Quirrell, however, must have been braver than they'd thought. In the weeks that followed he did seem to be getting paler and thinner, but it didn't look as though he'd cracked yet.
Every time they passed the third-floor corridor, Harry1, Ron, and Hermione would press their ears to the door to check that Fluffy2 was still growling3 inside. Snape was sweeping5 about in his usual bad temper, which surely meant that the Stone was still safe. Whenever Harry passed Quirrell these days he gave him an encouraging sort of smile, and Ron had started telling people off for laughing at Quirrell's stutter.
Hermione, however, had more on her mind than the Sorcerer's Stone. She had started drawing up study schedules and color coding all her notes. Harry and Ron wouldn't have minded, but she kept nagging6 them to do the same.
“Hermione, the exams are ages away.”
“Ten weeks,” Hermione snapped. “That's not ages, that's like a second to Nicolas Flamel.”
“But we're not six hundred years old,” Ron reminded her. “Anyway, what are you studying for, you already know it's an A.”
“What am I studying for? Are you crazy? You realize we need to pass these exams to get into the second year? They're very important, I should have started studying a month ago, I don't know what's gotten into me…”
Unfortunately, the teachers seemed to be thinking along the same lines as Hermione. They piled so much homework on them that the Easter holidays weren't nearly as much fun as the Christmas ones. It was hard to relax with Hermione next to you reciting the twelve uses of dragon's blood or practicing wand movements. Moaning and yawning, Harry and Ron spent most of their free time in the library with her, trying to get through all their extra work.
“I'll never remember this,” Ron burst out one afternoon, throwing down his quill7 and looking longingly8 out of the library window. It was the first really fine day they'd had in months. The sky was a clear, forget-me-not blue, and there was a feeling in the air of summer coming.
Harry, who was looking up “Dittany” in One Thousand Magical Herbs and Fungi9, didn't look up until he heard Ron say, “Hagrid! What are you doing in the library?”
Hagrid shuffled10 into view, hiding something behind his back. He looked very out of place in his moleskin overcoat.
“Jus’ lookin',” he said, in a shifty voice that got their interest at once. “An’ what're you lot up ter?” He looked suddenly suspicious. “Yer not still lookin’ fer Nicolas Flamel, are yeh?”
“Oh, we found out who he is ages ago,” said Ron impressively. “And we know what that dog's guarding, it's a Sorcerer's St—”
“Shhhh!” Hagrid looked around quickly to see if anyone was listening. “Don’ go shoutin’ about it, what's the matter with yeh?”
“There are a few things we wanted to ask you, as a matter of fact,” said Harry, “about what's guarding the Stone apart from Fluffy—”
“SHHHH!” said Hagrid again. “Listen — come an’ see me later, I'm not promisin’ I'll tell yeh anythin', mind, but don’ go rabbitin’ about it in here, students aren’ s'pposed ter know. They'll think I've told yeh—”
“See you later, then,” said Harry.
Hagrid shuffled off.
“What was he hiding behind his back?” said Hermione thoughtfully.
“Do you think it had anything to do with the Stone?”
“I'm going to see what section he was in,” said Ron, who'd had enough of working. He came back a minute later with a pile of books in his arms and slammed them down on the table.
“Dragons!” he whispered. “Hagrid was looking up stuff about dragons! Look at these: Dragon Species of Great Britain and Ireland; From Egg to Inferno11, A Dragon Keeper's Guide.”
“Hagrid's always wanted a dragon, he told me so the first time I ever met him, ” said Harry.
“But it's against our laws,” said Ron. “Dragon breeding was outlawed12 by the Warlocks’ Convention of 1709, everyone knows that. It's hard to stop Muggles from noticing us if we're keeping dragons in the back garden — anyway, you can't tame dragons, it's dangerous. You should see the burns Charlie's got off wild ones in Romania.”
“But there aren't wild dragons in Britain ?” said Harry.
“Of course there are,” said Ron. “Common Welsh Green and Hebridean Blacks. The Ministry13 of Magic has a job hushing them up, I can tell you. Our kind have to keep putting spells on Muggles who've spotted14 them, to make them forget.”
“So what on earth's Hagrid up to?” said Hermione.
When they knocked on the door of the gamekeeper's hut an hour later, they were surprised to see that all the curtains were closed. Hagrid called “Who is it?” before he let them in, and then shut the door quickly behind them.
It was stifling15 hot inside. Even though it was such a warm day, there was a blazing fire in the grate. Hagrid made them tea and offered them stoat sandwiches, which they refused.
“So — yeh wanted to ask me somethin'?”
“Yes,” said Harry. There was no point beating around the bush. “We were wondering if you could tell us what's guarding the Sorcerer's Stone apart from Fluffy.”
Hagrid frowned at him.
“O’ course I can't,” he said. “Number one, I don’ know meself. Number two, yeh know too much already, so I wouldn’ tell yeh if I could. That Stone's here fer a good reason. It was almost stolen outta Gringotts — I s'ppose yeh've worked that out an’ all? Beats me how yeh even know abou’ Fluffy.”
“Oh, come on, Hagrid, you might not want to tell us, but you do know, you know everything that goes on round here,” said Hermione in a warm, flattering voice. Hagrid's beard twitched16 and they could tell he was smiling. “We only wondered who had done the guarding, really.” Hermione went on. “We wondered who Dumbledore had trusted enough to help him, apart from you.”
Hagrid's chest swelled17 at these last words. Harry and Ron beamed at Hermione.
“Well, I don’ s'pose it could hurt ter tell yeh that… let's see… he borrowed Fluffy from me… then some o’ the teachers did enchantments… Professor Sprout18 — Professor Flitwick — Professor McGonagall — ” he ticked them off on his fingers, “Professor Quirrell — an’ Dumbledore himself did somethin', o’ course. Hang on, I've forgotten someone. Oh yeah, Professor Snape.”
“Snape?”
“Yeah — yer not still on abou’ that, are yeh? Look, Snape helped protect the Stone, he's not about ter steal it.”
Harry knew Ron and Hermione were thinking the same as he was. If Snape had been in on protecting the Stone, it must have been easy to find out how the other teachers had guarded it. He probably knew everything — except, it seemed, Quirrell's spell and how to get past Fluffy.
“You're the only one who knows how to get past Fluffy. aren't you, Hagrid?” said Harry anxiously. “And you wouldn't tell anyone, would you? Not even one of the teachers?”
“Not a soul knows except me an’ Dumbledore,” said Hagrid proudly.
“Well, that's something,” Harry muttered to the others. “Hagrid, can we have a window open? I'm boiling.”
“Can't, Harry, sorry,” said Hagrid. Harry noticed him glance at the fire. Harry looked at it, too.
“Hagrid — what's that ?”
But he already knew what it was. In the very heart of the fire, underneath19 the kettle, was a huge, black egg.
“Ah,” said Hagrid, fiddling20 nervously21 with his beard, “That's — er…”
“Where did you get it, Hagrid?” said Ron, crouching22 over the fire to get a closer look at the egg. “It must've cost you a fortune.”
“Won it,” said Hagrid. “Las’ night. I was down in the village havin’ a few drinks an’ got into a game o’ cards with a stranger. Think he was quite glad ter get rid of it, ter be honest.”
“But what are you going to do with it when it's hatched?” said Hermione.
“Well, I've bin23 doin’ some readin',” said Hagrid, pulling a large book from under his pillow. “Got this outta the library — Dragon Breeding for Pleasure and Profit — it's a bit outta date, o’ course, but it's all in here. Keep the egg in the fire, ‘cause their mothers breathe on I em, see, an’ when it hatches, feed it on a bucket o’ brandy mixed with chicken blood every half hour. An’ see here — how ter recognize diff'rent eggs — what I got there's a Norwegian Ridgeback. They're rare, them.”
He looked very pleased with himself, but Hermione didn't.
“Hagrid, you live in a wooden house,” she said.
But Hagrid wasn't listening. He was humming merrily as he stoked the fire.
So now they had something else to worry about: what might happen to Hagrid if anyone found out he was hiding an illegal dragon in his hut.
“Wonder what it's like to have a peaceful life,” Ron sighed, as evening after evening they struggled through all the extra homework they were getting. Hermione had now started making study schedules for Harry and Ron, too. It was driving them nuts.
Then, one breakfast time, Hedwig brought Harry another note from Hagrid. He had written only two words: It's hatching.
Ron wanted to skip Herbology and go straight down to the hut. Hermione wouldn't hear of it.
“Hermione, how many times in our lives are we going to see a dragon hatching?”
“We've got lessons, we'll get into trouble, and that's nothing to what Hagrid's going to be in when someone finds out what he's doing—”
“Shut up!” Harry whispered.
Malfoy was only a few feet away and he had stopped dead to listen. How much had he heard? Harry didn't like the look on Malfoy's face at all.
Ron and Hermione argued all the way to Herbology and in the end, Hermione agreed to run down to Hagrid's with the other two during morning break. When the bell sounded from the castle at the end of their lesson, the three of them dropped their trowels at once and hurried through the grounds to the edge of the forest. Hagrid greeted them, looking flushed and excited.
“It's nearly out.” He ushered24 them inside.
The egg was lying on the table. There were deep cracks in it. Something was moving inside; a funny clicking noise was coming from it.
They all drew their chairs up to the table and watched with bated breath.
All at once there was a scraping noise and the egg split open. The baby dragon flopped25 onto the table. It wasn't exactly pretty; Harry thought it looked like a crumpled26, black umbrella. Its spiny27 wings were huge compared to its skinny jet body, it had a long snout with wide nostrils28, the stubs of horns and bulging29, orange eyes.
It sneezed. A couple of sparks flew out of its snout.
“Isn't he beautiful ?” Hagrid murmured. He reached out a hand to stroke the dragon's head. It snapped at his fingers, showing pointed30 fangs32.
“Bless him, look, he knows his mommy!” said Hagrid.
“Hagrid,” said Hermione, “how fast do Norwegian Ridgebacks grow, exactly?”
Hagrid was about to answer when the color suddenly drained from his face — he leapt to his feet and ran to the window.
“What's the matter?”
“Someone was lookin’ through the gap in the curtains — it's a kid — he's runnin’ back up ter the school.”
Harry bolted to the door and looked out. Even at a distance there was no mistaking him.
Malfoy had seen the dragon.
Something about the smile lurking33 on Malfoy's face during the next week made Harry, Ron, and Hermione very nervous. They spent most of their free time in Hagrid's darkened hut, trying to reason with him.
“Just let him go,” Harry urged. “Set him free.”
“I can't,” said Hagrid. “He's too little. He'd die.”
They looked at the dragon. It had grown three times in length in just a week. Smoke kept furling out of its nostrils. Hagrid hadn't been doing his gamekeeping duties because the dragon was keeping him so busy. There were empty brandy bottles and chicken feathers all over the floor.
“I've decided34 to call him Norbert,” said Hagrid, looking at the dragon with misty35 eyes. “He really knows me now, watch. Norbert! Norbert! Where's Mommy?”
“He's lost his marbles,” Ron muttered in Harry's ear.
“Hagrid,” said Harry loudly, “give it two weeks and Norbert's going to be as long as your house. Malfoy could go to Dumbledore at any moment.”
Hagrid bit his lip.
“I — I know I can't keep him forever, but I can't jus’ dump him, I can't.”
Harry suddenly turned to Ron. “Charlie.” he said.
“You're losing it, too,” said Ron. “I'm Ron, remember?”
“No — Charlie — your brother, Charlie. In Romania. Studying dragons. We could send Norbert to him. Charlie can take care of him and then put him back in the wild!”
“Brilliant!” said Ron. “How about it, Hagrid?”
And in the end, Hagrid agreed that they could send an owl4 to Charlie to ask him.
The following week dragged by. Wednesday night found Hermione and Harry sitting alone in the common room, long after everyone else had gone to bed. The clock on the wall had just chimed midnight when the portrait hole burst open. Ron appeared out of nowhere as he pulled off Harry's invisibility cloak. He had been down at Hagrid's hut, helping36 him feed Norbert, who was now eating dead rats by the crate37.
“It bit me!” he said, showing them his hand, which was wrapped in a bloody38 handkerchief. “I'm not going to be able to hold a quill for a week. I tell you, that dragon's the most horrible animal I've ever met, but the way Hagrid goes on about it, you'd think it was a fluffy little bunny rabbit. When it bit me he told me off for frightening it. And when I left, he was singing it a lullaby.”
There was a tap on the dark window.
“It's Hedwig!” said Harry, hurrying to let her in. “She'll have Charlie's answer!”
The three of them put their heads together to read the note.
Dear Ron,
How are you? Thanks for the letter — I'd be glad to take the Norwegian Ridgeback, but it won't be easy getting him here. I think the best thing will be to send him over with some friends of mine who are coming to visit me next week. Trouble is, they mustn't be seen carrying an illegal dragon.
Could you get the Ridgeback up the tallest tower at midnight on Saturday? They can meet you there and take him away while it's still dark.
Send me an answer as soon as possible.
Love,
Charlie
They looked at one another.
“We've got the invisibility cloak,” said Harry. “It shouldn't be too difficult - I think the cloaks big enough to cover two of us and Norbert.”
It was a mark of how bad the last week had been that the other two agreed with him. Anything to get rid of Norbert — and Malfoy.
There was a hitch39. By the next morning, Ron's bitten hand had swollen40 to twice its usual size. He didn't know whether it was safe to go to Madam Pomfrey — would she recognize a dragon bite? By the afternoon, though, he had no choice. The cut had turned a nasty shade of green. It looked as if Norbert's fangs were poisonous.
Harry and Hermione rushed up to the hospital wing at the end of the day to find Ron in a terrible state in bed.
“It's not just my hand,” he whispered, “although that feels like it's about to fall off. Malfoy told Madam Pomfrey he wanted to borrow one of my books so he could come and have a good laugh at me. He kept threatening to tell her what really bit me — I've told her it was a dog, but I don't think she believes me — I shouldn't have hit him at the Quidditch match, that's why he's doing this.”
Harry and Hermione tried to calm Ron down.
“It'll all be over at midnight on Saturday,” said Hermione, but this didn't soothe41 Ron at all. On the contrary, he sat bolt upright and broke into a sweat.
“Midnight on Saturday!” he said in a hoarse42 voice. “Oh no oh no — I've just remembered — Charlie's letter was in that book Malfoy took, he's going to know we're getting rid of Norbert.”
Harry and Hermione didn't get a chance to answer. Madam Pomfrey came over at that moment and made them leave, saying Ron needed sleep.
“It's too late to change the plan now,” Harry told Hermione. “We haven't got time to send Charlie another owl, and this could be our only chance to get rid of Norbert. We'll have to risk it. And we have got the invisibility cloak, Malfoy doesn't know about that.”
They found Fang31, the boarhound, sitting outside with a bandaged tail when they went to tell Hagrid, who opened a window to talk to them.
“I won't let you in,” he puffed43. “Norbert's at a tricky44 stage — nothin’ I can't handle.”
When they told him about Charlie's letter, his eyes filled with tears, although that might have been because Norbert had just bitten him on the leg.
“Aargh! It's all right, he only got my boot — jus’ playin’ — he's only a baby, after all.”
The baby banged its tail on the wall, making the windows rattle45. Harry and Hermione walked back to the castle feeling Saturday couldn't come quickly enough.
They would have felt sorry for Hagrid when the time came for him to say good-bye to Norbert if they hadn't been so worried about what they had to do. It was a very dark, cloudy night, and they were a bit late arriving at Hagrid's hut because they'd had to wait for Peeves46 to get out of their way in the entrance hall, where he'd been playing tennis against the wall. Hagrid had Norbert packed and ready in a large crate.
“He's got lots o’ rats an’ some brandy fer the journey,” said Hagrid in a muffled47 voice. “An’ I've packed his teddy bear in case he gets lonely.”
From inside the crate came ripping noises that sounded to Harry as though the teddy was having his head torn off.
“Bye-bye, Norbert!” Hagrid sobbed48, as Harry and Hermione covered the crate with the invisibility cloak and stepped underneath it themselves. “Mommy will never forget you!”
How they managed to get the crate back up to the castle, they never knew. Midnight ticked nearer as they heaved Norbert up the marble staircase in the entrance hall and along the dark corridors. Up another staircase, then another — even one of Harry's shortcuts49 didn't make the work much easier.
“Nearly there!” Harry panted as they reached the corridor beneath the tallest tower.
Then a sudden movement ahead of them made them almost drop the crate. Forgetting that they were already invisible, they shrank into the shadows, staring at the dark outlines of two people grappling with each other ten feet away. A lamp flared50.
Professor McGonagall, in a tartan bathrobe and a hair net, had Malfoy by the ear.
“Detention51!” she shouted. “And twenty points from Slytherin! Wandering around in the middle of the night, how dare you—”
“You don't understand, Professor. Harry Potter's coming — he's got a dragon!”
“What utter rubbish! How dare you tell such lies! Come on — I shall see Professor Snape about you, Malfoy!”
The steep spiral staircase up to the top of the tower seemed the easiest thing in the world after that. Not until they'd stepped out into the cold night air did they throw off the cloak, glad to be able to breathe properly again. Hermione did a sort of jig52.
“Malfoy's got detention! I could sing!”
“Don't,” Harry advised her.
Chuckling53 about Malfoy, they waited, Norbert thrashing about in his crate. About ten minutes later, four broomsticks came swooping54 down out of the darkness.
Charlie's friends were a cheery lot. They showed Harry and Hermione the harness they'd rigged up, so they could suspend Norbert between them. They all helped buckle55 Norbert safely into it and then Harry and Hermione shook hands with the others and thanked them very much.
At last, Norbert was going… going… gone.
They slipped back down the spiral staircase, their hearts as light as their hands, now that Norbert was off them. No more dragon — Malfoy in detention — what could spoil their happiness?
The answer to that was waiting at the foot of the stairs. As they stepped into the corridor, Filch's face loomed56 suddenly out of the darkness.
“Well, well, well,” he whispered, “we are in trouble.”
They'd left the invisibility cloak on top of the tower.
没有想到的是，屈拉比他们想象中更勇敢。在随后的几个星期里，他确实变得更苍白瘦弱了，但他看起来还不至于崩溃。
每次他们经过三楼的走廊，哈利，罗恩和荷米恩都会将他们的耳朵贴在门上，看看弗拉菲是不是还在里面吼叫。史纳皮像平常一样脾气很坏地清扫着周围，这就确切地意味着点金石还很安全。这些日子，哈利每次遇到屈拉，都会给他一个诸如鼓励般的微笑，而罗恩则开始斥责那些取笑屈拉口吃的人。
而荷米恩有比点金石更使她关注的事要做。她已经开始制订复习时间表并已开始复习，哈利和罗恩却对考试不在意，但她总是责怪着他们，叫他们抓紧复习。
"荷米恩，那些考试还是几年以后的事呢。"
"十个星期。"荷米恩说，"而不是几年，对于尼可拉斯。弗兰马尔来说，只不过是一秒钟的事。""但我们没有6oo 岁，"罗恩提醒她说，"说实在的，你为什么要复习呢，反正你全部都知道了。""我为什么复习？你疯了吗？你知道我们要经过考试才能进入二年级吗？这些是很重要的。我本应在一个月前就开始复习了，我也不知自己是怎么搞的……"很不幸，老师们好像跟荷米恩想法一样。他们给学生们堆了那么多功课，以致使复活节过得比圣诞节逊色多了。有荷米恩在旁背颂着龙血的十二种用法，飞舞练习着魔杖，简直使人难于安静下来。哈利和罗恩悲叹着，打着呵欠，把大部分的闲时间都花在图书馆陪她，并试图完成积累的功课。
"我记不起这个。"一天下午，罗恩咆哮着说，扔下他的羽毛笔，向图书馆的窗外渴望地望去。外面的天气多好啊，是几个月来最好的一天，天空很明净，像蓝色勿忘我一样蓝，好像夏天就要来临了。
哈利正在《一千种魔法药草和菌类》里查找"迪沸泥"这个词，直到他听见罗恩说"哈格利！你在图书馆里干什么？"时，才抬起头来。
哈利力闪躲着，不想被人发现，背后藏着不知什么东西，穿着鼹鼠皮大衣的他看起来非常不合时宜。
"只是看看而已，"他用一种诡诈的语气说着，这马上引起他们的注意，"你们在找什么？"他突然看起来很可疑，"你们还没有找到尼可拉斯。弗兰马尔吧？""噢，我们几年前就知道他是谁了，"罗恩深刻地说，"我们已知道那只狗在守卫着什么，是点金……""嘘……嘘……"哈格力向四周望了望，看有没有人在听着，"不要这么大声，你怎么啦？""实际上，我们有些事想问你，"哈利说，"除了弗拉菲，还有谁在守卫着点金石？""嘘……嘘……！"哈格力又说，'听着——待会来找我。但我不保证去告诉你们什么。记着，不要在这儿乱讲，这是不准让学生知道的。他们会认为我已经告诉你们……""那待会见。"哈利说。
哈格力走开了。
"他在背后藏了些什么？"行米恩若有所恩地说。
"你认为这跟点金石有关系吗？"
"我去看看他刚才在找什么书。"罗恩说，他已做饭了作业。几分钟后，他怀里抱一大堆书回来，他把它们猛力掷到桌上。
"龙！"他轻声说，"哈格力正在寻找关于龙的资料，看这些：《大不列颠爱尔兰龙的种类》，《从蛋到成年龙——养龙手册》"哈格力——真想要条龙，自从我第一次遇见他，他就这样告诉我。"哈利说。
"但这是犯法的，"罗恩说，"根据1709年《沃洛协议》，饲养龙是犯法的，大家都知道。如果我们把它养在后花园，是很难不被马格人发现的。——无论如何，你也不可能驯服一条龙。这是很危险的，你应该知道查理在罗马尼亚被野龙咬伤的事。""但英格兰那里没有野龙。"哈利说。
"当然了。"罗恩说，"我告诉你，国家魔法部对此秘而不宣。
他们将不得不对发现它们的人念咒语，让他们忘记所见到的。""哈格力究竟在忙什么？"荷米恩问道。
一小时后，他们来到猎禽看守人的小屋门前，惊奇地发现哈格力把小屋全部窗帘都关上了，在让他们进屋以前，哈格力小心地问"谁呀？"然后在他们进屋后又把门迅速地关上。
屋子里面热得透不过气来。虽然天气很暖和，在门口却还摆着一个燃得很旺的火炉。哈格力为他们彻茶，并拿白助三明治给他们，但他们拒绝了。
"那么——，你们想问我些问题吗？"
"是的，"哈利说，"没有必要兜圈子了，我们想知道，除了弗拉菲外，还有谁在守卫着点金石？"哈格力对他皱了皱眉头。
"我不能告诉你，"他说，"第一，我自己也不知道；第二，你们知道得太多了，因此我即使知道也不能告诉你们，点金石会留在这儿是很有道理的，它几乎被盗出了格林高斯——我猜你们已知道那件事吧？你们是怎样知道弗拉菲的？""噢，说吧，哈格力，你或许不想告诉我们，但你确实知道，你对周围发生的事都了解。"荷米恩用一种温柔，馆媚的语气说。
哈格力的胡须抽动了一下，他笑嘻嘻的。"我们只想知道是谁在守卫，真的。"荷米恩继续说，"我们想知道，除了你，丹伯多认为还有谁可以帮他？""好吧，我想告诉你们这些也无妨，——让我想想——他跟我借弗拉菲——几个老师做了些魔法——史普露教授——费立维克教授——麦康娜教授——屈拉教授——当然丹伯多自己也做了些。还有谁？哦，还有史纳皮教授。""史纳皮？"
"是的，没有想到吧？看，史纳皮也帮忙着守，他是不会偷的。"哈利知道罗恩和荷米恩跟他想的一样。如果史纳皮也在守卫点金石，那么他很容易知道其他老师是怎样守卫的，他可能全都知道了——除了屈拉的咒语和制服弗拉菲的方法。
"您是唯一知道怎样制服弗拉菲的人，对吗？哈格力？"哈利焦急地说，"你也不会告诉任何人，对吗？甚至任何老师也不告诉。""除了我和丹伯多外，谁也不会知道。"哈格力骄傲地说。
"很好，这就对了。"哈利对其他人低声说，"哈格力，我们开个窗户好吗？
我很热。"
"对不起，不能开窗，哈利。"哈格力说。哈利注意到他往火炉那边看了一下。
哈利也看了看。
"哈格力，那是什么？"
其实他早就知道那是什么。在火中央，开水壶的下面，有一个巨型黑蛋。
"啊！"哈格力突然紧张地拨弄着胡须，"那是——一个……""你在哪里弄到的，哈格力？"罗恩问，蹲到火的旁边，凑近一点去看那蛋，"你一定花了不少钱吧。""赢来的，"哈格力说，"昨天晚上，我到村子里喝了些酒，和一个陌生人赌了一把。老实说，他好像急着让它脱手。""那它孵出来后，你怎样处理它？"荷米恩向。
"我正在着些书，"哈格力说着，从他的枕头下拉出一本大书，"从图书馆借来的——《娱乐，赢利之龙的饲养》。当然，这本书看起来很旧，但里面的内容很详细。如'把蛋放在火里面'，'叫它们的母亲在上面呼吸'，看看，'当它们孵出来后，每半小时用一桶白兰地和着小鸡的血喂它。'看这儿——还教你怎样辨别不同的蛋——我得到的那只有'挪威脊背'，他们是很稀有的，他们……"他看起来很是自得其乐，而荷术思则不然。
"哈格力，你住在木屋里？"她说。
但是哈格力没有听到她的话，他正高兴地哼唱着，向火炉里加煤炭。
那么现在他们又有其他事要担心了：假如有人发现哈格力在木屋里藏着龙蛋会怎样呢？
"真想知道平静的生活是怎样的。"罗恩叹着气说，他们晚晚都为功课忙着。
荷米思现在又开始为他们制定复习时间表了，这简直把他们逼疯了。
一天，海维在午饭时间送了一条纸条给哈利，是哈格力那里来的，上只写着：它快孵出来了。
罗恩想绕过教室直接到小屋去，但荷米恩却不听他的，不让他去。
"荷米恩，在我们一生中能有多少次可看见龙从蛋中孵出？""我们有过教训，会有麻烦的。人们如果发现哈格力孵着龙蛋，我们做什么都无济于事了。""住嘴！"哈利低声说。
马尔夫就在几步之遥的不远处，他正停下来偷听。他听到了什么？哈利根本不喜欢他那副德性。
在去教室的路上，罗恩和荷米恩一直争论着。最后，荷米恩同意他们两个在天亮之前跑到哈格力的住处去。当下课铃从城堡传来时，他们三个马上，快速冲到禁林的边缘。哈格力向他们打招呼，他看起来很激动很兴奋。
"它就快出来了！"哈格力招呼着他们进屋。
蛋正放在桌上，正面有一条深深的裂痕，有东西在里面蠕动，发出古怪的前答声。
他们都把椅子搬到桌边，紧张地看着它。
突然，蛋里面传出一阵零碎的嘈杂声，然后蛋壳裂了开来。小龙扑通一声落在桌子上。它不是很可爱。哈利觉得它像一把皱巴巴的黑伞。它弱小的翅膀跟它瘦削的身子比起来显得很大，它的鼻孔很大，额上有一对疙瘩似的角，眼睛鼓突突的，呈橙色的。
它打着喷嚏，两柱火花从鼻孔飞出。
"它很漂亮吗？"哈格力轻声说，伸出一只手来敲敲它的头。它则猛地咬住他的指头，露出毒牙。
"它认得它的妈咪！"哈格力说。
"哈格力，"荷米恩说，"'挪威脊背'成长得有多快？"哈格力刚要回答，脸突然变了色——他跳了起来向窗边跑去。
"怎么啦？"
"有人正在窗外偷看——是个小孩——他跑回学校去了。"哈利猛奔到门外张望。虽然那人走远了，但哈利敢肯定他是谁。
马尔夫看见龙了。
在第二个星期，马尔夫脸上总是对他们不怀好意地笑着，哈利三人紧张得要命。
他们一有空闲，便到哈格力的小屋里讨论。
"让它走。"哈利极力主张，"放了它吧。"
"我做不到。"哈格力说，"它太弱小了，它会死去的。"他们看着龙，在一星期内它的身了子就已长大了三倍。它的鼻孔不时地喷着烟雾。哈格力由于要照顾小龙。已无暇顾及猪禽看守的工作，他小屋的地板上堆满了空白兰地酒瓶和小鸡羽毛。
"我决定把它叫做诺贝特，"哈格力说，眼睛迷滚地看着他的小龙，"它已经与我很熟了，看，诺贝特，诺贝特！妈咪在这儿。""他疯了。"罗恩对着哈利耳语。
"哈格力，"哈利大声喊，"两个星期后，它就长得跟你的木屋那样长了。到时马尔夫会去向丹伯多报密的。"哈格力极力咬了咬嘴唇。
"我——我知道我不能永远拥有它，但我就是不能随便扔了它，我做不到。"哈利突然转身面对着罗恩。
"查理。"他说。
"你也走神了，"罗思说，"我是罗恩，记得吗？""不——查理——你的兄弟查理，在罗马尼亚研究龙，我们可以把诺贝特送给他，查理会照顾好他的，以后让它回大自然去。""太聪明了！"罗恩说，"怎么样，哈格力？"
最后，哈格力同意他们送只猫头鹰给查理。
接下来的那个礼拜的时间过得特别慢。星期三晚上，人们都上床睡觉了，哈利和罗思还在公共休息室坐着。墙上的钟敲了十二点。罗恩刚才披上哈利的隐形披风到哈格力的小木屋帮他喂小龙，那条小龙正在吃着死老鼠。
"它咬了我！"他说着，举着他那只包在染血的手帕里的手，"我可能一个星期都不能拿羽毛笔了。我告诉你们，那条龙是我所见过最凶的动物。但看哈格力和它相处的样子，你会认为那是一只毛绒绒的温顺小白兔。当我被那家伙咬到时，他还责怪我说我惊动了它。我走时，他正在为它唱着摇篮曲。"这时，有人在敲着窗。
"是海维！"哈利说，急忙让它进来。"它有查理的回复了。"他们三个人把头凑在一起，看着那张纸条："亲爱的罗恩。"近来可好？谢谢你的来信。我很乐意照顾'挪威脊背'，但要把它弄到这儿不太容易。我想最好的办法是托我的朋友带来，他们下个星期将要来看我。但麻烦的是，携带龙是非法的，千万不能被人发现。
你们能将那条龙于星期六午夜放在最高的塔顶吗？我的朋友们将与你们碰头，他们将会趁着天黑把那条龙带走。
请尽快给我答复。
查理他们互相望了望。
"我有隐形披风，"哈利说，"应该不会很难——披风可以把我们和诺贝特遮住。"罗恩和荷米恩同意哈利的意见，他们现在就要摆脱诺贝特和马尔夫了，上个星期的麻烦事也将到此结束。
第二天早上，罗思被唤到的手比平常肿了两倍。他不知道去找波姆弗雷夫人人是否妥当——她会看出这是龙咬的吗？直到下午，他还是想不出好的办法，伤口已变成暗绿色。从伤口来看，诺贝特好像长有毒牙。
傍晚，哈利和荷米恩冲到病房，看见罗恩正惊恐地躺在床上。
"不仅是我的手，"他轻声说，"我全身的知觉好像都要消失了。
马尔夫对波姆弗雷夫人人说要借我的一本书，而实际是来取笑我。
他还不断地威胁说要告诉波姆弗雷夫人人是什么东西咬我——我告诉她这是狗咬伤的，但我想她是不会相信的——早知上次快迪斯比赛就不打马尔夫的头了，他一定是怀恨在心的。"哈利和荷米思试着让罗思安静下来。
"到星期六午夜，把诺贝特送走便没事了。"荷米恩说，但这根本不能安慰他，相反地，他惊恐地坐直身子，直冒着汗。
"星期六午夜！"他嘶哑着声说，"噢，不——嗅，不——我刚想起来——查理的信夹在马尔夫惜去的书里面，他知道我们将送走诺贝特了。"哈利和荷米恩刚要再说些什么，这时波姆弗雷夫人人过来叫他们离去，说罗恩需要休息。
"现在改变计划已经太迟了。"哈利对荷米思说，"我们没时间再送个猫头鹰过去给查理，这是我们唯一能摆脱诺贝特的方法，我们不得不冒险了，我们还有隐形披风，马尔夫不知道我们有这个宝物。"当他们去找哈格力时，发现弗兰在外坐着，尾巴上缠着绷带，哈格力只打开一个窗户跟他们讲话。
"我不能让你们进来，"他喘息着，"诺贝特现在正处于狡猾的阶段——我真拿它没办法。"他们告诉他关于查理来信的事，他的眼睛满是泪水——是诺贝特在背后毫不留情地咬他的脚。
"啊！好了，它只咬到我的鞋子——跟我玩玩而已——别忘了，它还是个小孩子。"那"小孩"用尾巴敲着墙，弄得窗户格格作响。哈利和荷米思回到城堡，觉得星期六来得太迟了。
终于等到了星期六，哈格力就要和诺贝特分手了，哈利他们也为他感到难过。
这天夜晚，天十分漆黑，天上布满了云。哈利他们由于要避开正在大堂打网球的皮维斯，迟了一点才赶到哈格力的小木屋。
哈格力已经把诺贝特装在一个大木箱里。
"在旅途上有老鼠和白兰地吃。"哈格力低沉地说，"我把它的玩具熊也放了进去——它在旅途中会寂寞的。"从大木箱里传来一声撕裂的声音，哈利觉得好像是玩具熊的头被撕了下来。
"再见了，诺贝特，"哈格力呜咽着说，哈利和荷米恩把隐形披风玻到木箱上，同时他们自己也走到被风下。"蚂咪会记住你的。"哈格力说。
他们不知当时是怎样把木箱运到城堡上的。当他们把木箱举上大堂的大理石石阶、沿着漆黑的走廊走时，已接近午夜了。步上一级楼梯、再一级——哈利抄了近路，好似也没把活儿弄得容易了些。
"就快到了。"哈利喘着气，他们已到了顶塔下面的楼梯。
突然，头顶的诺尔特猛烈动了一下，几乎使他们扔下木箱。他们吓了一跳，忘记了他们已经隐形了，忙缩到缩影里，正在这时，他们发现前面十英尺左右处有两个人扭在一起。一盏灯燃了起来。
是麦康娜教授，穿着苏格兰佐子呢布晨衣，戴着发网，正在前面拧着马尔夫的耳朵。
"拘留起来，"她大声喊道，"扣史林德林二十分，竟敢半夜还在闲逛……""听我说，教授，哈利·波特待会要来，他带着条龙……""什么，十足的废物！竟敢撒这样的谎！过来——我要你去见史纳皮教授……"此时，攀登那通到塔顶的陡峭盘旋的楼梯似乎是世界上最容易的事了。一到塔顶，他们便卸下被风，高兴地松了一口气。还跳起了吉格舞。
"马尔夫被拘留了我要唱歌！"
"不要。"哈利阻止她。
他们在那儿等着，笑谈着马尔夫，诺贝特则在木箱里不安分地撞击着。大约过了十分钟，四支扫帚从黑暗中摔然降下。
查理的朋友喜气洋洋的。他们拿出绑诺贝特的带子，准备在飞行时，把诺贝特固定在他们中间。哈利他们帮助着把木箱扣好。最后，哈利同他们握手致谢。
诺贝特走了，消失了……
他们从盘旋着的楼梯潜行着下来，觉得一身轻松。现在已送走了诺贝特——再也没有龙来烦了——马尔夫也被拘留了起来——还有什么能被坏他们的幸福的呢？
答案很快就找到了。当他们走下楼梯，步进走廊，费驰突然从黑暗中冒了出来。
"好啊！好啊！"他低声说，"你们有麻烦了。"他们把隐形披风留在墙塔顶了。
收听单词发音 |
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harry
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| vt.掠夺，蹂躏，使苦恼 | |
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fluffy
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| adj.有绒毛的，空洞的 | |
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growling
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| n.吠声, 咆哮声 v.怒吠, 咆哮, 吼 | |
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owl
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| n.猫头鹰，枭 | |
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sweeping
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| adj.范围广大的，一扫无遗的 | |
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nagging
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| adj.唠叨的，挑剔的；使人不得安宁的v.不断地挑剔或批评（某人）( nag的现在分词 )；不断地烦扰或伤害（某人）；无休止地抱怨；不断指责 | |
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quill
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| n.羽毛管；v.给（织物或衣服）作皱褶 | |
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longingly
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| adv. 渴望地 热望地 | |
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fungi
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| n.真菌，霉菌 | |
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shuffled
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| v.洗（纸牌）( shuffle的过去式和过去分词 )；拖着脚步走；粗心地做；摆脱尘世的烦恼 | |
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inferno
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| n.火海；地狱般的场所 | |
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outlawed
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| 宣布…为不合法（outlaw的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
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ministry
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| n.(政府的)部；牧师 | |
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spotted
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| adj.有斑点的，斑纹的，弄污了的 | |
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stifling
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| a.令人窒息的 | |
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twitched
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| vt.& vi.（使）抽动，（使）颤动（twitch的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
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swelled
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| 增强( swell的过去式和过去分词 )； 肿胀； （使）凸出； 充满（激情） | |
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sprout
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| n.芽，萌芽；vt.使发芽，摘去芽；vi.长芽，抽条 | |
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underneath
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| adj.在...下面，在...底下；adv.在下面 | |
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fiddling
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| 微小的 | |
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nervously
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| adv.神情激动地，不安地 | |
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crouching
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| v.屈膝，蹲伏( crouch的现在分词 ) | |
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bin
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| n.箱柜；vt.放入箱内；[计算机] DOS文件名:二进制目标文件 | |
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ushered
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| v.引，领，陪同( usher的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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flopped
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| v.（指书、戏剧等）彻底失败( flop的过去式和过去分词 )；（因疲惫而）猛然坐下；（笨拙地、不由自主地或松弛地）移动或落下；砸锅 | |
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crumpled
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| adj. 弯扭的, 变皱的 动词crumple的过去式和过去分词形式 | |
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spiny
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| adj.多刺的，刺状的；n.多刺的东西 | |
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nostrils
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| 鼻孔( nostril的名词复数 ) | |
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bulging
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| 膨胀； 凸出（部）； 打气； 折皱 | |
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pointed
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| adj.尖的，直截了当的 | |
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fang
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| n.尖牙，犬牙 | |
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fangs
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| n.（尤指狗和狼的）长而尖的牙( fang的名词复数 )；（蛇的）毒牙；罐座 | |
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lurking
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| 潜在 | |
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decided
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| adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的 | |
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misty
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| adj.雾蒙蒙的，有雾的 | |
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helping
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| n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的 | |
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crate
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| vt.(up)把…装入箱中；n.板条箱，装货箱 | |
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bloody
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| adj.非常的的；流血的；残忍的；adv.很；vt.血染 | |
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hitch
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| v.免费搭(车旅行)；系住；急提；n.故障；急拉 | |
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40
swollen
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| adj.肿大的，水涨的；v.使变大，肿胀 | |
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soothe
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| v.安慰；使平静；使减轻；缓和；奉承 | |
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hoarse
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| adj.嘶哑的，沙哑的 | |
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43
puffed
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| adj.疏松的v.使喷出( puff的过去式和过去分词 )；喷着汽（或烟）移动；吹嘘；吹捧 | |
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tricky
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| adj.狡猾的，奸诈的；(工作等)棘手的，微妙的 | |
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rattle
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| v.飞奔，碰响；激怒；n.碰撞声；拨浪鼓 | |
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peeves
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| n.麻烦的事物，怨恨，触怒( peeve的名词复数 ) | |
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47
muffled
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| adj.（声音）被隔的；听不太清的；（衣服）裹严的；蒙住的v.压抑，捂住( muffle的过去式和过去分词 )；用厚厚的衣帽包着（自己） | |
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48
sobbed
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| 哭泣，啜泣( sob的过去式和过去分词 )； 哭诉，呜咽地说 | |
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49
shortcuts
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| n.捷径( shortcut的名词复数 )；近路；快捷办法；被切短的东西（尤指烟草） | |
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Flared
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| adj. 端部张开的, 爆发的, 加宽的, 漏斗式的 动词flare的过去式和过去分词 | |
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51
detention
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| n.滞留，停留；拘留，扣留；(教育)留下 | |
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52
jig
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| n.快步舞（曲）；v.上下晃动；用夹具辅助加工；蹦蹦跳跳 | |
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53
chuckling
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| 轻声地笑( chuckle的现在分词 ) | |
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swooping
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| 俯冲，猛冲( swoop的现在分词 ) | |
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55
buckle
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| n.扣子，带扣；v.把...扣住，由于压力而弯曲 | |
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56
loomed
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| v.隐约出现，阴森地逼近( loom的过去式和过去分词 )；隐约出现，阴森地逼近 | |
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