Who wrote the Harry Potter novels?
Answer : J.K. Rowling
This British novelist published the first book in 1997 with Bloomsbury; the saga spans seven novels and ranks among the best-selling book series in history.
Questions and answers: Harry Potter
Revise Harry Potter: here is a selection of questions of every level, with the answer and an explanation. To test yourself without seeing the answers, play the quizzes.
Play the Harry Potter quizzesVery easy
What is the name of the school of witchcraft and wizardry that Harry attends?
Answer : Hogwarts
Hogwarts stands in Scotland, in a castle hidden from Muggles; Harry enters it at the age of eleven after receiving his acceptance letter.
What shape is the scar on Harry's forehead?
Answer : A lightning bolt
The mark comes from the killing curse Voldemort cast at baby Harry on the night his parents were killed; the spell rebounded on the dark wizard.
What kind of animal is Hedwig, Harry's companion?
Answer : A snowy owl
Hagrid gives Harry this white snowy owl for his eleventh birthday in Diagon Alley, and she later carries his post.
Which dark wizard killed Harry's parents?
Answer : Lord Voldemort
Lord Voldemort, born Tom Riddle, killed Lily and James Potter on 31 October 1981 before turning on their infant son.
From which platform does the Hogwarts Express leave?
Answer : Platform 9¾
You reach it by walking through the brick barrier between platforms 9 and 10 at King's Cross station in London, invisible to Muggles.
Which Hogwarts house does the Sorting Hat place Harry in?
Answer : Gryffindor
The Sorting Hat considered Slytherin, but Harry asked not to go there. Gryffindor's emblem is the lion and its colours are scarlet and gold.
How many novels make up the main Harry Potter series?
Answer : Seven
The seven novels were published between 1997 and 2007. The Cursed Child, billed as an eighth story, is actually a stage play.
Easy
Which Hogwarts house is Draco Malfoy in?
Answer : Slytherin
Slytherin's emblem is the serpent and its colours are green and silver; Draco Malfoy is its best-known student, born into a pure-blood family.
What is the name of the three-headed dog that guards the Philosopher's Stone?
Answer : Fluffy
Hagrid acquired Fluffy from a stranger he met in a pub. The beast falls asleep whenever music is played to it, which lets Harry slip past.
Which spell makes light appear at the tip of a wand?
Answer : Lumos
Lumos lights the wand, and its opposite, Nox, puts it out. Alohomora opens locks and Accio pulls an object towards the caster.
Which small golden ball must the Seeker catch to end a Quidditch match?
Answer : The Golden Snitch
As big as a walnut, winged and extremely fast, it ends the match as soon as the Seeker grabs it.
Which Weasley twins open a joke shop?
Answer : Fred and George
Fred and George found Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes in Diagon Alley. Harry gives them his Triwizard Tournament winnings to help them get started.
What is the name of the wizarding bank run by goblins?
Answer : Gringotts
Gringotts is run by goblins and protected by spells and creatures; its vaults run deep beneath London, reached from Diagon Alley.
Which professor teaches Potions to Harry in his first year?
Answer : Severus Snape
Severus Snape is also head of Slytherin house and longs to get the post of Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher.
Which house-elf does Harry set free in the second book?
Answer : Dobby
Harry tricks Lucius Malfoy into tossing a sock to Dobby: a house-elf who is handed an item of clothing by his master is free.
Medium
Which of these spells is one of the three Unforgivable Curses?
Answer : Avada Kedavra
Avada Kedavra kills instantly. Using any of the Unforgivable Curses on a human being earns a life sentence in Azkaban.
What is the core of Harry's wand?
Answer : A phoenix feather
The feather comes from Fawkes, Dumbledore's phoenix; another feather from the same bird is in Voldemort's wand, which links the two.
What shape does Harry's Patronus take?
Answer : A stag
His Patronus is a stag, like his father James's Animagus form. Hermione's is an otter and Ron's is a Jack Russell terrier.
Which ghost haunts Gryffindor Tower?
Answer : Nearly Headless Nick
Sir Nicholas de Mimsy-Porpington, known as Nearly Headless Nick, owes his nickname to a botched beheading. Each house has a ghost: the Bloody Baron, the Fat Friar, the Grey Lady.
Which Hogwarts founder had the Chamber of Secrets built?
Answer : Salazar Slytherin
It houses a basilisk that only a Parselmouth, the Heir of Slytherin, can control; its entrance hides in a second-floor girls' bathroom.
Which broomstick does Harry receive in his first year to play Quidditch?
Answer : A Nimbus 2000
Smashed by the Whomping Willow in his third year, the Nimbus 2000 is replaced by a Firebolt, sent anonymously by Sirius Black.
In which book is Harry mysteriously chosen to compete in the Triwizard Tournament?
Answer : Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
The Goblet of Fire is the fourth book, published in 2000; the Tournament brings together three schools: Hogwarts, Beauxbatons and Durmstrang.
Who is the head of Gryffindor house?
Answer : Minerva McGonagall
Minerva McGonagall teaches Transfiguration and can turn into a tabby cat. Snape heads Slytherin, Sprout heads Hufflepuff and Flitwick heads Ravenclaw.
Hard
How many Horcruxes did Voldemort deliberately create, not counting Harry?
Answer : Six
He meant to split his soul into seven parts, keeping one inside himself: that makes six deliberate Horcruxes (diary, ring, locket, cup, diadem, Nagini).
What does Harry use to destroy Tom Riddle's diary in the Chamber of Secrets?
Answer : A basilisk fang
Harry stabs the diary with a basilisk fang, whose venom is one of the few ways to destroy a Horcrux; ink gushes out and the soul fragment is gone.
In which village did Voldemort kill Harry's parents?
Answer : Godric's Hollow
Godric's Hollow is a village home to both wizards and Muggles; Harry returns there in the last book and finds his parents' ruined house.
Which pet belongs to Argus Filch, the Hogwarts caretaker?
Answer : Mrs Norris, a cat
Mrs Norris patrols the corridors and alerts Filch whenever a student breaks the rules; Filch is a Squib, born to wizarding parents but without magical powers.
Which three objects make up the Deathly Hallows?
Answer : The Elder Wand, the Resurrection Stone and the Invisibility Cloak
They come from the Tale of the Three Brothers in The Tales of Beedle the Bard; according to the legend, whoever unites them becomes the master of Death.
What species is Aragog, who lives in the Forbidden Forest?
Answer : An acromantula
Aragog is a giant spider that Hagrid raised from an egg. Acromantulas speak a language that some humans can understand.
What is Sirius Black's Marauder nickname?
Answer : Padfoot
Sirius turns into a large black dog. His friends have nicknames too: Prongs for James, Moony for Remus and Wormtail for Peter.
Who directed the film Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban?
Answer : Alfonso Cuarón
Mexican director Alfonso Cuarón made this third film, released in 2004, after Chris Columbus directed the first two; David Yates then directed the last four.
Expert
How many points does catching the Golden Snitch score in Quidditch?
Answer : 150 points
Each goal scored with the Quaffle is worth 10 points, whereas the Golden Snitch is worth 150 and ends the match, hence its decisive role.
What is the name of Albus Dumbledore's younger brother?
Answer : Aberforth
Aberforth runs the Hog's Head pub in Hogsmeade and belongs to the Order of the Phoenix; he helps Harry, Ron and Hermione get back into Hogwarts in the last book.
What wood is Voldemort's wand made of?
Answer : Yew
His wand is yew and holds a phoenix feather from the same bird as Harry's, Fawkes, Dumbledore's phoenix.
Which Hogwarts founder originally owned the cup that became a Horcrux?
Answer : Helga Hufflepuff
Voldemort obtained the cup from Hepzibah Smith, a descendant of Helga Hufflepuff, then hid it in the Lestrange vault at Gringotts.
What was the name of Voldemort's mother?
Answer : Merope Gaunt
A descendant of Salazar Slytherin, Merope Gaunt married the Muggle Tom Riddle; she died soon after the birth of their son, the future Voldemort.
Who swapped the real Slytherin locket for a fake one before dying?
Answer : Regulus Black
Sirius's younger brother and a former Death Eater, Regulus uncovered the locket's secret and left a note signed R.A.B. in the fake.
In which year was the last book, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, first published?
Answer : 2007
The final book came out in July 2007, two years after Half-Blood Prince, which was published in 2005.
Who composed the famous Hedwig's Theme, heard from the very first film?
Answer : John Williams
John Williams wrote the music for the first three films. Patrick Doyle, Nicholas Hooper and Alexandre Desplat took over after him.