“I don't deserve these Gryffindor pyjamas I'm wearing!” I thought grumpily while I was putting them on when I came home last night. Nor the Hufflepuff socks, or the Rawenclaw diadem, my prized possession.
Is wit beyond measure really my greatest treasure?
So, Harry Potter pub quiz was very fun and it has showed me that everything, including my fandom, really is relative. I was under the impression that it’d be a piece of cake and that I’d get 3, maybe 4 questions wrong. I don’t want to humiliate myself any further in front of my fellow Potterheads, but I failed, I failed sooo badly, may J.K.Rowling forgive me.
Which only goes to show that Sanja (you might remember her as the Quizmaster from the interview here) did her job well!
Sure, she could’ve given me a few answers so I don’t make a complete fool of myself, but ok, it’s all fair and square I guess.
The pub quiz took place at Studio smijeha, a great underground space with vaulted ceilings that made me feel like we were taking a Potions quiz at Hogwarts. Little did I know that I’d fail even without Snape being there, trying to make my life miserable.
Without further ado, here’s a recap of my defeat (and the quiz, of course).
Round 1 – Defence against the Dark Arts
I wasn’t sure what to think of this category when they announced it, but I was convinced I’d get at least one out of seven questions correct. I did not.
Not even my Harry Potter spell notebook (that I really kept a decade ago) could help. The closest I got was when one of the answers contained one of the words that my answer contained as well. All was not well.
Round 2 – Muggles of the magical world
Round 2 was better, which is not difficult considering I got 0 answers right in the first round. I got 2 questions right, and was awarded 100 points by my very objective friend. Thank god I remember Aunt Marge’s adorable dog, Ripper.
Round 3 – Magical Beasts
Things were finally starting to look up – this was a round in which you had to guess the names of magical creatures from the book based on their description. I got at least 3 right, so I felt really proud of myself, while everyone else probably thought 3/7 is a disastrous result.
Round 4 – Fill in the blanks
See, I knew reading each book 6-7 times would eventually come in handy, so it was my time to shine. I got a whopping score of 4 points.
Round 5 – Magical Places
My good luck streak was gone and I couldn’t remember the store names or recall the names of certain characters’ fathers. Puny 1 point.
Round 6 – Ghosts
This was an almost round. I’d get the date right, but not the year, wanted to write something, but I’d write something else instead, so the 2 points were ok. I know they’re not, I need some comfort to keep Pottermore from revoking my access rights.
Round 7 – Guess who
There was a point in my pre-pubescent life when I actually memorized entire pages of the Philosopher’s Stone (reading the same book 6 times in a row does that sometimes), but, to no avail, apparently. I kept mixing Dumbledore and Sirius’ quotes, but I did get Ron’s right, so 10 points for me, everyone loves Ron.
We did somehow manage to get more than 10 points, whereas the winning team had 49.
The prizes were really great, and being able to choose what they want was even better for the three winning teams, so they got book vouchers, beer, and a bunch of other stuff. The team with the lowest number of points (surprisingly not us) got a consolation prize as well, which I thought was really nice.
Even though I was amazed at how badly I remembered the names of school books at Hogwarts or dates of death of certain ghosts, the detailed questions really only made me want to read the books again, and a little bit of challenge is a great thing, if you ask me.
Well done, Sanja, and see you at the next Harry Potter pub quiz.
Fellow Ravenclaws, I’ll have my wits about me, I swear.
Stay tuned for the next edition by following the pub quiz’s Facebook page here and their Instagram profile here.
