Voldemort-Potter connection

[judyserenity]

No: HPFGUIDX 40378

I said that Voldemort is described as the last surviving descendent of 
Slytherin in some versions of CoS, and last surviving *ancestor* in 
other versions. JKR was asked about this is an interview, and said 
something like "You've noticed the deliberate error."  

And Eloise responded:
> I'm sure I'm stating the obvious, but, in British usage at least, 
'Ah, you've noticed the deliberate error,' is such a common way of 
admitting a mistake ... that I've always taken it to be just that. As 
Judy so graphically demonstrates, you have to jump through a lot of 
rings to get 'ancestor' to make any sense. <

No, it wasn't obvious, at least not to me.  I wasn't aware that 
"deliberate error" was just a euphemistic way of admiting a mistake in 
the UK.  However, I'm still not sure *which* was an error -- 
"ancestor", or "descendent".  

I believe the earliest versions of the book said "ancestor", and it 
was then changed to "descendent."  However, it may have later been 
changed back to "ancestor."  I have the US paperback version 
(Scholastic, copyright 2000) and it says "ancestor."  I saw a copy of 
CoS for sale today, and it was the same version that I have, same 
printing, and yes, it said "ancestor."

My guess is, it was supposed to read that Voldemort is the last 
descendent of Slytherin, I'm not 100% sure.

 -- Judy