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Dataset card Data Studio Files
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about the size of a soccer ball.
"This ball's called the Quaffle," said Wood. "The Chasers throw the
Quaffle to each other and try and get it through one of the hoops to
score a goal. Ten points every time the Quaffle goes through one of the
hoops. Follow me?"
"The Chasers throw the Quaffle and put it through the hoops to score,"
Harry recited. "So -- that's sort of like basketball on broomsticks with
six hoops, isn't it?"
"What's basketball?" said Wood curiously. "Never mind," said Harry
quickly.
"Now, there's another player on each side who's called the Keeper -I'm
Keeper for Gryffindor. I have to fly around our hoops and stop the other
team from scoring."
"Three Chasers, one Keeper," said Harry, who was determined to remember
it all. "And they play with the Quaffle. Okay, got that. So what are
they for?" He pointed at the three balls left inside the box.
"I'll show you now," said Wood. "Take this."
He handed Harry a small club, a bit like a short baseball bat.
"I'm going to show you what the Bludgers do," Wood said. "These two are
the Bludgers."
He showed Harry two identical balls, jet black and slightly smaller than
the red Quaffle. Harry noticed that they seemed to be straining to
escape the straps holding them inside the box.
"Stand back," Wood warned Harry. He bent down and freed one of the
Bludgers.
At once, the black ball rose high in the air and then pelted straight at
Harry's face. Harry swung at it with the bat to stop it from breaking
his nose, and sent it zigzagging away into the air -- it zoomed around
their heads and then shot at Wood, who dived on top of it and managed to
pin it to the ground.
"See?" Wood panted, forcing the struggling Bludger back into the crate
and strapping it down safely. "The Bludgers rocket around, trying to
knock players off their brooms. That's why you have two Beaters on each
team -- the Weasley twins are ours -- it's their job to protect their
side from the Bludgers and try and knock them toward the other team. So
-- think you've got all that?"
"Three Chasers try and score with the Quaffle; the Keeper guards the
goal posts; the Beaters keep the Bludgers away from their team," Harry
reeled off.
"Very good," said Wood.
"Er -- have the Bludgers ever killed anyone?" Harry asked, hoping he
sounded offhand.
"Never at Hogwarts. We've had a couple of broken jaws but nothing worse
than that. Now, the last member of the team is the
Seeker. That's you. And you don't have to worry about the Quaffle or the
Bludgers unless they crack my head open."
"Don't worry, the Weasleys are more than a match for the Bludgers -- I
mean, they're like a pair of human Bludgers themselves."
Wood reached into the crate and took out the fourth and last ball.
Compared with the Quaffle and the Bludgers, it was tiny, about the size
of a large walnut. It was bright gold and had little fluttering silver
wings.
"This," said Wood, "is the Golden Snitch, and it's the most important
ball of the lot. It's very hard to catch because it's so fast and
difficult to see. It's the Seeker's job to catch it. You've got to weave
in and out of the Chasers, Beaters, Bludgers, and Quaffle to get it
before the other team's Seeker, because whichever Seeker catches the
Snitch wins his team an extra hundred and fifty points, so they
nearly always win. That's why Seekers get fouled so much. A game of
Quidditch only ends when the Snitch is caught, so it can go on for ages
-- I think the record is three months, they had to keep bringing on
substitutes so the players could get some sleep. "Well, that's it -- any
questions?"
Harry shook his head. He understood what he had to do all right, it was
doing it that was going to be the problem.
"We won't practice with the Snitch yet," said Wood, carefully shutting
it back inside the crate, "it's too dark, we might lose it. Let's try
you out with a few of these."
He pulled a bag of ordinary golf balls out of his pocket and a few
minutes later, he and Harry were up in the air, Wood throwing the golf
balls as hard as he could in every direction for Harry to catch.
Harry didn't miss a single one, and Wood was delighted. After half an
hour, night had really fallen and they couldn't carry on.
"That Quidditch cup'll have our name on it this year," said Wood happily
as they trudged back up to the castle. "I wouldn't be surprised if you
turn out better than Charlie Weasley, and he could have played for
England if he hadn't gone off chasing dragons."
Perhaps it was because he was now so busy, what with Quidditch practice
three evenings a week on top of all his homework, but Harry could hardly
believe it when he realized that he'd already been at Hogwarts two
months. The castle felt more like home than Privet Drive ever had. His
lessons, too, were becoming more and more interesting now that they had
mastered the basics.
On Halloween morning they woke to the delicious smell of baking pumpkin
wafting through the corridors. Even better, Professor Flitwick announced
in Charms that he thought they were ready to start making objects fly,
something they had all been dying to try since they'd seen him make
Neville's toad zoom around the classroom. Professor Flitwick put the
class into pairs to practice. Harry's partner was Seamus Finnigan (which
was a relief, because Neville had been trying to catch his eye). Ron,
however, was to be working with Hermione Granger. It was hard to tell
whether Ron or Hermione was angrier about this. She hadn't spoken to
either of them since the day Harry's broomstick had arrived.
"Now, don't forget that nice wrist movement we've been practicing!"
squeaked Professor Flitwick, perched on top of his pile of books as
usual. "Swish and flick, remember, swish and flick. And saying the magic
words properly is very important, too -- never forget Wizard Baruffio,
who said 's' instead of 'f' and found himself on the floor with a
buffalo on his chest."
It was very difficult. Harry and Seamus swished and flicked, but the