Golden Snidget

The **Golden Snidget** was a small golden magical bird with fully rotational wings, best known for early use in the wizarding game of Quidditch, eventually being replaced by the Golden Snitch.

## History

The Golden Snidget was once common in northern Europe, but because of their aptitude for hiding and the extreme speed that they used as their survival strategy to avoid predators, they were difficult for Muggles to detect. From the early 1100s, Snidget-hunting was a popular sporting pastime of many wizardkind, and as hinted at in modern Quidditch, was done on broomsticks. A tapestry preserved in the Museum of Quidditch from the 12th-century revealed that Snidget-hunting was done in groups, with participants free to use nets, wands, or even just opting to use their bare hands. The fragile birds were oftentimes crushed to death by their captor in the process. In the case of the tapestry, the winner was shown receiving a bag of gold.

Snidget-hunting, usually done in broad daylight, also had the side effect of causing more Muggle broomstick sightings than any other activity. Despite this, the Wizards' Council was unable to curb the popularity of the sport, although they had very little motivation to do so as historical records showed that their attitude was that they didn't see anything wrong with Snidget-hunting. As time went on though, it would emerge that not all wizardkind felt the same way.

The Snidget was first introduced into Quidditch in 1269, when the newly-appointed Chief of the Wizards' Council, a man named Barberus Bragge, released a Snidget during a Quidditch match and offered 150 Galleons to the player who could catch it. In protest of the barbaric treatment of the fragile bird, Madam Modesty Rabnott of Kent, an opponent of Snidget-hunting, summoned the Snidget to her, fled the pitch and released the bird into the wold. Nevertheless, the practise of releasing a Snidget during Quidditch matches continued, with the stakes changed to 150 points, rather than Galleons, awarded to the team of the player who caught the Snidget. Ultimately, the use of Snidgets in Quidditch, and the popularity of Snidget-hunting, depleted the species considerably.

About a century after Barberus Bragge introduced Snidget's to Quidditch, when it became apparent that the Snidget was close to extinction, Elfrida Clagg, then Chief of the Wizards' Council, declared it a protected species. The Snidget was classified as XXXX, not because of being dangerous, but because severe penalties would apply if any were captured or injured. Clagg also founded the Modesty Rabnott Snidget Reservation in Somerset, England, named in honour of Modesty Rabnott's early efforts at protecting Snidgets.

The most notable factor in the protection of the Snidgets was the introduction of the Golden Snitch, invented by metal-charmer Bowman Wright, to the game of Quidditch.

During the 1989-1990 School Year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, Sixth-Year students in Care of Magical Creatures class were taught about how to properly handle Golden Snidgets by Professor Silvanus Kettleburn.

During the 1990-1991 School Year, Snidgets were smuggled by at least three wizards from the Somerset sanctuary, Jacob's Sibling investigated this case with Alastor Moody and Nymphadora Tonks.

## Physical Description

The Snidget was completely round, fat, covered in golden feathers, and has a long thin beak. Its eyes were bright red, and the rotational wings let the Snidget move in any direction with remarkable agility and speed. The Golden Snidget's feathers and eyes were so highly prized that it was at one time in danger of being hunted to extinction by wizards. A Snidget was an extremely fragile bird, as a human's grip could crush one to death. It had very small legs, making it look like an apodiform.