这是影片将要结束的时候哈里波特（Harry Potter）与魔法学校校长邓布利多（Dumbledore）之间的谈话。波特因为自己也会说伏地魔（Voldemort）的语言“蛇语”（Parseltongue）而惴惴不安。老校长开导他：决定我们是谁的不是我们的能力，而是我们的选择。

        Dumbledore: I sense that something is troubling you. Am I right, Harry?
        Harry: It´s just....you see, sir, I couldn´t help but notice certain things, certain....certain similarities between Tom Riddle and me.
        Dumbledore: I see. Well, you can speak Parseltongue, Harry. Why? Because Lord Voldemort can speak Parseltongue. If I´m not mistaken, Harry......he transferred some of his powers to you......the night he gave you that scar.
        Harry: Voldemort transferred some of his powers to me?
        Dumbledore: Not intentionally......but yes.
        Harry: So the Sorting Hat was right. I should be in Slytherin.
        Dumbledore: It´s true. You possess many of the qualities that Voldemort himself prizes. Determination, resourcefulness......and if I may say so, a certain disregard for the rules. Why, then, did the Sorting Hat place you in Gryffindor?
        Harry: Because I asked it to.
        Dumbledore: Exactly, Harry, exactly, which makes you different from Voldemort. It is not our abilities that show what we truly are. It is our choices.

重点讲解：

        Voldemort是魔法界无恶不作的坏魔法师，在密室里波特和他的化身Tom Riddle争斗的时候发现，自己天生就具有Voldemort的某种能力——会说“蛇语”，因此向老校长Dumbledore提出了自己的疑问。couldn´t help but do表示忍不住、禁不住要做某事。

        老校长说，如果他没有弄错的话（be mistaken，犯错的、错误的），是因为Voldemort在杀死波特父母的那个夜晚，在波特额头上留下伤疤的同时也把他的法力转给波特一部分。transfer，转移、迁移、转让。intentionally，有意地、故意地。老校长下一句话的意思是，Voldemort不是故意要这样做，但确实如此、事实如此。

        Sorting Hat，是当初新生入学的时候把学生进行分院划分的“分院帽”。Gryffindor（格兰芬多）是四个学院中培养伟大魔法师的地方；Slytherin（斯莱特林）却总是出Voldemort那样能力很强、出身世家但不够高尚的坏巫师。

        波特拥有许多Voldemort自己也赞赏的品质，坚定果敢（determination）、足智多谋（resourcefulness）以及对纪律的漠视（disregard for the rules）。之所以波特没有被分到斯莱特林学院而是被分到格兰芬多学院就是因为他强烈的要求。所以，在这个意义上，校长Dumbledore才说，选择而不是能力，使我们展现出真我、决定了我们是谁。（It is not our abilities that show what we truly are. It is our choices.）