With the recent release of “Harry Potter: Quidditch Champions” there is hardly a better time to talk about the best wizard sport in the world. We have a few exciting facts for you that will make you a Quidditch expert.
What is Quidditch? Quidditch is a magical sport from Harry Potter played on flying brooms.
- Each team consists of seven players: three chasers, two beaters, one keeper, and one seeker.
- It is played with four balls: the quaffle, two bludgers, and the golden snitch.
- The game ends when the golden snitch is caught by the seeker.
Here you get an impression of the new Quidditch game:
1. Quidditch comes from “Queerditch Marsh”
The name “Quidditch” is derived from the origin of the wizard sport, the marsh “Queerditch Marsh”. There lived a witch named Gertie Keddle in the 11th century.
Gertie observed a strange game played on brooms where players threw balls and stones at each other. Even though she was mostly annoyed by the noise of this commotion, she noted all the details in her diary.
From this developed in Great Britain then “Kwidditch”, which later became the Quidditch we know.
2. Germany had its own “Quidditch”
Although Quidditch is the only broom sport that gained worldwide fame, there are still some similar sports. Many of them are probably even predecessors of Quidditch, which enabled the sport’s enormous popularity.
These predecessors were usually only known in individual countries or regions. For example, Germany also had its own “Quidditch” variant:
- Stichstock (Germany): Players had to try to pierce a fully pumped bladder of a dragon with sharpened broomsticks. The bladder was defended by one player – presumably the inspiration for the position of the keeper.
- Aingingein (Ireland): Players had to fly through burning barrels and at the end hit a ball into the goal.
- Creaothceann (Scotland): A particularly brutal game in which players had a cauldron strapped to their heads, which they had to catch falling boulders with. It is said to have inspired the position of the beaters.
- Shuntbumps (England): Players tried to knock each other off their brooms with lances.
- Swivenhodge (England): Similar to tennis, a ball was thrown back and forth over a hedge. This could have inspired the chasers.
3. The birthplace of Quidditch
In real life, the birthplace of Quidditch was Manchester. In a small hotel, author J.K. Rowling had the idea for the wizard sport. In a commented edition of “Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone”, which was auctioned for a charitable cause, she wrote about the background of Quidditch:
I had been thinking about things that bring a society together, connect them and express their special character, and I knew I needed a sport.
J.K. Rowling (via tbsnews)
4. The snitch used to be a bird
From the game “Harry Potter: Quidditch Champions”
For a long time, Quidditch was played with just three balls, the quaffle and the two bludgers. Only in 1269 did the predecessor of the golden snitch come into play.
However, it was not yet a ball, but a small round bird called “snidget.” Snidgets are known for their high speed, making catching one a real challenge for the seekers.
However, the birds were often crushed while being caught. And with Quidditch’s growing popularity, snidgets slowly became extinct. Therefore, a wizard named Bowman Wright invented the modern golden snitch in the 15th century – a small metal ball that perfectly mimics the behavior of the snidgets.
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