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Harry, who was still playing the flute, waved at Ron to get his attention and pointed at himself.
哈利一边仍在吹着笛子，一边朝罗恩挥了挥手，引起他的注意，又甩手指了指自己。

"You want to go first? Are you sure?" said Ron. "I don't know how deep this thing goes. Give the flute to Hermione so she can keep him asleep."
“你想第一个下去？真的吗？”罗恩说，“我不知道这个洞有多深。把笛子给赫敏，让她继续哄大狗睡觉。”

Harry handed the flute over. In the few seconds' silence, the dog growled and twitched, but the moment Hermione began to play, it fell back into its deep sleep.
哈利把笛子递了过去。在音乐停顿的这几秒钟里，大狗又咆哮起来，并开始扭动身子，可是赫敏刚把笛子吹响，它就又沉沉地睡去了。

Harry climbed over it and looked down through the trapdoor. There was no sign of the bottom.
哈利从大狗身上爬过去，透过那个洞口往下看。下面深不见底。

He lowered himself through the hole until he was hanging on by his fingertips. Then he looked up at Ron and said, "If anything happens to me, don't follow. Go straight to the owlery and send Hedwig to Dumbledore, right?"
他慢慢顺着洞口滑下去，最后只靠十个手指攀住洞口边缘。他抬头看着罗恩说：“如果我出了什么意外，你们别跟着下来。直接到猫头鹰住的橱屋，派海德薇给邓布利多送信，行吗？”

"Right," said Ron.
“好吧。”罗恩说。

"See you in a minute, I hope... "
“过会儿见，我希望……”

And Harry let go. Cold, damp air rushed past him as he fell down, down, down and — FLUMP. With a funny, muffled sort of thump he landed on something soft. He sat up and felt around, his eyes not used to the gloom. It felt as though he was sitting on some sort of plant.
哈利松开手，寒冷、潮湿的空气在他耳边呼呼掠过。他向下坠落，坠落，坠落，然后——扑通。随着一声奇怪而沉闷的撞击声，哈利落到了一个柔软的东西上面。他坐起来，朝四下里摸索着。他的眼睛还没有适应这里昏暗的光线。他觉得自己仿佛是坐在某种植物上面。

"It's okay!" he called up to the light the size of a postage stamp, which was the open trapdoor, "it's a soft landing, you can jump!"
“没问题！”他冲着洞口喊道，现在洞口看上去只是邮票大小的一块光斑。“是软着陆，你们可以跳了！”

Ron followed right away. He landed, sprawled next to Harry.
罗恩紧接着就跳了下来。他四肢着地，落在哈利身边。

"What's this stuff?" were his first words.
“这是什么玩艺儿？”他一开口就问。

"Dunno, some sort of plant thing. I suppose it's here to break the fall. Come on, Hermione!"
“不知道，好像是一种植物。大概是铺在这里减轻坠落时的碰撞的。来吧，赫敏！”

The distant music stopped. There was a loud bark from the dog, but Hermione had already jumped. She landed on Harry's other side.
远处的笛声停止了。大狗又发出了响亮的狂吠，但是赫敏已经跳下来了。她降落在哈利的另一边。

"We must be miles under the school , she said.
“我们一定离学校很远很远了。”她说。

"Lucky this plant thing's here, really," said Ron.
“说实在的，幸好有这堆植物铺在这里。”罗恩说。

"Lucky!" shrieked Hermione. "Look at you both!"
“幸好什么！”赫敏尖叫起来，“看看你们两个！”

She leapt up and struggled toward a damp wall. She had to struggle because the moment she had landed, the plant had started to twist snakelike tendrils around her ankles. As for Harry and Ron, their legs had already been bound tightly in long creepers without their noticing.
她猛地跳起来，挣扎着朝一面潮湿的墙壁移动。她之所以这样挣扎，是因为她刚一落下，那植物就伸出蛇一般的卷须，缠绕住她的脚踝。而哈利和罗恩呢，他们不知不觉中已经被长长的藤蔓缠住了双腿。

重点讲解

重点讲解

point at
指向
It's rude to point your fingers at people.
用手指指人是很失礼的。
He pointed the telescope at a deer on the hillside.
他把望远镜对着山坡上的一只小鹿。

hand over
交出，移交
He also handed over a letter of apology from the Prime Minister...
他还递交了一封首相写的道歉信。
"I've got his card." Judith said, handing it over.
“我有他的名片，”朱迪丝边说边把名片递了过来。

人物介绍

鲁伯·海格

作为《哈利波特》系列中的人物。霍格沃茨的钥匙管理员，后来由于罪名洗脱和前任保护神奇生物课教授退休，加上鲁伯·海格对动物的喜爱，他接任了这门课，成了教授。他是半巨人，为了让巨人们不与伏地魔为伍，他受校长邓布利多的委托担任了人与巨人间的信使。1942年，密室被汤姆·里德尔打开，但他嫁祸于当时是他同学的海格，说海格养的蜘蛛阿拉戈克杀了泥巴种桃金娘，海格因此开除，邓布利多留下他做猎场看守，学校钥匙保管员，1993年秋成为保护神奇生物课教师。