Harry's mouth fell open. The dishes in front of him were now piled with food. He had never seen so many things he liked to eat on one table: roast beef, roast chicken, pork chops and lamb chops, sausages, bacon and steak, boiled potatoes, roast potatoes, fries, Yorkshire pudding, peas, carrots, gravy, ketchup, and, for some strange reason, peppermint humbugs.

chop: n.排骨

steak: n.鱼片

steak多指牛扒，也就是我们通常说的牛排，一般没有骨头。
Yorkshire: n.约克郡,约克夏(英国英格兰原郡名)

pudding: n.布丁

gravy: n.肉汤

ketchup: n.调味蕃茄酱

peppermint: n.胡椒薄荷, 薄荷油

    The Dursleys had never exactly starved Harry, but he'd never been allowed to eat as much as he liked. Dudley had always taken anything that Harry really wanted, even if It made him sick. Harry piled his plate with a bit of everything except the peppermints and began to eat. It was all delicious.

    "That does look good," said the ghost in the ruff sadly, watching Harry cut up his steak,

    "Can't you --?"

    I haven't eaten for nearly four hundred years," said the ghost. "I don't need to, of course, but one does miss it. I don't think I've in troduced myself? Sir Nicholas de Mimsy-Porpington at your service. Resident ghost of Gryffindor Tower."

"I know who you are!" said Ron suddenly. "My brothers told me about you -- you're Nearly Headless Nick!"

Nearly Headless Nick :差点没头的尼克 葛来分多塔的常驻幽灵。学生们都叫他『差点没头的尼克』。

"I would prefer you to call me Sir Nicholas de Mimsy --" the ghost began stiffly, but sandy-haired Seamus Finnigan interrupted.

stiffly: adv.顽固地

    "Nearly Headless? How can you be nearly headless?"

Sir Nicholas looked extremely miffed, as if their little chat wasn't going at all the way he wanted.

miffed: n.稍有点恼火；有点生气

"Like this," he said irritably. He seized his left ear and pulled. His whole head swung off his neck and fell onto his shoulder as if it was on a hinge. Someone had obviously tried to behead him, but not done it properly. Looking pleased at the stunned looks on their faces, Nearly Headless Nick flipped his head back onto his neck, coughed, and said, "So -- new Gryffindors! I hope you're going to help us win the house championship this year? Gryffindors have never gone so long without winning. Slytherins have got the cup six years in a row! The Bloody Baron's becoming almost unbearable -- he's the Slytherin ghost."

irritably: adv.性急地, 暴躁地

hinge: n.铰链

behead: vt.斩首, 砍头

stun: vt.使晕倒, 使惊吓

championship: n.锦标赛

Bloody Baron: 血腥男爵 史莱哲林的常驻幽灵。有一双空洞的眼睛、憔悴的面孔，是皮皮鬼的克星。

Harry looked over at the Slytherin table and saw a horrible ghost sitting there, with blank staring eyes, a gaunt face, and robes stained with silver blood. He was right next to Malfoy who, Harry was pleased to see, didn't look too pleased with the seating arrangements.

gaunt: adj.憔悴的

stain: v.染污, 沾污

这里怎么理解,银色的血液?

 "How did he get covered in blood?" asked Seamus with great interest.

"I've never asked," said Nearly Headless Nick delicately.

delicately: adv.优美地, 微妙地

When everyone had eaten as much as they could, the remains of the food faded from the plates, leaving them sparkling clean as before. A moment later the desserts appeared. Blocks of ice cream in every flavor you could think of, apple pies, treacle tarts, chocolate eclairs and jam doughnuts, trifle, strawberries, Jell-O, rice pudding -- "

dessert: n.餐后甜点

treacle : n.糖蜜, 甜蜜

tarts: n.果馅饼, 小烘饼

éclair: n.<法>一种指形小饼(糖霜衣,乳酪馅)

trifle: n.蛋糕

strawberries: n. [植]草莓

Jell-O: n.<美>吉露果子冻

    As Harry helped himself to a treacle tart, the talk turned to their families.

"I'm half-and-half," said Seamus. "Me dad's a Muggle. Mom didn't tell him she was a witch 'til after they were married. Bit of a nasty shock for him."

half-and-half:根据后文,这里应该指的是半魔法家庭

    The others laughed.

    "What about you, Neville?" said Ron.

"Well, my gran brought me up and she's a witch," said Neville, "but the family thought I was all- Muggle for ages. My Great Uncle Algie kept trying to catch me off my guard and force some magic out of me -- he pushed me off the end of Blackpool pier once, I nearly drowned -- but nothing happened until I was eight. Great Uncle Algie came round for dinner, and he was hanging me out of an upstairs window by the ankles when my Great Auntie Enid offered him a meringue and he accidentally let go. But I bounced -- all the way down the garden and into the road. They were all really pleased, Gran was crying, she was so happy. And you should have seen their faces when I got in here -- they thought I might not be magic enough to come, you see. Great Uncle Algie was so pleased he bought me my toad."

Blackpool: 黑泽(英格兰西北部的一个城市)

pier: n.码头,前不久还看到个wharf

ankle: n.踝

meringue: n.蛋白与糖的混合物

bounce: v.反跳, 弹起

On Harry's other side, Percy Weasley and Hermione were talking about lessons ("I do hope they start right away, there's so much to learn, I'm particularly interested in Transfiguration, you know, turning something into something else, of course, it's supposed to be very difficult-"; "You'll be starting small, just matches into needles and that sort of thing -- ").

Transfiguration: n.变形, 变貌

matches into needles:这里估计指要从细小的地方入手

两个人在讨论Transfiguration（把一种物品变成另一种），Percy教导说，先从火柴变成针开始。

Harry, who was starting to feel warm and sleepy, looked up at the High Table again. Hagrid was drinking deeply from his goblet. Professor McGonagall was talking to Professor Dumbledore. Professor Quirrell, in his absurd turban, was talking to a teacher with greasy black hair, a hooked nose, and sallow skin.

absurd: adj.荒谬的, 可笑的

greasy: adj.多脂的, 油脂的,这里指油亮的

sallow: adj.菜色

    It happened very suddenly. The hook-nosed teacher looked past Quirrell's turban straight into Harry's eyes -- and a sharp, hot pain shot across the scar on Harry's forehead.

    "Ouch!" Harry clapped a hand to his head.

    "What is it?" asked Percy.

    "N-nothing."

    The pain had gone as quickly as it had come. Harder to shake off was the feeling Harry had gotten from the teacher's look -- a feeling that he didn't like Harry at all.

    "Who's that teacher talking to Professor Quirrell?" he asked Percy.

"Oh, you know Quirrell already, do you? No wonder he's looking so nervous, that's Professor Snape. He teaches Potions, but he doesn't want to -- everyone knows he's after Quirrell's job. Knows an awful lot about the Dark Arts, Snape."

Professor Severus Snape: 石内卜 教授魔药学，总是想尽办法找哈利的麻烦。

    Harry watched Snape for a while, but Snape didn't look at him again.

At last, the desserts too disappeared, and Professor Dumbledore got to his feet again. The hall fell silent.

too: 这里的too是也的意思吧,不过它能用在disappear的前面吗?

"Ahern -- just a few more words now that we are all fed and watered. I have a few start-of-term notices to give you.

Ahern:语气词

Ahern----说话或发言前为了引起人们注意而发的声音

    "First years should note that the forest on the grounds is forbidden to all pupils. And a few of our older students would do well to remember that as well."

 Dumbledore's twinkling eyes flashed in the direction of the Weasley twins.

"I have also been asked by Mr. Filch, the caretaker, to remind you all that no magic should be used between classes in the corridors.

Mr. Filch: 　Argus Filch 阿各·飞七 霍格华兹的管理员，以学生的痛苦为他的快乐。

caretaker: n.管理者

是管理安全，卫生等的管理员

      "Quidditch trials will be held in the second week of the term. Anyone interested in playing for their house teams should contact Madam Hooch.

trial: n.试验, 考验

Madam Hooch:胡奇夫人 灰色的短发，教授第一学期的飞行课。

    "And finally, I must tell you that this year, the third-floor corridor on the right-hand side is out of bounds to everyone who does not wish to die a very painful death."

    Harry laughed, but he was one of the few who did.

    "He's not serious?" he muttered to Percy.

"Must be," said Percy, frowning at Dumbledore. "It's odd, because he usually gives us a reason why we're not allowed to go somewhere -- the forest's full of dangerous beasts, everyone knows that. I do think he might have told us prefects, at least."

frown: vi.皱眉

    "And now, before we go to bed, let us sing the school song!" cried Dumbledore. Harry noticed that the other teachers' smiles had become rather fixed.

Dumbledore gave his wand a little flick, as if he was trying to get a fly off the end, and a long golden ribbon flew out of it, which rose high above the tables and twisted itself, snakelike, into words.

ribbon: n.缎带, 丝带

"Everyone pick their favorite tune," said Dumbledore, "and off we go!" And the school bellowed:

bellow: v.吼叫, 怒吼, 咆哮

"Hogwarts, Hogwarts, Hoggy Warty Hogwarts,

Hoggy Warty:这个不知道怎么翻译

Hoggy Warty -只是为了押韵而已。

    Teach us something please,

    Whether we be old and bald

Or young with scabby knees,

scabby: adj.结痂的

    Our heads could do with filling

    With some interesting stuff,

    For now they're bare and full of air,

Dead flies and bits of fluff,

fluff: n.软毛, 柔毛, 绒毛

    So teach us things worth knowing,

    Bring back what we've forgot,

    just do your best, we'll do the rest,

    And learn until our brains all rot.

歌词好象有点……呵呵

    Everybody finished the song at different times. At last, only the Weasley twins were left singing along to a very slow funeral march. Dumbledore conducted their last few lines with his wand and when they had finished, he was one of those who clapped loudest.

"Ah, music," he said, wiping his eyes. "A magic beyond all we do here! And now, bedtime. Off you trot!"

trot: v.(使)小跑, (使)快步走

The Gryffindor first years followed Percy through the chattering crowds, out of the Great Hall, and up the marble staircase. Harry's legs were like lead again, but only because he was so tired and full of food. He was too sleepy even to be surprised that the people in the portraits along the corridors whispered and pointed as they passed, or that twice Percy led them through doorways hidden behind sliding panels and hanging tapestries. They climbed more staircases, yawning and dragging their feet, and Harry was just wondering how much farther they had to go when they came to a sudden halt.

portrait: n.肖像, 人像

panel: n.面板, 嵌板

tapestry: n.织锦, 挂毯

    A bundle of walking sticks was floating in midair ahead of them, and as Percy took a step toward them they started throwing themselves at him.

"Peeves," Percy whispered to the first years. "A poltergeist." He raised his voice, "Peeves -- show yourself"

poltergeist: n.敲击作响闹恶作剧的鬼

    A loud, rude sound, like the air being let out of a balloon, answered.

    "Do you want me to go to the Bloody Baron?"

There was a pop, and a little man with wicked, dark eyes and a wide mouth appeared, floating cross- legged in the air, clutching the walking sticks.

wicked: adj.淘气的

比淘气要坏。从后面可以看到没Peeves的行为超出了淘气。

"Oooooooh!" he said, with an evil cackle. "Ickle Firsties! What fun!"

evil: adj.邪恶的,这里指古怪的

cackle: n.咯咯声

He swooped suddenly at them. They all ducked.

duck: vi.急忙蹲下, 闪避

    "Go away, Peeves, or the Baron'll hear about this, I mean it!" barked Percy.

Peeves stuck out his tongue and vanished, dropping the walking sticks on Neville's head. They heard him zooming away, rattling coats of armor as he passed.

zoom: vi.急速上升

armor: n.装甲,他们什么时候有的装甲?

    "You want to watch out for Peeves," said Percy, as they set off again. "The Bloody Baron's the only one who can control him, he won't even listen to us prefects. Here we are."

    At the very end of the corridor hung a portrait of a very fat woman in a pink silk dress.

"Password?" she said. "Caput Draconis," said Percy, and the portrait swung forward to reveal a round hole in the wall. They all scrambled through it -- Neville needed a leg up -- and found themselves in the Gryffindor common room, a cozy, round room full of squashy armchairs.

Caput Draconis:密码不知道怎么翻译好

cozy: adj.舒适的, 安逸的, 惬意的

这里--------松软的，
椅子湿了租者可不舒服啊 :-)

squashy: adj.又湿又软的

Percy directed the girls through one door to their dormitory and the boys through another. At the top of a spiral staircase -- they were obviously in one of the towers -- they found their beds at last: five four-posters hung with deep red, velvet curtains. Their trunks had already been brought up. Too tired to talk much, they pulled on their pajamas and fell into bed.

spiral: adj.螺旋形的

velvet: adj.天鹅绒的

pajamas: n.睡衣

    " Great food, isn't it?" Ron muttered to Harry through the hangings. "Get off, Scabbers! He's chewing my sheets."

    Harry was going to ask Ron if he'd had any of the treacle tart, but he fell asleep almost at once.

Perhaps Harry had eaten a bit too much, because he had a very strange dream. He was wearing Professor Quirrell's turban, which kept talking to him, telling him he must transfer to Slytherin at once, because it was his destiny. Harry told the turban he didn't want to be in Slytherin; it got heavier and heavier; he tried to pull it off but it tightened painfully -- and there was Malfoy, laughing at him as he struggled with it -then Malfoy turned into the hook-nosed teacher, Snape, whose laugh became high and cold – there was a burst of green light and Harry woke, sweating and shaking.

destiny: n.命运, 定数

    He rolled over and fell asleep again, and when he woke next day, he didn't remember the dream at all.

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