當了爸爸的哈利·波特 能教我們育兒魔法嗎

Our family is just home from the bookstore, with multiple copies of “Harry Potter and the Cursed Child” in hand, gamely reading in a new format — the book is the script of the play by the same name, and thus a different reading experience from the seven novels that came before it.

我們一家人剛從書店回到家， 帶回好幾本《哈利•波特與被詛咒的孩子》(Harry Potter and the Cursed Child)。大夥兒聚精會神讀着這本新體裁的書：它是同名舞臺劇的劇本，所以閱讀體驗和前七集小說不一樣。

There will be no spoilers here, but the very title makes clear that “The Cursed Child” is a story about parents and children in a way that the original series never was. Harry Potter is a father now, and one question this book will answer is how the Boy Who Lived — when his parents didn’t — handles that role.

本文不含劇透，不過標題已經很清楚，《被詛咒的孩子》是一個關於親子關係的故事，和原系列作品完全不同。哈利•波特現在當爸爸了，而本書要回答的問題是，這個父母雙亡的“活下來的男孩”將如何扮演這個角色。

As an orphan, Harry himself could operate free of the burden a parent’s fears, love and expectation can place on a person. Now, as a parent, he has to confront it.

孤兒哈利自己不必承受父母的擔憂、慈愛和期望加給一個孩子的那種負擔。如今他身爲人父，得要面對這些問題了。

For readers who started reading these books when the first one came out nearly 20 years ago and grew up with Harry and friends, the scenes that reveal the characters as adults are the ones we’ve been waiting for. Though the story has serious themes, the sheer fun of returning to the familiar magical world is a delight.

有些讀者在20年前第一集小說出版時就開始追這個系列，和哈利還有他的朋友們一同成長。對這些讀者來說，呈現人物長大成人後的故事場景，是我們一直期待的。雖然本書主題頗爲嚴肅，但是能夠重返我們熟悉的魔法世界，那種單純的喜悅還是很令人享受。

And there are certainly Moments when real-life parents can fantasize about the possibility of a magical assist. Imagine being able to use a spell like “Accio Binky!” to return a dropped pacifier to the sleeping baby, or “Expelliarmus Mobilio!” to expel a mobile phone right out of a teenager’s hand.

現實世界中的父母也一定曾在某些時刻幻想過讓魔法來相助。要是我們能夠使用像是“奶嘴飛來！”的咒語，讓掉落的奶嘴回到熟睡的寶寶口中，或是“除你手機！”，讓手機從青少年手中飛走，那該有多好。

Molly Brennan, a mother of two attending a book release party on Saturday night at Watchung Booksellers in Montclair, N.J., suggested a spell called Behavioramus. “I would dodge it,” said her son, Logan Brown, 9. “I like my behavior how it is.”

莫莉•布倫南(Molly Brennan)是兩個孩子的媽，在週六晚間參加了新澤西州蒙特克萊爾(Montclair)的沃昌書店(Watchung Booksellers)的新書發佈會。她提出一個叫做“表現好點兒！(Behavioramus)”的咒語。 “我會躲過這個咒語，”布倫南9歲的兒子洛根•布朗(Logan Brown)說。 “我覺得我的表現很好啊。”

Becky Middleton of Glen Ridge, N.J., who has four children ages 6, 9, 9 and 11, said her spell of choice would be volume control. Rob Fechner of Montclair, the father of two boys ages 7 and 10, asked for a spell “to pause time so I could get stuff done and take a nap.”

新澤西州峯嶺區(Glen Ridge)的貝琪•米德爾頓(Becky Middleton)有四個孩子，一個6歲、兩個9歲，最大的11歲。她說她想選的是能控制音量的咒語。蒙特克萊爾的羅伯•費區納(Rob Fechner)有7歲和10歲的兩個兒子，他想要的是“可以暫停時間，好讓我把事情做完，還能打個盹”的咒語。

It’s giving nothing away to say that none of those abilities seem likely to make raising children any simpler for Harry, Ginny, Hermione and Ron. As Julia Miner, a mother of three who lives outside Washington, D.C., said Sunday, when she was up to page 70 of “The Cursed Child,” parenting teenagers has challenges no matter who you are. Magic has never helped much with relationships in the Harry Potter universe, and the fact that wizards face some of the same bitter limits that Muggles do has always been a part of the series’ appeal.

哈利、金妮、赫敏、羅恩擁有這些魔法，可是撫養孩子這件事恐怕不會因此變得簡單——這麼說應該不算劇透。正如三個孩子的母親茱莉婭•麥納(Julia Miner)週日所說的：無論你是誰，孩子到了十幾歲，做父母的都不容易。她住在華盛頓特區郊外，這本書讀到了第70頁。在哈利•波特的世界裏，魔法從沒給人際關係幫上多大的忙。巫師也要面對和麻瓜一樣的各種艱難的侷限，這也正是這個系列故事吸引人的一部分原因。

But for many parents and children in this universe, the books are conversation–starters that help connect us, engaging us in the same world. Now our conversations can go further.

然而，對我們這個世界裏的許多家長和孩子來說，這些書能夠開啓對話，讓我們彼此連結，建立在同一個世界裏的交流。現在，我們的對話可以更深入了。