80 free Harry Potter Book 1 Trivia: Sorcerer's Stone trivia questions with answers — literature quiz, new questions added Aug 2026.
This Harry Potter book 1 trivia quiz is devoted entirely to Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, published in the US as Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone. It follows the story from Privet Drive to the Mirror of Erised: Hagrid's arrival, Diagon Alley, the Sorting, Harry's first Quidditch match, the troll, Norbert the dragon, Fluffy and the trapdoor, and the final confrontation with the professor nobody suspected. It also goes behind the book: the train journey where the idea arrived, the tiny first print run, the £2,500 advance, why the American title changed, and how the 2001 film was cast and shot, from Alnwick Castle to London Zoo. The early questions suit anyone who has read the book once; the later ones are for readers who know the publication history as well as the plot. Every answer was checked against encyclopaedia entries and other primary references before publishing, so you can settle any argument with confidence.
30 of 80 questions with answers and explanations. Play the quiz
Q 01For the American edition, the word "Philosopher's" in the title was replaced with what?
Sorcerer's
Scholastic's Arthur Levine thought "philosopher" sounded too archaic; "School of Magic" was actually floated before Rowling suggested the final title.
Q 02Which publisher released Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone in the UK on 26 June 1997?
Bloomsbury
Editor Barry Cunningham championed it, helped by the publisher's chief executive's eight-year-old daughter, who loved the sample chapters.
Q 03How many hardback copies were in the book's first UK print run?
500
Three hundred of them went to libraries, which is why surviving first editions are so valuable.
Q 04How much was the advance Rowling received for her debut novel?
£2,500
A later £8,000 grant from the Scottish Arts Council helped her plan the sequels.
Q 05Scholastic bought the American rights at the Bologna Book Fair in 1997 for how much?
US$105,000
It was an unusually high sum for a children's book at the time.
Q 06Between which cities was Rowling on the delayed 1990 train when the Harry Potter idea 'fell into her head'?
Manchester and London
She had been flat-hunting in Manchester and was heading back to London alone.
Q 07Who painted the cover of the first UK edition?
Thomas Taylor
Mary GrandPré did the American covers, and Cliff Wright painted the next two UK jackets.
Q 08Which children's-choice award gave the novel a gold medal in 1997 and made it famous within six months?
Nestlé Smarties Book Prize
Most children's books wait years for that kind of recognition.
Q 09The UK publisher has released the first book in which two classical languages?
Latin and Ancient Greek
The Greek version was praised as one of the most important pieces of Ancient Greek prose written in centuries.
Q 10Roughly how many copies has the first Harry Potter book sold worldwide?
120 million
That makes it the fourth best-selling book of all time.
Q 11Which artist illustrated the full-colour illustrated edition of the book released in 2015?
Jim Kay
It carries more than 100 illustrations, and Kay went on to illustrate the later books too.
Q 12In the book, Harry lives with the Dursleys in which fictional English town?
Little Whinging
The town is in Surrey, south-west of London, and Harry's neighbour Mrs Figg is secretly watching over him.
Q 13What is the Dursleys' house number on Privet Drive?
4
Harry sleeps in the cupboard under the stairs until his Hogwarts letters start arriving.
Q 21How many points does catching the Golden Snitch earn in Quidditch?
150
Catching it also ends the match, which is why that one player matters so much.
Q 22How many players are on a Quidditch team?
7
Three Chasers, two Beaters, a Keeper and one player who hunts the Snitch.
Q 23Which magical object does Neville's grandmother send him because he is so forgetful?
A Remembrall
It glows red when its holder has forgotten something, though it never says what.
Q 24Harry and Ron become friends with Hermione after saving her from what?
Q 14On which birthday does Harry learn that he is a wizard?
His eleventh
Rowling gave Harry her own birthday, 31 July.
Q 15What is the name of the snowy owl Harry buys in Diagon Alley?
Hedwig
Her theme became the musical signature of the whole film series.
Q 16The Leaky Cauldron, the pub that hides the entrance to Diagon Alley, stands on which real London street?
Charing Cross Road
To get through, you tap a particular brick in the rear courtyard three times.
Q 17How many times must the brick behind the Leaky Cauldron be tapped to open the way to Diagon Alley?
3
Knockturn Alley, the seedy side street, runs diagonally off the main shopping street.
Q 18From which platform does the Hogwarts Express leave King's Cross?
Nine and three-quarters
The real station now has a plaque and a luggage trolley disappearing into the wall.
Q 19Which House does the Sorting Hat seriously consider putting Harry in before choosing Gryffindor?
Slytherin
Harry's plea of "not Slytherin" is one of the book's turning points.
Q 20Which position does Harry play on the Gryffindor Quidditch team?
Seeker
He is the first player in a century to make a House team in his first year.
A troll
Until then she had been the bossy girl who had memorised the textbooks before term began.
Q 25What does the Mirror of Erised show the person looking into it?
Their deepest desire
"Erised" is "desire" spelled backwards, and its inscription reads the same way.
Q 26When read backwards, the inscription on the Mirror of Erised says what?
I show not your face but your heart's desire
Dumbledore warns Harry that men have wasted away in front of it.
Q 27What is the name of the three-headed dog guarding the trapdoor on the third floor?
Fluffy
Hagrid lets slip that music sends the beast straight to sleep.
Q 28How do the trio get past the three-headed dog?
By playing music on a flute
Hagrid had carved the flute for Harry as a Christmas present.
Q 29What does Hagrid trade to a hooded stranger in exchange for a dragon egg?
Details on how to get past the three-headed dog
The stranger was a disguised professor working for Voldemort.
Q 30What is the baby dragon that hatches in Hagrid's hut called?
Norbert
The dragon ends up at a sanctuary abroad, where Ron's brother Charlie works.