[HPforGrownups] Newer UK Edition of CoS Has Three Changes From Original E...

[eloiseherisson at aol.com]

No: HPFGUIDX 43657

Phyllis:
> I promised the group that I would identify changes made in the UK 
> adult paperback versions of the books as I make my way through them.  
> I've just finished CoS, and have three changes to report (I'm 
> assuming that these are changes from not only the US editions, which 
> I have, but are also changes from the original UK editions, which I 
> do not have. I checked the pages on the Lexicon that note the 
> differences between the US and UK editions, and these changes are not 
> noted, so I'm presuming that the following are changes from the 
> original UK editions as well):
> 
> (1) When Harry meets Riddle in the Chamber, in the original edition, 
> Riddle asks Harry "...how is it that you - a *skinny boy* with no 
> extraordinary magical talent - managed to defeat the greatest wizard 
> of all time?"  In the newer edition, it reads:  "...how is it that a 
> *baby* with no extraordinary magical talent managed to defeat the 
> greatest wizard of all time?" (Ch. 17, emphases mine to show the 
> differences).

Eloise:
This isn't a recent change. Unfortunately, I only have an old UK paperback 
(1998) and it too says, 'baby'. 
Whether it is a change from the original hardback, I can't be sure. The 
paperback edition was changed to say 'descendent' rather than 'ancestor', so 
possibly it is.

Phyllis:

> (2) As Harry is running from the Basilisk in the Chamber with his 
> eyes shut, the original edition reads "*Voldemort* was laughing" 
> while the newer edition reads "*Riddle* was laughing" (Ch. 17, 
> emphases mine to show the differences).

Eloise:
My edition also says 'Riddle'.

Phyllis:
> (3) In Chapter 18 of the original edition, when Lucius Malfoy and 
> Dobby appear in Professor McGonagall's office, it reads:  "The elf 
> was carrying a stained rag with which he was attempting to finish 
> cleaning Mr. Malfoy's shoes.  Apparently Mr. Malfoy had set out in a 
> great hurry, for not only were his shoes half-polished, but his 
> usually sleek hair was disheveled.  Ignoring the elf bobbing 
> apologetically around his ankles, he fixed his cold eyes upon 
> Dumbledore.
> 
> 'So!' he said 'You've come back.  The governors suspended you, but 
> you still saw fit to return to Hogwarts.'"
> 
> The newer edition completely eliminates the paragraph about Dobby 
> polishing Mr. Malfoy's shoes and when Mr. Malfoy speaks, it 
> reads: "'So!' said Lucius Malfoy, his cold eyes fixed on 
> Dumbledore.  'You've come back.  The governors suspended you, but you 
> still saw fit to return to Hogwarts.'"
> 
> This change has me baffled - why would Dobby be with Lucius if Dobby 
> wasn't in the middle of performing a menial task such as shoe-
> polishing?  Why leave this out?



Eloise:
It had me baffled too. I have never before read this passage, which isn't in 
my old paperback.

Phyllis:
> 
> In addition, the newer edition also has Dumbledore telling Harry that 
> Voldemort is the last remaining *descendant* of Slytherin (Ch. 18), 
> but since we all know that JKR has already owned up to that error, 
> I'm just mentioning it as an aside.


Eloise:
Which *has* been altered in mine, as I mentioned.
I am coming more and more to the conclusion that the substantive changes 
between the American and UK editions must come from JKR making changes in her 
manuscripts which for some reason were acted upon by her UK publishers, but 
not by the American ones. So, for instance, she cut out (or her British 
editors cut out) the passage about Dobby cleaning the shoes, but it remained 
in the manuscript that Scholastic were working from. I suspect that the 
'skinny boy' and 'Voldemort' quotes were simple authorial error, again picked 
up and corrected here, but not in the US. Similarly, 'ancestor' was picked up 
after publication and the opportunity afforded by printing the paperback 
utilised to make the correction.

Eloise


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