Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets - Speaking of Nearly Headless Nick…
In book 1, Harry asks N. H. N. about this "nearly headless" thing. So, in a demonstration, Nick grabs his left ear and pulls. Yet in the second book, American edition, page 182, the illustration clearly shows that Nick would have had to pull on the *right* ear. Think about it. If he pulled on his left ear and the hinge was on the right, then he would've ripped his head off. Instead, he just flipped it. Who do we believe?
Illustrators are ALWAYS messing up. Take for example the cover art of a Girl Talk book. On the cover, one girl was wearing blue and the other pink, but in the book it was the other way around. And besides, maybe the image was reversed to look better. Never mind the fact that Nicolas was wearing the wrong outfit in the pic!
I believe the illustration there is of Lockhart after he's been hit with the Disarming Spell- not of Nick. After all, the chapter title is "The Dueling Club".
It may not be Lockhart, but it sure isn't Nick. The guy in the picture is definitely not wearing a costume from a old production of Hamlet. Nick is. And ghosts probably don't change clothes.
That is Nearly Headless Nick. I think I know why his head is like that. He's supposed to be lying on his back, right? Well, the only way you could tell he was nearly headless in the picture is if the artists put him being headless by his neck. If they put the cut to the side, you wouldn't have been able to see it. They should have just chosen a different scene to draw.
WHAT PICTURES!?!?!?!
Oh, and he couldn't have ripped his head off. If you read the book, he was ticked off that he couldn't join that headless group. If it could have been ripped off, don't you think he would have done so already??
Well, Nearly Headless Nick could have reached his RIGHT hand over his head and pulled his LEFT ear up towards the right, so his neck would be severed on the left. Or, it could have been vice-versa.
It doesn't say which direction he pulled on the left ear. If he pulled upwards, his head would still have flipped and the illustration could still be correct.
Okay......I am a avid Harry Potter fan among other things and WHAT ILLUSTRATIONS!?!?!?!?! I have all the books and the only pictures are in the chapter opening. Yes I live in the U.S. and who in the name of Gordic Gryffindor is the guy in the "Dueling Club" chapter opening picture???
The guy in the picture is Lockhart.. Don't ask me why he's missing most of his neck, but it surely isn't Nearly Headless Nick. I'm pretty sure that it is Lockhart.
Maybe the fact that nick is a ghost has escaped all of you...... If he is a ghost why when he grabs his left ear can't he just reach all the way through from the right side, therefore pulling his ear towards the right?
ps Man that would be a good party trick in real life :)
The illustration is definitely of Nick! The picture in chapter 4 shows Lockhart with one of his books. He doesn't look like the guys in chapter 11. Plus, wouldn't Lockhart be wearing his usual robes?
Okay, with this thought, J.K. Rowling specifically talked about the subject of the illustrations when in the movie, Harry's scar is in a different spot on his forehead than the pictures in the books. She said that the people who draw for the books make up their own stuff and they really don't talk to her at all during the process, so it's not her slip up, it's theirs.
Why would Lockhart flot? this is a picture of Nearly-Headless-Nick after he has been petrified. He is warring the wrong style of clothing, and I think the illistrator just dosn't know what they are doing. Take the cover, Fawkes is supposed to have gold tale feathers, but dosn't. So this is a slip up, but of the illistrator, not JK Rowling
The picture in chapter 11 is Nearly Headless Nick. Re-Read page 202 pargraph 4. The paragraph clearly describes the opening picture. It's Nearly Headless Nick when Harry found him.
You shouldn't buy the American version to begin with people! I mean: they translate from English to American! What is thát all about? I love the English sayings and all that, and don't tell me that the American kids won't understand some of the English sayings, I'm sure they'll understand fine. Even I do, and I'm Dutch. Anyway, the American Illustrators just messed up. I'm pretty sure that when JK described Nearly Headless Nick pulling his left ear, she meant that he was pulling his left ear with her LEFT hand and that he was pulling DOWN and not up. There's no reason to believe otherwise, because the illustrators and JK Rowling don't have much to do with each other. :)
![[Slipups.com Logo]](/images/slipupslogo_small.gif)
