“Well， Ted，” said the weatherman， “I don‘t know about that， but it’s not only the owls that have been actingoddly（古怪） today。 Viewers as far apart as Kent， Yorkshire， and Dundee have been phoning in to tell me that instead of the rain I promised yesterday， they‘ve had adownpourofshooting stars（流星雨）！ Perhaps people have been celebrating Bonfire Night early —— it’s not until next week， folks！ But I can promise a wet night tonight。”
“噢，泰德，”氣象播音員說，“這我可不知道，今天不僅貓頭鷹表現反常。全國各地遠至肯特郡、約克郡、丹地①等地的目擊者都紛紛打來電話說，我們原來預報昨天有雨，結果下的不是雨麗是流星！也許人們把本該一星期後舉行的慶祝篝火之夜②晚會提前舉行了，朋友們！不過我向你們保證，今晚一定有雨。”
Mr。 Dursley sat frozen （凍住呆住）in his armchair。 Shooting stars all over Britain？ Owls flying by daylight？ Mysterious people in cloaks all over the place？ And a whisper， a whisper about the Potters。。。
Mr。 Dursley sat frozen （凍住呆住）in his armchair。 Shooting stars all over Britain？ Owls flying by daylight？ Mysterious people in cloaks all over the place？ And a whisper， a whisper about the Potters。。。
德思禮先生坐在扶手椅裡驚呆了。英國普遍下流星雨？貓頭鷹光天化日之下四處紛飛？到處都是披著斗篷的怪人？還有一些傳聞，關於波特一家的傳聞。。
Mrs。 Dursley came into the living room carrying two cups of tea。It was no good（情況不妙）。 He‘d have to say something to her。 He cleared his throat nervously。 “Er —— Petunia， dear —— you haven’t heard from your sisterlately，have you？”
德思辛L太太端著兩杯茶來到起居室。情況不妙。他應該向她透露一些。他心神不定，清了清嗓子。“唔—— 佩妮，親愛的——最近有你妹妹的訊息嗎？”
As he had expected， Mrs。 Dursley looked shocked and angry。 After all， they normally pretended she didn‘t have a sister。
“No，” she said sharply。 “Why？”
不出所料，德思禮太太大為吃驚，也很生氣。不管怎麼說，他們通常都說自己沒有這麼個妹妹。
“沒有，”她厲聲說，“怎麼了？”
“Funny stuff on the news，” Mr。 Dursley mumbled。 “Owls。。。 shooting stars。。。 and there were a lot offunny-looking（怪模怪樣的） people in town today。。。”
“So？”snapped Mrs。 Dursley。
“Well， I just thought。。。 maybe。。。 it was something to do with。。。 you know。。。 her crowd。”
“今天的新聞有點奇怪，”德思禮先生咕噥說，“成群的貓頭鷹。。流星雨。。今天城裡又有那麼多怪模怪樣的人。。”
“那又怎麼樣？’’德思禮太太急赤白臉地說。
“哦，我是想。。說不定。。這跟。。你知道。。她那一群人有關係。。”
Mrs。 Dursleysipped（啜）her tea throughpursed（縮攏）lips。Mr。 Dursley wondered whether he dared tell her he‘d heard the name “Potter。” He decided he didn’t dare。 Instead he said， as casually（不經意的） as he could， “Their son —— he‘d be about Dudley’s age now， wouldn‘t he？”
德思禮太太嘬起嘴唇呷sip了一口茶。德思禮先生不知道自己是不是該大膽地把聽到“哈利”名字的事告訴她。他決定還是不要太冒失。於是他儘量漫不經心地改口說：“他們的兒子—— 他現在該有達力這麼大了吧？”
“I suppose so，” said Mrs。 Dursley stiffly。
“What’s his name again？ Howard， isn‘t it？”
“Harry。Nasty（討嫌）， common name， if you ask me。”
“Oh， yes，” said Mr。 Dursley， his heart sinking horribly。 “Yes， I quite agree。”
“我想是吧。”德思禮太太子巴巴地說。．、“他叫什麼來著？是叫霍華德吧？”“叫哈利，要我說，這是一個不討人喜歡的普通名字。” “哦，是的。”德思禮先生說著，感到心裡突然往下一沉。
He didn’t say another word on the subject as they went upstairs to bed。 While Mrs。 Dursley was in the bathroom， Mr。 Dursleycreptto the bedroom window and peered down into the front garden。 The cat was still there。 It was staring down Privet Drive as though it were waiting for something。
“不錯，我也這麼想。”他們上樓睡覺時，他就再也沒有提到這個話題了。德思禮太太進浴室以後。德思禮先生就輕手輕腳來到臥室窗前，看看前面的花園。那隻貓還在原地，正目①肯特郡在英格蘭南部。約克郡在英格蘭北部。丹地是英格蘭北部海港。
②指每年11月5日在英國舉行的慶祝篝火之夜活動。不轉睛地盯著女貞路路口，好像在等待什麼。
Was he imagining things？ Could all this have anything to do with the Potters？ If it did。。。 if it got out that they were related to a pair of（這對夫妻） —— well， he didn‘t think he could bear it。
他是在想入非非嗎？這一切會與波特一家有關嗎？如果真有關係—— 如果最後真跟他們夫婦有關—— 那麼，他認為他是承受不住的。
