The following is a transcription of “Very early page of Philosopher’s Stone“, one of the Potterania extras stored in your Scrapbook. For instructions on finding this extra click here.
To view a screenshot image click here.
Certificate reads:
“Very Early page of Philosopher’s Stone written around 1991 and showing plot-line that was abandoned. Would have changed everything!”
New! The faint shadow of backwards typewritten words can be seen if you zoom in and look closely. This is typed on the back of the sheet of paper and showing through due to the process used in making the image. Secca from Potterskeys.com has transcribed what it might say. I’ve posted a copy of his work at the bottom of this page. Thanks Secca and Jimmy!
Jo’s handwriting is a bit difficult to decipher. ( ### hash marks represent words she has scribbled out.)
“So this Flamel bloke found the stone “ said Ron
“No- he made it, “said Harry, “He was an alchemist. Which means
“Someone who turns base metals into gold” said Hermione. She had
that old proving- I- know- more- than- everyone- else look on her face, the
other two noticed, “Of course. I read about this in Alchemy, Ancient
Art and Science, by ### Argo Pyrites”.
“I missed that one myself,” muttered Ron.
“(and)—of course it’s some of the most difficult magic you can do.
And you end up not just with pure gold but also with a funny stone thing —“
“Which is what I’m on about,” said Harry, the Philosopher’s stone, yes.
And it works too. ### It kept Nicholas Flamel and his wife alive for
about five hundred years.”
“What?”
“I know,” said Harry. “But it’s true. He was spotted at the opera in
Paris in 1762 and he was born back in 13 something.” ##
Ron whistled. #
“But he’s dead now?” he asked.
“Of course,” said Harry, “Someone stole his stone so he couldn’t make
any more Elixir of life, could he? It takes a while to make another
stone and by that time, I suppose, he was just too old to live without
his Elixir until a new stone was ready. “ And now I’ll tell you something
else really weird that I haven’t told you up to now- the stone
was found in my parents safe at Gringott’s bank.”
But instead of the interested noises Harry had expected, Ron
and Hermione simply stared at him. ####
“What?” said Harry.
Ron cleared his throat, opened his mouth to speak but shut it
again.”
“What?” Harry said.
“Well, Harry,” said Hermione. “I mean…”
“You mean what?”
He stared at them both as they shuffled their feet and tried
not to look him in the eye.
“You don’t think”, he said suddenly and rather angrily, “That my
parents stole the stone?”
“Um…” said Ron.
“Look,” said Harry furiously, “That’s like saying they
murdered Flamel…”
“Oh Harry, we never thought…”
“Not much, you didn’t,” said Harry. “I don’t know how it
got in there, but the stone wasn’t put there by them…”
“Right,” said Harry Ron quickly. “### I’m sure you’re right.”
“There must be an # obvious explanation, “said Hermione.
### Harry wasn’t at all convinced that they meant it,
but at that moment the bell rang which put an end to the
conversation.
Below is a transcription of the shadowed text from the reverse side of the paper, painstakingly deciphered by Secca from Potterskeys. Thanks Secca!
The shadow of reversed lettering that can be seen when the image is zoomed, says Secca:
“It’s obvious this outline was done on an old manual typewriter – the words are not kerned in any way, so each letter uses up the same amount of space, which helps when guessing at words”
Each line of the original work was underlined from margin to margin across the page (except where noted)
Click here to see this image in reverse.
If you have any ideas or clues to what this might be referencing, we welcome your comments in the Pensieve!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Hes thinking
1. Hes never been promoted______________________
2. Met his wife at a disco_________________________
3. She was going to be a writer____________________
4. Can’t afford a house___________________________
5. Thinks buying a house is an investment____________
He and his wife think
6. Couldn’t attempt to own house here_______________
7. Private education is a bad idea___________________
He and his wife
8. Both went to private schools_____________________
9. Don’t believe in buying shares____________________
10. Already own some shares_______________________
11. Want to buy shares in water_____________________
His wife believes
12. That they should put everything in water___________
Football Club
1. The members of the club have children too__________
2. They think private schools make children work_______
3. They think comprehensive schools are too crowded____
4. They think there are good teachers in comprehensives_
5. They don’t think enough money is given to schools____
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
JKR.com: Very early page of Philosopher's Stone