2、Chapter 2: The Dark Prince（黑暗王子） ...
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Lily sighed as she put down the last of the papers she had been marking. Potions was a much more difficult subject than most people gave it credit for and marking essays for the subject wasn't an easy task. She leaned back in her chair and rubbed at her tired neck; she had been trying to get all the marking done before she retired to her bed for the night. At last she was finished.
莉莉叹了口气，放下最后一份批好的作业。魔药这门课比大多数人想的更难学，批这门课的论文就更不是件轻松活计了。她一仰身子靠在椅背上，揉了揉发酸的脖颈。
她希望能在睡前批完所有作业——所幸最后也确实完成了。
She glanced around at her surroundings. Her staff quarter at Hogwarts was located in the dungeons but she had managed to bring a level of comfort to it. She had given the place a woman's touch by painting the cement walls and decorating the quarter as best she could. Around her desk she had pictures of her family. She always felt it was important for her to be able to look up from her work and see the face of a loved one.
莉莉放眼四顾，虽然她在霍格沃茨的职工宿舍是在地窖里，但她也尽力让这个阴冷的地方变得宜居了。她将那面水泥墙重新粉刷过，并在上面做了一些装饰。在她的桌子上摆了许多属于家人的照片。只要在忙碌之余瞥见他们的面孔，因为辛苦的工作而产生的疲倦仿佛就能烟消云散。
It was just as well she had pictures of her family around her as she hardly got a chance to see James any more. What with her teaching Potions and him out on Auror duty, not to mention they both were members of the Order of the Phoenix, that left next to no time for them to be together. School holidays were the only time she got to be with her family.
也幸好有这些照片在——现在，她在霍格沃茨教魔药学，而詹姆每天都奔波在傲罗的岗位上，更别说他们还都要为凤凰社工作，平日里根本没什么机会见面。
也就只有在学校放假的时候，莉莉才有机会和家人团聚。
Her emerald green eyes shifted to the photo of her twelve year old son. If it wasn't for Damien, she would have worked full time for the Order. Damien had started Hogwarts two years ago and she had taken up the post as the Potions professor last year when it was offered to her. Damien had complained endlessly that he couldn't get up to mischief if she was at Hogwarts too but that only worked to encourage Lily to take up the post.
绿眸转而投向相片中她十二岁的儿子——如果不是为了达米安，她一定还在全心全意地为社里工作，而不是在这里教书。达米安从两年前起在霍格沃茨学习，而莉莉则是在去年魔药学教授的位置空出来后接任的。不过达米安可不太乐意这点，他总抱怨说这样一来他都没法在霍格沃茨随便恶作剧了——这倒愈发让莉莉觉得自己做了个正确的决定。
Lily sighed again and took a hold of his photo. It was taken only last year when Damien had been a first year. Unlike his older brother, Damien was not a spitting image of James. He still had the black hair but it wasn't messy like James'. He had James' eyes, deep hazel eyes that he always used to get out of trouble, again very much like his father. His features though were like Lily. He had his mother's nose, her mouth and even her s mile. He had inherited her fiery temper and James' love of pulling pranks. He was quite a mix of the two. Sirius had taken it on himself to turn Damien into a James rival at trouble making and pulling pranks. Of course Damien was all too eager to learn from a Marauder.
莉莉再次叹了口气，将他的相片拿了起来，那是在去年——达米安刚上完一年级时拍的。和他哥哥不同，达米安长得没那么像詹姆。他虽然也是黑头发，但完全不像詹姆那么乱。他有双和詹姆一样的眼睛，那双淡褐色的眼睛总能帮他逃脱挨罚的命运——这点又像极了他爸爸。不过他的脸部轮廓却更多随了莉莉——鼻子和嘴唇的形状，甚至是笑起来的模样都和她一模一样。他同样继承了莉莉的火爆脾气与詹姆对恶作剧的热衷，当真是夫妻两个的完美结合。而小天狼星则通过言传身教，把达米安教成了一个和詹姆有得一拼的小麻烦精。当然啦，达米安本身也十分热衷于向劫道者们看齐。
Lily gazed at the picture of James and felt her heart ache with the pain of missing him. She had not seen him for the last two weeks. But that pain was nothing compared to the anguish which took a hold of her every time she looked at the picture next to his. The picture had been taken only 3 days before he was taken. Lily turned her emerald eyes to the portrait of her eldest son, Harry. He was giggling and pointing at her before clapping his little hands together. Her heart constricted so painfully when she looked at her baby. She looked away from the picture and to the s mall calendar on her desk. The date read May 31st. She felt her breath hitch in her chest. 'Two months' she thought, 'in two months time he would have turned sixteen.'
莉莉注视着詹姆的照片，感到自己的心脏正因对他的思念而传出阵阵抽痛——他们已经整整两周没见面了。但这一点细微的抽痛却全然无法与她看到下一张照片时的那种剧烈的痛楚相提并论。
拍下这张照片后只过了三天，他就被偷走了。
莉莉的绿眸转向照片中的大儿子哈利，他指指她，然后又拍着自己的小手发出咯咯的笑声。看着这孩子，莉莉只觉得心脏在一瞬间缩紧了，剧烈的痛楚席卷而来。她勉强把视线从那张照片上挪开，转向桌子上的一台小日历。
日历正翻到5月31日。
莉莉觉得自己的胸口哽住了什么，让她连呼吸都觉得困难了。
'两个月。'她想道，'再过两个月他就十六岁了。'
She had always thought of Harry like this; always wondering what he would have been doing if he were still alive. It was difficult for James to hear Lily talk about Harry, so much so that Lily had stopped mentioning Harry to James.
她总会这样想起哈利，总会不自觉地去想如果他还活着会怎样。但詹姆仍旧很难接受听到和哈利有关的一切——他觉得哈利绝无幸理，听到一次就痛一次。久而久之，莉莉也就不再同他提起哈利了。
James had taken the emotional blow of losing his son much harder than she had. After all, it was his friend that had stolen Harry from right under their roof and had handed him over to a monster to be brutally killed. It had been his friend that had attacked him and Sirius before kidnapping Harry. It made James feel guilty and responsible. Lily remembered how awful it had been when James had woken up a fortnight after the attack to learn what his friend had done; that they had lost Harry. James had always blamed himself for not protecting his son. He had vowed to himself that he would find Peter and Voldemort and kill them both. For the best part of two years, all James did was try to find a way to get to the Dark Lord and his Death Eater follower, Peter.
失去儿子给詹姆造成的打击甚至比她还要严重。毕竟，把哈利从他们布下重重保护的家中偷走送给了那个怪物、令他被被残忍杀害的，正是詹姆自己曾信赖的朋友，他袭击了詹姆和小天狼星，绑走了哈利。
詹姆总觉得那是自己的过失。那场袭击让詹姆昏迷了整整两周，而他醒来后得知他信赖的朋友做了什么时表情有多可怕，莉莉至今都记得清清楚楚——而更糟糕的是他们还失去了哈利。
詹姆将没有保护好哈利的责任全揽到了自己身上，他发誓一定要杀了彼得和伏地魔报仇。他沉浸在仇恨中无法自拔，在达米安出生前的两年里，他简直是上天入地一般疯狂搜寻着那两个人。
Damien's arrival gave James back his life. It was only then that James become himself again. But Lily knew that even now, James was working hard to find Voldemort and Peter. He wouldn't give up his quest, not until he took his revenge.
直到达米安出生，詹姆才终于像是重新活过来了。但莉莉很清楚，詹姆至今也没有放弃向伏地魔与彼得复仇的打算——这仇恨不死不休。
Lily tore her eyes away from the photo of Harry and rubbed at them wearily. She got up and made her way to the s mall living quarter that held her four-poster bed. She was about to go to bed when a gentle tapping alerted her to the window. She looked out of her oval window and saw a s mall brown owl gazing at her. Lily s miled and rushed to the window to let the s mall creature in. The owl hooted happily and immediately stuck out his leg presenting a s mall scroll. Lily took it gratefully and didn't notice the owl taking flight immediately after. Lily knew the letter was from James as he always sent ministry owls. She quickly tore the envelope open and started reading the letter.
莉莉有些疲惫地将照片擦了擦放下，她站起来，准备回到四柱床上休息。就在这时，一阵轻轻的敲击声响了起来，引她朝圆窗外看去。
外面有只棕色的猫头鹰正瞧着她，那模样引得莉莉轻轻一笑，奔到窗边把这小东西放了进来。
小猫头鹰欢叫着把绑着信封的那条腿伸到莉莉跟前，莉莉开心地取下信封，都没没注意到它立刻就飞走了。她知道这封信一定是詹姆写的，他总喜欢用魔法部的猫头鹰给她送信。
莉莉飞快地撕开信封，开始读信。
Dear Lily
亲爱的莉莉
How are you honey? I hope you're keeping out of trouble. Which reminds me, how is our little troublemaker? Hope you're not keeping him in many detentions. Tell Damy that I have the World Cup tickets and that we will definitely be going to watch it. Bulgaria and Ireland! So excited! Can't wait for it! But, ahem… how are you keeping dear?
最近好吗亲爱的？我希望你最近没遇到什么烦心事——这倒提醒我了，咱们的小捣蛋鬼最近怎么样？但愿你没关他太多禁闭。转告达米我已经弄到世界杯的票了，到时候我们可以一起去看。保加利亚和爱尔兰大对决！这太让人兴奋了！我简直迫不及待了！抱歉扯远了亲爱的……你最近过得怎么样？
I will hopefully be coming this weekend to see you. Maybe we can go to Hogs meade when I'm over.
或许下周咱们能见上一面，到时候可以一块去霍格莫德转转。
Take care sweetheart and give my love to Damy.
保重亲爱的，以及转告达米我也爱他。
James.
詹姆
Lily s miled and put the letter aside. James and Quidditch, there was just no separating the two. Damien would be pleased though, he had been going on about tickets to this game for the last three weeks. She knew that James supported Ireland while Sirius and Damien had always been Bulgaria fans.
莉莉笑着把信放下，詹姆和魁地奇简直从不分家。达米安想必要乐坏了，他从三个周前就盼着能弄到世界杯的票了。她知道詹姆支持爱尔兰队，而小天狼星和达米安则是保加利亚队的忠实球迷。
'This ought to be interesting.' Lily thought as she crept into her bed and pulled her covers up. She was so tired that she was already falling asleep. Her last coherent thought was,
‘那应该会很有趣。’莉莉一边爬上床放下帷帐一边想着。她实在是太累了，几乎是一沾到枕头就睡着了。
'I wonder who Harry would've supported…'
‘我真想知道哈利会支持谁……’这是她入睡前的最后一个念头。
xxx
In a darkened room, littered with various books and parchments sat a tall dark haired wizard. His blue eyes were fixed on the glass in his hand, as he sat on his chair. He gazed at the amber liquid in the glass, not really looking at it. His mind was distracted by another very disturbing matter.
昏暗的屋子里堆满了各式各样的书籍和羊皮纸，一个黑头发的高个儿巫师坐在那儿。他坐在椅子上，蓝眼睛定在手中的玻璃杯上。他像是正透过玻璃凝视着其中的琥珀色液体——但实际上，他现在被其他事情搅得心烦意乱，半点注意都没分给它。
He knew what he was doing was dangerous, very dangerous. In fact, he was certain should anyone know what he was doing they would think he was out of his mind. Blackmailing the Dark Lord was not something to consider lightly. But he knew that if he succeeded, he would have untold powers. He was already in Lord Voldemort's inner circle, part of the elite group of individuals. But the Dark Lord would give him whatever he wanted in exchange for his silence. Lord Voldemort could give him the sort of power others can only dream of. He could very well be the most powerful Death Eater, maybe even as powerful as the Dark Lord himself. It was worth the risk.
他知道自己现在所做的事很危险，非常危险。事实上，他确信任何了解他在干什么的人都会觉得他疯了。威胁黑魔王可不是正常人该考虑的，但一旦成功，所能获得的回报也将是无法想象的。他已经进入了黑魔王麾下的核心圈子，绝对称得上佼佼者，但这还远远不够——靠他知道的那个秘密，他从黑魔王那里换来一切想要的东西。
如果伏地魔想让他保持沉默，一定会赐给他别人梦寐以求的强大魔力，这会让他成为最强的食死徒，甚至足以与黑魔王本人比肩——是的，毫无疑问，这值得去冒些风险。
Jason Riley's hand shook again as he thought about what he was risking. He had heard the rumours, whispers among the other Death Eaters about the one who served the Dark Lord. The one who no one had seen but yet knew existed. He didn't believe it, not completely. He told himself the Dark Prince was just a myth, fabricated and exaggerated to scare them, to keep them in line. But there were the deaths of many talented and powerful Death Eaters that were accredited to the Dark Prince; Yaxley, Davidson, Hugh, Patterson and about half a dozen more were all rumoured to have been killed by the Dark Prince.
一想到自己这么做所冒的风险，杰森·莱利就忍不住攥紧了手。他曾经听过那个传闻，那个存在于其他食死徒窃窃私语中的、那个从未有人见过、但无人不晓的存在……他不相信，至少不完全相信。
他忍不住又一次告诉自己：黑暗王子只不过是胡编乱造、夸大其实的产物，没错，只不过是一个用来恫吓他人、让人不敢生出异心的幻影罢了。然而，然而——又有那么多魔力强大、才华横溢的食死徒之死在验证其存在：亚历克斯、戴维森、休、帕特森，还有差不多半打强者，据说都是被黑暗王子干掉的。
Jason brought the glass to his lips and downed the rest of his drink, hoping to drive the cold fear out of his chest. Just as the empty glass touched the table, the lights flickered momentarily before going out altogether. The Death Eater sat frozen in his chair as the room was thrown into darkness. He grabbed for his wand, his knuckles turning white with his strong grip. Slowly he stood up, his eyes darting to all corners of the room.
杰森把杯子拿到嘴边，将当中剩下的液体一饮而尽，企图驱散胸中因恐惧而生的阵阵寒意。
就在空空的杯子碰到桌面的那一瞬间，房间里的灯忽然一闪，紧接着完全熄灭了。一片黑暗中，食死徒僵在了他的椅子上。紧接着他就回过神来，慌忙抽出魔杖，指节因为用力而微微发白。
魔杖在手似乎给他以轻微的安慰，杰森慢慢地从椅子上站起来，眼神不住在整个房间来回扫视。
"Lumos" he whispered and the end of his wand lit but the light was still not enough to be comforting.
“荧光闪烁。”他小声念出咒语，杖尖随之亮起。
还不够——远远不够，这点光亮实在没法给他哪怕半点安心感。
Gripping his lit wand tightly in his hand, Jason Riley walked across the room, towards the door. He opened the door slowly, his mind telling him he should not be this afraid. Standing at the threshold of his door, Jason waited to see if anything happened. He couldn't see anyone. He held his lit wand high above his head but he still couldn't see anyone.
杰森·莱利手里牢牢抓着被点亮的魔杖，小心翼翼地穿过房间，靠近房门。他慢慢地拉开房门，不断在心里告诉自己这没什么好怕的。
杰森在门口站定，准备看看外面是不是出了什么事——但门外什么都没有。即便如此，他仍然不敢放松，把点亮的魔杖高高举过头顶。
结果依旧是一无所获。
Just as he walked out of the room, he felt it, the sudden change in the air around him. He could almost taste the magic in the air, before he heard the faint footsteps behind him. He stopped where he was and stood still. Fighting down his panic Jason turned around slowly to face his visitor. All he could make out in the limited light was a silhouette.
就在他走出房间时，他忽然就感觉到了，某种诡异的气息包围了他——在他实际听到身后传来的细微脚步声前，空气中弥漫的厚重魔力就几乎灌进了他嘴里。杰森不由自主地定在了原地，他拼命顶住心中灭顶的恐惧，无比迟缓地转身面对来客。
在极其微弱的光亮中，唯一能够分辨出的只有一个剪影。
He knew then the myth was real.
他在刹那间从心底了悟了——那个传闻是真的。
Even so, he found himself asking,
即便如此，他还是开口发问了，
"Who are you?"
“你是什么人？”
The figure stepped forward so the light from Jason's wand could wash over him. Jason nervously took in the appearance of the wizard standing before him. Clad in dark robes, face hidden behind a silver mask which only exposed emerald green eyes, stood the one who all the Death Eaters had come to fear; the Dark Lord's son, the Dark Prince.
那道影子从阴影中走出，将自己暴露在杰森杖尖点起的光亮中。杰森紧张地抓着魔杖，盯住这个站在他面前的巫师——他穿着黑色的长袍，脸上覆盖着一张银面，只露出一双翠绿色的眼睛。
这就是黑暗王子，黑魔王的儿子，那个让所有食死徒都胆战心惊的存在。
"I think you already know." came the answer and Jason heard the youth in the voice. He realised the Dark Prince was still a boy, probably still in his teens.
“我想你应该已经知道了。”杰森听到一个年轻的声音回答他——这让他飞快地意识到，黑暗王子尚且是个少年人，大概也就是个十几岁的男孩。
"Why are you here?" Jason asked, trying to fake calmness.
“你为什么会在这儿？”杰森努力让自己的声音显得十分镇定。
"You betrayed Lord Voldemort." the boy answered, a hiss of anger in his words. "I'm here to deliver your punishment."
“你背叛了伏地魔大人。”男孩回答，话里含着嘶嘶的怒声，“而我来给你应有的惩罚。”
Jason noticed that although the boy before him was holding his wand, he wasn't pointing it at him. He tried to use this to his advantage.
杰森留意到，面前这男孩虽然拿着魔杖，却并没有指向他——毫无疑问，这是个可供利用的优势。
"I would never betray my Lord! I am his humble servant. I could never think of... AVADA KEDAVRA!" Jason fired the killing curse in a sudden move.
“我永远都不会背叛我的主人！我是他最忠诚的仆人，我从来没想过要……阿瓦达索命！”杰森猛然射出死咒。
The silver masked wizard leapt out of the way, missing the jet of green light. Jason quickly took aim and tried once again to kill him.
银面巫师敏锐地侧身一闪，躲开了那束绿光。杰森紧跟着重新瞄准，试图再发出一个死咒。
Before the words left his mouth properly, his wand was suddenly wrenched from his hand. The force of the nonverbal disarming spell was so sudden and powerful, it caused the wand to be ripped away from Jason. The wand hit the floor with a clatter and extinguished, plunging the room into darkness.
然而不等他念出咒语，他手中的魔杖已经猛地飞了出去。强力而毫无征兆的无声缴械咒从杰森手中夺走了他的魔杖，杖身落地时发出咔哒一声轻响，荧光熄灭，房间陡然陷入了黑暗。
The Death Eater took his chance and darted towards the staircase, keeping as low as possible as to avoid getting hit by any curses.
食死徒没去管他的魔杖，他抓住机会朝楼梯冲去，并极力把身子伏低，以躲避身后随时可能袭来的咒语。
He raced down the stairs, intending to use his fireplace to floo out of here. He had only reached the bottom of the steps when he felt a spell zoom over the top of his head. He ducked instinctively. That was when he felt the tip of a wand press into the back of his neck.
杰森冲向楼下，试图借助壁炉里的飞路网逃出屋子。然而就在他快要冲到最后一节台阶的时候，一条咒语从杰森头顶飞了过去。
他本能地躲避了一下，感觉到一支冰冷的杖尖抵住了后颈。
"Up!" came the command and the Death Eater slowly rose to his feet.
“起来！”一声令下，食死徒别无选择，缓缓地站了起来。
He was a good three or four inches taller than the Dark Prince but that didn't comfort him in anyway.
他比黑暗王子还要高上三四英寸，但这给不了他半点安心感。
"Please, please Dark Prince," Jason tried desperately. "Don't kill me!"
“求、求你了黑暗王子，”杰森绝望地祈求道，“别杀我！”
The lights flickered on again and Jason found himself looking straight into a pair of startling green eyes, which to his dis may, held no pity.
灯光一个闪烁，重新亮了起来，杰森发现自己正与一双绿得惊人的眼睛对视着——而令他失望的是，他在这双眼睛里找不到一丝怜悯之情。
"You're a traitor, and traitors only have one punishment." The Dark Prince told him.
“你是个叛徒，而叛徒的下场只有一个。”黑暗王子说。
Before Jason could do anything, the words of the killing curse were whispered and the green light struck him straight between the eyes. The Death Eater fell to the ground, dead.
杰森没来得及再做出任何反应，那道象征着死亡的魔咒已被低声念出，一道耀眼的绿光迎面而来，正中他的眉心。食死徒的身体砸落在地上，停止了呼吸。
The Dark Prince only took one look at the corpse at his feet before turning around and leaving. His assignment completed.
黑暗王子瞥了倒在脚边的尸体一眼，毫不留恋地转身离开了。
他的任务完成了。
作者有话说
第2章 Chapter 2: The Dark Prince（黑暗王子）
