Newer UK Edition of CoS Has Three Changes From Original Edition

[bboy_mn]

No: HPFGUIDX 43715

--- In HPforGrownups at y..., "doffy99" <doffy99 at y...> wrote:

> erisedstraeh2002 wrote: 
> > (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?
> > 
> > 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.
> > 
> > I'll keep you posted as I make my way through PoA!
> > 
> > ~Phyllis
> 

Jef (doffy99) Wrote:
> ME, MYself And I
> 
> There is one other explanation why this might have been edited. 
> Perhaps it's because there's a flaw in the idea. DOBBY has a RAG! Do 
> you see it? IF a Sock can set a house elf free and normally a house 
> elf would wear a tea towel or an old pillowcase. Wouldn't/couldn't 
> giving Dobby a rag to polish shoes with, couldn't that be seen as 
> giving him a piece of clothing? Wouldn't just about ANY piece of 
> fabric serve this purpose? It says "CLOTHES," does that mean it has 
> to be HUMAN clothes? A house elf wears a tea towel or a pillowcase as 
> clothing, wouldn't a rag or cloth fit the bill? I'm just guessing. 
> personally, I like the paragraph in there. I think it makes the story 
> flow better. Like others have said, it explains why Dobby is there. 
> It's something that really should be explained. 
> 
> -Jeff

bboy_mn adds:
I think we get into splitting hairs over the definition of 'give'. To
be given, it must be presented by his Master, not simple an article of
cloth or clothing owned by his Master. Dobby may have simply opened
the cabinet where the shoe polish was keep, took the polish and
polishing rag, and started polishing Malfoy's boots. In that case, the
rag was never given.

The tea towel and the pillowcase are a little hard to explain, but
it's possible that over their lifetimes, and elves serve a single
house, in most cases, for a lifetime, in fact, for generations, that
they collect discarded articles that can be used for elf clothes. So,
over time, as the Master's family throw away old towels and
pillowcases, the elves collect them from the trash and save them.
These are not directly presented by their Master. 

Another possibilty regarding the towels and pillowcases is that they
are not truly articles of clothing. To be freed, an elf must be
presented with clothes; perhaps, a towel does not qualify as clothes.
Generally, we would never view a towel as an article of clothing. 

If we look at Hogwarts, the elves don't wear filthy worn out
pillowcases, they wear nice clean towels with a Hogwarts emblem on it.
It's possible that these towels are simple available and the elves use
them, or like I said before, while they are used as clothes by the
elves, they are not truly articles of clothing.

As to the 'presenting of clothes', if Malfoy took a pair of socks, and
said 'clean my socks' and handed them to Dobby, that would be an
article of clothing presented. If Malfoy threw the socks on the floor,
and said 'Dobby, clean my socks', that would not be clothing presented
to the elf. 

Just some thoughts.

bboy_mn