哈利·波特与死亡圣器 Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows 英文  中文  双语对照  双语交替 首页  目录  上一章   下一章

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CHAPTER SIX THE GHOUL IN PAJAMAS

第六章　穿睡衣的食尸鬼

The shock of losing Mad-Eye hung over the house in the days that followed; Harry kept expecting to see him stumping in through the back door like the other Order members, who passed in and out to relay news. Harry felt that nothing but action would assuage his feelings of guilt and grief and that he ought to set out on his mission to find and destroy Horcruxes as soon as possible.

接下来的几天里，失去疯眼汉的震惊依然在整座房子里停留不去。哈利总忍不住以为疯眼汉会像那些进进出出、传递消息的其他凤凰社成员一样，迈着沉重的脚步从后门走进来。哈利觉得只有行动才能减轻他的悲伤和负罪感，他觉得自己应该出发去完成使命，去尽快找到和摧毁魂器。

“Well, you can’t do anything about the” — Ron mouthed the word Horcruxes — “till you’re seventeen. You’ve still got the Trace on you. And we can plan here as well as anywhere, can’t we? Or,” he dropped his voice to a whisper, “d’you reckon you already know where the You-Know-Whats are?”

“唉，你还不满十七岁，你不能去对付——”罗恩用口型说出魂器这个词，“——你身上还带着踪丝。我们完全可以在这里制定计划嘛，是不是？或者，”他把声音压得低低的，“你是不是已经知道那些东西在哪儿了？”

“No,” Harry admitted.

“不知道。”哈利老老实实地承认。

“I think Hermione’s been doing a bit of research,” said Ron. “She said she was saving it for when you got here.”

“赫敏好像在做一些研究，”罗恩说，“她说要等你来了再说。”

They were sitting at the breakfast table; Mr. Weasley and Bill had just left for work. Mrs. Weasley had gone upstairs to wake Hermione and Ginny, while Fleur had drifted off to take a bath.

这会儿他们正坐在桌旁吃早饭，韦斯莱先生和比尔刚刚上班去了。韦斯莱夫人下楼去叫赫敏和金妮起床，芙蓉迈着轻盈的步子洗澡去了。

“The Trace’ll break on the thirty-first,” said Harry. “That means I only need to stay here four days. Then I can —”

“31号那天踪丝就消失了，”哈利说道，“也就是说，我只需要在这里待四天，然后就可以——”

“Five days,” Ron corrected him firmly. “We’ve got to stay for the wedding. They’ll kill us if we miss it.”

“五天，”罗恩认真地纠正他，“我们还得留下来参加婚礼呢。不然她们准会杀了我们。”

Harry understood “they” to mean Fleur and Mrs. Weasley.

哈利明白“她们”指的是芙蓉和韦斯莱夫人。

“It’s one extra day,” said Ron, when Harry looked mutinous.

“只多一天嘛。”罗恩看到哈利要发脾气，赶紧说道。

“Don’t they realize how important — ?”

“她们难道不知道这有多重要——？”

“ ’Course they don’t,” said Ron. “They haven’t got a clue. And now you mention it, I wanted to talk to you about that.”

“当然不知道，”罗恩说道，“她们什么都不知道。既然你提到了这一点，我一直想跟你好好谈谈。”罗恩透过房门朝大厅扫了一眼，确认韦斯莱夫人还没有回来，便凑到哈利跟前说：“妈妈一直想套赫敏和我的话，想弄清我们要做什么。她接下来就会找你了，做好准备吧。爸爸和卢平也问过我们，但我们说邓布利多叫你除了我们不告诉任何人，他们就不再问了。但妈妈不同，她是不会罢休的。”

Ron glanced toward the door into the hall to check that Mrs. Weasley was not returning yet, then leaned in closer to Harry.

不出几小时，罗恩的预言就变成了现实。快要吃午饭了，韦斯莱夫人把哈利从别人身边支走，叫他帮着辨认一只配不成对的男袜，她猜想可能是从他背包里掉出来的。韦斯莱夫人刚把哈利堵在厨房那头的小洗涤室里，审问就开始了。

“Mum’s been trying to get it out of Hermione and me. What we’re off to do. She’ll try you next, so brace yourself. Dad and Lupin’ve both asked as well, but when we said Dumbledore told you not to tell anyone except us, they dropped it. Not Mum, though. She’s determined.”

“罗恩和赫敏说，你们三个好像打算从霍格沃茨退学？”她用轻松随意的口气问道。

Ron’s prediction came true within hours. Shortly before lunch, Mrs. Weasley detached Harry from the others by asking him to help identify a lone man’s sock that she thought might have come out of his rucksack. Once she had him cornered in the tiny scullery off the kitchen, she started.

“哦，”哈利说，“是啊，没错。”

“Ron and Hermione seem to think that the three of you are dropping out of Hogwarts,” she began in a light, casual tone.

墙角的绞干机自己转动起来，绞干了一件衣服，看着好像是韦斯莱先生的马甲。

“Oh,” said Harry. “Well, yeah. We are.”

“我可以问问你们为什么要放弃学业吗？”韦斯莱夫人说。

The mangle turned of its own accord in a corner, wringing out what looked like one of Mr. Weasley’s vests.

“是这样，邓布利多留给我……一些事情要做，”哈利含混地说，“罗恩和赫敏知道了，他们也想去。”

“May I ask why you are abandoning your education?” said Mrs. Weasley.

“什么样的‘事情’？”

“Well, Dumbledore left me . . . stuff to do,” mumbled Harry. “Ron and Hermione know about it, and they want to come too.”

“对不起，我不能——”

“What sort of ‘stuff ’?”

“好吧，坦白地说，我认为亚瑟和我有权知道，而且我相信格兰杰夫妇也会赞同！”韦斯莱夫人说。

“I’m sorry, I can’t —”

哈利早就担心“家长”的杀手锏。他强迫自己直盯着韦斯莱夫人的眼睛，却发现它们是和金妮的眼睛完全一样的褐色。这也于事无补。

“Well, frankly, I think Arthur and I have a right to know, and I’m sure Mr. and Mrs. Granger would agree!” said Mrs. Weasley. Harry had been afraid of the “concerned parent” attack. He forced himself to look directly into her eyes, noticing as he did so that they were precisely the same shade of brown as Ginny’s. This did not help.

“邓布利多不想让别的任何人知道，韦斯莱夫人。对不起，罗恩和赫敏用不着去的，那是他们自己的选择——”

“Dumbledore didn’t want anyone else to know, Mrs. Weasley. I’m sorry. Ron and Hermione don’t have to come, it’s their choice —”

“我认为你也用不着去！”她厉声说道，一下子缷掉了所有的伪装，“你们还不够年龄呢，你们谁也不够！全是一派胡言，如果邓布利多有工作需要完成，整个凤凰社都听他调遣！哈利，你肯定弄错他的意思了。他大概是告诉你他希望完成的事情，结果你就以为他想让你——”

“I don’t see that you have to go either!” she snapped, dropping all pretense now. “You’re barely of age, any of you! It’s utter nonsense, if Dumbledore needed work doing, he had the whole Order at his command! Harry, you must have misunderstood him. Probably he was telling you something he wanted done, and you took it to mean that he wanted you —”

“我没有弄错他的意思，”哈利面无表情地说，“肯定是我。”

“I didn’t misunderstand,” said Harry flatly. “It’s got to be me.”

他把要他辨认的那只袜子递给韦斯莱夫人，上面的图案是金色的宽叶香蒲。

He handed her back the single sock he was supposed to be identifying, which was patterned with golden bulrushes.

“这不是我的，我不是普德米尔联队的球迷。”

“And that’s not mine, I don’t support Puddlemere United.”

“噢，当然不是，”韦斯莱夫人突然又恢复了她那轻松随意的口气，令哈利感到不知所措，“我应该想到的。好了，哈利，既然你还待在我们这里，你不会反对帮着操办一下比尔和芙蓉的婚礼吧？要做的事情还很多呢。”

“Oh, of course not,” said Mrs. Weasley with a sudden and rather unnerving return to her casual tone. “I should have realized. Well, Harry, while we’ve still got you here, you won’t mind helping with the preparations for Bill and Fleur’s wedding, will you? There’s still so much to do.”

“行——我——当然没问题。”哈利说，韦斯莱夫人突然改变话题使他有些慌乱。

“No — I — of course not,” said Harry, disconcerted by this sudden change of subject.

“真懂事。”她回答，然后笑眯眯地离开了洗涤室。

“Sweet of you,” she replied, and she smiled as she left the scullery.

从那时候起，韦斯莱夫人就让哈利、罗恩和赫敏为筹备婚礼忙得团团转，几乎没有时间想事情，对于这种行为最宽容的解释是，韦斯莱夫人想分散他们的注意力，不让他们想着疯眼汉和最近那次惊险的旅行。经过两天没完没了地擦洗餐具，给礼品、丝带和鲜花搭配颜色，清除花园里的地精，又帮韦斯莱夫人烤了一大堆开胃薄饼，哈利开始怀疑她另有动机。她分派的活似乎都让他、罗恩和赫敏互相分开。自从第一天夜里哈利告诉罗恩和赫敏伏地魔在折磨奥利凡德之后，便再也没有机会与他们俩单独说话。

From that moment on, Mrs. Weasley kept Harry, Ron, and Hermione so busy with preparations for the wedding that they hardly had any time to think. The kindest explanation of this behavior would have been that Mrs. Weasley wanted to distract them all from thoughts of Mad-Eye and the terrors of their recent journey. After two days of nonstop cutlery cleaning, of color-matching favors, ribbons, and flowers, of de-gnoming the garden and helping Mrs. Weasley cook vast batches of canapés, however, Harry started to suspect her of a different motive. All the jobs she handed out seemed to keep him, Ron, and Hermione away from one another; he had not had a chance to speak to the two of them alone since the first night, when he had told them about Voldemort torturing Ollivander.

“我想，妈妈以为只要不让你们三个凑在一起商量计划，就能推迟你们离开的时间。”金妮压低声音对哈利说，这已经是哈利待在这里的第三天晚上，他们正摆桌子准备吃晚饭。

“I think Mum thinks that if she can stop the three of you getting together and planning, she’ll be able to delay you leaving,” Ginny told Harry in an undertone, as they laid the table for dinner on the third night of his stay.

“那她认为会怎么样呢？”哈利小声嘟囔道，“她把我们拴在这里做酥皮馅饼时，有另外的人去干掉伏地魔吗？”

“And then what does she think’s going to happen?” Harry muttered. “Someone else might kill off Voldemort while she’s holding us here making vol-au-vents?”

他不假思索地说出这句话，便看见金妮的脸白了。

He had spoken without thinking, and saw Ginny’s face whiten.

“这么说是真的喽？”她问，“这就是你们打算做的事情？”

“So it’s true?” she said. “That’s what you’re trying to do?”

“我——不是——我开玩笑呢。”哈利闪烁其词地说。

“I — not — I was joking,” said Harry evasively.

他们互相望着对方，金妮的表情里除了惊愕，还有些别的东西。突然，哈利意识到自从他们在霍格沃茨操场的僻静角落里偷偷约会以后，这还是他第一次和她单独在一起。他可以肯定金妮也想起了那些时光。就在这时，门开了，韦斯莱先生、金斯莱和比尔走了进来，两个人吓了一跳。

They stared at each other, and there was something more than shock in Ginny’s expression. Suddenly Harry became aware that this was the first time that he had been alone with her since those stolen hours in secluded corners of the Hogwarts grounds. He was sure she was remembering them too. Both of them jumped as the door opened, and Mr. Weasley, Kingsley, and Bill walked in.

现在，经常有凤凰社的其他成员来吃晚饭，因为陋居已经取代格里莫广场12号成了总部。韦斯莱先生解释说，自从保密人邓布利多死后，凡是邓布利多向其透露过格里莫广场位置的人，统统都变成了保密人。

They were often joined by other Order members for dinner now, because the Burrow had replaced number twelve, Grimmauld Place as the headquarters. Mr. Weasley had explained that after the death of Dumbledore, their Secret-Keeper, each of the people to whom Dumbledore had confided Grimmauld Place’s location had become a Secret-Keeper in turn.

“我们大概有二十个人，这就大大削弱了赤胆忠心咒的力量。食死徒就有二十倍的机会从某人嘴里套出秘密。所以我们不能指望这个秘密能保持多久。”

“And as there are around twenty of us, that greatly dilutes the power of the Fidelius Charm. Twenty times as many opportunities for the Death Eaters to get the secret out of somebody. We can’t expect it to hold much longer.”

“可是斯内普肯定已经把地址告诉食死徒了呀？”哈利问。

“But surely Snape will have told the Death Eaters the address by now?” asked Harry.

“噢，疯眼汉给斯内普预备了几个魔咒，以防他再在那里露面。我们希望这些咒语很厉害，既能把斯内普挡在门外，又能捆住他的舌头，使他不能说起那个地方，但我们没有把握。现在那里的防范措施这么不稳定，再把它当成总部可就太不明智了。”

“Well, Mad-Eye set up a couple of curses against Snape in case he turns up there again. We hope they’ll be strong enough both to keep him out and to bind his tongue if he tries to talk about the place, but we can’t be sure. It would have been insane to keep using the place as headquarters now that its protection has become so shaky.”

那天晚上，厨房里挤满了人，使用刀叉都很困难。哈利发现自己挤在金妮旁边。刚才两人之间欲言又止的话，使他希望有几个人坐在中间把他俩隔开。他特别当心不要碰到金妮的胳膊，简直都没法切鸡肉了。

The kitchen was so crowded that evening it was difficult to maneuver knives and forks. Harry found himself crammed beside Ginny; the unsaid things that had just passed between them made him wish they had been separated by a few more people. He was trying so hard to avoid brushing her arm he could barely cut his chicken.

“有疯眼汉的消息吗？”哈利问比尔。

“No news about Mad-Eye?” Harry asked Bill.

“没有。”比尔回答。

“Nothing,” replied Bill.

他们没能为穆迪举行葬礼，因为比尔和卢平没有找到他的遗体。那时候天很黑，双方一场混战，很难弄清他坠落到什么地方了。

They had not been able to hold a funeral for Moody, because Bill and Lupin had failed to recover his body. It had been difficult to know where he might have fallen, given the darkness and the confusion of the battle.

“《预言家日报》只字没提他的死，也没提找到遗体，”比尔继续说，“不过这也说明不了什么。最近报纸对许多事情都保持沉默。”

“The Daily Prophet hasn’t said a word about him dying or about finding the body,” Bill went on. “But that doesn’t mean much. It’s keeping a lot quiet these days.”

“他们还没有对我在逃脱食死徒时使用的那些未成年魔法召开听证会吗？”哈利隔着桌子大声问韦斯莱先生，韦斯莱先生摇了摇头。

“And they still haven’t called a hearing about all the underage magic I used escaping the Death Eaters?” Harry called across the table to Mr. Weasley, who shook his head.

“他们是知道了别无选择，还是不想让我告诉大家伏地魔袭击了我？”

“Because they know I had no choice or because they don’t want me to tell the world Voldemort attacked me?”

“我认为是后一种。斯克林杰不愿意承认神秘人有那么强大，也不愿意承认阿兹卡班发生了集体越狱。”

“The latter, I think. Scrimgeour doesn’t want to admit that You-Know-Who is as powerful as he is, nor that Azkaban’s seen a mass breakout.”

“就是，何必对公众说实话呢？”哈利说，他紧紧攥住手里的餐刀，右手背上淡淡的伤疤在皮肤上白得那么显眼：我不可以说谎。

“Yeah, why tell the public the truth?” said Harry, clenching his knife so tightly that the faint scars on the back of his right hand stood out, white against his skin: I must not tell lies.

“魔法部就没有人准备抵抗他吗？”罗恩生气地说。

“Isn’t anyone at the Ministry prepared to stand up to him?” asked Ron angrily.

“当然有，罗恩，但是人们很害怕，”韦斯莱先生回答，“害怕自己成为下一个失踪者，害怕自己的孩子下一个就遭到袭击！可怕的谣言四处流传。比如，我就不相信霍格沃茨的麻瓜研究课教师辞职了。她已经好几个星期不见踪影。这段时间，斯克林杰整天把自己关在办公室里，我真希望他在制定方案。”

“Of course, Ron, but people are terrified,” Mr. Weasley replied, “terrified that they will be next to disappear, their children the next to be attacked! There are nasty rumors going around; I for one don’t believe the Muggle Studies professor at Hogwarts resigned. She hasn’t been seen for weeks now. Meanwhile Scrimgeour remains shut up in his office all day: I just hope he’s working on a plan.”

一时间没有人说话，韦斯莱夫人用魔法把空盘子收到操作台上，然后端出了苹果馅饼。

There was a pause in which Mrs. Weasley magicked the empty plates onto the work surface and served apple tart.

“我们必须决定一下你化装成什么样儿，哈利，”芙蓉在大家都分到馅饼后说，“参加婚礼，”看到哈利一脸迷惑，她又说道，“当然啦，我们的客人里没有食死徒，但不能保证他们喝了香槟酒之后不走漏消息了。”

“We must decide ’ow you will be disguised, ’Arry,” said Fleur, once everyone had pudding. “For ze wedding,” she added, when he looked confused. “Of course, none of our guests are Death Eaters, but we cannot guarantee zat zey will not let something slip after zey ’ave ’ad champagne.”

听了这话，哈利猜想她仍然在怀疑海格。

From this, Harry gathered that she still suspected Hagrid.

“对，有道理。”韦斯莱夫人坐在桌首说，她的眼镜架在鼻子尖上，正在浏览她草草记在一张很长的羊皮纸上的一大堆工作，“我说，罗恩，你的屋子打扫了没有？”

“Yes, good point,” said Mrs. Weasley from the top of the table, where she sat, spectacles perched on the end of her nose, scanning an immense list of jobs that she had scribbled on a very long piece of parchment. “Now, Ron, have you cleaned out your room yet?”

“干吗？”罗恩叫了起来，重重地放下勺子，气呼呼地瞪着母亲，“我的屋子干吗要打扫？哈利和我在里面待得很舒服！”

“Why?” exclaimed Ron, slamming his spoon down and glaring at his mother. “Why does my room have to be cleaned out? Harry and I are fine with it the way it is!”

“再过几天，我们这里就要举行你哥哥的婚礼了，年轻人——”

“We are holding your brother’s wedding here in a few days’ time, young man —”

“难道他们是在我的卧室里结婚吗？”罗恩气愤地问道，“不是！那么看在梅林那老鬼——”

“And are they getting married in my bedroom?” asked Ron furiously. “No! So why in the name of Merlin’s saggy left —”

“不许对妈妈这么说话，”韦斯莱先生不容置疑地说，“照她说的去做。”

“Don’t talk to your mother like that,” said Mr. Weasley firmly. “And do as you’re told.”

罗恩气愤地瞪着父母，然后拿起勺子，朝他的最后几口苹果馅饼发起进攻。

Ron scowled at both his parents, then picked up his spoon and attacked the last few mouthfuls of his apple tart.

“我可以帮忙，有些东西是我的。”哈利对罗恩说。

“I can help, some of it’s my mess,” Harry told Ron, but Mrs. Weasley cut across him.

可是韦斯莱夫人打断了他。“不，哈利，亲爱的，我希望你去帮亚瑟打扫鸡棚；赫敏，劳驾你去给德拉库尔夫妇换一下床单，你知道他们明天上午十一点就到了。”

“No, Harry, dear, I’d much rather you helped Arthur muck out the chickens, and Hermione, I’d be ever so grateful if you’d change the sheets for Monsieur and Madame Delacour; you know they’re arriving at eleven tomorrow morning.”

结果，鸡棚里并没有多少事情可做。

But as it turned out, there was very little to do for the chickens. “There’s no need to, er, mention it to Molly,” Mr. Weasley told Harry, blocking his access to the coop, “but, er, Ted Tonks sent me most of what was left of Sirius’s bike and, er, I’m hiding — that’s to say, keeping — it in here. Fantastic stuff: There’s an exhaust gaskin, as I believe it’s called, the most magnificent battery, and it’ll be a great opportunity to find out how brakes work. I’m going to try and put it all back together again when Molly’s not — I mean, when I’ve got time.”

“你用不着——嗯，用不着告诉莫丽，”韦斯莱先生挡住正向鸡笼走去的哈利，说道，“就是，嗯，泰德·唐克斯把小天狼星那辆摩托车的大部分残骸给我送来了，嗯，我把它藏在——我是说收在这里了，这东西太奇妙了：有一个排气垫，我相信是叫这个名字，是威力无比的连发炮弹，而且给了我一个难得的机会弄清刹车是怎么工作的。趁莫丽不在——我是说趁我有时间，我要试着把它重新组装起来。”

When they returned to the house, Mrs. Weasley was nowhere to be seen, so Harry slipped upstairs to Ron’s attic bedroom.

他们回到家里，没有看见韦斯莱夫人，哈利偷偷爬到阁楼上罗恩的房间里。

“I’m doing it, I’m doing — ! Oh, it’s you,” said Ron in relief, as Harry entered the room. Ron lay back down on the bed, which he had evidently just vacated. The room was just as messy as it had been all week; the only change was that Hermione was now sitting in the far corner, her fluffy ginger cat, Crookshanks, at her feet, sorting books, some of which Harry recognized as his own, into two enormous piles.

“我在打扫，在打扫呢——！噢，是你啊。”罗恩看见哈利走进房间，松了口气说。罗恩重新躺到床上，看样子他是刚从床上起来。房间里还和整个星期以来一样乱糟糟的。惟一的变化是赫敏坐在那边的墙角里，把图书分成了两大堆，其中有几本书哈利认出是他的。赫敏那只毛茸茸的姜黄色猫克鲁克山蹲在她的脚边。

“Hi, Harry,” she said, as he sat down on his camp bed.

“你好，哈利。”哈利在他的行军床上坐下时，赫敏说道。

“And how did you manage to get away?”

“你是怎么溜号的？”

“Oh, Ron’s mum forgot that she asked Ginny and me to change the sheets yesterday,” said Hermione. She threw Numerology and Grammatica onto one pile and The Rise and Fall of the Dark Arts onto the other.

“噢，罗恩的妈妈忘记她昨天已经叫金妮和我换过床单了。”赫敏说，她把《数字占卜与图形》扔到一堆书上，《黑魔法的兴衰》扔到另一堆上。

“We were just talking about Mad-Eye,” Ron told Harry. “I reckon he might have survived.”

“我们刚才在谈疯眼汉，”罗恩对哈利说，“我猜想他大概没有死。”

“But Bill saw him hit by the Killing Curse,” said Harry.

“可是比尔亲眼看见他中了杀戮咒。”哈利说。

“Yeah, but Bill was under attack too,” said Ron. “How can he be sure what he saw?”

“没错，但比尔也遭到了袭击，”罗恩说，“他怎么能肯定没有看错？”

“Even if the Killing Curse missed, Mad-Eye still fell about a thousand feet,” said Hermione, now weighing Quidditch Teams of Britain and Ireland in her hand.

“即使杀戮咒没有击中疯眼汉，他也从一千米左右的高处摔了下来。”赫敏说，她在掂量手里那本《英国和爱尔兰的魁地奇球队》。

“He could have used a Shield Charm —”

“他可以使用铁甲咒啊——”

“Fleur said his wand was blasted out of his hand,” said Harry.

“芙蓉说他的魔杖从手里炸飞了。”哈利说。

“Well, all right, if you want him to be dead,” said Ron grumpily, punching his pillow into a more comfortable shape.

“好吧，好吧，既然你们偏要让他死。”罗恩没好气地说，一边把他的枕头拍成更舒服的形状。

“Of course we don’t want him to be dead!” said Hermione, looking shocked. “It’s dreadful that he’s dead! But we’re being realistic!”

“我们当然不希望他死！”赫敏一脸惊愕地说，“他的死太可怕了！但我们要面对现实！”

For the first time, Harry imagined Mad-Eye’s body, broken as Dumbledore’s had been, yet with that one eye still whizzing in its socket. He felt a stab of revulsion mixed with a bizarre desire to laugh.

哈利第一次想象疯眼汉的遗体，它像邓布利多的遗体一样残缺不全，但那只眼睛仍然在眼窝里嗖嗖地转个不停。哈利感到一阵恶心，又有一种莫名其妙的想笑的感觉。

“The Death Eaters probably tidied up after themselves, that’s why no one’s found him,” said Ron wisely.

“食死徒们大概清理过战场了，所以谁也找不到他。”罗恩挺明智地说。

“Yeah,” said Harry. “Like Barty Crouch, turned into a bone and buried in Hagrid’s front garden. They probably transfigured Moody and stuffed him —”

“是啊，”哈利说，“就像巴蒂·克劳奇，变成了一块骨头，埋在海格屋前的院子里。他们大概给穆迪变了形，把他塞在——”

“Don’t!” squealed Hermione. Startled, Harry looked over just in time to see her burst into tears over her copy of Spellman’s Syllabary.

“别说了！”赫敏尖叫起来。哈利惊讶地抬起眼睛，正好看见她对着她那本《魔法字音表》哭了起来。

“Oh no,” said Harry, struggling to get up from the old camp bed. “Hermione, I wasn’t trying to upset —”

“哦，不，”哈利说，一边挣扎着从旧行军床上爬起来，“赫敏，我不想让你难过——”

But with a great creaking of rusty bedsprings, Ron bounded off the bed and got there first. One arm around Hermione, he fished in his jeans pocket and withdrew a revolting-looking handkerchief that he had used to clean out the oven earlier. Hastily pulling out his wand, he pointed it at the rag and said, “Tergeo.”

但是随着生锈的弹簧床吱嘎吱嘎地一阵乱响，罗恩从床上一跃而起，抢先赶了过去。他用胳膊接住从牛仔裤口袋里掏出一条看着脏兮兮的手帕，他先前曾用它擦过烤炉。他匆匆抽出魔杖，指着那块破布说了句“旋风扫净”。

The wand siphoned off most of the grease. Looking rather pleased with himself, Ron handed the slightly smoking handkerchief to Hermione.

魔杖吸走了大部分油渍。罗恩似乎对自己很满意，把微微冒烟的手帕递给了赫敏。

“Oh . . . thanks, Ron. . . . I’m sorry. . . .” She blew her nose and hiccuped. “It’s just so awf-ful, isn’t it? R-right after Dumbledore . . . I j-just n-never imagined Mad-Eye dying, somehow, he seemed so tough!”

“哦……谢谢，罗恩……真对不起……”赫敏擤擤鼻子，抽噎着说，“只是太——太可怕了，不是吗？邓——邓布利多刚死不久……我真——真想象不到疯眼汉会死，他看上去那么强大！”

“Yeah, I know,” said Ron, giving her a squeeze. “But you know what he’d say to us if he was here?”

“是啊，我知道，”罗恩搂了搂她，说道，“如果他在这儿，你知道他会对我们说什么吗？”

“ ‘C-constant vigilance,’ ” said Hermione, mopping her eyes.

“时——时刻保持警惕。”赫敏擦着眼泪说。

“That’s right,” said Ron, nodding. “He’d tell us to learn from what happened to him. And what I’ve learned is not to trust that cowardly little squit, Mundungus.”

“对，”罗恩点点头说，“他会告诉我们要从他的遭遇中吸取教训。我得到的教训是，千万不要相信那个胆小如鼠的废物，蒙顿格斯。”

Hermione gave a shaky laugh and leaned forward to pick up two more books. A second later, Ron had snatched his arm back from around her shoulders; she had dropped The Monster Book of Monsters on his foot. The book had broken free from its restraining belt and snapped viciously at Ron’s ankle.

赫敏声音颤抖地笑了笑，又探身捡起两本书。一秒钟后，罗恩猛地从赫敏肩膀上抽回了胳膊：赫敏把《妖怪们的妖怪书》掉在他脚上了。书挣脱了捆住他的皮带，凶狠地咬着罗恩的脚脖子。

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry!” Hermione cried as Harry wrenched the book from Ron’s leg and retied it shut.

“对不起，对不起！”赫敏喊道，哈利赶紧把书从罗恩腿上拽过来，重新捆好。

“What are you doing with all those books anyway?” Ron asked, limping back to his bed.

“你倒腾这些书干什么呀？”罗恩一瘸一拐地走回他的床边，问道。

“Just trying to decide which ones to take with us,” said Hermione. “When we’re looking for the Horcruxes.”

“决定一下我们出去找魂器时要带哪些书。”赫敏说。

“Oh, of course,” said Ron, clapping a hand to his forehead. “I forgot we’ll be hunting down Voldemort in a mobile library.”

“噢，对了，”罗恩用手一拍脑门说，“我忘了我们是在流动图书馆里追踪伏地魔呢。”

“Ha ha,” said Hermione, looking down at Spellman’s Syllabary. “I wonder . . . will we need to translate runes? It’s possible. . . . I think we’d better take it, to be safe.”

“哈哈，”赫敏低头看着《魔法字音表》说，“我拿不准了……我们会需要翻译如尼文吗？有可能……为了保险起见，还是带着它吧。”

She dropped the syllabary onto the larger of the two piles and picked up Hogwarts, A History.

她把字音表扔到那较大的一堆书上，又拿起《霍格沃茨，一段校史》。

“Listen,” said Harry.

“听我说。”哈利说。

He had sat up straight. Ron and Hermione looked at him with similar mixtures of resignation and defiance.

他坐直了身子。罗恩和赫敏望着他，脸上的表情一模一样，既无奈又不以为然。

“I know you said after Dumbledore’s funeral that you wanted to come with me,” Harry began.

“我知道，邓布利多的葬礼之后，你们说过要跟我一起去。”哈利这么说。

“Here he goes,” Ron said to Hermione, rolling his eyes.

“他这就开始了。”罗恩翻着眼珠对赫敏说。

“As we knew he would,” she sighed, turning back to the books. “You know, I think I will take Hogwarts, A History. Even if we’re not going back there, I don’t think I’d feel right if I didn’t have it with —”

“早就知道他会这样，”赫敏叹了口气，转身面对着那些书，“你们知道，我想我还是带着《霍格沃茨，一段校史》吧，虽说我们不再回去上学了，但如果不带上它，我恐怕会觉得不合适——”

“Listen!” said Harry again.

“听我说！”哈利又说。

“No, Harry, you listen,” said Hermione. “We’re coming with you. That was decided months ago — years, really.”

“不，哈利，你听我说，”赫敏说道，“我们要和你一起去。这是几个月前——确切地说是几年前就决定了的。”

“But —”

“可是——”

“Shut up,” Ron advised him.

“你就闭嘴吧。”罗恩打断了他的话。

“— are you sure you’ve thought this through?” Harry persisted.

“——你们真的仔细考虑过了？”哈利坚持问道。

“Let’s see,” said Hermione, slamming Travels with Trolls onto the discarded pile with a rather fierce look. “I’ve been packing for days, so we’re ready to leave at a moment’s notice, which for your information has included doing some pretty difficult magic, not to mention smuggling Mad-Eye’s whole stock of Polyjuice Potion right under Ron’s mum’s nose.

“怎么说呢，”赫敏说着，一边狠狠地把《与巨怪同行》扔到那堆不要的书上，“这些天来我一直在收拾行李，随时准备说走就走。告诉你吧，为此我施了几个蛮有难度的魔法，更不用说在罗恩妈妈鼻子底下把疯眼汉储藏的那些复方汤剂都偷了出来。”

“I’ve also modified my parents’ memories so that they’re convinced they’re really called Wendell and Monica Wilkins, and that their life’s ambition is to move to Australia, which they have now done. That’s to make it more difficult for Voldemort to track them down and interrogate them about me — or you, because unfortunately, I’ve told them quite a bit about you.

“我还修改了我父母的记忆，让他们相信他们实际上叫温德尔和莫尼卡·威尔金斯，平生最大的愿望是移居澳大利亚，现在他们已经去了。这样伏地魔就不太容易找到他们，向他们盘问我——或者你的下落，因为很不幸，我跟他们谈过不少你的情况。”

“Assuming I survive our hunt for the Horcruxes, I’ll find Mum and Dad and lift the enchantment. If I don’t — well, I think I’ve cast a good enough charm to keep them safe and happy. Wendell and Monica Wilkins don’t know that they’ve got a daughter, you see.

“假如我们找到魂器后我还活着，我就找到爸爸妈妈，给他们解除魔法。如果我不在了——唉，我想我已经给他们施了很好的魔法，保证他们一辈子平安、快乐。温德尔和莫尼卡·威尔金斯不知道他们曾经有个女儿，明白了吧。”

Hermione’s eyes were swimming with tears again. Ron got back off the bed, put his arm around her once more, and frowned at Harry as though reproaching him for lack of tact. Harry could not think of anything to say, not least because it was highly unusual for Ron to be teaching anyone else tact.

赫敏的眼睛里又盈满了泪水。罗恩赶紧从床上下来，再次用胳膊搂住赫敏，并朝哈利皱着眉头，似乎在责怪他不注意策略。哈利不知道该说什么，居然由罗恩来教别人注意策略，这简直太不真实了。

“I — Hermione, I’m sorry — I didn’t —”

“我——赫敏，对不起——我没——”

“Didn’t realize that Ron and I know perfectly well what might happen if we come with you? Well, we do. Ron, show Harry what you’ve done.”

“没想到罗恩和我完全清楚跟着你会有什么结果？告诉你吧，我们清楚。罗恩，让哈利看看你干的事情。”

“Nah, he’s just eaten,” said Ron.

“别，他刚吃过饭。”罗恩说。

“Go on, he needs to know!”

“快去，他需要知道！”

“Oh, all right. Harry, come here.”

“噢，好吧。哈利，过来。”

For the second time Ron withdrew his arm from around Hermione and stumped over to the door.

罗恩第二次把胳膊从赫敏肩头抽回来，脚步笨重地朝门口走去。

“C’mon.”

“快来。”

“Why?” Harry asked, following Ron out of the room onto the tiny landing.

“干吗？”哈利问，他跟着罗恩走出房门，来到小小的楼梯平台上。

“Descendo,” muttered Ron, pointing his wand at the low ceiling. A hatch opened right over their heads and a ladder slid down to their feet. A horrible, half-sucking, half-moaning sound came out of the square hole, along with an unpleasant smell like open drains.

“应声落地。”罗恩用魔杖指着低矮的天花板低声念道。一个活板门就在他们头顶上打开了，一把梯子滑到他们脚下，方方的洞口里传来一种可怕的、半是吮吸半是呻吟的声音，还伴随着类似阴沟里散发的难闻气味。

“That’s your ghoul, isn’t it?” asked Harry, who had never actually met the creature that sometimes disrupted the nightly silence.

“那是你的食尸鬼，对吗？”哈利问，他实际上从没碰见过这个有时在静夜里搅扰人们的家伙。

“Yeah, it is,” said Ron, climbing the ladder. “Come and have a look at him.”

“对，没错，”罗恩一边说，一边顺着梯子往上爬，“来看看吧。”

Harry followed Ron up the few short steps into the tiny attic space. His head and shoulders were in the room before he caught sight of the creature curled up a few feet from him, fast asleep in the gloom with its large mouth wide open.

哈利跟着罗恩爬了几级，把身子探进了狭小的阁楼里。他的脑袋和肩膀进入阁楼后，便看见那家伙蜷缩在离他几步远的地方，张着大嘴，正在阴影里呼呼大睡。

“But it . . . it looks . . . do ghouls normally wear pajamas?”

“可是……可是它的样子……食尸鬼一般都穿着睡衣吗？”

“No,” said Ron. “Nor have they usually got red hair or that number of pustules.”

“不是，”罗恩说，“它们一般也不长着红头发和那么多脓疱。”

Harry contemplated the thing, slightly revolted. It was human in shape and size, and was wearing what, now that Harry’s eyes became used to the darkness, was clearly an old pair of Ron’s pajamas. He was also sure that ghouls were generally rather slimy and bald, rather than distinctly hairy and covered in angry purple blisters.

哈利注视着那个家伙，觉得有点儿恶心。它的形状、大小都和人类一样，现在哈利的眼睛已经适应了这里昏暗的光线，看清它身上穿的显然是罗恩的一套旧睡衣。而且，哈利相信食尸鬼一般都是黏糊糊的、没有毛发，绝不是这样头发浓密，身上布满红得发紫的水疱。

“He’s me, see?” said Ron.

“它是我，明白吗？”罗恩说。

“No,” said Harry. “I don’t.”

“不，”哈利说，“不明白。”

“I’ll explain it back in my room, the smell’s getting to me,” said Ron. They climbed back down the ladder, which Ron returned to the ceiling, and rejoined Hermione, who was still sorting books.

“我回屋再跟你解释，这气味真让我受不了。”罗恩说道。他们顺着梯子下来，然后罗恩把梯子放回天花板上，他们回到仍在挑书的赫敏身边。

“Once we’ve left, the ghoul’s going to come and live down here in my room,” said Ron. “I think he’s really looking forward to it — well, it’s hard to tell, because all he can do is moan and drool — but he nods a lot when you mention it. Anyway, he’s going to be me with spattergroit. Good, eh?”

“我们一走，这个食尸鬼就下来住在我的房间里，”罗恩说道，“我想它正巴不得呢——不容易看出来的，因为它只会哼哼、流口水——不过倒是挺爱点头的。反正，它就是患了散花痘的我。怎么样，嗯？”

Harry merely looked his confusion.

哈利只是一脸茫然。

“It is!” said Ron, clearly frustrated that Harry had not grasped the brilliance of the plan. “Look, when we three don’t turn up at Hogwarts again, everyone’s going to think Hermione and I must be with you, right? Which means the Death Eaters will go straight for our families to see if they’ve got information on where you are.”

“很棒啊！”罗恩说道，显然对哈利没能理解这个绝妙的计划而感到失望，“你看，我们三个不再出现在霍格沃茨，每个人都会认为赫敏和我肯定与你在一起，对吧？这就意味着食死徒会直接来找我们的家人，看他们是不是知道你的下落。”

“But hopefully it’ll look like I’ve gone away with Mum and Dad; a lot of Muggle-borns are talking about going into hiding at the moment,” said Hermione.

“但愿他们会以为我和爸爸妈妈一起走了。目前许多麻瓜出身的人都在谈论避难呢。”赫敏说。

“We can’t hide my whole family, it’ll look too fishy and they can’t all leave their jobs,” said Ron. “So we’re going to put out the story that I’m seriously ill with spattergroit, which is why I can’t go back to school. If anyone comes calling to investigate, Mum or Dad can show them the ghoul in my bed, covered in pustules. Spattergroit’s really contagious, so they’re not going to want to go near him. It won’t matter that he can’t say anything, either, because apparently you can’t once the fungus has spread to your uvula.”

“我们不可能把我们全家都藏起来，那样太可疑了，而且他们不可能都不工作呀，”罗恩说，“所以我们要放出风去，说我患了严重的散花痘，不能回学校了。如果有人上门调查，爸爸或妈妈可以让他们看我床上满脸脓疱的食尸鬼。散花痘传染性很强，他们肯定不愿意靠近它。它不会说话也不要紧，因为真菌蔓延到小舌头上，肯定说不出话来。”

“And your mum and dad are in on this plan?” asked Harry.

“你爸爸妈妈知道这个计划吗？”哈利问。

“Dad is. He helped Fred and George transform the ghoul. Mum . . . well, you’ve seen what she’s like. She won’t accept we’re going till we’ve gone.”

“爸爸知道。他帮弗雷德和乔治给食尸鬼变了形。妈妈……唉，你见过她是什么样儿。不到我们走了，她是不会接受的。”

There was silence in the room, broken only by gentle thuds as Hermione continued to throw books onto one pile or the other. Ron sat watching her, and Harry looked from one to the other, unable to say anything. The measures they had taken to protect their families made him realize, more than anything else could have done, that they really were going to come with him and that they knew exactly how dangerous that would be. He wanted to tell them what that meant to him, but he simply could not find words important enough.

屋里一片沉默，只有赫敏把一本本书扔到这堆或那堆上，发出啪啪的轻响。罗恩坐在那里望着她，哈利轮番望着他们两个，什么话也说不出来。他们采取的这些保护家人的措施，使他格外强烈地意识到他们真的要和他一起去，而且他们也清楚将会有怎样的危险。他想告诉他们这对他意味着什么，但他就是想不出够分量的话来。

Through the silence came the muffled sounds of Mrs. Weasley shouting from four floors below.

沉默中，隐隐传来四层楼以下韦斯莱夫人喊叫的声音。

“Ginny’s probably left a speck of dust on a poxy napkin ring,” said Ron. “I dunno why the Delacours have got to come two days before the wedding.”

“大概金妮在一个该死的餐巾环上留了点灰尘，”罗恩说，“真不明白德拉库尔一家干吗要在婚礼前两天就来。”

“Fleur’s sister’s a bridesmaid, she needs to be here for the rehearsal, and she’s too young to come on her own,” said Hermione, as she pored indecisively over Break with a Banshee.

“芙蓉的妹妹是伴娘，她需要来排演一下，可她年级太小，自己一个人来不了。”赫敏说，一边对着《与女鬼决裂》拿不定主意。

“Well, guests aren’t going to help Mum’s stress levels,” said Ron.

“唉，客人来了也缓解不了妈妈的压力指数。”罗恩说。

“What we really need to decide,” said Hermione, tossing Defensive Magical Theory into the bin without a second glance and picking up An Appraisal of Magical Education in Europe, “is where we’re going after we leave here. I know you said you wanted to go to Godric’s Hollow first, Harry, and I understand why, but . . . well . . . shouldn’t we make the Horcruxes our priority?”

“我们真正需要决定的——”赫敏说着，不假思索地把《魔法防御理论》扔进垃圾箱里，拿起《欧洲魔法教育评估》，“是我们离开这里之后到哪里去。哈利，我知道你说过你想先去戈德里克山谷（Godric sHollow，前六册都被翻译为高维克山谷，根据下文的意思，该词译为戈德里克山谷更确切），我也明白是为什么，可是……我是说……我们不是应该首先考虑魂器吗？”

“If we knew where any of the Horcruxes were, I’d agree with you,” said Harry, who did not believe that Hermione really understood his desire to return to Godric’s Hollow. His parents’ graves were only part of the attraction: He had a strong, though inexplicable, feeling that the place held answers for him. Perhaps it was simply because it was there that he had survived Voldemort’s Killing Curse; now that he was facing the challenge of repeating the feat, Harry was drawn to the place where it had happened, wanting to understand.

“如果我们知道某个魂器的下落，我也会同意你的意见。”哈利说，他相信赫敏并不是真的理解他回戈德里克山谷的意愿。父母的坟墓只在一定程度上吸引他。他有一种虽然无法解释却很强烈的感觉，似乎那个地方有答案在等着他。也许只是因为那里是他从伏地魔的杀戮咒下死里逃生的地方，现在他又面临挑战，需要重复这一壮举，哈利被那个地方吸引着，想去弄个究竟。

“Don’t you think there’s a possibility that Voldemort’s keeping a watch on Godric’s Hollow?” Hermione asked. “He might expect you to go back and visit your parents’ graves once you’re free to go wherever you like?”

“你难道不认为伏地魔可能派人监视戈德里克山谷吗？”赫敏问，“他大概猜得到你一旦行动自由，首先就会去祭拜父母的坟墓，不是吗？”

This had not occurred to Harry. While he struggled to find a counterargument, Ron spoke up, evidently following his own train of thought.

这倒是哈利没想到的。他努力想找话反驳时，罗恩说话了，显然是循着他自己的思路。

“This R.A.B. person,” he said. “You know, the one who stole the real locket?”

“这个叫R．A．B．的人，”他说，“知道吗，就是偷了真的挂坠盒的那个人？”

Hermione nodded.

赫敏点点头。

“He said in his note he was going to destroy it, didn’t he?”

“他在字条里说要把它毁掉，对吗？”

Harry dragged his rucksack toward him and pulled out the fake Horcrux in which R.A.B.’s note was still folded.

哈利拉过背包，掏出那个假魂器，R．A．B．的那张字条仍然叠放在里面。

“ ‘I have stolen the real Horcrux and intend to destroy it as soon as I can,’ ” Harry read out.

“‘我偷走了真正的魂器，并打算尽快销毁它。’”哈利大声念道。

“Well, what if he did finish it off?” said Ron.

“是啊，如果他已经把它毁了呢？”罗恩说。

“Or she,” interposed Hermione.

“说不定这人还是个女的呢。”赫敏插嘴说。

“Whichever,” said Ron, “it’d be one less for us to do!”

“不管是谁，”罗恩说，“我们的任务都少了一个！”

“Yes, but we’re still going to have to try and trace the real locket, aren’t we?” said Hermione, “to find out whether or not it’s destroyed.”

“是啊，但我们还是要争取找到真正的挂坠盒，不是吗？”赫敏说，“弄清它是不是真的被毁掉了。”

“And once we get hold of it, how do you destroy a Horcrux?” asked Ron.

“那么，如果我们弄到了一个魂器，怎么把它毁掉呢？”罗恩问。

“Well,” said Hermione, “I’ve been researching that.”

“这个嘛，”赫敏说，“我一直在研究。”

“How?” asked Harry. “I didn’t think there were any books on Horcruxes in the library?”

“怎么研究？”哈利问，“我记得图书馆里好像没有关于魂器的书啊？”

“There weren’t,” said Hermione, who had turned pink. “Dumbledore removed them all, but he — he didn’t destroy them.”

“确实没有，”赫敏微微红了红脸，说道，“邓布利多把这些书都转移了，但他——他并没有把它们销毁。”

Ron sat up straight, wide-eyed.

罗恩腾地坐直身子，睁大了眼睛。

“How in the name of Merlin’s pants have you managed to get your hands on those Horcrux books?”

“看在梅林裤子的分儿上，你是怎么弄到那些魂器书的？”

“It — it wasn’t stealing!” said Hermione, looking from Harry to Ron with a kind of desperation. “They were still library books, even if Dumbledore had taken them off the shelves. Anyway, if he really didn’t want anyone to get at them, I’m sure he would have made it much harder to —”

“我——我没有偷！”赫敏说着，恳求般地看看哈利又看看罗恩，“它们还是图书馆的书，虽然邓布利多把它们从架子上拿走了。如果他真的不想让人得到它们，我相信他会设置更大的障碍——”

“Get to the point!” said Ron.

“回答我的问题！”罗恩说。

“Well . . . it was easy,” said Hermione in a small voice. “I just did a Summoning Charm. You know — Accio. And — they zoomed out of Dumbledore’s study window right into the girls’ dormitory.”

“其实……其实挺简单的，”赫敏声音小小地说，“我只施了一个飞来咒。你们知道——就是飞来飞去。然后——它们就从邓布利多书房的窗户直接飞进了女生宿舍。”

“But when did you do this?” Harry asked, regarding Hermione with a mixture of admiration and incredulity.

“你是什么时候做这件事的？”哈利既钦佩又不敢相信地看着赫敏，问道。

“Just after his — Dumbledore’s — funeral,” said Hermione in an even smaller voice. “Right after we agreed we’d leave school and go and look for the Horcruxes. When I went back upstairs to get my things it — it just occurred to me that the more we knew about them, the better it would be . . . and I was alone in there . . . so I tried . . . and it worked. They flew straight in through the open window and I — I packed them.”

“就在他——邓布利多——的葬礼后不久，”赫敏的声音更小了，“就在我们决定离开学校去找魂器之后。我上楼拿我的东西，我——我突然想到，我们对魂器了解得越多越有利……当时宿舍里就我一个人……我试了试……没想到竟然成了。它们直接从敞开的窗口飞了进来，我——我就把它们收进了行李。”

She swallowed and then said imploringly, “I can’t believe Dumbledore would have been angry, it’s not as though we’re going to use the information to make a Horcrux, is it?”

她咽了口唾沫，又恳求地说：“我相信邓布利多不会生气的，我们又不是要利用这些知识去制造魂器，不是吗？”

“Can you hear us complaining?” said Ron. “Where are these books anyway?”

“你听到我们怪你了吗？”罗恩说，“好啦好啦，那些书究竟在哪儿？”

Hermione rummaged for a moment and then extracted from the pile a large volume, bound in faded black leather. She looked a little nauseated and held it as gingerly as if it were something recently dead.

赫敏翻找了一会儿，从那堆书里抽出一本褐色的黑皮面的大部头。她露出厌恶的神情，小心翼翼地把书递过来，就好像那是某种刚刚死去的东西。

“This is the one that gives explicit instructions on how to make a Horcrux. Secrets of the Darkest Art — it’s a horrible book, really awful, full of evil magic. I wonder when Dumbledore removed it from the library. . . . If he didn’t do it until he was headmaster, I bet Voldemort got all the instruction he needed from here.”

“这本书里详细讲述了如何制造魂器。《尖端黑魔法揭秘》——是一本很吓人的书，非常可怕，里面全是邪恶的魔法。我不知道邓布利多是什么时候把它从图书馆里拿走的……如果是在他当了校长之后，我敢说伏地魔已经从里面得到了他需要的所有知识。”

“Why did he have to ask Slughorn how to make a Horcrux, then, if he’d already read that?” asked Ron.

“如果伏地魔已经读过了这本书，他为什么还要问斯拉格霍恩怎么制造魂器呢？”罗恩问。

“He only approached Slughorn to find out what would happen if you split your soul into seven,” said Harry. “Dumbledore was sure Riddle already knew how to make a Horcrux by the time he asked Slughorn about them. I think you’re right, Hermione, that could easily have been where he got the information.”

“他接近斯拉格霍恩只是为了弄清把灵魂分裂成七份后会怎么样。”哈利说道，“邓布利多相信，里德尔向斯拉格霍恩打听这些的时候已经知道怎么制造魂器。我想你是对的，赫敏，他很可能就是从这里得到的知识。”

“And the more I’ve read about them,” said Hermione, “the more horrible they seem, and the less I can believe that he actually made six. It warns in this book how unstable you make the rest of your soul by ripping it, and that’s just by making one Horcrux!”

“关于魂器的内容，”赫敏说，“我越读越觉得可怕，真不敢相信他居然弄了六个。这本书里警告说，分裂灵魂会使你的灵魂变得很不稳定，而那还只是制造一个魂器！”

Harry remembered what Dumbledore had said about Voldemort moving beyond “usual evil.”

哈利想起邓布利多曾经说过伏地魔已经超出了“一般邪恶”的范围。

“Isn’t there any way of putting yourself back together?” Ron asked.

“还有办法让自己重新变得完整吗？”罗恩问。

“Yes,” said Hermione with a hollow smile, “but it would be excruciatingly painful.”

“有，”赫敏干巴巴地笑了笑说，“但那是极度痛苦的。”

“Why? How do you do it?” asked Harry.

“为什么？要怎么做呢？”哈利问。

“Remorse,” said Hermione. “You’ve got to really feel what you’ve done. There’s a footnote. Apparently the pain of it can destroy you. I can’t see Voldemort attempting it somehow, can you?”

“忏悔，”赫敏说，“必须真正感受你的所作所为。书里有个注解，似乎这种痛苦就能把你摧毁。我看伏地魔并没有打算这么做，你们说呢？”

“No,” said Ron, before Harry could answer. “So does it say how to destroy Horcruxes in that book?”

“对，”罗恩抢在哈利前面说，“那么书里有没有说怎么毁掉魂器呢？”

“Yes,” said Hermione, now turning the fragile pages as if examining rotting entrails, “because it warns Dark wizards how strong they have to make the enchantments on them. From all that I’ve read, what Harry did to Riddle’s diary was one of the few really foolproof ways of destroying a Horcrux.”

“说了，”赫敏一边说着，一边翻动松脆的书页，就像在检查腐烂的内脏似的，“书里提醒黑巫师必须让魂器上的魔咒非常强大才行。从我读到的内容看，哈利对付里德尔那本日记的做法，就是少数几种绝对可靠的摧毁魂器的方式。”

“What, stabbing it with a basilisk fang?” asked Harry.

“什么，用蛇怪的毒牙刺它？”哈利问。

“Oh well, lucky we’ve got such a large supply of basilisk fangs, then,” said Ron. “I was wondering what we were going to do with them.”

“嗬，好啊，幸亏我们有这么多蛇怪的毒牙，”罗恩说，“我还发愁拿它们怎么办呢。”

“It doesn’t have to be a basilisk fang,” said Hermione patiently. “It has to be something so destructive that the Horcrux can’t repair itself. Basilisk venom only has one antidote, and it’s incredibly rare —

“并不一定是蛇怪的毒牙，”赫敏耐心地说，“必须是破坏力极强的东西，使魂器再也不能修复。蛇怪的毒牙只有一种解药，那是极为稀罕的——”

“— phoenix tears,” said Harry, nodding.

“——凤凰的眼泪。”哈利点着头说。

“Exactly,” said Hermione. “Our problem is that there are very few substances as destructive as basilisk venom, and they’re all dangerous to carry around with you. That’s a problem we’re going to have to solve, though, because ripping, smashing, or crushing a Horcrux won’t do the trick. You’ve got to put it beyond magical repair.”

“对极了，”赫敏说，“我们的问题是，像蛇怪毒牙那样破坏性极强的东西很少，而且带在身边十分危险。这个问题必须解决，因为把魂器撕碎砸烂、碾成粉末都不管用。你必须使它再也无法用魔法修复。”

“But even if we wreck the thing it lives in,” said Ron, “why can’t the bit of soul in it just go and live in something else?”

“可是，就算我们毁掉了它寄居的东西，”罗恩说，“它里面的灵魂碎片为什么不能跑出来住到别的东西里呢？”

“Because a Horcrux is the complete opposite of a human being.”

“因为魂器和人的灵魂正好相反。”看到哈利和罗恩脸上不解的神情，赫敏急忙继续说道，“比如，罗恩，我现在拿起一把宝剑，刺穿你的身体，你的灵魂还是安然无恙。”

Seeing that Harry and Ron looked thoroughly confused, Hermione hurried on, “Look, if I picked up a sword right now, Ron, and ran you through with it, I wouldn’t damage your soul at all.”

“那可真是不幸中的万幸。”罗恩说。

“Which would be a real comfort to me, I’m sure,” said Ron. Harry laughed.

哈利笑了起来。

“It should be, actually! But my point is that whatever happens to your body, your soul will survive, untouched,” said Hermione. “But it’s the other way round with a Horcrux. The fragment of soul inside it depends on its container, its enchanted body, for survival. It can’t exist without it.”

“确实！应该是！但我想说的是，不管你的身体发生了什么事，你的灵魂都会毫无损伤地继续活着，”赫敏说，“但是魂器正好相反。它里面的灵魂碎片之所以存活，完全依赖于它的容器，依赖于他那施了魔法的载体，不然它就无法生存。”

“That diary sort of died when I stabbed it,” said Harry, remembering ink pouring like blood from the punctured pages, and the screams of the piece of Voldemort’s soul as it vanished.

“我刺中那本日记，它好像就死去了。”哈利想起墨水像鲜血一样从被刺穿的书页里喷出来，还有伏地魔的灵魂碎片消失是的尖叫。

“And once the diary was properly destroyed, the bit of soul trapped in it could no longer exist. Ginny tried to get rid of the diary before you did, flushing it away, but obviously it came back good as new.”

“日记一旦被彻底毁掉了，关在里面的灵魂碎片也就不能继续存活。在你之前，金妮也试过摆脱这本日记，把它扔在马桶里冲掉，但显然它又完好无损地回来了。”

“Hang on,” said Ron, frowning. “The bit of soul in that diary was possessing Ginny, wasn’t it? How does that work, then?”

“且慢，”罗恩皱着眉头说，“那本日记里的灵魂碎片把金妮控制住了，对吗？那又是怎么回事呢？”

“While the magical container is still intact, the bit of soul inside it can flit in and out of someone if they get too close to the object. I don’t mean holding it for too long, it’s nothing to do with touching it,” she added before Ron could speak. “I mean close emotionally. Ginny poured her heart out into that diary, she made herself incredibly vulnerable. You’re in trouble if you get too fond of or dependent on the Horcrux.”

“只要魔法容器完好，它里面的灵魂碎片就能在接近容器的某个人的体内飞进飞出。我指的不是把它拿在手里很长时间，这跟接触没有关系，”她不等罗恩开口就继续说道，“我指的是感情上的接近。金妮把她的情感全部倾注于那本日记，就使她自己变得非常容易受到支配。如果你过于喜欢或依赖魂器，就有麻烦了。”

“I wonder how Dumbledore destroyed the ring?” said Harry. “Why didn’t I ask him? I never really . . .”

“真不知道邓布利多是怎么毁掉那枚戒指的，”哈利说，“我为什么没有问问他呢？我从来没有真正……”

His voice tailed away: He was thinking of all the things he should have asked Dumbledore, and of how, since the headmaster had died, it seemed to Harry that he had wasted so many opportunities when Dumbledore had been alive, to find out more . . . to find out everything. . . .

他的声音低下去。他想起了有那么多事情应该问问邓布利多，想起了自从校长死后，他觉得自己在邓布利多活着时浪费了那么多机会，没有弄清更多的事情……弄清一切……

The silence was shattered as the bedroom door flew open with a wall-shaking crash. Hermione shrieked and dropped Secrets of the Darkest Art; Crookshanks streaked under the bed, hissing indignantly; Ron jumped off the bed, skidded on a discarded Chocolate Frog wrapper, and smacked his head on the opposite wall; and Harry instinctively dived for his wand before realizing that he was looking up at Mrs. Weasley, whose hair was disheveled and whose face was contorted with rage.

沉默突然被打得粉碎，卧室的门被猛地撞开了，震得墙壁发抖。赫敏尖叫一声，《尖端黑魔法揭秘》掉在地上，克鲁克山哧溜蹿到床底下，气咻咻地嘶嘶叫着。罗恩从床上猛跳起来，脚踩在一张巧克力蛙糖纸上一滑，脑袋重重地撞在对面墙上。哈利本能地去拔魔杖，随即发现站在他面前的是韦斯莱夫人，她头发凌乱，脸都气歪了。

“I’m so sorry to break up this cozy little gathering,” she said, her voice trembling. “I’m sure you all need your rest . . . but there are wedding presents stacked in my room that need sorting out and I was under the impression that you had agreed to help.”

“真抱歉，打搅了这场亲密的小聚会，”她声音发抖地说，“我相信你们都需要休息……可是我房间里堆着婚礼用的礼品需要分类，我好像记得你们答应要来帮忙的。”

“Oh yes,” said Hermione, looking terrified as she leapt to her feet, sending books flying in every direction, “we will . . . we’re sorry . . .”

“噢，是的，”赫敏惊慌失措地一下子站起来，书散落得到处都是，“我们会的……真对不起……”

With an anguished look at Harry and Ron, Hermione hurried out of the room after Mrs. Weasley.

赫敏痛苦地看了一眼哈利和罗恩，跟着韦斯莱夫人匆匆离开了房间。

“It’s like being a house-elf,” complained Ron in an undertone, still massaging his head as he and Harry followed. “Except without the job satisfaction. The sooner this wedding’s over, the happier I’ll be.”

“简直像个家养小精灵了，”罗恩压低声音说，一边揉着脑袋，和哈利一起跟了出去，“只是没有工作成就感。我真巴不得这场婚礼赶快结束。”

“Yeah,” said Harry, “then we’ll have nothing to do except find Horcruxes. . . . It’ll be like a holiday, won’t it?”

“是啊，”哈利说，“然后我们就什么也不用做，专门去找魂器了……听着简直像过节一样呢，是不是？”

Ron started to laugh, but at the sight of the enormous pile of wedding presents waiting for them in Mrs. Weasley’s room, stopped quite abruptly.

罗恩刚想大笑，突然看见韦斯莱夫人房间里等着他们分类的结婚礼品堆积如山，他立刻不笑了。

The Delacours arrived the following morning at eleven o’clock. Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Ginny were feeling quite resentful toward Fleur’s family by this time, and it was with ill grace that Ron stumped back upstairs to put on matching socks, and Harry attempted to flatten his hair. Once they had all been deemed smart enough, they trooped out into the sunny backyard to await the visitors.

第二天上午十一点，德拉库尔一家三口来了。到这时候，哈利、罗恩、赫敏和金妮对芙蓉的家人已经是一肚子怨气了。罗恩满不情愿地嗵嗵走上楼去穿上配对的袜子，哈利很不乐意地试图把头发压平。好了，终于认为打扮得够体面了，他们便排着队来到阳光照耀的院子里，迎候客人。

Harry had never seen the place looking so tidy. The rusty cauldrons and old Wellington boots that usually littered the steps by the back door were gone, replaced by two new Flutterby bushes standing either side of the door in large pots; though there was no breeze, the leaves waved lazily, giving an attractive rippling effect. The chickens had been shut away, the yard had been swept, and the nearby garden had been pruned, plucked, and generally spruced up, although Harry, who liked it in its overgrown state, thought that it looked rather forlorn without its usual contingent of capering gnomes.

哈利从没见过院子显得这么整洁。平常散落在后门台阶上的锈坩埚和旧雨靴都不见了，取而代之的是两株新栽在大盆里的振翅灌木，门的两边各放一盆。虽然没有风，但叶子懒洋洋地舞动着，形成一种迷人的、微波涟漪的效果。鸡都关起来了，院子也清扫过了，近旁的花园都修剪装扮一新。不过哈利还是喜欢它蓬勃疯长的状态，觉得少了平常那些跳来跳去的地精，显得怪冷清的。

He had lost track of how many security enchantments had been placed upon the Burrow by both the Order and the Ministry; all he knew was that it was no longer possible for anybody to travel by magic directly into the place. Mr. Weasley had therefore gone to meet the Delacours on top of a nearby hill, where they were to arrive by Portkey. The first sound of their approach was an unusually high-pitched laugh, which turned out to be coming from Mr. Weasley, who appeared at the gate moments later, laden with luggage and leading a beautiful blonde woman in long, leaf-green robes, who could only be Fleur’s mother.

他已经弄不清凤凰社和魔法部究竟给陋居施了多少安全魔咒，他只知道任何人都不能再凭借魔法直接光临这里。所以，韦斯莱先生到附近一座山顶上去迎接通过门钥匙到达那里的德拉库尔一家。客人到来时，人们首先听到的是一声尖厉反常的大笑，原来却是韦斯莱先生发出来的。片刻之后他出现在门口，提着沉重的行李，领着一位穿着叶绿色长袍的美丽的金发女人，她无疑便是芙蓉的母亲。

“Maman!” cried Fleur, rushing forward to embrace her. “Papa!”

“妈妈！”芙蓉大喊一声，冲过去拥抱她，“爸爸！”

Monsieur Delacour was nowhere near as attractive as his wife; he was a head shorter and extremely plump, with a little, pointed black beard. However, he looked good-natured. Bouncing toward Mrs. Weasley on high-heeled boots, he kissed her twice on each cheek, leaving her flustered.

德拉库尔先生无不及妻子那么迷人。他比妻子矮一头，胖墩墩的，留着尖尖的小黑胡子。不过，看上去他脾气倒是很好。他踩着高跟靴子快步走到韦斯莱夫人跟前，在她两边腮帮子上吻了两下，韦斯莱夫人受宠若惊。

“You ’ave been to much trouble,” he said in a deep voice. “Fleur tells us you ’ave been working very ’ard.”

“真是太麻烦你们了，”他用低沉的声音说，“芙蓉告诉我们，你们一直在辛苦忙碌。”

“Oh, it’s been nothing, nothing!” trilled Mrs. Weasley. “No trouble at all!”

“哦，那没什么，没什么！”韦斯莱夫人声音颤颤地说道，“一点儿也不麻烦！”

Ron relieved his feelings by aiming a kick at a gnome who was peering out from behind one of the new Flutterby bushes.

罗恩为了解恨，冲着一个在一盆新栽的振翅灌木后面探头探脑的地精踢去。

“Dear lady!” said Monsieur Delacour, still holding Mrs. Weasley’s hand between his own two plump ones and beaming. “We are most honored at the approaching union of our two families! Let me present my wife, Apolline.”

“亲爱的夫人！”德拉库尔先生说，他满脸带笑，两只胖乎乎的手仍然握着韦斯莱夫人的手，“对于我们两家即将联姻，我们感到万分荣幸！请允许我介绍一下我的妻子，阿波琳。”

Madame Delacour glided forward and stooped to kiss Mrs. Weasley too.

德拉库尔夫人脚步轻盈地走上去，也俯身亲吻了韦斯莱夫人。

“Enchantée,” she said. “Your ’usband ’as been telling us such amusing stories!”

“太迷人了，（原文为法语）”她说，“您丈夫给我们讲的故事真有趣！”

Mr. Weasley gave a maniacal laugh; Mrs. Weasley threw him a look, upon which he became immediately silent and assumed an expression appropriate to the sickbed of a close friend.

韦斯莱先生发出神经质的笑声，韦斯莱夫人朝着他横了一眼，他立刻不吭声了，脸上露出像是坐在好友病床边的表情。

“And, of course, you ’ave met my leetle daughter, Gabrielle!” said Monsieur Delacour. Gabrielle was Fleur in miniature; eleven years old, with waist-length hair of pure, silvery blonde, she gave Mrs. Weasley a dazzling smile and hugged her, then threw Harry a glowing look, batting her eyelashes. Ginny cleared her throat loudly.

“不用说，你们已经见过我的小女儿加布丽了！”德拉库尔先生说。

“Well, come in, do!” said Mrs. Weasley brightly, and she ushered the Delacours into the house, with many “No, please!”s and “After you!”s and “Not at all!”s.

加布丽是芙蓉的小型翻版，十一岁，一头齐腰的纯银色长发，她朝韦斯莱夫人露出一个灿烂的笑容，拥抱了她一下，然后用放电的眼睛看着哈利，扑闪扑闪着眼睫毛。金妮大声清了清嗓子。

The Delacours, it soon transpired, were helpful, pleasant guests. They were pleased with everything and keen to assist with the preparations for the wedding. Monsieur Delacour pronounced everything from the seating plan to the bridesmaids’ shoes “Charmant!” Madame Delacour was most accomplished at household spells and had the oven properly cleaned in a trice; Gabrielle followed her elder sister around, trying to assist in any way she could and jabbering away in rapid French.

“好了，进来吧！”韦斯莱夫人愉快地说，把德拉库尔一家让进房间，嘴里不停地说着“不，您请！”“您在前！”和“没有什么！”

On the downside, the Burrow was not built to accommodate so many people. Mr. and Mrs. Weasley were now sleeping in the sitting room, having shouted down Monsieur and Madame Delacour’s protests and insisted they take their bedroom. Gabrielle was sleeping with Fleur in Percy’s old room, and Bill would be sharing with Charlie, his best man, once Charlie arrived from Romania. Opportunities to make plans together became virtually nonexistent, and it was in desperation that Harry, Ron, and Hermione took to volunteering to feed the chickens just to escape the overcrowded house.

大家很快发现，德拉库尔一家是令人愉快的客人，对别人很有帮助。他们对一切都很满意，而且积极帮忙筹备婚礼。从座次安排，到伴娘的鞋子，德拉库尔先生一概表示“太可爱了！（原文为法语）”德拉库尔夫人在家务咒语方面真是一把好手，一眨眼工夫就把烤炉擦得干干净净。加布丽像小尾巴一样跟着姐姐，一边尽力帮点儿忙，一边用法语叽叽喳喳地说个不停。

“But she still won’t leave us alone!” snarled Ron, as their second attempt at a meeting in the yard was foiled by the appearance of Mrs. Weasley carrying a large basket of laundry in her arms.

不利的是，陋居的结构容纳不了这么多人。韦斯莱夫妇大声嚷嚷着压倒德拉库尔夫妇的反对，坚持让客人睡在他们的卧室，他们自己则睡在客厅里。加布丽和芙蓉一起睡在珀西以前的房间里，伴郎查理从罗马尼亚回来后，将和比尔合住一屋。这样一来，哈利、罗恩和赫敏根本就不可能凑在一起商量计划了，情急之下，他们为了避开过分拥挤的房子，主动跑去喂鸡。

“Oh, good, you’ve fed the chickens,” she called as she approached them. “We’d better shut them away again before the men arrive tomorrow . . . to put up the tent for the wedding,” she explained, pausing to lean against the henhouse. She looked exhausted. “Millamant’s Magic Marquees . . . they’re very good, Bill’s escorting them. . . . You’d better stay inside while they’re here, Harry. I must say it does complicate organizing a wedding, having all these security spells around the place.”

“她还是不让我们单独待着！”罗恩咆哮道，刚才他们第二次想在院子里碰头，韦斯莱夫人提着一大篮洗好的衣服出现了，挫败了他们的计划。

“I’m sorry,” said Harry humbly.

“噢，很好，你们喂了鸡，”她走过来大声说，“我们最好把鸡再关起来，明天有人要来……为婚礼搭帐篷。”她停下来靠在鸡棚上解释说，神情显得很疲惫。“米拉芒的魔法帐篷……美妙极了，比尔陪他们一起过来……哈利，他们在这里的时候，你最好待在屋里。唉，周围弄了这么多安全魔咒，办一场婚礼变得真复杂啊。”

“Oh, don’t be silly, dear!” said Mrs. Weasley at once. “I didn’t mean — well, your safety’s much more important! Actually, I’ve been wanting to ask you how you want to celebrate your birthday, Harry. Seventeen, after all, it’s an important day. . . .”

“对不起。”哈利过意不去地说。

“I don’t want a fuss,” said Harry quickly, envisaging the additional strain this would put on them all. “Really, Mrs. Weasley, just a normal dinner would be fine. . . . It’s the day before the wedding. . . .”

“哦，别说傻话，亲爱的！”韦斯莱夫人立刻说道，“我不是那个意思——唉，你的安全才是顶顶重要的！对了，我一直想问你希望怎么庆祝你的生日，哈利。十七岁啊，这毕竟是个重要的日子……”

“Oh, well, if you’re sure, dear. I’ll invite Remus and Tonks, shall I? And how about Hagrid?”

“我不想兴师动众，”哈利设想这事会给他们增加压力，赶紧说道，“真的……韦斯莱夫人，一顿平平常常的晚餐就行了……就在婚礼的前一天……”

“That’d be great,” said Harry. “But please don’t go to loads of trouble.”

“哦，好吧，亲爱的，如果你真这样想。我邀请莱姆斯和唐克斯，好吗？海格呢？”

“Not at all, not at all . . . It’s no trouble. . . .”

“那太棒了，”哈利说，“可是千万别太麻烦了。”

She looked at him, a long, searching look, then smiled a little sadly, straightened up, and walked away. Harry watched as she waved her wand near the washing line, and the damp clothes rose into the air to hang themselves up, and suddenly he felt a great wave of remorse for the inconvenience and the pain he was giving her.

“没有，没有……一点儿也不麻烦……”

她用探究的目光久久地望着哈利，然后有点凄楚地笑笑，直起身子走开了。哈利注视着她在晾衣绳旁挥舞着魔杖，那些湿衣服自动飞到空中挂了起来。他突然感到一阵强烈的悔恨，他给韦斯莱夫人带来的麻烦和痛苦太多了。

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