Harry Potter - 'Wood' You Know the Answer? Quiz

Answer: Elder

The Deathly Hallows is a set of magical objects said to be capable of giving their possessor mastery over death. Harry, Ron and Hermione learned of the power of these objects from a copy of 'The Tales of Beedle the Bard' and a trip to the home of the somewhat eccentric Xenophilius Lovegood in 'Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows'. However, Lord Voldemort learned only about the most prominent of the Hallows - the Elder Wand (otherwise known as the Deathstick or the Wand of Destiny), which had become famed as the most powerful wand in existence.

The fate of both the Elder Wand and the wizard to whom it had given its allegiance were critical factors in Voldemort's downfall.

Answer: Acromantula

Not being able to "see the wood for the trees" is an idiom suggesting that a person is incapable of seeing the importance of something (the 'wood') because they are giving too much attention to minor details (the 'trees') rather than the wider picture.

Anyone standing in Hogwarts' Forbidden Forest would be best advised to stop staring at the trees and pay close attention to anything that might be lurking between them. The forest was full of dangerous creatures, including the acromantula that were the descendants of Hagrid's old pet Aragog. Harry Potter and Ron Weasley certainly got a nasty shock when they heeded Hagrid's advice to "follow the spiders" to the Forbidden Forest in 'Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets'!

Answer: Care of Magical Creatures

Rubeus Hagrid was a half-giant who, after being expelled from Hogwarts in his third year, became Keeper of the Keys and Grounds of the school (basically the gamekeeper) and took up residence in a wooden hut on the edge of the Forbidden Forest. In 'Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban' Hagrid gained a promotion to become the Care of Magical Creatures professor. Presumably this was due to Hagrid's practical knowledge of dealing with a wide variety of (mostly dangerous) magical creatures - including how to raise a baby Norwegian Ridgeback dragon, how to keep an acromantula as a pet, how to obtain a three-headed dog and how to manage a herd of hippogriffs.

As an aside, living in the hut wasn't a pre-requisite for teaching Care of Magical Creatures - the other teachers of this subject mentioned in the series (Professor Kettleburn and Professor Grubbly-Plank) appeared to live in the castle like the rest of the staff.

Answer: Oliver

Oliver Wood was the captain of the Gryffindor quidditch team for the first three years of Harry Potter's time at Hogwarts. Oliver was the team's keeper, Harry played seeker, Fred and George Weasley were the beaters and Angelina Johnson, Alicia Spinnet and Katie Bell were the three chasers. The team failed to lift the Quidditch Cup on the first two attempts, having been foiled firstly by Harry missing the match due to a close encounter with Lord Voldemort ('Harry Potter and the Philosopher/Sorcerer's Stone') and then by the cancellation of all quidditch matches whilst a basilisk was on the loose ('Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets'). Luckily they won the cup at the third try, as that was Oliver's last year at Hogwarts and consequently his last chance to achieve victory as team captain.

After leaving Hogwarts, Oliver went on to join the Puddlemere United quidditch team. He was also among the group of former students who returned to Hogwarts to fight Lord Voldemort in 'Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows'.

Answer: The Shrieking Shack

The Whomping Willow first appeared in 'Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets' when Harry and Ron Weasley drove Arthur Weasley's flying Ford Anglia into it. They had used the car to travel to school after missing the Hogwarts' Express due to the actions of Dobby the house elf. Unfortunately the tree fought back and Harry and Ron were lucky to escape from its clutches without serious injury. The tree wasn't so lucky and had to be bandaged up by the Herbology professor.

In 'Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban' it was revealed that the Whomping Willow had been planted to hide the entrance to a tunnel to the Shrieking Shack - a building that had been designated as a safe location for Remus Lupin to turn into a werewolf every full moon. This wasn't the only tunnel stretching between Hogwarts and Hogsmeade though - one ran from the Room of Requirement to the Hog's Head pub and another from a statue on the third floor of the castle to the cellar of Honeydukes sweet shop.

Answer: Nimbus Two Thousand

After Harry demonstrated his flying ability when he used a school broom to rescue Neville Longbottom's remembrall, Professor McGonagall appointed Harry as seeker on the Gryffindor quidditch team and made special arrangements for him to have his own broomstick (as first years were banned from bringing one to school). The broomstick that subsequently arrived by owl post turned out to be a Nimbus Two Thousand described as:

"Sleek and shiny, with a mahogany handle, it had a long tail of neat, straight twigs and Nimbus Two Thousand written in gold near the top."

Unfortunately the broomstick met a sticky end in the branches of another wooden inhabitant of Hogwarts - it was destroyed after flying into the Whomping Willow during a school quidditch match.

Answer: Forest of Dean

Harry and Hermione camped in the Forest of Dean during their time on the run together in 'Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows'. Hermione had chosen the location as she had once gone on a muggle camping holiday there with her parents. The Forest of Dean was mentioned while Hermione's beaded bag was open and the portrait of the former Hogwarts headmaster, Phineas Nigellus Black, overheard the information and reported back to Severus Snape, the current headmaster. Snape then took the opportunity to deliver the sword of Godric Gryffindor to Harry and, unwittingly, gave Ron Weasley the chance to rejoin his friends.

The sword of Gryffindor was a key part of Harry, Ron and Hermione's mission to destroy Lord Voldemort's horcruxes. It had been imbued with basilisk venom (as a result of Harry's trip into the Chamber of Secrets) - one of the few known substances capable of destroying a horcrux.

Answer: Beater

A game of quidditch involves three types of ball - the quaffle, a large red ball that is passed between the chasers and thrown through the goal hoops for 10 points a go; the golden snitch, a tiny winged ball whose capture by the seeker signals the end of the match and scores 150 points; and two bludgers that fly around and attack the players while the team's beaters use their bats to attempt to fend them off and redirect them at the opposition.

The Gryffindor quidditch team's long-standing beaters were the twins, Fred and George Weasley. They had left school by the time of the events of 'Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince', so Harry Potter (the new team captain) appointed Jimmy Peakes and Ritchie Coote to the positions. Other notable beaters include Draco Malfoy's sidekicks Vincent Crabbe and Gregory Goyle, who played for Slytherin in 'Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix' and 'Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince'.

Answer: Vanishing Cabinet

Vanishing Cabinets come in pairs - someone stepping into one is able to exit through the other, no matter where the cabinets are actually located. The pair to the cabinet located at Hogwarts was in Borgin and Burkes shop in Knockturn Alley - a place known for its collection of 'dark' magical artefacts.

In 'Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince', Lord Voldemort had set Draco Malfoy the task of murdering the headmaster, Albus Dumbledore. His plan for achieving this revolved around mending the broken Vanishing Cabinet at Hogwarts, getting his fellow Death Eaters into the school through it, and then murdering Dumbledore while the Death Eaters attacked the rest of the staff and students. The plan was generally successful, except when it came to it Malfoy was unable to kill Dumbledore and Severus Snape had to step forward and commit the deed instead - admittedly with Dumbledore's full approval and permission...

Answer: Harry's - Holly, Voldemort's - Yew

Harry Potter bought his holly and phoenix feather wand on his first trip to Diagon Alley in 'Harry Potter and the Philosopher's/Sorcerer's Stone'. Hagrid accompanied him there after rescuing him from the Dursleys and took him to Ollivanders wand shop to purchase the most important tool for his future magical career. Ollivander then revealed that he had previously sold a wand containing a feather from the same phoenix and that that had been the wand that inflicted the lightning bolt scar on Harry's forehead.

The connection between the two wands was instrumental in saving Harry's life several times. In particular it induced the Priori Incantatem effect in the graveyard at Little Hangleton in 'Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire'. The ghostly images of the last people killed by Lord Voldemort appeared and were able to provide a distraction that allowed Harry to escape.

The holly and phoenix feather appeared to have been irreparably damaged during Harry's trip to Godric's Hollow in 'Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows'. However, Harry was able to use the elder wand - the most powerful wand in existence - to repair it.