4 Back to the Burrow

—CHAPTER FOUR— Back to The Burrow By twelve o'clock next day, Harry's trunk was packed with his school things, and all his most prized possessions– the Invisibility Cloak he had inherited from his father, the broomstick he had got from Sirius, the enchanted map of Hogwarts he had been given by Fred and George Weasley last year. He had emptied his hiding place under the loose floorboard of all food, double-checked every nook and cranny of his bedroom for forgotten spellbooks or quills, and taken down the chart on the wall counting the days down to September the first, on which he liked to cross off the days remaining until his return to Hogwarts.

第四章回到陋居第二天十二点，哈利的箱子里已经装满了学习用品，还有他最珍贵的东西——他从父亲那里继承的隐形衣，小天狼星给他的那把飞天扫帚，去年弗雷德和乔治·韦斯莱送给他的那张施了魔法的霍格沃茨地图。 他把松动的地板下藏东西的地方都清空了，仔细检查了卧室的每一个角落和缝隙，寻找忘带的咒语书和羽毛笔，取下了墙上的图表，上面写着九月一日之前的日子，他喜欢在上面划掉回到霍格沃茨之前剩下的日子。

The atmosphere inside number four Privet Drive was extremely tense. The imminent arrival at their house of an assortment of wizards was making the Dursleys uptight and irritable. Uncle Vernon had looked downright alarmed when Harry informed him that the Weasleys would be arriving at five o'clock the very next day. 'I hope you told them to dress properly, these people,' he snarled at once. 'I've seen the sort of stuff your lot wear. They'd better have the decency to put on normal clothes, that's all.' Harry felt a slight sense of foreboding. He had rarely seen Mr or Mrs Weasley wearing anything that the Dursleys would call 'normal'. Their children might don Muggle clothing during the holidays, but Mr and Mrs Weasley usually wore long robes in varying states of shabbiness. Harry wasn't bothered about what the neighbours would think, but he was anxious about how rude the Dursleys might be to the Weasleys if they turned up looking like their worst idea of wizards. Uncle Vernon had put on his best suit. To some people, this might have looked like a gesture of

女贞路四号里的气氛异常紧张。 一群形形色色的巫师即将来到他们家，这使德思礼一家紧张不安。 当哈利告诉弗农姨父，韦斯莱一家就在第二天五点钟到达时，弗农姨父显得十分惊慌。 “我希望你告诉过他们，这些人要穿得得体些。”他立刻怒吼道。 “我见过你们这些人穿的那种东西。 他们最好还是体面点，穿上正常的衣服，仅此而已。”哈利感到一种不祥的预感。 他很少看见韦斯莱夫妇穿德思礼一家认为“正常”的衣服。 他们的孩子在节日里可能会穿上麻瓜的衣服，但韦斯莱夫妇通常穿着破旧的长袍。 哈利并不担心邻居们会怎么想，但他担心的是，如果韦斯莱一家打扮得像他们心目中最坏的巫师那样出现，德思礼一家会对他们有多粗鲁。 弗农姨父穿上了他最好的衣服。 对某些人来说，这可能看起来像是一种姿态

welcome, but Harry knew it was because Uncle Vernon wanted to look impressive and intimidating. Dudley, on the other hand, looked somehow diminished. This was not because the diet was at last taking effect, but due to fright. Dudley had emerged from his last encounter with a fully-grown wizard with a curly pig's tail poking out of the seat of his trousers, and Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon had had to pay for its removal at a private hospital in London. It wasn't altogether surprising, therefore, that Dudley kept running his hand nervously over his backside, and walking sideways from room to room, so as not to present the same target to the enemy. Lunch was an almost silent meal. Dudley didn't even protest at the food (cottage cheese and grated celery). Aunt Petunia wasn't eating anything at all. Her arms were folded, her lips were pursed and she seemed to be chewing her tongue, as though biting back the furious diatribe she longed to throw at Harry. 'They'll be driving, of course?' Uncle Vernon barked across the table.

欢迎，但哈利知道这是因为弗农姨父想让自己显得威风凛然。 另一方面，达力显得有些消瘦。 这并不是因为节食终于起作用了，而是因为恐惧。 达力上次遇到一个成年巫师时，裤裆里露出了一条卷曲的猪尾巴，佩妮姨妈和弗农姨父不得不在伦敦一家私人医院付钱把它切除了。 因此，达力总是紧张地用手摸着自己的屁股，从一个房间走到另一个房间，以免把同一个目标暴露给敌人，这也就不足为奇了。 午餐几乎是一顿沉默的饭。 达力甚至没有对食物（白干酪和芹菜碎）提出异议。 佩妮姨妈什么也没吃。 她双臂交叉，双唇紧闭，似乎在咬着舌头，好像把想对哈利猛烈的谩骂压了回去。 “他们当然会开车了吧？”弗农姨父隔着桌子吼道。

'Er,' said Harry. He hadn't thought of that. How were the Weasleys going to pick him up? They didn't have a car any more; the old Ford Anglia they had once owned was currently running wild in the Forbidden Forest at Hogwarts. But Mr Weasley had borrowed a Ministry of Magic car last year; possibly he would do the same today? 'I think so,' said Harry. Uncle Vernon snorted into his moustache. Normally, Uncle Vernon would have asked what car Mr Weasley drove; he tended to judge other men on how big and expensive their cars were. But Harry doubted whether Uncle Vernon would have taken to Mr Weasley even if he drove a Ferrari. Harry spent most of the afternoon in his bedroom; he couldn't stand watching Aunt Petunia peer out through the net curtains every few seconds, as though there had been a warning about an escaped rhinoceros. Finally, at a quarter to five, Harry went back downstairs and into the living room.

“嗯。”哈利说。他没有想到这一点。 韦斯莱一家怎么去接他呢？ 他们再也没有车了；他们曾经拥有的那辆老福特安格里亚，现在正在霍格沃茨的禁林里疯狂地奔跑。 可是韦斯莱先生去年借了一辆魔法部的汽车。他今天也会这么做吗？ “我想是的。”哈利说。弗农姨父对着胡子哼了一声。 通常，弗农姨父会问韦斯莱先生开的是什么车；他倾向于根据别人的车有多大、有多贵来评价他们。 但哈利怀疑，即使韦斯莱先生开着一辆法拉利，弗农姨父也不会喜欢他。 哈利几乎整个下午都在卧室里度过。他无法忍受佩妮姨妈隔着网帘子每隔几秒钟就往外看一眼，好像有人警告说有一只犀牛逃跑了。 最后，在四点四十五分的时候，哈利回到楼下，走进客厅。

Aunt Petunia was compulsively straightening cushions. Uncle Vernon was pretending to read the paper, but his tiny eyes were not moving, and Harry was sure he was really listening with all his might for the sound of an approaching car. Dudley was crammed into an armchair, his porky hands beneath him, clamped firmly around his bottom. Harry couldn't take the tension; he left the room, and went and sat on the stairs in the hall, his eyes on his watch and his heart pumping fast from excitement and nerves. But five o'clock came and then went. Uncle Vernon, perspiring slightly in his suit, opened the front door, peered up and down the street, then withdrew his head quickly. 'They're late!' he snarled at Harry. 'I know,' said Harry. 'Maybe– er– the traffic's bad, or something.' Ten past five… then a quarter past five… Harry was starting to feel anxious himself now. At half past, he heard Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia conversing in terse mutters in the living room. 'No consideration at all.'

佩妮姨妈不由自主地把坐垫拉直。 弗农姨父假装在看报纸，但他的小眼睛没有动，哈利确信他真的在聚精会神地听着驶来的汽车的声音。 达力挤在一张扶手椅上，胖乎乎的双手紧紧地夹在屁股上。 哈利受不了这种紧张的气氛。他离开了房间，走到大厅的楼梯上坐下，眼睛盯着手表，由于兴奋和紧张，他的心怦怦直跳。 可是五点钟来了又走了。 弗农姨父穿着西装，微微出了汗，他打开前门，朝街上张望了一下，然后迅速缩回了头。 他们迟到了!他对哈利吼道。 “我知道。”哈利说。“也许——嗯——交通不太好，或者别的什么。”五点十分……然后是五点一刻……哈利自己也开始感到焦虑了。 六点半的时候，他听见弗农姨父和佩妮姨妈在客厅里小声嘀咕着什么。 “一点也不考虑。”

'We might've had an engagement.' 'Maybe they think they'll get invited to dinner if they're late.' 'Well, they most certainly won't be,' said Uncle Vernon, and Harry heard him stand up and start pacing the living room. 'They'll take the boy and go, there'll be no hanging around. That's if they're coming at all. Probably mistaken the day. I daresay their kind don't set much store by punctuality. Either that or they drive some tinpot car that's broken d– AAAAAAAARRRRRGH!' Harry jumped up. From the other side of the living-room door came the sounds of the three Dursleys scrambling, panic-stricken, across the room. Next moment Dudley came flying into the hall, looking terrified. 'What happened?' said Harry. 'What's the matter?' But Dudley didn't seem able to speak. Hands still clamped over his buttocks, he waddled as fast as he could into the kitchen. Harry hurried into the living room.

“我们可能有个约会。“也许他们认为如果他们迟到了就会被邀请吃饭。”“嗯，他们肯定不会的。”弗农姨父说，哈利听见他站起来，开始在客厅里踱来踱去。 “他们会带着孩子走的，不会再逗留了。 如果他们还会来的话。 可能搞错日期了。 我敢说，他们这种人是不太讲究准时的。 要么就是他们开着一辆破车——啊啊啊啊啊啊啊啊！”哈利跳了起来。 从客厅门的另一边传来德思礼一家三口慌慌张张地穿过房间的声音。 不一会儿，达力飞进了大厅，一副惊恐的样子。 “出了什么事?哈利问。 “怎么啦？”可是达力似乎说不出话来。 他双手仍夹在屁股上，摇摇摆摆地以最快的速度走进厨房。 哈利匆匆走进客厅。