3 The Knight Bus

CHAPTER THREE The Knight Bus Harry was several streets away before he collapsed onto a low wall in Magnolia Crescent, panting from the effort of dragging his trunk. He sat quite still, anger still surging through him, listening to the frantic thumping of his heart. But after ten minutes alone in the dark street, a new emotion overtook him: panic. Whichever way he looked at it, he had never been in a worse fix. He was stranded, quite alone, in the dark Muggle world, with absolutely nowhere to go. And the worst of it was, he had just done serious magic, which meant that he was almost certainly expelled from Hogwarts. He had broken the Decree for the Restriction of Underage Wizardry so badly, he

哈利走到几条街远的地方，倒在木兰花新月街的一堵矮墙上，拖着箱子喘着粗气。 他一动不动地坐着，愤怒仍在他全身涌动，听着他的心脏狂跳。 但在黑暗的街道上独自呆了十分钟后，一种新的情绪攫住了他：恐慌。 不管他怎么看，他从来没有遇到过这么糟糕的情况。 他被孤立无援地困在黑暗的麻瓜世界里，无处可去。 最糟糕的是，他刚刚使用了严重的魔法，这意味着他几乎肯定会被霍格沃茨开除。 他严重违反了未成年巫师限制法令，他

was surprised Ministry of Magic representatives weren't swooping down on him where he sat. Harry shivered and looked up and down Magnolia Crescent. What was going to happen to him? Would he be arrested, or would he simply be outlawed from the wizarding world? He thought of Ron and Hermione, and his heart sank even lower. Harry was sure that, criminal or not, Ron and Hermione would want to help him now, but they were both abroad, and with Hedwig gone, he had no means of contacting them. He didn't have any Muggle money, either. There was a little wizard gold in the moneybag at the bottom of his trunk, but the rest of the fortune his parents had left him was stored in a vault at Gringotts Wizarding Bank in London. He'd never be able to drag his trunk all the way to London. Unless… He looked down at his wand, which he was still clutching in his hand. If he was already expelled (his heart was now thumping painfully fast), a bit more magic couldn't hurt. He had the Invisibility Cloak he had inherited from his father–what if he

我很惊讶魔法部的代表没有在他坐着的地方突然扑到他身上。 哈利打了个寒颤，上下打量着木兰花新月街。 他会发生什么事？ 他会被逮捕，还是会被禁止进入魔法世界？ 他想起了罗恩和赫敏，心情更低落了。 哈利相信，不管是不是罪犯，罗恩和赫敏现在都愿意帮助他，但他们俩都在国外，海德薇走了，他没有办法联系上他们。 他也没有麻瓜的钱。 他衣箱底部的钱袋里有一点魔法界的黄金，但他父母留给他的其余财产都存放在伦敦古灵阁巫师银行的保险库里。 他不可能一路拖着箱子去伦敦。 除非……”他低头看了看手里还攥着的魔杖。 如果他已经被开除了（他的心跳得很厉害），再施点魔法也无妨。 他有从他父亲那里继承来的隐形衣——如果他

bewitched the trunk to make it feather-light, tied it to his broomstick, covered himself in the Cloak and flew to London? Then he could get the rest of his money out of his vault and… begin his life as an outcast. It was a horrible prospect, but he couldn't sit on this wall for ever or he'd find himself trying to explain to Muggle police why he was out in the dead of night with a trunkful of spellbooks and a broomstick. Harry opened his trunk again and pushed the contents aside, looking for the Invisibility Cloak–but before he had found it, he straightened up suddenly, looking around him once more. A funny prickling on the back of his neck had made Harry feel he was being watched, but the street appeared to be deserted, and no lights shone from any of the large square houses. He bent over his trunk again, but almost immediately stood up once more, his hand clenched on his wand. He had sensed rather than heard it: someone or something was standing in the narrow gap between the garage and the fence behind him. Harry squinted at the black alleyway.

对箱子施了魔法，使它变得像羽毛一样轻，把它绑在扫帚上，然后披上隐形衣飞到伦敦去了？ 然后他就可以把剩下的钱从他的保险库里拿出来，开始他被抛弃的生活。 这是一个可怕的前景，但他不能永远坐在这堵墙上，否则他会发现自己不得不向麻瓜警察解释，为什么他会在深夜带着一箱子咒语书和一把扫帚出去。 哈利又打开箱子，把里面的东西推到一边，寻找那件隐形衣——但还没找到，他就突然直起身子，再次环顾四周。 哈利脖子后面奇怪地刺痛了一下，觉得有人在监视他，但街上似乎没有人，任何一幢方形的大房子里都没有灯光。 他又弯下腰去，但几乎立刻又站了起来，手里紧握着魔杖。 他只是感觉到了，而不是听到了：有人或什么东西站在他身后车库和栅栏之间的狭窄缝隙里。 哈利眯着眼睛望着那条黑乎乎的小巷。

If only it would move, then he'd know whether it was just a stray cat or–something else. 'Lumos,' Harry muttered, and a light appeared at the end of his wand, almost dazzling him. He held it high over his head, and the pebble-dashed walls of number two suddenly sparkled; the garage door gleamed, and between them, Harry saw, quite distinctly, the hulking outline of something very big, with wide, gleaming eyes. Harry stepped backwards. His legs hit his trunk and he tripped. His wand flew out of his hand as he flung out an arm to break his fall, and he landed, hard, in the gutter. There was a deafening BANG and Harry threw up his hands to shield his eyes against a sudden blinding light… With a yell, he rolled back onto the pavement, just in time. A second later, a gigantic pair of wheels and headlights had screeched to a halt exactly where Harry had just been lying. They belonged, as Harry saw when he raised his head, to a triple-decker, violently purple bus, which had

要是它能动就好了，这样他就知道它是一只流浪猫还是别的什么了。 “荧光闪烁。”哈利喃喃道，他的魔杖末端出现了一道光，几乎让他眼花缭乱。 他把它高高地举过头顶，二号房间布满鹅卵石的墙壁突然闪闪发光；车库的门闪着光，在他们中间，哈利清楚地看到了一个巨大的东西的庞大轮廓，它的眼睛又大又亮。 哈利向后退了一步。他的腿撞上了鼻子，绊倒了。 他猛地伸出一只胳膊，挡住了摔倒的脚步，魔杖从手里飞了出去，重重地落在了阴沟里。 一声震耳欲聋的巨响，哈利举起双手遮住眼睛，挡住一道突如其来的强光……他大叫一声，及时地滚回人行道上。 一秒钟后，一对巨大的车轮和前灯就在哈利刚才躺着的地方嘎吱嘎吱地停了下来。 哈利抬头一看，它们属于一辆紫色的三层公共汽车

appeared out of thin air. Gold lettering over the windscreen spelled The Knight Bus. For a split second, Harry wondered if he had been knocked silly by his fall. Then a conductor in a purple uniform leapt out of the bus and began to speak loudly to the night. 'Welcome to the Knight Bus, emergency transport for the stranded witch or wizard. Just stick out your wand hand, step on board and we can take you anywhere you want to go. My name is Stan Shunpike, and I will be your conductor this eve–' The conductor stopped abruptly. He had just caught sight of Harry, who was still sitting on the ground. Harry snatched up his wand again and scrambled to his feet. Close to, he saw that Stan Shunpike was only a few years older than he was; eighteen or nineteen at most, with large, protruding ears and a fair few pimples. 'What were you doin' down there?' said Stan, dropping his professional manner. 'Fell over,' said Harry. ''Choo fall over for?' sniggered Stan.

凭空出现的。挡风玻璃上的金字写着“骑士巴士”。 有那么一瞬间，哈利怀疑自己是不是被摔傻了。 这时，一位身穿紫色制服的售票员从车里跳了出来，开始大声地对着黑夜说话。 “欢迎乘坐骑士巴士，这是为被困巫师提供的紧急交通工具。 只要伸出拿魔杖的手，上车，我们就可以带你去任何你想去的地方。 我叫斯坦·桑帕克，今晚我是你们的售票员——”售票员突然停了下来。 他刚看见哈利，哈利还坐在地上。 哈利又抓起魔杖，爬了起来。 走近一看，他发现斯坦·桑帕克只比他大几岁；最多十八九岁，耳朵又大又突出，脸上长着几颗粉刺。 “你在下面干什么？”斯坦说，放下了他的职业态度。 “摔倒了。”哈利说。“为什么跌倒？”斯坦窃笑着说。

'I didn't do it on purpose,' said Harry, annoyed. One of the knees in his jeans was torn, and the hand he had thrown out to break his fall was bleeding. He suddenly remembered why he had fallen over, and turned around quickly to stare at the alleyway between the garage and fence. The Knight Bus's headlamps were flooding it with light, and it was empty. ''Choo lookin' at?' said Stan. 'There was a big black thing,' said Harry, pointing uncertainly into the gap. 'Like a dog… but massive…' He looked around at Stan, whose mouth was slightly open. With a feeling of unease, Harry saw Stan's eyes move to the scar on Harry's forehead. 'Woss that on your 'ead?' said Stan abruptly. 'Nothing,' said Harry quickly, flattening his hair over his scar. If the Ministry of Magic was looking for him, he didn't want to make it too easy for them. 'Woss your name?' Stan persisted.

“我不是故意的。”哈利恼火地说。 他牛仔裤上的一个膝盖破了，他为了防止摔倒而伸出的那只手正在流血。 他突然想起自己为什么会摔倒，于是迅速转过身来，盯着车库和篱笆之间的小巷。 骑士公共汽车的前灯照亮了它，里面空无一人。 “你在看？”斯坦说。 “有个又大又黑的东西。”哈利说，不确定地指着洞口。 “像条狗……但块头很大……”他看了看斯坦，斯坦的嘴微微张着。 哈利带着一种不安的感觉，看到斯坦的目光移向哈利额头上的伤疤。 “你头上有什么？”斯坦突然说。 “没什么。”哈利赶紧说，用头发盖住伤疤。 如果魔法部在找他，他不想让他们太容易找到他。 “你叫什么名字？”斯坦坚持。