The Horizon of Expectation and the Wizarding World, Part 1

American readers typically enter J.K. Rowling's magical universe through Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, the American edition of the novel that first appeared in the US in 1998. Avid readers, however, are not satisfied to limit themselves to this version alone, so they access other editions of the text and are drawn deeper and deeper into the wizarding world as they progress through the British version, into the illustrated edition, and through the Kindle-in-Motion adaptation.

As they progress, readers move from outsiders to insiders of the magical world as each edition expands their perspectives through unfamiliar words, creative illustrations, and images brought to life through motion. When they finally do return to the original American edition of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, they may discover that their horizons of expectation, what they anticipate from another reading, will have significantly changed due to their immersion in the various enhanced portrayals of J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter universe.

Reception theory and reader response critics often speak of a reader's horizon of expectation. Some, following Hans Robert Jaus, use the term to refer to the reception of a text in a particular era (Bressler 72). Using this definition, Harry Potter scholars might examine how readers' horizons of expectation have changed over the past twenty years or how the films have affected interpretations of the texts. Others critics, like Wolfgang Iser, shift the meaning of horizon of expectation to describe a reader's predictions of what will happen in a text based on what has come before (73). In this case, scholars studying Harry Potter might look at the evolution of readers' horizons of expectation as they read through Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone for the first time, noting perhaps that some readers easily follow Harry in suspecting Severus Snape of nefarious deeds while others are not quite so quick to fall for Rowling's red herrings. This essay, however, will expand Iser's definition to include multiple versions of the text and will examine how readers' horizons of expectation grow and change through their expanded experiences.

Readers' experiences certainly widen when they encounter the British version of the first Harry Potter novel: Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone. Unfamiliar words and meanings abound, pulling readers deeper into Harry's world and into British culture. The encounter begins at the front cover when readers notice the book's original title. In preparation for the novel's US debut, publisher Arthur A. Levine questioned the British title and told Rowling that it needed more magic, so she suggested replacing “Philosopher's Stone” with “Sorcerer's Stone,” and a new title was born (Boboltz). The change, however, was not without sacrifice, for “Philosopher's Stone” carries with it a depth of history, indeed a whole magical and alchemical tradition, not present in “Sorcerer's Stone.” Readers discovering the original title for the first time are drawn into a world in which magic is associated with wisdom and challenged to expand their perhaps limited ideas of philosophy and the wonders of knowledge.

Enrichment continues as readers come across other unexpected British words and usages for everyday items, activities, and expressions. Hogwarts students wear “trainers” (rather than “sneakers”) and “jumpers” (“sweaters”) while they carry around their “set books” (“course books”) and “revision timetables” (“study schedules”) and look for the “packet of crisps” (“bag of chips”) that Peeves swiped from them. Professor Dumbledore enjoys “sherbet lemons” (“lemon drops”). The Dursleys use a “cooker” rather than a “stove” and British “sellotape” (which actually corresponds much better with the magical spellotape) rather than American “scotch tape.” Other characters go “holidaying” rather than “vacationing”, play “football” and “rounders” instead of “soccer” and “baseball,” take “a tea of” something delicious rather than make “a meal of” it, and probably do not enjoy “queuing” or “lining up.” Ron announces that a person is “mad” and “barking' when he is “crazy” and “off his rocker,” and Hermione “came top of the year” (“had the best grades”) because, of course, she memorized all her set books “off by heart” (Olson, et al.). 

American readers who encounter these British expressions may be rather bewildered at first, but they soon discover that they are looking at the everyday world in new ways (yes, revision is a good way to study since one must look at material again, and rounders does indeed accurately describe baseball). Normal objects often taken for granted are not quite so ordinary any longer. Readers' horizons broaden as they immerse themselves in a strange new world not only magical but also British.