It was snowing by the time Hermione took over the watch at midnight. Harry1’s dreams were confused and disturbing: Nagini wove in and out of them, first through a wreath of Christmas roses. He woke repeatedly, panicky, convinced that somebody had called out to him in the distance, imagining that the wind whipping around the tent was footsteps or voices.
Finally he got up in the darkness and joined Hermione, who was huddled2 in the entrance to the tent reading A History of Magic by the light of her wand. The snow was falling thickly, and she greeted with relief his suggestion of packing up early and moving on.
“We’ll move somewhere more sheltered,” she agreed, shivering as she pulled on a sweatshirt over her pajamas3. “I kept thinking I could hear people moving outside. I even though I saw somebody one or twice.”
Harry paused in the act of pulling on a jumper and glanced at the silent, motionless Sneakoscope on the table.
“I’m sure I imagined it,” said Hermione, looking nervous. “The snow the dark, it plays tricks on your eyes…. But perhaps we ought to Disapparate under the Invisibility Cloak, just in case?”
Half an hour later, with the tent packed, Harry wearing the Horcrux, and Hermione clutching the beaded bag, they Disapparated. The usual tightness engulfed4 them; Harry’s feet parted company with the snowy ground, then slammed hard onto what felt like frozen earth covered in leaves.
“Where are we?” he asked, peering around at the fresh mass of trees as Hermione opened the beaded bag and began tugging5 out the tent poles.
“The Forest of Dean,” she said, “I came camping here once with my mum and dad.”
Here too snow lay on the trees all around and it was bitterly cold, but they were at least protected from the wind. They spent most of the day inside the tent, huddled for warmth around the useful bright blue flames that Hermione was adept6 at producing, and which could be scooped7 up and carried in a jar. Harry felt as though he was recuperating8 from some brief but severe, an impression reinforced by Hermione’s solicitousness9. That afternoon fresh flakes10 drifted down upon them, so that even their sheltered clearing had a fresh dusting of powdery snow.
After two nights of little sleep, Harry’s senses seemed more alert than usual. Their escape from Godric’s Hollow had been so narrow that Voldemort seemed somehow closer than before, more threatening. As darkness drove in again Harry refused Hermione’s offer to keep watch and told her to go to bed.
Harry moved an old cushion into the tent mouth and sat down, wearing all the sweaters he owned but even so, still shivery. The darkness deepened with the passing hours until it was virtually impenetrable. He was on the point of taking out the Marauder’s Map, so as to watch Ginny’s dot for a while, before he remembered that it was the Christmas holidays and that she would be back at the Burrow11.
Every tiny movement seemed magnified in the vastness of the forest. Harry knew that it must be full of living creatures, but he wished they would all remain still and silent so that he could separate their innocent scurryings and prowlings from noises that might proclaim other, sinister13 movements. He remembered the sound of a cloak slithering over dead leaves many years ago, and at once thought he heard it again before mentally shaking himself. Their protective enchantments14 had worked for weeks; why should they break now? And yet he could no throw off the feeling that something was different tonight.
Several times he jerked upright, his neck aching because he had fallen asleep, slumped15 at an awkward angle against the side of the tent. The night reached such a depth of velvety16 blackness that he might have been suspended in limbo17 between Disapparation and Apparation. He had just held a hand in front of his face to see whether he could make out his fingers when it happened.
A bright silver light appeared right ahead of him, moving through the trees. Whatever the source, it was moving soundlessly. The light seemed simply to drift toward him.
He jumped to his feet, his voice frozen in his throat, and raised Hermione’s wand. He screwed up his eyes as the light became blinding, the trees in front of it pitch black in silhouette18, and still the thing came closer….
And then the source of the light stepped out from behind an oak. It was a silver white doe, moon-bright and dazzling, picking her way over the ground, still silent, and leaving no hoofprints in the fine powdering of snow. She stepped toward him, her beautiful head with its wide, long-lashed eyes held high.
Harry stared at the creature, filled with wonder, not at her strangeness, but her inexplicable19 familiarity. He felt that he had been waiting for her to come, but that he had forgotten, until this moment, that they had arranged to meet. His impulse to shout for Hermione, which had been so strong a moment ago, had gone. He knew, he would have staked his life on it, that she had come for him, and him alone.
They gazed at each other for several long moments and then she turned and walked away.
“No,” he said, and his voice was cracked with lack of use. “Come back!”
She continued to step deliberately20 through the trees, and soon he brightness was striped by their thick black trunks. For one trembling second he hesitated. Caution murmured it could be a trick, a lure21, a trap. But instinct, overwhelming instinct, told him that this was not Dark Magic. He set off in pursuit.
Snow crunched22 beneath his feet, but the doe made no noise as she passed through the trees, for she was nothing but light. Deeper and deeper into the forest she led him, and Harry walked quickly, sure that when she stopped, she would allow him to approach her properly. And then she would speak and the voice would tell him what he needed to know.
At last she came to a halt. She turned her beautiful head toward him once more, and he broke into a run, a question burning in him, but as he opened his lips to ask it, she vanished.
Though the darkness had swallowed her whole, her burnished23 image was still imprinted25 on his retinas; it obscured his vision, brightening when he lowered his eyelids26, disorienting him. Now fear came: Her presence had meant safety.
“Lumos!” he whispered, and the wand-tip ignited.
The imprint24 of the doe faded away with every blink of his eyes as he stood there, listening to the sounds of the forest, to distant crackles of twigs27, soft swishes of snow. Was he about to be attacked? Had she enticed28 him into an ambush29? Was he imagining that somebody stood beyond the reach of the wandlight, watching him?
He held the wand higher. Nobody ran out at him, no flash of green light burst from behind a tree. Why, then, had she led him to this spot?
Something gleamed in the light of the wand, and Harry spun30 about, but all that was there was a small, frozen pool, its black, cracked surface glittering as he raised his wand higher to examine it.
He moved forward rather cautiously and looked down. The ice reflected his distorted shadow and the beam of wandlight, but deep below the thick, misty31 gray carapace32, something else glinted. A great silver cross…
His heart skipped into his mouth: He dropped to his knees at the pool’s edge and angled the wand so as to flood the bottom of the pool with as much light as possible. A glint of deep red…It was a sword with glittering rubies33 in its hilt….The sword of Gryffindor was lying at the bottom of the forest pool.
Barely breathing, he stared down at it. How was this possible? How could it have come to be lying in a forest pool, this close to the place where they were camping? Had some unknown magic drawn34 Hermione to this spot, or was the doe, which he had taken to be a Patronus, some kind of guardian35 of the pool? Or had the sword been put into the pool after they had arrived, precisely36 because they were here? In which case, where was the person who wanted to pass it to Harry? Again he directed the wand at the surrounding trees and bushes, searching for a human outline, for the glint of an eye, but he could not see anyone there. All the same, a little more fear leavened38 his exhilaration as he returned his attention to the sword reposing39 upon the bottom of the frozen pool.
He pointed40 the wand at the silvery shape and murmured, “Accio Sword.”
It did not stir. He had not expected it to. If it had been that easy the sword would have lain on the ground for him to pick up, not in the depths of a frozen pool. He set off around the circle of ice, thinking hard about the last time the sword had delivered itself to him. He had been in terrible danger then, and had asked for help.
“Help,” he murmured, but the sword remained upon the pool bottom, indifferent, motionless.
What was it, Harry asked himself (walking again), that Dumbledore had told him the last time he had retrieved41 the sword? Only a true Gryffindor could have pulled that out of the hat. And what were the qualities that defined a Gryffindor? A small voice inside Harry’s head answered him: Their daring nerve and chivalry43 set Gryffindor apart.
Harry stopped walking and let out a long sigh, his smoky breath dispersing44 rapidly upon the frozen air. He knew what he had to do. If he was honest with himself, he had thought it might come to this from the moment he had spotted45 the sword through the ice.
He glanced around at the surrounding trees again, but was convinced now that nobody was going to attack him. They had had their chance as he walked alone through the forest, had had plenty of opportunity as he examined the pool. The only reason to delay at this point was because the immediate46 prospect47 was so deeply uninviting.
With fumbling48 fingers Harry started to remove his many layers of clothing. Where “chivalry” entered into this, he thought ruefully, he was not entirely50 sure, unless it counted as chivalrous51 that he was not calling for Hermione to do it in his stead.
An owl12 hooted52 somewhere as he stripped off, and he thought with a pang53 of Hedwig. He was shivering now, his teeth chattering54 horribly, and yet he continued to strip off until at last he stood there in his underwear, barefooted in the snow. He placed the pouch55 containing his wand, his mother’s letter, the shard56 of Sirius’s mirror, and the old Snitch on top of his clothes, then he pointed Hermione’s wand at the ice.
“Diffindo.”
It cracked with a sound like a bullet in the silence. The surface of the pool broke and chunks57 of dark ice rocked on the ruffled58 water. As far as Harry could judge, it was not deep, but to retrieve42 the sword he would have to submerge himself completely.
Contemplating59 the task ahead would not make it easier or the water warmer. He stepped to the pool’s edge and placed Hermione’s wand on the ground still lit. Then, trying not to imagine how much colder he was about to become or how violently he would soon be shivering, he jumped.
Every pore of his body screamed in protest. The very air in his lungs seemed to freeze solid as he was submerged to his shoulders in the frozen water. He could hardly breathe: trembling so violently the water lapped over the edges of the pool, he felt for the blade with his numb60 feet. He only wanted to dive once.
Harry put off the moment of total submersion from second to second, gasping61 and shaking, until he told himself that it must be done, gathered all his courage, and dived.
The cold was agony: It attacked him like fire. His brain itself seemed to have frozen as he pushed through the dark water to the bottom and reached out, groping for the sword. His fingers closed around the hilt; he pulled it upward.
Then something closed tight around his neck. He thought of water weeds, though nothing had brushed him as he dived, and raised his hand to free himself. It was not weed: The chain of the Horcrux had tightened62 and was slowly constricting63 his windpipe.
Harry kicked out wildly, trying to push himself back to the surface, but merely propelled himself into the rocky side of the pool. Thrashing, suffocating64, he scrabbled at the strangling chain, his frozen fingers unable to loosen it, and now little lights were popping inside his head, and he was going to drown, there was nothing left, nothing he could do, and the arms that closed around his chest were surely Death’s….
Choking and retching, soaking and colder than he had ever been in his life, he came to facedown in the snow. Somewhere, close by, another person was panting and coughing and staggering around, as she had come when the snake attacked….Yet it did not sound like her, not with those deep coughs, no judging by the weight of the footsteps….
Harry had no strength to lift his head and see his savior’s identity. All he could do was raise a shaking hand to his throat and feel the place where the locket had cut tightly into his flesh. It was gone. Someone had cut him free. Then a panting voice spoke65 from over his head.
“Are – you – mental?”
Nothing but the shock of hearing that voice could have given Harry the strength to get up. Shivering violently, he staggered to his feet. There before him stood Ron, fully49 dressed but drenched66 to the skin, his hair plastered to his face, the sword of Gryffindor in one hand and the Horcrux dangling67 from its broken chain in the other.
“Why the hell,” panted Ron, holding up the Horcrux, which swung backward and forward on its shortened chain in some parody68 of hypnosis, “didn’t you take the thing off before you dived?”
Harry could not answer. The silver doe was nothing, nothing compared with Ron’s reappearance; he could not believe it. Shuddering69 with cold, he caught up the pile of clothes still lying at the water’s edge and began to pull them on. As he dragged sweater after sweater over his head, Harry stared at Ron, half expecting him to have disappeared every time he lost sight of him, and yet he had to be real: He had just dived into the pool, he had saved Harry’s life.
“It was y-you?” Harry said at last, his teeth chattering, his voice weaker than usual due to his near-strangulation.
“Well, yeah,” said Ron, looking slightly confused.
“Y-you cast that doe?”
“What? No, of course not! I thought it was you doing it!”
“My Patronus is a stag.”
“Oh yeah. I thought it looked different. No antlers.”
Harry put Hagrid’s pouch back around his neck, pulled on a final sweater, stooped to pick up Hermione’s wand, and faced Ron again.
“How come you’re here?”
Apparently70 Ron had hoped that this point would come up later, if at all.
“Well, I’ve – you know – I’ve come back. If –” He cleared his throat. “You know. You still want me.”
There was a pause, in which the subject of Ron’s departure seemed to rise like a wall between them. Yet he was here. He had returned. He had just saved Harry’s life.
Ron looked down at his hands. He seemed momentarily surprised to see the things he was holding.
“Oh yeah, I got it out,” he said, rather unnecessarily, holding up the sword for Harry’s inspection71. “That’s why you jumped in, right?”
“Yeah,” said Harry. “But I don’t understand. How did you get here? How did you find us?”
“Long story,” said Ron. “I’ve been looking for you for hours, it’s a big forest, isn’t it? And I was just thinking I’d have to go kip under a tree and wait for morning when I saw that dear coming and you following.”
“You didn’t see anyone else?”
“No,” said Ron. “I –”
But he hesitated, glancing at two trees growing close together some yards away.
“I did think I saw something move over there, but I was running to the pool at the time, because you’d gone in and you hadn’t come up, so I wasn’t going to make a detour72 to – hey!”
Harry was already hurrying to the place that Ron had indicated. The two oaks grew close together; there was a gap of only a few inches between the trunks at eye level, an ideal place to see but not be seen. The ground around the roots, however, was free of snow, and Harry could see no sign of footprints. He walked back to where Ron stood waiting, still holding the sword and the Horcrux.
“Anything there?” Ron asked.
“No,” said Harry.
“So how did the sword get in that pool?”
“Whoever cast the Patronus must have put it there.”
They both looked at the ornate silver sword, its rubied hilt glinting a little in the light from Hermione’s wand.
“You reckon this is the real one?” asked Ron.
“One way to find out, isn’t there?” said Harry.
The Horcrux was still swinging from Ron’s hand. The locket was twitching73 slightly. Harry knew that the thing inside it was agitated74 again. It had sensed the presence of the sword and had tried to kill Harry rather than let him possess it. Now was not the time for long discussions; now was the moment to destroy once and for all. Harry looked around, holding Hermione’s wand high, and saw the place: a flattish rock lying in the shadow of a sycamore tree.
“Come here.” he said and he led the way, brushed snow from the rock’s surface, and held out his hand for the Horcrux. When Ron offered the sword, however, Harry shook his head.
“No you should do it.”
“Me?” said Ron, looking shocked. “Why?”
“Because you got the sword out of the pool. I think it’s supposed to be you.”
He was not being kind or generous. As certainly as he had known that the doe was benign75, he knew that Ron had to be the one to wield76 the sword. Dumbledore had at least taught Harry something about certain kinds of magic, of the incalculable power of certain acts.
“I’m going to open it,” said Harry, “and you will stab it. Straightaway okay? Because whatever’s in there will put up a fight. The bit of Riddle77 in the Diary tried to kill me.”
“How are you going to open it?” asked Ron. He looked terrified “I’m going to ask it to open, using Parseltongue,” said Harry. The answer came so readily to his lips that thought that he had always known it deep down: Perhaps it had taken his recent encounter with Nagini to make him realize it. He looked at the serpentine78 S, inlaid with glittering green stones: It was easy to visualize79 it as a miniscule snake, curled upon the cold rock.
“No!” said Ron. “Don’t open it! I’m serious!”
“Why not?” asked Harry. “Let’s get rid of the damn thing, it’s been months –”
“I can’t, Harry, I’m serious – you do it –”
“But why?”
“Because that thing’s bad for me!” said Ron, backing away from the locket on the rock. “I can’t handle it! I’m not making excuses, for what I was like, but it affects me worse than it affects you and Hermione, it made me think stuff – stuff that I was thinking anyway, but it made everything worse. I can’t explain it, and then I’d take it off and I’d get my head straight again, and then I’d have to put the effing thing back on – I can’t do it Harry!”
He had backed away, the sword dragging at his side, shaking his head.
“You can do it,” said Harry, “you can! You’ve just got the sword, I know it’s supposed to be you who uses it. Please just get rid of it Ron.”
The sound of his name seemed to act like a stimulant80. Ron swallowed, then still breathing hard through his long nose, moved back toward the rock.
“On three,” said Harry, looking back down at the locket and narrowing his eyes, concentrating on the letter S, imagining a serpent, while the contents of the locket rattled82 like a trapped cockroach83. It would have been easy to pity it, except that the cut around Harry’s neck still burned.
“One… two… three…open.”
The last word came as a hiss84 and a snarl85 and the golden doors of the locket swung wide open with a little click.
Behind both of the glass windows within blinked a living eye, dark and handsome as Tom Riddle’s eyes had been before he turned them scarlet86 and slit-pupiled “Stab,” said Harry, holding the locket steady on the rock.
Ron raised the sword in his shaking hands: The point dangled87 over the frantically88 swiveling eyes, and Harry gripped the locket tightly, bracing89 himself, already imagining blood pouring from the empty windows.
Then a voice hissed90 from out the Horcrux.
“I have seen your heart, and it is mine.”
“Don’t listen to it!” Harry said harshly. “Stab it!”
“I have seen your dreams, Ronald Weasley, and I have seen your fears. All you desire is possible, but all that you dread91 is also possible….”
“Stab!” shouted Harry, his voice echoed off the surrounding trees, the sword point trembled, and Ron gazed down into Riddle’s eyes.
“Least loved, always, by the mother who craved92 a daughter… Least loved, now, by the girl who prefers your friend… Second best, always, eternally overshadowed…”
“Ron, stab it now!” Harry bellowed93: He could feel the locket quivering in the grip and was scared of what was coming. Ron raised the sword still higher, and as he did so, Riddle’s eyes gleamed scarlet.
Out of the locket’s two windows, out of the eyes, there bloomed like two grotesque94 bubbles, the heads of Harry and Hermione, weirdly95 distorted.
Ron yelled in shock and backed away as the figures blossomed out of the locket, first chests, then waists, then legs, until they stood in the locket, side by side like trees with a common root, swaying over Ron and the real Harry, who had snatched his fingers away from the locket as it burned, suddenly, white-hot.
“Ron!” he shouted, but the Riddle-Harry was now speaking with Voldemort’s voice and Ron was gazing, mesmerized96, into its face.
“Why return? We were better without you, happier without you, glad of your absence…. We laughed at your stupidity, your cowardice97, your presumption–”
“Presumption!” echoed the Riddle-Hermione, who was more beautiful and yet more terrible than the real Hermione: She swayed, cackling, before Ron, who looked horrified98, yet transfixed, the sword hanging pointlessly at his side. “Who could look at you, who would ever look at you, beside Harry Potter? What have you ever done, compared with the Chosen One? What are you, compared with the Boy Who Lived?”
“Ron, stab it, STAB IT!” Harry yelled, but Ron did not move. His eyes were wide, and the Riddle-Harry and the Riddle-Hermione were reflected in them, their hair swirling99 like flames, their eyes shining red, their voices lifted in an evil duet.
“Your mother confessed,” sneered100 Riddle-Harry, while Riddle-Hermione jeered101, “that she would have preferred me as a son, would be glad to exchange…”
“Who wouldn’t prefer him, what woman would take you, you are nothing, nothing, nothing to him,” crooned Riddle-Hermione, and she stretched like a snake and entwined herself around Riddle-Harry, wrapping him in a close embrace: Their lips met.
On the ground in front of them, Ron’s face filled with anguish102. he raised the sword high, his arms shaking.
“Do it, Ron!” Harry yelled.
Ron looked toward him, and Harry thought he saw a trace of scarlet in his eyes.
“Ron –?”
The sword flashed, plunged103: Harry threw himself out of the way, there as a clang of metal and a long, drawn-out scream. Harry whirled around, slipping in the snow, wand held ready to defend himself, but there was nothing to fight.
The monstrous104 versions of himself and Hermione were gone: There was only Ron, standing105 there with the sword held slackly in his hand, looking down at the shattered remains106 of the locket on the flat rock.
Slowly, Harry walked back to him, hardly knowing what to say or do. Ron was breathing heavily: His eyes were no longer red at all, but their normal blue: they were also wet.
Harry stooped, pretending he had not seen, and picked up the broken Horcrux. Ron had pierced the glass in both windows: Riddle’s eyes were gone, and the stained silk lining107 of the locket was smoking slightly. The thing that had lived in the Horcrux had vanished; torturing Ron had been its final act. The sword clanged as Ron dropped it. He had sunk to his knees, his head in his arms. He was shaking, but not, Harry realized, from cold. Harry crammed108 the broken locket into his pocket, knelt down beside Ron, and placed a hand cautiously on his shoulder. He took it as a good sign that Ron did not throw it off.
“After you left,” he said in a low voice, grateful for the fact that Ron’s face was hidden, “she cried for a week. Probably longer, only she didn’t want me to see. There were loads of nights when we never even spoke to each other. With you gone…”
He could not finish; it was now that Ron was here again that Harry fully realized how much his absence had cost them.
“She’s like my sister,” he went on. “I love her like a sister and I reckon that she feels the same way about me. It’s always been like that. I thought you knew.”
Ron did not respond, but turned his face away from Harry and wiped his nose noisily on his sleeve. Harry got to his feet again and walked to where Ron’s enormous rucksack lay yards away, discarded as Ron had run toward the pool to save Harry from drowning. He hoisted109 it onto his own back and walked back to Ron, who clambered to his feet as Harry approached, eyes bloodshot but otherwise composed.
“I’m sorry,” he said in a thick voice. “I’m sorry I left. I know I was a – a –”
He looked around at the darkness, as if hoping a bad enough word would swoop110 down upon him and claim him.
“You’ve sort of made up for it tonight,” said Harry. “Getting the sword. Finishing off the Horcrux. Saving my life.”
“That makes me sound a lot cooler than I was,” Ron mumbled111.
“Stuff like that always sounds cooler than it really was” said Harry. “I’ve been trying to tell you that for years.”
Simultaneously112 they walked forward and hugged, Harry gripping the still-sopping back of Ron’s jacket.
“And now,” said Harry as they broke apart, “all we’ve got to do is find that tent again.”
But it was not difficult. Though the walk through the dark forest with the doe had seemed lengthy113, with Ron by his side, the journey back seemed to take a surprisingly short time. Harry could not wait to wake Hermione, and it was with quickening excitement that he entered the tent, Ron lagging a little behind him.
It was gloriously warm after the pool and the forest, the only illumination the bluebell114 flames still shimmering115 in a bowl on the floor. Hermione was fast asleep, curled up under her blankets, and did not move until Harry had said her name several times.
“Hermione!”
She stirred, then sat up quickly, pushing her hair out of her face.
“What’s wrong? Harry? Are you all right?”
“It’s okay, everything’s fine. More than fine, I’m great. There’s someone here.”
“What do you mean? Who –?”
She saw Ron, who stood there holding the sword and dripping onto the threadbare carpet. Harry backed into a shadowy corner, slipped off Ron’s rucksack, and attempted to blend in with the canvas.
Hermione slid out of her bunk116 and moved like a sleepwalker toward Ron, her eyes upon his pale face. She stopped right in front of him, her lips slightly parted, her eyes wide. Ron gave a weak hopeful smile and half raised his arms.
Hermione launched herself forward and started punching every inch of him that she could reach.
“Ouch – ow – gerroff! What the –? Hermione – OW!”
“You – complete – arse – Ronald – Weasley!”
She punctuated117 every word with a blow: Ron backed away, shielding his head as Hermione advanced.
“You – crawl – back – here – after – weeks – and – weeks – oh, where’s my wand?”
She looked as though ready to wrestle118 it out of Harry’s hands and he reacted instinctively119.
“Protego!”
The invisible shield erupted between Ron and Hermione. The force of it knocked her backward onto the floor. Spitting hair out of her mouth, she lept up again.
“Hermione!” said Harry. “Calm –”
“I will not calm down!” she screamed. Never before had he seen her lose control like this; she looked quite demented. “Give me back my wand! Give it back to me!”
“Hermione, will you please –”
“Don’t you tell me what do, Harry Potter!” she screeched120. “Don’t you dare! Give it back now! And YOU!”
She was pointing at Ron in dire37 accusation121: It was like a malediction122, and Harry could not blame Ron for retreating several steps.
“I cam running after you! I called you! I begged you to come back”
“I know,” Ron said, “Hermione, I’m sorry, I’m really –”
“Oh, you’re sorry!”
She laughed a high-pitched, out-of-control sound; Ron looked at Harry for help, but Harry merely grimaced123 his helplessness.
“You came back after weeks – weeks – and you think it’s all going to be all right if you just say sorry?”
“Well, what else can I say?” Ron shouted, and Harry was glad that Ron was fighting back.
“Oh, I don’t know!” yelled Hermione with awful sarcasm124. “Rack your brains, Ron, that should only take a couple of seconds –”
“Hermione,” interjected Harry, who considered this a low blow, “he just saved my –”
“I don’t care!” she screamed. “I don’t care what he’s done! Weeks and weeks, we could have been dead for all he knew –”
“I knew you weren’t dead!” bellowed Ron, drowning her voice for the first time, and approaching as close as he could with the Shield Charm between them. “Harry’s all over the Prophet, all over the radio, they’re looking for you everywhere, all these rumors125 and mental stories, I knew I’d hear straight off if you were dead, you don’t know what it’s been like –”
“What it’s been like for you?”
Her voice was not so shrill126 only bats would be able to hear it soon, but she had reached a level of indignation that rendered her temporarily speechless, and Ron seized his opportunity.
“I wanted to come back the minute I’d Disapparated, but I walked straight into a gang of Snatchers, Hermione, and I couldn’t go anywhere!”
“A gang of what?” asked Harry, as Hermione threw herself down into a chair with her arms and legs crossed so tightly it seemed unlikely that she would unravel127 them for several years.
“Snatchers,” said Ron. “They’re everywhere – gangs trying to earn gold by rounding up Muggle-borns and blood traitors128, there’s a reward from the Ministry129 for everyone captured. I was on my own and I look like I might be school age; they got really excited, thought I was a Muggle-born in hiding. I had to talk fast to get out of being dragged to the Ministry.”
“What did you say to them?”
“Told them I was Stan Shunpike. First person I could think of.”
“And they believed that?”
“They weren’t the brightest. One of them was definitely part troll, the smell of him….”
Ron glanced at Hermione, clearly hopeful she might soften130 at this small instance of humor, but her expression remained stony131 above her tightly knotted limbs.
“Anyway, they had a row about whether I was Stan or not. It was a bit pathetic to be honest, but there were still five of them and only one of me, and they’d taken my wand. Then two of them got into a fight and while the others were distracted I managed to hit the one holding me in the stomach, grabbed his wand, Disarmed132 the bloke holding mine, and Disapparated. I didn’t do it so well. Splinched myself again” – Ron held up his right hand to show two missing fingernails: Hermione raised her eyebrows133 coldly – “and I came out miles from where you were. By the time I got back to that bit of riverbank where we’d been… you were gone.”
“Gosh, what a gripping story,” Hermione said in the lofty voice she adopted when wishing to wound. “You must have been simply terrified. Meanwhile we went to Godric’s Hollow and, let’s think, what happened there, Harry? Oh yes, You-Know-Who’s snake turned up, it nearly killed both of us, and then You-Know-Who himself arrived and missed us by about a second.”
“What?” Ron said, gaping134 from her to Harry, but Hermione ignored him.
“Imagine losing fingernails, Harry! That really puts our sufferings into perspective, doesn’t it?”
“Hermione,” said Harry quietly, “Ron just saved my life.”
She appeared not to have heard him.
“One thing I would like to know, though,” she said, fixing her eyes on a spot a foot over Ron’s head. “How exactly did you find us tonight? That’s important. Once we know, we’ll be able to make sure we’re not visited by anyone else we don’t want to see.”
Ron glared at her, then pulled a small silver object from his jeans pocket.
“This.”
She had to look at Ron to see what he was showing them.
“The Deluminator?” she asked, so surprised she forgot to look cold and fierce.
“It doesn’t just turn the lights on and off,” said Ron. “I don’t know how it works or why it happened then and not any other time, because I’ve been wanting to come back ever since I left. But I was listening to the radio really early on Christmas morning and I heard… I heard you.”
He was looking at Hermione.
“You heard me on the radio?” she asked incredulously.
“No, I heard you coming out of my pocket. Your voice,” he held up the Deluminator again, “came out of this.”
“And what exactly did I say?” asked Hermione, her tone somewhere between skepticism and curiosity.
“My name. ‘Ron.’ And you said… something about a wand….”
Hermione turned a fiery135 shade of scarlet. Harry remembered: it had been the first time Ron’s name had been said aloud by either of them since the day he had left; Hermione had mentioned it when talking about repairing Harry’s wand.
“So I took it out,” Ron went on, looking at the Deluminator, “and it didn’t seem different or anything, but I was sure I’d heard you. So I clicked it. And the light went out in my room, but another light appeared right outside the window.”
Ron raised his empty hand and pointed in front of him, his eyes focused on something neither Harry nor Hermione could see.
“It was a ball of light, kind of pulsing, and bluish, like that light you get around a Portkey, you know?”
“Yeah,” said Harry and Hermione together automatically.
“I knew this was it,” said Ron. “I grabbed my stuff and packed it, then I put on my rucksack and went out into the garden.”
“The little ball of light was hovering136 there, waiting for me, and when I came out it bobbed along a bit and I followed it behind the shed and then it… well, it went inside me.”
“Sorry?” said Harry, sure he had not heard correctly.
“It sort of floated toward me,” said Ron, illustrating137 the movement with his free index finger, “right to my chest, and then – it just went straight through. It was here,” he touched a point close to his heard, “I could feel it, it was hot. And once it was inside me, I knew what I was supposed to do. I knew it would take me where I needed to go. So I Disapparated and came out on the side of a hill. There was snow everywhere….”
“We were there,” said Harry. “We spent two nights there, and the second night I kept thinking I could hear someone moving around in the dark and calling out!”
“Yeah, well, that would’ve been me,” said Ron. “Your protective spells work, anyway, because I couldn’t see you and I couldn’t hear you. I was sure you were around, though, so in the end I got in my sleeping bag and waited for one of you to appear. I thought you’d have to show yourselves when you packed up the tent.”
“No, actually,” said Hermione. “We’ve been Disapparating under the Invisibility Cloak as an extra precaution. And we left really early, because as Harry says, we’d heard somebody blundering around.”
“Well, I stayed on that hill all day,” said Ron. “I kept hoping you’d appear. But when it started to get dark I knew I must have missed you, so I clicked the Deluminator again, the blue light came out and went inside me, and I Disapparated and arrived here in these woods. I still couldn’t see you, so I just had to hope one of you would show yourselves in the end – and Harry did. Well, I saw the doe first, obviously.”
“You saw the what?” said Hermione sharply.
They explained what had happened and as the story of the silver doe and the sword in the pool unfolded, Hermione frowned form one to the other of them, concentrating so hard she forgot to keep her limbs locked together.
“But it must have been a Patronus!” she said. “Couldn’t you see who was casting it? Didn’t you see anyone? And it led you to the sword! I can’t believe this! Then what happened?”
Ron explained how he had watched Harry jump into the pool, and had waited for him to resurface; how he had realized that something was wrong, dived in, and saved Harry, then returned for the sword. He got as far as the opening of the locket, then hesitated, and Harry cut in.
“– and Ron stabbed it with the sword.”
“And… and it went? Just like that?” she whispered.
“Well, it – it screamed,” said Harry with half a glance at Ron. “Here.”
He threw the locket into her lap; gingerly she picked it up and examined its punctured138 windows.
Deciding that it was at last safe to do so, Harry removed the Shield Charm with a wave of Hermione’s wand and turned to Ron.
“Did you just say now that you got away from the snatchers with a spare wand?”
“What?” said Ron, who had been watching Hermione examining the locket. “Oh – oh yeah.”
He tugged139 open a buckle140 on his rucksack and pulled a short dark wand out of his pocket. “Here, I figured it’s always handy to have a backup.”
“You were right,” said Harry, holding out his hand. “Mine’s broken.”
“You’re kidding?” Ron said, but at that moment Hermione got to her feet, and he looked apprehensive141 again.
Hermione put the vanquished142 Horcrux into the beaded bag, then climbed back into her bed and settled down without another word.
Ron passed Harry the new wand.
“About the best you could hope for, I think,” murmured Harry.
“Yeah,” said Ron. “Could’ve been worse. Remember those birds she set on me?”
“I still haven’t ruled it out,” came Hermione’s muffled143 voice from beneath her blankets, but Harry saw Ron smiling slightly as he pulled his maroon144 pajamas out of his rucksack.
午夜，赫敏接替哈利站岗放哨的时候，外面大雪飘飘。哈利做的那些梦让他感到困惑和烦恼：
纳吉尼在他们身边蜿蜒穿行，爬过圣诞玫瑰的花圈。他一次次地恐慌的醒来，觉得有人在远处召唤着他，想像到那四周鞭打着帐蓬的风是某人的脚步声或说话声。
最后，他在黑暗中爬起来，走到赫敏身边，她正卷缩在帐篷的入口，借助魔杖的光来阅读一本名为《魔法史》的书。雪下得越来越大了。她同意了哈利的建议，决定早点收拾好东西然后继续前进。
“我们要找一个更安全的地方，”她说，颤抖着在睡衣的外面加了一件运动衫。 “我一直都觉得能听到外面有人在走路， 甚至有一两次，我好象看到了什么人就在外面。”
哈利穿外套的动作停顿了一下，凝视着无声的寂静， 窥镜静止不动地放在桌子上。
“我肯定那只是我想象出来的，”赫敏说，看上去有点紧张，“大雪和黑夜捉弄着你的眼睛…………但是，以防万一，或许我们应该在隐身斗篷下移形幻影？”
半个小时后，收拾好帐篷，哈利带着魂器，赫敏抓着珠绣包，移形幻影了。他们被一如既往的那种压迫感覆吞没了。哈利的双腿没踩在雪地上，撞上了坚硬的、像是被树叶覆盖的冻土。
“我们在哪呢？”他一边环视着那一大片树林，一边问道。赫敏打开珠绣包，向外拽着帐篷的支柱。
“迪安森林，”她回答，“我曾经和爸爸妈妈来这里露营过。”
树上的积雪很多，温度异常的低，但至少这里没有风。他们白天大部分时间都呆在帐篷里，围绕在一团蓝色温暖的火焰周围，
赫敏已经能非常熟练地施放这种魔法了，那火焰还能用铲子铲起来，放到罐子里去。哈利感觉到他已经恢复了一点信心，这种感觉在赫敏的关怀中不断得到加强。下午，新鲜的雪片飘到他们身上，被保护的空旷地也出现了粉状的雪花。
两宿几乎没睡，哈利似乎比平时更加警惕，高锥克山谷中的逃脱使伏地魔好象比以前离他们更近，更有威胁性。随着夜幕再次降临，哈利拒绝了赫敏的守夜要求，让她进去睡觉。
哈利把一个旧垫子移到帐篷的门口，穿上了他所有的厚毛衣，坐了下来，尽管如此，他还是冷的发抖。随着时间流逝，夜色渐浓，伸手不见五指。他正准备打开活点地图，想看看金妮的那个圆点在哪里，突然想起现在是圣诞假期，她应该是回陋居去了。
在那茂密宁静的森林里，一切微小的动作都会被成倍放大。哈利知道那里存在着各种各样的生物，但他希望它们都能保持安静，只有这样他才能把动物们跑跑跳跳的声音和代表危险的声音区分开来。他依旧记得多年前，那斗篷滑过落叶的声音，而且他马上感觉到自己又听到了那种声音，全身随之一震。他们的保护魔法已经成功使用了几个星期了。为什么现在被破解了呢？而且他始终感觉到，今晚有些事情和往常并不一样。
他时不时的突然站起身来，脖子有点痛，因为他睡着了几次，头一直以一个很不舒服的角度倒向帐篷的一边。夜晚变成了天鹅绒般黑色，而他感觉自己似乎漂浮在幻影和显形的中间，他把手举到面前，想试试还能不能看清手指，这时候，一束很强烈的银光突然穿越了树木，出现在他的面前，不管光源是什么，它来得无声无息，好象是冲着他而来的。
哈利立刻跳了起来，声音都凝固在了喉咙里，他拿起赫敏的魔杖。光变得更加刺眼，他眯起眼睛，看到树木的轮廓被照得清清楚楚，那东西离的越来越近了…………
随后，光源从一棵橡树后面走了出来，一只银白色的母鹿，如同月光一样的银白，令人眼花缭乱。她安静地向他走过来，没有在雪地上留下任何痕迹，她那优美的头颈高昂着，大大的眼睛，长长的睫毛。
哈利凝视着她，满心疑惑，不是因为陌生，而是说不出的熟悉。他觉得自己一直在等待着她的到来，只是他忘记了，直到这个时刻，这个他们相遇的时候，他才回忆起来。刚才那种很想把赫敏叫起来的冲动，现在早已荡然无存。他明白，他要把生命押在这上面，她是为他而来的，仅仅是为了他一个人。
他们对视了好长一段时间，然后她转过身去，走开了。
“别走，”他喊道，但他那嘶哑声音一点用处也没有，“回来！”
她好象有意地继续向前走，穿过森林，那光芒很快的在树木后面变得比原先黯淡，他颤抖着犹豫了一下。谨慎告诉他这可能是个骗局，是个引诱，是个圈套，但是本能，无可抑制的本能告诉他这不是黑魔法。所以他动身前往追赶。
雪在他的脚下发出喳喳的声音，而那母鹿在经过丛林的时候没有发出任何响声，因为她就像一束光。她引导着哈利朝森林的深处前进。哈利拼命地赶上去，他确信当她停下脚步的时候，会允许哈利适当地接近她，然后告诉他一些他想要知道的东西。
最后，她终于停了下来，再次转过她那漂亮的头，哈利冲着她拔脚狂奔，急切的想要向她询问，正当他准备开口的时候，那只母鹿却消失了。
尽管黑暗将她瞬间吞没，那明亮的轮廓却仍然残留在他眼前，他的眼前逐渐变暗，眨眼间他迷失了方向。现在恐惧袭来，。
“荧光闪烁！”哈利轻声说，魔杖一端亮了起来了。
那母鹿留下的烙印渐渐褪去，哈利眨着眼睛站在那里，聆听着森林的声音，远处树枝间的响声和雪落的声音，他是不是会受到攻击呢？那母鹿是不是把他引诱到了伏兵重重的地方呢？某个人会在远离这魔杖闪光的范围，在暗地里注视着他吗？
他把魔杖举得更高了点，没有人冲着他跑过来，也没有那些绿色的光芒从树的背后爆裂出来。那么，为什么她要把他引导到这里来呢？
有些东西在魔杖的光亮中隐约地闪现，哈利看过去，那是一个很小的池塘，被冻住了，他举高魔杖仔细查看，池塘那黑暗的破碎表面闪着光。
他谨慎地向前走去向里面看，地上的冰块倒影着他的扭曲的影子和魔杖闪光的光束。但在那厚厚的，有灰色薄雾的冰壳下面，有个东西也在闪烁，那是一个巨大的银色的物体。
他大吃一惊，心都快跳出来了，他在池子的边缘跪了下来，调整好魔杖的角度，尽量让光芒照耀这个池子的底部。深红色的闪光……那是一把剑，在剑柄的地方镶着一块闪闪发光的红宝石。
格兰芬多的宝剑居然在这个湖的底部！
哈利向下凝视着，几乎无法呼吸，这怎么可能呢？它怎么可能会在一个这样的森林的湖里呢？一个离他们的营地那么近的地方？是不是有种未知的魔法把赫敏指引到这个地方来呢？又或者是那个他觉得像守护神的母鹿是这个池塘的守护者呢？又或者那剑是在他们到了这里以后才放下去的，恰好在他们都还在这个地方的时候？不管怎么说，那个想要把这剑交给哈利的人究竟在哪里呢？他再一次用魔杖照射着周围的树木和矮树丛，寻找着那个人的轮廓，寻找着眼睛的闪光，但他什么也没找到，还是老样子。当他把注意力再次放到那静卧冰湖里的剑上时，一些畏惧影响了那愉快的心情，
他用魔杖指着那银色的宝剑，低声说： “宝剑飞来！”
没有丝毫动静，这是在哈利意料之内的。如果真的有那么简单的话，那剑早就放在地上让他去捡了，而不是想现在这样静卧在那冰湖深处。他环绕着那冰块走了一圈，努力想着上次那剑是如何传递到自己手上的。那个时候他正处于特别危险的情况当中，他想得到帮助。
“救我！”他低声道，但那剑还是停留在湖底，一点反应都没有，纹丝不动。
哈利自言自语(又走了几圈)，
上次他得到这把剑的时候，邓布利多和他说了什么来着？只有真正的格兰芬多人才能把它从帽子里拉出来。那么该用什么品质来定义一个格兰芬多人呢？一个很微小的声音从哈利的脑海里传来并回答了这个问题。答案就是，大勇气和骑士精神是格兰芬多人所应有的品质。
哈利停了下来，发出一声长叹。他呼出的热气很快就在寒冷的空气中消散了。他知道了自己该做什么了。说实话，自从他透过冰层看到剑的那一刻起，他已经想过会发生这样的事情。
他再次环视了一下周围的树林，确定了这个时候没有人会来袭击他。如果有人要袭击，那么在哈利经过森林和观察冰湖的时候，有太多次机会
了。而没有袭击唯一的理由是，这个周围环境太不适合了。
哈利利用手指摸索着，掀开了他那厚厚的衣服，这就是需要骑士精神的地方了，他无奈地想到，虽然不是百分百地确定，他没有叫赫敏来代替自己，那也算是一种骑士精神。
当他开始脱衣服的时候，一只猫头鹰在远处叫着。这让他痛苦地想到了海德薇。他全身发抖，他的牙齿也发出可怕的撞击声，但他没有停止，继续脱衣服，一直脱到只剩下内裤，光着脚站在雪地上为止，他把他的魔杖，他妈妈的信和小天狼星的镜子碎片放进袋子里，把旧的金色飞贼放进了上衣的口袋。然后把赫敏的魔杖放在雪堆上。
“四分五裂 ！”
冰块发出了如同寂静中的枪声一样的声音，湖的表面就这样裂开了，那些黑乎乎的冰块在波涛粼粼的湖面上不断摇晃。根据哈利的判断，这湖并不深，但为了拿得那把剑，他必须自己整个身体潜进去。
想的再多也不可能会让这件事情变得更容易，水也不会变得更暖和。他小心翼翼地走向湖边，放置好赫敏那仍然发着光的魔杖，接着，没有考虑会有多么冷或者自己会多么剧烈地颤抖，他直接跳了下去。
哈利身上的每个毛孔仿佛都在尖叫着反抗，当他的肩膀也潜到那冰冻的水里的时候，肺里的空气仿佛凝结成了固体，他几乎不能够呼吸，他剧烈的颤抖令湖水产生了很多涟漪，他觉得自己失去了知觉的双脚像是给刀片割着一样。他希望只潜一次就足够了。
哈利一次又一次的推迟了完全潜进去的时刻，喘着大气，全身摇晃着，直到最后他对自己说这是迟早都要做的，然后集聚了全部勇气，向下潜了进去。
那种寒冷让人非常难受，如同烈火炽烤着身体，他向深水处前进去到湖底探索宝剑的过程中，大脑也好象被冻结了一样。他的手指碰到了剑柄，接着他向上拔那把剑。
然后一样东西缠绕了他的脖子，他以为是水草，尽管在他潜水的时候并没有什么东西朝他游来，哈利用手去把那东西拿开，让自己解脱，然而那却不是水草，那是魂器的链条，它变得越来越紧，这让哈利的呼吸越来越困难。
哈利拼命地到处乱踢，尝试着游回到湖面上去，但却只是将自己推向了湖中充满岩石的另一端，他感到越来越沉重，越来越喘不上气，他拼命想从那企图扼死人的链条中挣扎出来。但冰冻的手指没办法拉开链条，他脑中的意识正逐渐减退，身体快被淹没了。一切都没了，什么都做不了了，而他胸前的手臂完全动弹不得，他真切的感觉到了死亡…………
他感到了窒息和恶心的，还有他那一生中未曾体验过的湿透和寒冷，他在冰雪中逐渐沉下去。就在这个时候，有个人一边喘气，一边咳嗽地蹒跚地走近，正如上次她在蛇攻击哈利的时候来到一样，但听起来好象又不是她，因为那咳嗽声太大了，那脚步声也太重了。
哈利没有力气抬起头来看看到底他的救命恩人是谁，他只能把手抬起来，放到喉咙的位置上，在那个地方他感到有个盒子紧紧地卡住他的身体。一切都突然消失了。有人把链子扯开了，一把喘着大气的声音从那人的嘴里冒了出来：
“你——是不是——疯了？”
这个声音所带来的震撼，让哈利有了站起来的力气，他还是剧烈地颤抖着，他摇晃着站起来，在他面前的人居然是罗恩。罗恩穿得很密实，但也全身湿透了，他的头发喝醉了酒一样凌乱，他一手拿着格兰芬多的宝剑，另一个手拿着一条断掉的链子，链子另的一端，魂器还在不断摇晃着。
“该死的，这是为什么，“罗恩喘道，他手中的魂器不断前后摇摆，很像令人催眠的挂表。 “你潜水前怎么不把这东西摘了？”
哈利没有回答。那银色的母鹿并没什么了不起的，她一点也无法与罗恩的重新出现相提并论。他还是很难相信刚发生的这一切。还是因寒冷而不断发抖，他拿起那堆仍然摆在湖边的衣服开始穿起来，穿衣服的时候，哈利一直盯着罗恩，似乎觉得一看不到他他会立刻消失掉，但这当然不会发生，他真的来了，他的确跳进了那个湖，他的确拯救了哈利的生命。
“真的是你？”哈利终于冒出了一句话。他的牙齿还是不断地相互撞击着，因为刚才的危险，他的声音也比往常小得多。
“恩，当然。”罗恩说，样子显得有点困惑。
“是…………是你召唤出那母鹿的吗？”
“什么？当然不是啊。我还以为你是做的。”
“我的守护神是一只牡鹿啊。”
“哦，对，她有点不一样，她没有角。”
哈利把海格的袋子重新挂回脖子上，穿上最后一件毛衣，弯腰拾起赫敏的魔杖，然后再次看着罗恩。
“你怎么会在这里的？“
很明显，如果可以的话，罗恩希望待会再说这个问题。
“恩，是——这样的，我——回来了，如果…………”罗恩清了清嗓子， “你知道的——你还是需要我的啊。”
谈话短暂地停止了一会。好象罗恩当初的离开让两人间架起了一堵高墙。然而现在他就在这里，他回来了，他刚刚救了哈利一命。
罗恩低头看着自己的手，当他看到自己手中紧握着的是什么的时候，突然吃了一惊。
“哦，对啊，我把它拔出来了。”他说，虽然这话并什么必要说出来，他把剑举起来，好让哈利好好看了看。“这就是你跳下去的原因，对吧？”
哈利说：“是的。但我不明白的是，你是怎么到这儿来的，你是怎么找到我们的？”
“说来话长啊。”罗恩说，
“我找你们好多个小时了，这个森林可真大啊，不是吗？正当我打算在树下睡一会，等到天亮再继续的时候，我看到了一只鹿跑了过来，而你在后面紧追着它。”
“你没有看到别人吗。“
“没有，”罗恩说， “我……”
他犹豫了一下，看着离他们不远处的那两棵长得很近的树。
“我想我确实看到了有东西在那边移动，但那时我正跑向湖边，因为你跳了下去却不见你上来，所以我没有绕到那边去看看。”
当罗恩指向那边时，哈利已经匆忙地跑了过去，在那两棵靠得很近的树那里，有个只有几英寸的裂缝，一个很理想的能偷看别人而又不被别人看到的地方。然而在那里的雪地上，没有任何痕迹，哈利找不到任何足迹，于是他回到拿着宝剑和魂器的罗恩身边。
“有什么东西吗？”罗恩问。
“什么也没有。”哈利说。
“那宝剑为什么会在湖里呢？”
“肯定是那个召唤出守护神的人把剑放下去的。”
他们同时看着那华丽的宝剑，镶有红宝石的剑柄在赫敏的魔杖发出的光里闪闪发亮。
“你说这是真的那把剑吗？”罗恩说。
“我有办法能知道答案。”哈利回答。
魂器还是在罗恩的手中摇摆不定，那个小盒子在轻微地颤动，哈利知道在盒子里面的东西又一次激动起来了。它已经感觉到了宝剑的存在，并且也尝试了要把哈利杀死，以免让他得到那宝剑。如今已不需要再做任何讨论了，现在是永久地毁灭一切的时候了。哈利高高的举起赫敏的魔杖，向周围环视了一圈，看到一棵无花果树的阴影下有一块平坦的石头。
“到这里来。”他说，走到那里，清理掉石头上面的雪，把魂器拿了出来，当罗恩递上那把宝剑时，哈利却摇了摇头。
“不，应该是你来做。”
“我？”罗恩很诧异地反问道，“为什么？”
“因为是你把它从湖里拔出来的，所以我想应该是你来做。”
他并不是仁慈和慷慨，正如他非常确定那母鹿是仁慈的一样，他知道罗恩才是那个应该挥动宝剑的人。邓布利多教过哈利一些特殊的魔法，特别的动作会有无法估量的力量。
“我准备把它打开了，”哈利说， “然后你就向它刺过去，很简单，对吧？因为无论在里面的是什么，它都会引发一场争斗，日记中的神秘人物想要把我给杀了。”
“那你打算怎么把它打开？”罗恩说，看样子他有点受惊。
“我打算叫它自己打开，用蛇佬腔。”哈利说，他十分轻易的说出了这句话，好象他一直都知道这个答案。或许是最近遇到纳吉尼让他意识到这一点。他看着那蜿蜒的闪闪发光的绿色石头镶嵌而成的“S”，很容易就会把它联想成一条小蛇(蛇的单词是SNAKE)，卷缩在那冰冷的石头上面。
“不要！”罗恩说， “不要打开，我是认真的。”
“为什么不？”哈利问， “让我们摆脱这可恶的东西，都好几个月了……”
“我不能这样做，哈利，我是认真的和你在说，你来做。”
“但为什么呢？”
“因为那东西对我有害。”罗恩说，说着他开始往后退。
“我不能处理好这件事。我不是在寻找借口，虽然我很像是在做这样的事，但它给我的影响比对给你和赫敏的还要严重，它让我想起一些东西……一些我想过的东西，但它让事情都变得更糟，我没办法解释清楚，所以我想摆脱他，让自己想清楚一些，现在我要重新把这该死的东西拿起来……我做不到，哈利。”
他不断向后退着，拖着那把宝剑不停的摇着头。
“你做得到的。”哈利鼓励他说， “你能的！你拥有那把宝剑，我知道能使用它的人只有你，只要将它解决掉就可以了，罗恩。”
“那告诉我什么时候动手吧。”他用嘶哑的声音说。
“当我数到三的时候。”哈利说，他看着那个小盒子，瞳孔不断缩小，注意力集中到了那个S上面，脑海里想象着一条大毒蛇的样子，这个时候，盒子里面的东西仿佛一只被捕获的蟑螂一样恼火。本来对它表示点同情是很容易的，如果哈利脖子上的伤口不是继续隐隐作痛的话。
“一…………二…………三…………打开。”
当最后那个字说出来的时候，一阵嘶嘶声和咆哮声传了出来，然后盒子上金色的小门旋转伴随着滴答的响声打开了。
在玻璃窗户的背后闪烁着一对眼睛，如汤姆·里德尔的眼睛一样深沉和俊美，不像伏地魔现在那样有着猩红和细长的瞳孔。
“刺它。”哈利说，他把那盒子稳稳地固定在岩石上。
罗恩用他那颤抖着的手举起了宝剑，那目标一直在摇摆着，那双眼睛疯狂的转动着，哈利紧紧地抓住盒子，自己支撑着自己，想象鲜血从那玻璃窗中喷溅而出。
然后，嘶嘶的声音从魂器里透露出来。
“我曾见过你的心，那是属于我的。”
“不要听这些话 ，”哈利严厉地说， “刺它”
“我见过你的梦，罗纳德 韦斯莱，我也见过你的恐惧，你所有的梦想都是可能发生的，你所有的恐惧也有可能发生。
“刺啊！”哈利喊道，他的声音在树林中回荡，剑的顶端仍在颤抖，罗恩盯着里德尔的眼睛。
“最少的爱，一直如此，你的妈妈想要的是个女孩……最少的爱，现在也是，那个女孩喜欢的是你的朋友，永远都做不到最好，一直如此，永远都活在阴影之中。”
“罗恩，刺它啊。”哈利几乎是在怒哄了，他能感觉到箱子在颤动，对里面将要出来的东西充满了恐惧。罗恩还是高高地举起那宝剑，这时，里德尔的眼睛闪烁出猩红色的光。
在那小窗户的外面，在眼睛的外面，浮现出了两个奇异的泡泡，那是哈利和赫敏的头像，但被古怪地扭曲了。
当人头像浮现出来时，罗恩惊慌的大喊着向后退去。首先出现的是胸，然后是腰，最后是腿，一直到他们站在那盒子上，像两棵同根的树一样互相紧靠着，在罗恩和哈利间摆动，哈利把手从那盒子上拿开了，那盒子突然变得非常灼热。
“罗恩！”他喊道，但那个假的哈利却用伏地魔的声音在说话，而罗恩则凝视着这一切，好象被那张脸给催眠了。
“为什么要回来呢？”没有你我们会更好，没有你我们会更高兴，我们会为你不在周围而喜悦，我们将嘲笑你的愚蠢，你的胆小，和你的自大。”
“自大！”假的赫敏重复道，她比真赫敏更漂亮，可是更可恶。她在罗恩面前摇晃着，发出咯咯的笑声，罗恩仿佛受到了惊吓，呆在那里。那把剑在他手里显得毫无作用，“在哈利波特旁边，谁会看着你，谁曾看过你？你会做些什么呢？作为被选中的那个人，和那个大难不死的男孩相比，你又算是什么呢？”
“罗恩，刺它，刺它啊！”哈利继续喊叫着，但罗恩并没有动手，他的眼睛张得大大的。那假的哈利和假的赫敏反射在他的眼球里，他们的头发像火焰一样窜动着。他们的眼睛闪烁着红色，他们的声音就像是魔鬼的二重奏。
“你的母亲公开承认过的。”那个假的哈利讥笑道，而假的赫敏也在嘲笑， “那就是他更喜欢我做她的儿子，如果可以交换的话。”
“谁不会更喜欢他呢？哪种女人会选择你呢？你和他相比，你什么都算不上，什么也不是！”假的赫敏低吟道。然后她如同蛇一样伸展出来并绕住假哈利，给哈利一个很热情的拥抱还亲吻了他。
在他们面前，罗恩的脸非常痛苦，他颤抖的举着那把剑。
“动手啊，罗恩！”哈利吼道。
罗恩看着他，哈利似乎看到他的眼中闪过一丝猩红色。
“罗恩……？”
突然罗恩把剑刺出，只见剑光一闪：哈利急忙跳开，随即便是金属叮当的碰撞声以及尖叫声。哈利急忙转开，一边在雪地上滑行，一边
收听单词发音 |
1
harry
|
|
| vt.掠夺，蹂躏，使苦恼 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
2
huddled
|
|
| 挤在一起（huddle的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
3
pajamas
|
|
| n.睡衣裤 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
4
engulfed
|
|
| v.吞没，包住( engulf的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
5
tugging
|
|
| n.牵引感v.用力拉，使劲拉，猛扯( tug的现在分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
6
adept
|
|
| adj.老练的，精通的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
7
scooped
|
|
| v.抢先报道( scoop的过去式和过去分词 )；（敏捷地）抱起；抢先获得；用铲[勺]等挖（洞等） | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
8
recuperating
|
|
| v.恢复（健康、体力等），复原( recuperate的现在分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
9
solicitousness
|
|
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
10
flakes
|
|
| 小薄片( flake的名词复数 )； （尤指）碎片； 雪花； 古怪的人 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
11
burrow
|
|
| vt.挖掘(洞穴)；钻进；vi.挖洞；翻寻；n.地洞 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
12
owl
|
|
| n.猫头鹰，枭 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
13
sinister
|
|
| adj.不吉利的，凶恶的，左边的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
14
enchantments
|
|
| n.魅力( enchantment的名词复数 )；迷人之处；施魔法；着魔 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
15
slumped
|
|
| 大幅度下降，暴跌( slump的过去式和过去分词 )； 沉重或突然地落下[倒下] | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
16
velvety
|
|
| adj. 像天鹅绒的, 轻软光滑的, 柔软的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
17
limbo
|
|
| n.地狱的边缘；监狱 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
18
silhouette
|
|
| n.黑色半身侧面影，影子，轮廓；v.描绘成侧面影，照出影子来，仅仅显出轮廓 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
19
inexplicable
|
|
| adj.无法解释的，难理解的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
20
deliberately
|
|
| adv.审慎地；蓄意地；故意地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
21
lure
|
|
| n.吸引人的东西，诱惑物；vt.引诱，吸引 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
22
crunched
|
|
| v.嘎吱嘎吱地咬嚼( crunch的过去式和过去分词 )；嘎吱作响；（快速大量地）处理信息；数字捣弄 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
23
burnished
|
|
| adj.抛光的，光亮的v.擦亮（金属等），磨光( burnish的过去式和过去分词 )；被擦亮，磨光 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
24
imprint
|
|
| n.印痕，痕迹；深刻的印象；vt.压印，牢记 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
25
imprinted
|
|
| v.盖印（imprint的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
26
eyelids
|
|
| n.眼睑( eyelid的名词复数 )；眼睛也不眨一下；不露声色；面不改色 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
27
twigs
|
|
| 细枝，嫩枝( twig的名词复数 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
28
enticed
|
|
| 诱惑，怂恿( entice的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
29
ambush
|
|
| n.埋伏(地点)；伏兵；v.埋伏；伏击 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
30
spun
|
|
| v.纺，杜撰，急转身 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
31
misty
|
|
| adj.雾蒙蒙的，有雾的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
32
carapace
|
|
| n.（蟹或龟的）甲壳 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
33
rubies
|
|
| 红宝石( ruby的名词复数 )； 红宝石色，深红色 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
34
drawn
|
|
| v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
35
guardian
|
|
| n.监护人；守卫者，保护者 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
36
precisely
|
|
| adv.恰好，正好，精确地，细致地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
37
dire
|
|
| adj.可怕的，悲惨的，阴惨的，极端的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
38
leavened
|
|
| adj.加酵母的v.使（面团）发酵( leaven的过去式和过去分词 )；在…中掺入改变的因素 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
39
reposing
|
|
| v.将（手臂等）靠在某人（某物）上( repose的现在分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
40
pointed
|
|
| adj.尖的，直截了当的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
41
retrieved
|
|
| v.取回( retrieve的过去式和过去分词 )；恢复；寻回；检索（储存的信息） | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
42
retrieve
|
|
| vt.重新得到，收回；挽回，补救；检索 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
43
chivalry
|
|
| n.骑士气概，侠义；（男人）对女人彬彬有礼，献殷勤 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
44
dispersing
|
|
| adj. 分散的 动词disperse的现在分词形式 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
45
spotted
|
|
| adj.有斑点的，斑纹的，弄污了的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
46
immediate
|
|
| adj.立即的；直接的，最接近的；紧靠的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
47
prospect
|
|
| n.前景，前途；景色，视野 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
48
fumbling
|
|
| n. 摸索,漏接 v. 摸索,摸弄,笨拙的处理 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
49
fully
|
|
| adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
50
entirely
|
|
| ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
51
chivalrous
|
|
| adj.武士精神的；对女人彬彬有礼的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
52
hooted
|
|
| （使）作汽笛声响，作汽车喇叭声( hoot的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
53
pang
|
|
| n.剧痛，悲痛，苦闷 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
54
chattering
|
|
| n. （机器振动发出的）咔嗒声，(鸟等)鸣，啁啾 adj. 喋喋不休的，啾啾声的 动词chatter的现在分词形式 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
55
pouch
|
|
| n.小袋，小包，囊状袋；vt.装...入袋中，用袋运输；vi.用袋送信件 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
56
shard
|
|
| n.（陶瓷器、瓦等的）破片，碎片 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
57
chunks
|
|
| 厚厚的一块( chunk的名词复数 )； （某物）相当大的数量或部分 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
58
ruffled
|
|
| adj. 有褶饰边的, 起皱的 动词ruffle的过去式和过去分词 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
59
contemplating
|
|
| 深思，细想，仔细考虑( contemplate的现在分词 )； 注视，凝视； 考虑接受（发生某事的可能性）； 深思熟虑，沉思，苦思冥想 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
60
numb
|
|
| adj.麻木的，失去感觉的；v.使麻木 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
61
gasping
|
|
| adj. 气喘的, 痉挛的 动词gasp的现在分词 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
62
tightened
|
|
| 收紧( tighten的过去式和过去分词 )； （使）变紧； （使）绷紧； 加紧 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
63
constricting
|
|
| 压缩，压紧，使收缩( constrict的现在分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
64
suffocating
|
|
| a.使人窒息的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
65
spoke
|
|
| n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
66
drenched
|
|
| adj.湿透的；充满的v.使湿透( drench的过去式和过去分词 )；在某人（某物）上大量使用（某液体） | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
67
dangling
|
|
| 悬吊着( dangle的现在分词 )； 摆动不定； 用某事物诱惑…； 吊胃口 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
68
parody
|
|
| n.打油诗文，诙谐的改编诗文，拙劣的模仿；v.拙劣模仿，作模仿诗文 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
69
shuddering
|
|
| v.战栗( shudder的现在分词 )；发抖；（机器、车辆等）突然震动；颤动 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
70
apparently
|
|
| adv.显然地；表面上，似乎 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
71
inspection
|
|
| n.检查，审查，检阅 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
72
detour
|
|
| n.绕行的路，迂回路；v.迂回，绕道 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
73
twitching
|
|
| n.颤搐 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
74
agitated
|
|
| adj.被鼓动的，不安的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
75
benign
|
|
| adj.善良的，慈祥的；良性的，无危险的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
76
wield
|
|
| vt.行使，运用，支配；挥，使用(武器等) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
77
riddle
|
|
| n.谜，谜语，粗筛；vt.解谜，给…出谜，筛，检查，鉴定，非难，充满于；vi.出谜 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
78
serpentine
|
|
| adj.蜿蜒的，弯曲的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
79
visualize
|
|
| vt.使看得见，使具体化，想象，设想 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
80
stimulant
|
|
| n.刺激物，兴奋剂 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
81
croaked
|
|
| v.呱呱地叫( croak的过去式和过去分词 )；用粗的声音说 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
82
rattled
|
|
| 慌乱的，恼火的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
83
cockroach
|
|
| n.蟑螂 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
84
hiss
|
|
| v.发出嘶嘶声；发嘘声表示不满 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
85
snarl
|
|
| v.吼叫，怒骂，纠缠，混乱；n.混乱，缠结，咆哮 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
86
scarlet
|
|
| n.深红色，绯红色，红衣；adj.绯红色的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
87
dangled
|
|
| 悬吊着( dangle的过去式和过去分词 )； 摆动不定； 用某事物诱惑…； 吊胃口 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
88
frantically
|
|
| ad.发狂地, 发疯地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
89
bracing
|
|
| adj.令人振奋的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
90
hissed
|
|
| 发嘶嘶声( hiss的过去式和过去分词 )； 发嘘声表示反对 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
91
dread
|
|
| vt.担忧，忧虑；惧怕，不敢；n.担忧，畏惧 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
92
craved
|
|
| 渴望，热望( crave的过去式 )； 恳求，请求 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
93
bellowed
|
|
| v.发出吼叫声，咆哮（尤指因痛苦）( bellow的过去式和过去分词 )；（愤怒地）说出（某事），大叫 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
94
grotesque
|
|
| adj.怪诞的，丑陋的；n.怪诞的图案，怪人（物） | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
95
weirdly
|
|
| 古怪地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
96
mesmerized
|
|
| v.使入迷( mesmerize的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
97
cowardice
|
|
| n.胆小，怯懦 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
98
horrified
|
|
| a.(表现出)恐惧的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
99
swirling
|
|
| v.旋转，打旋( swirl的现在分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
100
sneered
|
|
| 讥笑，冷笑( sneer的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
101
jeered
|
|
| v.嘲笑( jeer的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
102
anguish
|
|
| n.(尤指心灵上的)极度痛苦，烦恼 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
103
plunged
|
|
| v.颠簸( plunge的过去式和过去分词 )；暴跌；骤降；突降 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
104
monstrous
|
|
| adj.巨大的；恐怖的；可耻的，丢脸的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
105
standing
|
|
| n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
106
remains
|
|
| n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
107
lining
|
|
| n.衬里，衬料 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
108
crammed
|
|
| adj.塞满的，挤满的；大口地吃；快速贪婪地吃v.把…塞满；填入；临时抱佛脚( cram的过去式) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
109
hoisted
|
|
| 把…吊起，升起( hoist的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
110
swoop
|
|
| n.俯冲，攫取；v.抓取，突然袭击 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
111
mumbled
|
|
| 含糊地说某事，叽咕，咕哝( mumble的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
112
simultaneously
|
|
| adv.同时发生地，同时进行地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
113
lengthy
|
|
| adj.漫长的，冗长的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
114
bluebell
|
|
| n.风铃草 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
115
shimmering
|
|
| v.闪闪发光，发微光( shimmer的现在分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
116
bunk
|
|
| n.(车、船等倚壁而设的)铺位；废话 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
117
punctuated
|
|
| v.（在文字中）加标点符号，加标点( punctuate的过去式和过去分词 )；不时打断某事物 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
118
wrestle
|
|
| vi.摔跤，角力；搏斗；全力对付 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
119
instinctively
|
|
| adv.本能地 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
120
screeched
|
|
| v.发出尖叫声( screech的过去式和过去分词 )；发出粗而刺耳的声音；高叫 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
121
accusation
|
|
| n.控告，指责，谴责 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
122
malediction
|
|
| n.诅咒 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
123
grimaced
|
|
| v.扮鬼相，做鬼脸( grimace的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
124
sarcasm
|
|
| n.讥讽，讽刺，嘲弄，反话 （adj.sarcastic） | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
125
rumors
|
|
| n.传闻( rumor的名词复数 )；[古]名誉；咕哝；[古]喧嚷v.传闻( rumor的第三人称单数 )；[古]名誉；咕哝；[古]喧嚷 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
126
shrill
|
|
| adj.尖声的；刺耳的；v尖叫 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
127
unravel
|
|
| v.弄清楚（秘密）；拆开，解开，松开 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
128
traitors
|
|
| 卖国贼( traitor的名词复数 )； 叛徒； 背叛者； 背信弃义的人 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
129
ministry
|
|
| n.(政府的)部；牧师 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
130
soften
|
|
| v.(使)变柔软；(使)变柔和 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
131
stony
|
|
| adj.石头的，多石头的，冷酷的，无情的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
132
disarmed
|
|
| v.裁军( disarm的过去式和过去分词 )；使息怒 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
133
eyebrows
|
|
| 眉毛( eyebrow的名词复数 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
134
gaping
|
|
| adj.口的；张口的；敞口的；多洞穴的v.目瞪口呆地凝视( gape的现在分词 )；张开，张大 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
135
fiery
|
|
| adj.燃烧着的，火红的；暴躁的；激烈的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
136
hovering
|
|
| 鸟( hover的现在分词 )； 靠近（某事物）； （人）徘徊； 犹豫 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
137
illustrating
|
|
| 给…加插图( illustrate的现在分词 )； 说明； 表明； （用示例、图画等）说明 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
138
punctured
|
|
| v.在（某物）上穿孔( puncture的过去式和过去分词 )；刺穿（某物）；削弱（某人的傲气、信心等）；泄某人的气 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
139
tugged
|
|
| v.用力拉，使劲拉，猛扯( tug的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
140
buckle
|
|
| n.扣子，带扣；v.把...扣住，由于压力而弯曲 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
141
apprehensive
|
|
| adj.担心的，恐惧的，善于领会的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
142
vanquished
|
|
| v.征服( vanquish的过去式和过去分词 )；战胜；克服；抑制 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
143
muffled
|
|
| 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） | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
|
144
maroon
|
|
| v.困住，使（人）处于孤独无助之境；n.逃亡黑奴；孤立的人；酱紫色，褐红色；adj.酱紫色的，褐红色的 | |
参考例句： |
|
|
|
| 欢迎访问英文小说网 |