Who knew?
Harry Potter fans are just discovering that there is an alternate version of a key scene in the Philosopher’s Stone film.
The Harry Potter series, penned by JK Rowling is the fourth best-selling book of all time, selling 120 million copies worldwide.
The first film adaptation came out in 2001 and became the highest-grossing film of that year.
Fans of the Wizarding World franchise might know the book, released in 1997, had a different name in the US.
In the UK it’s known as Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone while in the US it is known as Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone.
But it would appear many viewers did not realise that the film versions were also different.
The official Harry Potter TikTok and Instagram accounts put a side-by-side comparison of the two scenes next to each other.
The scene shows Harry Potter, Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger in the library, where the trio are discussing where they’ve heard the term ‘philosopher’s stone’ before.
In the UK version, Hermione, could be heard saying: “I checked this out weeks ago for a bit of light reading. […] Of course, here it is. Nicolas Flamel is the only known maker of the Philosopher’s Stone.”
Meanwhile, in the US version, Hermione says: “Nicolas Flamel is the only known maker of the Sorcerer’s Stone.”
Hermione continues, in the UK version: “Honestly, don’t you two read? The Philosopher’s Stone is a legendary substance with astonishing powers.”
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In the US version, Hermione says the same sentence, but says Sorcerer’s Stone again.
Over the video clip, is the caption: “Raise your hand if you had no idea there were two different versions of this movie.”
Many flocked to the comments to express their views: “Never understood why they decided to change it to Sorcerer for the U.S. market.”
Another said: “I might be alone in this, but I think the title change says more about Britain’s view of the average American’s intelligence than the average American’s actual intelligence.”
While a third simply commented: “Still pissed about this.”
A fourth said: “They made Emma repeat the lines.”
