The power of positivity in the Wizarding World

魔法世界中那些正面的魔法

译者：鸭鸭

 

From banishing Boggarts to Expecto Patronum, today we’re looking towards the Wizarding World for a dose of positivity.

从为了驱赶博格特的守护神咒起，今天我们将目光看向魔法世界那些很多那些正面的魔法。

When it comes to dealing with the blues, there is something to be said about the Wizarding World’s way of handling things. No, not magic. We’re talking positive thinking.

当它来处理悲伤的事情，有一点要提到的就是魔法世界处理事情的方法：不，不是魔法，我们要说一些积极向上正面的东西

Look at the Boggart spell, for instance. Boggarts, as we know, are shape-shifting creatures that take the form of whatever the person in front of them fears the most. Even Muggles are able to feel a Boggart’s presence, which says a lot about the nature of fear. Because obviously, we don’t have to see a thing for it to make us feel anxious.

看看博格特的咒语，博格特，我们都知道，是一种在人们面前展现他们最恐惧的样子并且可以随意切换身形的生物。甚至连麻瓜都可以感受到博格特的存在，这也说明了恐惧是所有人的天性。因为很明显，我们不一定非要看到某样东西才会让我们感到焦虑

Witches and wizards get rid of Boggarts by making them comical – and while we don’t have the option of forcing fear into a funny hat, the idea of laughing at things that scare you is not new. There's the cliche of telling people who dislike public speaking to imagine the audience in their underwear. Or how we laughingly scream through old horror movies. And isn’t the way we share ridiculous (Riddikulus?) memes to help us deal with sometimes fearful situations kind of like point-ing our phones at all manner of unseen Boggarts in a bid to try and laugh them away?

OK, the Riddikulus spell only gets rid of the Boggart and not the underlying fear, but what it shows is the importance of attitude to a spell’s effectiveness – or, indeed, anything. It’s not just about ability; not always. With spells like this, it’s about your emotions.

巫师们通过让博格特变得滑稽来摆脱博格特——虽然我们没有办法把恐惧强加到一顶滑稽的帽子里，但嘲笑吓到你的东西的想法并不新奇。告诉那些不喜欢公开演讲的人想象听众穿着内裤的样子，这已经是老生常谈了。或者我们在老恐怖电影里笑着尖叫。我们分享滑稽的表情包的时候，难道不是帮助我们处理可怕的情况吗?就像把手机指向各种看不见的博格特，试图笑着把它们赶走。

好吧，滑稽滑稽咒语只能消除博格特，而不能消除潜在的恐惧，但它表明了态度对咒语有效的重要性——或者，实际上，对于任何东西。这不仅仅是能力的问题;肯定不总是这样。像这样的咒语，大部分关系到你的情绪。

 

When Lupin introduced Harry’s class to the Boggart, he asked them to think about their fears, and then to imagine how they might turn them into something comical. In other words: change your thinking and you’ll find your fears reduced. Basically, he introduced the concept of positive thinking.

当卢平把博格特介绍给哈利的同学们时，他要求他们思考他们的恐惧，然后想象他们如何把它们变成某种滑稽的东西。换句话说:改变你的想法，你的恐惧就会减少。基本上，他引入了积极思考的概念。

The Boggart exercise makes this seem a fairly simple task, but given Lupin’s class was the be-ginning of a long series of practice sessions for Harry, it is clearly not easy. Add in external stressors (Dementors, Azkaban escapees, Blue Monday emails) and thinking positively becomes a lot harder. Even in the wizarding world.

博格特练习使这看起来是一项相当简单的任务，但由于卢平的课只是哈利一长串练习课程的开始，这明显是不容易的，再加上外界的压力(摄魂怪、阿兹卡班逃犯、蓝色星期一的电子邮件)，即使在魔法世界里，思考一些积极的东西就回变得困难得多。

 

Nowhere is this more apparent than with the Patronus charm. That’s the big one. The defensive spell to end all defensive spells, and apparently the only one to have caused Hermione trouble. Because it’s extremely difficult. Like, extremely-advanced-magic difficult.

这一点在守护神咒上表现得最为明显。这才是关键的。这是一个结束所有防御咒的防御咒，显然是唯一给赫敏制造麻烦的咒语。因为这是非常困难的。就像非常高级的魔法一样困难。

Now on paper, the Patronus charm doesn’t look all that different from the Boggart experiment: just think of a single, very happy memory whilst also saying the correct incantation.

现在的纸质资料记载，守护神咒看起来和博格特实际并没有多大区别:只要在念正确的咒语同时，回忆一件非常愉快的往事就行了

 

Except when Harry first tried it, he couldn’t grasp it at all. Aside from the fact that saying one thing whilst doing something else is a feat of memory beyond magic, is it actually easy to think of a single, very happy memory? How happy is very happy? And anyway: how do you hold onto any memory when you’re surrounded by Dementors?

 

但哈利第一次试的时候，他根本抓不住。除了说一件事做另一件事是一种超越魔法的记忆壮举这一事实外，真的很容易想到一个单一的、非常快乐的记忆吗?很快乐是有多快乐？再说了，当你被摄魂怪包围的时候，你怎么能保持记忆呢?

 

Basically, the answer to all these things is practise (and, in the meantime, chocolate.) There are no shortcuts when it comes to casting a Patronus, although some characters struggle more than others. Hermione, for all her magical achievements, has a propensity to fixate on negative possi-bilities: her Boggart is Professor McGonagall telling her she’s failed her exams. This is clearly not helpful when it comes to the Patronus charm, which depends entirely on conjuring up positivity in the midst of a dark fog of misery.

 

基本上，所有这些问题的答案都是练习(同时，还有巧克力)。在召唤守护神时没有捷径可走，尽管有些角色比其他角色更困难。赫敏，尽管她有那么多魔法成就，却有一种倾向于关注负面的可能性:她的博格特是麦格教授告诉她她考试不及格。说到守护神咒，这显然毫无用处，它完全依赖于在黑暗的痛苦迷雾中召唤出积极的情绪。

 

Maybe that’s why Harry naturally excels at Defence Against the Dark Arts in a way Hermione doesn’t. His attitude to magic is instinctive and emotional, and while he’s not always expert at managing his mood he certainly knows how to focus his energies.

Although it’s not even just about practise and determination – Harry’s real breakthrough arrived in Prisoner of Azkaban, when he discovered that the Patronus he’d thought was his fathers was actually his own. In that Time-Turner-enabled scenario, Harry cast his first (or second, depending on where you are) fully-formed Patronus in the presence of actual Dementors, precisely because he thought he’d achieved it before.

 

也许这就是为什么哈利天生擅长黑魔法防御术，而赫敏却没有。他对魔术的态度是本能的和情绪化的，虽然他并不总是擅长控制自己的情绪，但他肯定知道如何集中精力。

尽管这不仅仅是练习和决心的问题——哈利真正的突破是在《阿兹卡班的囚徒》中，当他发现他以为是他父亲的守护神实际上是他自己的时候。在那个使用时间转向器的场景中，哈利在摄魂怪面前召唤出了他的第一个(或者第二个，取决于你在哪里)完全成形的守护神，因为他认为他以前就做到过。

 

“‘I knew I could do it this time,’ said Harry, ‘because I’d already done it ... Does that make sense?’"

Success breeds success, after all. It’s like Ron when he thought he’d swallowed Felix Felicis. Once you think you can do something, you’ll start to do it unconsciously.

So: casting a Patronus is difficult, just as maintaining a positive attitude is difficult. They both take time, dedication and support – but get it right once, and it becomes easier every time. After all, if practise makes perfect it’s no wonder Harry was the Patronus expert. No other Hogwarts stu-dent had quite as many dealings with Dementors.

 

“‘我知道这次我能做到，’哈利说，‘因为我已经做到了……这样做有意义吗?’”

毕竟，成功孕育成功。就像罗恩以为自己吞了福灵剂一样。一旦你认为你能做某件事，你就会不知不觉地开始做。

所以:施放一个守护神是困难的，就像保持一个积极的态度是困难的。它们都需要时间、奉献和支持——但只要做对了，每一次都变得更容易就意味着熟能生巧，那么哈利是守护神专家也就不足为奇了。那这样霍格沃茨其他学生跟摄魂怪打交道的次数都就不会没有这么多。