The Lexicon

Edits and Changes to the Text of PS

Edits and Changes to the Text of PS

The following changes were released by Rowling’s publishers in the summer of 2004. As of summer, 2005, they had not been included in Scholastic editions. However, both Bloomsbury and Raincoast editions now incorporate the changes. The translators, who work from the Bloomsbury text, are incorporating these changes into their editions of the book as well.
PS p15, line 3:
Potter’s > Potters’ – Typographical error.

PS p17/SS p16:
“I’ll be takin’ Sirius his bike back.” > “I best get this bike away.”
This sentence didn’t fit very well with the way the character of Sirius was developed as the series progressed.

PS p31, 7 lines from bottom:
Delete ‘ at the beginning of the line. – Typographical error.

PS p53:
Delete 1 wand from equipment list.

PS p56/SS p72:
“Dragon liver, seventeen Sickles an ounce, they’re mad…” > “Dragon liver, sixteen Sickles an ounce, they’re mad…”
Seventeen sickles actually equals one Galleon, so it is unlikely that someone would refer to a price in that way. They would have said “One Galleon.”

PS p72/SS p96:
Harry noticed a shiny silver badge on his chest with the letter P on it. > Harry noticed a red and gold badge on his chest with the letter P on it.
In OP9, Harry sees the badges which Ron and Hermione get when they become Prefects. They are described as red and gold, and Harry realizes that it’s exactly the same as the one he saw on Percy several years before. So the text has been changed in book one to make the badges identical.

PS p76, paragraph 6, line 5:
Droobles > Drooble’s

PS p87, 10 lines from bottom:
Hogwarts, a History > Hogwarts: A History

PS p92/SS p123:
“I haven’t eaten in nearly four hundred years,” said the ghost…  > “I haven’t eaten in nearly five hundred years,” said the ghost…
This change brings the years that Nick has been dead in the first book in line with the fact that the next year he celebrates his 500th Deathday

PS p147, line 7:
to next > to the next

PS p168/SS p229:
Harry, who was looking up “Dittany” in One Hundred Magical Herbs and Fungi… > Harry, who was looking up “Dittany” in One Thousand Magical Herbs and Fungi…
The title of the book, according to the booklist from chapter five, is One Thousand… This edit fixes the typo. This error is only found in the British version of the book. The US version is already correct.

PS p193/SS p265:
“…yeh get a lot o’ funny folk in the Hog’s Head–that’s the pub down in the village.” > “…yeh get a lot o’ funny folk in the Hog’s Head–that’s one of the pubs down in the village.”
Since in later books we visit the Three Broomsticks, also a pub in Hogsmeade, this line was changed so as to avoid implying that the Hog’s Head is the only pub in the village.

PS p205/SS p282:
“Well, Harry, you take the place of that bishop, and Hermione, you go next to him instead of that castle.” > “Well, Harry, you take the place of that bishop, and Hermione, you go there instead of that castle.”
The castle and the bishop are not next to each other on the chessboard at the start. The knight stands between them.

PS p205/SS p283:
“I take one step forward and she’ll take me–that leaves you free to checkmate the king, Harry!” > “I make my move and she’ll take me–that leaves you free to checkmate the king, Harry!”
Ron is playing the part of a knight. Those pieces never move one space. They move in a four-space L-shaped pattern.

Commentary

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