The global phenomenon that is Harry Potter first took the world by storm close to 30 years ago, but fans are still discovering tiny details they never noticed before.
Since the first book in the series was published in 1997, there have been some differences between the British and American versions of the editions, the most famous being the title of book one.
In the U.K., it's Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, but in the U.S., it was changed to Sorcerer's Stone. There are many other changes throughout the series to make things more accessible for U.S. readers, small things like changing the "jumper" to "sweater," or "sherbet lemon" to "lemon drop."
But a huge discussion has broken out online over a change in one book—because it leaves U.S. fans with less information on the series than British readers.
The new debate has been sparked by content creator Mikaila, who posted to her TikTok account @magicbymikaila on August 15 pointing out that one change to the U.S. editions caused her to make a mistake on a Harry Potter quiz.
In a viral video which has racked up over 32,000 likes, Mikaila explains she was asked at a trivia event for the character Sirius Black's vault number at the wizarding bank, Gringotts.
But, as a massive Harry Potter fan who had read the books countless times, she was convinced they never got that answer. That is, until, she checked the British edition.
10 years after moving inâkid finds something previous homeowners forgotRead more 10 years after moving inâkid finds something previous homeowners forgotIn the U.S. edition, published by Scholastic, Black says: "I used your name, but told them to take the gold from my own Gringotts vault."
But the U.K. 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 accepted as being made to help American readers understand common British phrases—like changing sweets to candy—neither Mikaila nor the hundreds of commenters on her video could understand why his vault number would be completely removed.
"Wait, what? I thought the only difference was calling it 'Sorcerer's Stone' for some reason," one user wrote.
Another joked: "I think this was intentional so that British people would always have to upper hand in trivia."
Others gave suggestions as to why the text could have been changed, with many wondering if it was due to the American chain store 7-Eleven. One guessed people could make fun of the number, while another said kids could try and gain access to the character's vault at their local store.
Author JK Rowling has spoken previously about the changes made to her books, and states it was on her publisher's request, after Harry Potter was first accepted for publishing.
She agreed for the U.S. version to user Sorcerer's Stone upon it's release in 1998 a year after the British version.
And not only that, she reveals on her website that it was her publisher who suggested she use the initials JK, rather than her full name, Joanne, as they said it would 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 bestselling book series in history.
Newsweek has contacted @MagicbyMikaila on TikTok, and Bloomsbury and Scholastic via email for comment on this story.
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