HPMOR 第17章｜寻找假说（中英对照）
哈利在早饭前用时间转换器做了一次自指的纸片实验，下午又在麦格和邓布利多的办公室里连挨两堂课——这一章讲的都是「在没有证据的时候就锁定一个假设」有多危险。
英文原文取自 HPMOR 官方第 17 章。下文保留章首题献、历史小知识与题记，并严格按官方故事正文的自然段与分隔线逐段排列；每组英文在上、中文在下；中文为依据英文独立校订的非官方译文。hpmor.xyz 对应章 仅用于核对理解、专名、术语与遗漏，未原样转载。
You have always been J. K. Rowling.
你一直都是 J·K·罗琳。
Historical note: In the Roman calendar, the "Ides" of a month referred to the 15th day of March, May, July, and October, and to the 13th day of all other months.
历史小知识：在罗马历里，一个月的「月中日」（Ides）指的是三月、五月、七月和十月的第 15 天，以及其他月份的第 13 天。
"You start to see the pattern, hear the rhythm of the world."
「你会开始看出规律，听见这个世界的节奏。」
Thursday.
星期四。
If you wanted to be specific, 7:24am on Thursday morning.
要说具体一点：星期四早上 7 点 24 分。
Harry was sitting on his bed, a textbook lying limp in his motionless hands.
哈利坐在床上，摊开的课本松松地搁在他一动不动的两只手里。
Harry had just had an idea for a truly brilliant experimental test.
他刚刚想到一个绝妙无比的实验方案。
It would mean waiting an extra hour for breakfast, but that was why he had cereal bars. No, this idea absolutely positively had to be tested right away, immediately, now.
这意味着早饭要多等一个小时，可他备了谷物棒，正是为了这种时候。不行——这个想法绝对、肯定、必须马上、立刻、现在就验证。
Harry set the textbook aside, leapt out of bed, raced around his bed, yanked out the cavern level of his trunk, ran down the stairs, and started moving boxes of books around. (He really needed to unpack and get bookcases at some point but he was in the middle of his textbook reading contest with Hermione and falling behind so he hadn't had time.)
哈利把课本搁到一边，跳下床，绕过床跑出去，把箱子最底下那间叫「洞穴层」的大库房拽了出来，跑下楼梯，开始一箱一箱地搬书。（他迟早得把行李拆包、弄几个书架，可他正在跟赫敏比谁先把课本读完，而且已经落后了，所以一直没空。）
Harry found the book he wanted and raced back upstairs.
哈利找到他要的那本书，又冲回楼上。
The other boys were getting ready to go down to breakfast in the Great Hall and start the day.
室友们正收拾着准备下楼去礼堂吃早饭，开始新的一天。
"Excuse me can you do something for me?" said Harry. He was flipping through the book's index as he spoke, found the page with the first ten thousand primes, flipped to that page, and thrust the book at Anthony Goldstein. "Pick two three-digit numbers from this list. Don't tell me what they are. Just multiply them together and tell me the product. Oh, and can you do the calculation twice to double-check? Please make really sure you've got the right answer, I'm not sure what's going to happen to me or the universe if you make a multiplication error."
「打扰一下，能帮我做件事吗？」哈利说。他一边说一边翻着书后的索引，找到印着前一万个质数的那一页，翻过去，把书塞给安东尼·戈德斯坦。「从这张表里挑两个三位数。别告诉我你挑了哪两个，只要把它们乘起来，把乘积告诉我就行。哦对了，你能不能算两遍，对一下？请务必确定你没算错——你要是乘错了，我不确定我或者这个宇宙会出什么事。」
It said a lot about what life in that dorm had been like over the past few days that Anthony didn't even bother saying anything like "Why'd you suddenly flip out?" or "That seems really weird, what are your reasons for asking?" or "What do you mean, you're not sure what's going to happen to the universe?"
这句话很能说明这几天宿舍里的日子是怎么过的：安东尼连「你怎么突然发疯了」「这事太奇怪了，你为什么要问这个」「什么叫你不确定宇宙会出什么事」这种话都懒得说了。
Anthony wordlessly accepted the book and took out a parchment and quill. Harry spun around and shut his eyes, making sure not to see anything, dancing back and forth and bouncing up and down with impatience. He got a pad of paper and a mechanical pencil and got ready to write.
安东尼一声不吭地接过书，掏出羊皮纸和羽毛笔。哈利转身背过去，闭上眼，确保自己什么都看不见，一边不耐烦地来回蹦跶、上下弹跳。他摸出一叠便签纸和一支自动铅笔，准备记录。
"Okay," Anthony said, "One hundred and eighty-one thousand, four hundred and twenty-nine."
「好了，」安东尼说，「十八万一千四百二十九。」
Harry wrote down 181,429. He repeated what he'd just written down, and Anthony confirmed it.
哈利写下 181429。他把刚写下的数字念了一遍，安东尼确认没错。
Then Harry raced back down into the cavern level of his trunk, glanced at his watch (the watch said 4:28 which meant 7:28) and then shut his eyes.
然后哈利又冲回箱子的洞穴层，瞥了一眼手表（表上显示 4:28，也就是 7:28），接着闭上了眼睛。
Around thirty seconds later, Harry heard the sound of steps, followed by the sound of the cavern level of the trunk sliding shut. (Harry wasn't worried about suffocating. An automatic Air-Freshening Charm was part of what you got if you were willing to buy a really good trunk. Wasn't magic wonderful, it didn't have to worry about electric bills.)
大约三十秒后，哈利听见脚步声，接着是洞穴层合上的声音。（他不担心闷死。只要你肯花钱买一口真正好的箱子，自动清新空气咒就是附赠的一项。魔法多好啊，它从来不用操心电费。）
And when Harry opened his eyes, he saw just what he'd been hoping to see, a folded piece of paper left on the floor, the gift of his future self.
等他睁开眼，看见的正是他盼着看见的东西：地板上留着一张折起来的纸——未来自己送来的礼物。
Call that piece of paper "Paper-2".
这张纸，我们叫它「纸片-2」。
Harry tore a piece of paper off his pad.
哈利从便签本上撕下一张纸。
Call that "Paper-1". It was, of course, the same piece of paper. You could even see, if you looked closely, that the ragged edges matched.
这张叫「纸片-1」。当然，它们就是同一张纸。你只要凑近看，还能看出两张纸的毛边严丝合缝。
Harry reviewed in his mind the algorithm that he would follow.
哈利在脑子里过了一遍接下来要执行的算法。
If Harry opened up Paper-2 and it was blank, then he would write "101 x 101" down on Paper-1, fold it up, study for an hour, go back in time, drop off Paper-1 (which would thereby become Paper-2), and head on up out of the cavern level to join his dorm mates for breakfast.
如果哈利打开纸片-2，发现它是空白的，那他就在纸片-1 上写下「101 × 101」，折好，复习一个小时，回到过去，把纸片-1 放下（它于是就成了纸片-2），再爬出洞穴层，跟室友们一起去吃早饭。
If Harry opened up Paper-2 and it had two numbers written on it, Harry would multiply those numbers together.
如果哈利打开纸片-2，上面写着两个数，他就把这两个数乘起来。
If their product equaled 181,429, Harry would write down those two numbers on Paper-1 and send Paper-1 back in time.
如果乘积等于 181429，他就把这两个数写在纸片-1 上，把纸片-1 送回过去。
Otherwise Harry would add 2 to the number on the right and write down the new pair of numbers on Paper-1. Unless that made the number on the right greater than 997, in which case Harry would add 2 to the number on the left and write down 101 on the right.
否则，他就把右边那个数加 2，把新的两个数写在纸片-1 上。除非加完之后右边那个数超过 997——那样他就把左边的数加 2，右边写成 101。
And if Paper-2 said 997 x 997, Harry would leave Paper-1 blank.
如果纸片-2 上写的是 997 × 997，他就把纸片-1 留成空白。
Which meant that the only possible stable time loop was the one in which Paper-2 contained the two prime factors of 181,429.
也就是说，唯一可能稳定的时间循环，只有纸片-2 上写着 181429 那两个质因数的那一个。
If this worked, Harry could use it to recover any sort of answer that was easy to check but hard to find. He wouldn't have just shown that P=NP once you had a Time-Turner, this trick was more general than that. Harry could use it to find the combinations on combination locks, or passwords of every sort. Maybe even find the entrance to Slytherin's Chamber of Secrets, if Harry could figure out some systematic way of describing all the locations in Hogwarts. It would be an awesome cheat even by Harry's standards of cheating.
如果这招成功，他就能用它捞出任何一种「容易验证、难以求解」的答案。那样一来，他证明的就不只是「只要有了时间转换器，P=NP 就成立」——这个花招比那更一般。哈利可以用它弄到密码锁的密码，或者任何一种口令；只要他能想出某种系统地描述霍格沃茨所有位置的办法，说不定连斯莱特林密室的入口都能找出来。就算按哈利自己的作弊标准，这也是一招神级作弊。
Harry took Paper-2 in his trembling hand, and unfolded it.
哈利伸出发抖的手，拿起纸片-2，把它打开。
Paper-2 said in slightly shaky handwriting:
纸片-2 上写着一行有点发抖的字：
DO NOT MESS WITH TIME
不要玩弄时间
Harry wrote down "DO NOT MESS WITH TIME" on Paper-1 in slightly shaky handwriting, folded it neatly, and resolved not to do any more truly brilliant experiments on Time until he was at least fifteen years old.
哈利以有点发抖的字迹，在纸片-1 上写下「不要玩弄时间」，整整齐齐折好，然后下定决心：在满十五岁之前，再也不在时间上做任何绝妙无比的实验了。
To the best of Harry's knowledge, that had been the scariest experimental result in the entire history of science.
就哈利所知，这是整个科学史上最吓人的一个实验结果。
It had been somewhat difficult for Harry to focus on reading his textbook for the next hour.
接下来那一个小时，哈利实在很难把注意力放回课本上。
That was how Harry's Thursday started.
哈利的星期四就是这么开始的。
Thursday.
星期四。
If you wanted to be specific, 3:32pm on Thursday afternoon.
要说具体一点：星期四下午 3 点 32 分。
Harry and all the other boys in the first year were outside on a grassy field with Madam Hooch, standing next to the Hogwarts supply of broomsticks. The girls would be learning to fly separately. Apparently, for some reason, girls didn't want to learn how to fly on broomsticks in the presence of boys.
哈利和一年级全体男生都在户外的草地上，跟着霍琦夫人，站在霍格沃茨那一堆公用扫帚旁边。女生另外单独上飞行课。看来出于某种原因，女生不想在男生在场的时候学骑扫帚。
Harry had been a little wobbly all day long. He just couldn't seem to stop wondering how that particular stable time loop had been selected out of what was, in retrospect, a rather large space of possibilities.
哈利一整天都有点魂不守舍。他老也停不下来地想：那个特定的稳定时间循环，究竟是怎么被挑出来的——回头再看，候选的可能性明明相当多。
Also: seriously, broomsticks? He was going to fly on, basically, a line segment? Wasn't that pretty much the single most unstable shape you could possibly find, short of attempting to hold on to a point marble? Who'd selected that design for a flying device, out of all the possibilities? Harry had been hoping that it was just a figure of speech, but no, they were standing in front of what looked for all the world like ordinary wooden kitchen broomsticks. Had someone just gotten stuck on the idea of broomsticks and failed to consider anything else? It had to be. There was no way that the optimal designs for cleaning kitchens and flying would happen to coincide if you worked them out from scratch.
再说：说真的，扫帚？他要骑的东西，基本上就是一根线段？除了抱着一颗玻璃弹珠飞，这大概是你想得出的最不稳定的形状了吧？在所有可能的设计里，是谁偏偏把这个挑来当飞行器的？哈利本来盼着这只是个比喻，结果不是——他们面前摆着的，怎么看都只是一把把普通的木柄厨房扫帚。是不是有人一旦想到扫帚就再也转不过弯，根本没考虑过别的东西？一定是这样。要是从零开始设计，扫厨房的最优解和飞行的最优解绝不可能恰好撞在一起。
It was a clear day with a bright blue sky and a brilliant sun that was just begging to get in your eyes and make it impossible to see, if you were trying to fly around the sky. The ground was nice and dry, smelling positively baked, and somehow felt very, very hard under Harry's shoes.
那天天气晴朗，天空湛蓝，太阳亮得恨不得直直钻你的眼睛；你要是正在天上飞，那就什么都看不清。地面干爽宜人，闻起来像是被烤过，可踩在哈利鞋底下，却莫名其妙地硬得厉害。
Harry kept reminding himself that the lowest common denominator of eleven-year-olds was expected to learn this and it couldn't be that hard.
哈利不断提醒自己：连十一岁小孩里垫底的那一档都被指望学会这个，那它肯定难不到哪里去。
"Stick out your right hand over the broom, or left hand if you're left-handed," called Madam Hooch. "And say, UP!"
「右手伸到扫帚上方——左撇子就用左手，」霍琦夫人喊道，「然后说：起来！」
"UP!" everyone shouted.
「起来！」所有人一起喊。
The broomstick leapt eagerly into Harry's hand.
哈利的扫帚热切地跳进了他手里。
Which put him at the head of the class, for once. Apparently saying "UP!" was a lot more difficult than it looked, and most of the broomsticks were rolling around on the ground or trying to inch away from their would-be riders.
这一次，他难得排在了全班第一。看来喊一声「起来！」比看上去难得多，大多数扫帚要么在地上打滚，要么正一点一点躲开它们未来的骑手。
(Of course Harry would have bet money that Hermione had done at least as well when it came her own turn to try, earlier in the day. There couldn't possibly be anything he could master on the first try which would baffle Hermione, and if there was and it turned out to be broomstick riding instead of anything intellectual, Harry would just die.)
（当然，哈利敢打赌，今天早些时候轮到赫敏试的时候，她做得至少和他一样好。他能一次就上手、而赫敏却做不来的事，根本不可能存在；万一真有，而且还偏偏是骑扫帚这种跟智力无关的事，那哈利只好去死了。）
It took a while for everyone to get a broomstick in front of them. Madam Hooch showed them how to mount and then walked around the field, correcting grips and stances. Apparently even among the few children who'd been allowed to fly at home, they hadn't been taught to do it correctly.
让每个人都把扫帚拿到自己面前，花了一阵工夫。霍琦夫人示范了怎么跨上去，然后绕着场地走，一个个纠正握法和站姿。看来即使在少数几个家里准许他们骑扫帚的孩子当中，也没有人受过正规的教法。
Madam Hooch surveyed the field of boys, and nodded. "Now, when I blow my whistle, you kick off from the ground, hard."
霍琦夫人扫视了一圈场上的男生，点点头。「现在，我一吹哨子，你们就用力蹬地起飞。」
Harry swallowed hard, trying to quell the queasy feeling in his stomach.
哈利使劲咽了口唾沫，想把胃里那股翻腾压下去。
"Keep your brooms steady, rise a few feet, and then come straight back down by leaning forwards slightly. On my whistle - three - two -"
「稳住扫帚，升起来几英尺，然后身体稍微往前倾，笔直落回地面。听我哨子——三——二——」
One of the brooms shot skyward, accompanied by a young boy's screams - of horror, not delight. The boy was spinning at an awful rate as he ascended, they only got glimpses of his white face -
其中一把扫帚冲天而起，伴着一个小男孩的尖叫——是吓的，不是高兴。那男孩往上升的时候转得飞快，大家只能时而瞥见他发白的脸——
As though in slow motion, Harry was leaping back off his own broomstick and scrabbling for his wand, though he didn't really know what he planned to do with it, he'd had exactly two sessions of Charms and the last one had been the Hover Charm but Harry had only been able to cast the spell successfully one time out of three and he certainly couldn't levitate whole people -
像是慢放一样，哈利从自己的扫帚上跳开，手忙脚乱地去摸魔杖——尽管他其实不知道自己打算拿魔杖干什么。他总共只上过两节魔咒课，最近那节确实是悬浮咒，可他三次里只成功过一次，更别提把一个大活人浮起来——
If there is any hidden power in me, let it reveal itself NOW!
如果我身上真藏着什么力量，那就现在使出来！
"Come back, boy!" shouted Madam Hooch (which had to be the most unhelpful instruction imaginable for dealing with an out-of-control broomstick, from a flying instructor, and a fully automatic section of Harry's brain added Madam Hooch to his tally of fools).
「回来，孩子！」霍琦夫人喊道（对一把失控的扫帚来说，这大概是能想出来的最没用的指令了，而且还是从一位飞行教员嘴里喊出来的；哈利脑子里有个全自动的部门，立刻把霍琦夫人记进了他心里的蠢人名单）。
And the boy was thrown off the broomstick.
然后那男孩被甩下了扫帚。
He seemed to move very slowly through the air, at first.
起初，他在空中移动得似乎非常慢。
"Wingardium Leviosa! " screamed Harry.
「羽加迪姆·勒维奥萨！」哈利尖声喊道。
The spell failed. He could feel it fail.
咒语失败了。他能感觉到它失败。
There was a THUD and a distant cracking sound, and the boy lay facedown on the grass in a heap.
一声闷响，远远传来一声像是骨头裂开的脆响，那男孩脸朝下趴在草地上，缩成一团。
Harry sheathed his wand and raced forwards at full speed. He arrived at the boy's side at the same time as Madam Hooch, and Harry reached into his pouch and tried to recall oh god what was the name never mind he'd just try "Healer's Pack!" and it popped up into his hand and -
哈利把魔杖塞回腰间，全速冲了过去。他和霍琦夫人同时赶到那男孩身边，哈利把手伸进袋子里，努力回想——天哪，那东西叫什么来着，算了，他直接喊：「紧急治疗包！」它应声弹进他手里，然后——
"Broken wrist," Madam Hooch said. "Calm down, boy, he just has a broken wrist!"
「手腕断了，」霍琦夫人说，「冷静点，孩子，他只是手腕断了！」
There was a sort of mental lurch as Harry's mind snapped out of Panic Mode.
哈利脑子里有什么东西猛地一松，整个人从恐慌模式里弹了出来。
The Emergency Healing Pack Plus lay open in front of him, and there was a syringe of liquid fire in Harry's hand, which would have kept the boy's brain oxygenated if he'd managed to snap his neck.
「紧急治疗包 Plus」摊开在他面前，他手里是一管液体火焰；要是那孩子刚才扭断了脖子，这一管就能让他的大脑继续供氧。
"Ah..." Harry said in a rather wavering sort of voice. His heart was pounding so loudly that he almost couldn't hear himself panting for breath. "Broken bone... right... Setting String?"
「啊……」哈利说，声音抖得厉害。他心跳得太响，几乎听不见自己在大口喘气。「骨折……对……接骨绳？」
"That's for emergencies only," snapped Madam Hooch. "Put it away, he's fine." She leaned over the boy, offering him a hand. "Come on, boy, it's all right, up you get!"
「那是紧急情况下才用的，」霍琦夫人厉声说，「收起来，他没事。」她俯身去看那男孩，伸出一只手。「来，孩子，没事了，站起来！」
"You're not seriously going to make him ride the broomstick again?" Harry said in horror.
「你不会真要他再骑一次扫帚吧？」哈利惊恐地说。
Madam Hooch sent Harry a glare. "Of course not!" She pulled the boy to his feet using his good arm - Harry saw with a shock that it was Neville Longbottom again, what was with him? - and she turned to all the watching children. "None of you is to move while I take this boy to the hospital wing! You leave those brooms where they are or you'll be out of Hogwarts before you can say 'Quidditch.' Come on, dear."
霍琦夫人瞪了哈利一眼。「当然不会！」她用男孩那只没受伤的胳膊把他拉起来——哈利吃惊地发现，这又是纳威·隆巴顿，又是他——他到底摊上什么事了？——然后转向所有围观的孩子。「我送这孩子去校医院期间，谁也不许动！那些扫帚就留在原地，否则我让你们连「魁地奇」三个字都来不及说就被赶出霍格沃茨。走吧，亲爱的。」
And Madam Hooch walked off with Neville, who was clutching his wrist and trying to control his sniffles.
霍琦夫人扶着纳威走开了。纳威攥着自己那只手腕，努力忍住抽鼻子的声音。
When they were out of earshot, one of the Slytherins started giggling.
等两人走远到听不见，一个斯莱特林开始咯咯地笑。
That set off the others.
这一笑带动了其他人。
Harry turned and looked at them. It seemed like a good time to memorise some faces.
哈利转过身去看他们。这似乎是记住几张脸的好时机。
And Harry saw that Draco was strolling towards him, accompanied by Mr. Crabbe and Mr. Goyle. Mr. Crabbe wasn't smiling. Mr. Goyle decidedly was. Draco himself was wearing a very controlled face that twitched occasionally, from which Harry inferred that Draco thought it was hilarious but saw no political advantage to be gained by laughing about it now instead of in the Slytherin dungeons afterwards.
哈利看见德拉科正向自己溜达过来，身边跟着克拉布先生和高尔先生。克拉布先生没笑，高尔先生则明显在笑。德拉科本人脸上绷得很紧，只是偶尔抽动一下——哈利由此推断：他觉得这事好笑极了，但认为现在笑出声、而不是等回了斯莱特林地窖再笑，捞不到任何政治上的好处。
"Well, Potter," Draco said in a low voice that didn't carry, still with that very controlled face that was twitching occasionally, "Just wanted to say, when you take advantage of emergencies to demonstrate leadership, you want to look like you're in total control of the situation, rather than, say, going into a complete panic." Mr. Goyle giggled, and Draco shot him a quelling look. "But you probably scored a few points anyway. You need any help stowing that healer's kit?"
「嗯，波特，」德拉科压低声音说，确保传不出去，脸上还是那副极力控制、偶尔抽动一下的表情，「我只是想说，想借着突发事件表现领导力的时候，你得让自己看着完全掌控局面，而不是，比如说，彻底慌了神。」高尔先生咯咯笑起来，德拉科瞪了他一眼，把他瞪得不敢再出声。「不过你大概还是挣到了几分。要不要我帮你把那个紧急治疗包收起来？」
Harry turned to look at the Healing Pack, which got his own face turned away from Draco. "I think I'm fine," Harry said. He put the syringe back in its place, redid the latches, and stood up.
哈利转头去看那个紧急治疗包，顺便把自己的脸从德拉科那边转开。「我没事，」哈利说。他把针管放回原位，重新扣好搭扣，站起身。
Ernie Macmillan arrived just as Harry was feeding the pack back into his mokeskin pouch.
厄尼·麦克米兰正好在哈利把治疗包塞回莫克皮袋的时候赶到。
"Thank you, Harry Potter, on behalf of Hufflepuff," Ernie Macmillan said formally. "It was a good try and a good thought."
「谢谢你，哈利·波特，我代表赫奇帕奇谢谢你，」厄尼·麦克米兰一本正经地说，「刚才那是个很好的尝试，也是个很好的想法。」
"A good thought indeed," drawled Draco. "Why didn't anyone in Hufflepuff have their wands out? Maybe if you'd all helped instead of just Potter, you could've caught him. I thought Hufflepuffs were supposed to stick together?"
「确实是很好的想法，」德拉科拖长了调子说，「刚才赫奇帕奇怎么没一个人把魔杖掏出来？要是你们全体一起上，而不是光靠波特一个人，说不定就把他接住了。我还以为赫奇帕奇一向讲究抱团呢？」
Ernie looked like he was torn between getting angry and wanting to die of shame. "We didn't think of it in time -"
厄尼的表情像是被夹在生气和羞愧至死之间。「我们当时没来得及想到——」
"Ah," said Draco, "didn't think of it, I guess that's why it's better to have one Ravenclaw as a friend than all of Hufflepuff."
「啊，」德拉科说，「没想到。我猜这就是为什么交一个拉文克劳当朋友，胜过整个赫奇帕奇。」
Oh, hell, how was Harry supposed to juggle this one... "You're not helping," Harry said in a mild tone. Hoping Draco would interpret that as you're interfering with my plans, please shut up.
唉，天哪，这一摊他要怎么周旋……「你这不是在帮忙，」哈利语气温和地说。他希望德拉科能把这句理解成：你在妨碍我的计划，拜托闭嘴。
"Hey, what's this?" said Mr. Goyle. He stooped to the grass and picked up something around the size of a large marble, a glass ball that seemed to be filled with a swirling white mist.
「嘿，这是什么？」高尔先生说着弯腰从草地上捡起一样东西，大约有颗大弹珠那么大，是个玻璃球，里面好像盛着一团打着旋的白雾。
Ernie blinked. "Neville's Remembrall!"
厄尼眨了眨眼。「那是纳威的记忆球！」
"What's a Remembrall?" asked Harry.
「记忆球是什么？」哈利问。
"It turns red if you've forgotten something," Ernie said. "It doesn't tell you what you forgot, though. Give it here, please, and I'll hand it back to Neville later." Ernie held out his hand.
「你要是忘了什么事，它就会变红，」厄尼说，「不过它不会告诉你你忘了什么。请给我吧，我回头交给纳威。」厄尼伸出手。
A sudden grin flashed across Mr. Goyle's face and he spun around and raced away.
高尔先生脸上突然闪过一丝坏笑，转身就跑。
Ernie stood still for a moment in surprise, and then shouted "Hey!" and ran after Mr. Goyle.
厄尼愣了一秒，然后喊了声「喂！」追了上去。
And Mr. Goyle grabbed a broomstick, hopped on with one smooth motion and took to the air.
高尔先生随手抓过一把扫帚，一个流畅的动作跨上去，飞上了天。
Harry's jaw dropped. Hadn't Madam Hooch said that would get him expelled?
哈利的嘴张得老大。霍琦夫人不是说了，那样会被开除吗？
"That idiot! " Draco hissed. He opened his mouth to shout -
*「这个白痴！」*德拉科嘶声说。他张开嘴要喊——
"Hey! " shouted Ernie. "That's Neville's! Give it back! "
「喂！」厄尼喊道，「那是纳威的！还回来！」
The Slytherins started cheering and hooting.
斯莱特林那边开始起哄叫好。
Draco's mouth snapped shut. Harry caught the sudden look of indecision on his face.
德拉科的嘴猛地闭上。哈利捕捉到他脸上一闪而过的犹豫。
"Draco," Harry said in a low tone, "if you don't order that idiot back on the ground, the teacher's going to get back and -"
「德拉科，」哈利低声说，「你要是不命令那个白痴回到地上，老师一回来就——」
"Come and get it, Hufflepuffle! " shouted Mr. Goyle, and a great cheer went up from the Slytherins.
「有本事自己来拿啊，赫奇噗噗！」高尔先生喊道，斯莱特林那边爆发出一片叫好。
"I can't! " whispered Draco. "Everyone in Slytherin would think I'm weak! "
「我做不到！」德拉科低声说，「斯莱特林所有人都会觉得我软弱！」
"And if Mr. Goyle gets expelled," hissed Harry, "your father is going to think you're a moron! "
「可要是高尔先生被开除，」哈利嘶声说，「你父亲会觉得你是个蠢货！」
Draco's face twisted in agony.
德拉科的脸痛苦地扭曲起来。
At that moment -
就在那一刻——
"Hey, Slytherslime," shouted Ernie, "didn't anyone ever tell you that Hufflepuffs stick together? Wands out, Hufflepuff! "
「喂，斯莱烂泥，」厄尼喊道，「没人告诉过你赫奇帕奇是抱团的吗？赫奇帕奇，魔杖出鞘！」
And there were suddenly a whole lot of wands pointed in Mr. Goyle's direction.
于是突然有一大堆魔杖指向了高尔先生。
Three seconds later -
三秒之后——
"Wands out, Slytherin! " said around five different Slytherins.
「斯莱特林，魔杖出鞘！」大约五个斯莱特林同时说。
And there were a whole lot of wands pointed in Hufflepuff's direction.
于是一大堆魔杖指向了赫奇帕奇那边。
Two seconds later -
两秒之后——
"Wands out, Gryffindor! "
「格兰芬多，魔杖出鞘！」
"Do something, Potter! " whispered Draco. "I can't be the one to stop this it has to be you! I'll owe you a favour just think of something aren't you supposed to be brilliant? "
「想想办法，波特！」德拉科低声说，「不能由我出面阻止，必须是你！我欠你一个人情，快想个办法出来——你不是应该很聪明吗？」
In around five and a half seconds, realised Harry, someone was going to cast the Sumerian Simple Strike Hex and by the time it was over and the teachers were done expelling people the only boys left in his year would be Ravenclaws.
哈利算出来：大约五秒半之后，就会有人念出苏美尔简单攻击咒；等事情结束、老师们开除完人，他这一届剩下的男生就只有拉文克劳了。
"Wands out, Ravenclaw! " shouted Michael Corner who was apparently feeling left out of the disaster.
「拉文克劳，魔杖出鞘！」迈克尔·科纳喊道——他显然是觉得自己被这场灾难落下了。
"GREGORY GOYLE!" screamed Harry_. "I challenge you to a contest for possession of Neville's Remembrall!"_
「格雷戈里·高尔！」哈利尖声喊道。「我向你挑战，用一场比赛决定纳威的记忆球归谁！」
There was a sudden pause.
所有人一下子停住了。
"Oh, really?" said Draco in the loudest drawl Harry had ever heard. "That sounds interesting. What sort of contest, Potter?"
「哦，真的？」德拉科用哈利听过的最响亮的拖腔说，「听起来挺有意思。比什么，波特？」
Er...
呃……
"Contest" had been as far as Harry's inspiration had gotten. What sort of contest, he couldn't say "chess" because Draco wouldn't be able to accept without it looking strange, he couldn't say "arm-wrestling" because Mr. Goyle would crush him -
哈利的灵感只到「比赛」两个字为止。比什么——他不能说「下棋」，那德拉科没法答应，一答应就显得古怪；他不能说「掰手腕」，高尔先生会把他捏碎——
"How about this?" Harry said loudly. "Gregory Goyle and I stand apart from each other, and no one else is allowed to come near either of us. We don't use our wands and neither does anyone else. I don't move from where I'm standing, and neither does he. And if I can get my hands on Neville's Remembrall, then Gregory Goyle relinquishes all claim to that Remembrall he's holding and gives it to me."
「这样吧，」哈利大声说，「格雷戈里·高尔和我各自站在一边，谁也不许靠近我们两个。我们都不用魔杖，别人也不许用。我站在我这儿不动，他也站在他那儿不动。只要我能把纳威的记忆球拿到手，格雷戈里·高尔就放弃他手里那颗记忆球的一切主张，把它交给我。」
There was another pause as people's looks of relief transmuted to confusion.
又是一阵沉默，大家脸上松了口气的表情慢慢变成了困惑。
"Hah, Potter!" said Draco loudly. "I'd like to see you do that! Mr. Goyle accepts!"
「哈，波特！」德拉科大声说，「我倒想看看你怎么*做到！*高尔先生接受！」
"It's on!" said Harry.
「就这么定了！」哈利说。
"Potter, what? " whispered Draco, which he somehow did without moving his lips.
「波特，什么？」德拉科低声说——他居然能做到说话不动嘴唇。
Harry didn't know how to answer without moving his.
哈利不知道该怎么在不动嘴唇的情况下回答。
People were putting their wands away, and Mr. Goyle swooped gracefully to the ground, looking rather confused. Some Hufflepuffs started over towards Mr. Goyle, but Harry shot them a desperately pleading look and they backed off.
大家纷纷收起魔杖。高尔先生姿态优雅地俯冲落地，看上去相当困惑。几个赫奇帕奇想朝高尔先生走过去，哈利投去一个拼命恳求的眼神，他们就退开了。
Harry walked toward Mr. Goyle and stopped when he was a few paces away, far enough apart that they couldn't reach each other.
哈利朝高尔先生走去，在几步远的地方停下。这个距离足够远，两个人谁也够不到谁。
Slowly, deliberately, Harry sheathed his wand.
哈利慢慢地把魔杖插回腰间，动作郑重。
Everyone else backed away.
其他人全都往后退。
Harry swallowed. He knew in broad outline what he wanted to do, but it had to be done in such a way that no one understood what he'd done -
哈利咽了口唾沫。他很清楚自己想要做什么，但整个过程必须做得让谁都不知道他到底做了什么——
"All right," Harry said loudly. "And now..." He took a deep breath and raised one hand, fingers ready to snap. There were gasps from anyone who'd heard about the pies, which was practically everyone. "I call upon the insanity of Hogwarts! Happy happy boom boom swamp swamp swamp! " And Harry snapped his fingers.
「好，」哈利大声说，「那么现在……」他吸了一口气，举起一只手，手指摆好准备打响指。凡是听说过派的人——那基本就是所有人——都倒吸一口气。「我召唤霍格沃茨的疯狂！开心开心轰轰沼泽沼泽沼泽！」然后哈利打了个响指。
A lot of people flinched.
很多人缩了一下。
And nothing happened.
然后什么也没发生。
Harry let the silence stretch on for a while, developing, until...
哈利任由沉默延续了一会儿，让它自己发酵，直到……
"Um," someone said. "Is that it?"
「呃，」有人说，「就这样？」
Harry looked at the boy who'd spoken. "Look in front of you. You see that patch of ground that looks barren, without any grass on it?"
哈利看向说话的那个男孩。「看你前面。看见那块光秃秃、一棵草都没有的地了吗？」
"Um, yeah," said the boy, a Gryffindor (Dean something?).
「呃，看见了，」那男孩说。他是个格兰芬多（迪安什么来着？）。
"Dig it up."
「把它挖开。」
Now Harry was getting a lot of strange looks.
这下哈利收到了更多古怪的目光。
"Er, why?" said Dean something.
「呃，为什么？」迪安什么来着说。
"Just do it," said Terry Boot in a weary voice. "No point asking why, trust me on this one."
「照做就行，」泰瑞·布特用疲惫的声音说，「问为什么没用，这点你信我。」
Dean something kneeled down and began to scoop away dirt.
迪安什么来着跪下去，开始往外扒土。
After a minute or so, Dean stood up again. "There's nothing there," Dean said.
大约一分钟后，迪安又站起来。「那儿什么都没有，」迪安说。
Huh. Harry had been planning to go back in time and bury a treasure map that would lead to another treasure map that would lead to Neville's Remembrall which he would put there after getting it back from Mr. Goyle...
咦。哈利原计划是回到过去，埋一张寻宝图，那张图指向另一张寻宝图，另一张再指向纳威的记忆球——那是他从高尔先生手里拿回来之后会埋在那儿的……
Then Harry realised there was a much simpler way which didn't threaten the secret of Time-Turners quite as much.
然后哈利意识到还有一个简单得多的办法，而且对时间转换器的秘密威胁也小得多。
"Thanks, Dean!" Harry said loudly. "Ernie, would you look around on the ground where Neville fell and see if you can find Neville's Remembrall?"
「谢了，迪安！」哈利大声说，「厄尼，你能不能看看纳威摔倒那地方周围的地面，找找纳威的记忆球？」
People looked even more confused.
大家显得更糊涂了。
"Just do it," said Terry Boot. "He'll keep trying until something works, and the scary thing is that -"
「照做就行，」泰瑞·布特说，「他会一直试到有一招奏效为止，而吓人的是——」
"Merlin! " gasped Ernie. He was holding up Neville's Remembrall. "It's here! Right where he fell!"
「梅林啊！」厄尼倒吸一口气。他手里举着纳威的记忆球。「它*在这儿！*就在他摔倒的地方！」
"What? " cried Mr. Goyle. He looked down and saw...
「什么？」高尔先生叫道。他低头一看，发现……
...that he was still holding Neville's Remembrall.
……他手里还拿着纳威的记忆球。
There was a rather long pause.
好一阵没人说话。
"Er," said Dean something, "that's not possible, is it?"
「呃，」迪安什么来着说，「这不可能吧？」
"It's a plot hole," said Harry. "I made myself weird enough to distract the universe for a moment and it forgot that Goyle had already picked up the Remembrall."
「这是情节漏洞，」哈利说，「我把自己弄得足够怪，把宇宙的注意力岔开了一瞬间，它就忘了高尔已经把记忆球捡走了。」
"No, wait, I mean, that's totally not possible -"
「不对，等等，我是说，那根本不可能——」
"Excuse me, are we all standing around here waiting to go flying on broomsticks? Yes we are. So shut up. Anyway, once I get my hands on Neville's Remembrall, the contest is over and Gregory Goyle has to relinquish all claim to the Remembrall he's holding and give it to me. Those were the terms, remember?" Harry stretched out a hand and beckoned Ernie. "Just roll it over here, since no one's supposed to get close to me, okay?"
「打扰一下，我们大家是站在这儿等着去骑扫帚飞吗？是的。那就闭嘴。总之，只要我把纳威的记忆球拿到手，比赛就结束，格雷戈里·高尔必须放弃他手里那颗记忆球的一切主张，把它交给我。条件就是这样，记得吧？」哈利伸出一只手，招呼厄尼。「你就把它滚过来，反正没人可以靠近我，行吧？」
"Hold on!" shouted a Slytherin - Blaise Zabini, Harry wasn't likely to forget that name. "How do we know that's Neville's Remembrall? You could've just dropped another Remembrall there -"
「等等！」一个斯莱特林喊道——布雷斯·扎比尼，这名字哈利不大可能忘。「我们怎么知道那是纳威的记忆球？你完全可以往那儿扔另一颗记忆球——」
"The Slytherin is strong with this one," Harry said, smiling. "But you have my word that the one Ernie's holding is Neville's. No comment about the one Gregory Goyle's holding."
「这位斯莱特林的原力很强，」哈利微笑着说，「但我可以保证厄尼手里那颗是纳威的。至于格雷戈里·高尔手里那颗，我不作评论。」
Zabini spun to Draco. "Malfoy! You're not just going to let him get away with that -"
扎比尼转向德拉科。「*马尔福！*你不会就这么让他蒙混过关吧——」
"Shut up, you," rumbled Mr. Crabbe, standing behind Draco. "Mr. Malfoy doesn't need you to tell him what to do!"
「你闭嘴，」站在德拉科身后的克拉布先生轰隆地说，「马尔福先生不需要你来教他怎么做！」
Good minion.
称职的跟班。
"My bet was with Draco, of the Noble and Most Ancient House of Malfoy," Harry said. "Not with you, Zabini. I have done what Mr. Malfoy said he'd like to see me do, and as for the judgment of the bet, I leave that up to Mr. Malfoy." Harry inclined his head towards Draco and raised his eyebrows slightly. That ought to allow Draco to save enough face.
「我打的赌是跟德拉科打的，跟尊贵而最古老的马尔福家族打，」哈利说，「不是跟你，扎比尼。马尔福先生说他倒想看看我能不能做到，我做到了；至于这个赌怎么裁，我交给马尔福先生来定。」哈利朝德拉科略一低头，眉毛轻轻一挑。这样应该够让德拉科保住面子了。
There was a pause.
一阵沉默。
"You promise that actually is Neville's Remembrall?" Draco said.
「你保证那真的是纳威的记忆球？」德拉科说。
"Yes," Harry said. "That's the one that'll go back to Neville and it was his originally. And the one Gregory Goyle's holding goes to me."
「是，」哈利说，「就是这颗，它要还给纳威，本来就是他的。而格雷戈里·高尔手里那颗归我。」
Draco nodded, looking decisive. "I won't question the word of the Noble House of Potter, then, no matter how strange that all was. And the Noble and Most Ancient House of Malfoy keeps its word as well. Mr. Goyle, give that to Mr. Potter -"
德拉科点了点头，表情像下了决心。「那我就不质疑波特家族的话了，尽管刚才那一连串实在古怪。尊贵而最古老的马尔福家族同样言出必行。高尔先生，把那颗交给波特先生——」
"Hey!" Zabini said. "He hasn't won yet, he hasn't got his hands on -"
「喂！」扎比尼说，「他还没赢呢，他还没拿到——」
"Catch, Harry!" said Ernie, and he tossed the Remembrall.
「接住，哈利！」厄尼说，把记忆球抛了过来。
Harry easily snapped the Remembrall out of the air, he'd always had good reflexes that way. "There," said Harry, "I win..."
哈利轻松地把记忆球从空中一把抓住——他这方面的反应一向很好。「好了，」哈利说，「我赢了……」
Harry trailed off. All conversation stopped.
哈利说到一半停住了。所有谈话都停了。
The Remembrall was glowing bright red in his hand, blazing like a miniature sun that cast shadows on the ground in broad daylight.
那颗记忆球在他手里发出夺目的红光，亮得像一颗小小的太阳，在大白天把影子投在地上。
Thursday.
星期四。
If you wanted to be specific, 5:09pm on Thursday afternoon, in Professor McGonagall's office, after flying classes. (With an extra hour for Harry slipped in between.)
要说具体一点：星期四下午 5 点 09 分，飞行课之后，在麦格教授的办公室里。（中间还给哈利额外塞进了一个小时。）
Professor McGonagall sitting on her stool. Harry in the hot seat in front of her desk.
麦格教授坐在她的高脚凳上。哈利坐在她办公桌前那个挨训的位置上。
"Professor," Harry said tightly, "Slytherin was pointing their wands at Hufflepuff, Gryffindor was pointing their wands at Slytherin, some idiot called wands out in Ravenclaw, and I had maybe five seconds to keep the whole thing from blowing sky-high! It was all I could think of!"
「教授，」哈利绷着声音说，「斯莱特林把魔杖指向赫奇帕奇，格兰芬多把魔杖指向斯莱特林，拉文克劳那边有个白痴喊了「魔杖出鞘」，我大概只有五秒钟的时间让整件事别炸上天！那是我当时唯一想得出来的办法！」
Professor McGonagall's face was pinched and angry. "You are not to use the Time-Turner in that fashion, Mr. Potter! Is the concept of secrecy not something that you understand?"
麦格教授的脸绷得又紧又怒。「*你不许用那种方式使用时间转换器，波特先生！*保密这个概念，你是不理解吗？」
"They don't know how I did it! They just think I can do really weird things by snapping my fingers! I've done other weird stuff that can't be done with Time-Turners even, and I'll do more stuff like that, and this case won't even stand out! I had to do it, Professor!"
「他们不知道我是怎么做到的！他们只知道我一打响指就能做出各种怪事！我还做过时间转换器根本做不到的怪事，以后还会做更多这种怪事，这一次根本不会显得特别！我必须那样做，教授！」
"You did not have to do it!" snapped Professor McGonagall. "All you needed to do was get this anonymous Slytherin back on the ground and the wands put away! You could have challenged him to a game of Exploding Snap but no, you had to use the Time-Turner in a flagrant and unnecessary manner!"
「你不必须那样做！」麦格教授厉声说，「你只需要让那个不肯说出名字的斯莱特林回到地上，让大家把魔杖收起来！你完全可以挑战他打一局爆炸牌，可你偏不，偏要动用时间转换器，用得明目张胆，而且毫无必要！」
"It was all I could think of! I don't even know what Exploding Snap is, they wouldn't have accepted a game of chess and if I'd picked arm-wresting I would have lost!"
「那是我唯一想得出来的办法！我连爆炸牌是什么都不知道，下棋他们肯定不答应，要是比掰手腕我就输定了！」
"Then you should have picked wrestling! "
「那你就应该选摔跤！」
Harry blinked. "But then I'd have lost -"
哈利眨了眨眼。「可那样我就输了——」
Harry stopped.
哈利停住了。
Professor McGonagall was looking very angry.
麦格教授看起来非常生气。
"I'm sorry, Professor McGonagall," Harry said in a small voice. "I honestly didn't think of that, and you're right, I should have, it would have been brilliant if I had, but I just didn't think of that at all..."
「对不起，麦格教授，」哈利小声说，「我确实没想到这个。您说得对，我本该想到的，要是想到了会很漂亮，可我就是完全没想到……」
Harry's voice trailed off. It was suddenly apparent to him that he'd had a lot of other options. He could have asked Draco to suggest something, he could have asked the crowd... his use of the Time-Turner had been flagrant and unnecessary. There had been a giant space of possibilities, why had he picked that one?
哈利的声音低了下去。他忽然清楚地意识到，他本来有很多别的选择。他可以让德拉科出主意，也可以问围观的人……他用时间转换器这件事，确实是明目张胆而且毫无必要。可能性明明有一大片，他为什么偏偏挑了那一个？
Because he'd seen a way to win. Win possession of an unimportant trinket that the teachers would've taken back from Mr. Goyle anyway.
因为他看见了一条能赢的路。赢一颗无关紧要的小玩意儿——那颗东西老师本来也会从高尔先生手里收回去。
Intent to win. That was what had gotten him.
想赢。就是这一点害了他。
"I'm sorry," Harry said again. "For my pride and my stupidity."
「对不起，」哈利又说了一遍，「为我的自负和我的愚蠢。」
Professor McGonagall wiped a hand across her forehead. Some of her anger seemed to dissipate. But her voice still came out very hard. "One more display like that, Mr. Potter, and you will be returning that Time-Turner. Do I make myself very clear?"
麦格教授用手抹了一下额头，怒气似乎散掉了一些，可她的声音还是硬得像铁。「再来这样一次，波特先生，你就把时间转换器交回来。我说清楚了吗？」
"Yes," Harry said. "I understand and I'm sorry."
「清楚了，」哈利说，「我明白，对不起。」
"Then, Mr. Potter, you will be allowed to retain the Time-Turner for now. And considering the size of the debacle you did, in fact, avert, I will not deduct any points from Ravenclaw."
「那么，波特先生，时间转换器暂时还留在你手里。考虑到你事实上避免的那场乱子有多大，拉文克劳不扣分。」
Plus you couldn't explain why you'd deducted the points. But Harry wasn't dumb enough to say that out loud.
*再说，您也解释不清扣分的理由。*不过哈利还没蠢到把这话说出口。
"More importantly, why did the Remembrall go off like that?" Harry said. "Does it mean I've been Obliviated?"
「更要紧的是，那颗记忆球为什么会那样亮起来？」哈利说，「这是不是说明我被人施过遗忘咒？」
"That puzzles me as well," Professor McGonagall said slowly. "If it were that simple, I would think that the courts would use Remembralls, and they do not. I shall look into it, Mr. Potter." She sighed. "You can go now."
「这一点我也不明白，」麦格教授慢慢地说，「如果事情真有这么简单，我想法庭就该用记忆球了，可他们并不用。我会去查一查，波特先生。」她叹了口气。「你可以走了。」
Harry started to get up from his chair, then halted. "Um, sorry, I did have something else I wanted to tell you -"
哈利从椅子上站起来，又停住了。「呃，抱歉，我还有件事想告诉您——」
You could hardly see the flinch. "What is it, Mr. Potter?"
那一下畏缩几乎看不出来。「什么事，波特先生？」
"It's about Professor Quirrell -"
「是关于奇洛教授的——」
"I'm sure, Mr. Potter, that it is nothing of importance." Professor McGonagall spoke the words in a great rush. "Surely you heard the Headmaster tell the students that you were not to bother us with any unimportant complaints about the Defence Professor?"
「我敢肯定，波特先生，那不是什么要紧事。」麦格教授这句话说得极快。「你总该听见校长对学生说过，不要拿关于防御术教授的任何无关紧要的抱怨来烦我们吧？」
Harry was rather confused. "But this could be important, yesterday I got this sudden sense of doom when -"
哈利相当困惑。「可这件事可能真的要紧。昨天我突然有了一种不祥的预感，就在——」
"Mr. Potter! I have a sense of doom as well! And my sense of doom is suggesting that you must not finish that sentence! "
「波特先生！我也有不祥的预感！而我的不祥预感正在提示我：你千万不要把那句话说完！」
Harry's mouth gaped open. Professor McGonagall had succeeded; Harry was speechless.
哈利张着嘴，一个字也说不出来。麦格教授成功了，哈利彻底失语。
"Mr. Potter," said Professor McGonagall, "if you have discovered anything that seems interesting about Professor Quirrell, please feel free not to share it with me or anyone else. Now I think you've taken up enough of my valuable time -"
「波特先生，」麦格教授说，「如果你发现了任何关于奇洛教授、看起来很有意思的事，请你不必告诉我，也不必告诉任何人。现在你已经占了我够多宝贵的时间——」
"This isn't like you! " Harry burst out. "I'm sorry but that just seems unbelievably irresponsible! From what I've heard there's some kind of jinx on the Defence position, and if you already know something's going to go wrong, I'd think you'd all be on your toes -"
「这不像您！」哈利脱口而出，「抱歉，可这看起来简直难以置信地不负责任！据我所知，防御术这个职位上像是带着某种诅咒，如果您已经知道会出事，我还以为你们大家都会提高警惕——」
"Go wrong, Mr. Potter? I certainly hope not." Professor McGonagall's face was expressionless. "After Professor Blake was caught in a closet with no fewer than three fifth-year Slytherins last February, and a year before that, Professor Summers failed so completely as an educator that her students thought a boggart was a kind of furniture, it would be catastrophic if some problem with the extraordinarily competent Professor Quirrell came to my attention now, and I daresay most of our students would fail their Defence O.W.L.s and N.E.W.T.s."
「出事，波特先生？我当然希望不会出事。」麦格教授脸上没有表情。「去年二月，布莱克教授被人撞见和不少于三个五年级斯莱特林关在一间储藏室里；再往前一年，萨默斯教授在教学上失败得那么彻底，学生以为博格特是一种家具。要是能力出众的奇洛教授身上真出了什么问题、而且现在传到我耳朵里，那将是灾难性的，我敢说我们大多数学生会考不过防御术的 O.W.L. 和 N.E.W.T.。」
"I see," Harry said slowly, taking it all in. "So in other words, whatever's wrong with Professor Quirrell, you desperately don't want to know about it until the end of the school year. And since it's currently September, he could assassinate the Prime Minister on live television and get away with it so far as you're concerned."
「我明白了，」哈利慢慢地说，把这一切都消化了进去，「换句话说，不管奇洛教授身上有什么问题，你们都拼了命想等到学年结束再知道。而现在是九月，照您这个态度，他就算在电视直播里暗杀了首相，您也不会追究。」
Professor McGonagall gazed at him unblinkingly. "I am certain that I could never be heard endorsing such a statement, Mr. Potter. At Hogwarts we strive to be proactive with respect to anything that threatens the educational attainment of our students."
麦格教授一眨不眨地看着他。「我确信我不可能被人听到赞同这样一句话，波特先生。在霍格沃茨，凡是威胁到学生学业成绩的事，我们都力争主动出击。」
Such as first-year Ravenclaws who can't keep their mouths shut. "I believe I understand you completely, Professor McGonagall."
比如那些管不住嘴的一年级拉文克劳。「教授，我想我完全明白您的意思了。」
"Oh, I doubt that, Mr. Potter. I doubt that very much." Professor McGonagall leaned forward, her face tightening again. "Since you and I have already discussed matters far more sensitive than these, I shall speak frankly. You, and you alone, have reported this mysterious sense of doom. You, and you alone, are a chaos magnet the likes of which I have never seen. After our little shopping trip to Diagon Alley, and then the Sorting Hat, and then today's little episode, I can well foresee that I am fated to sit in the Headmaster's office and hear some hilarious tale about Professor Quirrell in which you and you alone play a starring role, after which there will be no choice but to fire him. I am already resigned to it, Mr. Potter. And if this sad event takes place any earlier than the Ides of May, I will string you up by the gates of Hogwarts with your own intestines and pour fire beetles into your nose. Now do you understand me completely?"
「哦，我很怀疑，波特先生。我非常怀疑。」麦格教授往前倾身，脸又绷紧了。「既然你我之间已经谈过比这些敏感得多的事，那我就直说。报告这种神秘不祥预感的，只有你，而且是只有你一个人。你是一个我从未见过的混乱磁铁，全世界就你一个。我们那次去对角巷买东西，然后是分院帽，然后是今天这一出——我很清楚地预见到，我的命运就是坐在校长办公室里，听一个非常好笑的故事——故事是关于奇洛教授的，而挑大梁的只有你一个人；听完之后，除了开除他别无选择。我已经认命了，波特先生。要是这件伤心事发生在五月月中日之前，我就用你自己的肠子把你吊在霍格沃茨大门上，再往你鼻子里灌火甲虫。现在你完全明白我的意思了吗？」
Harry nodded, his eyes very wide. Then, after a second, "What do I get if I can make it happen on the last day of the school year?"
哈利点头，眼睛睁得很大。过了一秒，他又问：「要是我能让它拖到学年最后一天才发生，我能得到什么？」
"Get out of my office! "
「滚出我的办公室！」
Thursday.
星期四。
There must have been something about Thursdays in Hogwarts.
霍格沃茨的星期四一定有什么特别的地方。
It was 5:32pm on Thursday afternoon, and Harry was standing next to Professor Flitwick, in front of the great stone gargoyle that guarded the entrance to the Headmaster's office.
那是星期四下午 5 点 32 分，哈利站在弗立维教授旁边，面对守着校长办公室入口的那尊大石像鬼。
No sooner had he made it back from Professor McGonagall's office to the Ravenclaw study rooms than one of the students told him to report to Professor Flitwick's office, and there Harry had learned that Dumbledore wanted to speak to him.
他从麦格教授的办公室回到拉文克劳自修室还不到片刻，就有学生叫他去弗立维教授的办公室报到；在那里，哈利得知邓布利多要见他。
Harry, feeling rather apprehensive, had asked Professor Flitwick if the Headmaster had said what this was about.
哈利心里很是不安，问弗立维教授校长有没有说这是为了什么。
Professor Flitwick had shrugged in a helpless sort of way.
弗立维教授无奈地耸了耸肩。
Apparently Dumbledore had said that Harry was far too young to invoke the words of power and madness.
据说是邓布利多说的：哈利还太年轻，不该去念那种「力量与疯狂的咒语」。
Happy happy boom boom swamp swamp swamp? Harry had thought but not said aloud.
*开心开心轰轰沼泽沼泽沼泽？*哈利心想，但没说出口。
"Please don't worry too much, Mr. Potter," squeaked Professor Flitwick from somewhere around Harry's shoulder level. (Harry was grateful for Professor Flitwick's gigantic puffy beard, it was hard getting used to a Professor who was not only shorter than him but spoke in a higher-pitched voice.) "Headmaster Dumbledore may seem a little odd, or a lot odd, or even extremely odd, but he has never hurt a student in the slightest, and I don't believe he ever will." Professor Flitwick gave Harry an encouraging smile. "Just keep that in mind at all times and you'll be sure not to panic!"
「请别太担心，波特先生，」弗立维教授从哈利肩膀那个高度尖声说。（哈利很感激弗立维教授那把巨大蓬松的胡子；要习惯一位比自己还矮、声音还比自己尖的教授，实在不容易。）「邓布利多校长可能显得有点古怪，或者相当古怪，甚至极其古怪，可他从来没有伤过学生一根头发，我也不相信他将来会。请一直把这一点记在心里，你就一定不会慌！」
This was not helping.
这话没什么帮助。
"Good luck!" squeaked Professor Flitwick, and leaned over to the gargoyle and said something that Harry somehow failed to hear at all. (Of course, the password wouldn't be much good if you could hear someone saying it.) And the stone gargoyle walked aside with a very natural and ordinary movement that Harry found rather shocking, since the gargoyle still looked like solid, immovable stone the whole time.
「祝你好运！」弗立维教授尖声说，然后凑到石像鬼旁边说了句什么；哈利居然一个字都没听见。（当然，要是别人念口令你也能听见，那口令就没什么用了。）接着那尊石像鬼迈步让开，动作自然又平常，哈利看着觉得相当震撼——因为整个过程里，它看上去始终是一块坚硬的、动不了的石头。
Behind the gargoyle was a set of slowly revolving spiral stairs. There was something disturbingly hypnotic about it, and even more disturbing was that revolving the spiral ought not to take you anywhere.
石像鬼背后是一段缓缓旋转的螺旋楼梯。那东西有种让人不安的催眠感；更让人不安的是，一条楼梯在转，按理说不该把你带到任何地方去。
"Up you go!" squeaked Flitwick.
「上去吧！」弗立维尖声说。
Harry rather nervously stepped onto the spiral, and found himself, for some reason that his brain couldn't seem to visualise at all, moving upwards.
哈利相当紧张地踏上楼梯，然后发现自己在往上走——至于为什么会往上走，他的脑子完全想象不出来。
The gargoyle thudded back into place behind him, and the spiral stairs kept turning and Harry kept being higher up, and after a rather dizzying time, Harry found himself in front of an oak door with a brass griffin knocker.
石像鬼在他身后砰地退回原位，螺旋楼梯继续转，哈利继续被送得更高；晕头转向地过了好一阵，哈利发现自己站在一扇橡木门前，门上是一只黄铜狮鹫门环。
Harry reached out and turned the doorknob.
哈利伸手转动门把手。
The door swung open.
门开了。
And Harry saw the most interesting room he'd ever seen in his life.
然后哈利看见了他这辈子见过的最有意思的一个房间。
There were tiny metal mechanisms that whirred or ticked or slowly changed shape or emitted little puffs of smoke. There were dozens of mysterious fluids in dozens of oddly shaped containers, all bubbling, boiling, oozing, changing color, or forming into interesting shapes that vanished half a second after you saw them. There were things that looked like clocks with many hands, inscribed with numbers or in unrecognisable languages. There was a bracelet bearing a lenticular crystal that sparkled with a thousand colors, and a bird perched atop a golden platform, and a wooden cup filled with what looked like blood, and a statue of a falcon encrusted in black enamel. The wall was all hung with pictures of people sleeping, and the Sorting Hat was casually poised on a hatrack that was also holding two umbrellas and three red slippers for left feet.
那里有各种小小的金属装置，有的嗡嗡作响，有的滴答走动，有的慢慢改变形状，有的喷出一小股一小股的烟。几十种说不清的液体装在几十个形状古怪的容器里，全都在冒泡、沸腾、渗流、变色，或者聚成某种有趣的样子，而你在看见它半秒之后它就消失了。有些东西像是有很多根指针的钟，上面刻着数字，或者刻着他完全认不出的语言。那里有一只镶着透镜状水晶的手镯，闪着千百种颜色；一只鸟栖在一座金台上；一只木杯里盛着看起来像血的东西；还有一尊嵌满黑色珐琅的猎鹰雕像。墙上挂满画着熟睡人物的画，而分院帽就随随便便地搭在一个帽架上，同一个帽架上还挂着两把伞和三只左脚的红色拖鞋。
In the midst of all the chaos was a clean black oaken desk. Before the desk was an oaken stool. And behind the desk was a well-cushioned throne containing Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore, who was adorned with a long silver beard, a hat like a squashed giant mushroom, and what looked to Muggle eyes like three layers of bright pink pyjamas.
这一片混乱的中央，是一张干干净净的黑色橡木书桌。桌前是一张橡木凳子。桌后是一把塞满软垫的宝座，里面坐着阿不思·珀西瓦尔·伍尔弗里克·布赖恩·邓布利多——他留着一把长长的银胡子，戴着一顶像被压扁的巨型蘑菇的帽子，在麻瓜眼里还穿着三层亮粉色睡衣。
Dumbledore was smiling, and his bright eyes twinkled with a mad intensity.
邓布利多在笑，他明亮的眼睛闪着一种疯狂的专注。
With some trepidation, Harry seated himself in front of the desk. The door swung shut behind him with a loud thunk.
哈利有些忐忑地在桌前坐下。门在他身后「砰」地一声关上了。
"Hello, Harry," said Dumbledore.
「你好，哈利，」邓布利多说。
"Hello, Headmaster," Harry replied. So they were on a first-name basis? Would Dumbledore now say to call him -
「您好，校长，」哈利回答。所以他们是要直呼名字了？邓布利多接下来会不会让他叫——
"Please, Harry!" said Dumbledore. "Headmaster sounds so formal. Just call me Heh for short."
「别这样，哈利！」邓布利多说，「「校长」听着太见外了。把后面那个字留下就行，叫我「长」吧。」
"I'll be sure to, Heh," said Harry.
「我会记得这么叫的，长，」哈利说。
There was a slight pause.
短暂的沉默。
"Do you know," said Dumbledore, "you're the first person who's ever taken me up on that?"
「你知道吗，」邓布利多说，「你是第一个真的这么叫我的人？」
"Ah..." Harry said. He tried to control his voice despite the sudden sinking feeling in his stomach. "I'm sorry, I, ah, Headmaster, you told me to do it so I did -"
「啊……」哈利说。胃里突然一沉，他努力控制住自己的声音。「抱歉，我，呃，校长，是您让我这么叫的，所以我——」
"Heh, please!" said Dumbledore cheerfully. "And there's no call to be so worried, I won't launch you out a window just because you make one mistake. I'll give you plenty of warnings first, if you're doing something wrong! Besides, what matters isn't how people talk to you, it's what they think of you."
「叫我长就行，拜托！」邓布利多高兴地说，「而且没什么好担心的，我不会因为你犯一个错误就把你从窗户扔出去。你真做错了什么，我会先给你足够多次警告！再说，要紧的不是别人怎么跟你说话，而是别人怎么看你。」
He's never hurt a student, just keep remembering that and you'll be sure not to panic.
他从没伤过学生，一直记住这一点，你就一定不会慌。
Dumbledore drew forth a small metal case and flipped it open, showing some small yellow lumps. "Sherbet lemon?" said the Headmaster.
邓布利多抽出一只小金属盒，弹开盖子，露出几块黄色的小块。「柠檬雪宝？」校长说。
"Er, no thank you, Heh," said Harry. Does slipping a student LSD count as hurting them, or does that fall into the category of harmless fun? "You, um, said something about my being too young to invoke the words of power and madness?"
「呃，不用了，谢谢，长，」哈利说。给学生塞迷幻药算不算伤人，还是归在「无伤大雅的玩笑」那一类？「您，呃，说过我还太年轻，不该念那种力量与疯狂的咒语？」
"That you most certainly are!" Dumbledore said. "Thankfully the Words of Power and Madness were lost seven centuries ago and no one has the slightest idea what they are anymore. It was just a little remark."
「你当然是太年轻了！」邓布利多说，「幸好「力量与疯狂的咒语」七百年前就失传了，现在谁也不知道它到底是什么。那只是我随口一提。」
"Ah..." Harry said. He was aware that his mouth was hanging open. "Why did you call me here, then?"
「啊……」哈利说。他意识到自己一直张着嘴。「那您叫我来是为了什么？」
"Why? " Dumbledore repeated. "Ah, Harry, if I went around all day asking why I do things, I'd never have time to get a single thing done! I'm quite a busy person, you know."
「为了什么？」邓布利多重复了一遍，「啊，哈利，要是我整天到处问自己为什么做这做那，我就一件正事都干不完了！你知道我很忙的。」
Harry nodded, smiling. "Yes, it was a very impressive list. Headmaster of Hogwarts, Chief Warlock of the Wizengamot, and Supreme Mugwump of the International Confederation of Wizards. Sorry to ask but I was wondering, is it possible to get more than six hours if you use more than one Time-Turner? Because it's pretty impressive if you're doing all that on just thirty hours a day."
哈利笑着点头。「是，那份职务清单非常惊人。霍格沃茨校长、威森加摩首席巫师、国际巫师联合会最高巫首。抱歉问一句，我一直想知道：要是用不止一个时间转换器，有没有可能拿到六个小时以上？因为如果您一天只有三十个小时还要干这么多事，那就太厉害了。」
There was another slight pause, during which Harry went on smiling. He was a little apprehensive, actually a lot apprehensive, but once it had become clear that Dumbledore was deliberately messing with him, something within him absolutely refused to sit and take it like a defenceless lump.
又是一阵短暂的沉默，哈利一直保持着微笑。他其实有点不安，其实是相当不安，可一旦看清邓布利多是在故意逗他，他内心里有什么东西绝对拒绝像个没有还手之力的面团一样坐着挨逗。
"I'm afraid Time doesn't like being stretched out too much," said Dumbledore after the slight pause, "and yet we ourselves seem to be a little too large for it, and so it's a constant struggle to fit our lives into Time."
「恐怕时间不太喜欢被拉得太长，」短暂的沉默之后邓布利多说，「可我们自己对时间来说又似乎太大了些，所以把一生塞进时间里，永远是一场苦战。」
"Indeed," Harry said with grave solemnity. "That's why it's best to come to our points quickly."
「确实，」哈利一脸庄重地说，「所以最好尽快说正题。」
For a moment Harry wondered if he'd gone too far.
有那么一瞬间，哈利怀疑自己走得太远了。
Then Dumbledore chuckled. "Straight to the point it shall be." The Headmaster leaned forwards, tilting his squashed mushroom hat and brushing his beard against his desk. "Harry, this Monday you did something that should have been impossible even with a Time-Turner. Or rather, impossible with only a Time-Turner. Where did those two pies come from, I wonder?"
然后邓布利多轻笑了一声。「那就直接说正题。」校长往前倾身，压扁的蘑菇帽歪了，胡子蹭到了桌面上。「哈利，这个星期一你做了一件即使有时间转换器也不该做得到的事。或者更准确地说，只有时间转换器是做不出来的。那两块派是从哪儿来的，我很好奇？」
A jolt of adrenaline shot through Harry. He'd done that using the Cloak of Invisibility, the one that had been given him in a Christmas box along with a note, and that note had said: If Dumbledore saw a chance to possess one of the Deathly Hallows he would never let it escape his grasp.__...
一阵肾上腺素冲过哈利全身。那件事他是用隐形衣做的——那件隐形衣装在一只圣诞礼盒里送给他，盒子里还有一张字条，字条上写着：如果邓布利多看到一个把死亡圣器弄到手的机会，他绝不会让它从手里溜走。……
"A natural thought," Dumbledore went on, "is that since none of the first-years present were able to cast such a spell, someone else was present, and yet unseen. And if no one could see them, why, it would be easy enough for them to throw the pies. One might further suspect that since you had a Time-Turner, you were the invisible one; and that since the spell of Disillusionment is far beyond your current abilities, you had an invisibility cloak." Dumbledore smiled conspiratorially. "Am I on the right track so far, Harry?"
「一个自然的想法，」邓布利多继续说，「是：既然在场的一年级学生没一个能施出这样的咒语，那就是有别人在场，只是没被看见。而如果没人看得见他，那么扔出那两块派就再容易不过。人还可以进一步推测：既然你有一个时间转换器，那个隐形的人就是你；而既然幻身咒远在你的能力之外，那你就有一件隐形衣。」邓布利多神秘地笑了笑。「我猜得对吗，哈利，到这儿为止？」
Harry was frozen. He had the feeling that an outright lie would not at all be wise, and possibly not the least bit helpful, and he couldn't think of anything else to say.
哈利僵住了。他觉得直接撒谎一点也不明智，可能毫无帮助，而他又想不出别的话可说。
Dumbledore waved a friendly hand. "Don't worry, Harry, you haven't done anything wrong. Invisibility cloaks aren't against the rules - I suppose they're rare enough that no one ever got around to putting them on the list. But really I was wondering something else entirely."
邓布利多友好地摆了摆手。「别担心，哈利，你没做错什么。隐形衣不违反校规——我想是它太稀罕了，没人想到要把它写进禁物清单。不过我想问的其实是另一件事。」
"Oh?" Harry said in the most normal voice he could manage.
「哦？」哈利说，尽可能用最平常的声音。
Dumbledore's eyes shone with enthusiasm. "You see, Harry, after you've been through a few adventures you tend to catch the hang of these things. You start to see the pattern, hear the rhythm of the world. You begin to harbour suspicions before the moment of revelation. You are the Boy-Who-Lived, and somehow an invisibility cloak made its way into your hands only four days after you discovered our magical Britain. Such cloaks are not for sale in Diagon Alley, but there is one which might find its own way to a destined wearer. And so I cannot help but wonder if by some strange chance you have found not just an invisibility cloak, but the Cloak of Invisibility, one of the three Deathly Hallows and reputed to hide the wearer from the gaze of Death himself." Dumbledore's gaze was bright and eager. "May I see it, Harry?"
邓布利多的眼睛亮起了热情。「你看，哈利，经历过几场冒险之后，你慢慢就会摸到这些事的门道。你会开始看出规律，听见这个世界的节奏。你会在谜底揭开之前就开始起疑。你是那个活下来的男孩，而一件隐形衣偏偏在你发现我们英国巫师界之后第四天，就自己跑到了你手里。这种隐形衣在对角巷买不到，但有一件，它可能会自己找到命中注定的主人。所以我忍不住想：会不会碰巧，你找到的不是一件隐形衣，而是那件隐形衣——死亡圣器中的一件，传说它能不让穿戴者被死神本人看见。」邓布利多的目光明亮而急切。「能让我看看吗，哈利？」
Harry swallowed. There was a full flood of adrenaline in his system now and it was entirely useless, this was the most powerful wizard in the world and there was no way he could make it out the door and there was nowhere in Hogwarts for him to hide if he did, he was about to lose the Cloak that had been passed down through the Potters for who knew how long -
哈利咽了口唾沫。他全身的肾上腺素已经彻底涌上来了，而它一点用都没有——面前这个人是世界上最强的巫师，他绝不可能跑出门去，就算跑出去了，霍格沃茨也没有任何地方能让他躲；他就要失去那件在波特家传了不知多少代的隐形衣了——
Slowly Dumbledore leaned back into his high chair. The bright light had gone out of his eyes, and he looked puzzled and a little sorrowful. "Harry," said Dumbledore, "if you don't want to, you can just say no."
邓布利多慢慢靠回高背椅里。他眼里的亮光熄了，看上去有些困惑，也有点难过。「哈利，」邓布利多说，「你要是不愿意，直接说不愿意就行。」
"I can?" Harry croaked.
「我可以？」哈利哑着嗓子说。
"Yes, Harry," said Dumbledore. His voice sounded sad now, and worried. "It seems that you're afraid of me, Harry. May I ask what I've done to earn your distrust?"
「可以，哈利，」邓布利多说。他的声音现在听起来既难过又担忧。「看来你怕我，哈利。能问问我是做了什么，才挣来你的不信任吗？」
Harry swallowed. "Is there some way you can swear a binding magical oath that you won't take my cloak?"
哈利咽了口唾沫。「有没有什么办法，能让您发一个有约束力的魔法誓言，保证不拿走我的隐形衣？」
Dumbledore shook his head slowly. "Unbreakable Vows are not to be used so lightly. And besides, Harry, if you did not already know the spell, you would have only my word that the spell was binding. Yet surely you realise that I do not need your permission to see the Cloak. I am powerful enough to draw it forth myself, mokeskin pouch or no." Dumbledore's face was very grave. "But this I will not do. The Cloak is yours, Harry. I will not seize it from you. Not even to look at for just a moment, unless you decide to show it to me. That is a promise and an oath. Should I need to prohibit you from using it on the school grounds, I will require you to go to your vault at Gringotts and store it there."
邓布利多慢慢摇了摇头。「牢不可破的誓言不是这么轻率地用的。而且，哈利，就算真有这么一道咒语，你要是不事先就会，那「它有没有约束力」也只能凭我一句话。可你一定明白，我要看那件隐形衣，并不需要你的允许。我强大到可以自己把它取出来，你有莫克皮袋也一样。」邓布利多的脸非常严肃。「但我不会那样做。隐形衣是你的，哈利。我不会从你手里夺走它，连看一眼都不行——除非你决定给我看。这是一句承诺，也是一个誓言。万一我需要禁止你在校园里使用它，我会要求你去古灵阁，把它存进你的金库。」
"Ah..." Harry said. He swallowed hard, trying to calm the flood of adrenaline and think reasonably. He took the mokeskin pouch off his belt. "If you really don't need my permission... then you have it." Harry held out the pouch to Dumbledore, and bit down hard on his lip, sending that signal to himself in case he was Obliviated afterwards.
「啊……」哈利说。他使劲咽了口唾沫，努力平复汹涌的肾上腺素，好好思考。他把莫克皮袋从腰带上解下来。「如果您真的不需要我的允许……那就给您。」哈利把袋子递给邓布利多，同时狠狠咬住自己的嘴唇，把这个信号留给自己，以防之后被人施了遗忘咒。
The old wizard reached into the pouch, and without saying any word of retrieval, drew forth the Cloak of Invisibility.
老巫师把手伸进袋子，一个取物的字也没念，就把隐形衣取了出来。
"Ah," breathed Dumbledore. "I was right..." He poured the shimmering black velvet mesh through his hand. "Centuries old, and still as perfect as the day it was made. We have lost much of our art over the years, and now I cannot make such a thing myself, no one can. I can feel the power of it like an echo in my mind, like a song forever being sung without anyone to hear it..." The wizard looked up from the Cloak. "Do not sell it," he said, "do not give it to anyone as a possession. Think twice before you show it to anyone, and ponder three times again before you reveal it is a Deathly Hallow. Treat it with respect, for this is indeed a Thing of Power."
「啊，」邓布利多轻声叹道，「我没猜错……」他让那层泛着微光的黑色天鹅绒似的织物从手里流过。「几百年了，还和造出来的那一天一样完美。这些年来我们丢掉了太多手艺，现在我自己做不出这样的东西，谁也做不出来。我能感觉到它的力量，像心里的回声，像一首永远在唱、却没有人听的歌……」巫师从隐形衣上抬起头。「不要卖掉它，」他说，「不要把它当财物送给任何人。给别人看之前先想两遍，要说出它是死亡圣器之前，再想三遍。敬重它，因为这确实是一件力量之物。」
For a moment Dumbledore's face grew wistful...
有那么一刻，邓布利多的脸上泛起一丝惆怅……
...and then he handed the Cloak back to Harry.
……然后他把隐形衣交还给了哈利。
Harry put it back in his pouch.
哈利把它放回袋子里。
Dumbledore's face was grave once more. "May I ask again, Harry, how you came to distrust me so?"
邓布利多的脸又严肃起来。「我能再问一次吗，哈利，你是怎么变得这么不信任我的？」
Suddenly Harry felt rather ashamed.
哈利忽然觉得很惭愧。
"There was a note with the Cloak," Harry said in a small voice. "It said that you would try to take the Cloak from me, if you knew. I don't know who left the note, though, I really don't."
「隐形衣里有一张字条，」哈利小声说，「上面说，您要是知道了，会想办法把隐形衣从我手里拿走。我不知道字条是谁留下的，我真的不知道。」
"I... see," Dumbledore said slowly. "Well, Harry, I won't impugn the motives of whoever left you that note. Who knows but that they themselves may have had the best of good intentions? They did give you the Cloak, after all."
「原来……如此，」邓布利多慢慢地说，「那么，哈利，我不会去揣测留给你那张字条的人的动机。谁知道呢，说不定他本人怀着最好的好意？毕竟隐形衣是他给你的。」
Harry nodded, impressed by Dumbledore's charity, and abashed at the sharp contrast with his own attitude.
哈利点头。邓布利多的宽厚让他佩服，也让他因为自己态度上的鲜明对比而羞愧。
The old wizard went on. "But you and I are both gamepieces of the same color, I think. The boy who finally defeated Voldemort, and the old man who held him off long enough for you to save the day. I will not hold your caution against you, Harry, we must all do our best to be wise. I will only ask that you think twice and ponder three times again, the next time someone tells you to distrust me."
老巫师继续说：「不过你我大概是同一色的棋子，我想。那个最终打败伏地魔的男孩，和那个把他挡住、挡住足够久让你来收场的老人。我不会因为你的提防而责怪你，哈利，我们都得尽力做到明智。我只请求你，下一次有人叫你不要信任我的时候，先想两遍，再想三遍。」
"I'm sorry," Harry said. He felt wretched at this point, he'd just told off Gandalf essentially, and Dumbledore's kindness was only making him feel worse. "I shouldn't have distrusted you."
「对不起，」哈利说。他此时难受极了——他刚才等于把甘道夫训了一顿，而邓布利多的好意只让他更难受。「我不该不信任您。」
"Alas, Harry, in this world..." The old wizard shook his head. "I cannot even say you were unwise. You did not know me. And in truth there are some at Hogwarts who you would do well not to trust. Perhaps even some you call friends."
「唉，哈利，在这个世界上……」老巫师摇了摇头，「我甚至不能说你不明智。你不认识我。而且说实话，霍格沃茨确实有些人，你最好别信。也许，甚至包括一些你称作朋友的人。」
Harry swallowed. That sounded rather ominous. "Like who?"
哈利咽了口唾沫。这话听着相当不祥。「比如说谁？」
Dumbledore stood up from his chair, and began examining one of his instruments, a dial with eight hands of varying length.
邓布利多从椅子上站起来，开始查看他那些仪器中的一件——一个有着八根长短不一的指针的刻度盘。
After a few moments, the old wizard spoke again. "He probably seems to you quite charming," said Dumbledore. "Polite - to you at least. Well-spoken, maybe even admiring. Always ready with a helping hand, a favour, a word of advice -"
过了一会儿，老巫师又开口了。「他在你眼里大概相当有魅力，」邓布利多说，「有礼貌——至少对你。会说话，说不定还挺佩服你。随时愿意搭把手、帮个忙、给你一句建议——」
"Oh, Draco Malfoy! " Harry said, feeling rather relieved that it wasn't Hermione or something. "Oh no, no no no, you've got it all wrong, he's not turning me, I'm turning him."
「哦，德拉科·马尔福！」哈利说，心里松了口气，好在不是赫敏之类的人。「哦不，不不不，您全弄错了。不是他在拉拢我，是我在拉拢他。」
Dumbledore froze where he was peering at the dial. "You're what? "
邓布利多正凑在刻度盘前看，整个人僵住了。「你在什么？」
"I'm going to turn Draco Malfoy from the Dark Side," Harry said. "You know, make him a good guy."
「我要把德拉科·马尔福从黑暗面拉回来，」哈利说，「就是把他变成好人。」
Dumbledore straightened and turned to Harry. He was wearing one of the most astonished expressions Harry had ever seen on anyone, let alone someone with a long silver beard. "Are you certain," said the old wizard after a moment, "that he is ready to be redeemed? I fear that whatever goodness you think you see within him is only wishful thinking - or worse, a lure, a bait -"
邓布利多直起身，转向哈利。他脸上那副惊愕的表情，是哈利在任何人脸上见过的最夸张的一次，更别说是一个留着长银胡子的人。「你确定，」老巫师过了一刻才说，「他已经准备好被救赎了吗？我怕你自以为在他身上看到的那些善，只是你一厢情愿——或者更糟，是诱饵，是鱼钩——」
"Er, not likely," Harry said. "I mean if he's trying to disguise himself as a good guy he's incredibly bad at it. This isn't a question of Draco coming up to me and being all charming and me deciding that he must have a hidden core of goodness deep down. I selected him for redemption specifically because he's the heir to House Malfoy and if you had to pick one person to redeem, it would obviously be him."
「呃，不太可能，」哈利说，「我是说，他要是想把自己伪装成好人，那演技差得离谱。这件事不是他跑过来对我百般讨好、于是我认定他内心深处一定藏着善良。我选他来感化，正是因为他是马尔福家族的继承人——要是只能挑一个人来感化，那显然就是他。」
Dumbledore's left eye twitched. "You intend to sow seeds of love and kindness in Draco Malfoy's heart because you expect Malfoy's heir to prove valuable to you?"
邓布利多的左眼皮抽了一下。「你打算在德拉科·马尔福心里播种爱与善意，是因为你预计马尔福的继承人会对你很有价值？」
"Not just to me! " Harry said indignantly. "To all of magical Britain, if this works out! And he'll have a happier and mentally healthier life himself! Look, I don't have enough time to turn everyone away from the Dark Side and I've got to ask where the Light can gain the most advantage the fastest -"
「不只是对我有价值！」哈利气冲冲地说，「要是这事成了，是对整个英国巫师界有价值！而且他本人也会过得更快乐、心理更健康！您看，我没有足够的时间把每个人都从黑暗面拉回来，所以我必须问：光明在哪里的收益最快最大——」
Dumbledore started laughing. Laughing a lot harder than Harry would expect, almost howling. It seemed positively undignified. An ancient and powerful wizard ought to chuckle in deep booming tones, not laugh so hard he was gasping for breath. Harry had once literally fallen out of his chair while watching the Marx Brothers movie Duck Soup, and that was how hard Dumbledore was laughing now.
邓布利多笑了起来。笑得比哈利预料的厉害得多，几乎是在嚎。那实在有失体统。一位古老而强大的巫师，理应用低沉洪亮的嗓音呵呵笑，而不是笑到喘不过气。哈利曾经在影院看马克斯兄弟的《鸭汤》时真的从椅子上掉了下去，邓布利多现在笑的就是那么厉害。
"It's not that funny," Harry said after a while. He was starting to worry about Dumbledore's sanity again.
「也没那么好笑吧，」哈利过了一会儿说。他又开始担心邓布利多的精神状态了。
Dumbledore got himself under control again with a visible effort. "Ah, Harry, one symptom of the disease called wisdom is that you begin laughing at things that no one else thinks is funny, because when you're wise, Harry, you start getting the jokes!" The old wizard wiped tears away from his eyes. "Ah, me. Ah, me. Oft evil will shall evil mar indeed, in very deed."
邓布利多明显费了点劲才把自己控制住。「啊，哈利，有一种病叫明智，它的一个症状就是：你会开始对别人觉得不好笑的东西发笑，因为一旦你明智了，哈利，你就开始听懂那些笑话了！」老巫师擦掉眼角的泪。「唉，我啊。唉，我啊。『恶念必自食其果』，这话真是不假，确实不假。」
Harry's brain took a moment to place the familiar words... "Hey, that's a Tolkien quote! Gandalf says that!"
哈利的脑子花了一秒才认出这句耳熟的话……「嘿，这是托尔金的句子！是甘道夫说的！」
"Theoden, actually," said Dumbledore.
「其实是希优顿，」邓布利多说。
"You're Muggleborn? " Harry said in shock.
「您是麻瓜出身？」哈利震惊地说。
"I'm afraid not," said Dumbledore, smiling again. "I was born seventy years before that book was published, dear child. But it seems that my Muggleborn students tend to think alike in certain ways. I have accumulated no fewer than twenty copies of The Lord of the Rings and three sets of Tolkien's entire collected works, and I treasure every one of them." Dumbledore drew his wand and held it up and struck a pose. "You cannot pass! How does that look?"
「恐怕不是，」邓布利多又笑了，「亲爱的孩子，我比那本书出版还早出生七十年。不过看来我的麻瓜出身学生有些地方想法很像。我攒了不下二十本《魔戒》，还有三套托尔金全集，每一套我都珍视。」邓布利多抽出魔杖，举起来摆了个姿势。「*你不能过去！*这看着怎么样？」
"Ah," Harry said in something approaching complete brain shutdown, "I think you're missing a Balrog." And the pink pyjamas and squashed mushroom hat were not helping in the slightest.
「啊，」哈利说，脑子接近完全停机，「我觉得您少了一只炎魔。」而那身粉色睡衣和压扁的蘑菇帽一点忙也帮不上。
"I see." Dumbledore sighed and glumly sheathed the wand in his belt. "I fear there have been precious few Balrogs in my life of late. Nowadays it's all meetings of the Wizengamot where I must try desperately to prevent any work from getting done, and formal dinners where foreign politicians compete to see who can be the most obstinate fool. And being mysterious at people, knowing things I have no way of knowing, making cryptic statements which can only be understood in hindsight, and all the other small ways in which powerful wizards amuse themselves after they have left the part of the pattern that allows them to be heroes. Speaking of which, Harry, I have a certain something to give you, something which belonged to your father."
「我明白了。」邓布利多叹了口气，闷闷地把魔杖插回腰带。「我怕近来我生活里的炎魔少得可怜。如今全是威森加摩的会议，我得拼命阻止任何工作被做成；还有正式晚宴，外国政客们比着谁更能当个死硬的蠢货。再就是对别人装神秘，知道一些我无从知道的事，说些只有在事后回想才能听懂的话，以及强大巫师一旦不再身处「能当英雄」的那段格局里，用来消磨自己的所有那些小把戏。说到这个，哈利，我有一样东西要给你，是你父亲的遗物。」
"You do?" said Harry. "Gosh, who would have figured."
「真的？」哈利说，「天啊，谁能想到呢。」
"Yes indeed," said Dumbledore. "I suppose it is a little predictable, isn't it?" His face turned solemn. "Nonetheless..."
「确实，」邓布利多说，「我想这确实有点太好猜了，对吧？」他的脸变得庄重。「不过……」
Dumbledore went back to his desk and sat down, pulling out one of the drawers as he did so. He reached in using both arms, and, straining slightly, pulled a rather large and heavy-looking object out of the drawer, which he then deposited on his oaken desk with a huge thunk.
邓布利多走回书桌坐下，同时拉开了一个抽屉。他双臂伸进去，微微使着劲，从抽屉里拽出一件相当大、看着相当沉的东西，然后「砰」地一声把它放在橡木书桌上。
"This," Dumbledore said, "was your father's rock."
「这个，」邓布利多说，「是你父亲的一块石头。」
Harry stared at it. It was light gray, discolored, irregularly shaped, sharp-edged, and very much a plain old ordinary large rock. Dumbledore had deposited it so that it rested on the widest available cross-section, but it still wobbled unstably on his desk.
哈利盯着它看。它是浅灰色的，颜色发暗，形状不规则，棱角锋利，实实在在就是一块又大又普通的石头。邓布利多把它选了个最宽的截面放稳，可它在桌上还是摇摇晃晃。
Harry looked up. "This is a joke, right?"
哈利抬起头。「这是个玩笑，对吧？」
"It is not," said Dumbledore, shaking his head and looking very serious. "I took this from the ruins of James and Lily's home in Godric's Hollow, where also I found you; and I have kept it from then until now, against the day when I could give it to you."
「不是，」邓布利多摇着头说，表情非常严肃。「这是我从戈德里克山谷詹姆和莉莉家的废墟里拿出来的——我也是在那里找到你的。从那时起我就一直留着它，等着哪一天能交给你。」
In the mixture of hypotheses that served as Harry's model of the world, Dumbledore's insanity was rapidly rising in probability. But there was still a substantial amount of probability allocated to other alternatives... "Um, is it a magical rock?"
在哈利用来当世界模型的那一堆假设里，邓布利多的疯狂正在迅速升值。但分配给其他可能性的概率仍然相当可观……「呃，这是块魔法石头吗？」
"Not so far as I know," said Dumbledore. "But I advise you with the greatest possible stringency to keep it close about your person at all times."
「据我所知不是，」邓布利多说，「但我以最大限度的严厉建议你，任何时候都把它带在身边。」
All right. Dumbledore was probably insane but if he wasn't... well, it would be just too embarrassing to get in trouble from ignoring the advice of the inscrutable old wizard. That had to be like #4 on the list of the Top 100 Obvious Failure Modes.
好吧。邓布利多大概疯了，可万一他没疯……那么，因为无视这位高深莫测的老巫师的建议而惹上麻烦，也太难堪了。那大概能排进「显而易见的一百种失败方式」榜单的第四名。
Harry stepped forward and put his hands on the rock, trying to find some angle from which to lift it without cutting himself. "I'll put it in my pouch, then."
哈利走上前，双手扶住那块石头，想找个不会割伤自己的角度把它抬起来。「那我就把它放进袋子里。」
Dumbledore frowned. "That may not be close enough to your person. And what if your mokeskin pouch is lost, or stolen?"
邓布利多皱起眉。「那可能还不够贴近你的身体。再说，万一你的莫克皮袋丢了，或者被偷了呢？」
"You think I should just carry a big rock everywhere I go?"
「您的意思是我该走到哪儿都抱着一块大石头？」
Dumbledore gave Harry a serious look. "That might prove wise."
邓布利多严肃地看了哈利一眼。「那可能相当明智。」
"Ah..." Harry said. It looked rather heavy. "I'd think the other students would tend to ask me questions about that."
「啊……」哈利说。那东西看着挺沉的。「我想别的同学一定会问我这是干什么。」
"Tell them I ordered you to do it," said Dumbledore. "No one will question that, since they all think I'm insane." His face was still perfectly serious.
「就说是我命令你这么做的，」邓布利多说，「没人会质疑，因为他们都觉得我疯了。」他脸上依然一丝笑意也没有。
"Er, to be honest if you go around ordering your students to carry large rocks I can kind of see why people would think that."
「呃，说实话，要是您动不动就命令学生抱着大石头走来走去，我多少能理解为啥大家会这么想。」
"Ah, Harry," said Dumbledore. The old wizard gestured, a sweep of one hand that seemed to take in all the mysterious instruments around the room. "When we are young we believe that we know everything, and so we believe that if we see no explanation for something, then no explanation exists. When we are older we realise that the whole universe works by a rhythm and a reason, even if we ourselves do not know it. It is only our own ignorance which appears to us as insanity."
「啊，哈利，」邓布利多说。老巫师抬手一挥，那个动作仿佛把满屋子神秘仪器都圈了进去。「我们年轻时相信自己什么都懂，于是我们相信：只要一件事看起来没有解释，那它就没有解释。等我们老了才明白，整个宇宙都依着某种节奏和道理运转，哪怕我们自己不知道那是什么。在我们眼里显得疯狂的东西，只是我们自己的无知而已。」
"Reality is always lawful," said Harry, "even if we don't know the law."
「现实永远是有规律的，」哈利说，「哪怕我们不知道那条规律。」
"Precisely, Harry," said Dumbledore. "To understand this - and I see that you do understand it - is the essence of wisdom."
「正是，哈利，」邓布利多说，「能明白这一点——我看得出你确实明白——就是智慧的本质。」
"So... why do I have to carry this rock exactly?"
「那么……我究竟为什么非得带着这块石头？」
"I can't think of a reason, actually," said Dumbledore.
「其实我想不出一个理由，」邓布利多说。
"...you can't."
「……您想不出。」
Dumbledore nodded. "But just because I can't think of a reason doesn't mean there is no reason."
邓布利多点点头。「可我想不出理由，并不等于没有理由。」
The instruments ticked on.
那些仪器继续滴答作响。
"Okay," said Harry, "I'm not even sure if I should be saying this, but that is simply not the correct way to deal with our admitted ignorance of how the universe works."
「好吧，」哈利说，「我不确定这话该不该说，但对「我们承认自己不知道宇宙怎么运转」这件事，这完全不是正确的处理方式。」
"It isn't?" said the old wizard, looking surprised and disappointed.
「不是吗？」老巫师说，看上去又惊讶又失望。
Harry had the feeling this conversation was not going to work out in his favour, but he carried on regardless. "No. I don't even know if that fallacy has an official name, but if I had to make one up myself, it would be 'privileging the hypothesis' or something like that. How can I put this formally... um... suppose you had a million boxes, and only one of the boxes contained a diamond. And you had a box full of diamond-detectors, and each diamond-detector always went off in the presence of a diamond, and went off half the time on boxes that didn't have a diamond. If you ran twenty detectors over all the boxes, you'd have, on average, one false candidate and one true candidate left. And then it would just take one or two more detectors before you were left with the one true candidate. The point being that when there are lots of possible answers, most of the evidence you need goes into just locating the true hypothesis out of millions of possibilities - bringing it to your attention in the first place. The amount of evidence you need to judge between two or three plausible candidates is much smaller by comparison. So if you just jump ahead without evidence and promote one particular possibility to the focus of your attention, you're skipping over most of the work. Like, you live in a city where there are a million people, and there's a murder, and a detective says, well, we've got no evidence at all, so have we considered the possibility that Mortimer Snodgrass did it?"
哈利有种感觉，这场对话不会朝他有利的方向发展，可他还是说了下去。「不是。我甚至不知道这个谬误有没有正式名字，可要是非得让我自己起一个，我会叫它「优先假设」之类的。怎么把它说得正式一点……呃……假设你有一百万只盒子，只有一只盒子里装着钻石。你有一整箱钻石探测器，每个探测器碰到钻石一定会响，碰到没钻石的盒子则有一半的概率会响。你拿二十个探测器把所有盒子筛一遍，平均下来，你会剩下一只假的候选盒和一只真的候选盒。然后再多筛一两次，就只剩下那只真的了。关键在于：当可能的答案很多时，你需要的大部分证据，都花在从几百万种可能性里定位那个真假设上——先让它进入你的注意范围。相比之下，要在两三个说得通的候选之间做判断，需要的证据要少得多。所以你要是没有证据就跳到前面，把某一个特定的可能性提拔成你注意力的焦点，你等于跳过了大部分工作。比如说，你住在一座有一百万人的城市里，发生了一起谋杀案，一个侦探说：嗯，我们一点证据都没有，那我们考虑过莫蒂默·斯诺德格拉斯作案的可能吗？」
"Did he?" said Dumbledore.
「是他干的吗？」邓布利多说。
"No," said Harry. "But later it turns out that the murderer had black hair, and Mortimer has black hair, so everyone's like, ah, looks like Mortimer did it after all. So it's unfair to Mortimer for the police to promote him to their attention without having good reasons already in hand to suspect him. When there are lots of possibilities, most of the work goes into just locating the true answer - starting to pay attention to it. You don't need proof, or the sort of official evidence that scientists or courts demand, but you need some sort of hint, and that hint has to discriminate that particular possibility from the millions of others. Otherwise you can't just pluck the right answer out of thin air. You can't even pluck a possibility worth thinking about out of thin air. And there's got to be a million other things I could do besides carrying around my father's rock. Just because I'm ignorant about the universe doesn't mean that I'm unsure about how I should reason in the presence of my uncertainty. The laws for thinking with probabilities are no less iron than the laws that govern old-fashioned logic, and what you just did is not allowed." Harry paused. "Unless, of course, you have some hint you're not mentioning."
「不是，」哈利说，「可后来查出凶手是黑头发，莫蒂默也是黑头发，于是所有人都说：啊，看来果然是莫蒂默干的。所以，警察在没有现成好理由的情况下就把莫蒂默提拔进他们的注意范围，这对莫蒂默是不公平的。可能性很多的时候，大部分工作都花在定位真正的答案上——也就是开始注意它。你不需要证明，不需要科学家或法庭要求的那种正式证据，但你需要某种线索，而这条线索必须能把那个特定的可能性同另外几百万种区分开。否则你就不可能凭空把正确答案捞出来，你甚至不可能凭空捞出一个值得考虑的选项。而且除了抱着我父亲的石头走来走去，我肯定还有一百万件别的事可做。我对宇宙无知，并不意味着我在面对自己的不确定时，就不清楚该怎么推理。跟概率打交道的思维法则，和管辖旧式逻辑的法则一样铁，而您刚才做的那件事，是不允许的。」哈利顿了一下。「除非，当然，您手里有一条没告诉我的线索。」
"Ah," said Dumbledore. He tapped his cheek, looking thoughtful. "An interesting argument, certainly, but doesn't it break down at the point where you make an analogy between a million potential murderers only one of whom committed the murder, and taking one out of many possible courses of action, when many possible courses of action may all be wise? I do not say that carrying your father's rock is the one best possible course of action, only that it is wiser to do than not."
「啊，」邓布利多说。他敲了敲脸颊，若有所思。「这个论证很有意思，不过它是不是在这一点上垮掉了：你把「一百万个潜在凶手、只有一个真的动了手」跟「在许多条可能做法里挑一条，而许多条可能做法也许都同样明智」作了类比？我并没有说带着你父亲的石头是唯一最好的做法，只说这么做比不这么做更明智。」
Dumbledore once again reached into the same desk drawer he had accessed earlier, this time seeming to root around inside - at least his arm seemed to be moving. "I will remark," Dumbledore said while Harry was still trying to sort out how to reply to this completely unexpected rejoinder, "that it is a common misconception of Ravenclaws that all the smart children are Sorted there, leaving none for other Houses. This is not so; being Sorted to Ravenclaw indicates that you are driven by your desire to know things, which is not at all the same quality as being intelligent." The wizard was smiling as he bent over the drawer. "Nonetheless, you do seem rather intelligent. Less like an ordinary young hero and more like a young mysterious ancient wizard. I think I may have been taking the wrong approach with you, Harry, and that you may be able to understand things that few others could grasp. So I shall be daring, and offer you a certain other heirloom."
邓布利多又一次把手伸进刚才那个抽屉，这回像是在里面翻找——至少他的手臂看起来在动。「我要提一句，」哈利还在琢磨怎么回应这个完全出乎意料的反驳，邓布利多就先说了，「拉文克劳有个常见的误解，以为所有聪明的孩子都被分到了那儿，别的学院一个都没剩下。事实并非如此。被分到拉文克劳，说明你被「想知道」这件事驱动，而这跟聪明完全不是同一种品质。」巫师俯身对着抽屉，脸上带着笑。「不过，你确实显得相当聪明。不像一个普通的少年英雄，倒更像一位年轻的神秘古代巫师。我想我或许一直用错了跟你打交道的方式，哈利，而你或许能理解少数人才抓得住的东西。那我就大胆一次，再给你另一件传家宝。」
"You don't mean..." gasped Harry. "My father... owned another rock? "
「您不是说……」哈利倒吸一口气，「我父亲……还有一块石头？」
"Excuse me," said Dumbledore, "I am still older and more mysterious than you and if there are any revelations to be made then I will do the revealing, thank you... oh, where is that thing!" Dumbledore reached down further into the desk drawer, and still further. His head and shoulders and whole torso disappeared inside until only his hips and legs were sticking out, as though the desk drawer was eating him.
「失陪一下，」邓布利多说，「我仍然比你老、比你神秘，要是有什么真相要揭晓，那也该由我来揭晓，谢谢……哦，那玩意儿到底在哪！」邓布利多的手臂往抽屉深处伸，再往深处伸。他的脑袋、肩膀、整个躯干都消失在抽屉里，只剩下腰和腿露在外面，好像抽屉正在把他吃掉。
Harry couldn't help but wonder just how much stuff was in there and what the complete inventory would look like.
哈利忍不住想：那里面究竟装了多少东西，整份清单会是什么样子。
Finally Dumbledore rose back up out of the drawer, holding the objective of his search, which he set down on the desk alongside the rock.
最后邓布利多从抽屉里升了回来，手里拿着他要找的目标，把它放在书桌上，挨着那块石头。
It was a used, ragged-edged, worn-spined textbook: Intermediate Potion Making by Libatius Borage. There was a picture of a smoking vial on the cover.
那是一本用过的、边角磨毛了、书脊也磨旧了的课本：《中级魔药制作》，作者利巴修·波拉奇。封面上的图案是一只正在冒烟的瓶子。
"This," Dumbledore intoned, "was your mother's fifth-year Potions textbook."
「这个，」邓布利多庄重地念道，「是你母亲五年级用的魔药课本。」
"Which I am to carry with me at all times," said Harry.
「也就是我要随时带在身上的东西，」哈利说。
"Which holds a terrible secret. A secret whose revelation could prove so disastrous that I must ask you to swear - and I do require you to swear it seriously, Harry, whatever you may think of all this - never to tell anyone or anything else."
「*它藏着一个可怕的秘密。*这个秘密一旦泄露，后果之严重，使我不得不请你发誓——哈利，不管你对我这一套怎么看，我确实要求你郑重发誓——绝不告诉任何人，也绝不告诉任何别的什么东西。」
Harry considered his mother's fifth-year Potions textbook, which, apparently, held a terrible secret.
哈利打量着母亲的五年级魔药课本。显然，它藏着一个可怕的秘密。
The problem was that Harry did take that oaths like that very seriously. Any vow was an Unbreakable Vow if made by the right sort of person.
问题在于，哈利确实把这种誓言看得极重。只要发誓的人是他认的那一类人，任何誓言都是牢不可破的誓言。
And...
而且……
"I'm feeling thirsty," Harry said, "and that is not at all a good sign."
「我觉得口渴，」哈利说，「而这完全不是一个好兆头。」
Dumbledore entirely failed to ask any questions about this cryptic statement. "Do you swear, Harry?" said Dumbledore. His eyes gazed intently into Harry's. "Otherwise I cannot tell you."
邓布利多对这句玄妙的话完全没问任何问题。「你发誓吗，哈利？」邓布利多说。他的目光紧紧盯进哈利的眼睛。「否则我不能告诉你。」
"Yes," said Harry. "I swear." That was the trouble with being a Ravenclaw. You couldn't refuse an offer like that or your curiosity would eat you alive, and everyone else knew it.
「我发誓，」哈利说。当拉文克劳的麻烦，就出在这儿：这种条件你根本拒绝不了，不然你的好奇心会把你活活吃掉，而别人都清楚这一点。
"And I swear in turn," said Dumbledore, "that what I am about to tell you is the truth."
「那我也以誓言相报，」邓布利多说，「我接下来要告诉你的，是真话。」
Dumbledore opened the book, seemingly at random, and Harry leaned in to see.
邓布利多把书翻开，像是随手翻到的某一页，哈利凑过去看。
"Do you see these notes," Dumbledore said in a voice so low it was almost a whisper, "written in the margins of the book?"
「你看见这些写在书页边上的批注了吗，」邓布利多的声音低得几乎像耳语，「就在页边空白处。」
Harry squinted slightly. The yellowing pages seemed to be describing something called a potion of eagle's splendour, many of the ingredients being items that Harry didn't recognise at all and whose names didn't appear to derive from English. Scrawled in the margin was a handwritten annotation saying, I wonder what would happen if you used Thestral blood here instead of blueberries? and immediately beneath was a reply in different handwriting, You'd get sick for weeks and maybe die.
哈利眯起眼睛。发黄的书页似乎在讲一种叫鹰之华彩魔药的东西，其中很多材料哈利完全不认识，名字也不像从英语来的。页边有一行手写批注，潦草地写着：*不知道这里不用蓝莓、改用夜骐血会怎么样？*紧接着下面是一行不同笔迹的回复：你会病上好几个星期，说不定会死。
"I see them," said Harry. "What about them?"
「我看见了，」哈利说，「怎么了？」
Dumbledore pointed to the second scrawl. "The ones in this handwriting," he said, still in that low voice, "were written by your mother. And the ones in this handwriting," moving his finger to indicate the first scrawl, "were written by me. I would turn myself invisible and sneak into her dorm room while she was sleeping. Lily thought one of her friends was writing them and they had the most amazing fights."
邓布利多指向第二行字。「这一种笔迹写的，」他说，声音还是那么低，「是你母亲写的。而这一种笔迹写的，」他的手指移过去，指向第一行，「是我写的。我会把自己变隐形，溜进她的宿舍，趁她睡着的时候写下来。莉莉以为是她的某个朋友写的，她们为此吵过最精彩的架。」
That was the exact point at which Harry realised that the Headmaster of Hogwarts was, in fact, crazy.
就是在这一刻，哈利意识到霍格沃茨校长确实疯了。
Dumbledore was looking at him with a serious expression. "Do you understand the implications of what I have just told you, Harry?"
邓布利多表情严肃地看着他。「你明白我刚才告诉你的这件事意味着什么吗，哈利？」
"Ehhh..." Harry said. His voice seemed to be stuck. "Sorry... I... not really..."
「呃……」哈利说。他的声音像是卡住了。「抱歉……我……不太明白……」
"Ah well," said Dumbledore, and sighed. "I suppose your cleverness has limits after all, then. Shall we all just pretend I didn't say anything?"
「那好吧，」邓布利多说，叹了口气，「看来你的聪明也是有上限的。我们是不是就当我什么都没说过？」
Harry rose from his chair, wearing a fixed smile. "Of course," Harry said. "You know it's actually getting rather late in the day and I'm a bit hungry, so I should be going down to dinner, really" and Harry made a beeline for the door.
哈利脸上挂着一个僵住的笑容，从椅子上站起来。「当然可以，」哈利说，「您知道现在已经挺晚了，我有点饿，真该下楼去吃晚饭了」——然后他直奔房门。
The doorknob entirely failed to turn.
门把手完全转不动。
"You wound me, Harry," said Dumbledore's voice in quiet tones that were coming from right behind him. "Do you not at least realise that what I have told you is a sign of trust?"
「你伤到我了，哈利，」邓布利多的声音从他背后很近的地方传来，语气很轻。「你难道没意识到，我告诉你的这件事，是一种信任的表示吗？」
Harry slowly turned around.
哈利慢慢转过身。
In front of him was a very powerful and very insane wizard with a long silver beard, a hat like a squashed giant mushroom, and wearing what looked to Muggle eyes like three layers of bright pink pyjamas.
他面前是一位非常强大、也非常疯的老巫师：长长的银胡子，一顶像被压扁的巨型蘑菇的帽子，在麻瓜眼里还穿着三层亮粉色睡衣。
Behind him was a door that didn't seem to be working at the moment.
他背后是一扇眼下似乎不太管用的门。
Dumbledore was looking rather saddened and weary, like he wanted to lean on a wizard's staff he didn't have. "Really," said Dumbledore, "you try anything new instead of following the same pattern every time for a hundred and ten years, and people all start running away." The old wizard shook his head in sorrow. "I'd hoped for better from you, Harry Potter. I'd heard that your own friends also think you mad. I know they are mistaken. Will you not believe the same of me?"
邓布利多看上去有些难过，也有些疲惫，像个想靠在一根他并没有的巫师手杖上的人。「说真的，」邓布利多说，「你一百一十年里每次都照着同一套来，这回只是想试试新做法，结果所有人就都开始跑。」老巫师难过地摇摇头。「我本来指望你更好一点，哈利·波特。我听说你自己的朋友也觉得你疯了。我知道他们错了。你就不肯同样地相信我一次吗？」
"Please open the door," Harry said, his voice trembling. "If you ever want me to trust you again, open the door."
「请您把门打开，」哈利说，声音在发抖。「只要您还想让我重新信任您，就把门打开。」
There was the sound behind him of a door opening.
他身后响起了门被打开的声音。
"There were more things I planned to say to you," Dumbledore said, "and if you leave now, you will not know what they were."
「我本来还有几件事要对你说，」邓布利多说，「你现在走的话，就不知道那些是什么了。」
Sometimes Harry absolutely hated being a Ravenclaw.
有时候哈利简直恨自己是个拉文克劳。
He's never hurt a student, said Harry's Gryffindor side. Just keep remembering that and you'll be sure not to panic. You're not going to run away just because things are getting interesting, are you?
*他从没伤过学生，*哈利身上属于格兰芬多的那部分说。一直记住这一点，你就一定不会慌。事情刚开始变得有意思，你不会就这么跑掉吧？
You can't just walk out on the Headmaster! said the Hufflepuff part. What if he starts deducting House points? He could make your school life very difficult if he decides he doesn't like you!
*你不能就这么甩下校长走出去！*属于赫奇帕奇的那部分说。万一他开始扣学院分呢？他要是认定不喜欢你，能让你的校园生活难过到极点！
And a piece of himself which Harry didn't much like but couldn't quite manage to silence was pondering the potential advantages of being one of the few friends of this mad old wizard who also happened to be Headmaster, Chief Warlock, and Supreme Mugwump. And unfortunately his inner Slytherin seemed to be much better than Draco at turning people to the Dark Side, because it was saying things like poor fellow, he looks like he needs someone to talk to, doesn't he? and you wouldn't want such a powerful man to end up trusting someone less virtuous, would you? and I wonder what sort of incredible secrets Dumbledore could tell you if, you know, you became friends with him and even I bet he's got a reaallly interesting book collection.
而哈利身上还有一部分，他自己不太喜欢、却又没法让它闭嘴——那部分正在盘算：成为这位疯老巫师少数几个朋友之一，而这人同时还是校长、威森加摩首席巫师和国际巫师联合会最高巫首，能带来多少潜在好处。不幸的是，他内心的斯莱特林在把人拉向黑暗面这件事上，显然比德拉科强得多，因为它在说：*可怜的家伙，他看起来确实需要有个人说说话，不是吗？*还说：*你总不会希望这么有权势的人最后去信任一个不如你正直的人吧？*还说：*我在想，你要是成了邓布利多的朋友，他能告诉你多少不可思议的秘密啊。*甚至还有：我敢打赌他那藏书一定非——常有意思。
You're all a bunch of lunatics, Harry thought at the entire assemblage, but he'd been unanimously outvoted by every component part of himself.
*你们全是一群疯子，*哈利对着自己这一整窝人想，但他被自己身上的每一个组成部分一致否决了。
Harry turned, took a step towards the open door, reached out, and deliberately closed it again. It was a costless sacrifice given that he was staying anyway, Dumbledore could control his movements regardless, but maybe it would impress Dumbledore.
哈利转过身，朝敞开的门迈了一步，伸出手，又故意把门关上了。反正他本来就打算留下，邓布利多无论如何都能控制他的行动，所以这份牺牲不花代价；但也许这能让邓布利多满意。
When Harry turned back around he saw that the powerful insane wizard was once more smiling and looking friendly. That was good, maybe.
哈利转过身来，，看见那位强大而疯狂的巫师又笑了，表情友好。这大概算是好事。
"Please don't do that again," Harry said. "I don't like being trapped."
「请别再那样做了，」哈利说，「我不喜欢被困住。」
"I am sorry about that, Harry," said Dumbledore in what sounded like tones of sincere apology. "But it would have been terribly unwise to let you leave without your father's rock."
「这件事我确实抱歉，哈利，」邓布利多的语气听起来是真诚的道歉。「可是让你没带上你父亲的石头就走，那会极其不明智。」
"Of course," Harry said. "It wasn't reasonable of me to expect the door to open before I put the quest items in my inventory."
「当然，」哈利说。「指望门在我把任务物品放进背包之前就打开，是我不讲道理。」
Dumbledore smiled and nodded.
邓布利多笑着点了点头。
Harry went over to the desk, twisted his mokeskin pouch around to the front of his belt, and, with some effort, managed to heave up the rock in his eleven-year-old arms and feed it in.
哈利走到书桌前，把莫克皮袋转到腰带前面，然后费了点劲，用他十一岁的胳膊把那块石头抬起来，喂了进去。
He could actually feel the weight slowly diminishing as the Widening Lip charm ate the rock, and the burp which followed was rather noisy and had a distinctly complaining sound to it.
他能真切地感觉到重量在慢慢变轻，那是扩口咒在把石头吃掉；紧接着是一声响亮的饱嗝，那声音分明带着抱怨的意思。
His mother's fifth-year Potions textbook (which held a secret that was in fact pretty terrible) followed shortly after.
他母亲那本五年级魔药课本（里面那个秘密其实相当可怕）很快也跟着进去了。
And then Harry's inner Slytherin made a sly suggestion for ingratiating himself with the Headmaster, which, unfortunately, had been perfectly pitched in such a way as to gain the support of the majority Ravenclaw faction.
然后哈利的内心斯莱特林为讨好校长出了一个狡猾的主意。不幸的是，这个主意的措辞拿捏得恰到好处，正好争取到了拉文克劳多数派的支持。
"So," Harry said. "Um. As long as I'm hanging around, I don't suppose you would like to give me a bit of a tour of your office? I'm a bit curious as to what some of these things are," and that was his understatement for the month of September.
「那么，」哈利说，「呃，既然我还在这儿待着，您要不要顺便带我参观一下您的办公室？我有点好奇这些东西都是什么。」——这是他九月份说得最轻描淡写的一句话。
Dumbledore gazed at him, and then nodded with a slight grin. "I'm flattered by your interest," said Dumbledore, "but I'm afraid there isn't much to say." Dumbledore took a step closer to the wall and pointed to a painting of a sleeping man. "These are portraits of past Headmasters of Hogwarts." He turned and pointed to his desk. "This is my desk." He pointed to his chair. "This is my chair -"
邓布利多注视着他，然后带着一点笑意点了点头。「你的兴趣让我受宠若惊，」邓布利多说，「只是恐怕没什么好讲的。」邓布利多朝墙边走近一步，指着一幅画着熟睡男子的画。「这些是历任霍格沃茨校长的肖像。」他转身指着自己的书桌。「这是我的书桌。」他指着自己的椅子。「这是我的椅子——」
"Excuse me," Harry said, "actually I was wondering about those." Harry pointed to a small cube that was softly whispering "blorple... blorple... blorple".
「打扰一下，」哈利说，「其实我好奇的是那些。」哈利指着一个小方块，它正轻轻地低语：「布洛普……布洛普……布洛普。」
"Oh, the little fiddly things?" said Dumbledore. "They came with the Headmaster's office and I have absolutely no idea what most of them do. Although this dial with the eight hands counts the number of, let's call them sneezes, by left-handed witches within the borders of France, you would not believe how much work it took to nail that down. And this one with the golden wibblers is my own invention and Minerva is never, ever going to figure out what it's doing."
「哦，那些小零碎？」邓布利多说，「它们是跟着校长办公室一起来的，大部分我都完全不知道是干什么用的。不过这个有八根指针的刻度盘，统计的是法国境内左撇子女巫的——我们姑且叫它喷嚏吧——次数；为了把它确定下来花了多少工夫，你根本不会相信。而这个带金色摆件的，是我自己的发明，米勒娃永远、永远也搞不清它在干什么。」
Dumbledore took a step over to the hatrack while Harry was still processing this. "Here of course we have the Sorting Hat, I believe the two of you have met. It told me that it was never again to be placed on your head under any circumstances. You're only the fourteenth student in history it's said that about, Baba Yaga was another one and I'll tell you about the other twelve when you're older. This is an umbrella. This is another umbrella." Dumbledore took another few steps and turned around, now smiling quite broadly. "And of course, most people who come to my office want to see Fawkes."
哈利还在消化这些话的时候，邓布利多已经走到帽架旁边。「这里当然就是分院帽，我想你们两位已经见过面了。它告诉我，在任何情况下都不要再把它放到你头上。历史上它只对十四个学生说过这种话，雅加婆婆是其中一个，另外十二个等你长大些我再告诉你。这是一把伞。这是另一把伞。」邓布利多又走了几步，转过身来，这时笑得相当开。「当然，来我办公室的大多数人都想见福克斯。」
Dumbledore was standing next to the bird on the golden platform.
邓布利多站在金台上那只鸟旁边。
Harry came over, rather puzzled. "This is Fawkes?"
哈利走过去，相当疑惑。「这就是福克斯？」
"Fawkes is a phoenix," said Dumbledore. "Very rare, very powerful magical creatures."
「福克斯是一只凤凰，」邓布利多说，「非常稀有、非常强大的魔法生物。」
"Ah..." Harry said. He lowered his head and stared into the tiny, beady black eyes, which showed not the slightest sign of power or intelligence.
「啊……」哈利说。他低下头，盯着那双又小又圆的黑色珠子似的眼睛看——那里面看不出丝毫力量或智慧的迹象。
"Ahhh..." Harry said again.
「啊啊……」哈利又说。
He was pretty sure he recognised the shape of the bird. It was pretty hard to miss.
他相当确定自己认得这只鸟的形状。那太难认错了。
"Umm..."
「呃……」
Say something intelligent! Harry's mind roared at itself. Don't just stand there sounding like a gibbering moron!
*说点有水平的话！*哈利的脑子冲自己吼道。别站在那儿像个胡言乱语的傻子！
Well what the heck am I supposed to say? Harry's mind fired back.
*那我到底该说什么啊？*哈利的脑子回敬道。
Anything!
什么都行！
You mean, anything besides "Fawkes is a chicken" -
你是说，除了「福克斯是只鸡」之外的什么都行——
Yes! Anything but that!
对！就是别说那个！
"So, ah, what sort of magic do phoenixes do, then?"
「那么，呃，凤凰都会些什么魔法？」
"Their tears have the power to heal," Dumbledore said. "They are creatures of fire, and move between all places as easily as fire may extinguish itself in one place and be kindled in another. The tremendous strain of their innate magic ages their bodies quickly, and yet they are as close to undying as any creature that exists in this world, for whenever their bodies fail them they immolate themselves in a burst of fire and leave behind a hatchling, or sometimes an egg." Dumbledore came closer and inspected the chicken, frowning. "Hm... looking a little peaky there, I'd say."
「它们的眼泪有治愈之力，」邓布利多说，「它们是火的造物，往来于所有地方，就像火可以在一处熄灭、在另一处燃起一样轻易。它们天生魔法带来的巨大消耗使它们的身体很快衰老，可它们又是这世上最接近不死的生物——每当身体撑不住了，它们就会在一团火焰里自焚，留下一只幼鸟，有时是一枚蛋。」邓布利多走近了些，皱着眉端详那只鸡。「嗯……我看它气色有点差。」
By the time this statement registered fully in Harry's mind, the chicken was already on fire.
等这句话在哈利脑子里完全落地时，那只鸡已经烧起来了。
The chicken's beak opened, but it didn't have time for so much as a single caw before it began to wither and char. The blaze was brief, intense, and entirely self-contained; there was no smell of burning.
那只鸡张开了嘴，可它连一声咯咯都没来得及叫出来，就开始枯萎、焦黑。火焰短暂、猛烈，而且完全封闭在自身之内；一点烧焦的气味都没有。
And then the fire died down only seconds after it had begun, leaving behind a tiny, pathetic heap of ashes on the golden platform.
然后火在燃起后不过几秒就熄了，金台上只留下一小堆可怜巴巴的灰烬。
"Don't look so horrified, Harry!" said Dumbledore. "Fawkes hasn't been hurt." Dumbledore's hand dipped into a pocket, and then the same hand sifted through the ashes and turned up a small yellowish egg. "Look, here's an egg!"
「别那么惊恐，哈利！」邓布利多说，「福克斯没有受伤。」邓布利多的手伸进一个口袋，然后那只手在灰烬里拨了拨，翻出一枚黄色的小蛋。「看，一枚蛋！」
"Oh... wow... amazing..."
「哦……哇……太神奇了……」
"But now we really should get on with things," Dumbledore said. Leaving the egg behind in the ashes of the chicken, he returned to his throne and seated himself. "It's almost time for dinner, after all, and we wouldn't want to have to use our Time-Turners."
「不过现在真的该办正事了，」邓布利多说。他把那枚蛋留在鸡的灰烬里，回到宝座上坐下。「毕竟快到晚饭时间了，我们总不会想非动用时间转换器不可。」
There was a violent power struggle going on in the Government of Harry. Slytherin and Hufflepuff had switched sides after seeing the Headmaster of Hogwarts set fire to a chicken.
哈利体内的「政府」里，一场激烈的权力斗争正在进行。看到霍格沃茨校长放火点着一只鸡之后，斯莱特林和赫奇帕奇换了阵营。
"Yes, things," said Harry's lips. "And then dinner."
「对，正事，」哈利的嘴唇说，「然后去吃饭。」
You're sounding like a gibbering moron again observed Harry's Internal Critic.
你又在像个胡言乱语的傻子了，哈利的内部批评家点评道。
"Well," Dumbledore said. "I fear I have a confession to make, Harry. A confession and an apology."
「嗯，」邓布利多说，「我怕我得跟你做一次坦白，哈利。一次坦白，一次道歉。」
"Apologies are good" that doesn't even make sense! What am I talking about?
「道歉是好事」——这话根本不通啊！我在说什么？
The old wizard sighed deeply. "You may not still think so after understanding what I have to say. I'm afraid, Harry, that I've been manipulating you your entire life. It was I who consigned you to the care of your wicked stepparents -"
老巫师深深地叹了口气。「等你听完我要说的话，也许就不这么想了。哈利，恐怕我这一辈子都在操纵你。是我把你交给你那对邪恶的继父母抚养的——」
"My stepparents aren't wicked!" blurted Harry. "My parents, I mean!"
「我的继父母不邪恶！」哈利脱口而出，「我是说我的父母！」
"They aren't?" Dumbledore said, looking surprised and disappointed. "Not even a little wicked? That doesn't fit the pattern..."
「不邪恶？」邓布利多说，看上去又惊讶又失望。「一点邪恶都没有？这不符合模式啊……」
Harry's inner Slytherin screamed at the top of its mental lungs, SHUT UP YOU IDIOT HE'LL TAKE YOU AWAY FROM THEM!
哈利的内心斯莱特林在心里扯着嗓子尖叫：闭嘴你这白痴！他会把你从他们身边带走的！
"No, no," said Harry, lips frozen in a ghastly grimace, "I was just trying to spare your feelings, they're actually very wicked..."
「不不，」哈利说。他的嘴唇僵在一个难看的怪笑上，「我只是想照顾您的感受，他们其实非常邪恶……」
"They are?" Dumbledore leaned forward, gazing at him intently. "What do they do?"
「是吗？」邓布利多往前倾身，专注地看着他。「他们都做些什么？」
Talk fast "they, ah, I have to do dishes and wash problems and they don't let me read a lot of books and -"
快说点什么「他们，呃，我得洗碗、还要解题，而且他们不让我读很多书，还有——」
"Ah, good, that's good to hear," said Dumbledore, leaning back again. He smiled in a sad sort of way. "I apologise for that, then. Now where was I? Ah, yes. I'm sorry to say, Harry, that I am responsible for virtually everything bad that has ever happened to you. I know that this will probably make you very angry."
「啊，好，听你这么说就好，」邓布利多说，又靠了回去。他带着一种伤感的笑意。「那我为刚才那句话道歉。刚才我说到哪儿了？啊，对。我很抱歉地说，哈利，你身上发生过的一切坏事，几乎都由我负责。我知道这大概会让你非常生气。」
"Yes, I'm very angry!" said Harry. "Grrr!"
「对，我非常生气！」哈利说。「吼吼吼！」
Harry's Internal Critic promptly awarded him the All-Time Award for the Worst Acting in the History of Ever.
哈利的内部批评家当场给他颁发了「史上最烂演技」终身成就奖。
"And I just wanted you to know," Dumbledore said, "I wanted to tell you as early as possible, in case something happens to one of us later, that I am truly, truly sorry. For everything that has already happened, and everything that will."
「我只是想让你知道，」邓布利多说，「我想尽早告诉你——万一我们之中有谁以后出了什么事——我真心、真心地抱歉。为已经发生的一切，也为将要发生的一切。」
Moisture glistened in the old wizard's eyes.
老巫师的眼睛里泛起了水光。
"And I'm very angry!" said Harry. "So angry that I want to leave right now unless you've got anything else to say!"
「而且我非常生气！」哈利说，「气到我除非您还有别的话要说，否则现在就想离开！」
Just GO before he sets you on fire! shrieked Slytherin, Hufflepuff, and Gryffindor.
*趁他还没把你点着，快走！*斯莱特林、赫奇帕奇和格兰芬多一起尖叫。
"I understand," said Dumbledore. "One last thing then, Harry. You are not to attempt the forbidden door on the third-floor corridor. There's no possible way you could get through all the traps, and I wouldn't want to hear that you'd been hurt trying. Why, I doubt that you could so much as open the first door, since it's locked and you don't know the spell Alohomora -"
「我明白，」邓布利多说，「那就最后一件，哈利。你不准去碰三楼走廊那扇禁止进入的门。你绝无可能闯过所有那些机关，我也不想听到你为此受了伤。再说，我怀疑你连第一道门都打不开，因为它是锁着的，而你不会那个咒语阿拉霍洞开——」
Harry spun around and bolted for the exit at top speed, the doorknob turned agreeably in his hand and then he was racing down the spiral stairs even as they turned, his feet almost stumbling over themselves, in just a moment he was at the bottom and the gargoyle was walking aside and Harry fired out of the stairwell like a cannonball.
哈利转身全速冲向出口。门把手在他手里顺顺当当地转动，接着他一路冲下螺旋楼梯，楼梯一边转他一边往下，两只脚几乎绊在一起；转眼他就到了底，石像鬼让到一边，哈利像一颗炮弹一样射出楼梯间。
Harry Potter.
哈利·波特。
There must have been something about Harry Potter.
哈利·波特身上一定也有什么特别的地方。
It was Thursday for everyone, after all, and yet this sort of thing didn't seem to happen to anyone else.
毕竟星期四对所有人都一样，可这种事好像从没发生在别人身上。
It was 6:21pm on Thursday afternoon when Harry Potter, firing out of the stairwell like a cannonball and accelerating at top speed, ran directly into Minerva McGonagall as she was turning a corner on her way to the Headmaster's office.
那是星期四下午 6 点 21 分。哈利·波特像一颗炮弹一样射出楼梯间，还在以最高速度加速，一头撞上了正拐过弯、要往校长办公室去的米勒娃·麦格。
Thankfully neither of them were much hurt. As had been explained to Harry a little earlier in the day - back when he was refusing to go anywhere near a broomstick again - Quidditch needed solid iron Bludgers just to stand a decent chance of injuring the players, since wizards tended to be a lot more resistant than Muggles to impacts.
幸好两个人都没怎么受伤。这件事今天早些时候已经有人给哈利解释过了——就在他死活再也不肯靠近扫帚的时候：魁地奇只有用实心铁的游走球，才勉强有可能让球员受伤，因为巫师对撞击的耐受度比麻瓜高得多。
Harry and Professor McGonagall did both end up on the floor, and the parchments she had been carrying went all over the corridor.
哈利和麦格教授最后都躺在了地上，她抱着的那些羊皮纸撒了一走廊。
There was a terrible, terrible pause.
那是一个可怕、可怕的停顿。
"Harry Potter," breathed Professor McGonagall from where she was lying on the floor right next to Harry. Her voice rose to nearly a shriek. "What were you doing in the Headmaster's office?"
「哈利·波特，」麦格教授躺在地板上、就在哈利旁边，喘着气说。她的声音几乎拔成了尖叫。「你在校长办公室里干什么？」
"Nothing!" squeaked Harry.
「什么也没干！」哈利尖声说。
"Were you talking about the Defence Professor?"
「你是不是在说防御术教授的事？」
"No! Dumbledore called me up there and he gave me this big rock and said it was my father's and I should carry it everywhere!"
「不是！邓布利多把我叫上去，给了我一块大石头，说那是我父亲的，让我走到哪儿都带着！」
There was another terrible pause.
又是一个可怕的停顿。
"I see," said Professor McGonagall, her voice a little calmer. She stood up, brushed herself off, and glared at the scattered parchments, which jumped into a neat stack and scurried back against the corridor wall as though to hide from her gaze. "My sympathies, Mr. Potter, and I apologise for doubting you."
「原来如此，」麦格教授说，声音平静了一些。她站起来，掸了掸衣服，瞪了一眼散落的羊皮纸——那些纸随即跳成一叠整齐的纸摞，贴着走廊墙根缩了回去，仿佛要躲开她的目光。「我很同情你，波特先生，也为我刚才怀疑你而道歉。」
"Professor McGonagall," Harry said. His voice was wavering. He pushed himself off the floor, stood, and looked up at her trustworthy, sane face. "Professor McGonagall..."
「麦格教授，」哈利说。他的声音在发颤。他撑起身子，站起来，抬头看着她那张可信的、理智的脸。「麦格教授……」
"Yes, Mr. Potter?"
「什么事，波特先生？」
"Do you think I should?" Harry said in a small voice. "Carry my father's rock everywhere?"
「您觉得我该那样做吗？」哈利小声说，「走到哪儿都带着我父亲的石头？」
Professor McGonagall sighed. "That is between you and the Headmaster, I'm afraid." She hesitated. "I will say that ignoring the Headmaster completely is almost never wise. I am sorry to hear of your dilemma, Mr. Potter, and if there's any way I can help you with whatever you decide to do -"
麦格教授叹了口气。「恐怕那是你和校长之间的事。」她犹豫了一下。「我要说，完全无视校长几乎从来都不明智。波特先生，听到你这样的两难处境我确实很遗憾；不管你决定怎么做，只要我能帮上忙——」
"Um," Harry said. "Actually I was thinking that once I know how, I could Transfigure the rock into a ring and wear it on my finger. If you could teach me how to sustain a Transfiguration -"
「呃，」哈利说，「其实我在想，等我学会怎么做之后，可以用变形术把那块石头变成一只戒指，戴在手指上。要是您能教我怎样让变形维持住——」
"It is good that you asked me first," Professor McGonagall said, her face growing a bit stern. "If you lost control of the Transfiguration the reversal would cut off your finger and probably rip your hand in half. And at your age, even a ring is too large a target for you to sustain indefinitely without it being a serious drain on your magic. But I can have a ring forged for you with a setting for a jewel, a small jewel, in contact with your skin, and you can practice sustaining a safe subject, like a marshmallow. When you have kept it up successfully, even in your sleep, for a full month, I will allow you to Transfigure, ah, your father's rock..." Professor McGonagall's voice trailed off. "Did the Headmaster really -"
「你先来问我，这很好，」麦格教授说，脸色严厉了一些。「你要是对变形术失去控制，逆转会切断你的手指，还很可能把你的手撕成两半。再说以你现在的年纪，哪怕一只戒指，对你来说都是太大的目标，不可能无限期地维持住，那会严重消耗你的魔力。不过我可以让人替你打一只戒指，留一个镶宝石的托座，镶一颗小宝石，让它贴着你的皮肤；你可以先拿一个安全的对象练手，比如一颗棉花糖。等你连续整整一个月都能成功维持——哪怕是睡着的时候——我就允许你施展变形术，呃，把你父亲的石头……」麦格教授的声音低了下去。「校长真的——」
"Yes. Ah... um..."
「是真的。呃……嗯……」
Professor McGonagall sighed. "That's a bit strange even for him." She stooped and picked up the stack of parchments. "I'm sorry about this, Mr. Potter. I apologise again for mistrusting you. But now it's my own turn to see the Headmaster."
麦格教授叹了口气。「就算对他而言，这也算有点古怪了。」她弯下腰，把那一叠羊皮纸捡起来。「波特先生，这件事我很抱歉。也为刚才不信任你再次道歉。不过现在轮到我去见校长了。」
"Ah... good luck, I guess. Er..."
「呃……祝您顺利，大概吧。呃……」
"Thank you, Mr. Potter."
「谢谢你，波特先生。」
"Um..."
「呃……」
Professor McGonagall walked over to the gargoyle, inaudibly spoke the password, and stepped through into the revolving spiral stairs. She began to rise out of sight, and the gargoyle started back -
麦格教授走到石像鬼前，无声地念了口令，穿过石像鬼，踏上那段旋转的螺旋楼梯。她开始升上去，渐渐看不见了，石像鬼正要退回去——
"Professor McGonagall the Headmaster set fire to a chicken!"
「麦格教授，校长放火点着一只鸡！」
"He wha-"
「他什么——」
梗与典故
- 「不要玩弄时间」与稳定时间循环：哈利早上做的那个实验，本质是让一张纸成为它自己的答案。他把「读到什么就写下什么」定成一条规则 f，再要求这张纸自洽——纸上写的内容必须等于按规则算出来的内容，也就是要求 X = f(X)。这和物理学里的闭合类时曲线是同一个结构：诺维科夫（Igor Novikov）在 1980 年代提出的自洽性原理主张，凡是会造成悖论、或对过去造成任何「改变」的事件，其概率为零，能真实发生的只有整体自洽的那些解1。信息本身没有来源、在时间里绕成一个圈，这种悖论另有专名叫「自举悖论」（bootstrap paradox），也叫「本体论悖论」2。要注意的是，物理文献里自洽解并不唯一：台球悖论一例中，同样的初始条件可以对应不止一个、某些情形下甚至无穷多个自洽解1。这一点正对上哈利后来一整天都在琢磨的事：为什么被选中的偏偏是那一个循环。「不要玩弄时间」不是流传已久的圈内格言，它出自本章，是这本书自己的台词3。
- P=NP：为什么「容易验证、难以求解」是个著名问题：哈利说这个花招等于证明了「只要有了时间转换器，P=NP 就成立」。P 是「能在多项式时间内求解」的问题类，NP 是「答案能在多项式时间内被验证」的问题类4。181429 正好落在这一类里：给你 397 和 457，乘法一秒就能验算；只给你 181429，要把这两个因数找出来就难得多。克莱数学研究所的问题页把这件事问得很直白——如果检查一个答案是否正确很容易，求解是不是也一样容易？5 而如果 P=NP，现代密码学所依赖的假设会全部失效：按库克的说法，一个能在 n² 步内解 3-SAT 的算法，可以在几分钟内分解 200 位的整数4。所以哈利的「神级作弊」说得并不夸张。
- 「优先假设」：作者跟读者开的内部玩笑：哈利说「这个谬误可能没有正式名字，可要是非得让我自己起一个，我会叫它『优先假设』」。这个名字确实存在，而且正是本书作者 2009 年在 LessWrong 上自己起的，原文写的是「I'll label this the fallacy of privileging the hypothesis（享受特权的假说）——如果它本来就有正式名字，请告诉我，我想不起来见过」6。它的要点是：在还没有把证据握在手里的时候，就把某个假设提拔成受关注的对象7。哈利讲的两个例子也都出自那篇文章——一百万个盒子里找钻石的探测器，和城市里一百万个嫌疑人中的莫蒂默·Q·斯诺德格拉斯（原文里他住在「平凡巷 128 号」）6。本章标题「寻找假说」也来自同一套用语：英文的 locate the hypothesis 指的是在几百万个可能性里先把真假设找出来这件事本身，就要花掉你需要的大部分证据8。
- 牢不可破的誓言：邓布利多不肯轻用、也不肯细说的那件事，在正典里是有具体机制和代价的。立誓需要三个人——立誓双方加一名见证者，两人右手相握，见证者的魔杖尖抵在交握的手上，每接受一条条款，就有一道火焰缠上他们的手；条款一旦被违背，违背者会死16。正典中最有名的一次是斯内普对纳西莎立的誓言，见证人是贝拉特里克斯。所以「不是这么轻率地用的」这句话，说的是它会要命。
References
- 1Novikov self-consistency principle（Wikipedia）
en.wikipedia.org
- 2Bootstrap paradox（Wikipedia）
en.wikipedia.org
- 3HPMOR 第 17 章官方原文
hpmor.com
- 4
- 5P vs NP（Clay Mathematics Institute）
claymath.org
- 6
- 7Privileging The Hypothesis（LessWrong Wiki）
lesswrong.com
- 8Locate The Hypothesis（LessWrong Wiki）
lesswrong.com
- 9Ides of March（Wikipedia）
en.wikipedia.org
- 10
- 11The Bridge of Khazad-dûm（Tolkien Gateway）
tolkiengateway.net
- 12The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring（Wikiquote）
en.wikiquote.org
- 13Proverbs in The Lord of the Rings（Wikipedia）
en.wikipedia.org
- 14Libatius Borage（Harry Potter Wiki）
harrypotter.fandom.com
- 15Severus Snape's copy of Advanced Potion-Making（Harry Potter Wiki）
harrypotter.fandom.com
- 16Unbreakable Vow（Harry Potter Wiki）
harrypotter.fandom.com
- 17The Tale of the Three Brothers（Harry Potter Wiki）
harrypotter.fandom.com
- 18Cloak of Invisibility（Harry Potter Wiki）
harrypotter.fandom.com
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