14 Cornelius Fudge

CHAPTER FOURTEEN CORNELIUS FUDGE Harry, Ron, and Hermione had always known that Hagrid had an unfortunate liking for large and monstrous creatures. During their first year at Hogwarts he had tried to raise a dragon in his little wooden house, and it would be a long time before they forgot the giant, threeheaded dog he'd christened "Fluffy." And if, as a boy, Hagrid had heard that a monster was hidden somewhere in the castle, Harry was sure he'd have

第十四章康奈利·福吉哈利、罗恩和赫敏早就知道，不幸的是，海格喜欢大型的怪物。 在霍格沃茨的第一年，他曾试图在他的小木屋里养一条龙，过了很长时间，他们才忘记了那只被他命名为“路威”的三头大狗。 如果海格小时候听说城堡里藏着一只怪物，哈利肯定他会知道的

gone to any lengths for a glimpse of it. He'd probably thought it was a shame that the monster had been cooped up so long, and thought it deserved the chance to stretch its many legs; Harry could just imagine the thirteen-year-old Hagrid trying to fit a leash and collar on it. But he was equally certain that Hagrid would never have meant to kill anybody. Harry half wished he hadn't found out how to work Riddle's diary. Again and again Ron and Hermione made him recount what he'd seen, until he was heartily sick of telling them and sick of the long, circular conversations that followed. "Riddle might have got the wrong person," said Hermione. "Maybe it was some other monster that was attacking people...." "How many monsters d'you think this place can hold?" Ron asked dully. "We always knew Hagrid had been expelled," said Harry miserably. "And the attacks must've

竭尽全力想看一眼。 他大概觉得这怪物被关了这么久太可惜了，应该给它个机会伸展一下它的两条腿；哈利简直可以想象十三岁的海格试图给它套上皮带和项圈的情景。 但他同样确信，海格绝不会有意杀人。 哈利有点希望自己没有发现如何破解里德尔的日记。 罗恩和赫敏一遍又一遍地让他讲述他所看到的一切，直到他从心底里厌倦了告诉他们，厌倦了随后的长时间、循环的谈话。 “里德尔可能找错人了。”赫敏说。 “也许是其他的怪物在攻击人类....” “你觉得这个地方能关多少怪物？”罗恩沉闷地问。 “我们早就知道海格被开除了。”哈利痛苦地说。 “一定是袭击造成的

stopped after Hagrid was kicked out. Otherwise, Riddle wouldn't have got his award." Ron tried a different tack. "Riddle does sound like Percy — who asked him to squeal on Hagrid, anyway?" "But the monster had killed someone, Ron," said Hermione. "And Riddle was going to go back to some Muggle orphanage if they closed Hogwarts," said Harry. "I don't blame him for wanting to stay here...." "You met Hagrid down Knockturn Alley, didn't you, Harry?" "He was buying a Flesh-Eating Slug Repellent," said Harry quickly. The three of them fell silent. After a long pause, Hermione voiced the knottiest question of all in a hesitant voice. "Do you think we should go and ask Hagrid about it all?"

海格被赶出学校后，他就停止了。 否则，里德尔就不会得奖了。” 罗恩尝试了另一种策略。 “里德尔听起来真像珀西——是珀西让他告发海格的？”“可是那个怪物杀了人啊，罗恩。”赫敏说。 “如果他们关闭霍格沃茨，里德尔就会回到某个麻瓜孤儿院去。”哈利说。 “我不怪他想留在这里....” “你是在翻倒巷遇见海格的，是不是，哈利？”“他在买一种驱除食肉鼻涕虫的药。”哈利赶紧说。 他们三个人沉默了。 过了好一会儿，赫敏用犹豫的声音问了一个最棘手的问题。 “你觉得我们是不是应该去问问海格？”

"That'd be a cheerful visit," said Ron. "'Hello, Hagrid. Tell us, have you been setting anything mad and hairy loose in the castle lately?'" In the end, they decided that they would not say anything to Hagrid unless there was another attack, and as more and more days went by with no whisper from the disembodied voice, they became hopeful that they would never need to talk to him about why he had been expelled. It was now nearly four months since Justin and Nearly Headless Nick had been Petrified, and nearly everybody seemed to think that the attacker, whoever it was, had retired for good. Peeves had finally got bored of his "Oh, Potter, you rotter" song, Ernie Macmillan asked Harry quite politely to pass a bucket of leaping toadstools in Herbology one day, and in March several of the Mandrakes threw a loud and raucous party in greenhouse three. ikcjeo. This made Professor Sprout very happy.

“那将是一次愉快的拜访。”罗恩说。 “你好,海格。告诉我们，你最近有没有在城堡里放什么疯疯癫癫的东西出来？’”最后，他们决定，除非再次发生袭击，否则什么也不告诉海格。随着时间一天天过去，那个没有实体的声音再也没有发出一丝低语，他们开始抱有希望，希望自己再也不用跟海格谈他被开除的原因了。 贾斯廷和差点没头的尼克被石化已经快四个月了，几乎每个人似乎都认为那个攻击者，不管他是谁，已经永远地消失了。 皮皮鬼终于厌倦了他那首“哦，波特，你这个混蛋”的歌。一天，在草药课上，厄尼·麦克米伦很礼貌地请哈利把一桶跳跃的毒菌递给他。三月份，几棵曼德拉草在三号温室里举办了一场喧闹的晚会。 这使斯普劳特教授非常高兴。

"The moment they start trying to move into each other's pots, we'll know they're fully mature," she told Harry. "Then we'll be able to revive those poor people in the hospital wing." The second years were given something new to think about during their Easter holidays. The time had come to choose their subjects for the third year, a matter that Hermione, at least, took very seriously. "It could affect our whole future," she told Harry and Ron as they pored over lists of new subjects, marking them with checks. "I just want to give up Potions," said Harry. "We can't," said Ron gloomily. "We keep all our old subjects, or I'd've ditched Defense Against the Dark Arts." "But that's very important!" said Hermione, shocked.

“当它们开始试着钻进彼此的花盆时，我们就知道它们完全成熟了。”她告诉哈利。 “这样我们就能救活医院里那些可怜的人了。” 二年级的学生在复活节假期有了新的思考。 到了选择三年级课程的时候了，至少赫敏非常认真地对待这件事。 “它可能会影响我们的整个未来。”她对哈利和罗恩说，这时他们正在仔细研究新科目的名单，用支票在上面做记号。 “我只想放弃魔药课。”哈利说。 “我们不能。”罗恩沮丧地说。 “我们保留了所有的老课程，否则我早就放弃黑魔法防御术了。” “但这很重要！”赫敏吃惊地说。

"Not the way Lockhart teaches it," said Ron. "I haven't learned anything from him except not to set pixies loose." Neville Longbottom had been sent letters from all the witches and wizards in his family, all giving him different advice on what to choose. Confused and worried, he sat reading the subject lists with his tongue poking out, asking people whether they thought Arithmancy sounded more difficult than Study of Ancient Runes. Dean Thomas, who, like Harry, had grown up with Muggles, ended up closing his eyes and jabbing his wand at the list, then picking the subjects it landed on. Hermione took nobody's advice but signed up for everything. Harry smiled grimly to himself at the thought of what Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia would say if he tried to discuss his career in wizardry with them. Not that he didn't get any guidance: Percy Weasley was eager to share his experience.

“不是洛哈特教的那种。”罗恩说。 “除了不要放小精灵，我什么也没从他身上学到。” 纳威·隆巴顿家里所有的巫师都给他寄来了信，都给了他不同的建议。 他又困惑又担心，坐在那里看着课程表，嘴里吐着舌头，问大家算术占卜听起来是不是比《古代符文研究》更难。 迪安·托马斯和哈利一样，也是在麻瓜的环境中长大的，最后他闭上眼睛，用魔杖朝名单上一戳，然后挑出落在上面的科目。 赫敏不听任何人的劝告，什么都报名参加。 哈利暗自苦笑，因为他想到如果他和弗农姨父和佩妮姨妈讨论他的魔法生涯，他们会怎么说。 他并不是没有得到任何指导：珀西·韦斯莱渴望分享他的经验。