Heir v Descendant

[Penny Linsenmayer]

No: HPFGUIDX 1563

Hi:

Someone was inquiring recently about the definition of Heir (that it has 
solely legal connotations in their dictionary).  Sorry I can't remember who 
raised this -- I seem to have deleted the original message.

Anyway, I seem to remember that it was raised originally in the context of 
wondering whether Harry could be descended from both Gryffindor & Slytherin. 
  I think it was Steve who correctly pointed out (in great Hermione fashion) 
that Dumbledore specifically says that Voldemort is the last heir of 
Slytherin in CoS.

I'm not sure if this was specifically addressed by Steve or not, but don't 
forget that Dumbledore doesn't actually use the word "heir."  He uses the 
word "descendant" (actually he uses the word "ancestor" in earliest versions 
of CoS but that's another discussion altogether).  Descendant (forgive me, 
I'm out of town & have no access to any dictionary) means something very 
specific in a genealogical sense.  If Voldemort is the last remaining 
descendant of Slytherin, then there are *no* other Slytherin descendants 
then living. The emphasis on the word "remaining" might be significant (one 
might argue that Lily was a descendent of Slytherin but is no longer living 
but for the fact that Harry, a descendant of Lily, would then be a living 
descendant of Slytherin as well). So . . . that said, I think it's safe to 
say that Voldemort has no children or grandchildren then living.

Now, back to this ancestor v descendant business -- AAGGGH!  I bought a 
paperback version of CoS recently to mark-up, underline -- my "reading 
copy."  I brought it with me out of town to work on the FAQs.  I just 
checked that reference in this paperback version and Scholastic has now 
reverted *back* to using "ancestor" again!!!  What the heck does that mean?

For those of you not familiar with the issue, here's a brief recap:

1.  In the earliest hardback versions of CoS, I noticed that Dumbledore says 
Voldemort is the "last remaining ancestor" of Slytherin.  This leapt off the 
page at me because of my genealogical interests.  How could Voldemort be 
Slytherin's *ancestor* I puzzled.  This was in the UK Deluxe edition that I 
noticed it.  I went back to my original US (Scholastic) version of CoS, 
which was a later printing (22nd or so).  It had been changed to read "last 
remaining descendant."  Relieved that I hadn't missed something so obvious 
on my first read of CoS, I started questioning whether Scholastic changed 
something that should never have been changed.  How could the Bloomsbury 
editors let something so obvious slip past them?  Maybe they raised it with 
JKR and she insisted that they leave it as it was -- "ancestor."

2.  I then acquired a first US printing of CoS and gave away my later 
printing.  It seems that the first printings by Scholastic also had the 
"ancestor" reference.  So, I decided it was something that must have been 
changed by the Scholastic editors at some point when doing later printings. 
I never have determined if the later Bloomsbury editions of CoS ever changed 
it to "descendant."  Does anyone know?

3.  Now I find that the paperback version is back to using "ancestor" 
instead of "descendant." Did they "set" the paperback version from one of 
the earliest hardback versions where that "error" was still in place?  Or, 
did JKR and/or Bloomsbury tell Scholastic to change it back to "ancestor"???

Thoughts?????

A very puzzled Penny (who is really thinking she should write the Scholastic 
editors at this point)


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