Harry Potter & the Order of the Phoenix

Harry¹ Potter & the Order of the Phoenix²

The following day dawned just as 1)leaden and rainy as the previous one. Hagrid was still absent from the staff table at breakfast.

"But on the plus side, no Snape today," said Ron 2)bracingly.

Hermione yawned widely and poured herself some coffee. She looked mildly pleased about something, and when Ron asked her what she had to be so happy about, she simply said, The hats have gone. Seems the house-elves do want freedom after all."

"I wouldn't bet on it,?Ron told her cuttingly. They might not count as clothes. They didn't look anything like hats to me, more like woolly 3)bladders."

Hermione did not speak to him all morning.

Double Charms was succeeded by double 4)Transfiguration. Professor Flitwick and professor McGonagall both spent the first fifteen minutes of their lessons lecturing the class on the importance of 5)O.W.L.s.

"What you must remember,"said little Professor Flitwick 6)squeakily, 7)perched as ever on a pile of books so that he could see over the top of his desk. "Is that these examinations may influence your futures⁴ for many years to come! If you have not already given serious thought to your careers, now is the time to do so. And in the meantime, I'm afraid, we shall be working harder than ever to ensure that you all do yourselves justice!"

They then spent over an hour revising Summoning Charms, which according to Professor Flitwick were bound to come up in their O.W.L., and he rounded off the lesson by setting them their largest ever amount of Charms homework.

It was the same, if not worse, in Transfiguration.

"You cannot pass an O.W.L.," said Professor McGonagall 8)grimly, "without serious application, practice and study. I see no reason why everybody in this class should not achieve an O.W.L. in Transfiguration as long as they put in the work." Neville made a sad little disbelieving noise. "Yes, you too, Longbottom," said Professor McGonagall. There's nothing wrong with your work except lack of confidence. So... today we are starting Vanishing Spells. These are easier than 9)Conjuring Spells, which you would not usually attempt until 10)N.E.W.T.s level, but they are still among the most difficult magic you will be tested on in your O.W.L..?She was quite right; Harry found the Vanishing Spells horribly difficult. By the end of a double period neither he nor Ron had managed to vanish the snails⁶ on which they were practising, though Ron said hopefully his looked a bit paler. Hermione, on the other hand, successfully vanished her snail⁵ on the third attempt, earning her a ten-point 11)bonus for Gryffindor from Professor McGonagall. She was the only person not given homework; everybody else was told to practise the spell overnight, ready for a fresh attempt on their snails the following afternoon.

Now panicking slightly about the amount of homework they had to do, Harry and Ron spent their lunch hour in the library looking up the uses of moonstones in potion-making. Still angry about Ron's 12)slur⁷ on her woolly hats, Hermione did not join them. By the time they reached Care of Magical Creatures in the afternoon, Harry's head was aching again.

注释:
1) leaden [5ledn] a. 沉闷的；铅灰色的      
2) bracingly [brB:tF5EulE] ad. 振奋精神地
3) bladder [5blAdE] n. 气泡，球胆
4) transfiguration [7trAnsfi^ju5reiFEn] n. 变形，变貌
5) O.W.L.s的全称是Ordinary Wizarding Levels，意思是“普通巫师等级考试”
6) squeakily [skwi:kili] ad. 短促尖声地
7) perch³ [pE:tF] v. 位于
8) grimly [grimli] ad. 严格地，冷酷地
9) conjure⁸ [5kQndVE] v. 念咒召鬼，施魔法
10) N.E.W.T.s的全称是Nastily Exhausting Wizarding Tests，意思是“终极巫师考试”
11) bonus [5bEunEs] n. 奖金
12) slur [slE:] n. 侮辱，毁谤
哈利·波特与凤凰社
节选自第13章《被多洛雷斯关禁闭》

 

第二天早晨，天气和前一天一样灰蒙蒙的，细雨绵绵。吃早饭的时候，教工桌子上还是不见海格的身影。“可是从有利的方面看，斯内普今天也不在。”罗恩给他们打气说。
赫敏打了一个大大的哈欠，给自己倒了一些咖啡。她似乎在为什么事情暗暗高兴，后来罗恩问她到底为什么事开心成这样，她简单地说：“帽子不见了。看来家养小精灵还是愿意得到自由的。”
“这我可说不准，”罗恩尖刻地对她说，“它们大概根本就不能算衣物。在我看来，它们一点儿也不像帽子，倒更像是羊毛袋子。”
赫敏一上午都没跟他说话。
两节魔咒课后面接着是两节变形课。弗立维教授和麦格教授都先用了十五分钟向全班同学强调O.W.L.s考试的重要性。
“你们必须记住，”矮个子弗立维教授尖声尖气地说，他像往常一样站在一堆书上，这样才能从讲台上看到全班同学，“这些考试可能会影响到你们未来许多年的前途！如果你们还没有严肃认真地考虑过你们的职业，现在应该好好想想了。与此同时，为了保证你们都发挥出自己的水平，恐怕我们都要比以前更加努力才行！”
接着，他们花了一个多小时复习飞来咒，据弗立维教授说，这是他们的O.W.L.s考试中肯定会有的内容。下课前，他前所未有地布置了一大堆魔咒作为家庭作业。
变形课的情况即使不是更糟，也好不到哪儿去。
“如果没有认真的学习、实践、应用，”麦格教授严肃地说，“你们就不可能通过O.W.L.s考试。我认为，只要投入了时间和精力，这个班里的所有同学都没有理由得不到变形课的O.W.L.s合格证书。”纳威不敢相信地叹了口气。“没错，你也同样，隆巴顿。”麦格教授说，“你的操作没有任何错误，只是缺乏自信。因此……今天我们要开始学习消失咒。消失咒要比你们一般在达到N.E.W.T.s水平时才会练习的召唤咒简单一些，但它仍然是你们O.W.L.s考试中会出现的最难的魔法。”
她说得很对。哈利发现消失咒难得要命。到两节课快结束时，他和罗恩谁都没能使他们用来练习的蜗牛消失，虽然罗恩抱有希望地说，他认为他那只蜗牛的颜色变浅了点儿。而赫敏刚试到第三次，就成功地使她的蜗牛消失了，因此从麦格教授那里为格兰芬多学院赢得了十分的奖励。只有她一个人不用做家庭作业，其他人都必须连夜练习这个魔咒，准备第二天下午再在那些蜗牛身上尝试一番。
有这么多家庭作业要完成，哈利和罗恩有些慌神了。他们把午饭时间花在了泡图书馆上，好查找月长石在制药方面的用途。赫敏还在为罗恩嘲笑她的羊毛帽子而生气，没有跟他们一起去。下午，当他们去上保护神奇生物课时，哈利的脑袋又疼了起来。

1 harry   

vt.掠夺，蹂躏，使苦恼

参考例句：

• Today,people feel more hurried and harried.今天，人们感到更加忙碌和苦恼。
• Obama harried business by Healthcare Reform plan.奥巴马用医改掠夺了商界。

2 phoenix   

n.凤凰，长生(不死)鸟；引申为重生

参考例句：

• The airline rose like a phoenix from the ashes.这家航空公司又起死回生了。
• The phoenix worship of China is fetish worship not totem adoration.中国凤崇拜是灵物崇拜而非图腾崇拜。

3 perch   

n.栖木，高位，杆；v.栖息，就位，位于

参考例句：

• The bird took its perch.鸟停歇在栖木上。
• Little birds perch themselves on the branches.小鸟儿栖歇在树枝上。

4 futures   

n.期货，期货交易

参考例句：

• He continued his operations in cotton futures.他继续进行棉花期货交易。
• Cotton futures are selling at high prices.棉花期货交易的卖价是很高的。

5 snail   

n.蜗牛

参考例句：

• Snail is a small plant-eating creature with a soft body.蜗牛是一种软体草食动物。
• Time moved at a snail's pace before the holidays.放假前的时间过得很慢。

6 snails   

n.蜗牛；迟钝的人；蜗牛( snail的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• I think I'll try the snails for lunch—I'm feeling adventurous today. 我想我午餐要尝一下蜗牛——我今天很想冒险。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Most snails have shells on their backs. 大多数蜗牛背上有壳。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 slur   

v.含糊地说；诋毁；连唱；n.诋毁；含糊的发音

参考例句：

• He took the remarks as a slur on his reputation.他把这些话当作是对他的名誉的中伤。
• The drug made her speak with a slur.药物使她口齿不清。

8 conjure   

v.恳求，祈求；变魔术，变戏法

参考例句：

• I conjure you not to betray me.我恳求你不要背弃我。
• I can't simply conjure up the money out of thin air.我是不能像变魔术似的把钱变来。