語境詞匯
There were a hundred and forty-two staircases at Hogwarts: wide, sweeping ones; narrow, rickety ones; some that led somewhere different on a Friday; some with a vanishing step halfway up that you had to remember to jump.
rickety? ['r?k?t?]
adj. 搖晃的；虛弱的；患佝僂病的
Then there were doors that wouldn't open unless you asked politely, or tickled them in exactly the right place, and doors that weren't really doors at all, but solid walls just pretending.
tickle? ['t?k(?)l]
vt. 使發癢；使高興；使滿足vi. 覺得癢；（東西）使人發癢
n. 胳肢；癢感；使人發癢、高興的東西
He would drop wastepaper baskets on your head, pull rugs from under your feet, pelt you with bits of chalk, or sneak up behind you, invisible, grab your nose, and screech, “GOT YOUR CONK!”
rug? [r?g]
n. 小地毯；毛皮地毯；男子假發
sneak? [sni?k]
vi. 溜；鬼鬼祟祟做事；向老師打小報告
vt. 偷偷地做；偷偷取得
n. 鬼鬼祟祟的人；偷偷摸摸的行為；告密者
adj. 暗中進行的
She patrolled the corridors alone.
patrol /p?tr?l/?
n. 巡邏；巡邏隊；偵察隊
vt. 巡邏；巡查vi. 巡邏；巡查
Break a rule in front of her, put just one toe out of line, and she'd whisk off for Filch, who'd appear, wheezing, two seconds later.
whisk? [w?sk]
v. 拂，撣；攪動；揮動；迅速帶走
n. 攪拌器；掃帚；毛撣子
At the start of their first class he took the roll call, and when he reached Harry's name he gave an excited squeak and toppled out of sight.
topple? ['t?p(?)l]
vi. 傾倒；倒塌；搖搖欲墜
vt. 推翻；顛覆；使倒塌
His classroom smelled strongly of garlic, which everyone said was to ward off a vampire he'd met in Romania and was afraid would be coming back to get him one of these days.
ward /w?d/?
n. 病房；保衛；監視；區，選區
vt. 避開；保衛；守護
It said, in a very untidy scrawl:
scrawl /skr?l/?
v. 馬馬虎虎（或潦草）地寫
n. 潦草的筆跡；潦草的字條（或短信）
I don't expect you will really understand the beauty of the softly simmering cauldron with its shimmering fumes, the delicate power of liquids that creep through human veins, bewitching the mind, ensnaring the senses… I can teach you how to bottle fame, brew glory, even stopper death — if you aren't as big a bunch of dunderheads as I usually have to teach.
simmer? ['s?m?]
vi. 燉；內心充滿；即將爆發vt. 燉
n. 燉；即將沸騰的狀態；即將發作
“Potter!” said Snape suddenly. “What would I get if I added powdered root of asphodel to an infusion of wormwood?”
asphodel /?sf?del/
n. 水仙；日光蘭；常春花
infusion /?n?fju?n/?
n. 灌輸；浸泡；註入物；激勵
wormwood /?w?mw?d/?
n. [植] 苦艾；苦惱，苦惱的原因
Let's try again. Potter, where would you look if I told you to find me a bezoar?
bezoar /?bi?z?(r)/
n. 胃石，牛黃（解毒劑）
He swept around in his long black cloak, watching them weigh dried nettles and crush snake fangs, criticizing almost everyone except Malfoy, whom he seemed to like.
nettle /?netl/?
n. 蕁麻，蕁麻科
v. 惹怒，使惱火；用蕁麻刺傷或鞭打（某人）
Neville had somehow managed to melt Seamus's cauldron into a twisted blob, and their potion was seeping across the stone floor, burning holes in people's shoes.
blob? [bl?b]
n. 壹滴；壹抹；難以名狀的壹團
vt. 弄臟；把…做錯vi. 得零分；弄錯
seep? [si?p]
vi. 漏；滲出
n. 小泉；水陸兩用的吉普車
Within seconds, the whole class was standing on their stools while Neville, who had been drenched in the potion when the cauldron collapsed, moaned in pain as angry red boils sprang up all over his arms and legs.
drench? [dren(t)?]
vt. 使濕透；給（牲畜）灌藥
n. 滂沱大雨；浸液
I suppose you added the porcupine quills before taking the cauldron off the fire?
porcupine /?p?kjupa?n/
n. [脊椎] 箭豬，豪豬
Neville whimpered as boils started to pop up all over his nose.
whimper /?w?mp?(r)/?
v. 嗚咽，啜泣；啜泣著說；低聲抱怨
n. 嗚咽聲，啜泣聲；牢騷，怨聲；微弱的聲音；虎頭蛇尾
“Take him up to the hospital wing,” Snape spat at Seamus.
spat? [sp?t]
n. 口角；蠔卵；蠔仔；掌擊
vi. 爭吵；壹巴掌打去
v. 吐口水（spit的過去式）
A crossbow and a pair of galoshes were outside the front door.
galosh? [g?'l?]
n. 橡膠套鞋（常用於復數）
When Harry knocked they heard a frantic scrabbling from inside and several booming barks.
frantic? ['fr?nt?k]
adj. 狂亂的，瘋狂的
scrabble /?skr?bl/?
v. 扒尋，摸索；掙紮；亂塗；盡力
n. 抓，扒；摸索；努力；掙紮；塗鴉；拼字遊戲
Hams and pheasants were hanging from the ceiling, a copper kettle was boiling on the open fire, and in the corner stood a massive bed with a patchwork quilt over it.
pheasant? ['fez(?)nt]
n. 野雞；雉科鳥
The rock cakes were shapeless lumps with raisins that almost broke their teeth, but Harry and Ron pretended to be enjoying them as they told Hagrid all about their first lessons.
raisin? ['re?z(?)n]
n. 葡萄幹
精彩句型
At the start-of-term banquet, Harry had gotten the idea that Professor Snape disliked him. By the end of the first Potions lesson, he knew he'd been wrong. Snape didn't dislike Harry — he hated him.
關於斯內普教授和哈利波特的愛恨情仇，只是壹個開端。這段描寫幽默又形象。