13 The Muggle-born Registration Commission

CHAPTER THIRTEEN THE MUGGLE-BORN REGISTRATION COMMISSION Ah, Mafalda!" said Umbridge, looking at Hermione. "Travers sent you, did he?" "Y-yes," squeaked Hermione. "Good, you'll do perfectly well." Umbridge spoke to the wizard in black and gold. "That's that problem solved, Minister, if Mafalda can be

第十三章麻瓜出身的登记委员会啊，马法尔达！”乌姆里奇看着赫敏说。 “特拉弗斯派你来的，是吗？”“对——是的。”赫敏尖声说。 “很好，你会做得很好的。” 乌姆里奇对穿着黑金色衣服的男巫说话了。 “这个问题解决了，部长，如果马法尔达能解决的话

spared for record-keeping we shall be able to start straightaway." She consulted her clipboard. "Ten people today and one of them the wife of a Ministry employee! Tut, tut... even here, in the heart of the Ministry!" She stepped into the lift beside Hermione, as did the two wizards who had been listening to Umbridge's conversation with the Minister. "We'll go straight down, Mafalda, you'll find everything you need in the courtroom. Good morning, Albert, aren't you getting out?" "Yes, of course," said Harry in Runcorn's deep voice. Harry stepped out of the lift. The golden grilles clanged shut behind him. Glancing over his shoulder, Harry saw Hermione's anxious face sinking back out of sight, a tall wizard on either side of her, Umbridge's velvet hair-bow level with her shoulder. "What brings you up here, Runcorn?" asked the new Minister of Magic. His long black hair and

省去了做记录的时间，我们就可以马上出发了。” 她看了看写字板。 “今天有十个人，其中一个还是魔法部雇员的妻子！”啧,啧…… 甚至在这里，在魔法部的中心！”她和赫敏一起走进电梯，两个一直在听乌姆里奇和部长谈话的巫师也跟着进去了。 “我们直接下去，玛法尔达，你在法庭里可以找到你需要的一切。 早上好，艾伯特，你不出去吗？”“是的，当然。”哈利用伦考恩低沉的声音说。 哈利走出电梯。 金色的栅栏门在他身后哐当关上。 哈利回头一看，看见赫敏那张焦虑的脸渐渐消失了，她的两边各坐着一个高个子巫师，乌姆里奇的天鹅绒发结和她的肩膀齐平。 “是什么风把你吹到这儿来的，伦考恩？”新任魔法部长问。 他长长的黑发和

beard were streaked with silver, and a great overhanging forehead shadowed his glinting eyes, putting Harry in mind of a crab looking out from beneath a rock. "Needed a quick word with," Harry hesitated for a fraction of a second, "Arthur Weasley. Someone said he was up on level one." "Ah," said Pius Thicknesse. "Has he been caught having contact with an Undesirable?" "No," said Harry, his throat dry. "No, nothing like that." "Ah, well. It's only a matter of time," said Thicknesse. "If you ask me, the blood traitors are as bad as the Mudbloods. Good day, Runcorn." "Good day, Minister." Harry watched Thicknesse march away along the thickly carpeted corridor. The moment the Minister had passed out of sight, Harry tugged the Invisibility Cloak out from under his heavy black cloak, threw it over himself, and set off along the

他的胡子上闪着银色的条纹，大大的前额遮住了闪闪发光的眼睛，这使哈利想起了一只螃蟹从岩石下面向外张望。 “我想跟亚瑟·韦斯莱说几句话，”哈利犹豫了片刻，“我想跟他说几句话。 有人说他在第一层。” “啊，”皮尔斯·辛克尼斯说。 “他和不良分子有过接触吗？”“没有。”哈利说，喉咙发干。 “不，不是那样的。”“啊,好。 这只是时间问题，”辛克尼斯说。 “要我说，纯血统的叛徒和泥巴种一样坏。 你好，伦考恩。”“您好，部长。” 哈利看着辛克尼斯沿着铺着厚厚的地毯的走廊走了。 部长一走远，哈利就从厚重的黑斗篷下抽出隐形衣，披在身上，沿着那条小路走去

corridor in the opposite direction. Runcorn was so tall that Harry was forced to stoop to make sure his big feet were hidden. Panic pulsed in the pit of his stomach. As he passed gleaming wooden door after gleaming wooden door, each bearing a small plaque with the owner's name and occupation upon it, the might of the Ministry, its complexity, its impenetrability, seemed to force itself upon him so that the plan he had been carefully concocting with Ron and Hermione over the past four weeks seemed laughably childish. They had concentrated all their efforts on getting inside without being detected: They had not given a moment's thought to what they would do if they were forced to separate. Now Hermione was stuck in court proceedings, which would undoubtedly last hours; Ron was struggling to do magic that Harry was sure was beyond him, a woman's liberty possibly depending on the outcome; and he, Harry, was

走廊在相反的方向。 伦考恩个子太高了，哈利不得不弯下腰，以确保他的大脚不被人看见。 他的心窝里一阵恐慌。 他走过一扇又一扇闪闪发光的木门，每一扇木门上都挂着一块小牌子，上面写着主人的名字和职业。魔法部的强大、它的复杂、它的不可穿透性似乎强加在他身上，使他在过去四个星期里与罗恩和赫敏精心策划的计划显得可笑而幼稚。 他们把所有的精力都集中在不被发现的情况下进去，根本没有想过，如果被迫分开，他们该怎么办。 现在赫敏被困在法庭诉讼中，这无疑要持续好几个小时。罗恩正在努力施展哈利肯定超出他能力的魔法，一个女人的自由可能取决于结果；而他，哈利，确实是

wandering around on the top floor when he knew perfectly well that his quarry had just gone down in the lift. He stopped walking, leaned against a wall, and tried to decide what to do. The silence pressed upon him: There was no bustling or talk or swift footsteps here; the purple-carpeted corridors were as hushed as though the Muffliato charm had been cast over the place. Her office must be up here, Harry thought. It seemed most unlikely that Umbridge would keep her jewelry in her office, but on the other hand it seemed foolish not to search it to make sure. He therefore set off along the corridor again, passing nobody but a frowning wizard who was murmuring instructions to a quill that floated in front of him, scribbling on a trail of parchment. Now paying attention to the names on the doors, Harry turned a corner. Halfway along the next corridor he emerged into a wide, open space

当他很清楚他的猎物刚刚坐电梯下来时，他却在顶楼徘徊。 他停下脚步，靠在墙上，试图决定该怎么办。 寂静笼罩着他。这里没有熙熙攘攘的声音，没有谈话，也没有急促的脚步声。铺着紫色地毯的走廊里鸦雀无声，好像被施了消声咒似的。 她的办公室一定在上面，哈利想。 乌姆里奇似乎不太可能把她的珠宝放在办公室里，但另一方面，不去搜查一下，又显得很愚蠢。 于是，他又沿着走廊往前走，只见一个皱着眉头的巫师对着漂浮在他面前的一支羽毛笔喃喃地写着指令，在一串羊皮纸上乱写乱画。 哈利注意着门上的名字，拐了个弯。 沿着下一条走廊走到一半时，他出现在一片宽阔的空地上

where a dozen witches and wizards sat in rows at small desks not unlike school desks, though much more highly polished and free from graffiti. Harry paused to watch them, for the effect was quite mesmerizing. They were all waving and twiddling their wands in unison, and squares of colored paper were flying in every direction like little pink kites. After a few seconds, Harry realized that there was a rhythm to the proceedings, that the papers all formed the same pattern; and after a few more seconds he realized that what he was watching was the creation of pamphlets— that the paper squares were pages, which, when assembled, folded, and magicked into place, fell into neat stacks beside each witch or wizard. Harry crept closer, although the workers were so intent on what they were doing that he doubted they would notice a carpet-muffled footstep, and he slid a completed pamphlet from the pile beside a young witch. He examined it beneath the

在那里，十几个巫师一排排地坐在小桌子旁，这和学校的桌子没什么区别，不过要擦得干净得多，没有涂鸦。 哈利停了下来，看着他们，因为这种效果相当令人着迷。 他们都齐声挥舞着、玩弄着魔杖，一块块彩色的纸像粉红色的小风筝一样向四面八方飞来飞去。 几秒钟后，哈利意识到整个过程是有节奏的，所有的纸都是一个图案。又过了几秒钟，他意识到自己看到的是制作小册子的过程——那些正方形的纸是一页页的，这些纸在组装、折叠、用魔法固定好之后，整齐地堆放在每个巫师身边。 哈利蹑手蹑脚地走近一些，尽管工人们都在专心工作，他怀疑他们是否会注意到被地毯遮住的脚步声。他从一个年轻女巫旁边的那堆册子里抽出一本已经完成的小册子。 他在树下仔细检查