Cupboards and closets (was John Weasley????)

[Amy Z]

Barb wrote:

> Actually, there's more than one mistake here.  Harry's "room" is a 
> CUPBOARD (not closet) UNDER the stairs. 

Now, this raises an interesting question.

To my American mind, "cupboard" means a closet with shelves--often 
not full-length, but just over or under the kitchen counter, say.  As 
such, it is not a space a person can sleep in.  

I can completely understand the British usage of "cupboard" here, but 
what I picture when I read is just what appears in the movie, and I 
would call that a closet.  So is this just Scholastic Americanizing 
for their young readers who might be confused about how one could 
sleep in a cupboard (as opposed to Scholastic being stupid/inaccurate 
as with the "foot of the stairs" comment etc.)?  Or am I misreading?

I'm 99% sure that the Scholastic edition does not do this to the 
books, btw.  It does say "cupboard," not "closet."  Right?

Amy