US/UK versions

[melaniem68 at yahoo.com]

Original Yahoo! HPFG Header:
No: HPFGUIDX C1499
From: melaniem68
Subject: US/UK versions
Reply To: [Yahoo! #1489] Re: Okay, now a question...
Date: 5/27/00 2:00 pm  (ET)

<Judging from previous posts, the US books have Ravensclaw instead of
Ravenclaw - why?>

Actually, it is Ravenclaw (no "s"). You may have seen a typo or two on
other posts. I know I saw the same thing a few days ago, and wondered if
I'd been reading it wrong all this time. But, I checked one of my books,
and sure enough, it's Ravenclaw.

<And why change The Philosopher's Stone to the Sorceror's Stone?>

Someone in the publishing industry thought the term "Philosopher" was
misleading. I don't know about the UK, but in the US, "Philosopher"
has an intellectual, but rather dry image--something that may attract
someone like Hermione, but not your average kid. At least that was
their reasoning.


<Are there any other major differences?>

I actually haven't read the UK version, but we did discuss one major
difference Penny (our fearless leader) noticed last February. In Chamber
of Secrets, Dumbledore said in the UK version that Voldemore was the last
remaining *ancestor* of Salazar Slytherin. In the US version, the word
"ancestor" was changed to "descendant". You may want to check out the
discussions at that time on whether that was the correction of a true
error, or an overzealous "correction," which gave it a meaning Rowling
never intended.

For other changes, I'll defer to those who have read both versions.

Melanie