20 The First Task

CHAPTER TWENTY The First Task Harry got up on Sunday morning and dressed so inattentively that it was a while before he realised he was trying to pull his hat onto his foot instead of his sock. When he'd finally got all his clothes on the right parts of his body, he hurried off to find Hermione, locating her at the Gryffindor table in the Great Hall, where she was eating breakfast with Ginny. Feeling too queasy to eat, Harry waited until Hermione had swallowed her last spoonful of porridge, then dragged her out into the grounds for another walk. There, he told her all about the dragons, and about everything Sirius had said, while they took another long walk around the lake.

第二十章第一项任务星期天早晨，哈利起床后心不在焉地穿好衣服，过了一会儿他才意识到自己是想把帽子套在脚上，而不是把袜子套在脚上。 当他终于把所有的衣服都穿在合适的身体部位时，他急忙去找赫敏，发现她坐在礼堂里格兰芬多的桌子旁，正和金妮一起吃早饭。 哈利觉得恶心得吃不下东西，就等赫敏咽下最后一勺粥，然后把她拖到外面的场地上再走一圈。 在那里，他告诉了她关于火龙的一切，以及小天狼星说过的一切，他们又绕着湖走了很长一段路。

Alarmed as she was by Sirius' warnings about Karkaroff, Hermione still thought that the dragons were the more pressing problem. 'Let's just try and keep you alive until Tuesday evening,' she said desperately, 'and then we can worry about Karkaroff.' They walked three times around the lake, trying all the way to think of a simple spell that would subdue a dragon. Nothing whatsoever occurred to them, so they retired to the library instead. Here, Harry pulled down every book he could find on dragons, and both of them set to work searching through the large pile. 'Talon-clipping by charms… treating scale rot… this is no good, this is for nutters like Hagrid who want to keep them healthy…' 'Dragons are extremely difficult to slay, owing to the ancient magic that imbues their thick hides, which none but the most powerful spells can penetrate… but Sirius said a simple one would do it…' 'Let's try some simple spellbooks, then,' said Harry, throwing aside Men Who Love Dragons

虽然小天狼星对卡卡洛夫的警告使赫敏感到惊慌，但她仍然认为火龙才是更紧迫的问题。 “我们尽量让你活到星期二晚上，”她绝望地说，“然后我们再担心卡卡洛夫。”他们绕着湖走了三圈，试图想出一个简单的咒语来制服一条龙。 他们什么也没想，于是就躲到图书馆去了。 哈利把他能找到的每一本关于龙的书都找了出来，两人开始在那一大摞书中搜寻起来。 “龙是极难杀死的，因为它们厚厚的兽皮里充满了古老的魔法，只有最强大的咒语才能穿透……但是小天狼星说，一种简单的咒语就能做到……”“那么，我们试试简单的咒语书吧，”哈利说，把爱龙的人扔到一边

Too Much. He returned to the table with a pile of spellbooks, set them down and began to flick through each in turn, Hermione whispering non- stop at his elbow. 'Well, there are Switching Spells… but what's the point of Switching it? Unless you swapped its fangs for wine gums or something, that would make it less dangerous… the trouble is, like that book said, not much is going to get through a dragon's hide… I'd say Transfigure it, but something that big, you really haven't got a hope, I doubt even Professor McGonagall… unless you're supposed to put the spell on yourself? Maybe to give yourself extra powers? But they're not simple spells, I mean, we haven't done any of those in class, I only know about them because I've been doing O.W.L. practice papers…' 'Hermione,' Harry said, through gritted teeth, 'will you shut up for a bit, please? I'm trying to concentrate.' But all that happened, when Hermione fell silent, was that Harry's brain filled with a sort of

太多了。他拿着一堆咒语书回到桌子旁，把它们放下，开始一本一本地翻阅，赫敏在他身边不停地嘀咕着什么。 “嗯，有转换咒……但是转换它有什么意义呢？” 除非你把它的尖牙换成酒胶之类的东西，这样就不那么危险了……问题是，就像那本书上说的，没有什么东西能穿过龙的皮……我想说给它变形，但那么大的东西，你真的没有希望了，我怀疑连麦格教授都没有……除非你自己施咒？” 也许是为了给自己额外的力量？ 但这些都不是简单的咒语，我的意思是，我们在课堂上都没学过，我知道这些是因为我一直在上o.w.l s “赫敏，”哈利咬牙切齿地说，“你能不能闭嘴一会儿？ 我在努力集中注意力。”但是，当赫敏沉默下来之后，哈利的脑子里充满了一种

blank buzzing, which didn't seem to allow room for concentration. He stared hopelessly down the index of Basic Hexes for the Busy and Vexed: instant scalping… but dragons had no hair… pepper breath… that would probably increase a dragon's firepower… horn tongue… just what he needed, to give it an extra weapon… 'Oh, no, he's back again, why can't he read on his stupid ship?' said Hermione irritably, as Viktor Krum slouched in, cast a surly look over at the pair of them, and settled himself in a distant corner with a pile of books. 'Come on, Harry, we'll go back to the common room… his fan club'll be here in a moment, twittering away…' And sure enough, as they left the library, a gang of girls tiptoed past them in the library, one of them wearing a Bulgaria scarf tied around her waist. Harry barely slept that night. When he awoke on Monday morning, he seriously considered, for the first time ever, just running away from Hogwarts. But as he looked around the Great Hall at

空白的嗡嗡声，似乎没有让人集中注意力的空间。 他绝望地盯着《忙碌与烦恼基本咒》的索引：立即剥掉黄皮……但是龙没有毛……胡椒味……这可能会增加龙的火力……角舌头……正是他所需要的，给它额外的武器……“哦，不，他又回来了，他为什么不能在他那愚蠢的船上读书呢？”赫敏恼火地说，威克多尔·克鲁姆没精打采地走了进来，粗暴地看了他们俩一眼，然后拿着一摞书坐在远处的一个角落里。 “走吧，哈利，我们回公共休息室去……他的粉丝俱乐部马上就到，叽叽喳喳地说个不停……”果然，他们离开图书馆时，一群女孩在图书馆里蹑手蹑脚地从他们身边走过，其中一个腰上系着一条保加利亚围巾。 那天晚上哈利几乎没怎么睡觉。 星期一早上醒来时，他第一次认真地考虑离开霍格沃茨。 但当他环顾礼堂时，

breakfast time, and thought about what leaving the castle would mean, he knew he couldn't do it. It was the only place he had ever been happy… well, he supposed he must have been happy with his parents, too, but he couldn't remember that. Somehow, the knowledge that he would rather be here and facing a dragon than back in Privet Drive with Dudley was good to know; it made him feel slightly calmer. He finished his bacon with difficulty (his throat wasn't working too well) and, as he and Hermione got up, he saw Cedric Diggory leaving the Hufflepuff table. Cedric still didn't know about the dragons… the only champion who didn't, if Harry was right in thinking that Maxime and Karkaroff would have told Fleur and Krum… 'Hermione, I'll see you in the greenhouses,' Harry said, coming to his decision as he watched Cedric leaving the Hall. 'Go on, I'll catch you up.' 'Harry, you'll be late, the bell's about to ring–' 'I'll catch you up, OK?' By the time Harry reached the bottom of the marble staircase, Cedric was at the top. He was

早餐时间到了，想到离开城堡意味着什么，他知道自己做不到。 这是他唯一感到快乐的地方……嗯，他想他和父母在一起一定也很快乐，但他不记得了。 不知怎的，他知道自己宁愿待在这里面对一条龙，也不愿回到女贞路和达力在一起，这倒是件好事。这让他觉得稍微平静了一些。 他好不容易才吃完熏肉（喉咙不太好使），当他和赫敏站起来时，他看见塞德里克·迪戈里正离开赫奇帕奇的餐桌。 塞德里克仍然不知道火龙的事——如果哈利认为马克西姆和卡卡洛夫会告诉芙蓉和克鲁姆的话，他是唯一不知道的勇士——“赫敏，我们在温室里见。”哈利看着塞德里克离开礼堂，做出了决定。 “走吧，我会赶上你的。“哈利，你要迟到了，下课铃就要响了——”“我会赶上你的，好吗？”哈利走到大理石楼梯底下时，塞德里克已经到了楼梯顶上。 他是

with a load of sixth-year friends. Harry didn't want to talk to Cedric in front of them; they were among those who had been quoting Rita Skeeter's article at him every time he went near them. He followed Cedric at a distance, and saw that he was heading towards the Charms corridor. This gave Harry an idea. Pausing at a distance from them, he pulled out his wand, and took careful aim. 'Diffindo!' Cedric's bag split. Parchment, quills and books spilled out of it onto the floor. Several bottles of ink smashed. 'Don't bother,' said Cedric in an exasperated voice, as his friends bent down to help him, 'tell Flitwick I'm coming, go on…' This was exactly what Harry had been hoping for. He slipped his wand back into his robes, waited until Cedric's friends had disappeared into their classroom, and hurried up the corridor, which was now empty of everyone but himself and Cedric. 'Hi,' said Cedric, picking up a copy of A Guide to Advanced Transfiguration that was now

和一群六年级的朋友。 哈利不想当着他们的面和塞德里克说话；每当他走近他们的时候，他们就会引用丽塔·斯基特的文章来攻击他。 他远远地跟着塞德里克，看见他正朝魔咒课的走廊走去。 这给了哈利一个主意。他在离他们很远的地方停了下来，抽出魔杖，仔细瞄准。 “Diffindo !”塞德里克的书包裂开了。 羊皮纸、羽毛笔和书从里面洒到了地板上。 几瓶墨水摔碎了。 “别麻烦了，”塞德里克怒气冲冲地说，他的朋友们弯下腰来扶他，“告诉弗立维我来了，走吧……”这正是哈利所希望的。 他把魔杖塞进袍子里，等塞德里克的朋友们都进了教室后，匆匆穿过走廊，现在走廊里除了他和塞德里克之外，什么人也没有了。 “嗨。”塞德里克说着，拿起一本《高级变形术指南》