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Harry Potter fans are realizing they may not have read the original books


Harry Potter fans are realizing they may not have read the original books

The global phenomenon that is Harry Potter took the world by storm nearly 30 years ago, but fans are still discovering tiny details they hadn’t noticed before.

Since the first book in the series was published in 1997, there have been some differences between the British and American editions. The most well-known difference is the title of the first book.

In the UK it’s called “Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone”, but in the US it’s been changed to “Philosopher’s Stone”. There are many other changes to the series to make it more accessible to US readers, little things like changing “Jumper” to “Sweater” or “Sherbet Lemon” to “Lemon Drop”.

But a big debate has broken out on the Internet about a change in one of the books – because it means US fans have less information about the series than British readers.

The new debate was sparked by content creator Mikaila, who pointed out on her TikTok account @magicbymikaila on August 15 that she had made a mistake on a Harry Potter quiz due to a change to the US edition.

In a viral video that has garnered over 32,000 likes, Mikaila explains that at a quiz event, she was asked for the character Sirius Black’s vault number at the wizarding bank Gringotts.

But as a huge Harry Potter fan who had read the books countless times, she was convinced they would never find that answer. At least until she checked the British edition.

In the US edition published by Scholastic, Black says: “I used your name, but told them to take the gold from my own Gringotts vault.”

But the British version published by Bloomsbury states: “I used your name, but told them to take the gold from Gringotts vault number 711 – my own.”

While many of the changes in the U.S. editions are said to have been made to help American readers understand common British expressions—such as changing “sweets” to “candy”—neither Mikaila nor the hundreds of commenters on her video could understand why his vault number was removed entirely.

“Wait, what? I thought the only difference was that they called it the ‘Philosopher’s Stone’ for some reason,” one user wrote.

Another joked: “I think it was intentional so that the British would always have the upper hand on quiz questions.”

Others offered suggestions as to why the text might have been changed, with many wondering if it was because of American convenience store chain 7-Eleven. One suggested that people might make fun of the number, while another suggested that children might try to gain access to the character’s safe at their local store.

Harry Potter
The sixth book in the Harry Potter series. All books have minor differences between the US and UK editions, with one of these changes recently sparking a major debate on social media.

David Silverman/Getty Images

Author JK Rowling has previously spoken about the changes made to her books, explaining that they were made at the request of her publisher after Harry Potter was first accepted for publication.

She agreed to the use of the Philosopher’s Stone for the US version when it was released in 1998, a year after the British version.

And not only that: On her website, she also reveals that it was her publisher who suggested that she use the initials JK instead of her full name Joanne because this would supposedly make the books more appealing to boys.

Decades later, the Harry Potter series has been translated into over 80 languages, including Braille and Latin, and is the best-selling book series of all time.

Newsweek has contacted @MagicbyMikaila on TikTok and Bloomsbury and Scholastic via email for comment on this story.

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