Quidditch

"*It's our sport. Wizard sport. It’s like - like football in the Muggle world – everyone follows Quidditch – played up in the air on broomsticks and there’s four balls...*"
— Rubeus Hagrid explains Quidditch.

**Quidditch** is a very popular wizarding sport played on broomsticks. The object of a game is to score higher points than the opposing team. It is achieved by scoring goals to gain ten points or catching the Golden Snitch to gain one-hundred and fifty points. A game ends when the Snitch is caught or the two Captains have an agreement.

The length of the game depends on the players. It could be won in seconds or even take up to three months. Passion for the sport is like that of football for Muggles. They have leagues and international tournaments including the Quidditch World Cup which takes place every four years.

## About

Each side has seven players: a Keeper, a Seeker, three Chasers and two Beaters. Chasers catch and throw a Quaffle to each other trying to score a goal through one of three hoops. Each goal awards ten points. Keepers try to save the ball. They stay in the scoring area. Beaters lobby Bludgers towards players using a club to knock them off their broom. They try to stop the other side from scoring or saving a goal.

The role of the Seeker in a game is considered higher in importance to a Keeper, Chaser or Beater. They weave around the pitch to find, pursue and catch a Golden Snitch, a tiny ball which has wings. The Seeker has to find and catch the Snitch quickly in order to end the game and win it for their team. However, if the other side is more than 150 points ahead, they need to be more tactical about when they catch the Snitch if it won't put their side in the lead.

### Matches

"*Oh, you wait, it's the best game in the world –*"
— Ron Weasley on the popularity of Quidditch.

The game begins around a central circle. In the center of the circle, four balls are let loose. Bludgers are bewitched to fly on their own. So is the Golden Snitch which has wings. However, a Quaffle needs to be thrown into the air which is when a signal for the players to begin is given.

Chasers will catch the Quaffle. They start heading towards the goalpost guarded by the other side's Keeper. They may throw the ball in any of three goalposts to win ten points. They will throw their ball to one of their other Chasers when the opposing side tries to get the ball off them. Beaters will try to knock them off course using Bludgers. If they score, the opposing Keeper will throw the ball back into play.

Seekers start looking for the Snitch. They need try and catch it when it will guarantee their side a victory. The opposing Seeker will try to fool the other in their pursuit. They tag each other in case one spotted the Snitch first. Snitches have flesh memories to ensure it can be proven who caught it first. A game ends when a Seeker catches the Snitch, ideally when it will guarantee their side victory.

A game goes on until the Snitch is caught. A captain has the option of demanding a time-out whenever they need. Players fly however high they wish but had to keep within the boundary of the pitch. A team could be given a penalty if the other side breaks a rule. They are taken by a Chaser with the Keeper being the only player allowed to intervene.

### Equipment

* Broomstick
* Team jersey and cape
* Gloves
* Goggles when it rains
* Beater's Bat (four players in one game will have one)
* The Quaffle
* Two Bludgers
* One Snitch

### Pitches

The pitches are an oval shape, five-hundred feet long and one-hundred and eighty feet wide. In the center is a small center circle about two feet in diameter. At each end of the pitch are three high hoops, the center hoop being a slightly higher than the other two. Surrounding the pitch are high stands for spectators including a platform circling the whole pitch.

These pitches are located in places where they can't be easily found by Muggles. They are enchanted. In 1362, it was decided that each pitch had to be within 50 miles of a Muggle town. In 1368, it was changed to 100 miles. In 1398, Zacharias Mumps decided pitches had to be built on abandoned moorlands. In 1419, the Wizards' Council declared they should not play anywhere near a place they could be spotted. In 1883, the scoring baskets were changed to open hoops.

## Rules

The International Confederation of Wizards' Quidditch Committee enforces the rules of present-day Quidditch. These rules were determined by the Ministry of Magic in 1750. Known rules include:

* Players should never go over the boundary lines of the pitch. However, they can fly however high they want. The Quaffle is given to the other side if one of the players breaks the rule.
* The captain can demand a time-out whenever they want. The length of the time-out depends on how long the game had been played for so far. Every player needs to be back on the pitch before the game is scheduled to restart or the team will forfeit the match. If thr game had been played for twelve hours, the players receive a two hour break.
* A Chaser has to take a penalty. They need to fly in from the center circle of the pitch toward the scoring area. The Keeper is the only player allowed to try saving it. The other players should not intervene.
* Players should not seize hold of another player's broomstick, body or clothes.
* There are no substitutions unless the game goes on for such a long time that the first players need to sleep.
* The players can take a wand on the pitch but it should only be used in the event of a life-threatening situation. They should not attempt to put any spell on another player, a spectator or on any of the balls.
* A game should only end if a Seeker catching the Golden Snitch or if both team Captains agree to end it.
* A Keeper should be the only one who attempts to block any shots thrown at the goal by a Chaser.
* A Keeper can't be attacked unless a ball is in the scoring area.

### Tactics

* Bludger's Backbeat - when the Beater hits the Bludger with a back-hand swing in order to confuse the opposition.
* Dionysus Dive - when the Chaser leaps on the broomstick upright and punches the Quaffle in the goal.
* Dopplebeater Defence - both Beaters knock the same Bludger at the same time for extra power.
* Double Eight Loop - the Keeper flying in front of the three goals in one loop in order to save a goal.

* Hawkshead Attacking Formation - when the Chasers form an arrowhead pattern and fly together towards the goal.
* Finbourgh Flick - the Chaser hits the Quaffle midair with the broomstick in one of the goals.
* Parkin's Pincer - when two Chasers trap an opposing team's Chaser and the third on their own team commits blatching (the cheating tactic in which they purposely collide with a player).
* Plumpton Pass - hiding the Snitch in the Seeker's sleeve to confuse the opponents.
* Porskoff Play - one Chaser will fly upwards and then throw the ball down to the player right underneath them.
* Sloth Grip Roll - hanging upside down on broom and gripping with hands and feet in order to avoid the Bludger.

* Starfish and Stick - the Keeper holds the broom horizontally with one hand and foot around the handle and keeping their other limbs outstretched.
* Transylvanian Tackle - when a player fake punches an opponent's nose to confuse them (it's legal if they don't actually touch them).
* Woollongong Shimmy - the Chasers fly in a zig-zag motion to confuse the opposing team's Chasers.
* Wronski Faint - the Seeker will sharply dive from a high height when pretending to have found and catch the Snitch, making the opposing team's Chaser follow them. The original Seeker will then pull up from the ground at the final second, making the other Seeker dive right at it and crash.

### Cheating

There are seven-hundred known ways of cheating. Over the centuries it has been played for, cheating has been documentated and kept in the Department of Magical Games and Sports. These could not be read by the public in case it gave them ideas because a few ways of cheating won't even occur to the average player. Quidditch Through the Ages does give a number of these cheating tactics which include -

* Blatching: Flying with the intent to collide (applied to every player).
* Blurting: Locking broom handles with the intent to steer an opponent off course (applied to every player).
* Bumphing: Hitting Bludgers towards spectators (applied to Beaters only).
* Haversacking: Hand on the Quaffle when it goes through the goal hoop – the Quaffle should only be thrown through the goal (applied to Chasers only).
* Quaffle-pocking: Tampering with the Quaffle – e.g. puncturing it and making it falls more quickly or zig-zags (applied to Chasers only).
* Stooging: Two or three Chaser entering the scoring area (applied to Chasers only).

The following cheating tactics were employed by players in the 1473 World Cup. In that competition, every single known way of cheating happened -

* Transfiguring a Chaser into a polecat.
* Attempted decapitation of a keeper with a broadsword.
* The letting loose of one hundred blood-sucking vampire bats from under the robes of the Transylvanian captain.
* Setting fire to an opponent's broom tail.
* Attacking an opponent's broom with a club.
* Attacking an opponent with an axe.

## History

### Ancient games

"*At the sound of the horn they were swiftly airborne
 But ten of their number were fated to die.*"
— From the song of the game of Creaothceann.

The present-day game of Quidditch is derived from ancient flying games which were combined together. These archaic games were popular in the local areas where they were played but they didn't achieve international popularity.

* Aingingein - invented in Ireland. People flew on broomsticks through barrels which had been set alight in the air, clutching a ball in one hand. At the end of the course was a goal they had the throw the ball through. The player who completed the course in the shortest time was named the winner.
* Creaothceann - invented in Scotland. It involved a number of boulders being enchanted in the air while each player had a cauldron on their head. When the horn was sounded, the boulders were let loose and players had to try catching the boulders in their cauldron. The one who caught the highest total wom. The game was outlawed many years ago because it was very violent. Players had been killed.
* Shuntbumps - invented in Devon, England. Players tried to knock people off their broom. The last one standing won.
* Stitchstock - invented in Germany. A number of players had to pierce an inflated dragon bladder defended by a single Keeper. Whoever managed to do so first won.
* Swivenhodge - invented in Herefordshire, England. Players knocked an inflated pig's bladder at each other over a hedge. It was the only known ancient Quidditch game which involved a "ball" being passed.

### Evolution of Quidditch

In 1050, a witch by the name of Gertie Keddle wrote in her diary about a game she had observed in Queerditch Marsh. Over the next few days, she continued to write about the game, tracking its evolution in later entries. Gertie was annoyed because the players dropped a ball in her cabbage patch. She confiscated the ball and hexed the man who showed up to ask her for it back.

In her second entry, she noted that the players now had a new ball which they began using to score goals. This ball evolved into the Quaffle. In her third diary entry, they had introduced bewitched flying rocks which were trying to knock players off their broom. These flying rocks evolved into Bludgers. A known player that day was a "big Scottish warlock".

Quidditch was not mentioned by anyone again until around 1150 when Goodwin Kneen wrote a letter to his Norweigan cousin Olaf. The game now had a name which was "Kwidditch". The players and equipment also had names and there were a few organised teams. Chasers were then named "Catchers" while the Bludger was named the "Blooder". The goals were scored through hoops of barrels atop of high wooden planks.

### Evolution of the Golden Snitch

"*When the poor little Snidget flew my way I did a Summoning Charm. You know how good my Summoning Charms are, Pru – of course it was easier for me to aim properly, not being mounted on a broomstick at the time. The little bird went zooming into my hand.*"
— Modesty Rabnott saving the Golden Snidget from being hunted.

By the time of Goodwin's letter, "Kwidditch" was getting very popular and key elements found in the present-day game of Quidditch could be found. However, the beginnings of the Golden Snitch didn't appear until a hundred years later in a game played in Kent, England in 1269. The game was attended by the Chief of the Wizards' Council, Barberus Bragge who brought a bird named the Golden Snidget, which was already suffering in the popular sport of Snidget hunting.

Bragge let the Snidget loose and told the players whoever caught it would win 150 galleons. The bird was kept in the boundary of pitch by a spell so it couldn't escape. It flew at very high speeds and changed direction suddenly. Players spent the entire time chasing the Snidget rather than playing the game properly.

One of the spectators was a witch named Modesty Rabnott who took pity on the Snidget and saved it using a Summoning Charm. She ran away after putting the bird under her robes but she was found by Bragge and fined ten galleons. Fortunately, she had let the bird loose and it had flown away. However, the damage was done to the Snidget species because the news of their involvement in the game led to the invention of a "Hunter" (later the Seeker) who had to catch and kill a Snidget in every game. Doing so awarded their team 150 points, a total in honour of the prize money offered by Bragge.

Over the years, the number of Snidgets declined in high numbers until they were on the verge of extinction. Elfrida Clagg of the Wizards' Council made it a protected species. The Modesty Rabnott Snidget sanctuary in Somerset was created in order to protect the Snidgets, ensuring their survival. With this, the bird could no longer be used in Quidditch games so there had to be suitable new substitute for the Snidget.

Bowman Wright of Godric's Hollow invented a fake Snidget named a Golden Snitch - a golden ball the same size and weight of the Snidget with silver wings bewitched to follow its flight pattern. It eliminated the need for anybody to spend the game confining it to the boundary of the pitch with spells because it had a built-in charm which controlled it. When the Golden Snitch was approved, every single ball found in the present-day game was now being used.

### Later Quidditch

In the 18th century, the International Statute of Secrecy was founded. The Ministry of Magic had a duty to stop Muggles ever finding out about Quidditch. The Department of Magical Games and Sports was set up to govern the games, ensuring they were kept secret. Quidditch was played by local teams in the British and Irish Quidditch League Headquarters.

## Notes and sources

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 *Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone*, Chapter 10
2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 *Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone*, Chapter 11
3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 *Quidditch Through the Ages*: Changes in Quidditch Since the Fourteenth Century
4. ↑ *Quidditch Through the Ages*: Anti-Muggle Precautions
5. ↑ *Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban*, Chapter 15
6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 *Quidditch Through the Ages*: Quidditch Today
7. ↑ *Quidditch Through the Ages*: Ancient Broom Games
8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 *Quidditch Through the Ages*: The Game From Queerditch Marsh
9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 9.2 9.3 9.4 *Quidditch Through the Ages*: The Arrival of the Golden Snitch
10. ↑ *Quidditch Through the Ages*: Quidditch Teams of Britain and Ireland