“All those times we were in that bathroom, and she was just three toilets away,” said Ron bitterly at breakfast next day, “and we could've asked her, and now…”
It had been hard enough trying to look for spiders. Escaping their teachers long enough to sneak1 into a girls'bathroom, the girls'bathroom, moreover, right next to the scene of the first attack, was going to be almost impossible.
But something happened in their first lesson, Transfiguration, that drove the Chamber2 of Secrets out of their minds for the first time in weeks. Ten minutes into the class, Professor McGonagall told them that their exams would start on the first of June, one week from today.
“Exams?” howled Seamus Finnigan. “We're still getting exams?”
There was a loud bang behind Harry4 as Neville Longbottom's wand slipped, vanishing one of the legs on his desk.Professor McGonagall restored it with a wave of her own wand, and turned, frowning, to Seamus.
“The whole point of keeping the school open at this time is for you to receive your education,” she said sternly. “The exams will therefore take place as usual, and I trust you are all studying hard.”
Studying hard! It had never occurred to Harry that there would be exams with the castle in this state. There was a great deal of mutinous6 muttering around the room, which made Professor McGonagall scowl7 even more darkly.
“Professor Dumbledore's instructions were to keep the school running as normally as possible, she said. “And that, I need hardly point out, means finding out how much you have learned this year.”
Harry looked down at the pair of white rabbits he was supposed to be turning into slippers8. What had he learned so far this year? He couldn't seem to think of anything that would be useful in an exam.
Ron looked as though he'd just been told he had to go and live in the Forbidden Forest.
“Can you imagine me taking exams with this?” he asked Harry, holding up his wand, which had just started whistling loudly.
Three days before their first exam, Professor McGonagall made another announcement at breakfast.
“I have good news,” she said, and the Great Hall, instead of falling silent, erupted.
“Dumbledore's coming back!” several people yelled joyfully9.
“You've caught the Heir of Slytherin!” squealed11 a girl at the Ravenclaw table.
“Quidditch matches are back on!” roared Wood excitedly.
When the hubbub12 had subsided13, Professor McGonagall said, “Professor Sprout14 has informed me that the Mandrakes are ready for cutting at last. Tonight, we will be able to revive those people who have been Petrified15. I need hardly remind you all that one of them may well be able to tell us who, or what, attacked them. I am hopeful that this dreadful year will end with our catching16 the culprit.”
There was an explosion of cheering. Harry looked over at the Slytherin table and wasn't at all surprised to see that Draco Malfoy hadn't joined in. Ron, however, was looking happier than he'd looked in days.
“It won't matter that we never asked Myrtle, then!” he said to Harry. “Hermione'll probably have all the answers when they wake her up! Mind you, she'll go crazy when she finds out we've got exams in three days'time. She hasn't studied. It might be kinder to leave her where she is till they're over.”
Just then, Ginny Weasley came over and sat down next to Ron. She looked tense and nervous, and Harry noticed that her hands were twisting in her lap.
“What's up?” said Ron, helping17 himself to more porridge.
Ginny didn't say anything, but glanced up and down the Gryffindor table with a scared look on her face that reminded Harry of someone, though he couldn't think who.
“Spit it out,” said Ron, watching her.
Harry suddenly realized who Ginny looked like. She was rocking backward and forward slightly in her chair, exactly like Dobby did when he was teetering on the edge of revealing forbidden information.
“I've got to tell you something,” Ginny mumbled18, carefully not looking at Harry.
“What is it?” said Harry.
Ginny looked as though she couldn't find the right words.
“What?” said Ron.
Ginny opened her mouth, but no sound came out. Harry leaned forward and spoke19 quietly, so that only Ginny and Ron could hear him.
“Is it something about the Chamber of Secrets? Have you seen something? Someone acting20 oddly?”
Ginny drew a deep breath and, at that precise moment, Percy Weasley appeared, looking tired and wan5.
“If you've finished eating, I'll take that seat, Ginny. I'm starving, I've only just come off patrol duty.”
Ginny jumped up as though her chair had just been electrified21, gave Percy a fleeting22, frightened look, and scampered23 away. Percy sat down and grabbed a mug from the center of the table.
“Percy!” said Ron angrily. “She was just about to tell us something important!”
Halfway through a gulp24 of tea, Percy choked.
“What sort of thing?” he said, coughing.
“I just asked her if she'd seen anything odd, and she started to say
“Oh - that - that's nothing to do with the Chamber of Secrets,” said Percy at once.
“How do you know?” said Ron, his eyebrows25 raised.
“Well, er, if you must know, Ginny, er, walked in on me the other day when I was - well, never mind - the point is, she spotted26 me doing something and I, um, I asked her not to mention it to anybody. I must say, I did think she'd keep her word. It's nothing, really, I'd just rather—”
Harry had never seen Percy look so uncomfortable.
“What were you doing, Percy?” said Ron, grinning. “Go on, tell us, we won't laugh.”
Percy didn't smile back.
“Pass me those rolls, Harry, I'm starving.”
Harry knew the whole mystery might be solved tomorrow without their help, but he wasn't about to pass up a chance to speak to Myrtle if it turned up - and to his delight it did, midmorning, when they were being led to History of Magic by Gilderoy Lockhart.
Lockhart, who had so often assured them that all danger had passed, only to be proved wrong right away, was now wholeheartedly convinced that it was hardly worth the trouble to see them safely down the corridors. His hair wasn't as sleek27 as usual; it seemed he had been up most of the night, patrolling the fourth floor.
“Mark my words,” he said, ushering28 them around a corner. “The first words out of those poor Petrified people's mouths will be It was Hagrid .'Frankly29, I'm astounded30 Professor McGonagall thinks all these security measures are necessary.”
“I agree, sir,” said Harry, making Ron drop his books in surprise.
“Thank you, Harry, said Lockhart graciously while they waited for a long line of Hufflepuffs to pass. “I mean, we teachers have quite enough to be getting on with, without walking students to classes and standing31 guard all night…”
“That's right,” said Ron, catching on. “Why don't you leave us here, sir, we've only got one more corridor to go—”
“You know, Weasley, I think I will,” said Lockhart. “I really should go and prepare my next class—”
And he hurried off.
“Prepare his class,” Ron sneered32 after him. “Gone to curl his hair, more like.”
They let the rest of the Gryffindors draw ahead of them, then darted33 down a side passage and hurried off toward Moaning Myrtle's bathroom. But just as they were congratulating each other on their brilliant scheme.
“Potter! Weasley! What are you doing?”
It was Professor McGonagall, and her mouth was the thinnest of thin lines.
“We were - we were -” Ron stammered34. “We were going to - to go and see—”
“Hermione,” said Harry. Ron and Professor McGonagall both looked at him.
“We haven't seen her for ages, Professor,” Harry went on hurriedly, treading on Ron's foot, “and we thought we'd sneak into the hospital wing, you know, and tell her the Mandrakes are nearly ready and, er, not to worry—”
Professor McGonagall was still staring at him, and for a moment, Harry thought she was going to explode, but when she spoke, it was in a strangely croaky voice.
“Of course,” she said, and Harry, amazed, saw a tear glistening35 in her beady eye. “Of course, I realize this has all been hardest on the friends of those who have been… I quite understand. Yes, Potter, of course you may visit Miss Granger. I will inform Professor Binns where you've gone. Tell Madam Pomfrey I have given my permission.”
Harry and Ron walked away, hardly daring to believe that they'd avoided detention36. As they turned the corner, they distinctly heard Professor McGonagall blow her nose.
“That,” said Ron fervently37, “was the best story you've ever come up with.”
They had no choice now but to go to the hospital wing and tell Madam Pomfrey that they had Professor McGonagall's permission to visit Hermione.
Madam Pomfrey let them in, but reluctantly.
“There's just no point talking to a Petrified. person,” she said, and they had to admit she had a point when they'd taken their seats next to Hermione. It was plain that Hermione didn't have the faintest inkling that she had visitors, and that they might just as well tell her bedside cabinet not to worry for all the good it would do.
“Wonder if she did see the attacker, though?” said Ron, looking sadly at Hermione's rigid38 face. “Because if he sneaked39 up on them all, no one'll ever know…”
But Harry wasn't looking at Hermione's face. He was more interested in her right hand. It lay clenched40 on top of her blankets, and bending closer, he saw that a piece of paper was scrunched41 inside her fist.
Making sure that Madam Pomfrey was nowhere near, he pointed43 this out to Ron.
“Go on and get it out,” Ron whispered, shifting his chair so that he blocked Harry from Madam Pomfrey's view.
It was no easy task. Hermione's hand was clamped so tightly around the paper that Harry was sure he was going to tear it. While Ron kept watch he tugged44 and twisted, and at last, after several tense minutes, the paper came free.
It was a page torn from a very old library book. Harry smoothed it out eagerly and Ron leaned close to read it, too.
“Of the many fearsome beasts and monsters that roam our land, there is none more curious or more deadly than the Basilisk, known also as the King of Serpents. This snake, which may reach gigantic size and live many hundreds of years, is born from a chicken's egg, hatched beneath a toad45. Its methods of killing46 are most wondrous47, for aside from its deadly and venomous fangs48, the Basilisk has a murderous stare, and all who are fixed49 with the beam of its eye shall suffer instant death. Spiders flee before the Basilisk, for it is their mortal enemy, and the Basilisk flees only from the crowing of the rooster, which is fatal to it.”
And beneath this, a single word had been written, in a hand Harry recognized as Hermione's. Pipes .
It was as though somebody had just flicked50 a light on in his brain.
“Ron,” he breathed. “This is it. This is the answer. The monster in the Chamber's a basilisk - a giant serpent! That's why I've been hearing that voice all over the place, and nobody else has heard it. It's because I understand Parseltongue…”
Harry looked up at the beds around him.
“The basilisk kills people by looking at them. But no one's died - because no one looked it straight in the eye. Colin saw it through his camera. The basilisk burned up all the film inside it, but Colin just got Petrified. Justin… Justin must've seen the basilisk through Nearly Headless Nick! Nick got the full blast of it, but he couldn't die again.. and Hermione and that Ravenclaw prefect were found with a mirror next to them. Hermione had just realized the monster was a basilisk. I bet you anything she warned the first person she met to look around corners with a mirror first! And that girl pulled out her mirror - and—”
Rods jaw51 had dropped.
“And Mrs. Norris?” he whispered eagerly.
Harry thought hard, picturing the scene on the night of Halloween.
“The water…” he said slowly. “The flood from Moaning Myrtle's bathroom. I bet you Mrs. Norris only saw the reflection…”
He scanned the page in his hand eagerly. The more he looked at it, the more it made sense.
“…The crowing of the rooster… is fatal to it"! he read aloud. “Hagrid's roosters were killed! The Heir of Slytherin didn't want one anywhere near the castle once the Chamber was opened! Spiders flee before it.! It all fits!”
“But how's the basilisk been getting around the place?” said Ron. “A giant snake… Someone would've seen…”
Harry, however, pointed at the word Hermione had scribbled52 at the foot of the page.
“Pipes,” he said. “Pipes… Ron, it's been using the plumbing53. I've been hearing that voice inside the walls…”
Ron suddenly grabbed Harry's arm.
“The entrance to the Chamber of Secrets!” he said hoarsely54. “What if it's a bathroom? What if it's in—”
“Moaning Myrtle's bathroom,” said Harry.
They sat there, excitement coursing through them, hardly able to believe it.
“This means,” said Harry, “I can't be the only Parselmouth in the school. The Heir of Slytherin's one, too. That's how he's been controlling the basilisk.”
“What're we going to do?” said Ron, whose eyes were flashing. “Should we go straight to McGonagall?”
“Let's go to the staff room,” said Harry, jumping up. “She'll be there in ten minutes. It's nearly break.”
They ran downstairs. Not wanting to be discovered hanging around in another corridor, they went straight into the deserted55 staff room. It was a large, paneled room full of dark, wooden chairs. Harry and Ron paced around it, too excited to sit down.
But the bell to signal break never came.
Instead, echoing through the corridors came Professor McGonagall's voice, magically magnified.
“All students to return to their House dormitories at once. All teachers return to the staff room. Immediately, please.”
Harry wheeled around to stare at Ron. “Not another attack? Not now?”
“What'll we do?” said Ron, aghast. “Go back to the dormitory?” “No,” said Harry, glancing around. There was an ugly sort of wardrobe to his left, full of the teachers'cloaks. “In here. Let's hear what it's all about. Then we can tell them what we've found out.”
They hid themselves inside it, listening to the rumbling56 of hundreds of people moving overhead, and the staff room door banging open. From between the musty folds of the cloaks, they watched the teachers filtering into the room. Some of them were looking puzzled, others downright scared. Then Professor McGonagall arrived.
“It has happened,” she told the silent staff room. “A student has been taken by the monster. Right into the Chamber itself.”
Professor Flitwick let out a squeal10. Professor Sprout clapped her hands over her mouth. Snape gripped the back of a chair very hard and said, “How can you be sure?”
“The Heir of Slytherin,” said Professor McGonagall, who was very white, “left another message. Right underneath57 the first one. Her skeleton will lie in the Chamber forever.”
Professor Flitwick burst into tears.
“Who is it?” said Madam Hooch, who had sunk, weak-kneed, into a chair. “Which student?”
“Ginny Weasley,” said Professor McGonagall.
Harry felt Ron slide silently down onto the wardrobe floor beside him.
“We shall have to send all the students home tomorrow,” said Professor McGonagall. “This is the end of Hogwarts. Dumbledore always said…”
The staffroom door banged open again. For one wild moment, Harry was sure it would be Dumbledore. But it was Lockhart, and he was beaming.
“So sorry - dozed58 off - what have I missed?”
He didn't seem to notice that the other teachers were looking at him with something remarkably59 like hatred60. Snape stepped forward.
“Just the man,” he said. “The very man. A girl has been snatched by the monster, Lockhart. Taken into the Chamber of Secrets itself. Your moment has come at last.”
Lockhart blanched61.
“That's right, Gilderoy,” chipped in Professor Sprout. “Weren't you saying just last night that you've known all along where the entrance to the Chamber of Secrets is?”
“I - well, I -“sputtered Lockhart.
“Yes, didn't you tell me you were sure you knew what was inside it?” piped up Professor Flitwick.
“D-did I? I don't recall—”
“I certainly remember you saying you were sorry you hadn't had a crack at the monster before Hagrid was arrested,” said Snape. “Didn't you say that the whole affair had been bungled62, and that you should have been given a free rein63 from the first?”
Lockhart stared around at his stony-faced colleagues.
“I - I really never - you may have misunderstood—”
“We'll leave it to you, then, Gilderoy,” said Professor McGonagall. “Tonight will be an excellent time to do it. We'll make sure everyone's out of your way. You'll be able to tackle the monster all by youself. A free rein at last.”
Lockhart gazed desperately64 around him, but nobody came to the rescue. He didn't look remotely handsome anymore. His lip was trembling, and in the absence of his usually toothy grin, he looked weak-chinned and feeble.
“V-very well,” he said. “I'll - I'll be in my office, getting - getting ready.”
And he left the room.
“Right,” said Professor McGonagall, whose nostrils65 were flared66, “that's got him out from under our feet. The Heads of Houses should go and inform their students what has happened. Tell them the Hogwarts Express will take them home first thing tomorrow. Will the rest of you please make sure no students have been left outside their dormitories.”
The teachers rose and left, one by one.
It was probably the worst day of Harry's entire life. He, Ron, Fred, and George sat together in a corner of the Gryffindor common room, unable to say anything to each other. Percy wasn't there. He had gone to send an owl3 to Mr. and Mrs. Weasley, then shut himself up in his dormitory.
No afternoon ever lasted as long as that one, nor had Gryffindor Tower ever been so crowded, yet so quiet. Near sunset, Fred and George went up to bed, unable to sit there any longer.
“She knew something, Harry,” said Ron, speaking for the first time since they had entered the wardrobe in the staff room. “That's why she was taken. It wasn't some stupid thing about Percy at all., She'd found out something about the Chamber of Secrets. That must be why she was -” Ron rubbed his eyes frantically67. “I mean, she was a pure-blood. There can't be any other reason.”
Harry could see the sun sinking, blood-red, below the skyline. This was the worst he had ever felt. If only there was something they could do. Anything.
“Harry” said Ron. “D'you think there's any chance at all she's not - you know—”
Harry didn't know what to say. He couldn't see how Ginny could still be alive.
“D'you know what?” said Ron. “I think we should go and see Lockhart. Tell him what we know. He's going to try and get into the Chamber. We can tell him where we think it is, and tell him it's a basilisk in there.”
Because Harry couldn't think of anything else to do, and because he wanted to be doing something, he agreed. The Gryffindors around them were so miserable68, and felt so sorry for the Weasleys, that nobody tried to stop them as they got up, crossed the room, and left through the portrait hole.
Darkness was falling as they walked down to Lockhart's office. There seemed to be a lot of activity going on inside it. They could hear scraping, thumps69, and hurried footsteps.
Harry knocked and there was a sudden silence from inside. Then the door opened the tiniest crack and they saw one of Lockhart's eyes peering through it.
“Oh - Mr. Potter - Mr. Weasley -” he said, opening the door a bit wider. “I'm rather busy at the moment -if you would be quick—”
“Professor, we've got some information for you,” said Harry. “We think it'll help you.”
“Er - well - it's not terribly -” The side of Lockhart's face that they could see looked very uncomfortable. “I mean - well - all right—”
He opened the door and they entered.
His office had been almost completely stripped. Two large trunks stood open on the floor. Robes, jade-green, lilac, midnight blue, had been hastily folded into one of them; books were jumbled70 untidily into the other. The photographs that had covered the walls were now crammed71 into boxes on the desk.
“Are you going somewhere?” said Harry.
“Er, well, yes,” said Lockhart, ripping a life-size poster of himself from the back of the door as he spoke and starting to roll it up. “Urgent call - unavoidable - got to go—”
“What about my sister?” said Ron jerkily.
“Well, as to that - most unfortunate -” said Lockhart, avoiding their eyes as he wrenched72 open a drawer and started emptying the contents into a bag. “No one regrets more than I—”
“You're the Defense73 Against the Dark Arts teacher!” said Harry. “You can't go now! Not with all the Dark stuff going on here!”
“Well - I must say - when I took the job -” Lockhart muttered, now piling socks on top of his robes. “nothing in the job description - didn't expect—”
“You mean you're running away?” said Harry disbelievingly. “After all that stuff you did in your books—”
“Books can be misleading,” said Lockhart delicately.
“You wrote them!” Harry shouted.
“My dear boy,” said Lockhart, straightening up and frowning at Harry. “Do use your common sense. My books wouldn't have sold half as well if people didn't think I'd done all those things. No one wants to read about some ugly old Armenian warlock, even if he did save a village from werewolves. He'd look dreadful on the front cover. No dress sense at all. And the witch who banished74 the Bandon Banshee had a harelip. I mean, come on—”
“So you've just been taking credit for what a load of other people have done?” said Harry incredulously.
“Harry, Harry,” said Lockhart, shaking his head impatiently, “it's not nearly as simple as that. There was work involved. I had to track these people down. Ask them exactly how they managed to do what they did. Then I had to put a Memory Charm on them so they wouldn't remember doing it. If there's one thing I pride myself on, it's my Memory Charms. No, it's been a lot of work, Harry. It's not all book signings and publicity75 photos, you know. You want fame, you have to be prepared for a long hard slog.”
He banged the lids of his trunks shut and locked them.
“Let's see,” he said. “I think that's everything. Yes. Only one thing left.”
He pulled out his wand and turned to them.
“Awfully sorry, boys, but I'll have to put a Memory Charm on you now. Can't have you blabbing my secrets all over the place. I'd never sell another book—”
Harry reached his wand just in time. Lockhart had barely raised his, when Harry bellowed76, ” Expelliarmus! ”
Lockhart was blasted backward, falling over his trunk; his wand flew high into the air; Ron caught it, and flung it out of the open window.
“Shouldn't have let Professor Snape teach us that one,” said Harry furiously, kicking Lockhart's trunk aside. Lockhart was looking up at him, feeble once more. Harry was still pointing his wand at him.
“What d'you want me to do?” said Lockhart weakly. “I don't know where the Chamber of Secrets is. There's nothing I can do.”
“You're in luck,” said Harry, forcing Lockhart to his feet at wandpoint. “We think we know where it is. And what's inside it. Let's go.”
They marched Lockhart out of his office and down the nearest stairs, along the dark corridor where the messages shone on the wall, to the door of Moaning Myrtle's bathroom.
They sent Lockhart in first. Harry was pleased to see that he was shaking.
Moaning Myrtle was sitting on the tank of the end toilet.
“Oh, it's you,” she said when she saw Harry. “What do you want this time?”
“To ask you how you died,” said Harry.
Myrtle's whole aspect changed at once. She looked as though she had never been asked such a flattering question.
“Ooooh, it was dreadful,” she said with relish77. “It happened right in here. I died in this very stall. I remember it so well. I'd hidden because Olive Hornby was teasing me about my glasses. The door was locked, and I was crying, and then I heard somebody come in. They said something funny. A different language, I think it must have been. Anyway, what really got me was that it was a boy speaking. So I unlocked the door, to tell him to go and use his own toilet, and then -” Myrtle swelled78 importantly, her face shining. “I died .”
“How?” said Harry.
“No idea,” said Myrtle in hushed tones. “I just remember seeing a pair of great, big, yellow eyes. My whole body sort of seized up, and then I was floating away…” She looked dreamily at Harry. “And then I came back again. I was determined79 to haunt Olive Hornby, you see. Oh, she was sorry she'd ever laughed at my glasses.”
“Where exactly did you see the eyes?” said Harry.
“Somewhere there,” said Myrtle, pointing vaguely80 toward the sink in front of her toilet.
Harry and Ron hurried over to it. Lockhart was standing well back, a look of utter terror on his face.
It looked like an ordinary sink. They examined every inch of it, inside and out, including the pipes below. And then Harry saw it: Scratched on the side of one of the copper81 taps was a tiny snake.
“That tap's never worked,” said Myrtle brightly as he tried to turn it.
“Harry,” said Ron. “Say something. Something in Parseltongue.”
“But -” Harry thought hard. The only times he'd ever managed to speak Parseltongue were when he'd been faced with a real snake. He stared hard at the tiny engraving82, trying to imagine it was real.
“Open up,” he said.
He looked at Ron, who shook his head.
“English,” he said.
Harry looked back at the snake, willing himself to believe it was alive. If he moved his head, the candlelight made it look as though it were moving.
“Open up,” he said.
Except that the words weren't what he heard; a strange hissing84 had escaped him, and at once the tap glowed with a brilliant white light and began to spin. Next second, the sink began to move; the sink, in fact, sank, right out of sight, leaving a large pipe exposed, a pipe wide enough for a man to slide into.
Harry heard Ron gasp85 and looked up again. He had made up his mind what he was going to do.
“I'm going down there,” he said.
He couldn't not go, not now they had found the entrance to the Chamber, not if there was even the faintest, slimmest, wildest chance that Ginny might be alive.
“Me too,” said Ron.
There was a pause.
“Well, you hardly seem to need me,” said Lockhart, with a shadow of his old smile. “I'll just—”
He put his hand on the door knob, but Ron and Harry both pointed their wands at him.
“You can go first,” Ron snarled86.
White-faced and wandless, Lockhart approached the opening.
“Boys,” he said, his voice feeble. “Boys, what good will it do?”
Harry jabbed him in the back with his wand. Lockhart slid his legs into the pipe.
“I really don't think -” he started to say, but Ron gave him a push, and he slid out of sight. Harry followed quickly. He lowered himself slowly into the pipe, then let go.
It was like rushing down an endless, slimy, dark slide. He could see more pipes branching off in all directions, but none as large as theirs, which twisted and turned, sloping steeply downward, and he knew that he was falling deeper below the school than even the dungeons87. Behind him he could hear Ron, thudding slightly at the curves.
And then, just as he had begun to worry about what would happen when he hit the ground, the pipe leveled out, and he shot out of the end with a wet thud, landing on the damp floor of a dark stone tunnel large enough to stand in. Lockhart was getting to his feet a little ways away, covered in slime and white as a ghost. Harry stood aside as Ron came whizzing out of the pipe, too.
“We must be miles under the school,” said Harry, his voice echoing in the black tunnel.
“Under the lake, probably,” said Ron, squinting88 around at the dark, slimy walls.
All three of them turned to stare into the darkness ahead.
“Lumos! ” Harry muttered to his wand and it lit again. “C'mon,” he said to Ron and Lockhart, and off they went, their footsteps slapping loudly on the wet floor.
The tunnel was so dark that they could only see a little distance ahead. Their shadows on the wet walls looked monstrous89 in the wandlight.
“Remember,” Harry said quietly as they walked cautiously forward, “any sign of movement, close your eyes right away…”
But the tunnel was quiet as the grave, and the first unexpected sound they heard was a loud crunch42 as Ron stepped on what turned out to be a rat's skull90. Harry lowered his wand to look at the floor and saw that it was littered with small animal bones. Trying very hard not to imagine what Ginny might look like if they found her, Harry led the way forward, around a dark bend in the tunnel.
“Harry - there's something up there -” said Ron hoarsely, grabbing Harry's shoulder.
They froze, watching. Harry could just see the outline of something huge and curved, lying right across the tunnel. It wasn't moving.
“Maybe it's asleep,” he breathed, glancing back at the other two. Lockhart's hands were pressed over his eyes. Harry turned back to look at the thing, his heart beating so fast it hurt.
Very slowly, his eyes as narrow as he could make them and still see, Harry edged forward, his wand held high.
The light slid over a gigantic snake skin, of a vivid, poisonous green, lying curled and empty across the tunnel floor. The creature that had shed it must have been twenty feet long at least.
“Blimey,” said Ron weakly.
There was a sudden movement behind them. Gilderoy Lockhart's knees had given way.
“Get up,” said Ron sharply, pointing his wand at Lockhart.
Lockhart got to his feet - then he dived at Ron, knocking him to the ground.
Harry jumped forward, but too late - Lockhart was straightening up, panting, Ron's wand in his hand and a gleaming smile back on his face.
“The adventure ends here, boys!” he said. “I shall take a bit of this skin back up to the school, tell them I was too late to save the girl, and that you two tragically91 lost your minds at the sight of her mangled92 body - say good-bye to your memories!”
He raised Ron's Spellotaped wand high over his head and yelled , “Obliviate! ”
The wand exploded with the force of a small bomb. Harry flung his arms over his head and ran, slipping over the coils of snake skin, out of the way of great chunks93 of tunnel ceiling that were thundering to the floor. Next moment, he was standing alone, gazing at a solid wall of broken rock.
“Ron!” he shouted. “Are you okay? Ron!”
“I'm here!” came Ron's muffled94 voice from behind the rockfall. “I'm okay - this git's not, though - he got blasted by the wand—”
There was a dull thud and a loud “ow!” It sounded as though Ron had just kicked Lockhart in the shins.
“What now?” Ron's voice said, sounding desperate. “We can't get through - it'll take ages…”
Harry looked up at the tunnel ceiling. Huge cracks had appeared in it. He had never tried to break apart anything as large as these rocks by magic, and now didn't seem a good moment to try - what if the whole tunnel caved in?
There was another thud and another “ow!” from behind the rocks. They were wasting time. Ginny had already been in the Chamber of Secrets for hours… Harry knew there was only one thing to do.
“Wait there,” he called to Ron. “Wait with Lockhart. I'll go on… If I'm not back in an hour…”
There was a very pregnant pause, “I'll try and shift some of this rock,” said Ron, who seemed to be trying to keep his voice steady. “So you can - can get back through. And, Harry—”
“See you in a bit,” said Harry, trying to inject some confidence into his shaking voice.
And he set off alone past the giant snake skin.
Soon the distant noise of Ron straining to shift the rocks was gone. The tunnel turned and turned again. Every nerve in Harry's body was tingling95 unpleasantly. He wanted the tunnel to end, yet dreaded96 what he'd find when it did. And then, at last, as he crept around yet another bend, he saw a solid wall ahead on which two entwined serpents were carved, their eyes set with great, glinting emeralds.
Harry approached, his throat very dry. There was no need to pretend these stone snakes were real; their eyes looked strangely alive.
He could guess what he had to do. He cleared his throat, and the emerald eyes seemed to flicker97.
“Open,” said Harry, in a low, faint hiss83.
The serpents parted as the wall cracked open, the halves slid smoothly98 out of sight, and Harry, shaking from head to foot, walked inside.
“那段时间我们一起待在厕所里，而她和我们也只隔三个间隔，”
第二天早餐时罗恩痛苦地说，“我们本来可以问她的，但现在——”
找蜘蛛已经够难的了，而想要在长时间内不引起老师们的注意的情况下，溜进女厕所，并且还是第一次袭击发生现场隔壁的女厕里去，就更不可能了。
但上第一节课时，事情有了点变化，这让他们在这几星期里第一次没去想什么“秘室之谜”。课上到十分钟的时候，麦康娜教授跟他们说考试将在七月一日开始，离现在还有一个星期。
“考试？”谢默斯哀号道。“现在还考什么试？”
哈利身后响起“砰”的一声，原来尼维尔的魔杖滑到地上了，把一只桌腿给变没了。随着一阵光亮，麦康娜教授用她自己的魔杖又把桌子恢复原状，然后转过身来，朝着谢默斯不悦地皱着眉。
“这个候还上课就是为了让你们继续接受教育，”她严厉地说，“因此，考试将照常进行，并且我相信你们一直都很努力地复习。”
努力复习！哈利压根儿没想到城堡里都乱成这样了还要考试，教室里一片不满的抱怨声。麦康娜教授眉头皱得更阴沉了。
“丹伯多教授的指令是要尽力保持学校正常运转，”她说，“并且，用不着我明说，这是要看看这一年里你们究竟学了多少。”
哈利低头看着要求变成拖鞋的一对白兔。他学了什么呢？看起来他脑瓜子里完全没有考试的有用资料。
罗恩看起来就像是刚被通知必须搬到禁林里住一样。
“你能想象我就凭这个参加考试吗？”他问哈利，举起他那根刚刚开始大声鸣笛的魔杖。
离第一场考试还有三天的时候，麦康娜教授在早餐时，又宣布了第一个通知。
“好消息，”她说，这时，整个大厅的人都打破沉默，闹了开来。
“丹伯多要回来了！”几个人高兴地喊道。
“他已经捉到史林德林的后代了！”坐在罗尼文克劳桌子上的一个女孩尖叫。
“快迪斯比赛重新举行了！”伍德兴奋地大吼。
等吵闹声平息下来，麦康娜教授才说：“史鲍将教授通知我说万锐克成熟到可供使用了。今天晚上，我们就可以把吓傻的受害者救活过来，用不着提醒，你们也知道他们其中一个可能会告诉我们谁，或者是什么东西，袭击他们，真希望这可怕的一年以罪魁祸首就擒告终。”
人群中爆出一阵欢呼。哈利朝史林德林台望去，马尔夫没有加入欢呼，这哈利倒一点也不惊讶。但是，罗恩就显得比前些日子开心多了。
“那我们问不问麦托勒都无关了！”他对哈利说。“等她们叫醒荷米恩，一切都会明白的！你想想，要是她知道三天后就要考试，她肯定会疯掉的。其实最好在考试结束之前别救醒地。”
就在这时，金妮。威斯里走了过来，在罗恩旁边坐下了。她显得紧张兮兮的，并且哈利注意到：她一直把手放在膝部援揉着。
“发生什么事了？”罗恩一边问，一边吃着麦片粥。
金妮什么也没说，只是来来回回地瞥着那张格林芬顿桌子，一脸的惶恐，她的表请让哈利想起了一个人，但他就是想不起来究竟是谁。
“说啊！”罗恩瞪着她。
哈利忽然意识到金妮像谁，她坐在椅子上，轻轻地前后摇摆着，就跟多比犹豫着要泄露绝密的时候的动作一样。
“我要告诉你一些事。”金妮咕哝着，小心翼翼地躲过哈利询问的目光。
“什么？”哈利问。
金妮似乎找不到合适的词句。
“什么？”罗恩也问。
金妮开了开口，但并没有发出声音，哈利向前靠了靠，小声地说着，这样就只有金妮和罗恩能听到她的话了。
“是不是跟神秘秘室有关？你看到什么了？有人举止怪异吗？”
金妮深吸一口气。就在这时，伯希。威斯里出现了，看起来又疲倦又苍白。
“要是你已经吃完了，就把位子留给我吧，金妮，我快饿死了。我刚巡完逻。”
金妮立刻跳了起来，就像是椅子上有电似的，她惊骇地瞥了伯希一眼，跑开了，伯希坐了下来，抓起桌子中间的一只杯子。
“伯希！‘罗恩生气地喊，”她正要告诉我们一些重要的事呢！“伯希的茶正喝到一半，呛住了。
“什么事？”他问，猛咳着。
“我问她有没有看到什么怪异的事，她正要开口——”
“懊——那一定跟神秘秘室没关。”伯希马上说。
“你怎么知道？”罗恩问道，眉头耸起。
“呃，要是你一定要知道的话，金妮，呃，那天碰到我，她看到我正在做一件事。我，呃，我求她别跟别人提起。我得说，她的确有遵守诺言。没什么事，真的，我只是宁愿——”
哈利从没有看伯希这么不安过。
“你在搞什么鬼，伯希？”罗恩咧着嘴笑道。“说吧，我们不会嘲笑你的。”
伯希没有笑。
“把面包围递给我，哈利，我快饿坏了。”
虽然哈利知道就算没有他们的帮助，整个秘密也会在明天揭晓的，但他并不打算放弃跟麦托勒交谈的机会，（如果它现身的话）——而让他高兴的是，到中午罗克哈特领他们上魔法历史课的时候，机会来了。
罗克哈特总是跟他们保证，危险已经过去了。可他的担保只能是被证明是错误的，但他现在却更深信不疑了。他觉得根本不用这么麻烦，得看着他们安全走过走廊。他的头发不像平时那么光滑，看起来，他大半夜都在四楼巡逻。
“记住我说的，”他说着，把他们引到一个角落，“这些可怜的受害者们说的第一句话将会是：”是哈格力干的。‘坦白地说，我实在很惊讶。麦康娜教授却认为这些保安措施有必要。”“我同意，先生，“哈利说道。这让罗恩大吃一惊，书都掉了下来。
“谢谢，哈利，”当他们等着一长排的海夫巴夫学生通过的时候，罗克哈特亲切地道谢。“我的意思是，我们教师要忙的事已经够多了，就用不着带领学生上课和整晚防卫……”
“没错，”罗恩应道，一副完全了解的样子。“先生，不如就让我们自己去吧，反正也只有一条走廊了。”
“你知道，威斯里，我想我会的，”罗克哈特说，“我必须回去备课了。”
于是，他匆匆忙忙走了。
“备课，”罗恩朝着他轻蔑地说，“我看更像是去卷头发。”
他们让其余的格林芬顿走在他们前面，然后，急奔着侧身过去，又匆忙朝着麦托勒的浴室冲去。但就在他们正为这一完美计划庆贺时……”“波特！威斯里！你们在干什么？”
是麦康娜教授，她的嘴唇抿成薄薄一线。
“我们——我们——”罗恩结结巴巴地说，“我们打算去——去看——”
“荷米恩。”哈利接上，罗恩和麦康娜教授都看着他。
“我们好久没看过她了，教授，”哈利赶紧继续说，踩了踩罗恩的脚，“我们想从医院侧面溜进去，告诉她，一切都好，呃，还有叫她别担心。”
麦康娜教授还在盯着他，有那么一刻，哈利觉得她就要发作了。
但当她开口时，声音却是古古怪怪，凄凄惨惨的。
“当然，”她说。哈利惊奇地看到一滴泪珠在她圆小的眼睛里闪烁着，“当然，我知道最难受的就是你们这些朋友……我明白的。是的，波特，你当然可以探望格兰位小姐。我会通知宾西教授你的去向的。就跟波姆弗雷夫人说是我允许的。”
哈利和罗恩走开了，几乎不敢相信他们居然没被留下，当他们走过拐角处时，清楚地听到麦康娜教授在手擤鼻涕。
罗恩热切地说：“这可是你编过的最完美的故事。”
他们别无选择，只好从医院侧面进去，告诉波姆弗雷夫人说麦康娜教授批准他们来探望荷米恩。
波姆弗雷夫人让他们进去了，但看起来相当不情愿。
“跟一个吓僵的人有什么好谈的，”她说。而当他们坐在荷米恩身边时，也不得不承认这一点，很显然，荷米恩半点也没意识到她有来客，跟她说不用担心也许倒不如叫她床边的柜橱不用担心？
“真不知道她究竟有没有看到袭击者？”罗恩说，悲伤地望着荷米恩僵硬的脸庞。“因为如果他在暗中偷袭的话，就没有人会知道……”
但哈利并没在看荷米恩的脸，他更对她的右手更感兴趣，她的手紧握着，放在毛毯上，哈利弯腰凑近些看，只见她拳中拽着一张纸。
确定波姆弗雷夫人不在附近后，他把这指给罗恩看。
“试着把它拿出来。”罗恩低声说，移了移椅子，挡住波姆弗雷夫人的视线。
这个差事可不容易。荷米思的手把那张纸擦得紧紧的。哈利都觉得自己一定会把它撕碎的，罗恩紧盯着他又拉又扯的。紧张的几分钟后，那张纸总算是被扯出来了。
这是一张从旧图书上撕下来的纸，哈利急切地想把它抚平，罗恩也靠过来看。
“在世间游荡的可怕的野兽和怪物中，再没有比巴斯里斯克，‘蟒蛇之王’，更奇异或更致命的了。巴斯里斯克体积巨大，寿命可达无数个百年，它从癞蛤蟆腹下的鸡蛋中孵化而出，最不可思议的是它杀戮的方式。它不仅有致命的毒牙，还有那极其危险的凝视，任何接触到眼光的人都将立即毙命。巴斯里斯克是蜘蛛的天敌，因此只要有巴斯里斯克的地方，蜘蛛都会溃逃一空。而公鸡的喔喔声对巴斯里斯克是致命的，因此它闻鸡鸣便逃。”
文字下有一个字，哈利认得是荷米恩的笔迹“管”。
就像是有人在他脑里射入一丝光线一样。
“罗恩，”他吸了口气，“就是这个，这就是答案。秘室里的怪物是巴斯里斯克——一条巨蟒！那就是为什么我到处都可以听到那种声音，而其他人却没有。这是因为我懂蛇话……”
哈利抬头望着四周的病床。
“巴斯里斯克靠凝视来杀人，但没有人死——因为，没有人直接用眼睛看过它，柯林透过照像机来看它，巴斯里斯克把里面的胶卷烧成了灰，而柯林只是变成了僵人。贾斯丁……贾斯丁肯定是透过眼镜来看的！所以眼镜爆炸了，但他还是死不了……而且，发现荷米恩和那个卫文卡罗的时候，有一面镜子在他们旁边。荷米恩刚刚想出那怪物就是巴斯里斯克，我敢打赌她警告她遇到的第一个人——那个卫文卡罗，要先用镜子看看角落！然后她拿出她的镜子——接着——”
罗恩下颌就快掉下来了。
“那诺丽丝夫人？”他急切地低语。
哈利努力地思考着，想象着万圣节之夜的情景。
“水……”他缓缓地说着，“从麦托勒浴室里流出来的水。我打赌诺丽丝夫人只看到倒映……”
他急切地创览手里的纸片。越看就越像了。
“公鸡的喔喔声对巴斯里斯克是致命的！”他大声地读了出来，“哈格力的公鸡被杀了！一旦秘室之谜开启，史林德林不想城堡附近有任何的公鸡！‘蜘蛛溃逃一空！’，全部都符合！”
“但巴斯里斯克怎么能进来呢？”罗恩说道，“一条脏脏的大蛇……肯定会有人看到的……”
但哈利却指着荷米恩潦草写着的那一个字。
“管”，他说，“管……罗恩，它是利用下水道过来的。我有在墙内听到那种声音……”
罗恩忽然抓住哈利的手臂。
“神秘秘室的人口！”他嘶哑地喊道。“万一是在浴室？万一是——”
“麦托勒的浴室。”哈利说。
他们坐在那里，激动万分，简直无法相信这一切。
“这意味着。”哈利说道，“我并不是学校里唯一会讲蛇语的人，史林德林的后代也会。他们就是用这来控制巴斯里斯克的。”
“我们该怎么办？”罗恩说，眼睛闪烁着。“要不要直接去找麦康娜教授？”
“我们先去职员室。”哈利跳了起来。“十分钟后她就会在那的，就快下课了。”
他们跑下楼，他们不想被人发现在走廊里游荡，于是直接去了空无一人的职员室，房间很大，摆满了黑色的木椅，哈利和罗恩走来走去，兴奋得不愿坐下来。
但是下课铃没响。
麦康娜教授的声音倒是在走廊间回响了起来，魔法般地放大了声音。
“所有学生马上回到宿舍里去，所有老师回到教员室。立即。”
哈利转头盯着罗恩。
“不会是又一次袭击？不是现在？”
“我们怎么办？”罗恩吓呆了，“回去宿舍？”
“不，”哈利望了望四周，左边有一个相当难看的衣柜，放满了老师们的斗篷。
“进去，听听发生了什么事。然后，我们可以告诉他们我们的发现。”
他们躲在里面，听着楼上成百上千个人走动的隆隆声和教员室门打开的声音。
透过斗篷那发霉的折层，他们看着老师们纷纷走进房间里来，有些人看起来满脸疑惑，其他人则满脸恐慌，接着，麦康娜教授进来了。
“又发生了，”她说道，教员们一言不发。“一个学生被怪物捉了。
带进了神秘秘室。“弗立特教授发出一声尖叫，史的特教授用手后住嘴，史纳皮紧紧地握着椅背：”你能确定吗？”
“史林德林的后代，”麦康娜教授脸色十分苍白，“又留下了信息，就放在第一张下面——她的骸骨将永留在神秘秘室。”
弗立特教授的眼泪流了下来。
“是谁？”霍克夫人身子下沉，两腿发软。“哪一位学生？”
“金妮。威斯里。”麦康娜教授应道。
哈利感觉到旁边的罗恩身子正悄悄下滑到衣柜地板上。
“明天我们必须把所有学生送回家，”麦康娜教授说道，“霍格瓦斯特完了，丹伯多总是说……”
教员室再次砰然打开了。有那么一会，哈利认为肯定是丹伯多。
但那是罗克哈特，一帽兴高采烈的样子。
“对不起——打了个盹——我错过什么了吗？”
他似乎并没注意到其他老师以明显仇恨的眼光望着他。史纳皮上前一步。
“就是你了。”他说，“关键人物就是你了，一个女孩已经被怪物捉去了。你该动手了。”
罗克哈特的脸十分苍白。
“没错，罗克哈特，”史鲍特教授插口说，“昨晚你不是说你已经知道秘室的人口在哪嘛？”
“我——我——”罗克哈特含糊地说着。
“是啊，你不是说你知道里面是什么东西吗？”弗立特教授喊道。
“我——我说过吗？我不记得……”
“我清清楚楚记得你说你后悔没在哈格力被捉住之前好好给那怪物一击。”史纳皮说，“你不是说整件事都已经被搞坏了，一开始就应该让你放手干的吗？‘”
罗克哈特瞪眼望着同事们一张张冷冰冰的脸。
“我……我真的没有……你们肯定是误会了……”
“那么我们就看你的了，罗克哈特，”麦康娜教授说，“今天晚上就开始行动吧。我们保证没有人会妨碍你的。你可以单枪匹马就把那怪兽给解决掉。”
罗克哈特绝望地看看四周，可没人愿意帮他。他看起来也不再冷峻了。他的嘴唇颤抖着，不再露齿而笑的他显得既憔悴又虚弱。
“那好，”他说，“我会——我会回去办公室，准——准备一下。”
他离开了。
“好了，”麦康娜教授的鼻孔一张一歙的，“总算把他赶出去了，院长们去通知学生所发生的事，告诉他们明天一大早霍格瓦斯特的快车会送他们回家。其他的人去确定一下没有学生在宿舍外逗留。”
教师们起身，一个接一个地离开了。
这是哈利一生中最糟糕透顶的一天。他，罗恩、弗来德和乔治一起坐在格林芬顿宿舍的一个角落里，彼此都沉默不语。伯希不在那。
他给威斯里夫妇送过那坏消息后，就把自己关在宿舍里。
从来没有像那天这样长的下午，格林芬顿宿舍也从未有那样拥挤，然而又那样沉寂过，快到日落了，弗来德和乔治上床去了，没法再那样坐着了。
“她知道一些什么，哈利？”从他们躲进衣柜时起，罗恩第一次开口。“所以她才会被带走。根本不是伯希的什么傻事。她发现了有关秘室的一些事。肯定是因为这个，她才会——”罗恩用力地擦着眼睛，“我是说，不会有其它原因的。”
哈利眺望着血红的夕阳沉入地平线，他从没有这么难受过，要是他们能做些什么就好了，任何事。
“哈利，”罗恩说道，“你说有没有可能她没有——你知道——”
哈利不知道该说些什么。他想不出金妮还会活着。
“我们该怎么办？”罗恩说，“我觉得我们应该去看看罗克哈特。
告诉他我们所知的。他就要试着进入秘室了。我们可以告诉他我们认为的入口处，还有是巴斯里斯克在里面。“哈利想不出其它可行的办法，并且他也想做点什么，于是他同意了。当他们要出发时，并没有人来制止他们，只因其他人也同样地难受和伤心。哈利和罗恩翻身起来，穿过房间，从肖像洞里钻了出去。
当他们朝罗克哈特的办公室走去时，夜幕渐临，看起来，办公室里的活动倒不少。刮削声，呼呼声和匆忙的脚步声不时传来。
哈利敲了敲门，里面忽然静了下来。接着，门只开了细细的一道缝，罗克哈特的眼睛朝外瞥着。
“哦……哈利……罗恩……”他把门开大了少许。“我现在正忙着，要是你们能快点……”
“教授，我们是为您提供信息的，”哈利说，“我们觉得这可能会有帮助。”
“呃——这样不——”他们能看到罗克哈特的半边脸显得相当不安。“我是说——呃——好吧。”
他打开门让他们进去了。
他的办公室几乎是空空如也。两个大皮箱放在地板上，敞开着。
翠绿色的，淡紫色的，蓝色的礼服，全都胡乱地塞在其中一个皮箱里。
书则杂乱无章地塞进另一个皮箱。挂在墙上的相片则挤入到桌子上的箱子里去了。
“你要去哪里？”哈利问。
“呃，是的，”罗克哈特答道，一边把门后挂着的一张真人大小的自己的海报扯下来，然后把它卷起。“紧急电话……没办法……得走了……”
“我妹妹怎么办？”罗恩急切地问。
“呃，至于这个——太不幸了，”他猛拉抽屉，开始把里面的东西倒入袋子里，一直躲开他们的眼光，“没有人比我更难过了——”
“你是黑巫术防卫教授！”哈利喊，“你不能走！不能对这里的邪恶势力撒手不理！”
“呃，我得说……我找这份工作的时候……”罗克哈特咕咕着，开始把袜子堆在礼服上，“工作要求上可没提这个……没想到……”
“你的意思是说你要开溜？”哈利难以置信，“可你在书上写了你以往做的英雄事迹……”
“书也可能会误导人。”罗克哈特小心翼翼地说。
“你写的！”哈利大吼。
“亲爱的孩子，”罗克哈特站直身子，朝哈利皱着眉头，“动动脑子吧，要是别人不认为我干过那些事，我的书就一半也卖不出了。没人要读那些老掉牙的美国巫师的故事，即使他的确打败狼人，拯救过村庄。在封面上，他可看起来糟透了，一点穿着品味都没有。而那位女巫，驱逐女妖精的那位，还是兔唇呢。我是说，来吧……”
“因此你就冒名顶替别人干过的事？”哈利无法相信。
“哈利啊哈利，”罗克哈特不耐烦地摇着头，“事情可不只那么简单，还得干点其它的。我得跟踪他们，详细地察问他们是怎样成功做到的，然后给他们下‘记忆魔咒’这样他们可就记不起曾做过的事了，要说我有什么值得骄傲的，那就是我的‘记忆魔咒’了。不，还得做很多工序呢，哈利，这并不只是写书和发布照片。
要名利，你就必须准备做长期的艰苦劳力。”
他砰然把皮箱盖上，锁紧。
“让我看看，”他说，“我想就这些了吧。哦，对，还有一件事。”
他拿出他的魔杖，指向他们。
“实在抱歉，孩子们，但我不得不给你们下‘记忆魔咒’了，可不能让你们把我的秘密到处乱说。否则，我下一本书可就卖不出去了——”
哈利及时拿到他自己的魔杖，罗克哈特还没抬起他的，就听到哈利怒吼一声，“依斯毕利艾玛斯！”
罗克哈特被震得连连退步，跌倒在他的皮箱上，他的魔杖也震飞到了空中。罗恩一把抓住，扔出了窗外。
“应该叫史纳皮教授教我们那一招，”哈利气愤极了，一脚把罗克哈特的皮箱踢开。罗克哈特抬头望着他，这次又显得衰弱了下来。
哈利依然用魔杖指着他。
“你们要我干什么？”罗克哈特怯懦地说，“我不知道神秘秘室在哪里，我无能无才。”
“你运气好，”哈利说着，用魔杖指着他，迫使他站起来，“我想我们知道它在哪，还知道里面有什么，走吧。”
他们把罗克哈特押着出了办公室，走下最近的楼梯，沿着那条黑暗走廊，直到走到麦托勒的浴室门前。
他们让罗克哈特先进去。哈利很高兴看到他在颤抖。
麦托勒正坐在最后一格厕所的水箱上。
“哦，是你啊，”当她看到哈利时说，“这次你要什么？”
“问你你是怎么死的。”哈利问。
麦托勒整个样子都变了，她看起来像从未被问过这样合她口味的问题。
“噢，可怕极了。”她津津有味地说着。“就是在这发生的。我就是在这个小房间死去的。我记得清清楚楚。我躲了起来，因为何比老是取笑我的眼镜。门锁了，我在哭，这时，我听到有人进来了，他们说的话古里古怪的。我猜那，肯定是外语吧。不管怎样，真正吸引我的是一个男孩的声音。所以，我打开门，叫他用自己的厕所，接着——”麦托勒得意洋洋地着重说道，满脸光辉，“我死了。”
“怎么死的？”哈利问。
“不清楚，”麦托勒用一种沉静的音调说，“我只记得看到一双巨大的黄眼睛。
我的整个身躯都像被提了起来，接着，我便飘走了……“她如梦般望着哈利，”然后，我又回来了。我决定缠着何比，哦，她可后悔嘲笑我了。”
“在哪里看到那双眼睛的？”哈利问。
“大概在那里吧。”麦托勒说，模模糊糊地指向她的厕所前的水槽。
哈利和罗思赶紧走过去，罗克哈特站得远远的，一脸极度的恐惧。
那看起来只是一个普通的水槽而已，他们里里外外地检查了每一寸，包括下面的管道，接着，哈利看到了：在铜水龙头的一侧刻有一条极小的蛇。
“那水龙头一直都开不了，”当哈利试着要转动那水龙头时，麦托勒开心地说道。
“哈利，”罗恩提醒他，“说些什么吧，用帕斯尔莫斯。”
“但是——”哈利思索着，唯—一次他成功说出帕斯尔莫斯是他遇到一条真蛇的时候。他紧盯着那微形蛇雕，试着想象它是真蛇。
“开启。”他说。
他望着罗恩，罗恩朝他摇了摇头。
“这是英语。”他说。
哈利重新望着蛇雕，希望自己相信那是活的。他移了移头，烛光映在蛇雕上，使它看起来似乎在动。
“开启。”他说。
可是，他听到的并不是这两个字；他口里发出的是一阵奇异的嘶嘶声，顷刻间，水龙头便罩在一片灿烂的白光中，并开始旋转，紧接着，水槽也开始移动了。事实上，水槽下沉，露出一条的管道，宽得足够让一人滑入。
哈利听到罗恩在喘气，于是再次抬头望着他。哈利已打定主意怎样做了。
“我要从这里下去。”他说。
他不能不去。既然现在他们已经发现秘室的入口，就算是金妮仍可能存活的希望再微弱，再渺茫，他也不能不去。
“还有我。”罗恩说道。
一时间，大家都沉默了。
“呃，你们似乎用不着我，”罗克哈特说，带着一丝原来的微笑的影子。“那我就——”
他把手放在门把上，但罗恩和哈利都同时把魔杖指向他。
“你先去。”罗恩大吼。
罗克哈特来到入口，脸色苍白，精神恍惚。
“孩子们，”他的声音软弱无力，“孩子们，这有什么好处吗？”
哈利用魔杖猛捅他背后一下。罗克哈特把腿伸进管内。
“我真的觉得——”他开口说着，但罗恩推了他一下，他便滑入管内，消失无踪了。哈利很快跟了上去。他慢慢钻进管内，然后一路下滑。
管道内污秽，漆黑，而又似乎永无止境。他可以看到旁伸侧引的许多其它管道，但没有一条是像他们这一条那样庞大的。扭曲、旋转、陡直下滑。他知道自己已经滑下远深于学校和地牢的位置。他可以听到，在他身后，罗恩砰然跌落拐弯处的声音。
就在他开始担心落地后，会发生什么事时，管道水平伸了出去，而他“砰”的一声，从管道尾端射出，落在石制地下道湿漉漉的地板上。地下道足以让人站立而行，四周漆黑一片。罗克哈特在附近不远处站了起来。浑身都是粘泥，脸色苍白得跟鬼魂一般。哈利站在一旁，等着罗恩也飕飕作响地飞出管道。
“我们离学校肯定有数里远了。”哈利说的声音在漆黑的地下道里回响着。
“可能在湖底。”罗恩一边说，一边审视着四周那黑漆漆，粘乎乎的墙壁。
三人都转而凝视着前方的那一片黑暗。
“点灯！”哈利朝着魔杖咕哝一声，它又重新亮了起来，“走吧。”他对着罗恩和罗克哈特说道。他们开始出发了，在湿地行走，脚步声分外响亮。
地下管实在太了，他们只能看到前方的一小段距离。魔杖营光中，他们的影子映在墙上，看起来异常恐怖。
“记住，”当他们小心谨慎地步步前移，哈利悄声说，“听到任何动静，都要立即闭上眼睛逃跑……”
可地下管内静如孤坟，而他们所听到的第一次意外的声响就是罗恩踩在老鼠头盖骨上发出的碎裂声。哈利放低魔杖，查看地板，只见地板上零乱散着小动物的尸骨。哈利努力试着不去想象金妮会成什么样子，他在前面领着路，走过地下道内的一拐弯处。
“哈利，前面有东西……”罗恩声音嘶哑地喊，抓着哈利的肩膀。
他们吓呆了，观察着。哈利只能看到那东西巨大、弯曲的轮廓线，就躺在地下道的转角处，它并没有移动。
“也许它睡着了。”他吸了一口气，转身看了看其他两位。罗克哈特把手紧捂在眼睛上。哈利再转身重新观察那件东西，他的心跳近乎刺痛。
哈利把眼睛眯得尽量小，他慢慢地向前挪动着，手里的魔杖高高举起。
莹光划过的是一张巨蟒皮，令人厌恶的鲜绿色，蜡曲着，空荡荡地躺在地下道地板上。蜕下这张皮的巨蟒肯定至少有二十英尺长。
“啊呀！”罗恩无力地叹道。
他们身后忽然有了动静。罗克哈特已经膝盖发软了。
“起来！”罗恩锐利地说，魔杖指着他。
罗克哈特一跃而起——他冲向罗恩，把他扑倒在地。
哈利往前冲去，但已经太迟了。罗克哈特挺直身躯，喘着气，手里捏着罗恩的魔杖，面带一丝微笑。
“历险到此为止。孩子们！”他说，“我会拿起这张皮回到学校，告诉他们，拯助那女孩已经太迟了，而你们，一看到她面目全非的尸体，就疯了，跟你们的记忆说再见吧！”
他把罗恩的魔杖高举过头顶，大喊一声，“欧比里马阿塔。”
魔杖在他头顶炸开了。哈利用手盖住头，往前跑，滑过蛇皮，躲开了直往下坠的从地下道天花板脱落的巨大岩石。而顷刻间，他已经站直盯着那碎石的坚固表层。
‘罗恩！“他吼道。”你没事吧？罗恩！”“我在这！“巨石后隐约传出了罗恩低沉的声音。”我没事，可这个家伙——他被魔杖烧到了。”
这时，突然传来沉闷的重击声和“嗷！”的一声痛呼，听起来像是罗恩踢中了罗克哈特的肋骨。
“现在怎么办？”罗恩绝望地说，“我们过不去。这得花很长……”
哈利抬头看着天花板，上面露出了一道巨大袭缝。他可从来都没用魔法击散过像眼前这些那么大的岩石，看起来，现在也不是试一试的好时机——万一整个地下道崩塌就糟了！
巨石后又是一声重击和“嗷”的一声。他们在浪费时间，金妮待在神秘秘室已经数小时了。哈利知道只好孤注一掷了。
“在这等着，”他朝罗恩喊，“跟罗克哈特等着
收听单词发音 |
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sneak
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| vt.潜行(隐藏,填石缝)；偷偷摸摸做；n.潜行；adj.暗中进行 | |
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chamber
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| n.房间，寝室；会议厅；议院；会所 | |
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owl
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| n.猫头鹰，枭 | |
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harry
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| vt.掠夺，蹂躏，使苦恼 | |
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wan
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| (wide area network)广域网 | |
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mutinous
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| adj.叛变的，反抗的；adv.反抗地，叛变地；n.反抗，叛变 | |
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scowl
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| vi.(at)生气地皱眉，沉下脸，怒视；n.怒容 | |
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slippers
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| n. 拖鞋 | |
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joyfully
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| adv. 喜悦地, 高兴地 | |
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squeal
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| v.发出长而尖的声音；n.长而尖的声音 | |
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squealed
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| v.长声尖叫，用长而尖锐的声音说( squeal的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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hubbub
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| n.嘈杂；骚乱 | |
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subsided
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| v.（土地）下陷（因在地下采矿）( subside的过去式和过去分词 )；减弱；下降至较低或正常水平；一下子坐在椅子等上 | |
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sprout
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| n.芽，萌芽；vt.使发芽，摘去芽；vi.长芽，抽条 | |
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petrified
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| adj.惊呆的；目瞪口呆的v.使吓呆，使惊呆；变僵硬；使石化(petrify的过去式和过去分词) | |
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catching
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| adj.易传染的，有魅力的，迷人的，接住 | |
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helping
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| n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的 | |
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mumbled
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| 含糊地说某事，叽咕，咕哝( mumble的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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spoke
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| 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 | |
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acting
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| n.演戏，行为，假装；adj.代理的，临时的，演出用的 | |
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electrified
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| v.使电气化( electrify的过去式和过去分词 )；使兴奋 | |
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fleeting
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| adj.短暂的，飞逝的 | |
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scampered
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| v.蹦蹦跳跳地跑，惊惶奔跑( scamper的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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gulp
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| vt.吞咽，大口地吸（气）；vi.哽住；n.吞咽 | |
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eyebrows
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| 眉毛( eyebrow的名词复数 ) | |
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spotted
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| adj.有斑点的，斑纹的，弄污了的 | |
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sleek
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| adj.光滑的，井然有序的；v.使光滑，梳拢 | |
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ushering
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| v.引，领，陪同( usher的现在分词 ) | |
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frankly
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| adv.坦白地，直率地；坦率地说 | |
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30
astounded
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| v.使震惊(astound的过去式和过去分词)；愕然；愕；惊讶 | |
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standing
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| n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的 | |
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32
sneered
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| 讥笑，冷笑( sneer的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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33
darted
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| v.投掷，投射( dart的过去式和过去分词 )；向前冲，飞奔 | |
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34
stammered
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| v.结巴地说出( stammer的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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35
glistening
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| adj.闪耀的，反光的v.湿物闪耀，闪亮( glisten的现在分词 ) | |
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36
detention
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| n.滞留，停留；拘留，扣留；(教育)留下 | |
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37
fervently
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| adv.热烈地，热情地，强烈地 | |
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38
rigid
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| adj.严格的，死板的；刚硬的，僵硬的 | |
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39
sneaked
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| v.潜行( sneak的过去式和过去分词 )；偷偷溜走；（儿童向成人）打小报告；告状 | |
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40
clenched
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| v.紧握，抓紧，咬紧( clench的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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41
scrunched
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| v.发出喀嚓声( scrunch的过去式和过去分词 )；蜷缩；压；挤压 | |
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42
crunch
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| n.关键时刻；艰难局面；v.发出碎裂声 | |
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43
pointed
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| adj.尖的，直截了当的 | |
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44
tugged
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| v.用力拉，使劲拉，猛扯( tug的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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45
toad
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| n.蟾蜍，癞蛤蟆 | |
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46
killing
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| n.巨额利润；突然赚大钱，发大财 | |
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47
wondrous
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| adj.令人惊奇的，奇妙的；adv.惊人地；异乎寻常地；令人惊叹地 | |
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48
fangs
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| n.（尤指狗和狼的）长而尖的牙( fang的名词复数 )；（蛇的）毒牙；罐座 | |
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49
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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50
flicked
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| （尤指用手指或手快速地）轻击( flick的过去式和过去分词 )； （用…）轻挥； （快速地）按开关； 向…笑了一下（或瞥了一眼等） | |
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51
jaw
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| n.颚，颌，说教，流言蜚语；v.喋喋不休，教训 | |
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52
scribbled
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| v.潦草的书写( scribble的过去式和过去分词 )；乱画；草草地写；匆匆记下 | |
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53
plumbing
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| n.水管装置；水暖工的工作；管道工程v.用铅锤测量（plumb的现在分词）；探究 | |
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54
hoarsely
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| adv.嘶哑地 | |
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55
deserted
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| adj.荒芜的，荒废的，无人的，被遗弃的 | |
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56
rumbling
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| n. 隆隆声, 辘辘声 adj. 隆隆响的 动词rumble的现在分词 | |
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57
underneath
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| adj.在...下面，在...底下；adv.在下面 | |
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58
dozed
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| v.打盹儿，打瞌睡( doze的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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59
remarkably
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| ad.不同寻常地，相当地 | |
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60
hatred
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| n.憎恶，憎恨，仇恨 | |
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61
blanched
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| v.使变白( blanch的过去式 )；使（植物）不见阳光而变白；酸洗（金属）使有光泽；用沸水烫（杏仁等）以便去皮 | |
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62
bungled
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| v.搞糟，完不成( bungle的过去式和过去分词 )；笨手笨脚地做；失败；完不成 | |
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63
rein
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| n.疆绳，统治，支配；vt.以僵绳控制，统治 | |
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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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65
nostrils
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| 鼻孔( nostril的名词复数 ) | |
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66
Flared
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| adj. 端部张开的, 爆发的, 加宽的, 漏斗式的 动词flare的过去式和过去分词 | |
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67
frantically
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| ad.发狂地, 发疯地 | |
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68
miserable
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| adj.悲惨的，痛苦的；可怜的，糟糕的 | |
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69
thumps
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| n.猪肺病；砰的重击声( thump的名词复数 )v.重击， （指心脏）急速跳动( thump的第三人称单数 ) | |
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70
jumbled
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| adj.混乱的；杂乱的 | |
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71
crammed
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| 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) | |
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72
wrenched
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| v.（猛力地）扭( wrench的过去式和过去分词 )；扭伤；使感到痛苦；使悲痛 | |
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73
defense
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| n.防御，保卫；[pl.]防务工事；辩护，答辩 | |
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74
banished
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| v.放逐，驱逐( banish的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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75
publicity
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| n.众所周知，闻名；宣传，广告 | |
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76
bellowed
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| 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 | |
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77
relish
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| n.滋味，享受，爱好，调味品；vt.加调味料，享受，品味；vi.有滋味 | |
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78
swelled
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| 增强( swell的过去式和过去分词 )； 肿胀； （使）凸出； 充满（激情） | |
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79
determined
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| adj.坚定的；有决心的 | |
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80
vaguely
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| adv.含糊地，暖昧地 | |
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81
copper
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| n.铜；铜币；铜器；adj.铜(制)的；(紫)铜色的 | |
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82
engraving
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| n.版画；雕刻（作品）；雕刻艺术；镌版术v.在（硬物）上雕刻（字，画等）( engrave的现在分词 )；将某事物深深印在（记忆或头脑中） | |
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83
hiss
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| v.发出嘶嘶声；发嘘声表示不满 | |
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84
hissing
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| n. 发嘶嘶声, 蔑视 动词hiss的现在分词形式 | |
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85
gasp
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| n.喘息，气喘；v.喘息；气吁吁他说 | |
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86
snarled
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| v.（指狗）吠，嗥叫， （人）咆哮( snarl的过去式和过去分词 )；咆哮着说，厉声地说 | |
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87
dungeons
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| n.地牢( dungeon的名词复数 ) | |
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88
squinting
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| 斜视( squint的现在分词 )； 眯着眼睛； 瞟； 从小孔或缝隙里看 | |
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89
monstrous
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| adj.巨大的；恐怖的；可耻的，丢脸的 | |
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90
skull
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| n.头骨；颅骨 | |
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91
tragically
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| adv. 悲剧地，悲惨地 | |
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92
mangled
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| vt.乱砍（mangle的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
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93
chunks
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| 厚厚的一块( chunk的名词复数 )； （某物）相当大的数量或部分 | |
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94
muffled
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| adj.（声音）被隔的；听不太清的；（衣服）裹严的；蒙住的v.压抑，捂住( muffle的过去式和过去分词 )；用厚厚的衣帽包着（自己） | |
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95
tingling
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| v.有刺痛感( tingle的现在分词 ) | |
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96
dreaded
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| adj.令人畏惧的；害怕的v.害怕，恐惧，担心( dread的过去式和过去分词) | |
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97
flicker
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| vi./n.闪烁，摇曳，闪现 | |
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98
smoothly
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| adv.平滑地，顺利地，流利地，流畅地 | |
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