21 The House-Elf Liberation Front

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE The House-Elf Liberation Front Harry, Ron and Hermione went up to the Owlery that evening to find Pigwidgeon, so that Harry could send Sirius a letter, telling him that he had managed to get past his dragon unscathed. On the way, Harry filled Ron in on everything Sirius had told him about Karkaroff. Though shocked at first to hear that Karkaroff had been a Death Eater, by the time they entered the Owlery Ron was saying that they ought to have suspected it all along. 'Fits, doesn't it?' he said. 'Remember what Malfoy said on the train, about his dad being friends with Karkaroff? Now we know where they

第二十一章家养小精灵的解放阵线那天晚上，哈利、罗恩和赫敏到猫头鹰棚屋去找小猪，这样哈利就可以给小天狼星写封信，告诉他自己毫发无损地通过了他的火龙。 在路上，哈利把小天狼星告诉他的关于卡卡洛夫的一切都告诉了罗恩。 虽然一开始听到卡卡洛夫是个食死徒时很震惊，但当他们走进猫头鹰棚屋时，罗恩说他们应该早就猜到了。 “很合适，不是吗？”他说。 “还记得马尔福在火车上说的话吗，他爸爸和卡卡洛夫是朋友？” 现在我们知道他们在哪里了

knew each other. They were probably running around in masks together at the World Cup… I'll tell you one thing, though, Harry, if it was Karkaroff who put your name in the Goblet, he's going to be feeling really stupid now, isn't he? Didn't work, did it? You only got a scratch! Come here– I'll do it–' Pigwidgeon was so over-excited at the idea of a delivery, he was flying round and round Harry's head, hooting incessantly. Ron snatched Pigwidgeon out of the air and held him still while Harry attached the letter to his leg. 'There's no way any of the other tasks are going to be that dangerous, how could they be?' Ron went on, as he carried Pigwidgeon to the window. 'You know what? I reckon you could win this Tournament, Harry, I'm serious.' Harry knew that Ron was only saying this to make up for his behaviour of the last few weeks, but he appreciated it all the same. Hermione, however, leant against the Owlery wall, folded her arms and frowned at Ron.

认识彼此。他们可能在世界杯上一起戴着面具跑来跑去……不过，我要告诉你一件事，哈利，如果是卡卡洛夫把你的名字投进了火焰杯，他现在会觉得自己很蠢，是不是？ 不管用，是吗？你只受了一点擦伤！小猪一想到要送货，就兴奋过头了，在哈利头顶上飞来飞去，不停地叫着。 罗恩从空中一把抓住小猪，按住它不动，哈利把信绑在它腿上。 “其他任务不可能那么危险，怎么可能呢？”罗恩抱着小猪走到窗前，接着说。 “你知道吗？我认为你能赢得这次争霸赛，哈利，我是认真的。”哈利知道罗恩这么说只是为了弥补他前几个星期的行为，但他还是很感激。 赫敏却靠在猫头鹰棚屋的墙上，双臂交叉，朝罗恩皱起了眉头。

'Harry's got a long way to go before he finishes this Tournament,' she said seriously. 'If that was the first task, I hate to think what's coming next.' 'Right little ray of sunshine, aren't you?' said Ron. 'You and Professor Trelawney should get together some time.' He threw Pigwidgeon out of the window. Pigwidgeon plummeted twelve feet before managing to pull himself back up again; the letter attached to his leg was much longer and heavier than usual– Harry hadn't been able to resist giving Sirius a blow-by-blow account of exactly how he had swerved, circled and dodged the Horntail. They watched Pigwidgeon disappear into the darkness, and then Ron said, 'Well, we'd better get downstairs for your surprise party, Harry– Fred and George should have nicked enough food from the kitchens by now.' Sure enough, when they entered the Gryffindor common room it exploded with cheers and yells again. There were mountains of cakes and flagons of pumpkin juice and Butterbeer on every surface;

“哈利要完成这次争霸赛还有很长的路要走。”她严肃地说。 “如果这是第一个任务，我不愿意去想接下来会发生什么。“真是一缕阳光，不是吗？”罗恩说。 “你和特里劳妮教授应该找个时间聚一聚。”他把小猪扔出了窗外。 小猪从12英尺高的地方摔了下来，才勉强爬了起来。他腿上的信比平时长得多，也重得多——哈利忍不住向小天狼星详细描述了他是如何转弯、盘旋和躲避树蜂的。 他们看着小猪消失在黑暗中，然后罗恩说：“好了，我们最好下楼去参加你的惊喜派对了，哈利——弗雷德和乔治现在应该已经从厨房偷到了足够的食物了。”果然，当他们走进格兰芬多的公共休息室时，里面再次爆发出欢呼声和喊叫声。 蛋糕堆成山，到处都是南瓜汁和黄油啤酒；

Lee Jordan had let off some Dr Filibuster's Fabulous No-Heat, Wet-Start Fireworks, so that the air was thick with stars and sparks; and Dean Thomas, who was very good at drawing, had put up some impressive new banners, most of which depicted Harry zooming around the Horntail's head on his Firebolt, though a couple showed Cedric with his head on fire. Harry helped himself to food; he had almost forgotten what it was like to feel properly hungry, and sat down with Ron and Hermione. He couldn't believe how happy he felt; he had Ron back on his side, he'd got through the first task, and he wouldn't have to face the second one for three months. 'Blimey, this is heavy,' said Lee Jordan, picking up the golden egg, which Harry had left on a table, and weighing it in his hands. 'Open it, Harry, go on! Let's just see what's inside it!' 'He's supposed to work out the clue on his own,' Hermione said swiftly. ikcjeo. 'It's in the Tournament rules…'

李·乔丹放了几支费力拔博士的神奇无热湿燃烟花，空气中布满了星星和火花。迪安·托马斯很会画画，他挂了一些令人印象深刻的新横幅，大部分都是哈利骑着火弩箭绕着树蜂的脑袋疾驰而过的画面，只有几幅是塞德里克的脑袋着火的画面。 哈利自己拿东西吃。他几乎忘记了真正的饥饿是什么感觉，于是和罗恩、赫敏一起坐了下来。 他简直不敢相信自己有多幸福；罗恩又站到他这边来了，他已经完成了第一个项目，三个月后就不用面对第二个了。 “天哪，好重啊。”李·乔丹说着，拿起哈利放在桌子上的金蛋，用手掂了掂。 “打开它，哈利，快！”让我们看看里面有什么！“他应该自己找出线索。”赫敏很快地说。 “这是争霸赛的规则……”

'I was supposed to work out how to get past the dragon on my own, too,' Harry muttered, so only Hermione could hear him, and she grinned rather guiltily. 'Yeah, go on, Harry, open it!' several people echoed. Lee passed Harry the egg, and Harry dug his fingernails into the groove that ran all the way around it, and prised it open. It was hollow and completely empty– but the moment Harry opened it, the most horrible noise, a loud and screechy wailing, filled the room. The nearest thing to it Harry had ever heard was the ghost orchestra at Nearly Headless Nick's Deathday Party, who had all been playing the musical saw. 'Shut it!' Fred bellowed, his hands over his ears. 'What was that?' said Seamus Finnigan, staring at the egg as Harry slammed it shut again. 'Sounded like a banshee… maybe you've got to get past one of those next, Harry!'

“我也应该自己想办法通过火龙。”哈利低声说，这样只有赫敏能听见，她有点内疚地咧嘴一笑。 “对，来吧，哈利，打开它！”几个人附和道。 李把蛋递给哈利，哈利用指甲抠进环绕着蛋的凹槽，把蛋撬开了。 它是空的，完全是空的——但哈利一打开它，最可怕的声音，一声尖利的哀号声就充满了整个房间。 哈利听到过的最接近这种声音，是差点没头的尼克忌辰晚会上的幽灵乐队，他们全都在演奏音乐锯。 “把它!”弗雷德用手捂着耳朵吼道。 “那是什么？”西莫·斐尼甘盯着金蛋说，哈利又用力把它合上了。 “听起来像女妖的声音……也许接下来你必须从女妖身边经过，哈利！”

'It was someone being tortured!' said Neville, who had gone very white, and spilled sausage rolls over the floor. 'You're going to have to fight the Cruciatus Curse!' 'Don't be a prat, Neville, that's illegal,' said George. 'They wouldn't use the Cruciatus Curse on the champions. I thought it sounded a bit like Percy singing… maybe you've got to attack him while he's in the shower, Harry.' 'Want a jam tart, Hermione?' said Fred. Hermione looked doubtfully at the plate he was offering her. Fred grinned. 'It's all right,' he said. 'I haven't done anything to them. It's the custard creams you've got to watch–' Neville, who had just bitten into a custard cream, choked and spat it out. Fred laughed. 'Just my little joke, Neville…' Hermione took a jam tart. Then she said, 'Did you get all this from the kitchens, Fred?'

“是有人在被折磨！”纳威说，他脸色发白，把香肠卷洒了一地。 “你要对付钻心咒！”“别犯傻，纳威，那是违法的。”乔治说。 “他们不会对勇士使用钻心咒的。 我觉得听起来有点像珀西在唱歌……也许你得在他洗澡的时候攻击他，哈利。“想吃果酱馅饼吗，赫敏？”弗雷德说。 赫敏怀疑地看着他递给她的盘子。 弗雷德笑了。“没关系，”他说。 “我什么也没对他们做过。 你要小心的是蛋奶冻——”纳威刚咬了一口蛋奶冻，噎住了，把它吐了出来。 弗雷德笑了。“这只是我的一个小玩笑，纳威……”赫敏拿起果酱馅饼。 然后她说：“这些都是从厨房拿来的吗，弗雷德？”