Q 01/05

J. K. Rowling's parents first met on a journey to Scotland that began at which London railway station?

A) Charing Cross

B) King's Cross

C) Paddington

D) St Pancras

Answer · why

B) King's Cross

King's Cross is also where Rowling starts the Hogwarts Express on its run north; her parents were heading for navy postings at Arbroath.

Q 02/05

The idea for Harry Potter came to J. K. Rowling on a delayed train heading to London from which city?

A) Liverpool

B) Birmingham

C) Edinburgh

D) Manchester

Answer · why

D) Manchester

Manchester was the city she planned to move to, and with no pen or paper she spent the four-hour delay building the story in her head.

Q 03/05

In which country was J. K. Rowling teaching English at night while she drafted the first Harry Potter book?

A) Portugal

B) Argentina

C) Greece

D) Spain

Answer · why

A) Portugal

Portugal was her home from 1991 to 1993: she taught evening classes in Porto, wrote during the day, and her first child was born there.

Q 04/05

Which London publisher took J. K. Rowling's first book after its chief's eight-year-old daughter read a chapter?

A) Penguin

B) Macmillan

C) Bloomsbury

D) HarperCollins

Answer · why

C) Bloomsbury

Bloomsbury said yes after twelve other publishers had turned the manuscript down, though her editor there warned she would never make money from child...

Q 05/05

Under which pen name did J. K. Rowling publish the crime novel The Cuckoo's Calling, posing as an army veteran?

A) Richard Bachman

B) Franklin W. Dixon

C) Robert Galbraith

D) Nicholas Blake

Answer · why

C) Robert Galbraith

Robert Galbraith was presented as a first-time author with an army and security background, and the secret held for about three months after publicati...