Harry1’s feet touched the road. He saw the achingly familiar Hogsmeade High Street: dark shop fronts, and the mist line of black mountains beyond the village and the curve in the road ahead that led off toward Hogwarts, and light spilling from the windows of the Three Broomsticks, and with a lurch3 of the hear, he remembered with piercing accuracy, how he had landed here nearly a year before, supporting a desperately4 weak Dumbledore, all this in a second, upon landing – and then, even as he relaxed his grip upon Ron’s and Hermione’s arms, it happened.
The air was rent by a scream that sounded like Voldemort’s when he had realized the cup had been stolen: It tore at every nerve in Harry’s body, and he knew that their appearance had caused it.
Even as he looked at the other two beneath the Cloak, the door of the Three Broomsticks burst open and a dozen cloaked and hooded6 Death Eaters dashed into the streets, their wands aloft.
Harry seized Ron’s wrist as he raised his wand; there were too many of them to run. Even attempting it would have give away their position. One of the Death Eaters raised his wand, and the scream stopped, still echoing around the distant mountains.
“Accio Cloak!” roared one of the Death Eaters Harry seized his folds, but it made no attempt to escape. The Summoning Charm had not worked on it.
“Not under your wrapper, then, Potter?” yelled the Death Eater who had tried the charm and then to his fellows. “Spread now. He’s here.”
Six of the Death Eaters ran toward them: Harry, Ron and Hermione backed as quickly as possible down the nearest side street, and the Death Eaters missed them by inches. They waited in the darkness, listening to the footsteps running up and down, beams of light flying along the street from the Death Eaters’ searching wands.
“Let’s just leave!” Hermione whispered. “Disapparate now!”
“Great idea,” said Ron, but before Harry could reply, a Death Eater shouted, “We know you are here, Potter, and there’s no getting away! We’ll find you!”
“They were ready for us,” whispered Harry. “They set up that spell to tell them we’d come. I reckon they’ve done something to keep us here, trap us – ”
“What about dementors?” called another Death Eater. “Let’em have free rein7, they’d find him quick enough!”
“The Dark Lord wants Potter dead by no hands but his – ”
“ ‘an dementors won’t kill him! The Dark Lord wants Potter’s life, nor his soul. He’ll be easier to kill if he’s been Kissed first!”
There were noises of agreement. Dread8 filled Harry: To repel9 dementors they would have to produce Patronuses which would give them away immediately.
“We’re going to have to try to Disapparate, Harry!” Hermione whispered.
Even as she said it, he felt the unnatural10 cold being spread over the street. Light was sucked from the environment right up to the stars, which vanished. In the pitch blackness, he felt Hermione take hold of his arm and together, they turned on the spot.
The air through which they needed to move, seemed to have become solid: They could not Disapparate; the Death Eaters had cast their charms well. The cold was biting deeper and deeper into Harry’s flesh. He, Ron and Hermione retreated down the side street, groping their way along the wall trying not to make a sound. Then, around the corner, gliding11 noiselessly, came dementors, ten or more of them, visible because they were of a denser12 darkness than their surroundings, with their black cloaks and their scabbed and rotting hands. Could they sense fear in the vicinity? Harry was sure of it: They seemed to be coming more quickly now, taking those dragging, rattling13 breaths he detested14, tasting despair in the air, closing in - He raised his wand: He could not, would not suffer the Dementor’s Kiss, whatever happened afterward15. It was of Ron and Hermione that he thought as he whispered “Expecto Patronum!”
The silver stag burst from his wand and charged: The Dementors scattered16 and there was a triumphant17 yell from somewhere out of sight
“It’s him, down there, down there, I saw his Patronus, it was a stag!”
The Dementors have retreated, the stars were popping out again and the footsteps of the Death Eaters were becoming louder; but before Harry in his panic could decide what to do, there was a grinding of bolts nearby, a door opened on the left-side of the narrow street, and a rough voice said: “Potter, in here, quick!”
He obeyed without hesitation18, the three of them hurried through the open doorway19.
“Upstairs, keep the Cloak on, keep quiet!” muttered a tall figure, passing them on his way into the street and slammed the door behind him.
Harry had had no idea where they were, but now he saw, by the stuttering light of a single candle, the grubby, sawdust bar of the Hog’s Head Inn. They ran behind the counter and through a second doorway, which led to a trickery wooden staircase, that they climbed as fast as they could. The stairs opened into a sitting room with a durable20 carpet and a small fireplace, above which hung a single large oil painting of a blonde girl who gazed out at the room with a kind of a vacant sweetness.
Shouts reached from the streets below. Still wearing the Invisibility Cloak on, they hurried toward the grimy window and looked down. Their savior, whom Harry now recognized as the Hog’s Head’s barman, was the only person not wearing a hood5.
“So what?” he was bellowing21 into one of the hooded faces. “So what? You send dementors down my street, I’ll send a Patronus back at’em! I’m not having’em near me, I’ve told you that. I’m not having it!”
“That wasn’t your Patronus,” said a Death Eater. “That was a stag. It was Potter’s!”
“Stag!” roared the barman, and he pulled out a wand. “Stag! You idiot – Expecto Patronum!”
Something huge and horned erupted from the wand. Head down, it charged toward the High Street, and out of sight.
“That’s not what I saw” said the Death Eater, though was less certainly “Curfew’s been broken, you heard the noise,” one of his companions told the barman. “Someone was out on the streets against regulations – ”
“If I want to put my cat out, I will, and be damned to your curfew!”
“You set off the Caterwauling Charm?”
“What if I did? Going to cart me off to Azkaban? Kill me for sticking my nose out my own front door? Do it, then, if you want to! But I hope for your sakes you haven’t pressed your little Dark Marks, and summoned him. He’s not going to like being called here, for me and my old cat, is he, now?”
“Don’t worry about us.” said one of the Death Eaters, “worry about yourself, breaking curfew!”
“And where will you lot traffic potions and poisons when my pub’s closed down? What will happen to your little sidelines then?”
“Are you threatening –?”
“I keep my mouth shut, it’s why you come here, isn’t it?”
“I still say I saw a stag Patronus!” shouted the first Death Eater.
“Stag?” roared the barman. “It’s a goat, idiot!”
“All right, we made a mistake,” said the second Death Eater. “Break curfew again and we won’t be so lenient22!”
The Death Eaters strode back towards the High Street. Hermione moaned with relief, wove out from under the Cloak, and sat down on a wobble-legged chair. Harry drew the curtains then pulled the Cloak off himself and Ron. They could hear the barman down below, rebolting the door of the bar, then climbing the stairs.
Harry’s attention was caught by something on the mantelpiece: a small, rectangular mirror, propped23 on top of it, right beneath the portrait of the girl.
The barman entered the room.
“You bloody24 fools,” he said gruffly, looking from one to the other of them. “What were you thinking, coming here?”
“Thank you,” said Harry. “You can’t thank you enough. You saved our lives!”
The barman grunted25. Harry approached him looking up into the face: trying to see past the long, stringy, wire-gray hair beard. He wore spectacles. Behind the dirty lenses, the eyes were a piercing, brilliant blue.
“It’s your eye I’ve been seeing in the mirror.”
There was a silence in the room. Harry and the barman looked at each other.
“You sent Dobby.”
The barman nodded and looked around for the elf.
“Thought he’d be with you. Where’ve you left him?”
“He’s dead,” said Harry, “Bellatrix Lestrange killed him.”
The barman face was impassive. After a few moments he said, “I’m sorry to hear it, I liked that elf.”
He turned away, lightning lamps with prods26 of his wand, not looking at any of them.
“You’re Aberforth,” said Harry to the man’s back.
He neither confirmed or denied it, but bent27 to light the fire.
“How did you get this?” Harry asked, walking across to Sirius’s mirror, the twin of the one he had broken nearly two years before.
“Bought it from Dung ‘bout a year ago,” said Aberforth. “Albus told me what it was. Been trying to keep an eye out for you.”
“The silver doe,” he said excitedly, “Was that you too?”
“What are you talking about?” asked Aberforth.
“Someone sent a doe Patronus to us!”
“Brains like that, you could be a Death Eater, son. Haven’t I just prove my Patronus is a goat?”
“Oh,” said Ron, “Yeah… well, I’m hungry!” he added defensively as his stomach gave an enormous rumble29.
“I got food,” said Aberforth, and he sloped out of the room, reappearing moments later with a large loaf of bread, some cheese, and a pewter jug30 of mead2, which he set upon a small table in front of the fire.
Ravenous31, they ate and drank, and for a while there was sound of chewing.
“Right then,” said Aberforth when the had eaten their fill and Harry and Ron sat slumped32 dozily33 in their chairs. “We need to think of the best way to get you out of here. Can’t be done by night, you heard what happens if anyone moves outdoors during darkness: Caterwauling Charm’s set off, they’ll be onto you like bowtruckles on doxy eggs. I don’t reckon I’ll be able to pass of a stag as a goat a second time. Wait for daybreak when curfew lifts, then you can put your Cloak back on and set out on foot. Get right out of Hogsmeade, up into the mountains, and you’ll be able to Disapparate there. Might see Hagrid. He’s been hiding in a cave up there with Grawp ever since they tried to arrest him.”
“We’re not leaving,” said Harry. “We need to get into Hogwarts.”
“Don’t be stupid, boy,” said Aberforth.
“We’ve got to,” said Harry.
“What you’ve got to do,” said Aberforth, leaning forward, “is to get as far from here as from here as you can.”
“You don’t understand. There isn’t much time. We’ve got to get into the castle. Dumbledore – I mean, your brother – wanted us – ”
The firelight made the grimy lenses of Aberforth’s glasses momentarily opaque34, a bright flat white, and Harry remembered the blind eyes of the giant spider, Aragog.
“My brother Albus wanted a lot of things,” said Aberforth, “and people had a habit of getting hurt while he was carrying out his grand plans. You get away from this school, Potter, and out of the country if you can. Forget my brother and his clever schemes. He’s gone where none of this can hurt him, and you don’t owe him anything.”
“You don’t understand.” said Harry again.
“Oh, don’t I?” said Aberforth quietly. “You don’t think I understood my own brother? Think you know Albus better than I did?”
“I didn’t mean that,” said Harry, whose brain felt sluggish35 with exhaustion36 and from the surfeit37 of food and wine. “It’s… he left me a job.”
“Did he now?” said Aberforth. “Nice job, I hope? Pleasant? Easy? Sort of thing you’d expect an unqualified wizard kid to be able to do without overstretching themselves?”
Ron gave a rather grim laugh. Hermione was looking strained.
“I-it’s not easy, no,” said Harry. “But I’ve got to – ”
“Got to? Why got to? He’s dead, isn’t he?” said Aberforth roughly. “Let it go, boy, before you follow him! Save yourself!”
“I can’t.”
“Why not?”
“I – ” Harry felt overwhelmed; he could not explain, so he took the offensive instead. “But you’re fighting too, you’re in the Order of the Phoenix38 – ”
“I was,” said Aberforth. “The Order of the Phoenix is finished. You-Know-Who’s won, it’s over, and anyone who’s pretending different’s kidding themselves. It’ll never be safe for you here, Potter, he wants you too badly. So go abroad, go into hiding, save yourself. Best take these two with you.” He jerked a thumb at Ron and Hermione.
“They’ll be in danger long as they live now everyone knows they’ve been working with you.”
“I can’t leave,” said Harry. “I’ve got a job – ”
“Give it to someone else!”
“I can’t. It’s got to be me, Dumbledore explained it all – ”
“Oh, did he now? And did he tell you everything, was he honest with you?”
Harry wanted him with all his heart to say “Yes,” but somehow the simple word would not rise to his lips, Aberforth seemed to know what he was thinking.
“I knew my brother, Potter. He learned secrecy39 at our mother’s knee. Secrets and lies, that’s how we grew up, and Albus… he was a natural.”
The old man’s eyes traveled to the painting of the girl over the mantelpiece. It was, now Harry looked around properly, the only picture in the room. There was no photograph of Albus Dumbledore, nor of anyone else.
“Mr. Dumbledore” said Hermione rather timidly. “Is that your sister? Ariana?”
“Yes.” said Aberforth tersely40. “Been reading Rita Skeeter, have you, missy?”
Even by the rosy41 light of the fire it was clear that Hermione had turned red.
“Elphias Doge mentioned her to us,” said Harry, trying to spare Hermione.
“That old berk,” muttered Aberforth, taking another swig of mead. “Thought the sun shone out of my brother’s every ocrifice, he did. Well, so did plenty of people, you three included, by the looks of it.”
Harry kept quiet. He did not want to express the doubts and uncertainties42 about Dumbledore that had riddled43 him for months now. He had made his choice while he dug Dobby’s grave, he had decided44 to continue along the winding45, dangerous path indicated for him by Albus Dumbledore, to accept that he had not been told everything that he wanted to know, but simply to trust. He had no desire to doubt again; he did not want o hear anything that would deflect46 him from his purpose. He met Aberforth’s gaze, which was so strikingly like his brothers’: The bright blue eyes gave the same impression that they were X-raying the object of their scrutiny47, and Harry thought that Aberforth knew what he was thinking and despised him for it.
“Professor Dumbledore cared about Harry, very much,” said Hermione in a low voice.
“Did he now?” said Aberforth. “Funny thing how many of the people my brother cared about very much ended up in a worse state than if he’d left ‘em well alone.”
“What do you mean?” asked Hermione breathlessly.
“Never you mind,” said Aberforth.
“But that’s a really serious thing to say!” said Hermione. “Are you – are you talking about your sister?”
Aberforth glared at her: His lips moved as if he were chewing the words he was holding back. Then he burst into speech.
“When my sister was six years old, she was attacked, by three Muggle boys. They’d seen her doing magic, spying through the back garden hedge: She was a kid, she couldn’t control it, no witch or wizard can at that age. What they saw, scared them, I expect. They forced their way through the hedge, and when she couldn’t show them the trick, they got a bit carried away trying to stop the little freak doing it.”
Hermione’s eyes were huge in the firelight; Ron looked slightly sick. Aberforth stood up, tall as Albus, and suddenly terrible in his anger and the intensity48 of his pain.
“It destroyed her, what they did: She was never right again. She wouldn’t use magic, but she couldn’t get rid of it; it turned inward and drove her mad, it exploded out of her when she couldn’t control it, and at times she was strange and dangerous. But mostly she was sweet and scared and harmless.”
“And my father went after the bastards49 that did it,” said Aberforth, “and attacked them. And they locked him up in Azkaban for it. He never said why he’d done it, because the Ministry50 had known what Ariana had become, she’d have been locked up in St. Mungo’s for good. They’d have seen her as a serious threat to the International Statute51 of Secrecy, unbalanced like she was, with magic exploding out of her at moments when she couldn’t keep it in any longer.”
“We had to keep her safe and quiet. We moved house, put it about she was ill, and my mother looked after her, and tried to keep her calm and happy.”
“I was her favourite,” he said, and as he said it, a grubby schoolboy seemed to look out through Aberforth’s wrinkles and wrangled52 beard. “Not Albus, he was always up in his bedroom when he was home, reading his books and counting his prizes, keeping up with his correspondence with the most notable magical names of the day,”
Aberforth succored53. “He didn’t want to be bothered with her. She liked me best. I could get her to eat when she wouldn’t do it for my mother, I could calm her down, when she was in one of her rages, and when she was quiet, she used to help me feed the goats.”
“Then, when she was fourteen… See, I wasn’t there.” said Aberforth. “If I’d been there, I could have calmed her down. She had one of her rages, and my mother wasn’t as young as she was, and… it was an accident. Ariana couldn’t control it. But my mother was killed.”
Harry felt a horrible mixture of pity and repulsion; he did not want to hear any more, but Aberforth kept talking, and Harry wondered how long it had been since he had spoken about this; whether, in fact, he had ever spoken about it.
“So that put paid to Albus’s trip round the world with little Doge. The pair of ‘em came home for my mother’s funeral and then Doge went off on his own, and Albus settled down as head of the family. Ha!”
Aberforth spat54 into the fire.
“I’d have looked after her, I told him so, I didn’t care about school, I’d have stayed home and done it.
He told me I had to finish my education and he’d take over from my mother. Bit of a comedown for Mr. Brilliant, there’s no prizes for looking after your half-mad sister, stopping her blowing up the house every other day. But he did all right for a few weeks… till he came.“
And now a positively55 dangerous look crept over Aberforth’s face.
“Grindelwald. And at last, my brother had an equal to talk to someone just as bright and talented he was. And looking after Ariana took a backseat then, while they were hatching all their plans for a new Wizarding order and looking for Hallows, and whatever else it was they were so interested in. Grand plans for the benefit of all Wizardkind, and if one young girl neglected, what did that matter, when Albus was working for the greater good?”
“But after a few weeks of it, I’d had enough, I had. It was nearly time for me to go hack56 to Hogwarts, so I told ‘em, both of ‘em, face-to-face, like I am to you, now,” and Aberforth looked downward Harry, and it took a little imagination to see him as a teenager, wiry and angry, confronting his elder brother. “I told him, you’d better give it up now. You can’t move her, she’s in no fit state, you can’t take her with you, wherever it is you’re planning to go, when you’re making your clever speeches, trying to whip yourselves up a following. He didn’t like that.” said Aberforth, and his eyes were briefly57 occluded58 by the fireflight on the lenses of his glasses: They turned white and blind again. “Grindelwald didn’t like that at all. He got angry. He told me what a stupid little boy I was, trying to stand in the way of him and my brilliant brother… Didn’t I understand, my poor sister wouldn’t have to be hidden once they’d changed the world, and led the wizards out of hiding, and taught the Muggles their place?”
“And there was an argument… and I pulled my wand, and he pulled out his, and I had the Cruciatus Curse used on me by my brother’s best friend – and Albus was trying to stop him, and then all three of us were dueling59, and the flashing lights and the bangs set her off, she couldn’t stand it – ”
The color was draining from Aberforth’s face as though he had suffered a mortal wound.
“ – and I think she wanted to help, but she didn’t really know what she was doing, and I don’t know which of us did it, it could have been any of us – and she was dead.”
His voice broke on the last word and he dropped down into the nearest chair. Hermione’s face was wet with tears, and Ron was almost as pale as Aberforth. Harry felt nothing but revulsion: He wished he had not heard it, wished he could wash is mind clean of it.
“I’m so… I’m so sorry,” Hermione whispered.
“Gone,” croaked60 Aberforth. “Gone forever.”
He wiped his nose on hiss61 cuff62 and cleared his throat.
“ ‘Course, Grindelwald scarpered. He had a bit of a track record already, back in his own country, and he didn’t want Ariana set to his account too. And Albus was free, wasn’t he? Free of the burden of his sister, free to become the greatest wizard of the – ”
“He was never free,” said Harry.
“I beg your pardon?” said Aberforth.
“Never,” said Harry. “The night that your brother died, he drank a potion that drove him out of his mind. He started screaming, pleading with someone who wasn’t there. ‘Don’t hurt them, please… hurt me instead.’ ”
Ron and Hermione were staring at Harry. He had never gone into details about what had happened on the island on the lake.
The events that had taken place after he and Dumbledore had returned to Hogwarts had eclipsed it so thoroughly63.
“He thought he was back there with you and Grindelwald, I know he did,” said Harry, remembering Dumbledore whispering, pleading.
“He thought he was watching Grindelwald hurting you and Ariana… It was torture to him, if you’d seen him then, you wouldn’t say he was free.”
Aberforth seemed lost in contemplation of his own knotted and veined hands. After a long pause he said. “How can you be sure, Potter, that my brother wasn’t more interested in the greater good than in you? How can you be sure you aren’t dispensable, just like my little sister?”
A shard64 of ice seemed to pierce Harry’s heart.
“I don’t believe it. Dumbledore loved Harry,” said Hermione.
“Why didn’t he tell him to hide, then?” shot back Aberforth. “Why didn’t he say to him, ‘Take care of yourself, here’s how to survive’?”
“Because,” said Harry before Hermione could answer, “sometimes you’ve got to think about more than your own safety! Sometimes you’ve got to think about the greater good! This is war!”
“You’re seventeen, boy!”
“I’m of age, and I’m going to keep fighting even if you’ve given up!”
“Who says I’ve given up?”
“The Order of the Phoenix is finished,” Harry repeated, “You-Know-Who’s won, it’s over, and anyone who’s pretending different’s kidding themselves.”
“I don’t say I like it, but it’s the truth!”
“No, it isn’t.” said Harry. “Your brother knew how to finish You-Know-Who and he passed the knowledge on to me. I’m going to keep going until I succeed – or I die. Don’t think I don’t know how this might end. I’ve known it for years.”
He waited for Aberforth to jeer65 or to argue, but he did not. He merely moved.
“We need to get into Hogwarts,” said Harry again. “If you can’t help us, we’ll wait till daybreak, leave you in peace, and try to find a way in ourselves. If you can help us – well, now would be a great time to mention it.”
Aberforth remained fixed66 in his chair, gazing at Harry with the eye, that were so extraordinarily67 like his brother’s. At last he cleared his throat, got to his feet, walked around the little table, and approached the portrait of Ariana.
“You know what to do,” he said.
She smiled, turned, and walked away, not as people in portraits usually did, one of the sides of their frames, but along what seemed to be a long tunnel painted behind her. They watched her slight figure retreating until finally she was swallowed by the darkness.
“Er – what –?” began Ron.
“There’s only one way in now,” said Aberforth. “You must know they’ve got all the old secret passageways covered at both ends, dementors all around the boundary walls, regular patrols inside the school from what my sources tell me. The place has never been so heavily guarded.
How you expect to do anything once you get inside it, with Snape in charge and the Carrows as his deputies… well, that’s your lookout68, isn’t it? You say you’re prepared to die.“
“But what…?” said Hermione, frowning at Ariana’s picture.
A tiny white dot reappeared at the end of the painted tunnel, and now Ariana was walking back toward them, growing bigger and bigger as she came. But there was somebody else with her now, someone taller than she was, who was limping along, looking excited. His hair was longer than Harry had ever seen. He appeared and torn. Larger and larger the two figures grew, until only their heads and shoulders filled the portrait.
Then the whole thing swang forward on the wall like a little door, and the entrance to a real tunnel was revealed. And out of it, his hair overgrown, his face cut, his robes ripped, clambered the real Neville Longbottom, who gave a roar of delight, leapt down from the mantelpiece and yelled.
“I knew you’d come! I knew it, Harry!”
哈利的双脚落在了路面上。霍格莫德大街那熟悉的景象展现在他眼前：阴暗的店面、远处雾蒙蒙的黑色山峰和那前面延伸到霍格沃茨的曲折小路，以及从三把扫帚酒吧的窗户里透出的亮光。落地的瞬间，他突然清楚地回想起将近一年以前，他是如何搀扶着极度虚弱的邓布利多在这里着陆的。
哈利刚要松手放开罗恩和赫敏的胳膊，突然空气中传来尖叫声，那声音就像是伏地魔得知金杯被偷的时候发出的。这个声音让哈利全身的神经都紧张了起来：他们被发现了。
正当他的目光转向隐身衣下的另外两个伙伴时，三把扫帚酒吧的门突然打开了，十二个披着斗篷，蒙着面具的食死徒高举着他们的魔杖冲到了街上。罗恩正要举起他的魔杖，哈利拉住了他的手腕。对方人太多了，根本跑不掉——只要稍不注意就会暴露他们的位置。
一个食死徒举起魔杖。尖叫声消失了，但依然可以听见从山那边传来的回声。
“隐身衣飞来！”一个食死徒吼道。
哈利紧紧抓住隐身衣，可是它并没有要飞走的迹象。飞来咒对它并不起作用。
“没穿你的小斗篷，波特？”那个使用魔咒的食死徒大叫道，随后对他的同伙们说：“散开找，他就在这儿！”
六个食死徒向他们跑过来，差点抓住他们。哈利、罗恩和赫敏用他们最快的速度退到最近的巷子里。他们在黑暗中静静地等着，聆听着街上传来的忙乱的脚步声。食死徒们的魔杖发出的用来搜寻他们的光束四处晃动着。
“我们走！”赫敏低语道，“马上幻影移形！”
“好主意，”罗恩说，但还没等哈利回答，一个食死徒喊道：“我们知道你在这儿，波特，你逃不掉的！我们会找到你的！”
“他们早就准备好了，”哈利低声说，“他们用了魔咒发现我们来，我确定他们还会做些什么来困住我们，不让我们走……”
“为什么不用摄魂怪？”另外一个食死徒大声说，“把摄魂怪放出来的话会很快找到他的！”
“黑魔王要亲手杀死波特……”
“摄魂怪并不会杀死他！黑魔王要的是波特的命，不是他的魂儿。相反，被摄魂怪吻过以后，他会更容易被杀死的！”
他们大声争论着。哈利感到阵阵恐惧——要击退摄魂怪就必须召唤守护神，这样他们马上就会被发现。
“我们必须试试幻影移形，哈利！”赫敏小声说。
就在这时，哈利感觉到一股不自然的寒气在街上传播开来，周围的光都被吸走了，连天上的星星也消失了。在漆黑一团中，他感到赫敏抓住了他的胳膊。他们俩一起准备幻影移形。
他们周围的空气似乎凝固住了一样。无法幻影移形——食死徒果然用了什么咒语。越来越浓的寒气刺入哈利的身体。他、罗恩和赫敏贴着墙，摸索着沿着巷子向后退，努力不发出声响。他们刚转过一个拐角，就发现十只或更多的摄魂怪披着黑色的斗篷，能够看到它们是因为它们比周围环境要暗很多，它们伸出布满疤痕的腐烂的手，悄无声息地飘了过来。它们能够感到周围的恐惧吗吗？哈利确信这一点——它们似乎移动得更快了，伴随着让哈利非常厌恶的咳咳作响的拖长了的呼吸声，品味着空气中的绝望，不断向他们逼近……
他举起手中的魔杖——他决不能忍受摄魂怪的吻，不管之后会发生什么。
他心里想着罗恩和赫敏，同时低声念出：“呼神护卫！”
一只银色的牡鹿从他的魔杖尖里飞了出来冲向前方，摄魂怪四散逃走了。一个得意的声音从什么地方喊道：“找到他了！那边，在那边！我看见他的守护神了，一只牡鹿！”
摄魂怪被击退了，繁星重新显现出来。食死徒的脚步声越来越响，但是还没等哈利从惊恐中回过神来有所动作，不远处传来门闩打开的声音。这条狭窄街道的左手边一扇小门打开了。一个粗犷的声音说道：“波特，进来，快！”
哈利想都没想就这样做了，他们三个快速地进了门。
“上楼去，别脱掉隐身衣，别出声！”一个高大的身影喃喃低语。他经过他们身边，走到街上，重重地关上了门。
哈利一开始还不知道这是哪儿，现在，借助那儿唯一的一支蜡烛微弱的光线，他认出了猪头酒吧那脏兮兮的销屑吧台。他们跑到柜台后面，穿过一扇门，迅速爬上了一段木制的楼梯来到了客厅。客厅里铺着结实的地毯，小壁炉上方挂着一张巨大的油画，画中的金发女孩带着一种空洞的甜美地凝视着屋子。
楼下的街上传来叫喊声。他们披着隐身衣，急忙来到脏兮兮的窗子旁边向下看去。他们的救星——哈利现在认出了他正是猪头酒吧的招待——是唯一一个没有戴面具的人。
“怎么？”他愤怒地向一个戴着面具的家伙吼道，“怎么？你们让摄魂怪来到我的街上，我当然可以用守护神把它们赶走！我才不想让它们靠近我，我告诉你，绝对不行！”
“那不是你的守护神，”一个食死徒说，“那是一只牡鹿，是波特的！”
“牡鹿！”招待咆哮道，接着他抽出魔杖，“牡鹿！你们这些笨蛋，呼神护卫！”
一个巨大的长着角的东西从他的魔杖中涌了出来，头朝下地冲向大街，直到视线之外。
“我看到的不是那个东西。”那个食死徒说，尽管他也不是非常确定。
“有人违反了宵禁，你也应该听到了，”他的一个同伴告诉招待，“违反了规定，到街上来……”
“我想要出来溜溜猫怎么了？去他的鬼宵禁！”
“是你触发了宵禁咒？”
“是又怎样？把我关进阿兹卡班？以‘在自己家门口走走’为罪名杀了我？如果你们想的话，请便吧！不过，看在你们自己的份上，但愿你们还没有按下你们那小黑魔标记来召唤他。我想他可不愿意因为我和我这只老猫被叫到这儿来，不是么？”
“不用为我们担心。”一个食死徒说道，“操心你自己吧，竟然敢违反宵禁！”
“如果我的酒吧关门了，你们打算去哪儿买那些药剂和毒药？你们那点可怜的小买卖还怎么做？”
“你竟敢威胁……”
“我可以闭嘴，这不正是你们来这儿的目的么？”
“我还是觉得我一开始看到的守护神是一只牡鹿！”第一个食死徒争辩道。
“牡鹿？”招待吼道，“是山羊，笨蛋！”
“好，是我们看错了，”第二个食死徒说，“不过你要是再敢违反宵禁，我们绝不饶过你！”
食死徒们回头向大街走去。赫敏终于松了口气，从隐身衣下面爬了出来，坐在了一张摇摇晃晃的椅子上。哈利拉上了窗帘，把隐身衣从他和罗恩身上掀开。他们听见了楼下招待重新闩好门，爬上楼梯的声音。
哈利注意到了放在壁炉架的顶上的一样东西：一面长方形的小镜子被，就在那幅女孩画像的正下方。
招待走了进来。
“你们这些蠢蛋，”他看了看他们，粗声粗气地说，“你们到底在想什么？竟然到这儿来！”
“谢谢，”哈利说，“真是感谢不尽，你救了我们的命！”
招待咕哝着说着什么。哈利靠近他，透过长长的、绳子似的灰色头发和胡须，仔细地瞧着他的脸。。他带着一副眼镜。脏兮兮的镜片后面藏着一双敏锐的、充满智慧的蓝色眼睛。
“原来我在镜子里看到的是你的眼睛。”
屋子里很静。哈利和招待对视着。
“是你让多比来的。”
招待点了点头，然后四顾着找那个家养小精灵。
“我以为他会跟你们在一起。你们把他留在哪儿了？”
“他死了，”哈利说，“被贝拉特里克斯·莱斯特兰奇杀死了。”
招待面无表情，过了一小会儿，他说：“太可惜了，我一直很喜欢那个小家伙。”
他转过身去，用魔杖戳了一下灯，把它点亮，不去看任何人。
“你是阿不福思吧？”哈利对着那个男人的后背说。
招待没有回答他，弯下腰去点炉火。
“你怎么弄到这个的？”哈利走向屋子里那面天狼星魔镜，问道。这面镜子和他在将近两年之前打碎的那面是一对。
“一年前，我从老邓那儿买的，”阿不福思说，“阿不思跟我说了这是什么玩意儿。从那以后我就一直关注着你。”
罗恩深吸了一口气。
“银色的雌鹿，”他激动地说，“也是你吗？”
“你在说什么？”阿不福思问道。
“有人为我们召唤了一个雌鹿守护神！”
“你这个脑子，都能去做食死徒了，孩子。你没看到我刚才演示了我的守护神是一只山羊吗？”
“哦，”罗恩嘀咕着，他的肚子发了很大的咕噜声，他趁机说，“嗯……那个……我饿了！”
“我这儿有吃的。”阿不福思说着走出房间，过一会儿回来了，手里拿着一大条面包、一些奶酪和一锡壶蜂蜜酒，把它们放到了炉火前面的一张小桌子上。
他们贪婪地吃着喝着，有那么一会儿功夫，只有狼吞虎咽的声音。
吃饱以后，哈利和罗恩一屁股坐下来，懒洋洋地靠在了椅子背上，阿不福思说：“现在，我们得想个好主意让你们离开这儿。晚上不行，你们也看到有人要趁夜色出门是什么后果了：一旦触发了宵禁咒，他们就会像护树罗锅看到了狐媚子蛋一样向你们扑过来。我可不敢保证下一次我还能把牡鹿说成是山羊来蒙混过关。等到天一亮，宵禁结束的时候，你们就披上你们的隐身衣徒步离开霍格莫德，走到大山里面去，在那儿你们就可以幻影移形了。你们可能会见到海格，从被追捕的时候开始，他就带着格洛普一直藏在一个山洞里。”
“我们不走，”哈利说，“我们要到霍格沃茨去。”
“别犯傻了，孩子。”阿不福思说。
“我们必须去。”哈利说。
“你们必须做的，”阿不福思探过身去说，“是离开这儿，越远越好。”
“你不明白，时间不多了。我们必须进到城堡里去，邓布利多——我是说，你的弟弟——需要我们……”
壁炉发出的火光使得阿不福思的肮脏的眼镜片顷刻间变得不透明了，泛着白色漫射，让哈利想起了巨蜘蛛阿拉戈克瞎了的双眼。
“我哥哥阿不思总是需要这样那样的东西，”阿不福思说，“他的那些伟大的计划总是会让一些人受伤。波特，你要马上离开这个学校，如果可以的话，离开这个国家。忘掉我哥哥和他那些自作聪明的计划吧，他已经去了一个没有什么能伤害他的地方，你也不欠他什么了。”
“你不明白……”哈利重复道。
“哦？我不明白？”阿不福思平静地说，“你觉得我会不明白我自己的哥哥吗？你觉得你比我还了解阿不思吗？”
“我不是那个意思，”哈利回答道。他吃喝得太多，脑子有些疲倦。
“其实……他交给了我一项任务。”
“任务？”阿不福思问道，“是份好差事吧，我希望？令人愉快？轻松容易？是那种指望一个不够格的小巫师没等好好锻炼自己就能完成的事？”
罗恩挤出一个难看的笑容，赫敏看起来很紧张。
“我——不，这并不轻松，”哈利说，“但是我必须——”
“必须？为什么必须？他已经死了，不是么？”阿不福思粗声说，“放弃吧，孩子。在你落得像他一样的下场以前，先救救你自己吧！”
“我不能这样。”
“为什么不能？”
“我——”哈利很受打击，不知道该怎么辩解，于是他以攻为守，“但你不也是在奋斗吗？你是凤凰社的一员……”
“我曾经是，”阿不福思说，“但凤凰社已经不存在了。神秘人赢了，一切都结束了。任何不这样认为的人都是在欺骗自己罢了。你在这儿永远不会安全的，他们太渴望找到你了。所以，听我的，快点出国去吧，去藏起来，保护好自己，最好带上他们俩。”他用大拇指指了指罗恩和赫敏。
“谁都知道他们是你的死党，所以他们现在也不安全。”
“我不能走，”哈利说，“我还有任务……”
“把它留给别人！”
“不行，必须要我来做。邓布利多都向我解释了……”
“哦，是吗？那他把所有的事情都告诉你了吗？他没有隐瞒什么吗？”
哈利打心眼儿里想要说“是”，但是这个“是”字却怎么也说不出口。阿不福思似乎看出了他在想什么。
“我了解我的哥哥，波特。他从小就会保守秘密。秘密和谎言，我们就是这样长大的。阿不思……他在这方面绝对是个天才。”
老人的眼神移向壁炉架上方挂着的女孩画像。哈利现在才发现，这是整个屋子里唯一的一幅画。即没有阿不思·邓布利多的照片，也没有其他什么人的。
“邓布利多先生，”赫敏小心翼翼地说，“那是你的妹妹吗？阿瑞娜？”
“是。”阿不福思简单地答道。“你读过丽塔斯基特的文章了，小姐？”
虽然炉火发出的光线很暗，但还是可以清楚地看出赫敏的脸变红了。
“埃非亚·多戈跟我们提到过她。”哈利替赫敏辩解道。
“那个老家伙，”阿不福思嘀咕着，喝了一大口蜂蜜酒，“他以为我哥哥是最杰出的人。很多人，包括你们三个，也都这样想。但他只是看起来杰出而已。”
哈利没说什么。他不想表达这几个月来一直困扰着他的对邓布利多的质疑和不信任。在给多比挖坟墓的时候，他就下了决心，不管阿不思·邓布利多指引给他的这条路有多么崎岖和危险，他都要要坚持下去；虽然他还并不知道所有他想要的答案，但只要简单的信任就好。他再也不想怀疑了，不想听到任何会让他动摇的劝诫。他发现阿不福思凝视着他，那明亮的、能看穿一切的眼睛简直和他哥哥的一模一样。哈利觉得阿不福思看出了他的想法，并且很不以为然。
“邓布利多教授非常关心哈利。”赫敏小声说道。
“是么？”阿不福思说，“真有趣。多少人都因为他的关心落得了更糟糕的下场。”
“你什么意思？”赫敏气喘吁吁地问道。
“不用你管。”阿不福思回答道。
“可这事关重大！”赫敏说，“难道……是你们的妹妹？”
阿不福思瞪着她，嘴唇动了动，像是在把刚到嘴边的话嚼碎了一样，随后冲口出而：
“我妹妹六岁的时候，被三个麻瓜男孩攻击了。他们透过后花园的篱笆看到了她用魔法。她还是个孩子，她不会控制自己——没有哪个巫师在那么小的年纪能控制住自己。我猜他们看到以后是吓坏了。他们越过篱笆，还没等她给他们展示她的戏法，他们就像疯了一样阻止了她这个小怪胎。”
在火光中，赫敏的眼睛睁得大大的；罗恩看起来有点不舒服。阿不福思站了起来，跟他哥哥差不多高，突然间充满了巨大的愤怒和极大的痛苦。
“他们所做的事情毁了她：从那以后，她再也没正常过。她不肯用魔法，但却摆脱不掉它；它吞噬了她的内心，让她彻底疯掉了。当不受控制的时候，它又爆发出来，让她变得相当陌生和危险……但大部分时间里，她还是相当可爱的，胆小而没有敌意。”
“我父亲找到了那几个混蛋，”阿不福思接着说，“还教训了他们。结果他因此被关在了阿兹卡班。他从来没说出这么做的原因，因为如果魔法部知道了阿瑞娜变成了什么样子，她将要永远被关在圣芒戈了。他们认为如果她体内的魔法不受控制地爆发出来，对于《国际保密法》将会是相当大的挑战。”
“我们不得不给她找个安全的地方休养。于是我们搬了家，跟别人说她病了。我妈妈一直照看着她，尽可能让她每天安安静静，开开心心的。”
“她最喜欢我了，”
阿不福思满是皱纹，须发纠结的脸看起来就象一个脏兮兮的校园男生，“而不是阿不思，他在家时总是躲在自己的屋子里看书，数着他那些奖状，为了成为‘当代最著名的名字’之一。”
阿不福思继续说道：“他从来不为她操心。她最听我的话了，不愿意吃饭的时候，我总能帮我妈妈哄她吃下去。她发脾气的时候，我能让她平静下来；而当她听话的时候我们就一起喂山羊。”
“在那之后，她十四岁的时候……唉，当时我不在场，”阿不福思说，“如果我在，我一定能止住她的……她爆发了，我妈妈不如她年轻，然后……出了一点小事故，阿瑞娜没控制住自己，结果我妈妈死了。”
哈利的心中既有点同情，又有些排斥。他不想再听下去了，但是阿不福思不停地说着，哈利不知道他说了有多久，事实上，甚至不知道他说了些什么。
“这件事耽误了阿不思和小多戈的环球旅行，他们俩回到家来参加妈妈的葬礼。之后多戈自己走了，阿不思留下来当一家之主，呸！”
阿不福思向火里吐了一口唾沫。
“我跟他说，我要留在家里照顾妹妹，不上学也没关系。他说我必须完成学业，他会接替妈妈来照顾妹妹。让这么有才华的人天天照顾自己那疯疯癫癫的妹妹，阻止她隔三差五就把房子炸个底朝天，还真是有些屈才。不过不管怎么说，开头的几周他做的倒是还好……直到那个人出现。”
阿不福思脸上渐渐露出吓人的表情。
“格林沃德。终于，我哥哥找到了和他一样聪明有才华的、志同道合的人。他们谈论的话题从建立新的巫师组织的计划，到寻找圣物，到一切他们感兴趣的事物，而照看阿瑞娜已经变得次要了。阿不思做的是伟大的事业，他忽视了一个小女孩，和造福巫师界的宏伟计划比起来，算得了什么呢？”
“但是，过了几周，我实在不能忍了。快要到我回霍格沃茨的日子了，所以我对他们说——对他们俩，面对面地，就像我现在对你们一样，”阿不福思低头看着哈利。可以想象他年轻的时候，生气地面对着他哥哥时瘦瘦高高的样子。
“我告诉他，你最好马上放手，你不能这样对待她。她还没康复，不管你打算去哪，你都不能带着她；你每次去做你那些聪明的演讲的时候，不能驱赶着她象个跟班一样跟着你。不过这让他很不高兴。”阿不福思说。他的双眼又一次被眼镜片反射的火光所淹没，闪现出一片白色，像瞎了一样。“格林沃德更不高兴。他很生气，说我是个愚蠢的小孩，竟然妨碍他和我的天才哥哥的计划……我真不明白等他们改变了世界，巫师们也不用想办法隐蔽了，麻瓜们也能学得规规矩矩了……我可怜的妹妹就不用再东躲西藏了？”
“我们吵了起来……我拿出了魔杖，他也拿出了魔杖。他——我哥哥最好的朋友，对我用了钻心咒，阿不思想要阻止他，但随后我们三个展开了混战。闪烁的光线和噼啪的响声刺激到了我妹妹，她实在不能忍受了……”
阿不福思像是受到了致命的伤痛，脸色越来越苍白。
“……我猜她是要帮忙，但她大概也不清楚自己要做什么。我不知道是我们当中的谁造成了这场悲剧——谁都有可能。总之她死了。”
说到最后，阿不福思的嗓子已经哑了。他一屁股瘫坐在旁边的椅子上。赫敏已是泪流满面，而罗恩的脸几乎变得和阿不福思一样地惨白。哈利感到厌恶极了，他真希望自己压根没听到这些话，恨不得把这段记忆消除。
“这真是……真是太悲惨了……”赫敏低声说。
“她走了……”阿不福思沙哑地说道，“再也回不来了。”
他用袖口擦了下鼻涕，清了清嗓子。
“当然，格林沃德跑了。他在自己国家的时候就有过一些不良记录，他可不想把阿瑞娜的死也算到他的账上。阿不思倒是解脱了，不是么？甩掉了妹妹这么大的一个负担，他可以安心做他的‘最伟大的巫师’……”
“他从来没有解脱过。”哈利打断了他。
“你说什么？”阿不福思说。
“从来没有。”哈利说，“你哥哥死的那个晚上，他喝了一种令他发疯的药。他开始尖叫，向某个虚幻的人恳求着：‘请不要伤害他们……我愿意替他们承受这一切……’”
罗恩和赫敏睁大眼睛看着哈利。他从来没跟他们详细讲过他和邓布利多在湖中小岛上发生了什么：自他跟邓布利多回到霍格沃滋以后，事情是怎么发生的已经被完全盖过了。
“我知道，他回到了和你还有格林沃德在一起时的幻觉当中。”哈利说着，回想起邓布利多自言自语的，苦苦哀求的样子。
“他仿佛看到格林沃德伤害了你和阿瑞娜……这对他是一种折磨。如果你看到他那个时候的样子，你就不会说他解脱了。”
阿不福思把脸埋进他那苍老而嶙峋的双手，陷入了沉思。过了很长时间，他说：“波特，你怎么敢确定，比起你，我哥哥不会更关心他那伟大的事业？你怎么敢说，你对于他不会像我妹妹那样，可有可无？”
哈利的心里像是被尖冰刺穿了一样。
“我不信。邓布利多从来都很喜欢哈利。”赫敏说。
“那他怎么不让他躲起来？”阿不福思反驳道，“他怎么不跟他说，‘你要小心，我来教你怎么才能活下去’？”
“因为，”还没等赫敏回答，哈利说，“有的时候你不能只顾自己的安危！有的时候你必须去想想那个伟大的事业！这是一场战争！”
“可你才十七岁啊，孩子！”
“我已经成年了，即便你放弃了，我也要继续战斗！”
“谁说我放弃了？”
“凤凰社已经不存在了。”哈利重复着阿不福思刚才说过的话，“神秘人赢了，一切都结束了。任何不这样认为的人都是在欺骗自己罢了。”
“我不希望这样，但这是事实！”
“不，这不是。”哈利说，“你哥哥很清楚怎样才能打败神秘人，现在他把这些知识传给了我。我要一直继续下去，直到成功——或者死去。不要以为我不知道这一切会如何结束，很久以前我就知道了。”
他以为阿不福思会嘲笑他，或者会跟他争辩，但是他没有。他只是动了动身子。
“我们必须到霍格沃茨去。”哈利又说了一遍，“如果你帮不上我们，我们会等到天亮离开这儿，自己想办法进到霍格沃茨去。如果你能帮忙——那么，最好现在就告诉我们。”
阿不福思坐在椅子里没动，用那双像极了他哥哥的眼睛凝视着哈利。最后他清了清嗓子，站了起来，绕过小桌子走到阿瑞娜的画像跟前。
“你知道怎么做。”
她笑了笑，转身走开了。她并不是象一般画像里的人那样从一侧走出画框，而是沿着身后像是画出来的一条长长的通道离去。他们看着她的身影一点点变小，最后消失在黑暗之中。
“呃……怎么……”罗恩打破沉寂。
“现在只有一个办法能进去。”阿不福思说，“但你们应该知道，他们守住了所有秘密通道的出入口，墙外到处都是摄魂怪，据我得到的消息，学校里面还有日常的巡逻。那儿从来没被这么严密地把守过。斯内普负责里头的一切，还有卡卢兄妹做他的跟班，呃……那是专为你们设的监视哨，不是吗？你说你已经有赴死的觉悟了。”
“但是怎么……”赫敏对着阿瑞娜的画像皱着眉头问道。
一个小白点又出现在了画中通道的尽头，阿瑞娜一步一步走向他们，看起来变得越来越大。但这次她领着另外一个人。这个人个头比她高，走路一瘸一拐的，看起来很兴奋的样子。他的头发比哈利见过的所有人都要长。随着他们越走越近，身影越来越大，模样也渐渐显现出来，直到画框里只剩下他们的头和肩膀。
随后，整幅画像一扇小门一样打开了，门后露出了一个真正的密道入口。而眼前爬出来的这个头发长乱，脸颊瘦削，衣衫褴褛的人，竟是真正的纳威
隆巴顿！他高兴得大叫了一声，跳下壁炉架，大声说：
“哈利！我就知道你会来的！”
收听单词发音 |
1
harry
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| vt.掠夺，蹂躏，使苦恼 | |
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mead
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| n.蜂蜜酒 | |
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lurch
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| n.突然向前或旁边倒；v.蹒跚而行 | |
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desperately
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| adv.极度渴望地，绝望地，孤注一掷地 | |
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hood
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| n.头巾，兜帽，覆盖；v.罩上，以头巾覆盖 | |
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hooded
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| adj.戴头巾的；有罩盖的；颈部因肋骨运动而膨胀的 | |
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rein
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| n.疆绳，统治，支配；vt.以僵绳控制，统治 | |
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dread
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| vt.担忧，忧虑；惧怕，不敢；n.担忧，畏惧 | |
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repel
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| v.击退，抵制，拒绝，排斥 | |
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unnatural
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| adj.不自然的；反常的 | |
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gliding
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| v. 滑翔 adj. 滑动的 | |
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denser
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| adj. 不易看透的, 密集的, 浓厚的, 愚钝的 | |
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rattling
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| adj. 格格作响的, 活泼的, 很好的 adv. 极其, 很, 非常 动词rattle的现在分词 | |
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detested
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| v.憎恶，嫌恶，痛恨( detest的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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afterward
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| adv.后来；以后 | |
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scattered
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| adj.分散的，稀疏的；散步的；疏疏落落的 | |
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triumphant
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| adj.胜利的，成功的；狂欢的，喜悦的 | |
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hesitation
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| n.犹豫，踌躇 | |
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doorway
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| n.门口，(喻)入门；门路，途径 | |
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durable
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| adj.持久的，耐久的 | |
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bellowing
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| v.发出吼叫声，咆哮（尤指因痛苦）( bellow的现在分词 )；（愤怒地）说出（某事），大叫 | |
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lenient
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| adj.宽大的，仁慈的 | |
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propped
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| 支撑，支持，维持( prop的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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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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grunted
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| （猪等）作呼噜声( grunt的过去式和过去分词 )； （指人）发出类似的哼声； 咕哝着说 | |
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prods
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| n.刺，戳( prod的名词复数 )；刺激；促使；（用手指或尖物）戳v.刺，戳( prod的第三人称单数 )；刺激；促使；（用手指或尖物）戳 | |
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bent
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| n.爱好，癖好；adj.弯的；决心的，一心的 | |
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28
gasped
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| v.喘气( gasp的过去式和过去分词 )；喘息；倒抽气；很想要 | |
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29
rumble
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| n.隆隆声；吵嚷；v.隆隆响；低沉地说 | |
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30
jug
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| n.(有柄，小口，可盛水等的)大壶，罐，盂 | |
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ravenous
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| adj.极饿的，贪婪的 | |
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32
slumped
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| 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] | |
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dozily
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| adv.舒服地，安乐地，安逸地 | |
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opaque
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| adj.不透光的；不反光的，不传导的；晦涩的 | |
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sluggish
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| adj.懒惰的，迟钝的，无精打采的 | |
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exhaustion
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| n.耗尽枯竭，疲惫，筋疲力尽，竭尽，详尽无遗的论述 | |
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37
surfeit
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| v.使饮食过度；n.(食物)过量，过度 | |
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phoenix
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| n.凤凰，长生(不死)鸟；引申为重生 | |
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secrecy
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| n.秘密，保密，隐蔽 | |
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40
tersely
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| adv. 简捷地, 简要地 | |
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41
rosy
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| adj.美好的，乐观的，玫瑰色的 | |
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uncertainties
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| 无把握( uncertainty的名词复数 )； 不确定； 变化不定； 无把握、不确定的事物 | |
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43
riddled
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| adj.布满的；充斥的；泛滥的v.解谜，出谜题(riddle的过去分词形式) | |
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44
decided
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| adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的 | |
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45
winding
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| n.绕，缠，绕组，线圈 | |
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46
deflect
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| v.(使)偏斜，(使)偏离，(使)转向 | |
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47
scrutiny
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| n.详细检查，仔细观察 | |
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48
intensity
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| n.强烈，剧烈；强度；烈度 | |
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49
bastards
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| 私生子( bastard的名词复数 )； 坏蛋； 讨厌的事物； 麻烦事 （认为别人走运或不幸时说）家伙 | |
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50
ministry
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| n.(政府的)部；牧师 | |
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51
statute
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| n.成文法，法令，法规；章程，规则，条例 | |
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52
wrangled
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| v.争吵，争论，口角( wrangle的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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53
succored
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| v.给予帮助( succor的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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54
spat
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| n.口角，掌击；v.发出呼噜呼噜声 | |
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55
positively
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| adv.明确地，断然，坚决地；实在，确实 | |
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56
hack
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| n.劈，砍，出租马车；v.劈，砍，干咳 | |
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briefly
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| adv.简单地，简短地 | |
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58
occluded
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| v.堵塞( occlude的过去式和过去分词 )；阻隔；吸收（气体） | |
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59
dueling
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| n. 决斗, 抗争(=duelling) 动词duel的现在分词形式 | |
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60
croaked
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| v.呱呱地叫( croak的过去式和过去分词 )；用粗的声音说 | |
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61
hiss
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| v.发出嘶嘶声；发嘘声表示不满 | |
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62
cuff
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| n.袖口；手铐；护腕；vt.用手铐铐；上袖口 | |
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63
thoroughly
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| adv.完全地，彻底地，十足地 | |
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64
shard
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| n.（陶瓷器、瓦等的）破片，碎片 | |
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65
jeer
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| vi.嘲弄，揶揄；vt.奚落；n.嘲笑，讥评 | |
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66
fixed
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| adj.固定的，不变的，准备好的；(计算机)固定的 | |
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67
extraordinarily
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| adv.格外地；极端地 | |
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68
lookout
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| n.注意，前途，瞭望台 | |
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