[HPforGrownups] Re: UK vs US Harry Potter

[TJ Mallon]

No: HPFGUIDX 77594

I'm new to this list, but had to throw my two cents in on this....

I recently obtained the UK versions of all five books and was reading PoA
(still my favorite HP book) and a line jumped out at me during the scene in
the Shrieking Shack that I didn't remember ever reading before....

>From the UK version (p. 272, 'The Servent of Lord Voldemort') -
'Er - Mr Black - Sirius?' said Hermione timidly.
Black jumped at being addressed like this and stared at Hermione as though
being spoke to politely was something he'd long forgotten.

>From the US version (p. 370) -
"Er - Mr. Black - Sirius?" said Hermione.
Black jumped at being addressed like this and stared at Hermione as though
he had never seen anything quite like her.


So what is the point exactly of the changes made?  Although I figured out
the tone Hermione was speaking in through the pauses in her speech and can
do without the 'timidly' in the sentence, what was the point of changing the
next paragraph?  I like the UK version of that line better as it brings home
the point that Hermione is the first person to speak respectfully to Sirius
in twelve years (it probably means as much to Sirius for her to address him
like this as for Remus to speak kindly to him as Remus has figured out the
real story and was his friend going way back - all Hermione knew about him
until this point was that he was the only person ever to escape Azkaban, yet
she's being respectful).

Now, I can see the point of changing words like 'boot' and substituting
'trunk' (unless you've been in the UK for a significant length of time, the
average American is not going to understand why people would put their
luggage in the boot of the car, although if you think about it in context,
it should make sense) and substituting American spellings for British
(favorite/favourite, etc. - unfortunately, some people spell badly enough
without being confused them even more by British spellings), but in the
example I just cited, the US version changes the entire meaning of the
sentence unnecessarily.  It makes it sound like Sirius has just come across
some strange animal he doesn't quite know what to do with.

Tracy