16 The Chamber of Secrets

CHAPTER SIXTEEN THE CHAMBER OF SECRETS All those times we were in that bathroom, and she was just three toilets away," said Ron bitterly at breakfast next day, "and we could've asked her, and now..." It had been hard enough trying to look for spiders. Escaping their teachers long enough to sneak into a girls' bathroom, the girls' bathroom, moreover, right next to the scene of the first attack, was going to be almost impossible.

第十六章密室我们在盥洗室里的那些时候，她就在离我们只有三个厕所的地方，”第二天吃早饭时罗恩痛苦地说，“我们本可以问她的，可现在……” 寻找蜘蛛已经够难的了。 想要从老师那里逃脱足够长的时间，溜进女生洗手间，而且女生洗手间就在第一次袭击的现场旁边，这几乎是不可能的。

But something happened in their first lesson, Transfiguration, that drove the Chamber of Secrets out of their minds for the first time in weeks. Ten minutes into the class, Professor McGonagall told them that their exams would start on the first of June, one week from today. "Exams?" howled Seamus Finnigan. "We're still getting exams?" There was a loud bang behind Harry as Neville Longbottom's wand slipped, vanishing one of the legs on his desk. Professor McGonagall restored it with a wave of her own wand, and turned, frowning, to Seamus. "The whole point of keeping the school open at this time is for you to receive your education," she said sternly. "The exams will therefore take place as usual, and I trust you are all studying hard." Studying hard! It had never occurred to Harry that there would be exams with the castle in this state. There was a great deal of mutinous

但是在他们的第一节变形课上发生了一件事，几个星期以来第一次把密室抛在了脑后。 上了十分钟课，麦格教授告诉他们，考试将在六月一日开始，离今天还有一个星期。 “考试？”西莫·斐尼甘吼道。 “我们还要考试？”哈利身后砰的一声巨响，纳威隆巴顿的魔杖一滑，桌子上的一条腿消失了。 麦格教授一挥魔杖，把它恢复了原状，然后皱着眉头转向西莫。 她严厉地说：“在这个时候让学校继续开放，就是为了让你们接受教育。” “因此，考试将照常进行，我相信你们都在努力学习。” 努力学习!哈利从来没有想到，城堡这么乱，还会有考试。 发生了大量的叛乱

muttering around the room, which made Professor McGonagall scowl even more darkly. "Professor Dumbledore's instructions were to keep the school running as normally as possible," she said. "And that, I need hardly point out, means finding out how much you have learned this year." Harry looked down at the pair of white rabbits he was supposed to be turning into slippers. What had he learned so far this year? He couldn't seem to think of anything that would be useful in an exam. Ron looked as though he'd just been told he had to go and live in the Forbidden Forest. "Can you imagine me taking exams with this?" he asked Harry, holding up his wand, which had just started whistling loudly. Three days before their first exam, Professor McGonagall made another announcement at breakfast.

这使麦格教授更加阴沉地皱着眉头。 “邓布利多教授的指示是尽可能保持学校正常运转。”她说。 “而这，我不用说了，意味着要知道你今年学了多少东西。” 哈利低头看着那对小白兔，他本来要把它们变成拖鞋的。 今年到目前为止，他学到了什么？ 他似乎想不出什么东西对考试有用。 罗恩看上去好像刚刚被告知他必须去禁林生活。 “你能想象我拿着这个参加考试吗？”他举起魔杖问哈利，魔杖刚刚开始发出响亮的呼啸声。 离他们第一次考试还有三天，麦格教授在早餐时又宣布了一条消息。

"I have good news," she said, and the Great Hall, instead of falling silent, erupted. "Dumbledore's coming back!" several people yelled joyfully. "You've caught the Heir of Slytherin!" squealed a girl at the Ravenclaw table. "Quidditch matches are back on!" roared Wood excitedly. When the hubbub had subsided, Professor McGonagall said, "Professor Sprout has informed me that the Mandrakes are ready for cutting at last. Tonight, we will be able to revive those people who have been Petrified. I need hardly remind you all that one of them may well be able to tell us who, or what, attacked them. I am hopeful that this dreadful year will end with our catching the culprit." There was an explosion of cheering. Harry looked over at the Slytherin table and wasn't at all surprised to see that Draco Malfoy hadn't joined

“我有好消息。”她说，礼堂里没有安静下来，而是爆发了起来。 “邓布利多回来了！”几个人高兴地喊道。 “你们抓住了斯莱特林的继承人！”拉文克劳餐桌上的一个女孩尖叫道。 “魁地奇比赛又开始了！”伍德兴奋地吼道。 喧闹声平息后，麦格教授说：“斯普劳特教授告诉我，曼德拉草终于可以割了。 今晚，我们将能够复活那些被石化的人。 我不需要提醒大家，他们中的一个很可能能告诉我们是谁，或者是什么袭击了他们。 我希望这可怕的一年能以我们抓住罪犯而告终。” 爆发出一阵欢呼声。 哈利朝斯莱特林的桌子望去，看到德拉科·马尔福没有参加，他一点也不感到奇怪

in. Ron, however, was looking happier than he'd looked in days. "It won't matter that we never asked Myrtle, then!" he said to Harry. "Hermione'll probably have all the answers when they wake her up! Mind you, she'll go crazy when she finds out we've got exams in three days' time. She hasn't studied. It might be kinder to leave her where she is till they're over." Just then, Ginny Weasley came over and sat down next to Ron. She looked tense and nervous, and Harry noticed that her hands were twisting in her lap. "What's up?" said Ron, helping himself to more porridge. Ginny didn't say anything, but glanced up and down the Gryffindor table with a scared look on her face that reminded Harry of someone, though he couldn't think who. "Spit it out," said Ron, watching her.

在。然而，罗恩却比几天前更高兴了。 “那么，我们不邀请桃金娘也没关系了！”他对哈利说。 “等他们把赫敏叫醒，她可能就知道所有的答案了！”告诉你，如果她知道我们还有三天就要考试了，她会发疯的。 她没有学习。还是让她待在原地，等他们结束吧。” 就在这时，金妮·韦斯莱走了过来，坐在罗恩旁边。 她看上去又紧张又紧张，哈利注意到她的手在膝盖上扭来扭去。 “怎么啦？”罗恩说，又给自己添了些粥。 金妮什么也没说，只是在格兰芬多的桌子上扫视了一下，脸上露出惊恐的表情，这使哈利想起了一个人，但他想不起来是谁。 “说吧。”罗恩说，看着她。

Harry suddenly realized who Ginny looked like. She was rocking backward and forward slightly in her chair, exactly like Dobby did when he was teetering on the edge of revealing forbidden information. "I've got to tell you something," Ginny mumbled, carefully not looking at Harry. "What is it?" said Harry. Ginny looked as though she couldn't find the right words. "What?" said Ron. Ginny opened her mouth, but no sound came out. Harry leaned forward and spoke quietly, so that only Ginny and Ron could hear him. "Is it something about the Chamber of Secrets? Have you seen something? Someone acting oddly?" Ginny drew a deep breath and, at that precise moment, Percy Weasley appeared, looking tired and wan.

哈利突然意识到金妮长得像谁。 她在椅子上微微前后摇晃着，就像多比在泄露禁忌信息的边缘摇摇欲坠时所做的那样。 “我必须告诉你一件事。”金妮嘟囔着，小心地不去看哈利。 “是什么？”哈利问。金妮似乎找不到合适的字眼。 “什么？”罗恩说。金妮张开嘴，但没有发出声音。 哈利身体前倾，小声说话，这样只有金妮和罗恩能听见。 “是关于密室的事吗？” 你看到什么了吗？有人举止奇怪吗？”金妮深吸了一口气，就在这时，珀西·韦斯莱出现了，看上去疲惫而苍白。