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50 free Hogwarts trivia questions with answers — literature quiz, new questions added Aug 2026.
Hogwarts was founded in the Scottish Highlands a thousand years ago by four wizards, is held up by magic, and is invisible to Muggles, who see only ruins. Rowling made it a boarding school because so much of the plot happens at night, and she thinks she may have lifted the name from a plant. It has a giant squid, a ghost who still teaches History of Magic, a poltergeist no headmaster can evict and a 2008 ranking as the 36th-best school in Scotland. These 50 questions cover the castle, the grounds, the staff and the village down the road. The easy tier sticks to the Chamber of Secrets, the Room of Requirement, Platform 9¾ and the Whomping Willow. The middle asks about Honeydukes' cellar, Aberforth's pub, Madam Hooch, Argus Filch's condition and why Hagrid was expelled. The expert tier reaches for How to Be Topp, Finnegans Wake, Armando Dippet, the Goathland station that played Hogsmeade and the cathedral that lent the school its spire. Every answer is cited to a page we checked and comes with a short explanation so you learn something on a miss. Play it alone or print it for a Potter night.
30 of 50 questions with answers and explanations. Play the quiz
Q 01In which region was Hogwarts founded?
The Scottish Highlands
Rowling has given varying figures for how many students are enrolled there at any one time.
Q 02Between which centuries was the school founded?
9th and 10th
The four founders each gave their name to a House, and the Sorting Hat was Gryffindor's own.
Q 03At what age do students start at Hogwarts?
Eleven
Rowling has said any child in Britain who shows magical ability is invited to attend.
Q 04Rowling said she may have unknowingly taken the school's name from which plant?
Hogwort
Others point to a 1954 book with a play called The Hogwarts; the word also appears once in Finnegans Wake.
Q 05Which 1954 Geoffrey Willans book features a fictional play called "The Hogwarts"?
How to Be Topp
The same book has a headmaster named Hoggwart, which is why several writers suspect Rowling borrowed the name.
Q 06The word "hogwarts" appears once in which 1939 novel?
Finnegans Wake
James Joyce got there six decades before Rowling, though nobody suggests she found it there.
Q 07Why did Rowling make Hogwarts a boarding school?
Many key events happen at night
In a 1999 interview she also described the school as a place of security for the orphaned Harry.
Q 08Which huge creature lives in the Hogwarts lake alongside merpeople and grindylows?
A giant squid
The grounds also hold sloping lawns, greenhouses, a Quidditch pitch and the Forbidden Forest.
Q 09What can wizards not do on the Hogwarts grounds?
Apparate
There are, however, several hidden passages leading into and out of the school.
Q 10Which deadly creature emerges from the Chamber of Secrets?
A Basilisk
Its venom, later carried by the Sword of Gryffindor, is one of the few things that can destroy a Horcrux.
Q 11Which student is forced by Voldemort to open the Chamber of Secrets?
Ginny Weasley
McGonagall, acting headmistress at the time, ordered Gilderoy Lockhart to rescue her, with predictable results.
Q 12Which part of the castle appears only when someone needs it, holding whatever they require?
The Room of Requirement
Harry's secret defence group meets there in Order of the Phoenix.
Q 13What does Draco secretly repair to smuggle Death Eaters into the castle?
A Vanishing Cabinet
Its twin sits in Borgin and Burkes in Knockturn Alley.
Q 21A wrought-iron Platform 9¾ gate from the films is preserved where?
The National Railway Museum
Fans also built a memorial to Alan Rickman at the real platform after his death in 2016.
Q 22Which North Yorkshire Moors station played Hogsmeade Station in the films?
Goathland
The village had already served as Aidensfield in the TV series Heartbeat.
Q 23The Hogwarts Express is filmed crossing which Scottish landmark above Loch Shiel?
Glenfinnan Viaduct
It carries the West Highland Line above Loch Shiel, and a real steam service still runs the route.
Q 14Who voices the Sorting Hat in the films?
Leslie Phillips
The hat was originally Godric Gryffindor's, and it announces each first-year's House to the whole hall.
Q 15Where are the House Cup winners' colours displayed the following year?
The Great Hall
Each House also fields a Quidditch team competing for a separate Quidditch Cup.
Q 16How many fifth-year students from each House are made prefects?
Two
They can hand out detentions; the head boy and head girl are chosen from the seventh years.
Q 17From which year are students allowed to visit Hogsmeade?
Third
Harry, lacking a signed permission form, relies on a secret passage and the Marauder's Map instead.
Q 18From which London station does the Hogwarts Express depart?
King's Cross
A plaque and a luggage trolley half-buried in the wall now mark the spot for visitors.
Q 19Rowling later admitted she had muddled the real station's layout with which other London terminus?
Euston
The films dodged the problem by shooting at St Pancras next door.
Q 20Which hotel stood in for the station in the films?
The St Pancras Renaissance
Its Gothic frontage is the one fans picture when they think of the Ford Anglia take-off.
Q 24Which Northumberland landmark was used for many exterior scenes of the school?
Alnwick Castle
The Northumberland castle hosts the first flying lesson; a detailed scale model handled the wide shots.
Q 25Which building was given a digital spire to create shots of the whole school?
Durham Cathedral
Its cloisters also served as interiors, including the courtyard where Ron's Howler goes off.
Q 26In 2008 a schools ranking site listed Hogwarts as which best school in Scotland, for fun?
36th
It beat Edinburgh's Loretto School; the managing director admitted it was a joke entry.
Q 27Which Hogsmeade sweet shop has a secret passage to Hogwarts in its cellar?
Honeydukes
Fred and George's Marauder's Map shows Harry how to reach it beneath the one-eyed witch statue.
Q 28Who owns the Hog's Head, the filthy pub where Trelawney made her prophecy?
Aberforth Dumbledore
The first meeting of Harry's defence group is held there, and a passage from the pub feeds the Battle of Hogwarts.
Q 29The Shrieking Shack was built as a hiding place for which Hogwarts student?
Remus Lupin
Villagers heard his monthly howling and decided the place was haunted.
Q 30The tunnel to the Shrieking Shack starts beneath which tree?
The Whomping Willow
The tree was planted to guard the entrance, which is why it attacks anything that comes near.