16 Professor Trelawney’s Prediction

CHAPTER SIXTEEN Professor Trelawney's Prediction Harry's euphoria at finally winning the Quidditch Cup lasted at least a week. Even the weather seemed to be celebrating; as June approached, the days became cloudless and sultry, and all anybody felt like doing was strolling into the grounds and flopping down on the grass with several pints of iced pumpkin juice, perhaps playing a casual game of Gobstones or watching the giant squid propel itself dreamily across the surface of the lake. But they couldn't. The exams were nearly upon them, and instead of lazing around outside, the

第十六章特里劳妮教授的预言哈利终于赢得魁地奇杯的喜悦至少持续了一个星期。 就连天气似乎也在庆祝；随着六月的临近，天气变得晴朗而闷热，所有人想做的事情就是在操场上散步，喝几品脱冰南瓜汁，在草地上扑倒，或者随便玩一场戈布石游戏，或者看着巨大的鱿鱼在湖面上梦幻般的滑行。 但他们做不到。考试快到了，他们没有在外面闲荡，而是

students were forced to remain inside the castle, trying to bully their brains into concentrating while enticing wafts of summer air drifted in through the windows. Even Fred and George Weasley had been spotted working; they were about to take their O.W.Ls (Ordinary Wizarding Levels). Percy was getting ready to sit his N.E.W.Ts (Nastily Exhausting Wizarding Tests), the highest qualification Hogwarts offered. As Percy hoped to enter the Ministry of Magic, he needed top grades. He was becoming increasingly edgy, and gave very severe punishments to anybody who disturbed the quiet of the common room in the evenings. In fact, the only person who seemed more anxious than Percy was Hermione. Harry and Ron had given up asking her how she was managing to attend several classes at once, but they couldn't restrain themselves when they saw the exam timetable she had drawn up for herself. The first column read: MONDAY 9 o'clock, Arithmancy

学生们被迫呆在城堡里，试图强迫自己的大脑集中注意力，同时诱人的夏日空气从窗户飘进来。 就连弗雷德和乔治·韦斯莱也在干活。他们即将参加O.W.Ls（普通巫师等级考试）考试。 珀西正准备参加n.e.w.t.考试，这是霍格沃茨提供的最高资格考试。 由于珀西希望进入魔法部，他需要取得好成绩。 他变得越来越急躁，凡是在晚上扰乱公共休息室安静的人都会受到严厉的惩罚。 事实上，唯一比珀西更焦虑的人是赫敏。 哈利和罗恩本不想问她是怎么做到同时上几门课的，但当他们看到她为自己制定的考试时间表时，他们忍不住了。 第一栏写着：星期一九点，算术占卜课

9 o'clock, Transfiguration Lunch 1 o'clock, Charms 1 o'clock, Ancient Runes 'Hermione?' Ron said cautiously, because she was liable to explode when interrupted these days. 'Er–are you sure you've copied down these times right?' 'What?' snapped Hermione, picking up the exam timetable and examining it. 'Yes, of course I have.' 'Is there any point asking how you're going to sit two exams at once?' said Harry. 'No,' said Hermione shortly. 'Has either of you seen my copy of Numerology and Grammatica?' 'Oh, yeah, I borrowed it for a bit of bedtime reading,' said Ron, but very quietly. Hermione started shifting heaps of parchment around on her table, looking for the book. Just then, there was a rustle at the window and Hedwig fluttered through it, a note clutched tightly in her beak.

九点钟，变形课午餐一点钟，魔咒课一点钟，古魔文课赫敏？”罗恩小心翼翼地说，因为这些日子她一受到打扰就容易发脾气。 “你——你确定你把这些时间记对了吗？”“什么?赫敏厉声说，拿起考试时间表仔细看了看。 “是的，我当然看过。“问你怎么能同时参加两门考试有什么意义吗？”哈利问。 “没有。”赫敏简短地说。 “你们谁看到我那本《命理学和语法》了吗？”“哦，是啊，我借它是为了在睡前读点东西。”罗恩说，但声音很轻。 赫敏开始在桌子上翻动一堆堆羊皮纸，寻找那本书。 就在这时，窗户传来一阵沙沙声，海德薇飞了进来，嘴里紧紧地叼着一张纸条。

'It's from Hagrid,' said Harry, ripping the note open. 'Buckbeak's appeal–it's set for the sixth.' 'That's the day we finish our exams,' said Hermione, still looking everywhere for her Arithmancy book. 'And they're coming up here to do it,' said Harry, still reading from the letter. 'Someone from the Ministry of Magic and–and an executioner.' Hermione looked up, startled. 'They're bringing the executioner to the appeal! But that sounds as though they've already decided!' 'Yeah, it does,' said Harry slowly. 'They can't!' Ron howled. 'I've spent ages reading up stuff for him, they can't just ignore it all!' But Harry had a horrible feeling that the Committee for the Disposal of Dangerous Creatures had had its mind made up for it by Mr Malfoy. Draco, who had been noticeably subdued since Gryffindor's triumph in the Quidditch final, seemed to regain some of his old swagger over the

“是海格寄来的。”哈利说着把信撕开。 “巴克比克的上诉——定在六号。“那是我们完成考试的日子。”赫敏说，仍然在到处找她的算术占卜书。 “他们要到这里来做这件事。”哈利说，仍然在读那封信。 “魔法部的人，还有一个刽子手。”赫敏吃惊地抬起头来。 “他们要把刽子手带到上诉法庭来！”但听起来好像他们已经决定了！“是啊，有关系。”哈利慢慢地说。 “不能!”罗恩嚎叫起来。“我花了很长时间为他阅读资料，他们不能就这么不理！”但是哈利有一种可怕的感觉，马尔福先生已经决定了处置危险生物委员会的决定。 自从格兰芬多队在魁地奇决赛中获胜以来，德拉科明显显得闷闷不乐，现在他似乎又恢复了往日的神气

next few days. From sneering comments Harry overheard, Malfoy was certain Buckbeak was going to be killed, and seemed thoroughly pleased with himself for bringing it about. It was all Harry could do to stop himself imitating Hermione and hitting Malfoy in the face on these occasions. And the worst thing of all was that they had no time or opportunity to go and see Hagrid, because the strict new security measures had not been lifted, and Harry didn't dare retrieve his Invisibility Cloak from below the one-eyed witch. Exam week began and an unnatural hush fell over the castle. The third-years emerged from Transfiguration at lunch-time on Monday limp and ashen-faced, comparing results and bemoaning the difficulty of the tasks they had been set, which had included turning a teapot into a tortoise. Hermione irritated the rest by fussing about how her tortoise had looked more like a turtle, which was the least of everyone else's worries. 'Mine still had a spout for a tail, what a nightmare…'

接下来的几天。从哈利无意中听到的讥笑中，马尔福确信巴克比克会被杀死，而且似乎对自己促成了这一结果非常满意。 在这种情况下，哈利唯一能做的就是不去模仿赫敏，不去打马尔福的脸。 最糟糕的是，他们既没有时间也没有机会去看海格，因为严格的新安全措施还没有解除，哈利又不敢从独眼女巫身下取出他的隐形衣。 考试周开始了，城堡里一片不自然的寂静。 星期一午饭时间，三年级的学生们从变形课上出来，面色苍白，四肢无力。他们一边比较成绩，一边抱怨布置给他们的任务太难了，其中包括把茶壶变成乌龟。 赫敏没完没了地抱怨她的乌龟怎么看起来更像一只乌龟，惹恼了其他人，这是大家最不担心的。 “我的尾巴上还有个喷水，真是个噩梦……”

'Were the tortoises supposed to breathe steam?' 'It still had a willow-patterned shell, d'you think that'll count against me?' Then, after a hasty lunch, it was straight back upstairs for the Charms exam. Hermione had been right; Professor Flitwick did indeed test them on Cheering Charms. Harry slightly overdid his out of nerves and Ron, who was partnering him, ended up in fits of hysterical laughter and had to be led away to a quiet room for an hour before he was ready to perform the Charm himself. After dinner, the students hurried back to their common rooms, not to relax, but to start revising for Care of Magical Creatures, Potions and Astronomy. Hagrid presided over the Care of Magical Creatures exam the following morning with a very preoccupied air indeed; his heart didn't seem to be in it at all. He had provided a large tub of fresh Flobberworms for the class, and told them that, to pass the test, their Flobberworm had to still be alive at the end of one hour. As Flobberworms flourished best if left to their own devices, it was the easiest exam any of them had ever sat, and

“乌龟应该呼吸蒸汽吗？”“它还有一个柳树图案的壳，你认为这会对我不利吗？”匆匆吃过午饭后，他们就直接上楼去参加魔咒考试了。 赫敏是对的；弗立维教授确实给他们考了快乐咒。 哈利有点过度紧张，和他搭档的罗恩最后歇斯底里地大笑起来，不得不被带到一个安静的房间里，等了一个小时，他才准备好自己施那个魔咒。 晚饭后，学生们匆匆回到公共休息室，不是为了放松，而是开始复习保护神奇生物课、魔药课和天文学。 第二天早上，海格主持保护神奇生物课的考试，他的神情确实很出神。他的心似乎完全不在这件事上。 他给全班同学准备了一大盆新鲜的弗洛伯毛虫，并告诉他们，要想通过测试，他们的弗洛伯毛虫必须在一小时后仍然活着。 弗洛伯虫只有顺其自然才能茁壮成长，所以这是它们参加过的最简单的考试