你可以从斯莱特林那里学到的东西

 

Lessons you can learn from a Slytherin

你可以从斯莱特林那里学到的东西

 

译者:always

 

Slytherin’s unfortunate propensity for turning out pure-blood obsessed Voldemort supporters with a talent for the Dark Arts has not done much for its reputation – but not every Slytherin is bad, and as a House it actually has a lot to teach us.

不幸的是，斯莱特林倾向于培养出具有黑魔法天赋的纯血统痴迷伏地魔的支持者，这对它的声誉并没有太大帮助--但并不是每一个斯莱特林都是坏的，作为一个学院，它实际上有很多东西可以教给我们。

 

Be proud of your abilities

为自己的能力感到自豪

 

Slytherins are known for being proud, and while in some cases (Draco Malfoy, we’re looking at you) this trait came with a hefty dose of overbearing haughtiness, there is, of course, nothing wrong with being proud of yourself.

斯莱特林以骄傲著称，虽然在某些情况下(德拉科·马尔福，我们正在看着你)这种特征伴随着巨大的傲慢，当然，为自己感到自豪并没有什么错。

After all, knowing you are good at what you do – like Snape, who was such an accomplished Occlumens he was able to double-cross Voldemort himself; or Leta Lestrange, who managed to fool Grindelwald and destroy his powerful skull hookah; or Scorpius Malfoy, who was unafraid to express his love of learning – creates a sense of confidence, which is never a bad thing.

毕竟，知道你擅长你所做的事情--比如斯内普，他是一个如此多才多艺的密室人，他能够欺骗伏地魔；或者莱塔·莱斯特兰奇，他成功地愚弄了格林德沃尔德并摧毁了他强大的头骨水烟；或者天蝎马尔福，他不怕表达他对学习的热爱--创造了一种自信，这从来不是一件坏事。

 

But remember: sometimes, pride comes before a fall

但请记住：有时，骄傲先于失败

 

Yes, we just said confidence is never a bad thing, but there is such a thing as over-confidence. Draco’s a perfect example. For most of his Hogwarts career, the privileges afforded to him as the only son of a wealthy pure-blood family meant he never faced serious consequences. Buying his way on to the Slytherin Quidditch team, pretending to be a Dementor in order to scare Harry, feigning injury just to get Hagrid’s Hippogriff Buckbeak killed – Draco acted without fear of reprisal. This became even more pronounced during Professor Umbridge’s time at Hogwarts, when Draco and his friends were given free rein to express their meanest impulses.

是的，我们刚才说过自信从来不是坏事，但有一种东西叫过度自信。德拉科就是一个很好的例子。在霍格沃茨学习生涯的大部分时间里，作为一个富有的纯血统家庭的独生子，他所享有的特权意味着他从来没有面临过严重的后果。通过收买进入斯莱特林魁地奇队，为了吓唬哈利而假装摄魂怪，假装受伤只是为了让海格的希波格里夫·巴克比克被杀--德拉科毫不畏惧报复。这一点在乌姆里奇教授在霍格沃茨的时候变得更加明显，当时德拉科和他的朋友们被允许自由表达他们最卑鄙的冲动。

But everything changed in Draco’s sixth year. With the father he wanted so desperately to impress in Azkaban and an impossible task ahead of him, his confidence was finally shaken. What Voldemort asked of Draco was the biggest consequence of all: to kill Dumbledore, and so make up for his father’s failures. No wonder he was crying in Moaning Myrtle’s bathroom. He was finally being tested, and when it came down to it, he couldn’t do what was asked of him.

但在德拉科在校的第六年，一切都改变了。面对他迫切想要在阿兹卡班留下深刻印象的父亲，以及摆在他面前的一项不可能完成的任务，他的信心终于动摇了。伏地魔对德拉科的要求是最大的后果：杀死邓布利多，从而弥补他父亲的失败。难怪他在默特尔的浴室里哭。他终于接受了考验，但到了关键时刻，他却无法完成要求他做的事情。

The fall of the Malfoys was pretty spectacular, and the result was a chastened Draco who ultimately moved away from his parents’ pure-blood ideology. Which goes to show, you never know what’s round the corner.

马尔福家族的衰落是相当壮观的，结果是一个经过磨练的德拉科最终摆脱了他父母的纯血统意识形态。这表明，你永远不会知道转角处会发生什么。

 

Being cunning can be a very useful skill

狡猾可能是一项非常有用的技能

 

Certain Slytherins used their talent for cunning in particularly devious ways. Voldemort was obviously master of this. Even when he was just plain old Tom Riddle, he fooled enough Hogwarts teachers to become a Prefect, managed to get Hagrid expelled, and charmed Slughorn into telling him about Horcruxes.

某些斯莱特林以特别狡猾的方式利用了他们的天赋。伏地魔显然是这方面的大师。甚至在他还只是个普通的汤姆·里德尔的时候，他就愚弄了足够多的霍格沃茨老师，让他当上了负责人，设法让海格被开除，并迷住斯拉格霍恩，让他告诉了他关于魂器的事情。

 

But this talent does not always have to be used with malicious intent, as other Slytherins showed us. For all his ability as an Occlumens, Snape would never have survived as a double agent for as long as he did if he hadn’t also been able to draw on that quality of cunning. And if he hadn’t survived as long as he did, Harry wouldn’t have, either.

但正如其他斯莱特林告诉我们的那样，这种天赋并不总是被恶意使用。尽管斯内普是一名魔法师，但如果他不能利用这种狡猾的品质，他永远不会作为双重间谍生存这么长时间。如果他没有活得那么久，哈利也不会活下来。

Years later, Harry’s son Albus also demonstrated that being cunning didn’t automatically equal being evil. His decision to turn back time was motivated by a desire to bring Cedric Diggory back. OK, it was misguided and yes, it created havoc, but he didn’t do it for negative reasons. And Albus’s cunning did help him achieve his aims. There aren’t many students who’d use Polyjuice Potion to impersonate Ministry of Magic employees, after all. Although, hang on… maybe that’s not an exclusively Slytherin thing?

几年后，哈利的儿子阿不思也证明了狡猾并不等于邪恶。他决定让时光倒流的动机是想把塞德里克·迪戈里带回来。好吧，这是被误导的，是的，它造成了严重破坏，但他这样做并不是出于负面原因。阿不思的狡猾确实帮助他实现了自己的目标。毕竟，没有多少学生会用多汁药水来冒充魔法部的员工。尽管如此，等一下…也许这并不是斯莱特林独有的事情？

 

You never know what’s going on in somebody’s life

你永远不知道一个人的生活中发生了什么

 

Much like Sirius’s brother Regulus, who also grew up in a pure-blood obsessed family, Draco Malfoy’s name meant everything to him, and he was desperate to prove himself.

就像小天狼星的兄弟雷古勒斯一样，他也是在一个纯种血统的家庭长大的，德拉科·马尔福的名字对他来说意味着一切，他急于证明自己。

Family dynamics play a big part in any child’s development, and while an unhappy home life is never an excuse to become an arrogant bully, understanding Draco’s background does put his behaviour in context.

家庭状态对任何孩子的发展都起着很大的作用，虽然不愉快的家庭生活从来不是成为傲慢恶霸的借口，但了解德拉科的背景确实会让他的行为符合背景。

When it comes to Regulus, you could say that if Sirius was strong enough to reject his parents’ ideology, Regulus should have been too. But family relationships can be tricky, and perhaps Sirius’s desertion made things even more difficult for Regulus. After all, Albus Potter didn’t group up in a pure-blood obsessed family, but he too was always desperate to prove himself to his father. Perhaps that’s what Slytherin pride is – a thirst to prove yourself that the Sorting Hat also identified in Harry.

当谈到雷古勒斯时，你可以说，如果小天狼星足够强大，拒绝他父母的意识形态，那么雷古勒斯也应该如此。但家庭关系可能是棘手的，也许小天狼星的离开让雷古勒斯的事情变得更加困难。毕竟，阿不思·波特并不是在一个痴迷于纯种血统的家庭里长大的，但他也总是不顾一切地想向父亲证明自己。也许这就是斯莱特林的骄傲--一种渴望证明自己的渴望，分院帽也在哈利身上找到了踪影。

All of which is to say: people are the products of their environment. Which doesn’t mean unhappy people should be able to act without impunity, but perhaps it is worth taking the time to understand where they come from.

所有这些都是在说：人是他们所处环境的产物。这并不意味着不快乐的人应该能够不受惩罚地行事，但或许值得花时间去了解他们来自哪里。

 

It’s never too late to do the right thing

做正确的事永远不会太晚

If Slytherin’s students are the products of their environment, you might expect them all to become masters of the Dark Arts. After all, their founder was a pure-blood obsessive who deserted the school he helped create because he didn’t want to admit Muggle-borns.

如果斯莱特林的学生是他们所处环境的产物，你可能会认为他们都会成为黑魔法大师。毕竟，他们的创始人是一个纯粹的强迫症患者，他抛弃了自己帮助创建的学校，因为他不想招收麻瓜出生的人。

But very few of the Slytherins mentioned here took that path. With the obvious exception of Voldemort himself, they each had a moment where they could have chosen a different outcome. When Snape agreed to help protect Harry, when Regulus decided to steal Voldemort’s Horcrux, when Draco refused to confirm that Harry’s identify to his aunt Bellatrix – however they did it, they all rejected Voldemort in the end.

但这里提到的斯莱特林很少走上这条路。除了伏地魔本人，他们每个人都有一个可以选择不同结果的时刻。当斯内普同意帮助保护哈利，当雷古勒斯决定偷走伏地魔的魂器时，德拉科拒绝向他的姑妈贝拉特里克斯证实哈利的身份--无论他们做了什么，他们最终都拒绝了伏地魔。

 

https://www.wizardingworld.com/features/lessons-you-can-learn-from-a-slytherin