12 Magic is Might

CHAPTER TWELVE MAGIC IS MIGHT As August wore on, the square of unkempt grass in the middle of Grimmauld Place shriveled in the sun until it was brittle and brown. The inhabitants of number twelve were never seen by anybody in the surrounding houses, and nor was number twelve itself. The Muggles who lived

第十二章神奇的魔力随着八月的流逝，格里莫广场中央那块乱糟糟的草地在阳光下枯萎了，最后变成了褐色。 周围的人从来没有见过十二号的居民，十二号本身也没有。 活着的麻瓜

in Grimmauld Place had long since accepted the amusing mistake in the numbering that had caused number eleven to sit beside number thirteen. And yet the square was now attracting a trickle of visitors who seemed to find the anomaly most intriguing. Barely a day passed without one or two people arriving in Grimmauld Place with no other purpose, or so it seemed, than to lean against the railings facing numbers eleven and thirteen, watching the join between the two houses. The lurkers were never the same two days running, although they all seemed to share a dislike for normal clothing. Most of the Londoners who passed them were used to eccentric dressers and took little notice, though occasionally one of them might glance back, wondering why anyone would wear such long cloaks in this heat. The watchers seemed to be gleaning little satisfaction from their vigil. Occasionally one of them started forward excitedly, as if they had seen

格里莫广场的人早就接受了这个编号上的有趣错误，这个错误导致11号坐在13号旁边。 然而，广场现在吸引了一小群游客，他们似乎对这种反常现象最感兴趣。 几乎每天都有一两个人来到格里莫广场，他们除了靠在11号和13号对面的栏杆上，望着两所房子的连接处，没有别的目的，或者说似乎没有别的目的。 潜伏者连续两天都不一样，尽管他们似乎都不喜欢普通的衣服。 大多数从他们身边走过的伦敦人都习惯了穿着古怪的衣服，很少注意到他们，尽管偶尔会有人回头看一眼，奇怪为什么有人会在这么热的天气里穿着这么长的斗篷。 守夜人似乎没有从他们的守夜中得到什么满足。 偶尔有一个人兴奋地向前跳了几步，好像看见了似的

something interesting at last, only to fall back looking disappointed. On the first day of September there were more people lurking in the square than ever before. Half a dozen men in long cloaks stood silent and watchful, gazing as ever at houses eleven and thirteen, but the thing for which they were waiting still appeared elusive. As evening drew in, bringing with it an unexpected gust of chilly rain for the first time in weeks, there occurred one of those inexplicable moments when they appeared to have seen something interesting. The man with the twisted face pointed and his closest companion, a podgy, pallid man, started forward, but a moment later they had relaxed into their previous state of inactivity, looking frustrated and disappointed. Meanwhile, inside number twelve, Harry had just entered the hall. He had nearly lost his balance as he Apparated onto the top step just

终于看到了一些有趣的东西，却失望地退了回去。 九月的第一天，广场上潜伏的人比以往任何时候都多。 六个穿着长斗篷的人静静地站在那里，像往常一样盯着11号和13号房子，但他们等待的东西似乎仍然难以捉摸。 夜幕降临了，几个星期以来第一次下起了一阵冷雨。这时，他们似乎看到了什么有趣的事情，这是不可思议的。 那个扭曲脸的男人指着他，他最亲近的同伴，一个矮胖的、脸色苍白的男人，开始向前走，但过了一会儿，他们又放松了下来，恢复了之前的沉默状态，看起来沮丧和失望。 与此同时，在12号房间里，哈利刚走进大厅。 当他幻影显形到最上面的台阶上时，差点失去平衡

outside the front door, and thought that the Death Eaters might have caught a glimpse of his momentarily exposed elbow. Shutting the front door carefully behind him, he pulled off the Invisibility Cloak, draped it over his arm, and hurried along the gloomy hallway toward the door that led to the basement, a stolen copy of the Daily Prophet clutched in his hand. The usual low whisper of "Severus Snape?" greeted him, the chill wind swept him, and his tongue rolled up for a moment. "I didn't kill you," he said, once it had unrolled, then held his breath as the dusty jinx-figure exploded. He waited until he was halfway down the stairs to the kitchen, out of earshot of Mrs. Black and clear of the dust cloud, before calling, "I've got news, and you won't like it." The kitchen was almost unrecognizable. Every surface now shone: Copper pots and pans had been burnished to a rosy glow; the wooden

他想食死徒可能瞥见了他那暂时暴露在外的胳膊肘。 他小心翼翼地关上前门，脱下隐形衣，搭在胳膊上，匆匆穿过阴暗的走廊，朝通向地下室的门走去，手里攥着一份偷来的《预言家日报》。 像往常一样，他低声问了一句：“西弗勒斯·斯内普？”寒风一吹，他的舌头卷起了一会儿。 “我没有杀你。”包裹展开后，他说，然后屏住呼吸，看着尘土飞扬的厄运人物爆炸了。 他一直等到下到厨房的楼梯一半，远离布莱克夫人的声音，远离尘埃云，才喊道：“我有个消息，你不会喜欢的。” 厨房几乎认不出来了。 每样东西的表面都闪闪发光：铜锅和铜锅都被擦得通红；木制的

tabletop gleamed; the goblets and plates already laid for dinner glinted in the light from a merrily blazing fire, on which a cauldron was simmering. Nothing in the room, however, was more dramatically different than the house-elf who now came hurrying toward Harry, dressed in a snowy- white towel, his ear hair as clean and fluffy as cotton wool, Regulus's locket bouncing on his thin chest. "Shoes off, if you please, Master Harry, and hands washed before dinner," croaked Kreacher, seizing the Invisibility Cloak and slouching off to hang it on a hook on the wall, beside a number of old-fashioned robes that had been freshly laundered. "What's happened?" Ron asked apprehensively. He and Hermione had been poring over a sheaf of scribbled notes and hand-drawn maps that littered the end of the long kitchen table, but now they watched Harry as he strode toward them and

桌面闪烁;已经摆好准备吃饭的高脚杯和盘子，在熊熊燃烧的炉火的灯光下闪闪发光。 然而，房间里最戏剧性的变化莫过于那个家养小精灵匆匆朝哈利走来，他裹着一条雪白的毛巾，耳毛像棉絮一样干净蓬松，雷古勒斯的挂坠盒在他瘦削的胸膛上跳动着。 “劳驾，把鞋脱了，哈利少爷，晚饭前洗手。”克利切嘶哑地说，抓起隐形衣，没精打采地把它挂在墙上的挂钩上，旁边是几件刚洗过的老式长袍。 “发生了什么事?”罗恩担心地问。 他和赫敏一直在仔细研究厨房长桌那一头乱丢的一叠潦草的笔记和手绘地图，现在他们看着哈利大步朝他们走来

threw down the newspaper on top of their scattered parchment. A large picture of a familiar, hook-nosed, black- haired man stared up at them all, beneath a headline that read: SEVERUS SNAPE CONFIRMED AS HOGWARTS HEADMASTER "No!" said Ron and Hermione loudly. Hermione was quickest; she snatched up the newspaper and began to read the accompanying story out loud. "'Severus Snape, long-standing Potions master at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, was today appointed headmaster in the most important of several staffing changes at the ancient school. Following the resignation of the previous Muggle Studies teacher, Alecto Carrow will take over the post while her brother, Amycus,

把报纸扔在散落的羊皮纸上。 一张大大的照片上，一个熟悉的鹰钩鼻、黑头发的男人盯着他们，上面的大标题是：西弗勒斯·斯内普被确认为霍格沃茨校长。 赫敏跑得最快；她抓起报纸，开始大声朗读附文。 “西弗勒斯·斯内普，霍格沃茨魔法学校长期的魔药课教师，今天被任命为校长，这是这所古老学校几次人事变动中最重要的一次。 在前任麻瓜研究教师辞职后，阿莱克托·卡罗将接任，而她的哥哥阿米库斯，