8
CHAPTER EIGHT: THE POTIONS MASTER
第８章 魔药课老师
There, look."
「就在那边，快看。」
"Where?"
「哪边？」
"Next to the tall kid with the red hair."
「在高个红头发男生旁边。」
"Wearing the glasses?"
「那个戴眼镜的？」
"Did you see his face?"
「你看见他的脸了吗？」
"Did you see his scar?"
「看见他那道伤疤了吗？」
Whispers followed Harry from the moment he left his dormitory the next day. People lining up outside classrooms stood on tiptoe to get a look at him, or doubled back to pass him in the corridors again, staring. Harry wished they wouldn't, because he was trying to concentrate on finding his way to classes.
第二天，哈利走出寝室，这些窃窃私语就一直紧追着他。学生们在教室外排着长队，个个踮着脚尖，想一睹他的真面目。在走廊里，他们从他身边走过去，又折回来，死死地盯着他看。哈利希望他们不要这样，因为他要集中注意力寻找去教室的路。
There were a hundred and forty-two staircases at Hogwarts: wide, sweeping ones; narrow, rickety ones; some that led somewhere different on a Friday; some with a vanishing step halfway up that you had to remember to jump. Then there were doors that wouldn't open unless you asked politely, or tickled them in exactly the right place, and doors that weren't really doors at all, but solid walls just pretending. It was also very hard to remember where anything was, because it all seemed to move around a lot. The people in the portraits kept going to visit each other, and Harry was sure the coats of armor could walk.
霍格沃茨的楼梯总共有一百四十二处之多。它们有的又宽又大；有的又窄又小，而且摇摇晃晃；有的每逢星期五就通到不同的地方；有些上到半截，一个台阶会突然消失，你得记住在什么地方应当跳过去。另外，这里还有许多门，如果你不客客气气地请它们打开，或者确切地捅对地方，它们是不会为你开门的；还有些门根本不是真正的门，只是一堵堵貌似是门的坚固的墙壁。想要记住哪些东西在什么地方很不容易，因为一切似乎都在不停地移动。画像上的人也不断地互访，而且哈利可以肯定，连甲胄都会行走。
The ghosts didn't help, either. It was always a nasty shock when one of them glided suddenly through a door you were trying to open. Nearly Headless Nick was always happy to point new Gryffindors in the right direction, but Peeves the Poltergeist was worth two locked doors and a trick staircase if you met him when you were late for class. He would drop wastepaper baskets on your head, pull rugs from under your feet, pelt you with bits of chalk, or sneak up behind you, invisible, grab your nose, and screech, "GOT YOUR CONK!"
你拿幽灵们也没有办法。常常是当你正要开一扇门时，一个幽灵突然从门后蹿出来，吓你一大跳。差点没头的尼克当然乐意为格兰芬多的新生们指路；可如果你上课已经要迟到，但偏偏又碰上喜欢恶作剧的皮皮鬼，那就比碰到上了锁的两道门外加一道机关重重的楼梯更加难办了。他会把废纸篓扣到你头上，抽掉你脚下的地毯，朝你扔粉笔头，或是偷偷跟在你背后，趁你看不见的时候，抓住你的鼻子大声尖叫：「揪住你的鼻子喽！」
Even worse than Peeves, if that was possible, was the caretaker, Argus Filch. Harry and Ron managed to get on the wrong side of him on their very first morning. Filch found them trying to force their way through a door that unluckily turned out to be the entrance to the out-of-bounds corridor on the third floor. He wouldn't believe they were lost, was sure they were trying to break into it on purpose, and was threatening to lock them in the dungeons when they were rescued by Professor Quirrell, who was passing.
如果还有什么比皮皮鬼更糟糕的，那就要数管理员阿格斯费尔奇了。开学的第一天早上，罗恩和哈利就跟费尔奇之间产生了芥蒂。费尔奇发现他们硬要闯一道门，而那道门正好是通往四楼禁区走廊的入口。费尔奇不相信他们是迷了路，认为他们故意要闯，便威胁着要把他们锁进地牢，幸亏奇洛教授刚好经过这里，帮他们解了围。
Filch owned a cat called Mrs. Norris, a scrawny, dust-colored creature with bulging, lamp like eyes just like Filch's. She patrolled the corridors alone. Break a rule in front of her, put just one toe out of line, and she'd whisk off for Filch, who'd appear, wheezing, two seconds later. Filch knew the secret passageways of the school better than anyone (except perhaps the Weasley twins) and could pop up as suddenly as any of the ghosts. The students all hated him, and it was the dearest ambition of many to give Mrs. Norris a good kick.
费尔奇养了一只猫，名叫洛丽丝夫人。这只骨瘦如柴、毛色暗灰的活物长着像费尔奇那样灯泡似的鼓眼睛。它经常独自在走廊里巡逻。如果当它的面犯规，即使一个脚趾尖出线，它也会飞快地跑去找费尔奇。两分钟后，费尔奇就会吭哧吭哧、连吁带喘地跑过来。费尔奇比谁都清楚校园里的秘密通道（也许韦斯莱家的孪生兄弟除外），而且会像幽灵一样冷不丁蹿出来。同学们对他恨之入骨，许多人都恨不得照他的洛丽丝夫人狠狠地踹上一脚。
And then, once you had managed to find them, there were the classes themselves. There was a lot more to magic, as Harry quickly found out, than waving your wand and saying a few funny words.
然后，一旦你找到教室，那就要面对课程本身了。哈利很快发现除了挥动你的魔杖，念几句好玩的咒语之外，魔法还有许多很高深的学问呢。
They had to study the night skies through their telescopes every Wednesday at midnight and learn the names of different stars and the movements of the planets. Three times a week they went out to the greenhouses behind the castle to study Herbology, with a dumpy little witch called Professor Sprout, where they learned how to take care of all the strange plants and fungi, and found out what they were used for.
每星期三晚上，他们都要用望远镜观测星空，学习不同星星的名称和行星运行的轨迹。一周三次，他们都要由一个叫斯普劳特的矮胖女巫带着到城堡后边的温室去研读药草学，学习如何培育这些奇异的植物和菌类并了解它们的用途。
Easily the most boring class was History of Magic, which was the only one taught by a ghost. Professor Binns had been very old indeed when he had fallen asleep in front of the staff room fire and got up next morning to teach, leaving his body behind him. Binns droned on and on while they scribbled down names and dates, and got Emetic the Evil and Uric the Oddball mixed up.
最令人厌烦的课程大概要算魔法史了，这也是惟一由幽灵教授的课程。想当年宾斯教授在教员休息室的壁炉前睡着了，第二天早上去上课时竟忘记带上自己的身体，足见宾斯教授确实已经很老了。上课时宾斯教授用单调乏味的声音不停地讲，学生们则潦潦草草地记下人名和日期，把恶人墨瑞克和怪人尤里克也搞混了。
Professor Flitwick, the Charms teacher, was a tiny little wizard who had to stand on a pile of books to see over his desk. At the start of their first class he took the roll call, and when he reached Harry's name he gave an excited squeak and toppled out of sight.
教授魔咒的是一位身材小得出奇的男巫弗立维教授，上课时他只得站在一摞书上，这才够得着讲桌。开始上第一堂课时，他拿出名册点名，念到哈利的名字时，他激动得尖叫了一声，倒在地上不见了。
Professor McGonagall was again different. Harry had been quite right to think she wasn't a teacher to cross. Strict and clever, she gave them a talking-to the moment they sat down in her first class.
麦格教授跟他们不一样。哈利没有看错。他一眼就看出这位教授不好对付。她严格、聪明，他们刚坐下来上第一堂课她就给他们来了个下马威。
"Transfiguration is some of the most complex and dangerous magic you will learn at Hogwarts," she said. "Anyone messing around in my class will leave and not come back. You have been warned."
「变形术是你们在霍格沃茨课程中最复杂也是最危险的法术。」她说，「任何人要在我的课堂上调皮捣蛋，我就请他出去，永远不准他再进来。我可是警告过你们了。」
Then she changed her desk into a pig and back again. They were all very impressed and couldn't wait to get started, but soon realized they weren't going to be changing the furniture into animals for a long time. After taking a lot of complicated notes, they were each given a match and started trying to turn it into a needle. By the end of the lesson, only Hermione Granger had made any difference to her match; Professor McGonagall showed the class how it had gone all silver and pointy and gave Hermione a rare smile.
然后，她把她的讲桌变成了一头猪，然后又变了回来。学生们个个都被吸引了，恨不能马上开始学，可他们很快就明白，要把家具变成动物，还需要好长一段时间呢。他们记下了一大堆复杂艰深的笔记之后，她发给他们每人一根火柴，开始让他们试着变成一根针。到下课的时候，只有赫敏格兰杰让她的火柴起了些变化；麦格教授让全班看火柴怎么变成针的，而且一头还很尖，又向赫敏露出了难得的微笑。
The class everyone had really been looking forward to was Defense Against the Dark Arts, but Quirrell's lessons turned out to be a bit of a joke. His classroom smelled strongly of garlic, which everyone said was to ward off a vampire he'd met in Romania and was afraid would be coming back to get him one of these days. His turban, he told them, had been given to him by an African prince as a thank-you for getting rid of a troublesome zombie, but they weren't sure they believed this story. For one thing, when Seamus Finnigan asked eagerly to hear how Quirrell had fought off the zombie, Quirrell went pink and started talking about the weather; for another, they had noticed that a funny smell hung around the turban, and the Weasley twins insisted that it was stuffed full of garlic as well, so that Quirrell was protected wherever he went.
全班真正期待的课程是黑魔法防御术。可是奇洛教授这一课几乎成了一场笑话。他上课的教室里充满了一股大蒜味，人人都说这是为了驱走他在罗马尼亚遇到的一个吸血鬼，怕那个吸血鬼会回过头来抓他。他告诉他们，他的大围巾是一位非洲王子送给他的礼物，那位王子为了答谢他帮助他摆脱了还魂僵尸的纠缠，不过谁也说不上是真的相信他说的这个故事。首先，当西莫·斐尼甘急不可耐地问奇洛教授是怎么打败还魂僵尸的时候，教授满脸涨得通红，含含糊糊。说起了天气；其次，他们发现他那块大围巾也散发出一股怪味，韦斯莱家的孪生兄弟坚持说那里面肯定也塞满了大蒜。这样无论奇洛教授走到哪里，他都有了防护。
Harry was very relieved to find out that he wasn't miles behind everyone else. Lots of people had come from Muggle families and, like him, hadn't had any idea that they were witches and wizards. There was so much to learn that even people like Ron didn't have much of a head start.
哈利发现自己和大家也不过五十步与百步之差，于是大大地松了一口气。这里许多人像他一样，来自麻瓜家庭，根本没有想到自己会是男女巫师。他们需要学习的东西太多，就连像罗恩这样巫术世家出身的人也不见得领先多少。
Friday was an important day for Harry and Ron. They finally managed to find their way down to the Great Hall for breakfast without getting lost once.
星期五，对哈利和罗恩来说是一个关键的日子。他们终于找到了去餐厅吃早饭的路，中途没有迷失方向。
"What have we got today?" Harry asked Ron as he poured sugar on his porridge.
「今天我们都有哪些课？」哈利一边往麦片粥里放糖，一边问罗恩。
"Double Potions with the Slytherins," said Ron. "Snape's Head of Slytherin House. They say he always favors them -- we'll be able to see if it's true."
「跟斯莱特林的学生们一起上两节魔药课。」罗恩说，「斯内普是斯莱特林学院院长，都说他偏向自己的学生，现在倒可以看看是不是真是这样。」
"Wish McGonagall favored us, " said Harry.
「但愿麦格教授也能偏向我们。」哈利说。
Professor McGonagall was head of Gryffindor House, but it hadn't stopped her from giving them a huge pile of homework the day before.
麦格教授是格兰芬多学院的院长，但她昨天照样给他们留了一大堆作业。
Just then, the mail arrived. Harry had gotten used to this by now, but it had given him a bit of a shock on the first morning, when about a hundred owls had suddenly streamed into the Great Hall during breakfast, circling the tables until they saw their owners, and dropping letters and packages onto their laps.
就在这时，邮件到了。现在哈利已经习惯了。可是在第一天吃早饭的时候。百十来只猫头鹰突然飞进餐厅，着实把他吓了一跳。这些猫头鹰围着餐桌飞来飞去，直到找到各自的主人，把信件或包裹扔到他们腿上。
Hedwig hadn't brought Harry anything so far. She sometimes flew in to nibble his ear and have a bit of toast before going off to sleep in the owlery with the other school owls. This morning, however, she fluttered down between the marmalade and the sugar bowl and dropped a note onto Harry's plate. Harry tore it open at once. It said, in a very untidy scrawl:
到目前为止，海德薇还没有给哈利带来过任何东西。它有时飞进来啄一下哈利的耳朵，讨上一小口吐司，然后飞回猫头鹰屋，和校园里的其它猫头鹰一起睡觉去了。但是今天早上，它却扑棱着翅膀落到果酱盘和糖罐之间，将一张字条放到了哈利的餐盘上。哈利即刻把字条打开。
Dear Harry, I know you get Friday afternoons off, so would you like to come and have a cup of tea with me around three? I want to hear all about your first week. Send us an answer back with Hedwig. Hagrid
亲爱的哈利：（字迹非常潦草零乱）我知道你星期五下午没有课，不知能否在午后三时前后过来和我一起喝茶？我很想知道你第一周的情况。请让海德薇给我一个回音。海格
Harry borrowed Ron's quill, scribbled Yes, please, see you later on the back of the note, and sent Hedwig off again.
哈利向罗恩借来羽毛笔在字条背面匆匆写道：好的，我很乐意，不久见。然后就让海德薇飞走了。
It was lucky that Harry had tea with Hagrid to look forward to, because the Potions lesson turned out to be the worst thing that had happened to him so far.
幸好哈利还有跟海格一起喝茶这么个盼头，因为魔药课是哈利进霍格沃茨之后最厌烦的一门课程。
At the start-of-term banquet, Harry had gotten the idea that Professor Snape disliked him. By the end of the first Potions lesson, he knew he'd been wrong. Snape didn't dislike Harry -- he hated him.
在开学宴会上，哈利就感觉到斯内普教授不喜欢他。第一节魔药课结束的时候，他才知道自己想错了。斯内普教授不是不喜欢他，而是恨他。
Potions lessons took place down in one of the dungeons. It was colder here than up in the main castle, and would have been quite creepy enough without the pickled animals floating in glass jars all around the walls.
魔药课是在一间地下教室里上课。这里要比上边城堡主楼阴冷。沿墙摆放着玻璃罐，里面浸泡的动物标本更令你瑟瑟发抖。
Snape, like Flitwick, started the class by taking the roll call, and like Flitwick, he paused at Harry's name.
斯内普和弗立维一样，一上课就拿起名册，而且也像弗立维一样，点到哈利的名字时总停下来。
"Ah, Yes," he said softly, "Harry Potter. Our new -- celebrity."
「哦，是的，」他小声说，「哈利波特，这是我们新来的……鼎鼎大名的人物啊。」
Draco Malfoy and his friends Crabbe and Goyle sniggered behind their hands. Snape finished calling the names and looked up at the class. His eyes were black like Hagrid's, but they had none of Hagrid's warmth. They were cold and empty and made you think of dark tunnels.
德拉科马尔福和他的朋友克拉布和高尔用手捂着嘴吃吃地笑起来。斯内普点完名，便抬眼看着全班同学，眼睛像海格的一样乌黑，却没有海格的那股暖意。他的眼睛冷漠、空洞，使你想到两条漆黑的隧道。
"You are here to learn the subtle science and exact art of potionmaking," he began. He spoke in barely more than a whisper, but they caught every word -- like Professor McGonagall, Snape had y caught every word -- like Professor McGonagall, Snape had the gift of keeping a class silent without effort. "As there is little foolish wand-waving here, many of you will hardly believe this is magic. I don't expect you will really understand the beauty of the softly simmering cauldron with its shimmering fumes, the delicate power of liquids that creep through human veins, bewitching the mind, ensnaring the senses.... I can teach you how to bottle fame, brew glory, even stopper death -- if you aren't as big a bunch of dunderheads as I usually have to teach."
「你们到这里来为的是学习这门魔药配制的精密科学和严格工艺。」他开口说，说话的声音几乎比耳语略高一些，但人人都听清了他说的每一个字。像麦格教授一样，斯内普教授也有不费吹灰之力能让教室秩序井然的威慑力量。「由于这里没有傻乎乎地挥动魔杖，所以你们中间有许多人不会相信这是魔法。我并不指望你们能真正领会那文火慢煨的大锅冒着白烟、飘出阵阵清香的美妙所在，你们不会真正懂得流入人们血管的液体，令人心荡神驰、意志迷离的那种神妙的魔力……我可以教会你们怎样提高声望，酿造荣耀，甚至阻止死亡——但必须有一条，那就是你们不是我经常遇到的那种笨蛋傻瓜才行。」
More silence followed this little speech. Harry and Ron exchanged looks with raised eyebrows. Hermione Granger was on the edge of her seat and looked desperate to start proving that she wasn't a dunderhead.
他讲完短短的开场白之后，全班哑然无声。哈利和罗恩扬了扬眉，交换了一下眼色。赫敏格兰杰几乎挪到椅子边上，朝前探着身子，看来是急于证明自己不是笨蛋傻瓜。
"Potter!" said Snape suddenly. "What would I get if I added powdered root of asphodel to an infusion of wormwood?"
「波特！」斯内普突然说，「如果我把水仙根粉末加入艾草浸液，会得到什么？」
Powdered root of what to an infusion of what? Harry glanced at Ron, who looked as stumped as he was; Hermione's hand had shot into the air.
什么草根粉末放到什么溶液里？哈利看了罗恩一眼，罗恩跟他一样，也怔住了；赫敏的手臂高高地举到空中。
"I don't know, sit," said Harry.
「我不知道，先生。」哈利说。
Snape's lips curled into a sneer.
斯内普轻蔑地撇了撇嘴。
"Tut, tut -- fame clearly isn't everything."
「啧，啧……看来名气并不能代表一切。」
He ignored Hermione's hand.
斯内普有意不去理会赫敏高举的手臂。
"Let's try again. Potter, where would you look if I told you to find me a bezoar?"
「让我们再试一次吧。波特，如果我要你去给我找一块牛黄，你会到哪里去找？」
Hermione stretched her hand as high into the air as it would go without her leaving her seat, but Harry didn't have the faintest idea what a bezoar was. He tried not to look at Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle, who were shaking with laughter.
赫敏尽量在不离开座位的情况下，把手举得老高，哈利却根本不知道牛黄是什么。他尽量不去看马尔福、克拉布和高尔，他们三人笑得浑身发颤。
"I don't know, sit."
「我不知道，先生。」
"Thought you wouldn't open a book before coming, eh, Potter?"
「我想，你在开学前一本书也没有翻过，是吧，波特？」
Harry forced himself to keep looking straight into those cold eyes. He had looked through his books at the Dursleys', but did Snape expect him to remember everything in One Thousand Magical Herbs and Fungi?
哈利强迫自己直勾勾地盯着他那对冷漠的眼睛。在德思礼家时，他确实把所有的书都翻过了，但是难道斯内普能要求他把《千种神奇药草与蕈类》的内容都背下来吗？
Snape was still ignoring Hermione's quivering hand.
斯内普仍旧没有理会赫敏颤抖的手臂。
"What is the difference, Potter, between monkshood and wolfsbane?"
「波特，那你说说舟形乌头和狼毒乌头有什么区别？」
At this, Hermione stood up, her hand stretching toward the dungeon ceiling.
这时，赫敏站了起来，她的手笔直伸向地下教室的顶棚。
"I don't know," said Harry quietly. "I think Hermione does, though, why don't you try her?"
「我不知道，」哈利小声说，「不过，我想，赫敏知道答案，您为什么不问问她呢？」
A few people laughed; Harry caught Seamus's eye, and Seamus winked. Snape, however, was not pleased.
有几个学生笑出声来。哈利碰到了西莫的目光，西莫朝他使了个眼色。斯内普当然很不高兴。
"Sit down," he snapped at Hermione. "For your information, Potter, asphodel and wormwood make a sleeping potion so powerful it is known as the Draught of Living Death. A bezoar is a stone taken from the stomach of a goat and it will save you from most poisons. As for monkshood and wolfsbane, they are the same plant, which also goes by the name of aconite. Well? Why aren't you all copying that down?"
「坐下，」他对赫敏怒喝道，「让我来告诉你吧，波特，水仙根粉和艾草加在一起可以配制成一种效力很强的安眠药，就是一服生死水。牛黄是从牛的胃里取出来的一种石头，有极强的解毒作用。至于舟形乌头和狼毒乌头则是同一种植物，也统称乌头。明白了吗？你们为什么不把这些都记下来？」
There was a sudden rummaging for quills and parchment. Over the noise, Snape said, "And a point will be taken from Gryffindor House for your cheek, Potter."
这时突然响起一阵摸索羽毛笔和羊皮纸的沙沙声。在一片嘈杂声中，斯内普说：「波特，由于你顶撞老师，格兰芬多会为此被扣掉一分。」
Things didn't improve for the Gryffindors as the Potions lesson continued. Snape put them all into pairs and set them to mixing up a simple potion to cure boils. He swept around in his long black cloak, watching them weigh dried nettles and crush snake fangs, criticizing almost everyone except Malfoy, whom he seemed to like. He was just telling everyone to look at the perfect way Malfoy had stewed his horned slugs when clouds of acid green smoke and a loud hissing filled the dungeon. Neville had somehow managed to melt Seamus's cauldron into a twisted blob, and their potion was seeping across the stone floor, burning holes in people's shoes. Within seconds, the whole class was standing on their stools while Neville, who had been drenched in the potion when the cauldron collapsed, moaned in pain as angry red boils sprang up all over his arms and legs.
魔药课继续上下去，但格兰芬多的学生们的处境并没有改善。斯内普把他们分成两人一组，指导他们混合调制一种治疗疥疮的简单药水。斯内普拖着他那件很长的黑斗篷在教室里走来走去，看他们称干荨麻，粉碎蛇的毒牙，几乎所有的学生都挨过批评，只有马尔福幸免，看来马尔福是斯内普偏爱的学生。正当他让大家看马尔福蒸煮带触角的鼻涕虫的方法多么完美时，地下教室里突然冒出一股酸性的绿色浓烟，传来一阵很响的咝咝声。纳威不知怎的把西莫的火锅烧成了歪歪扭扭的一块东西，锅里的药水泼到了石板地上，把同学们的鞋都烧出了洞。几秒钟内，全班同学都站到了凳子上，锅被打翻时，纳威浑身浸透了药水，这时他胳膊和腿上到处是红肿的疥疮，痛得他哇哇乱叫。
"Idiot boy!" snarled Snape, clearing the spilled potion away with one wave of his wand. "I suppose you added the porcupine quills before taking the cauldron off the fire?"
「白痴！」斯内普咆哮起来，挥起魔杖将泼在地上的药水一扫而光。「我想你大概是没有把锅从火上端开就把豪猪刺放进去了，是不是？」
Neville whimpered as boils started to pop up all over his nose.
纳威抽抽搭搭地哭起来，连鼻子上都突然冒出了许多疥疮。
"Take him up to the hospital wing," Snape spat at Seamus. Then he rounded on Harry and Ron, who had been working next to Neville.
「把他送到上面医院的病房去。」斯内普对西莫厉声说。接着他在哈利和罗恩身边转来转去，他们俩正好挨着纳威操作。
"You -- Potter -- why didn't you tell him not to add the quills? Thought he'd make you look good if he got it wrong, did you? That's another point you've lost for Gryffindor."
「波特，你为什么不告诉他不要加进豪猪刺呢？你以为他出了错就显出你好吗？格兰芬多又因为你丢了一分。」
This was so unfair that Harry opened his mouth to argue, but Ron kicked him behind their cauldron.
这也太不公平了，哈利正要开口辩解，罗恩在锅后边踢了他一脚。
"Doi* push it," he muttered, "I've heard Snape can turn very nasty."
「别胡来，」他小声说，「听说斯内普特别不讲理。」
As they climbed the steps out of the dungeon an hour later, Harry's mind was racing and his spirits were low. He'd lost two points for Gryffindor in his very first week -- why did Snape hate him so much?
一小时后，他们顺着阶梯爬出地下教室，哈利头脑里思绪翻滚，情绪低落。开学第一周格兰芬多就因为他被扣掉了两分，他不知道斯内普为什么这么恨他。
"Cheer up," said Ron, "Snape's always taking points off Fred and George. Can I come and meet Hagrid with you?"
「打起精神来，」罗恩说，「斯内普经常扣弗雷德和乔治的分。我能跟你一起去见海格吗？」
At five to three they left the castle and made their way across the grounds. Hagrid lived in a small wooden house on the edge of the forbidden forest. A crossbow and a pair of galoshes were outside the front door.
三点差五分，他们离开城堡穿过田野走去。海格住在禁林边缘的一间小木屋里，大门前有一张石弓和一双橡胶套鞋。
When Harry knocked they heard a frantic scrabbling from inside and several booming barks. Then Hagrid's voice rang out, saying, "Back, Fang -- back."
哈利敲门时，他们听见屋里传来一阵紧张的挣扎声和几声低沉的犬吠。接着传来海格的说话声：「往后退，牙牙，往后退。」
Hagrid's big, hairy face appeared in the crack as he pulled the door open.
海格把门开了一道缝，露出他满是胡须的大脸。
"Hang on," he said. "Back, Fang."
「等一等。」他说，「往后退，牙牙。」
He let them in, struggling to keep a hold on the collar of an enormous black boarhound.
海格把他们俩让了进去，一边拼命抓住一只庞大的黑色猎犬的项圈。
There was only one room inside. Hams and pheasants were hanging from the ceiling, a copper kettle was boiling on the open fire, and in the corner stood a massive bed with a patchwork quilt over it.
小木屋只有一个房间。天花板上挂着火腿、野鸡，火盆里用铜壶烧着开水，墙角里放着一张大床，床上是用碎布拼接的被褥。
"Make yerselves at home," said Hagrid, letting go of Fang, who bounded straight at Ron and started licking his ears. Like Hagrid, Fang was clearly not as fierce as he looked.
「不要客气。」海格说着，把牙牙放掉了。牙牙即刻纵身朝罗恩扑过去舔他的耳朵。像海格一样，牙牙显然也不像他的外表那样凶猛。
"This is Ron," Harry told Hagrid, who was pouring boiling water into a large teapot and putting rock cakes onto a plate.
「这是罗恩。」哈利对海格说。 海格正忙着把开水倒进一只大茶壶里，一边把岩皮饼1往餐盘里放。
"Another Weasley, eh?" said Hagrid, glancing at Ron's freckles. I spent half me life chasin' yer twin brothers away from the forest."
「又是一个韦斯莱家的小兄弟吧？」海格说，朝罗恩的满脸雀斑瞟了一眼。「为了把这对孪生兄弟赶出禁林，我几乎耗费了大半辈子的精力。」
The rock cakes were shapeless lumps with raisins that almost broke their teeth, but Harry and Ron pretended to be enjoying them as they told Hagrid all about their first -lessons. Fang rested his head on Harry's knee and drooled all over his robes.
岩皮饼差点把他们的牙都硌掉了。哈利和罗恩却装出很爱吃的样子，一边把这几天上课的情景讲给海格听。牙牙把头枕在哈利膝头上，口水把他的长袍都浸湿了一大片。
Harry and Ron were delighted to hear Hagrid call Fitch "that old git."
听海格管费尔奇叫「那个老饭桶」，哈利和罗恩很高兴。
"An' as fer that cat, Mrs. Norris, I'd like ter introduce her to Fang sometime. D'yeh know, every time I go up ter the school, she follows me everywhere? Can't get rid of her -- Fitch puts her up to it."
「至于那只猫，那个叫洛丽丝夫人的，有朝一日我真想把她介绍给我的牙牙认识认识。你们知道吗，每次我去学校，无论到哪里它都跟着我，甩也甩不掉，准是费尔奇让它这么干的。」
Harry told Hagrid about Snape's lesson. Hagrid, like Ron, told Harry not to worry about it, that Snape liked hardly any of the students.
哈利对海格讲了斯内普课上的事。海格跟罗恩一样，要哈利不要担心，因为斯内普几乎没有喜欢过任何学生。
"But he seemed to really hate me."
「可他好像真的很恨我。」
"Rubbish!" said Hagrid. "Why should he?"
「瞎说！」海格说，「他为什么要恨你？」
Yet Harry couldn't help thinking that Hagrid didn't quite meet his eyes when he said that.
可哈利总觉得海格在说这话时有些有意回避他的目光。
"How's yer brother Charlie?" Hagrid asked Ron. "I liked him a lot -- great with animals."
「你的哥哥查理怎么样？」海格问罗恩，「我很喜欢他——他对动物很有办法。」
Harry wondered if Hagrid had changed the subject on purpose. While Ron told Hagrid all about Charlie's work with dragons, Harry picked up a piece of paper that was lying on the table under the tea cozy. It was a cutting from the Daily Prophet:
哈利怀疑海格有意转移话题。罗恩向海格讲查理研究龙的情况时，哈利发现茶壶暖罩下压着一张小纸片，那是《预言家日报》上剪下来的一段报道。
GRINGOTTS BREAK-IN LATEST
古灵阁非法闯入事件最新报道
Investigations continue into the break-in at Gringotts on 31 July, widely believed to be the work of Dark wizards or witches unknown.
有关七月三十一日古灵阁非法闯入事件的调查仍在继续进行。普遍认为这是不知名的黑势力男女巫师所为。
Gringotts goblins today insisted that nothing had been taken. The vault that was searched had in fact been emptied the same day.
古灵阁的妖精们今日再度强调未被盗走任何东西。被闯入者搜索过的地下金库事实上已于当日早些时候提取一空。
"But we're not telling you what was in there, so keep your noses out if you know what's good for you," said a Gringotts spokesgoblin this afternoon.
一位古灵阁妖精发言人今日午后表示：金库中究竟存放何物，无可奉告，请勿干预此事为好。
Harry remembered Ron telling him on the train that someone had tried to rob Gringotts, but Ron hadn't mentioned the date.
哈利想起罗恩在火车上就对他说过有人试图抢劫古灵阁，不过罗恩没有告诉他具体日期。
"Hagrid!" said Harry, "that Gringotts break-in happened on my birthday! It might've been happening while we were there!"
「海格！」哈利说，「古灵阁闯入事件发生的那一天正好是我的生日。很可能事情发生的时候我们正好也在那里！」
There was no doubt about it, Hagrid definitely didn't meet Harry's eyes this time. He grunted and offered him another rock cake.
毫无疑问，海格这次确实不敢正视哈利的眼睛。他只哼了一声，又递给哈利一块岩皮饼。
Harry read the story again. The vault that was searched had in fact been emptied earlier that same day. Hagrid had emptied vault seven hundred and thirteen, if you could call it emptying, taking out that grubby little package. Had that been what the thieves were looking for?
哈利把这篇报道又看了一遍。被闯入者搜索过的地下金库事实上已于当日早些时候提取一空。如果拿走那个脏兮兮的小包就意味着提取一空的话，那么海格就已经把713号地下金库提取一空了。那个脏兮兮的小包难道就是闯入者要找的东西吗？
As Harry and Ron walked back to the castle for dinner, their pockets weighed down with rock cakes they'd been too polite to refuse, Harry thought that none of the lessons he'd had so far had given him as much to think about as tea with Hagrid. Had Hagrid collected that package just in time? Where was it now? And did Hagrid know something about Snape that he didn't want to tell Harry?
哈利和罗恩步行回城堡吃晚饭时，他们的衣袋里沉甸甸地装满了岩皮饼，出于礼貌，他们不好意思拒绝。 哈利觉得与海格喝了一下午茶后，需要他思考的问题要比这几天上课时需要思考的多得多了：海格及时拿到了那个小包吗？小包现在在什么地方？海格是不是知道一些关于斯内普的事情，但又不愿意告诉他呢？
1 一种表面粗硬，外形不规则的小甜饼。