The Horizon of Expectation and the Wizarding World, Part 2

Most American readers actually experience the novel's British incarnation for the first time in the illustrated edition of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone released in 2015. Through Jim Kay's creative artwork, the magical world comes to life in full color, and readers' horizons expand as they see their favorite characters, envision events, and notice details in places and things as they may never have done before. Kay's illustrations, for example, present the mysterious and somewhat sensorily overwhelming Diagon Alley in vivid detail (60-63). Close examination of the drawings reveal Tangle & Noils wig shop right next door to the magical creature shop (complete with several escaped cats frolicking across the roof and upper stories of the crooked row house).

Just down the street, Bufo's offers “Batrachian Bargains!” in frogs and toads, but the umbrella store upstairs seems to have trouble holding onto its wares, for multiple (magical?) umbrellas float here and there above the stores of Diagon Alley. Readers discover that the bookstore Flourish & Blots features a dragon, a manuscript, and a quill pen as its emblem as well as heraldic symbols on its windows, owls on its roof, and Belcher's Bottled Beers in its basement. A few doors down, magical shoppers (and readers) discover the Galloglass mirror shop (not mentioned in the text) for all their needs in enchanted and haunted mirrors; Twinkle's Telescopes (also offering lunar ticks); and Pettichap's clothier (specializing in “Shirts for Squirts”). Diagon Alley with all its delightful and whimsical quirks comes to life before readers' eyes, as they encounter it afresh, and like as not, they will never picture this wizarding marketplace as they did before.

The magical world's characters also appear intensely real in Kay's illustrations. Draco Malfoy, for instance, stands in Madam Malkin's robe shop, hands raised and tape measure floating around him, as he stares at the reader with cold eyes and an unwelcoming (to say the least) expression (66). Rubeus Hagrid appears too big for his page, but his bright eyes and red nose shine out in the midst of his shaggy black beard and hair (39). His cravat features a skull and crossbones motif, and readers can just make out his metal buttons and (could it be?) a smiling monkey watch fob. Ron Weasley stares straight at readers, his brilliant red hair contrasting abruptly with a green jumper (160). His expression seems to be a cross between annoyance and sheepishness, for he has just been told off by Snape for nearly fighting with Draco Malfoy.

Kay depicts magical events just as vividly as he does magical places, objects, and people. As Harry stands before the Mirror of Erised, readers see a lonely boy in striped pajamas and a red robe leaning into the glass with his hands and forehead touching it as he tries to reach through (170). Only his reflection appears in the mirror, for only he can see his family staring back at him. The image appears on the far left side of the page, with the rest of the space taken up by a pile of dimly lit old chairs that accentuate the bleakness of the scene and Harry's experience. Again, readers who look closely at this and other illustrations will never again see the magical world in the same way; their imaginations cannot help but return to these fanciful images even when they read an unillustrated text.