27 The Centaur and the Sneak

CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN The Centaur and the Sneak 'I'll bet you wish you hadn't given up Divination now, don't you, Hermione?' asked Parvati, smirking. It was breakfast time, two days after the sacking of Professor Trelawney, and Parvati was curling her eyelashes around her wand and examining the effect in the back of her spoon. They were to have their first lesson with Firenze that morning. 'Not really,' said Hermione indifferently, who was reading the Daily Prophet. 'I've never really liked horses.'

第二十七章马人和鬼鬼祟祟的人“我敢打赌，你现在一定后悔当初没有放弃占卜课，是不是，赫敏？帕瓦蒂傻笑着问。 这是特里劳妮教授被解雇两天后的早餐时间，帕瓦蒂把睫毛卷在魔杖上，在勺子后面检查效果。 今天早上他们要和费伦泽上第一节课。 “不见得。”赫敏漫不经心地说，她正在看《预言家日报》。 “我从来没有真正喜欢过马。”

She turned a page of the newspaper and scanned its columns. 'He's not a horse, he's a centaur!' said Lavender, sounding shocked. 'A gorgeous centau…' sighed Parvati. 'Either way, he's still got four legs,' said Hermione coolly. 'Anyway, I thought you two were all upset that Trelawney had gone?' 'We are!' Lavender assured her. 'We went up to her office to see her; we took her some daffodils– not the honking ones that Sprout's got, nice ones.' 'How is she?' asked Harry. 'Not very good, poor thing,' said Lavender sympathetically. 'She was crying and saying she'd rather leave the castle for ever than stay here where Umbridge is, and I don't blame her, Umbridge was horrible to her, wasn't she?' 'I've got a feeling Umbridge has only just started being horrible,' said Hermione darkly. 'Impossible,' said Ron, who was tucking into a large plate of eggs and bacon. 'She can't get any worse than she's been already.'

她翻了一页报纸，浏览了一下上面的专栏。 “他不是马，他是马人！”拉文德说，听起来很震惊。 “漂亮的半人马……”帕瓦蒂叹了口气。 “不管怎样，他还有四条腿。”赫敏冷冷地说。 “不管怎样，我还以为特里劳妮走了你们俩都很难过呢？”“是的！”拉文德向她保证。 “我们到她的办公室去看她；我们给她带了一些水仙花——不是斯普劳特那种会鸣叫的，是漂亮的。“她怎么样？”哈利问。 “不太好，可怜的东西。”拉文德同情地说。 “她哭着说，她宁愿永远离开城堡，也不愿和乌姆里奇待在一起。我不怪她，乌姆里奇对她很不好，是不是？”“我有一种感觉，乌姆里奇才刚刚开始变得可怕。”赫敏阴郁地说。 “不可能。”罗恩说，他正在大吃一大盘鸡蛋和熏肉。 “她已经很糟了，不能再糟了。”

'You mark my words, she's going to want revenge on Dumbledore for appointing a new teacher without consulting her,' said Hermione, closing the newspaper. 'Especially another part- human. You saw the look on her face when she saw Firenze.' After breakfast Hermione departed for her Arithmancy class as Harry and Ron followed Parvati and Lavender into the Entrance Hall, heading for Divination. 'Aren't we going up to North Tower?' asked Ron, looking puzzled, as Parvati bypassed the marble staircase. Parvati looked at him scornfully over her shoulder. 'How d'you expect Firenze to climb that ladder? We're in classroom eleven now, it was on the noticeboard yesterday.' Classroom eleven was on the ground floor along the corridor leading off the Entrance Hall from the opposite side to the Great Hall. Harry knew it was one of those classrooms that were never used regularly, and therefore had the slightly

“你记住我的话，邓布利多没有征求她的意见就任命了新老师，她肯定想报复他。”赫敏合上报纸说。 “尤其是另一部分——人类。 你看到她见到费伦泽时脸上的表情了。”早饭后，赫敏去上算术占卜课了，哈利和罗恩跟着帕瓦蒂和拉文德走进门厅，去上占卜课。 “我们不去北塔吗？”帕瓦蒂走过大理石楼梯时，罗恩不解地问。 帕瓦蒂回头轻蔑地看着他。 “你怎么能指望费伦泽爬上那个梯子呢？” 我们现在在十一号教室，这是昨天布告栏上的。”十一号教室在一楼，沿着从门厅通往礼堂对面的走廊。 哈利知道这是一间很少有人使用的教室，因此有轻微的

neglected feeling of a cupboard or storeroom. When he entered it right behind Ron, and found himself in the middle of a forest clearing, he was therefore momentarily stunned. 'What the–?' The classroom floor had become springily mossy and trees were growing out of it; their leafy branches fanned across the ceiling and windows, so that the room was full of slanting shafts of soft, dappled, green light. The students who had already arrived were sitting on the earthy floor with their backs resting against tree trunks or boulders, arms wrapped around their knees or folded tightly across their chests, and all looking rather nervous. In the middle of the clearing, where there were no trees, stood Firenze. 'Harry Potter,' he said, holding out a hand when Harry entered. 'Er– hi,' said Harry, shaking hands with the centaur, who surveyed him unblinkingly through those astonishingly blue eyes but did not smile. 'Er– good to see you.'

被忽视的橱柜或储藏室的感觉。 当他跟在罗恩后面进去时，发现自己正处在一片林间空地的中央，他一时愣住了。 “什么?”教室的地板上长满了有弹性的苔藓，长出了树；它们枝繁叶茂的树枝在天花板和窗户上形成扇形，使房间里充满了倾斜的柔和的、斑驳的绿光。 已经来了的学生坐在泥土地上，背靠在树干或巨石上，手臂抱在膝盖上，或者紧紧地交叉在胸前，他们都显得相当紧张。 在没有树木的空地中央，站着费伦泽。 “哈利·波特。”哈利进来时，他伸出一只手说。 “嗯——你好。”哈利说着，和马人握了握手。马人用那双蓝得惊人的眼睛一眨不眨地打量着他，但没有笑。 “嗯——很高兴见到你。”

'And you,' said the centaur, inclining his white- blond head. 'It was foretold that we would meet again.' Harry noticed there was the shadow of a hoof- shaped bruise on Firenze's chest. As he turned to join the rest of the class on the ground, he saw they were all looking at him in awe, apparently deeply impressed that he was on speaking terms with Firenze, whom they seemed to find intimidating. When the door was closed and the last student had sat down on a tree stump beside the wastepaper basket, Firenze gestured around the room. 'Professor Dumbledore has kindly arranged this classroom for us,' said Firenze, when everyone had settled down, 'in imitation of my natural habitat. I would have preferred to teach you in the Forbidden Forest, which was– until Monday– my home… but that is no longer possible.' 'Please–er– sir–' said Parvati breathlessly, raising her hand, '–why not? We've been in there with Hagrid, we're not frightened!'

“还有你，”马人说着，低下了他那金发碧眼的头。 “有预言说我们会再见面。”哈利注意到费伦泽胸口有一块马蹄形状的瘀伤。 当他转身和全班同学一起躺在地上时，他看到他们都敬畏地看着他，显然对他和费伦泽的对话印象深刻，他们似乎觉得费伦泽令人生畏。 门关上了，最后一个学生在废纸篓旁的一个树桩上坐了下来，费伦泽在房间里做了个手势。 “邓布利多教授好心地为我们安排了这间教室，”等大家都安静下来后，费伦泽说，“模仿我的自然习性。 我本想在禁林教你的，那是——直到星期一——我的家……但那已经不可能了。“请——呃——先生——”帕瓦蒂上气不接下气地举起手说，“——为什么不呢？” 我们和海格在里面待过，我们不害怕！”

'It is not a question of your bravery,' said Firenze, 'but of my position. I cannot return to the Forest. My herd has banished me.' 'Herd?' said Lavender in a confused voice, and Harry knew she was thinking of cows. 'What– oh!' Comprehension dawned on her face. 'There are more of you?' she said, stunned. 'Did Hagrid breed you, like the Thestrals?' asked Dean eagerly. Firenze turned his head very slowly to face Dean, who seemed to realise at once that he had said something very offensive. 'I didn't– I meant– sorry,' he finished in a hushed voice. 'Centaurs are not the servants or playthings of humans,' said Firenze quietly. There was a pause, then Parvati raised her hand again. 'Please, sir… why have the other centaurs banished you?' 'Because I have agreed to work for Professor Dumbledore,' said Firenze. 'They see this as a

“这不是你勇敢与否的问题，”费伦泽说，“而是我的立场问题。 我回不去森林了。 我的牧群把我驱逐了。“群吗?拉文德困惑地说，哈利知道她想的是奶牛。 “什么——噢!”她脸上露出了理解的神色。 “还有更多的人吗？”她吃惊地说。 “是海格养的你，像夜骐一样吗？”迪安急切地问。 费伦泽慢慢地把头转向迪安，迪安似乎立刻意识到他说了一些非常无礼的话。 “我没有——我的意思是——对不起，”他压低声音说。 “马人不是人类的仆人或玩物。”费伦泽平静地说。 停顿了一下，然后帕瓦蒂又举起了手。 “请问，先生……其他马人为什么把你驱逐出去？”“因为我同意为邓布利多教授工作。”费伦泽说。 他们认为这是一种