Broomstick (Harry Potter)

> As every school-age wizard knows, the fact that we fly on broomsticks is probably our worst-kept secret. No Muggle illustration of a witch is complete without a broom and however ludicrous these drawings are (for none of the broomsticks depicted by Muggles would stay up in the air for a moment), they remind us that we were careless for far too many centuries to be surprised that broomsticks and ***magic*** are inextricably linked in the Muggle mind.
>
> Kennilworthy Whisp, QTA, Quidditch Through the Ages

**Broomsticks**, also known as **brooms**, were one of the means employed by wizards and witches to ***transport*** themselves between locations. Wizarding broomsticks, unlike non-magical brooms, were enchanted to fly, allowing for a witch or wizard to travel to their destination through the air, as well as for playing broom games such as Quidditch. Their use in ***Great Britain*** and ***Ireland*** was ***regulated*** by the ***Ministry of Magic***'s ***Broom Regulatory Control***.

## Object Biological Information

### Somewhat Entire Manufacturer(s)

* Nimbus Racing Broom Company
* Universal Brooms Ltd

### Owners

* Harry Potter
* Rolanda Hooch
* Weasleys
* Draco Malfoy
* Quidditch teams
* Many other Hogwarts students
* Many other leisure Quidditch players

The earliest recorded use of the broomstick was in ***962*** in a German illustrated manuscript. Only wizards and witches appeared to use broomsticks in the wizarding world. House-elves, for example, Apparate. Broomsticks appeared to have a bit of a personality of their own, as they were able to respond to the simplest of commands, such as "Up!".

## History

### Early days

Since no spell was devised by wizards to enable them to fly (with the ***exception*** of Lord Voldemort in 1997, and Severus Snape a year later) they had to come up with another way to do so. Animagi who ***transformed*** into winged creatures, like ***birds***, enjoyed the sensation, but they were rare.
Long before the ***International Statute of Wizarding Secrecy*** came into force, wizards were savvy enough to realise that ***Muggle*** neighbours would seek to exploit their abilities. Therefore, if they were to keep a method of flight in their homes, it would have to be unobtrusive and easy to hide. The broomstick was ideal — it was portable, cheap, and required no explanation. However, the first broomsticks were uncomfortable.

### The first brooms

 File:Medieval Broomstick.jpg  Records showed that witches and wizards in ***Europe*** were using brooms as early as AD 962. A German manuscript of this period showed three warlocks dismounting from their brooms with looks of exquisite discomfort on their faces. The first brooms bewitched were neither comfortable nor aerodynamic (they had rough twigs at the end and unvarnished handles), and in ***1107*** Scottish wizard ***Guthrie Lochrin*** wrote of the "splinter-filled buttocks and bulging piles" after a short ride from ***Montrose*** to ***Arbroath***. The charms on the broom were also basic; they would move at one speed and could only go up, down, and stop. Wizard families generally constructed their own brooms, so there was a variation in speed and comfort depending on the skill of the builder. By the twelfth century, wizards began to barter services, and skilled ***broom-makers*** could trade their services for goods such as the ***potions*** of a neighbour.

### Racing brooms and mass production

 File:Nimbus 2000 (Concept Artwork).JPG  The Nimbus brooms combined reliability and easy handling, and became a favourite for Quidditch teams across Europe.

***Universal Brooms Ltd*** was a broomstick manufacturing company which was very popular in the past, but eventually shut down in 1978 due to heavy losses, both financial and in popularity.

### Modern-day brooms

 File:Nimbus 2001.png  Eventually, nearly every wizarding household in ***Britain*** owned at least one broomstick. Dedicated riders kept their brooms in top condition with a ***Broomstick Servicing Kit***.

## Broomstick magic

Broomsticks had various ***spells*** cast on them to help with riding and flying. Over time these spells went from being simple, to being more complex in nature. For example, modern broomsticks were versatile and came with a ***Cushioning Charm***.

When Harry fell off his Nimbus 2000 during a ***Quidditch match***, it didn't fall to the ground but instead drifted away toward the ***Whomping Willow***, suggesting that it may have had some form of enchantment on it to keep it flying without a rider.

Harry's ***Firebolt***, when held and then released, floated at exactly the right height for him to mount it.

Early broomsticks had only simple charms placed on them. A model on display in the ***Museum of Quidditch*** only moved forward at one speed and would move up, down, and stop.

## Manufacturing companies

* ***Nimbus Racing Broom Company***
* ***Universal Brooms Ltd***

## Models

 File:Nimbus 2000 2001.jpg   File:Nimbus2001.jpg
* ***Firebolt***
* Nimbus 2000
* Nimbus 2001

## Broom games

 File:PS C11.jpg
* Quidditch, a game of flying balls and hoops, popular in England, originated in 1050 AD.

## Behind the scenes

* From the Template:POA and onwards, the broomsticks were seen with a crossbar used as a foot rest. These only appeared on the Nimbus 2000 and the Nimbus 2001 in the film versions of *Philosopher's Stone* and *Chamber of Secrets*. The crossbars on the broomsticks are not mentioned in the novels.
* In the film adaptation of *Harry Potter-and•the-Sorcerer's Stone, film*, it is required for one to shout, "Up!" before mounting your broom so that it can take off. While in the first video game, Harry continues to shout "Up!" to get his broom, in all other games, books, and films Quidditch players simply mount their brooms and fly away. It is possible, though, that saying "Up!" is an incantation to summon the broom, and that it is uttered nonverbally in the later books, films, and games.
* At least one broomstick appears in every film.
* Although the Death Eaters use brooms to fly in the books, they are shown to have mastered flight in the films and fly in black smoke, but in the books no witch or wizard apart from Voldemort and Snape could fly, so the Death Eaters use brooms.
* In Template:DH, most of the Order of the Phoenix members use brooms to take Harry Potter to safety. Many of the Death Eaters in this film during the ***Battle of the Seven Potters*** also were using brooms, despite seemingly all of them demonstrating the ability in flying in smoke, as well as demonstrating being able to use magic while flying.
* Culturally, Broomsticks seem to be analogous to bicycles in the Muggle world. This can be seen in the variance of builds, capabilities, and incorporation into professional sports, as well as it being normal for wizarding children to have toy broomsticks, similar to how muggle children play on tricycles and other beginner-level bikes in their youth.
* According to ***J. K. Rowling***, brooms, like wands, are tools to channel magic and that the most gifted can dispense with them.

## Appearances

Template:Imagecat

* *Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone* (film) (First appearance)
* *Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets* (film)
* Template:POA
* Template:GOF
* Template:OOTP
* Template:HBP
* Template:DH
* Template:DH

## Notes and references

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 1.8 Template:QTA
2. ↑ Template:OOTP
3. ↑ , Chapter 9 (*The Midnight Duel*)
4. ↑ Template:DH
5. ↑ Template:DHTemplate:DH
6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 Template:QTA
7. ↑ Template:POA
8. ↑ Template:POA
9. ↑ Template:POA
10. ↑ Template:QTA
11. ↑ Twitter