Imelda Staunton and Jim Carter to Host “Harry Potter” and “Downton Abbey” Crossover Quiz
A real treat is in store for fans of both Harry Potter and Downton Abbey. We have found a fair few connections between the two fictional universes – feel free to test your memory in our game of “Who Said It: Minerva McGonagall or the Dowager Countess?” The time has come to brush up on your trivia skills again, because an online crossover pub quiz will be held on May 28. The best part is this: It will be hosted by none other than Jim Carter (Carson in Downton Abbey) and Imelda Staunton, a.k.a. the beloved actress behind the most hated Hogwarts professor, Dolores Umbridge.
Staunton also appeared in last year’s Downton Abbey film, though unlike Carter’s iconic butler, she played an upstairs lady with a complicated past. However, very much like in Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix as Umbridge vs. McGonagall, Staunton clashed with Dame Maggie Smith’s Violet in Downton Abbey as well, albeit about inheritance rather than the running of Hogwarts. On their recent appearance on The Graham Norton Show, Carter showed off his butler skills, though Staunton denied getting the “Carson treatment” on the regular.
Fun fact: The courtyards of Alnwick Castle in Northumberland, United Kingdom, served as a filming location for the first two Harry Potter movies; it was only years later for Downton that it opened some of its lavishly decorated rooms for filming for the first time ever. Be prepared for more such trivia on May 28. The quiz begins at 3:15 p.m. EDT on Marie Curie’s Facebook page. This UK nonprofit will use this event to raise money to support people living with terminal illnesses and their families. We are only hoping Staunton and Carter won’t be quite as strict as their fictional counterparts.
Will you be joining the Mr. Carson & Prof. Umbridge’s Ultimate Pub Quiz on Thursday? If you need more inspiration, why not revisit some of our earlier articles on the two fandoms or revisit the Diagon Abbey Twitter account, which sadly hasn’t posted since 2013, but its collection of crossover headcanons are still pure gold? Check out this one featuring Carson and Umbridge:
Bates is convicted. After the trial, Carson grapples with his feelings for Bates’ interrogator, Dolores Umbridge. pic.twitter.com/onXcZ7KHPf
— Diagon Abbey (@Diagon_Abbey) February 26, 2013
Well, there’s a thought! Now we are wondering which character would have been a perfect fit for Jim Carter if he had been in the Harry Potter films. Would he have been the best as boisterous Ludo Bagman, missing from Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire? The vexed Muggle prime minister of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince? Or perhaps deadly reliable Professor Binns? Leave us your suggestions in the comments below.