Movie Smarts

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone Quiz: First Year, Fifteen Questions

Fifteen questions, four choices each. Give your movie memory a moment to shine.

Published 2026-10-24 Updated 2026-10-24 15 questions

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone (2001). Watch the trailer.

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone: The School Supply List Includes a Wand

Harry has spent years being treated like a problem by the people who raised him. Then an unexpected visitor brings news of a very different life and a school where ordinary rules barely apply. New friends help him find his feet, though the building has plenty of ways to knock him off them. Between strange lessons and locked doors, his first year is going to need more than a good notebook.

Put the wand down. We are grading your memory.

1. Who directed the first Harry Potter film?
- Alfonso Cuarón
- David Yates
- Mike Newell
- Chris Columbus
Steven Spielberg was attached first and wanted an animated version, and Terry Gilliam was J.K. Rowling's own choice. Columbus got the job on the strength of Home Alone and Mrs. Doubtfire, directed the second film too and produced the third.
2. Who plays Harry Potter?
- Elijah Wood
- Rupert Grint
- Daniel Radcliffe
- Tom Felton
Radcliffe was eleven and had done a BBC David Copperfield when the producer David Heyman spotted him at the theater, sitting with his father, whom Heyman knew. His parents had already turned the part down once, worried about the length of the commitment.
3. What is the name of Harry's school?
- Beauxbatons
- Ilvermorny
- Hogwarts
- Durmstrang
The exteriors are a patchwork of real buildings, Alnwick Castle for the flying lesson, Durham Cathedral for the cloisters and Gloucester Cathedral for the corridors. The Great Hall was built on a stage at Leavesden, with a floor of real York stone.
4. Who tells Harry he is a wizard?
- McGonagall
- Hagrid
- Snape
- Dumbledore
Hagrid breaks down the door of the hut, hands over a squashed cake and tells Harry he is a wizard, since the Dursleys never did. Robbie Coltrane was Rowling's first choice for the part, and the giant's height was done with a double and oversized sets.
5. Which platform does the school train leave from?
- Seven and a half
- Ten and a quarter
- Eight and two-thirds
- Nine and three-quarters
Harry has to walk at a solid brick wall between platforms nine and ten at King's Cross, which Mrs. Weasley shows him how to do. The scenes were shot at the real station, on platforms four and five, since the real nine and ten sit in a different building.
6. What is the name of Harry's owl?
- Scabbers
- Fawkes
- Hedwig
- Errol
Hagrid buys her for Harry's eleventh birthday in Diagon Alley, and she is a snowy owl, played mostly by male birds because the females are bigger and harder to handle. John Williams's Hedwig's Theme, built around a celesta, became the whole series' signature.
7. Who plays Hermione Granger?
- Bonnie Wright
- Katie Leung
- Evanna Lynch
- Emma Watson
Watson was nine, had never acted outside school plays and was found when casting agents visited her school in Oxford. She tried out eight times for the part; Bonnie Wright, Katie Leung and Evanna Lynch play Ginny, Cho and Luna in later films.
8. Which house does the Sorting Hat place Harry in?
- Gryffindor
- Hufflepuff
- Slytherin
- Ravenclaw
The Hat considers Slytherin first, hearing Harry's talent and his thirst to prove himself, and he mutters 'not Slytherin' until it relents. The house's founder is Godric Gryffindor, whose sword turns up in the second film.
9. What position does Harry play in Quidditch?
- Beater
- Seeker
- Keeper
- Chaser
Harry is the youngest Seeker in a century, and the Nimbus 2000 arrives anonymously after McGonagall watches him catch Neville's Remembrall in a fifty-foot dive. He wins his first match by nearly swallowing the Snitch.
10. What is the three-headed dog called?
- Fang
- Fluffy
- Aragog
- Norbert
Fluffy guards the trapdoor on the third floor and belongs to Hagrid, who bought him from a Greek chap in a pub, which is roughly how the villain learns that music puts him to sleep. Fang is Hagrid's boarhound, Aragog the spider and Norbert the dragon.
11. What does the Mirror of Erised show?
- The last person who used it
- The viewer's future children
- A person's deepest desire
- The next day's weather
Erised is desire spelled backward, and the inscription around the frame is a mirror-image sentence saying it shows the heart's desire. Harry sees his parents, Ron sees himself as head boy and Quidditch captain, and Dumbledore claims to see socks.
12. What is Ron especially good at in the final series of challenges?
- Wizard's chess
- Reading ancient runes
- Potion mixing
- Flying lessons
Ron plays the giant game as a knight and sacrifices himself so Harry can checkmate the king, and is knocked cold for his trouble. The chessmen were full-size props, and the sequence is the one that earns him Dumbledore's fifty points at the end.
13. Who plays Professor Snape?
- Jason Isaacs
- Ralph Fiennes
- Gary Oldman
- Alan Rickman
Rowling told Rickman a secret about Snape's past that nobody else knew for years, so he could play the part with the ending in mind. He had already been Hans Gruber and the Sheriff of Nottingham; Tim Roth was offered Snape first and chose Planet of the Apes.
14. Which professor has been secretly carrying Voldemort with him?
- Professor Sprout
- Professor Quirrell
- Professor Flitwick
- Professor Binns
Quirrell's stutter is an act, and the smell of garlic from his turban was said to keep off a vampire he met in Romania. Everyone, Harry included, has spent the whole film suspecting Snape, who was actually trying to protect him.
15. What was the film called in Britain?
- Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone
- Harry Potter and the Alchemist's Stone
- Harry Potter and the Wizard's Stone
- Harry Potter and the Magician's Stone
Scholastic changed the book's title for American readers, reasoning that children would not pick up something with 'philosopher' on the cover, and the film followed. Every scene that mentions the stone was shot twice, once with each name, for the two markets.

All the answers

1. Who directed the first Harry Potter film?

Chris Columbus

Steven Spielberg was attached first and wanted an animated version, and Terry Gilliam was J.K. Rowling's own choice. Columbus got the job on the strength of Home Alone and Mrs. Doubtfire, directed the second film too and produced the third.
2. Who plays Harry Potter?

Daniel Radcliffe

Radcliffe was eleven and had done a BBC David Copperfield when the producer David Heyman spotted him at the theater, sitting with his father, whom Heyman knew. His parents had already turned the part down once, worried about the length of the commitment.
3. What is the name of Harry's school?

Hogwarts

The exteriors are a patchwork of real buildings, Alnwick Castle for the flying lesson, Durham Cathedral for the cloisters and Gloucester Cathedral for the corridors. The Great Hall was built on a stage at Leavesden, with a floor of real York stone.
4. Who tells Harry he is a wizard?

Hagrid

Hagrid breaks down the door of the hut, hands over a squashed cake and tells Harry he is a wizard, since the Dursleys never did. Robbie Coltrane was Rowling's first choice for the part, and the giant's height was done with a double and oversized sets.
5. Which platform does the school train leave from?

Nine and three-quarters

Harry has to walk at a solid brick wall between platforms nine and ten at King's Cross, which Mrs. Weasley shows him how to do. The scenes were shot at the real station, on platforms four and five, since the real nine and ten sit in a different building.
6. What is the name of Harry's owl?

Hedwig

Hagrid buys her for Harry's eleventh birthday in Diagon Alley, and she is a snowy owl, played mostly by male birds because the females are bigger and harder to handle. John Williams's Hedwig's Theme, built around a celesta, became the whole series' signature.
7. Who plays Hermione Granger?

Emma Watson

Watson was nine, had never acted outside school plays and was found when casting agents visited her school in Oxford. She tried out eight times for the part; Bonnie Wright, Katie Leung and Evanna Lynch play Ginny, Cho and Luna in later films.
8. Which house does the Sorting Hat place Harry in?

Gryffindor

The Hat considers Slytherin first, hearing Harry's talent and his thirst to prove himself, and he mutters 'not Slytherin' until it relents. The house's founder is Godric Gryffindor, whose sword turns up in the second film.
9. What position does Harry play in Quidditch?

Seeker

Harry is the youngest Seeker in a century, and the Nimbus 2000 arrives anonymously after McGonagall watches him catch Neville's Remembrall in a fifty-foot dive. He wins his first match by nearly swallowing the Snitch.
10. What is the three-headed dog called?

Fluffy

Fluffy guards the trapdoor on the third floor and belongs to Hagrid, who bought him from a Greek chap in a pub, which is roughly how the villain learns that music puts him to sleep. Fang is Hagrid's boarhound, Aragog the spider and Norbert the dragon.
11. What does the Mirror of Erised show?

A person's deepest desire

Erised is desire spelled backward, and the inscription around the frame is a mirror-image sentence saying it shows the heart's desire. Harry sees his parents, Ron sees himself as head boy and Quidditch captain, and Dumbledore claims to see socks.
12. What is Ron especially good at in the final series of challenges?

Wizard's chess

Ron plays the giant game as a knight and sacrifices himself so Harry can checkmate the king, and is knocked cold for his trouble. The chessmen were full-size props, and the sequence is the one that earns him Dumbledore's fifty points at the end.
13. Who plays Professor Snape?

Alan Rickman

Rowling told Rickman a secret about Snape's past that nobody else knew for years, so he could play the part with the ending in mind. He had already been Hans Gruber and the Sheriff of Nottingham; Tim Roth was offered Snape first and chose Planet of the Apes.
14. Which professor has been secretly carrying Voldemort with him?

Professor Quirrell

Quirrell's stutter is an act, and the smell of garlic from his turban was said to keep off a vampire he met in Romania. Everyone, Harry included, has spent the whole film suspecting Snape, who was actually trying to protect him.
15. What was the film called in Britain?

Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone

Scholastic changed the book's title for American readers, reasoning that children would not pick up something with 'philosopher' on the cover, and the film followed. Every scene that mentions the stone was shot twice, once with each name, for the two markets.