Q 01/05

Who plays Snape in all eight Harry Potter films?

A) Gary Oldman

B) Alan Rickman

C) Jason Isaacs

D) Ralph Fiennes

Answer · why

B) Alan Rickman

He was Rowling's personal choice, and she told him Snape's secret long before the last book was published.

Q 02/05

Who was cast as Snape in the HBO television adaptation, as announced in 2025?

A) Paapa Essiedu

B) John Lithgow

C) Nick Frost

D) Luke Thallon

Answer · why

A) Paapa Essiedu

Paapa Essiedu was announced as Snape in April 2025. Rowling's own description of the character is an "antihero" drawn from a disliked teacher of her c...

Q 03/05

Snape was reportedly based in part on which figure from Rowling's schooldays?

A) A Latin master

B) Her piano tutor

C) A university lecturer

D) Her chemistry teacher

Answer · why

D) Her chemistry teacher

John Nettleship taught Rowling chemistry at Wyedean School near Chepstow and employed her mother as an assistant.

Q 04/05

Rowling took Snape's first name from a road in which part of London?

A) Camden

B) Hackney

C) Clapham

D) Brixton

Answer · why

C) Clapham

His surname is borrowed from an English village.

Q 05/05

Which character did Rowling say is the only one she deliberately based on a real person?

A) Severus Snape

B) Gilderoy Lockhart

C) Dolores Umbridge

D) Rubeus Hagrid

Answer · why

B) Gilderoy Lockhart

Snape nonetheless has a widely reported real-life model in her old chemistry teacher.