Obscurus Origin, Connection & Future Explained

关于默默然的起源，和一些角色的联系，以及它的未来的解析（上）

 

译者：兔子

 

When the first installment in J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter series debuted in 1997, it was the first step into a whole new wizarding world. The franchise has since grown to include six other novels following the adventures of Harry, eight film adaptations, a continuation in the form of Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, and a new blockbuster prequel series kicked off in Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them. Set decades before Harry was even born, Fantastic Beasts follows the magizoologist Newt Scamander on an adventure through New York City in 1926 as the wizard attempts to track down magical creatures that escaped from his care.

1997年，当J.K.罗琳的《哈利波特》系列的第一部首次亮相时，它是一个全新魔法世界的第一步。此后还有续集《哈利·波特与被诅咒的孩子》，以及前传《神奇动物在哪里》。《神奇动物在哪里》的故事发生在哈利出生的几十年前，讲述了魔法动物学家纽特·斯卡曼德1926年在纽约市的冒险故事，这位巫师试图追寻从他手下逃跑的魔法生物。

 

Fantastic Beasts is additionally set in a tense era between wizards and No-Majs (non-magic folk). The Magical Congress of the United States, aka the MACUSA, is desperate to protect the International Statute of Secrecy because they believe breaking it would threaten the safety of the American wizarding society. Meanwhile, the No-Maj group New Salem Philanthropic Society, aka the Second Salemers, is intent on revealing and eradicating the wizarding community -- seemingly proving President Seraphina Picquery's (Carmen Ejogo) belief in the protection of the Statute of Secrecy.

《神奇动物在那里》的背景设定在那个巫师和麻瓜之间关系非常紧张的时代。美国魔法部，又名“美国魔法国会”，竭尽全力地保护《国际保密法》，因为他们认为，违反《国际保密法》将威胁美国魔法社会的安全。与此同时，新塞勒姆慈善协会，又名第二塞勒姆，则致力于发现和摧毁巫师群体——这似乎解释了赛拉菲娜·皮克科瑞(卡门·乔戈饰)对《保密法》的保护。

 

However, just prior to Newt's arrival in New York City, a terrifying magical creature begins terrorizing the city and its No-Maj inhabitants, threatening the delicate balance between the MACUSA and Second Salemers. The creature is revealed to be an Obscurus -- which isn't so much a creature as a force of magic (more on that later) -- and in the final act of Fantastic Beasts, the Obscurus is revealed to be Second Salemer Credence Barebone (Ezra Miller).

然而，就在纽特到达纽约之前，一个可怕的神奇生物开始威胁这座城市，破坏了美国魔法国会和第二塞勒姆之间的微妙平衡。结果发现，这种生物就是默默然——与其说它是一种生物，不如说是一种魔法力量(详见后文)——最终，人们发现默默然是第二塞勒姆的克雷登斯·拜尔本(埃兹拉·米勒饰)。

 

Now, for those who are still unclear on what exactly an Obscurus is, we dive into this particular wizarding world creature and its impact on the future of Warner Bros' five-film Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them franchise. Additionally, we discuss a potential connection between the Obscurus and another major character within the Harry Potter world.

现在，为了还尚不了解默默然的影迷们，我们来深入探索这种特殊的魔法世界生物，以及它对《神奇动物在哪里》系列未来的影响，以及默默然和哈利波特世界中另一个主要人物之间的潜在联系。

 

What We Know About The Obscurus

关于默默然，我们知道些什么

 

Early on in Fantastic Beasts, the MACUSA's Director of Magical Security Percival Graves (Colin Farrell) investigates an attack on a No-Maj residence that left the majority of the building demolished; the No-Maj who bore witness to the attack describes the creature as a dark wind -- an amorphous force of nature rather than a solid creature. We later learn this "dark wind" to be the Obscurus, which goes on to attack and kill Henry Shaw, Jr. (Josh Cowdery) -- a senator and the eldest son of newspaper magnate Henry Shaw, Sr.

在《神奇动物在那里》一开始的情节中，《神奇动物在那里》的魔法安全部长珀西瓦尔·格雷夫斯(科林·法雷尔饰)负责调查一起针对一栋废弃住宅的袭击事件，那次袭击导致大楼的大部分被毁;目击者称当时有一股黑风——一种无形的自然力量，而非坚实的生物。后来我们得知，这股“黑风”就是默默然，它攻击并杀死了参议员小亨利·肖，他是报纸大亨老亨利·肖的长子。

 

From Newt, who has studied the Obscurus on his travels, we learn that the creature is created when a very young witch or wizard suppresses their magic -- essentially represses their true identity -- to the point that their powers manifest in the dark force known as the Obscurus. When Newt theorizes to President Picquery that the creature terrorizing New York City is an Obscurus, she shoots it down on the belief that the creatures no longer exist because witches and wizards aren't persecuted as they once were.

纽特在旅行中研究过默默然，并了解到这种生物是一个年轻的女巫或男巫隐藏他们的魔法时创造的——本质上是隐藏他们的真实身份——他们的力量在这种被称为默默然的黑暗力量中显现出来。当纽特向皮克科瑞部长解释说，令纽约陷入恐慌的生物是默默然时，她认为这种生物已经不存在了，因为巫师们不再像以前那样受到迫害了。

 

As revealed when Newt discusses the Obscurus with the MACUSA, it's believed that the eldest living child to be tied to an Obscurus was only 10. Additionally, Newt reveals he attempted to sever an Obscurus from the child that manifested it, but while the Obscurus survived, the child did not. This Obscurus is seen within Newt's case.

纽特和美国魔法国会讨论默默然时，认为使默默然出现的巫师的最大年龄只有10岁。此外，纽特还透露，他曾把默默然从那些孩子身上分离出来，但默默然仍活了下来，孩子却死了。大家在纽特的盒子里看到了这只暗箱。

 

Throughout Fantastic Beasts, Graves -- who is revealed to be the dark wizard Gellert Grindelwald (Johnny Depp) -- attempts to find the child that manifested the Obscurus through a manipulative relationship with Credence. Graves believes Credence to be a squib (a non-magical person born to at least one wizarding parent) and uses the teenaged boy to help locate the Obscurus, who Graves has learned is among the children Mary Lou and the Second Salemers feed/use to distribute anti-wizard pamphlets. Though Graves believes the Obscurus to be Credence's younger adoptive sister Modesty (Faith Wood-Blagrove), Credence reveals himself to be the creature -- making him the oldest known Obscurus.

在《神奇动物在那里》中，格雷夫斯试图通过与克雷登斯的关系，找到创造默默然的孩子。后来又发现黑巫师盖勒特·格林德沃(约翰尼·德普饰)假扮成格雷夫斯。格雷夫斯相信克雷登斯是哑炮(父母至少有一个巫师)，并利用这个十几岁的男孩来寻找默默然，格雷夫斯知道，它是玛丽·卢和第二塞勒姆用来分发反巫师小册子的孩子之一。虽然格雷夫斯认为默默然是克雷登斯的小妹妹茉徳丝蒂创造的，但克雷登斯发现自己就是一个默然者，这使他成为已知最早的默然者。

 

 

In terms of how Credence became an Obscurus, it seems to be fairly straightforward that his life with Mary Lou caused him to repress whatever magical abilities with which he was born. Mary Lou is fanatical in her hatred of witches and wizards, and she physically abuses Credence, creating an environment that would cause the teenager to suppress his magic. It's unclear if Mary Lou knew of Credence's magical abilities and that factors into her abuse, but she does mean to abuse him when she discovers Modesty playing with a wand the young girl found among Credence's belongings. It's additionally unclear if Credence has been an Obscurus since he was under 10, or if he's proof that witches and wizards can manifest an Obscurus into their teen years -- perhaps even into adulthood.

说到克雷登斯是如何变成默默然的，似乎很确定的一点是，他和玛丽·卢的生活让他抑制了与生俱来的魔法能力。玛丽·卢狂热地憎恨巫师，而且她还在肉体上虐待克雷登斯，创造了这种使青少年压抑自己的氛围。我们尚不清楚玛丽·卢是否知道克雷登斯的魔法能力，这或许也是她虐待克雷登斯的原因之一，但当她发现茉德丝在克雷登斯的物品中找到魔杖时，她的确是有意要惩罚他。另外，我们还不清楚克雷登斯是否在他10岁以下的时候就变成了默然者，或者他是否可以在青少年时期——甚至成年时期——创造出一个默默然。

 

In the final act of Fantastic Beasts, President Picquery leads the MACUSA's Aurors against Credence/the Obscurus, despite Newt and Tina Goldstein's (Katherine Waterston) objections that there may be another way to deal with the young wizard and the creature. The MACUSA's forces seemingly kill the Obscurus (and Credence along with it), with the creature dissipating into shreds of dark magic. However, in one particular moment, Newt meaningfully looks at one particular shred of the Obscurus, indicating that we haven't seen the last of Credence.

在《神奇动物在哪里》的结尾，皮克科瑞不顾纽特和蒂娜·戈德斯坦的反对，领导美国魔法国会的傲罗们对抗克雷登斯/默默然，他们认为总其他方法可以对付年轻巫师和这个生物。美国魔法部的力量似乎消灭了默默然(和克雷登斯)，这个生物逐渐消失在碎片中。然而，纽特似乎意味深长地看了默默然碎片一眼，这表明故事可能远没有结束。

 

Before we dive into the Obscurus' future in the Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them series, let's delve into how Credence and the Obscurus offer insight into another character within the Harry Potter mythos.

我们在探究《神奇动物在哪里》系列中默默然的未来之前，让我们先来探究一下克雷登斯和暗箱是如何与哈利波特故事中的另一个人物产生联系的。

 

Ariana Dumbledore Was (Probably) An Obscurus

阿利安娜·邓布利多(很可能)是个默然者

 

The story of Albus Dumbledore's family is largely unknown within the original Harry Potter books up until the last installment, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, when the titular wizard learns more about his deceased mentor's life -- including Dumbledore's brief friendship with Grindelwald in the summer of 1899 (27 years before Fantastic Beasts takes place). While speaking to Albus' younger brother Aberforth toward the end of the final novel, Harry, Hermione, and Ron learn about that summer from a new perspective. Outsiders, after all, knew very little about the youngest Dumbledore child, Ariana.

阿不思·邓布利多家庭的故事很大一部分来源于《哈利波特》系列小说中最后一部分—《哈利波特与死亡圣器》中,在这里我们了解了更多关于已故伟人的事情，包括1899年夏天邓布利多和格林德沃的短暂友谊(《神奇动物在哪里》发生的27年前)。在最后一部小说的结尾与阿不思的弟弟阿不福思交谈时，哈利、赫敏和罗恩从一个新的角度了解了那个夏天。毕竟，几乎所有人都对邓布利家族多最小的孩子—阿利安娜所知甚少。

 

As Aberforth explains, Dumbledore had just graduated from Hogwarts, but was forced to return home to Godric's Hollow to care for Ariana -- who was 14 at the time -- because his mother had been killed in a magical accident that included his sister (his father was in prison for attacking a group of Muggle boys). Dumbledore struck up a friendship with Grindelwald in which the boys began planning Grindelwald's revolution to establish wizards as benevolent overlords of Muggles. However, their friendship came to an end when they got into a three-way duel with Aberforth that wound up killing Ariana.

阿不福斯说,邓布利多当时刚从霍格沃茨毕业,但被迫回到戈德里克山谷照顾阿利安娜,她当时14岁,他的母亲在一场由阿利安娜造成的魔法事故中丧生(他的父亲因为攻击一群麻瓜男孩而被关在监狱）。邓布利多和格林德沃建立了友谊，男孩们开始策划一场革命，让巫师成为麻瓜的统治者。然而，他们的友谊很快结束了，他们与阿不福思三人进行了一场决斗，最终误杀了阿利安娜。

 

But, why did Ariana need to be cared for at all? As Aberforth revealed to Harry, Hermione, and Ron, she was attacked by a group of Muggle boys when she was six-years-old, and it had a lasting effect on her. In fact, here's how Aberforth specifically describes the attack and his sister:

但是，为什么阿利安娜需要被照顾呢?阿不福思向哈利、赫敏和罗恩透露，她六岁时被一群麻瓜男孩袭击，这对她产生了很大的影响。事实上，阿不福思是这样描述这次袭击事件和他的妹妹的:

 

“It destroyed her, what they did: She was never right again. She wouldn’t use magic, but she couldn’t get rid of it; it turned inward and drove her mad, it exploded out of her when she couldn’t control it, and at times she was strange and dangerous. But mostly she was sweet and scared and harmless.”

“她受到了很大的打击。从那以后，她再也没正常过。她不肯用魔法，但却摆脱不掉它；它吞噬了她的内心，让她彻底疯掉了。当不受控制的时候，它又爆发出来，让她变得相当可怕和危险……但大部分时间里，她还是相当可爱的，并没有敌意。”

 

 

Aberforth continues to explain that his and Albus's father sought revenge on the boys that attacked Ariana, but never confessed his reasons to the Ministry of Magic despite being sent to Azkaban. Aberforth said:

阿不福思继续说，他和阿不思的父亲曾向袭击阿利安娜的男孩报仇，尽管被送到阿兹卡班，但他从未向魔法部坦白他的理由。阿不福斯说:

 

"If the Ministry had known what Ariana had become, she'd have been locked up in St. Mungo's [Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries] for good. They'd have seen her as a serious threat to the International Statute of Secrecy, unbalanced like she was, with magic exploding out of her at moments when she couldn't keep it in any longer."

 

如果魔法部知道了阿瑞娜变成了什么样子，她将要永远被关在圣芒戈了。他们认为如果她体内的魔法不受控制地爆发出来，对于《国际保密法》将会是相当大的挑战。”

 

 

 

Given the language Aberforth uses to describe Ariana repressing her magic to the point that it "exploded out of her" and that she would be considered a danger to the Statute of Secrecy, there are too many parallels to ignore between the youngest Dumbledore child and Credence Barebone. Both Credence and Ariana suffered trauma at a young age, both attempted to repress their magic, and both seemed to be sweet and kind but could prove to be dangerous if provoked. So, it follows that Ariana was an Obscurus.

阿不福思形容阿利安娜压抑自己的魔法，以至于魔法“从她身上爆发出来”，她会被认为对《保密法》构成威胁，因此，邓布利多家这个最小的孩子和克雷登斯·拜尔本之间有很多的相似之处，这是我们不能忽视的。克里登斯和阿利安娜年轻时都受过创伤，都试图抑制自己的魔法，他们看起来都温柔善良，但一旦被激怒，就可能成为危险人物。因此，阿利安娜很可能就是默然者。

 

Furthermore, it's implied in Aberforth's recount that Ariana's Obscurus accidentally killed her mother (similar to how Credence accidentally kills Mary Lou), and Ariana's Obscurus emerged during the duel between her brothers and Grindelwald. Considering the fearful reaction of the MACUSA to Credence's Obscurus that caused them to destroy him, a similar situation likely arose during the three-way duel, leading to Ariana's death. Dumbledore was always afraid he accidentally killed Ariana, and if she manifested as the Obscurus during the duel, she may have gotten in the way or inspired enough fear in the three men that they all (or some) of them turned their wands on her.

此外，阿不福思的话语中可以发现，阿利安娜的默默然杀死了她的母亲(类似于C克雷登斯不小心杀死了玛丽卢)，而阿利安娜的默默然在她的兄弟和格林德沃的决斗中也出现了。考虑到美国魔法部对克雷登斯的默默然的恐惧使他们摧毁了他，类似的情况在三人决斗中可能也出现过，这也许导致了阿利安娜的死亡。邓布利多总是担心是他误杀了阿利安娜，如果她在决斗中变成默默然，就可能会引起其余几人的恐惧，以致他们全部(或部分)把魔杖转向她。

 

Additionally, Grindelwald witnessing an Obscurus first-hand in Ariana would explain why he-as-Graves is knowledgeable enough about the creature to seek out the one terrorizing New York City in Fantastic Beasts -- that is, if Grindelwad did witness Ariana's Obscurus and if he knows the creature in the city is an Obscurus. Furthermore, Ariana being an Obscurus may explain how Newt learned of them; he may have learned of them from Dumbledore. The student and teacher did have a close relationship while Newt was at Hogwarts. Although, if Dumbledore did teach Newt about Obscurus, it's likely the professor never revealed how he learned about the creatures considering he kept his family life a secret from Harry during the Harry Potter series.

此外，格林德沃在那场决斗中中亲眼目睹了一只默默然，这也解释了为什么“格雷夫斯”（即格林德沃假扮的）对这种生物很了解，并在《神奇动物在哪里》中找到了令纽约陷入恐慌的怪兽，前提是格林德沃确实看到了阿利安娜的默默然，而且他知道威胁城市的生物就是默默然。此外，阿利安娜是一个默然者，这也可以解释纽特是如何得知默默然的;他可能是从邓布利多那里听说的。纽特在霍格沃茨的时候，与邓布利多的确很亲密。不过，如果邓布利多真的告诉过纽特关于默默然的知识，那么这位教授很可能从未透露过他是如何了解这个生物的，因为在《哈利·波特》系列中，他就一直对哈利隐瞒着自己的家庭生活。