Ancestor or Descendant? (WAS: James Emerging First )

erisedstraeh2002 bdmorrp at budget.state.ny.us
Thu Aug 15 21:22:46 UTC 2002


No: HPFGUIDX 42717

--- In HPforGrownups at y..., Gretchen ("mrflynn6") <mrflynn6 at y... 
> wrote:  
 
> I wonder if this is deliberate on JKR's part to cause confusion and 
> speculation reguarding the death of James and/or Lily.  I feel it 
> is similar to the deliberate "mistake" of the descendent/ancestor 
> controversy.

Now me:

Glad you brought that up! The version of CoS that I just bought this 
summer has Dumbledore telling Harry that Voldemort is the last 
remaining *ancestor* of Salazar Slytherin. In an October 2000 
Scholastic interview, JKR called this a *deliberate* error and said 
that it should read *descendant.*  She also went on to say "That's 
been changed in subsequent editions (keep hold of the *ancestor* one, 
maybe it'll be valuable one day!)."  I was wondering whether anyone 
actually has an edition in which *ancestor* was changed to 
*descendant?*  And, any ideas on why JKR called it a *deliberate* 
error if it was subseqently fixed (or not, as in my edition)?

Also, btw, thanks to all who responded to let me know what their 
versions of the text say in the various references to who came out of 
the wand first.  Whether it's deliberate or not, this *is* causing 
confusion and speculation!

Cheers,
Phyllis
who feels like Dobby with a new pair of mismatched socks now that 
she's off moderated status :)






More information about the HPforGrownups archive