The Harry Potter series is beloved the world over, and has been translated into many different languages. And that means lots of cover variations in different countries. Some covers are famous, some are fairly forgettable, and some are by illustrator Serena Riglietti, who came up with this image to go on the cover of the first book in the series, Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone:
Let’s take this in for a second, because it needs processing. So this is Harry Potter — it’s Harry, right? — wearing a rat-head hat, sitting next to a giant rat, thinking deeply about his next move in a chess game. And this relates to Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone…somehow?
If I’m being generous, I can see how some of these elements are drawn from the first book. There is a high-stakes chess game towards the end, and Harry’s friend Ron does have a pet rat named Scabbers…although he’s not a giant…or a rat, but that’s a different story. There’s no explanation for the rat-head hat, though.
I’m not the only person who thinks this particular cover is a little odd. J.K. Rowling herself is pretty amused by the whole thing:
I've always loved that cover because it's so odd. Why the rat head? Why the giant rat in the headscarf? I never met the illustrator, so I still don't know. https://t.co/x4aeLU5xeL
— J.K. Rowling (@jk_rowling) April 21, 2020
Oh, I forgot all about the scarf the rat is wearing. That’s another mystery.
One person claimed to have spoken to Riglietti about the illustration, and although this is unconfirmed, it would explain a few things:
I did once. She said that part of her signature style is to put hats on her characters and she wanted to mesh that with Harry's odd world (not these exact words)
— filippo :) (@michiamosocc) April 21, 2020
Okay, so Riglietti’s signature is to put all the characters she draws in hats. That also jibes with her cover for Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, where Harry is wearing what looks like a snake’s head hat.
And for Chamber of Secrets he's wearing a snake's head and riding a giant flying book! Standard pic.twitter.com/0NWnnw8cgK
— Becca (@BeccaH88) April 21, 2020
Snakes did play a part in Chamber of Secrets, moreso than rats did in Philosopher’s Stone. So now I understand the hat, but not why he’s riding a giant flying book! It’s been a while since I’ve read Chamber of Secrets but I’m 100% positive that didn’t happen…99%.
Part of the issue may also be that Riglietti’s wasn’t actually given the full book to read before making the cover, which isn’t uncommon in the publishing world:
She also wasn't given the full book and had to work with the few information they gave her. I guess she was lead to think the rat played a much more important role than it ended up playing
— 𝓢𝓮𝓪𝓻𝓵𝓪𝓲𝓭 🏰🥮🍄🍁✨ (@Carlotta_Cor) April 21, 2020
And keep in mind that, hard as it is to imagine now, these covers were drawn at a time when Harry Potter wasn’t widely known around the world, so there was more room for artistic interpretation.
Personally, I think the covers are fun, although they’re definitely strange. I guess they’re weird because they’re strange. Vive la difference and le rat-head hats.
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h/t ComicSands