10. Different Versions of the Books Exist
When the Harry Potter series was first introduced to the US, Scholastic (the US publishing company) changed various phrases throughout in order to make the language more “American.” The majority of this is found in minor changes between British and US English (truck vs lorry, dustbin vs trashcan, etc). Hagrid’s Scottish burr was toned down in the American editions as well. However, one major change is in the title of the first volume. The original Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone became Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, a change that Rowling has since admitted to regretting.
The change was made at the behest of Arthur Levine at Scholastic, who felt that children wouldn’t want to read a book with “philosopher” in the title. “Sorcerer” was felt to be a more magical and child-friendly option.
Since the original publication, some other minor changes have been made by Rowling in subsequent additions – usually to correct minor points that were later found to be inconsistent. These include a change in price from seventeen to sixteen sickles for an ounce of dragon liver, and an edit to the title of a school book, among others.
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