How HBO's New Harry Potter Series Took 7 Hours To Film Quidditch Game — Gaming

In the novel and original movie, Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, Harry joins the Gryffindor team in a historic match against rival house Slytherin, where the young wizard plays his first game as the team's youngest seeker in a century. Gryffindor did, in fact, win with a 170-60 victory against Slytherin, but there was some interference with Harry's broom due to what was at first seen as Professor Severus Snape.

Ministry of Magic · O.W.L. Examinations Test Your Wizarding Knowledge “It does not do to dwell on dreams and forget to live.”

🦁GryffindorBravery

🐍SlytherinAmbition

🦅RavenclawWisdom

🦡HufflepuffLoyalty

🏰HogwartsMagic

What spell is used to disarm an opponent, famously becoming Harry Potter’s signature move throughout the series?

✓ Correct! Expelliarmus is the Disarming Charm. Harry used it so often that it became his trademark spell — even using it in his final duel against Voldemort in the Battle of Hogwarts.

✗ Not quite! The answer is Expelliarmus. Stupefy is a Stunning Spell, Protego is a Shield Charm, and Petrificus Totalus is the Full Body-Bind Curse. Expelliarmus forces an opponent’s wand out of their hand.

In “The Prisoner of Azkaban,” Hagrid introduces his Care of Magical Creatures class to a proud hippogriff. What is the creature’s name?

✓ Correct! Buckbeak the hippogriff became a key part of the story when Draco Malfoy insulted him and got injured. Harry and Hermione later saved Buckbeak from execution using the Time-Turner.

✗ Not quite! The answer is Buckbeak. Fang is Hagrid’s boarhound, Norbert is his baby dragon from the first book, and Aragog is the giant Acromantula in the Forbidden Forest.

What potion allows the drinker to assume the physical appearance of another person, and plays a major role in “The Chamber of Secrets” and “The Goblet of Fire”?

✓ Correct! Polyjuice Potion transforms the drinker into someone else for about an hour. Hermione brewed it in their second year to infiltrate the Slytherin common room, and Barty Crouch Jr. used it to impersonate Mad-Eye Moody.

✗ Not quite! The answer is Polyjuice Potion. Felix Felicis is liquid luck, Veritaserum is a truth serum, and Amortentia is a powerful love potion. Polyjuice Potion is the one that changes your appearance.

How many Horcruxes did Lord Voldemort intentionally create to split his soul and achieve immortality?

✓ Correct! Voldemort intentionally created six Horcruxes: the diary, the ring, the locket, the cup, the diadem, and Nagini. Harry became an accidental seventh Horcrux, making the total number of soul fragments seven — the most magically powerful number.

✗ Not quite! The answer is six. Voldemort deliberately created six Horcruxes: Tom Riddle’s diary, Marvolo Gaunt’s ring, Slytherin’s locket, Hufflepuff’s cup, Ravenclaw’s diadem, and Nagini. Harry was an unintentional seventh piece.

How many points is the Golden Snitch worth when caught by a Seeker during a Quidditch match?

✓ Correct! Catching the Golden Snitch awards 150 points and ends the match. This is why the Seeker position is so crucial — catching the Snitch almost always wins the game, though famously at the Quidditch World Cup, Viktor Krum caught it but Bulgaria still lost.

✗ Not quite! The answer is 150 points. The Golden Snitch is worth 150 points and also ends the match. At the 1994 Quidditch World Cup, Krum caught the Snitch for Bulgaria but Ireland still won because they were more than 150 points ahead.

What form does Severus Snape’s Patronus take — revealing his lifelong love for Harry’s mother, Lily?

✓ Correct! Snape’s Patronus is a doe — the same as Lily Potter’s. When Dumbledore asked “After all this time?” Snape famously replied, “Always.” It’s one of the most emotional reveals in the entire series.

✗ Not quite! The answer is a doe. Snape’s Patronus matches Lily Potter’s because of his deep, enduring love for her. James Potter’s Patronus was a stag — the male counterpart. The doe is what led Harry to the Sword of Gryffindor in the frozen lake.

What magical object must you look into to see the Mirror of Erised’s true purpose — and what does it show the viewer?

✓ Correct! The Mirror of Erised (“desire” spelled backward) shows the deepest desire of whoever looks into it. Harry saw his parents, Ron saw himself as Head Boy and Quidditch captain, and Dumbledore claimed he saw himself holding a pair of thick, woolen socks.

✗ Not quite! The answer is their deepest, most desperate desire. “Erised” is “desire” spelled backward. The inscription reads: “I show not your face but your heart’s desire.” Dumbledore warned Harry that the mirror gives neither knowledge nor truth, and men have wasted away before it.

The three Deathly Hallows are the Elder Wand, the Resurrection Stone, and which third object that Harry himself possessed?

✓ Correct! The Cloak of Invisibility was passed down through Harry’s family — he inherited it from his father, James. Unlike ordinary invisibility cloaks, this Hallow never fades or weakens, making it a true relic of Death from “The Tale of the Three Brothers.”

✗ Not quite! The answer is the Cloak of Invisibility. Harry inherited it from his father on his first Christmas at Hogwarts. Together with the Elder Wand and the Resurrection Stone, these three objects make up the Deathly Hallows from “The Tale of the Three Brothers.”

O.W.L. Examination Complete Your Wizarding Score

⚝

/ 8

Outstanding, Exceeds Expectations, or Troll?

HBO is currently in production on Harry Potter season 1, and Director of Photography Adriano Goldman reveals some insider knowledge regarding filming in an interview with Andre Pilli. According to Goldman, one of the most iconic sequences, Harry's first Quidditch game, took over seven hours to film and even longer to try to condense what they wanted to show:

The guys put on a Quidditch game in Episode 7—one I didn’t photograph, but I helped set up—and just from filming the crowd’s reactions to the game, they shot 7 hours’ worth of footage in a single day. 7 hours of footage. Wow! There’s just no way to pick out the best moments. No way, no way, no way, no way, no way.

So I end up going crazy on days like that because I’m like, no, but more isn’t always more, right? It can actually become a problem. And this whole “don’t cut the camera, don’t cut the camera, don’t cut the camera” no, no, “keep rolling, keep rolling, keep rolling” was fine by me, but your editors won’t be able to find your favorite take because it’s a clip with 15 takes.

So there’s a process in this whole business of cinema or industrial television. Let’s put it that way, that’s almost suicidal in that sense, because you start producing so much material that later on there’s no way to use it, no way to find the material.

The Quidditch game will be featured in episode 7, with the series set to conclude with episode 8. Goldman's description of the production is not surprising, as the Quidditch game was a major turning point for Harry and a huge moment during the first movie. HBO has captured seven hours of footage of just the crowd and their reactions, which would maybe also include the moment when Hermione Granger discovers what she believed to be Snape and his scheme to jinx Harry and his broom.

The DOP's comments also detailed the "brutal" filming conditions while in production for season 1 of Harry Potter and stated, "You have to shoot really fast, and the faster you go, the more you compromise quality. There’s no way around it, right? Obviously, we have a lot of resources, but it’s brutal."

Harry Potter season 1 will be released on HBO on December 25.