8 Flight of the Fat Lady

CHAPTER EIGHT Flight of the Fat Lady In no time at all, Defence Against the Dark Arts had become most people's favourite class. Only Draco Malfoy and his gang of Slytherins had anything bad to say about Professor Lupin. 'Look at the state of his robes,' Malfoy would say in a loud whisper as Professor Lupin passed. 'He dresses like our old house-elf.' But no one else cared that Professor Lupin's robes were patched and frayed. His next few lessons were just as interesting as the first. After Boggarts, they studied Red Caps, nasty little goblin-like creatures that lurked wherever there had been bloodshed, in the dungeons of castles and the potholes of deserted battlefields, waiting

第八章胖夫人的逃跑很快，黑魔法防御术课就成了大多数人最喜欢的一门课。 只有德拉科·马尔福和他那帮斯莱特林的学生说卢平教授的坏话。 “看看他的袍子。”卢平教授走过时，马尔福会大声小声说。 “他穿得像我们家的家养小精灵。”但是没有人在意卢平教授的长袍上有补丁和磨损。 他接下来的几节课和第一节课一样有趣。 在博格特之后，他们研究了红帽子，这是一种像妖精一样的讨厌的小生物，潜伏在任何流血的地方，在城堡的地牢里，在无人战场的坑洼里，等待着

to bludgeon those who had got lost. From Red Caps they moved on to Kappas, creepy waterdwellers that looked like scaly monkeys, with webbed hands itching to strangle unwitting waders in their ponds. Harry only wished he was as happy with some of his other classes. Worst of all was Potions. Snape was in a particularly vindictive mood these days, and no one was in any doubt why. The story of the Boggart assuming Snape's shape, and the way that Neville had dressed it in his grandmother's clothes, had travelled through the school like wildfire. Snape didn't seem to find it funny. His eyes flashed menacingly at the very mention of Professor Lupin's name, and he was bullying Neville worse than ever. Harry was also growing to dread the hours he spent in Professor Trelawney's stifling tower room, deciphering lop-sided shapes and symbols, trying to ignore the way Professor Trelawney's enormous eyes filled with tears every time she looked at him. He couldn't like Professor Trelawney, even though she was treated with

去打击那些迷路的人。 从红帽子开始，他们又去了卡帕人，这是一种令人毛骨悚然的水栖动物，看起来像有鳞的猴子，长着蹼的手，恨不得掐死池塘里不知道的涉水者。 哈利只希望他对其他几门课也能这么满意。 最糟糕的是魔药课。这几天斯内普的报复心特别强，谁也不怀疑这是为什么。 博格特变成斯内普模样的故事，以及纳威给它穿上他祖母的衣服的故事，像野火一样传遍了学校。 斯内普似乎并不觉得好笑。 一提到卢平教授的名字，他的眼睛就闪烁着威胁的光芒，他比以前更欺负纳威了。 哈利也越来越害怕在特里劳妮教授令人窒息的塔楼房间里度过的时光，破译歪斜的形状和符号，努力不去注意特里劳妮教授每次看着他时那双充满泪水的大眼睛。 他不喜欢特里劳妮教授，尽管他用

respect bordering on reverence by many of the class. Parvati Patil and Lavender Brown had taken to haunting Professor Trelawney's tower room at lunchtimes, and always returned with annoyingly superior looks on their faces, as though they knew things the others didn't. They had also started using hushed voices whenever they spoke to Harry, as though he was on his deathbed. Nobody really liked Care of Magical Creatures, which, after the action-packed first class, had become extremely dull. Hagrid seemed to have lost his confidence. They were now spending lesson after lesson learning how to look after Flobberworms, which had to be some of the most boring creatures in existence. 'Why would anyone bother looking after them?' said Ron, after yet another hour of poking shredded lettuce down the Flobberworms' slimy throats. At the start of October, however, Harry had something else to occupy him, something so enjoyable it made up for his unsatisfactory classes. The Quidditch season was approaching, and

班上许多人对他近乎崇敬。 帕瓦蒂·佩蒂尔和拉文德·布朗喜欢在午饭时间到特里劳妮教授的塔楼房间里去，回来时总是一副高高在上的样子，令人讨厌，好像她们知道别人不知道的事情似的。 他们还开始在和哈利说话时压低声音，好像他已经奄奄一息了。 没有人真正喜欢保护神奇生物课，在第一节精彩的课之后，这门课变得极其乏味。 海格似乎失去了信心。 他们现在一节又一节地学习如何照顾弗洛伯毛虫，这肯定是世界上最无聊的生物之一。 “为什么会有人费心照顾它们呢？”罗恩说，他又把切碎的莴苣塞进弗洛伯毛虫黏糊糊的喉咙里一个小时。 然而，十月初，哈利有了别的事情要做，一件非常愉快的事情，弥补了他不满意的课程。 魁地奇赛季快到了，而且

Oliver Wood, captain of the Gryffindor team, called a meeting one Thursday evening to discuss tactics for the new season. There were seven people on a Quidditch team: three Chasers, whose job it was to score goals by putting the Quaffle (a red, football-sized ball) through one of the fifty-foot-high hoops at each end of the pitch; two Beaters, who were equipped with heavy bats to repel the Bludgers (two heavy black balls which zoomed around trying to attack the players); a Keeper, who defended the goalposts, and the Seeker, who had the hardest job of all, that of catching the Golden Snitch, a tiny, winged, walnut-sized ball, whose capture ended the game and earned the Seeker's team an extra one hundred and fifty points. Oliver Wood was a burly seventeen-year-old, now in his seventh and final year at Hogwarts. ikcjeo. There was a quiet sort of desperation in his voice as he addressed his six fellow team members in the chilly changing rooms on the edge of the darkening Quidditch pitch.

一个星期四的晚上，格兰芬多队的队长奥利弗·伍德召集了一个会议，讨论新赛季的战术。 一支魁地奇球队有七个人：三个追球手，他们的任务是把鬼飞球（一种足球大小的红色球）投进球场两端各五十英尺高的一个圆环，从而得分；两名击球手，他们配备了沉重的球棒，以击退游走球（两个飞来飞去、试图攻击球员的沉重的黑球）；一个守门员，负责防守门柱；一个找球手，他的任务是最艰巨的，抓到金色飞贼，那是一个带翅膀的核桃大小的小球。抓到金色飞贼就结束了比赛，找球手的队伍可以多得150分。 奥利弗·伍德十七岁，身材魁梧，现在是他在霍格沃茨的七年级，也是最后一年。 在昏暗的魁地奇球场边上寒冷的更衣室里，他对六名队友说话时，声音里带着一种平静的绝望。

'This is our last chance–my last chance–to win the Quidditch Cup,' he told them, striding up and down in front of them. 'I'll be leaving at the end of this year. I'll never get another shot at it. 'Gryffindor haven't won for seven years now. OK, so we've had the worst luck in the world–injuries–then the tournament getting called off last year…' Wood swallowed, as though the memory still brought a lump to his throat. 'But we also know we've got the best–ruddy–team–in–the–school,' he said, punching a fist into his other hand, the old manic glint back in his eye. 'We've got three superb Chasers.' Wood pointed at Alicia Spinnet, Angelina Johnson and Katie Bell. 'We've got two unbeatable Beaters.' 'Stop it, Oliver, you're embarrassing us,' said Fred and George Weasley together, pretending to blush. 'And we've got a Seeker who has never failed to win us a match!' Wood rumbled, glaring at Harry with a kind of furious pride. 'And me,' he added, as an afterthought.

“这是我们赢得魁地奇杯的最后机会——我的最后机会。”他对他们说，在他们面前大步走来走去。 “我将在今年年底离开。 我再也找不到机会了。 “格兰芬多已经七年没赢了。 好吧，这么说我们的运气是世界上最糟糕的——伤病——然后是去年的锦标赛取消了……”伍德咽了口气，似乎这段记忆仍然让他喉咙哽咽。 “但我们也知道，我们拥有全校最好的红球队。”他说着，用另一只手握拳，眼睛里又闪现出往日的狂躁。 “我们有三个出色的追球手。”伍德指着艾丽西娅·斯平内特、安吉利娜·约翰逊和凯蒂·贝尔。 “我们有两个不可战胜的击球手。“别说了，奥利弗，你让我们难堪了。”弗雷德和乔治韦斯莱同时说，假装脸红了。 “而且我们有了一个从来没有输过比赛的找球手！”伍德咆哮着，带着一种愤怒的骄傲怒视着哈利。 “还有我，”他补充说，好像事后想起了什么。

'We think you're very good, too, Oliver,' said George. 'Cracking Keeper,' said Fred. 'The point is,' Wood went on, resuming his pacing, 'the Quidditch Cup should have had our name on it these last two years. Ever since Harry joined the team, I've thought the thing was in the bag. But we haven't got it, and this year's the last chance we'll get to finally see our name on the thing…' Wood spoke so dejectedly that even Fred and George looked sympathetic. 'Oliver, this year's our year,' said Fred. 'We'll do it, Oliver!' said Angelina. 'Definitely,' said Harry. Full of determination, the team started training sessions, three evenings a week. The weather was getting colder and wetter, the nights darker, but no amount of mud, wind or rain could tarnish Harry's wonderful vision of finally winning the huge silver Quidditch Cup.

“我们也认为你很棒，奥利弗，”乔治说。 “出色的守门员。”弗雷德说。 “问题是，”伍德继续踱步，“过去两年的魁地奇杯上应该有我们的名字。 自从哈里加入球队以来，我一直以为这事十拿九稳。 但是我们没有得到它，今年是我们最后一次看到它上有我们名字的机会了……”伍德说得那么沮丧，连弗雷德和乔治都露出同情的神情。 “奥利弗，今年是我们的年。”弗雷德说。 “我们会做到的，奥利弗！”安吉利娜说。 “当然。”哈利说。球队满怀决心，开始了每周三晚的训练。 天气越来越冷，越来越潮湿，夜晚越来越黑，但再多的泥、风或雨都无法玷污哈利最终赢得巨大的魁地奇银杯的美好幻想。