到了从前，跟你和格林德沃在一起，我知道是这样。”哈利说道，想起了邓布利多带着呜咽的恳求，“他以为自己正眼看着格林德沃伤害你和阿利安娜……这对他来说太痛苦了，如果当时你看见他，就不会说他已经解脱了。”

Aberforth seemed lost in contemplation of his own knotted and veined hands. After a long pause he said, “How can you be sure, Potter, that my brother wasn’t more interested in the greater good than in you? How can you be sure you aren’t dispensable, just like my little sister?”

阿不福思出神地盯着自己骨节突出、布满青筋的手。过了良久，他说：“波特，你怎么能够确定，我哥哥更感兴趣的不是更伟大的利益而是你呢？你怎么能够确定你不像我的小妹妹一样是可有可无的呢？”

A shard of ice seemed to pierce Harry’s heart.

似乎有锋利的冰碴刺中了哈利的心。

“I don’t believe it. Dumbledore loved Harry,” said Hermione.

“我不相信。邓布利多是爱哈利的。”赫敏说。

“Why didn’t he tell him to hide, then?” shot back Aberforth. “Why didn’t he say to him, ‘Take care of yourself, here’s how to survive’?”

“那他为什么不叫哈利躲藏起来？”阿不福思反驳道，“为什么不叫哈利好好地照顾自己，保全性命？”

“Because,” said Harry before Hermione could answer, “sometimes you’ve got to think about more than your own safety! Sometimes you’ve got to think about the greater good! This is war!”

“因为，”哈利抢在赫敏前面回答，“有时候你必须考虑比自身安全更多的东西！有时候你必须考虑更伟大的利益！这是战争！”

“You’re seventeen, boy!”

“你才十七岁，孩子！”

“I’m of age, and I’m going to keep fighting even if you’ve given up!”

“我成人了，我要继续战斗，即使你已经放弃！”

“Who says I’ve given up?”

“谁说我放弃了？”

“ ‘The Order of the Phoenix is finished,’ ” Harry repeated. “ ‘You-Know-Who’s won, it’s over, and anyone who’s pretending different’s kidding themselves.’ ”

“‘凤凰社完了，’”哈利重复着他的话，“‘神秘人赢了，大势已去，那些假装不承认这些的人是在欺骗自己。’”

“I don’t say I like it, but it’s the truth!”

“我没有说我愿意这样，但这是事实！”

“No, it isn’t,” said Harry. “Your brother knew how to finish You-Know-Who and he passed the knowledge on to me. I’m going to keep going until I succeed — or I die. Don’t think I don’t know how this might end. I’ve known it for years.”

“不，不是，”哈利说道，“你哥哥知道怎么干掉神秘人，他把情况告诉了我。我要继续下去，直到成功——或者死去。别以为我不知道最后可能会是什么结局。早在几年前我就知道了。”

He waited for Aberforth to jeer or to argue, but he did not. He merely scowled.

哈利等待着阿不福思的饥笑或者反驳，但他没有，他只是阴沉着脸。

“We need to get into Hogwarts,” said Harry again. “If you can’t help us, we’ll wait till daybreak, leave you in peace, and try to find a way in ourselves. If you can help us — well, now would be a great time to mention it.”

“我们需要进入霍格沃茨，”哈利又说道，“如果你不能帮忙，我们就等到天亮，自己想办法，不再麻烦你。如果你能帮忙——那现在正好可以说出来。”

Aberforth remained fixed in his chair, gazing at Harry with the eyes that were so extraordinarily like his brother’s. At last he cleared his throat, got to his feet, walked around the little table, and approached the portrait of Ariana.

阿不福思仍然一动不动地坐在椅子上，怔怔地盯着哈利，那双眼睛像极了他哥哥的。最后，他清清嗓子，站了起来，绕过小桌子，走向阿利安娜的肖像。

“You know what to do,” he said.

“你知道该怎么做。”他说。

She smiled, turned, and walked away, not as people in portraits usually did, out of the sides of their frames, but along what seemed to be a long tunnel painted behind her. They watched her slight figure retreating until finally she was swallowed by the darkness.

那少女微微一笑，转身走了，她不像平常肖像里的人那样消失在画框旁边，而似乎是顺着画在她身后的一条长长的隧道走去。他们注视着她纤弱的身影越走越远，最后被黑暗吞没了。

“Er — what — ?” began Ron.

“呃——这是怎么——？”罗恩想问个究竟。

“There’s only one way in now,” said Aberforth. “You must know they’ve got all the old secret passageways covered at both ends, dementors all around the boundary walls, regular patrols inside the school from what my sources tell me. The place has never been so heavily guarded. How you expect to do anything once you get inside it, with Snape in charge and the Carrows as his deputies . . . well, that’s your lookout, isn’t it? You say you’re prepared to die.”

“现在只有一条路能进去，”阿不福思说，“你必须知道，整个学校从来没有这样严防死守过。据我得到的消息，他们已经把所有古老的秘密通道的两头都堵死了，围墙边都是食死徒，校内固定有人巡逻。斯内普独掌大权，卡罗兄妹当他的左膀右臂，你就是进到了学校，又能有什么作为呢……唉，那是你自己的事了，对吗？你说你已经做好赴死的准备。”

“But what . . . ?” said Hermione, frowning at Ariana’s picture.

“可是……”赫敏皱眉望着阿利安娜的画像，说道。

A tiny white dot had reappeared at the end of the painted tunnel, and now Ariana was walking back toward them, growing bigger and bigger as she came. But there was somebody else with her now, someone taller than she was, who was limping along, looking excited. His hair was longer than Harry had ever seen it: He appeared to have suffered several gashes to his face and his clothes were ripped and torn. Larger and larger the two figures grew, until only their heads and shoulders filled the portrait. Then the whole thing swung forward on the wall like a little door, and the entrance to a real tunnel was revealed. And out of it, his hair overgrown, his face cut, his robes ripped, clambered the real Neville Longbottom, who gave a roar of delight, leapt down from the mantelpiece, and yelled, “I knew you’d come! I knew it, Harry!”

一个小白点在画中的隧道尽头出现了，阿利安娜朝着他们走了回来，越来越近，越来越大。但她身边还有一个人，个子比她高，走路一瘸一拐的，满脸的兴奋。他的头发比哈利以前见过的任何时候都长，脸上似乎划了几道口子，衣服被撕扯得不像样子。两个人影越来越大，最后他们的脑袋和肩膀占满了整个肖像。这时墙上的肖像如同一扇小门一样打开了，露出一条真正的隧道的入口。真正的纳威·隆巴顿从隧道里爬出来，头发长得出奇，满脸伤痕，长袍被扯烂了。他狂喜地大吼一声，从壁炉台上跳了下来，嚷道：“我知道你会来！我早就知道，哈利！”