Spellbound: Oberon Zell-Ravenheart, 68, has opened the world’s only registered wizard academy, the Grey School of Wizardry in California(dailymail.co.uk) |
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He is the real-life wizard headmaster giving Harry Potter’s Dumbledore a run for his money. Oberon Zell-Ravenheart, 68, has dedicated his life to studying the Dark Arts - even doing the shopping in his wizard costume and wand. Now the magic master has opened the world’s only registered wizard academy, the Grey School of Wizardry, as he prepares to make Hogwarts and the world of Harry Potter a reality. 'If you've ever read Harry Potter and wondered if wizards really do walk among us, perhaps behind a secret train platform, or in secret communities, I can tell you that we are absolutely real,' says Oberon, from Cotati, California. Today, Oberon Zell-Ravenheart’s Grey School of Wizardry is the first wizard school to be officially recognized as an academic establishment. Like Hogwarts, the Grey School teaches 16 departments, including Alchemy, Beastmastery, Horse-whispering, wand-making and spell casting. Pupils who attend unique ‘conclave’ magic schools are split into four ancient houses - Winds, Undines, Gnomes and Salamanders, and like Potter, students study a defence against the deadly Dark Arts. 'In the magic community I’m referred to as the real Dumbledore,' admits Oberon. 'But before Harry Potter, people just called me Merlin, or Gandalf.' The former teacher and counselor was teaching spells to aspiring wizards long before JK Rowling even dreamed up Harry Potter. Oberon rose to fame in the early 1980s as an eccentric who claimed to have created the world’s first unicorn. Unbelievably, the self-proclaimed 'master of wizardry' created a single-horned creature, using minor surgery on a goat, that made front page news in America. The creature later toured America with a famous circus. 'It’s every wizard’s dream to have a unicorn, and we achieved that,' says Oberon, who lives with his wife, Morning Glory, 63, a witch. In 1985, he organized a diving expedition in Australia and New Guinea to investigate the age-old mystery of the mermaid. The Grey School boasts 735 students, of which Oberon claims 100 are under-18 ‘trainee Harry Potters.’ For now, it is an online college with regular physical wizard camps, where muggles can study seven years to graduate with a journeyman degree in Wizardry. For more Bilingual News, please log on to our website at www.jxbentu.cn. For now, this has been ... (Read by Nelly Min. Nelly Min is a journalist at the China Daily Website.)
(Agencies)
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他是現(xiàn)實(shí)版的“魔法學(xué)校校長(zhǎng)”,讓“哈利?波特”中的鄧布利多校長(zhǎng)也感到了競(jìng)爭(zhēng)。 現(xiàn)年68歲的奧伯倫?澤爾?瑞文哈特將一生的精力都用于研究黑魔法,甚至去超市購物時(shí)也穿著魔法袍帶著魔杖。 如今,這位魔法大師開辦了全球唯一一個(gè)注冊(cè)魔法學(xué)?!袢鹉Х▽W(xué)校,要把霍格沃茲魔法學(xué)校和哈利?波特的世界變成現(xiàn)實(shí)。 來自美國(guó)加州科塔蒂的奧伯倫說:“如果你曾經(jīng)看過《哈利?波特》,想知道我們中間是不是真有魔法師,他可能正躲在一個(gè)隱秘的火車站臺(tái)后面,或者在某個(gè)秘密社區(qū)里,那我可以告訴你,我們魔法師真的存在?!?/p> 奧伯倫?澤爾?瑞文哈特開辦的格瑞魔法學(xué)校被認(rèn)定為學(xué)術(shù)機(jī)構(gòu),成為首個(gè)被正式認(rèn)可的魔法學(xué)校。 與霍格沃茲一樣,格瑞魔法學(xué)校分為16個(gè)系,教授煉金術(shù)、馭獸術(shù)、馬語、魔杖制作和咒語施法等。 在獨(dú)特的“秘密”學(xué)院里,學(xué)生被分為風(fēng)、水、土、火“四大家族”。與哈利?波特一樣,大家都要學(xué)習(xí)對(duì)抗致命的“黑魔法”。 奧伯倫說:“在魔法界,人們稱我為真實(shí)的鄧布利多。但在哈利?波特問世之前,人們叫我梅林或甘道夫。”(譯者注:二人分別是《亞瑟王傳奇》和《魔戒》中的法師)。 早在J?K?羅琳構(gòu)思創(chuàng)作《哈利?波特》系列之前,奧伯倫就開始向有志成為魔法師的人們教授咒語了。奧伯倫曾擔(dān)任教師和顧問。 在20世紀(jì)80年代初,奧伯倫宣稱自己創(chuàng)造出世界上第一頭獨(dú)角獸,從而一夜成名。但自稱“魔法大師”的奧伯倫只是給一只山羊做了個(gè)小手術(shù),讓它變成了一只獨(dú)角羊,這在當(dāng)時(shí)引發(fā)美國(guó)媒體轟動(dòng)。 隨后,一家著名馬戲團(tuán)帶這只“獨(dú)角獸”在美國(guó)進(jìn)行巡演。奧伯倫說:“每個(gè)魔法師都?jí)粝肽苡兄华?dú)角獸,我們實(shí)現(xiàn)了?!眾W伯倫目前和63歲的妻子、女魔法師“牽?;ā币黄鹕睢T?985年,他還在澳大利亞和新幾內(nèi)亞組織了一場(chǎng)跳水探險(xiǎn)活動(dòng),追溯美人魚的古老傳說。 格瑞魔法學(xué)校宣稱有735名學(xué)生。奧伯倫稱其中100名學(xué)生的年齡不滿18歲,他們就是“哈利?波特新手”。目前,該校是一所網(wǎng)絡(luò)學(xué)院,定期開辦魔法實(shí)地訓(xùn)練營(yíng)?!奥楣稀币獙W(xué)習(xí)7年才能拿到熟練魔法師的畢業(yè)證。 相關(guān)閱讀 (中國(guó)日?qǐng)?bào)網(wǎng)英語點(diǎn)津 Julie 編輯:馮明惠) |
Vocabulary: a run for one's money: 激烈的競(jìng)爭(zhēng) Hogwarts: “哈利·波特”系列中的霍格沃茲魔法學(xué)校 ancient house: 世家,望族,這里指派系 unicorn: an imaginary creature usually depicted as a white horse with one long spiralled horn growing from its forehead(獨(dú)角獸) muggle: a person without magical powers(麻瓜,即《哈利?波特》中不具備魔法能力的凡人) journeyman: any experienced, competent but routine worker or performer(熟練工,熟手) |