Friday was an important day for Harry and Ron. They finally managed to find their way down to the Great Hall for breakfast without getting lost once.
"What have we got today?" Harry asked Ron as he poured sugar on his porridge.
"Double Potions with the Slytherins," said Ron. "Snape's Head of Slytherin House. They say he always favors them -- we'll be able to see if it's true."
"Wish McGonagall favored us, " said Harry. Professor McGonagall was head of Gryffindor House, but it hadn't stopped her from giving them a huge pile of homework the day before.
Just then, the mail arrived. Harry had gotten used to this by now, but it had given him a bit of a shock on the first morning, when about a hundred owls had suddenly streamed into the Great Hall during breakfast, circling the tables until they saw their owners, and dropping letters and packages onto their laps.
Hedwig hadn't brought Harry anything so far. She sometimes flew in to nibble his ear and have a bit of toast before going off to sleep in the owlery with the other school owls. This morning, however, she fluttered down between the marmalade and the sugar bowl and dropped a note onto Harry's plate. Harry tore it open at once. It said, in a very untidy scrawl:
Dear Harry,
I know you get Friday afternoons off, so would you like to come and have a cup of tea with me around three?
I want to hear all about your first week. Send us an answer back with Hedwig.
Hagrid
Harry borrowed Ron's quill, scribbled Yes, please, see you later on the back of the note, and sent Hedwig off again.
It was lucky that Harry had tea with Hagrid to look forward to, because the Potions lesson turned out to be the worst thing that had happened to him so far.
對(duì)哈利和羅恩來(lái)講,這個(gè)星期五是個(gè)值得紀(jì)念的日子。他們終于可以成功地找到去大廳吃早餐的路,而且一次都沒(méi)有錯(cuò)!
"今天咱們拿到了什么?"羅恩往他的麥片粥里加糖時(shí),哈利問(wèn)。
"兩份史林德林學(xué)生作的藥劑,"羅恩說(shuō)。"史納皮是史林德林隊(duì)的頭兒。他們說(shuō),他會(huì)喜歡這個(gè)——我們很快就可以知道這是不是真的。""真希望麥康娜會(huì)幫助我們。"哈利說(shuō)。麥康娜是格林芬頓隊(duì)的頭兒,可是她前日還是給了他們一大堆作業(yè)。
這時(shí)候,郵件送到了。哈利現(xiàn)在已經(jīng)可以習(xí)慣了,但是第一天早上他真的吃了一驚。那天吃早餐時(shí),幾乎一百只貓頭鷹尖叫著飛進(jìn)大廳。它們?cè)诿繌堊雷由戏奖P(pán)旋,直到它們看到它們的主人并把信件和包裹扔到主人們的膝蓋上為止。
海維到目前為止都還沒(méi)給哈利梢過(guò)信件。她有時(shí)會(huì)飛過(guò)來(lái)啄一下哈利的耳朵,吃一片烤面包后,就和其它的校園貓頭鷹一起飛回去睡覺(jué)。但是,今早她飛到了果醬瓶和糖碗之間,把一封信扔進(jìn)哈利的盤(pán)子里。哈利馬上就把它拆開(kāi)了。
"親愛(ài)的哈利:(信里的字寫(xiě)得可真糟糕。)
我知道你這個(gè)星期五下午有假,所以我想請(qǐng)你三點(diǎn)鐘的時(shí)候來(lái)這兒和我喝杯茶,如何?我想聽(tīng)聽(tīng)你這一周來(lái)的生活情況。請(qǐng)讓海維把答復(fù)帶回給我。
哈格力哈利問(wèn)羅恩借了支羽毛筆,在紙條的背面飛快地寫(xiě)上"太好了,到時(shí)見(jiàn)!"就讓海維把信悄走了。
對(duì)哈利而言,能和哈格力談?wù)剬?shí)在太好了。因?yàn)榈侥壳盀橹梗巹W(xué)已經(jīng)成了哈利覺(jué)得最糟糕的課程了。