While the rest of Harry Potter‘s book titles remained the same, the first novel of the series underwent some serious change to be successful in the States, prompting viewers to wonder if Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone or Sorcerer’s Stone was better. Thankfully, the plot of The Chosen One’s first story stays unchanged between novels, though there are a few key differences throughout the text. Several of the changes made were to transform British phrases and words like “trainers” into “sneakers” or “notes” into “bills.” That being said, other amendments didn’t seem to have just one source.
See on Max
With the Harry Potter film series, audiences got yet another iteration of Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone or Sorcerer’s Stone, which, in turn, made further adjustments. Now, with the Harry Potter reboot TV series in development at HBO, Harry’s tale will undoubtedly see more variations. This will see switch-ups in the Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone cast, which should be the plot of season 1. For those catching up with the book series before the TV show premieres, some key differences should be noted for the Philosopher’s Stone vs.Sorcerer’s Stone.
While it may not be well represented in the movies, Harry Potter’s sassy attitude is one of the more endearing differences between Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone vs Sorcerer’s Stone. But apparently, Harry’s backtalk is more pronounced in the American version of the story. For example, during their first potions class, Snape calls on Harry to ask him several tedious questions to which he doesn’t know the answer. Hermione, on the other hand, is eager to answer his questions.
In the Sorcerer’s Stone film, Harry glances at Hermione and says “I don’t know, sir.” In the American version of the Harry Potter book, Harry says. “Clearly, Hermione knows the answer. You ought to ask her.” In the UK version of J.K. Rowling’s novel, he says, “I think Hermione knows the answer, why don’t you try her?“ The UK version and the Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone movie take a more polite tone, but Harry’s attitude in the US version is more fun and falls in line with his later behavior in the books.
Hagrid’s motorcycle is one of the first magical objects seen in Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone or Sorcerer’s Stone. Readers later learn that this is Sirius Black’s bike. He loans it to Hagrid to get Harry to the Dursley’s safe and sound. However, depending on the version of the book, Hagrid‘s bike has two different names. Again, this is a subtle difference only changed due to different cultural jargon.
In the UK version, Hagrid‘s ride is referred to as a “motorbike,” while in the US addition, they call it a “motorcycle.” This is one of the many areas that J.K. Rowling made changes when re-editing her book for American audiences. Motorcycle is used mostly in North and South America, and has become the word most favored around the world. Motorbike is mostly used in the UK and Australia and is often used as a slang term when describing the vehicle. While the story takes place in the UK, the book’s language choices change based on locale.
Hermione‘s appearance is also slightly altered in Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone vs Sorcerer’s Stone. Besides being dubbed the “brightest witch of her age,” Hermione’s description in the books is, “lots of bushy brown hair, and rather large front teeth.” Throughout the novel, there are also references to her “fringe” and some other key features. In Harry Potter and the Sorcerer‘s Stone, readers won’t find the same exact description, as the term “fringe” is replaced by the word “bangs” instead.
Once again, this is simply a switch from British to American English. It didn’t matter very much with the movies, as Emma Watson’s hair fit the description of both, with the big hair and the bangs mentioned in the American version of the book. However, once again, these were small word changes that J.K. Rowling felt were needed to make the book more accessible outside of the UK.
Harry’s first Christmas at Hogwarts is a happy one. It’s the first time that he gets a few presents of his own, because the Dursleys never cared enough for the young boy to care if he had a happy holiday season or not. The best of the gifts he received this Christmas is the Invisibility Cloak. He also gets a few other things, like a few pence from his aunt, Petunia Dursley, and a dazzling sweater from Mrs. Weasley.
In the UK version of Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone vs Sorcerer’s Stone, he receives a “jumper” from Mrs. Weasley. This is simply another British term being changed for a US audience. In the US, a “jumper” is a type of sleeveless dress that is worn over a shirt, which is mostly known in the UK as a “Pinafore.” However, in the UK, a “jumper” is what Americans would call a “sweater,” which is a warm top used to cover a person’s arms and keep them warm. This needed changing to avoid confusion in the U.S.
Harry’s Hogwarts acceptance letter is also written a bit differently in each version. The letter that Hagrid tries to deliver to Harry comes with his standard acceptance letter, which is signed by Professor Minerva McGonagall and includes a list of supplies. It’s separated into three sections: Uniform, Course Books, and Other Equipment. In Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone vs Sorcerer’s Stone, the “course books” for the Hogwarts Curriculum are referred to as “set books.”
In addition, the letter is signed “Prof M McGonagall” in the UK version and “Professor M McGonagall” in the US edition. The books are another cultural difference. In the UK, “set books” is a term used to refer to course books for the classes. In the U.S., the term “course books” is more readily used, as it is books used in a specific course. However, there seems no real reason to shorten “Professor,” as the term “Prof” is easy enough for readers to understand.
Harry conspicuously wheels his own luggage rack into King’s Cross Station to get to Platform 9 3/4. This rack containing his spell books and his owl, Hedwig, is called a “cart” in the US Edition of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, while in the UK version, Harry is pushing a “trolley.” Likewise, the Hogwarts candy cart is called the trolley in the UK version, though, they did choose to keep that verbiage in the US version of the movie as well.
This was likely to give more of a British flair to the language, as it’s not a change that would cause reader confusion. In both the UK and Australia, they use the term trolley for most things that Americans refer to as a cart, such as a “shopping trolley” used in stores to collect items for purchase. In the United States, the word trolley is usually used to describe a vehicle that runs on tracks for public transportation, which might explain the original change to the name of the item Harry is pushing.
One of the most glaring differences between Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone vs Sorcerer’s Stone is Dean Thomas’s description. In the UK, the book simply says, “[…] three people left to be sorted. Turpin, Lisa became […]“. While the US version adds in another character, and reads, “[…] three people left to be sorted. ‘Thomas, Dean,’ a Black boy even taller than Ron […] ‘Turpin, Lisa’ became […]“. This ended up helping the movie casting, as it led to the casting of a Black actor in Alfred Enoch for Dean’s role.
In fact, it wasn’t just Dean’s description that was cut from the books — Rowling later revealed (via MuggleNet) that he was originally a much bigger part of the story. This alteration also created an error in the US versions, as Dean’s sorting was added in, but the number of students left to be sorted was kept at three, rather than being changed to four.
To add further to the Dean Thomas (Alfred Enoch) mystery in Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone, it wasn’t just his name and description that was omitted from the British version of the book. For some reason, they also cut out which house he was sorted into as well. In the US version, it is stated that he joins Harry in the Gryffindor house, clearly aligning him from the start.
Yet that doesn’t happen in the British version, with the entire character being cut from Sorting — which makes things a little more confusing later on, as Dean appears in the book in Harry’s year, but was not mentioned. This seems like a little more of a plot hole in the UK version of the book, where Dean was a character that Rowling had plans for but then forgot about him at points in the story. Clearly, she realized this since she made the corrections when she re-edited her story into Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone
This is a fairly small detail, but the sweet, Sherbet Lemons just so happen to be a firm favorite of Professor Dumbledore, which he mentions throughout the franchise. In the British version of Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone, the sweet is called a sherbet lemon, which is a hard, sour, lemon-shaped sweet that has lemon fizzing powder. However, these sweets aren’t common in America, and because of that, it was changed to a lemon drop for more people to understand what was being discussed when this particular confection came up.