Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone was published on June 26, 1997, by Bloomsbury in the United Kingdom. Just a year later, the U.S. publishes its own version under the Scholastic Corporation, but this time under the title of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer‘s Stone. Harry Potter fans are well aware that the title differences had been made for marketing purposes, as publishers felt that “Sorcerer” was more straightforward and would have a greater appeal to US readers. However, the extent of the differences between these two novels is a bit larger than most people realize.

Between the book versions, there are a few subtle differences that only people who have read both versions of the story will be aware of. Even still, the differences are so minor that they may have managed to escape most viewers’ attention.

Harry’s Sass

It may not be well represented in the movies, by Harry’s sassy attitude is one of his more endearing traits in the books. But apparently, Harry’s cheek is more pronounced in the American version of the story. For example, during their first potions class, Snape calls on Harry to ask him a ream of tedious questions that he clearly doesn’t know the answer to. Hermione, on the other hand, is eager to answer his questions. In the film, Harry just simply glances over at Hermione and says “I don’t know, sir."

In the U.S. version of the books, Harry actually says. “Clearly Hermione knows the answer. You ought to ask her." In the UK, he says, “I think Hermione knows the answer, why don’t you try her?" The UK version clearly takes a more polite tone, but Harry’s attitude in the former is more fun.

Hagrid’s Ride

Hagrid’s motorcycle is one of the first magical objects seen in Harry Potter and the Sorcerer‘s Stone. Readers later learn that this is the bike of Sirius Black, who loans it to Hagrid in order 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 and is 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’.

Hermione’s Appearance

Hermione‘s appearance is also slightly altered between these two editions as well. 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, you 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 language.

Mrs. Weasley’s Christmas Gift

Harry’s first Christmas at Hogwarts is a happy one. It’s the first time that he gets a few presents of his own, the best of which is a magical heirloom left by his father. He also gets a few other things like a few pence from his aunt Petunia Dursley and a dazzling sweater from Mrs. Weasley. If you read the UK version of Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone, he receives a “jumper” from Mrs. Weasley.

Once again, this is simply a Britishism being corrected for a US audience - as in the US, a ‘jumper’ is a type of sleeveless dress, and it would be very odd for Mrs Weasley to have sent that to Harry! However, in the UK, a ‘jumper’ is what Americans would call a ‘sweater’.

Hogwarts Acceptance Letter

Harry’s famous Hogwarts acceptance letter is also written a bit differently in each version. The letter that Hagrid tries so desperately to deliver to Harry comes with his standard acceptance letter signed by McGonagall as well as a list of supplies that he will need for his first year.

It’s separated into three sections: Uniform, Course Books, and Other Equipment. In Harry Potter and the Philosopher’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, although there seems no real reason to shorten ‘Professor’ in one and not the other!

Luggage on Platform 9 3/4

Harry conspicuously wheels his own luggage rack in King’s Cross Station in order to get to Platform 9 3/4.  This rack containing his spellbook 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 movies as well. This was likely to give more of a British flair to the language, as it’s not a change that would cause confusion.

Dean Thomas’ Description

One of the most glaring differences between these two sets of books 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…“

In fact, it wasn’t just Dean’s description that was cut from the books - Rowling later revealed 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 upped to four.

Dean Being Sorted

To add further into the Dean Thomas mystery, 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 very 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 alphabetically during the Sorting Ceremony!

Sherbet Lemons

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 the book, the sweet is called a sherbet lemon, which is a hard, sour 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 in order for more people to understand what was being discussed when this particular confectionary came up.

The Font

Any time a letter is written in Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, the font is changed to a different script depending on who is writing the letter. There are plenty of different fonts throughout the entire book, with Hagrid having his own rough “handwriting” compared to Professor McGonagall‘s elegant scripture.

In Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone, the letters are simply changed to an italic font with no other special fonts used to represent each character. This may have been an issue of practicality, as the publisher may not have wanted to put the extra effort into creating fonts for specific characters for the first book in a series that wasn’t guaranteed to be popular.

Hogwarts Text Books

One Hogwarts textbook, in particular, has a different name between the UK and the US version of the book. Towards the end of the novel, Harry is studying for his finals and looking up the word ‘Dittany’ in the textbook 1,000 Magical Herbs and Fungi.

In the UK version, 100 Magical Herbs and Fungi is the title of the textbook. This is one of the few books that has yet to find its way onto Muggle bookshelves, however, it seems that the US version is the preferred title for most fans.

Philosopher Versus Sorcerer’s Stone

And the most popular question that fans have, concerns the title differences between Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone and Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone. It seems strange enough that book publishers are willing to change such minimal details in the books in order to make it more understandable for the children, however having completely separate book titles is something that is rarely done.

The simple fact of the matter is that American publishers think that the word “sorcerer” sounds  more enticing and magical than the word “philosopher.” At the time, the belief is that American kids would have more familiarity with the term “sorcerer” than they would “philosopher”, therefore, making it more likely for them to pick up the book at the store.