Canon Celebration: Quidditch!

In the beginning, everything in the Wizarding World is new. We the readers are finding out things at the same time Harry Potter does. He first hears the word Quidditch from Draco Malfoy when they are getting fitted for robes in Diagon Alley and has to ask Hagrid what it is. And Hagrid’s answer raises more questions:

“‘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 (PS5)

And later when when the Gryffindor Quidditch Team’s captain, Oliver Wood, tries to explain the rules and mechanics of the game to Harry, there is still a bit of confusion (on both sides).

“This ball’s called the Quaffle. 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. So – that’s sort of like basketball on broomsticks with six hoops, isn’t it?”

“What’s basketball?”
— Oliver Wood and Harry Potter (PS10)

Ready to have some fun exploring? Here we go!

Podcasts

The changing Quidditch World Cup schedule by Nick Moline

Harry, Draco and Quidditch Chapter 10 of Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets by Eileen Jones

Teacups, Quidditch and Worries Chapter 30 of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix by Steve VanderArk

Why Harry Potter needed Quidditch by Trish Drasnin

Reader’s Guides

If you start with our Quidditch page there are many directions in which you can go. Here are a few other pages on the Lexicon that are particularly Quidditch-rich:

• Quidditch lists on the Lexicon
• The Daily Prophet newspaper headlines and articles
• The Harry Potter Lexicon’s Atlas of Quidditch
• Pages with Quidditch connections

Essays

An Almanac of Quidditch at Hogwarts by Philip Legge

Who says Quidditch is stupid? by Steve VanderArk

Unusual Quidditch Matches by Steve VanderArk

How many Quidditch World Cups have there been anyway? by Nick Moline

Quidditch Through the (Weasleys’) Ages or, The Unusual Career of Charles Weasley by Philip Legge

Calendars

The Lexicon’s timeline of Quidditch

Quidditch calendars

Cool Facts and Stuff

J K Rowling on Quidditch:

• “Oh Quidditch … the irony of me inventing a sport!” (NPC)
• When asked what she likes most about Quidditch: “That would probably be the violence.” (RC)
• “I sat in a hotel room after a row with my then boyfriend and invented it. Looking back, I can understand why I liked the idea of Bludgers.” (WBD)
• “I played around with words beginning with ‘Q’ for ages I don’t know why ‘Q’, it was just a whim and then I came up with Quidditch and knew it was the one” (CR).

Quidditch players and personalities you may have forgotten or maybe never even heard of:

• The Muggle sports-loving Chaser on the Montrose Magpies Quidditch team (DP1, DP2, DP3).
• The Holyhead Harpies team captain’s reaction to an on-pitch marriage proposal from the captain of the Heidelberg Harriers (QA7).
• Albus Severus Potter’s favourite Quidditch player (QWC).
• The Irish National team Chaser named after a friend of J K Rowling (GF8, JKR).
• The vengeance wreaked on the Brazilian National Team’s manager by his angry Welsh counterpart (QWC).

Interesting Artwork

We have hundreds and hundreds of pieces of fan artwork in our collection. Some subjects get a lot of depictions — Diagon Alley is a favourite topic, for example, and, well, of course it is! But there are a few pieces which illustrate more unusual moments in the text. Here are a few examples:

Harry Potter and the out-of-control Nimbus 2000 broom (PS11)

Draco Malfoy fouling Harry by grabbing his broom during a match (PA15)

After a match, Harry and George Weasley attack Draco (OP19)

Luna Lovegood’s fantastic commentary of a school Quidditch match (HBP19)

Artwork Challenge

Have you made any drawings or artwork of Quidditch players in action? Do you have ideas on what some of the more esoteric Quidditch moves look like in practice? We’d love to see them.

Send your artwork to [email protected]. By submitting it, you are giving us permission to display your work on the Lexicon. We would like to include your name with your artwork so you are properly credited, so when you send your work let us know what name to use. Please also include a way to get a hold of you so that if we decide to feature your work as part of our regular collection we can contact you for more details. All artwork we display remains the property of the artist and they retain all copyright.

Special Feature – Quidditch World Cup

The Quidditch World Cup tournament is supposed to take place every four years. Readers got a whole chapter (GF8) in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire on the Quidditch World Cup 1994 final that Harry, Hermione and the Weasleys attended. There were also mentions of Quidditch matches in the books for international and professional Quidditch teams (CS3, GF5). The book Quidditch Through the Ages contained more information about British, Irish and other teams (QA7, QA8) and the history of the sport (QA2). There wasn’t anything new for several years. Then, in the Spring and Summer of 2014 the Quidditch World Cup 2014 matches started to appear. Written by J K Rowling, this exciting tournament was published in “real time” (QWC).

Coming up next week…

Our Twentieth Anniversary Canon Celebration will be highlighting the first chapters of Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets.