"His was a daring Snitch capture that involved a breakneck dash through the cross fire of both Bludgers and risked collision with [Chaser Willi Wenzel]"
-- match report USA v Liechtenstein, Daily Prophet, 8 June 2014 (Pm)
Darius Smackhammer played Seeker for the United States National Team at the Quidditch World Cup tournament in 2014.
Smackhammer was considered to be the “outstanding player” from the US team at the 2014 tournament (Pm).
A controversial but close-fought match against Jamaica ended when the opposing Keeper collapsed and fell from her broom, just as Smackhammer was racing their Seeker to the Snitch. The United States then won their quarter-final against Liechtenstein by 450 points to 290, after his spectacular Snitch capture (Pm).
The team lost in the semi-finals to Brazil, at the end of a two-day match. Smackhammer was prevented from earlier catching the Snitch by two precision-hit Bludgers from the Brazilian Beaters. He then lost a thrilling break-neck race for the Snitch against Brazilian Seeker Tony Silva (Pm).
The American team’s last match of the tournament was the Play-off for third place, which they lost by 330 points to 120 to the Japanese National Team. Japan’s Seeker caught the Snitch while Smackhammer was caught in a broom-lock with his own Beater, Lucas Picquery. The subsequent fourth place overall finish was a still considered to be good result (Pm).
Skills
Reckless and talented, like most Seekers; good at spotting and catching the Golden Snitch
Other canon notes and references
Since Viktor Krum, born 1976, was the oldest player at the tournament (Pm), Smackhammer must have been born after 1976.
Commentary
Etymology
Darius is a Roman name, from the Greek Δαρειος (Dareios), which itself is a form of the Persian name Dārayavahush, meaning dâraya "to possess" and vahu "good" (Behind the Name).
Smackhammer is probably a compound of smack ("a slap or blow") and hammer ("a tool with a heavy metal head") (Oxford English Dictionaries).
Notes
As he is from the USA, Smackhammer could have attended the Ilvermorny School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.
Lexicon list of Seekers
From the Web
Writing by J.K. Rowling on Pottermore:
- History of the Quidditch World Cup
- 2014 Quidditch World Cup reports
- 2014 Quidditch World Cup final
- The Daily Prophet
Pottermore enhanced reading experience: Quidditch World Cup
Screenshots of the original Daily Prophet coverage of the 2014 Quidditch World Cup on Pottermore: Imgur archive
Harry Potter Wiki: Darius Smackhammer
Pensieve (Comments)
Tags: athletes capture catching competitions/competitors international match sports teammates teams tournaments