Harry Potter Movies
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8correct to beat the crowd
This Harry Potter movie trivia quiz has 139 free questions with answers and covers all eight films, and it gets hard. The first half is warm-up territory: the Gryffindor password in the first film, who played Dumbledore before and after Richard Harris died, Harry's Patronus, the Triwizard schools and Wormtail's animal form. Then the hard Harry Potter movie trivia begins: the directors who were shortlisted or turned the films down, why Harris took the part at all, who was offered Dumbledore before Michael Gambon, which Doctor Who actor played Barty Crouch Jr., who wrote the Yule Ball band's song, how many girls Evanna Lynch beat to play Luna, the only screenplay Steve Kloves did not write, the only film released in 3D and how a secretary got the first book onto David Heyman's desk. Every answer was checked against Wikipedia's articles on the films, and each question carries the sentence that supports it.
30 of 139 questions with answers and explanations. Play the quiz
Q 01What password opens the Gryffindor common room in the first Harry Potter film?
Caput Draconis
Caput Draconis, Latin for 'dragon's head', is what prefect Percy Weasley tells the Fat Lady's portrait, which swings open to let the new first-years climb through.
Q 02Which actor portrayed Albus Dumbledore in the first two Harry Potter films?
Richard Harris
Richard Harris played the headmaster in the first two films and died in October 2002, three weeks before Chamber of Secrets opened, so the part had to be recast.
Q 03Which subject does Professor Snape teach in the first Harry Potter film?
Potions
Potions is Snape's subject for Harry's first five years; in the sixth film he finally moves to Defence Against the Dark Arts, when Horace Slughorn returns to teach Potions.
Q 04What position does Harry Potter play on the Gryffindor Quidditch team?
Seeker
Seeker: Professor McGonagall puts Harry on the Gryffindor team after seeing him dive to catch Neville's Remembrall in his first flying lesson, when he expected to be punished for flying at all.
Q 05Which Horcrux does Harry stab with a fang at the end of Chamber of Secrets?
Tom Riddle's Diary
Tom Riddle's Diary is the first Horcrux destroyed: Harry stabs it with a fang from the Chamber's monster, whose venom is one of the few things that can do the job.
Q 06What animal form does Wormtail take to hide for years as a Weasley family pet?
Rat
Rat: as Scabbers, the Weasleys' pet, he hid for twelve years, until he was unmasked and forced back into human form in the Shrieking Shack.
Q 07Who is revealed in Prisoner of Azkaban to have really betrayed Harry's parents to Voldemort?
Peter Pettigrew
Peter Pettigrew, long thought murdered by Sirius Black, had betrayed the Potters himself, then faked his own death and left Black to spend twelve years in Azkaban for it.
Q 08From which platform do students board the Hogwarts Express?
9 and 3/4
9 and 3/4 is reached through the barrier between platforms 9 and 10 at King's Cross; the film crew shot it between platforms 4 and 5, because the real 9 and 10 have no brick wall between them.
Q 09What is the incantation for the Wand-Lighting Charm?
Lumos
Lumos lights the tip of a wand and Nox puts it out; Harry whispers both over the Marauder's Map in the third film, either side of 'I solemnly swear that I am up to no good'.
Q 10Who took over as Albus Dumbledore from Prisoner of Azkaban onwards, after the original actor died in 2002?
Michael Gambon
Michael Gambon took over for Prisoner of Azkaban and, rather than imitate his predecessor, gave Dumbledore a slight Irish lilt as a nod to him.
Q 11Who plays Lord Voldemort from Goblet of Fire onwards?
Ralph Fiennes
Ralph Fiennes first appears as the reborn Voldemort in Goblet of Fire; his nephew later played the 11-year-old Tom Riddle, cast, the director said, mainly for his dark, haunted quality, though the family likeness helped.
Q 12Which device lets Hermione attend overlapping classes in Prisoner of Azkaban?
A Time-Turner
McGonagall lends Hermione a Time-Turner so she can take every elective; Harry and Hermione later use it to save Buckbeak and Sirius.
Q 13What kind of monster lives in the Chamber of Secrets?
Basilisk
A Basilisk, a giant snake whose stare kills; this one's victims are merely petrified because each met its gaze only indirectly, as in a mirror.
Q 21What animal does Harry Potter's Patronus take the form of?
Stag
A stag, the same form James Potter took as an Animagus; Harry's Patronus drives off hundreds of Dementors in Prisoner of Azkaban.
Q 22What is the name of Albus Dumbledore's loyal phoenix companion?
Fawkes
Fawkes flies into the Chamber of Secrets carrying the Sorting Hat, blinds the monster and then heals Harry's poisoned wound with his tears.
Q 23Where is Gringotts Wizarding Bank located?
Diagon Alley
Diagon Alley houses the goblin-run bank, which the trio rob in the final film before escaping on the back of the dragon that guards its vaults.
Q 14Which of these schools participates in the Triwizard Tournament alongside Hogwarts?
Durmstrang
Durmstrang, the northern school with a dark-arts reputation, sends Viktor Krum; Beauxbatons sends Fleur Delacour, and Harry and Cedric both end up standing for Hogwarts.
Q 15Who directed the first Harry Potter film?
Chris Columbus
Chris Columbus, director of Home Alone, chased the job after his daughter persuaded him to read the books, and won it against some 25 other directors who wanted it.
Q 16What kind of creature is Buckbeak, who slashes Draco Malfoy's arm in Hagrid's first lesson?
Hippogriff
Hippogriff: half eagle, half horse, Buckbeak strikes only after Draco insults him, yet Draco's father has him sentenced to death, and Harry and Hermione secretly set him free.
Q 17Which colors are associated with the Hogwarts house of Gryffindor?
Scarlet and gold
Scarlet and gold stand for fire: Rowling tied each Hogwarts house to one of the four elements and chose its colours to match, with Gryffindor the house of fire.
Q 18Which two colors are traditionally associated with the Hogwarts house of Ravenclaw?
Blue and bronze
Blue and bronze are Ravenclaw's colours, with an eagle as mascot in the novels and a raven in the films; the house prizes wit and wisdom.
Q 19Which two colors mark Hufflepuff house at Hogwarts?
Yellow and black
Yellow and black belong to the badger house, which prizes loyalty and hard work, and is headed by Herbology teacher Pomona Sprout.
Q 20What do Harry and Ron drink to impersonate Crabbe and Goyle in Chamber of Secrets?
Polyjuice Potion
Polyjuice Potion, brewed by Hermione in a girls' bathroom, turns the drinker into whoever's hair is added, so Harry and Ron can question Draco in the Slytherin common room.
Q 24Which director was in talks to make the first Harry Potter film before walking away in 2000?
Steven Spielberg
Steven Spielberg negotiated to direct Philosopher's Stone but left the project in early 2000; he reportedly favoured an animated version with Haley Joel Osment voicing Harry.
Q 25Whose threat never to speak to him again made the first Dumbledore actor accept the role?
His granddaughter
His granddaughter, then 11, said she would never speak to him again if he turned it down; he had first refused, wary of signing up to a long run of films.
Q 26When its first run ended, Philosopher's Stone trailed only which film on the all-time box-office list?
Titanic
Titanic alone had earned more: Philosopher's Stone took about $974 million in its first run, passing The Phantom Menace, and re-releases have since lifted it over $1 billion.
Q 27David Thewlis, cast as Lupin, had earlier auditioned for which role in Philosopher's Stone?
Quirinus Quirrell
Quirinus Quirrell went to Ian Hart, who later talked Thewlis into playing Lupin by telling him it was the best part in the book.
Q 28Which Chamber of Secrets cast member made Warner Bros.' three-name shortlist to direct Prisoner of Azkaban?
Kenneth Branagh
Kenneth Branagh, the film's Gilderoy Lockhart, was shortlisted beside Callie Khouri and Alfonso Cuarón, who got the job; Guillermo del Toro had already passed, finding the earlier films too bright and happy.
Q 29Which Oscar-winning actress plays Three Broomsticks barmaid Madam Rosmerta in Prisoner of Azkaban?
Julie Christie
Julie Christie, Best Actress Oscar winner for Darling (1965), played Three Broomsticks landlady Madam Rosmerta in Prisoner of Azkaban, a film itself nominated for score and visual effects.
Q 30Which future Doctor Who plays Barty Crouch Jr. in Goblet of Fire?
David Tennant
David Tennant's Death Eater spends almost the whole school year disguised as Mad-Eye Moody, so Tennant himself appears in only a handful of short scenes.