[HPforGrownups] Re: The Mystery of Hagrid Returning the Motorbike to Sirius

[eloiseherisson at aol.com]

No: HPFGUIDX 43355

In a message dated 30/08/2002 02:05:11 GMT Standard Time, bboy_mn at yahoo.com 
writes:


> ~Phyllis Said:
> 
> > I received my adult-version UK Harry Potter paperbacks last night, 
> > and started reading PS.  When I got to the part when Hagrid, after 
> > delivering Harry to Dumbledore on Privet Dr., is ready to depart, I 
> > was surprised that instead of his saying "I've got to get this bike 
> > back to Sirius" (as my US copy reads), he instead says "I've got to 
> > get this bike put away." 
> > 
> > I've long wondered about the inconsistency in Hagrid's saying that he 
> > has to get the motorbike back to Sirius in SS with Hagrid saying in 
> > PoA (at the Three Broomsticks) that Sirius had given him the bike and 
> > told him (Hagrid) that he (Sirius) wouldn't need it anymore.  This 
> > inconsistency is also noted in the HPfGU FAQs Mysteries section.  
> > 
> > I checked the page on the Lexicon that shows the differences between 
> > the US and UK editions of SS/PS, and this wording change is not 
> > noted.  So I'm wondering if this was an error that was noticed after 
> > PoA and corrected in later printings of PS.
> > 
> > Perhaps this wording change is an acknowledgement that this really 
> > was an error in the original edition of SS/PS.

Bboy_mn:

> 
> <snip>OK, now, finally for the actual guess.
> 
> I think some copy editor (or whatever they are called) hadn't read PoA
> when he made the change, and Yes, I definitely think it was a change
> by the American publisher, done independant of J.K.Rowling. In the
> limited context he had, it probably seemed like a reasonable
> clarification of the text. BUT HE SCREWED IT UP. (pardon my French)
> 
> That's why I very seriously hope they stop or extremely minimize the
> English to English translations of the book. 
> 
> By the way, you might want to email that difference to the HP Lexicon.
> I'm sure they will appreciate it. They are frequently seen in this
> forum, so they may pick it up anyway.

Eloise:
I don't think you can blame the US editors for this one. I have an older UK 
copy (first ed paperback) which similarly says that Hagrid is intending to 
return the bike to Sirius, as does Phyllis's US copy, so the Lexicon was 
correct: it's not a 'translation' issue.

My guess is that either JKR had simply forgotten she'd written that when she 
wrote the scene in the Three Broomsticks or that it was only in writing PoA 
that she started to sort out in her own mind the chronology of what really 
happened in the 48 hours following Voldemort's vapourisation. Either way, the 
change in the most recent UK edition would seem to be an attempt to correct 
the inconsistency.

Recently there was a thread asking what the differences between the grown-up 
and children's version were. It will be interesting to see if Phyllis comes 
up with any more textual differences. If the inconsistencies are being ironed 
out, perhaps with the latest UK edition we might get the definitive version.

Eloise


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