Harry Potter fans roast 'dumb' reason first book's name was changed

Perhaps you weren’t aware - or maybe you don’t care - but when the first Harry Potter book was launched in America, the publishers decided to change the name of it.

In the UK, it was called Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone, because the stone makes an appearance as a plot point. However, Harry Potter fans in the U.S. were seen as ‘thick’ and the name got changed.

The books and films eventually spawned many Harry Potter games

In the States, it was called Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone instead.

Fans nowadays can see why it was changed to some degree, but still feel it was an unnecessary tweak.

“I would say I’m offended but…I get it,” said danicalielle who brought the revelation to Reddit.

From a marketing standpoint, the name change worked because it better advertised to kids what was in the book.

“Yeah, obviously the Philosophers Stone is a real thing, but I understood the change. When I was 11, "Sorcerer's Stone" was a) cooler and b) immediately let me know there was gonna be a lot of magic in the book,” said milkmanbonzai.

Another Redditor puts it simply, “Philosophers think of things, Sorcerers do magic,” but it does seem that some still miss the point.

This user was happy to catch any flak for their thoughts - “I’m ready to accept downvotes, but sorcerers stone is a much better name. Philosophers stone sounds so boring like I’m going to be reading about Aristotle or something.”

Then it took another reader to point out, “It’s funny how all the Americans in this thread are proving this right.”

Eventually, the publishers changed things back to the way they should have been and everything is ancient history.

No harm, no foul. Everyone still enjoyed the stories for what they were, and the fanbase can rest easy that nobody is being branded as ‘thick.’