Oh, Snap! Is a Muggle to Blame for These "Spells"?

Finding misspellings, fact errors and other blunders in a magazine or newspaper isn't too difficult to do. Those types of publications are often under tight publishing deadlines, and errors slip through the cracks. Understandable.

It takes a bit more effort, however, to spot an error in a book, especially one that is part of one of the most popular series of all time. Thanks to some eagle-eyed (or should that be hippogriff-eyed?) Potterphiles, I've been made aware of two errors in Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. (Note: These mistakes show up in the first American edition, October 1999.)

In Chapter 14, titled "Snape's Grudge," the titular character is misspelled. Near the bottom of page 285 Snape is misidentified as Snap. Can't blame spell check for that one.

Near the top of page 428 in Chapter 22 ("Owl Post Again"), when Harry Potter and Dumbledore are talking in Professor Lupin's office, this line shows up:

It took a moment for Harry to realize what Dumblefore had said.

It didn't take Potter readers any time to realize Dumblefore should have been Dumbledore. Is J.K. Rowling at fault? Is the publisher, Scholastic Press, to blame? Nah. Let's pin this one on Voldemort.