History of Quidditch
The history of Quidditch is based on personal records and letters of old witches and wizards in the 11th century.
Per these records, the name ‘Quidditch’ originated from a swamp named the Queerditch Marsh where wizards and witches were on broom sticks playing a game by throwing balls into a hoop.
The name Quidditch seems to have been named after the place, the Queerditch Marsh where these wizards and witches used to play such a similar sport with Quidditch.
Another record mentioned Quidditch as Kwidditch and mentioned ‘Catchers’ which is presumably the origins of Chasers, and ‘Blooder’s which presumably became the Bludger position.
After years later, a wizard brought a Golden Snidget which was a magical creature that was a bird with extreme speed and maneuverability to some witches and wizards playing this broom mounted game.
The wizard declared he would award 150 galleons to whomever catches the Golden Snidget and hits led to the creation of the ‘Snitch’ and awarding 150 points to those who caught the snitch.
All of these elements were combined into one game that would develop and later on become Quidditch, the most popular sports of the magic world. Like England invented modern soccer(football), Quidditch was also invented in Great Britian.
Quaffle
A Quaffle was a ball made of leather which chasers had to shoot through either of the three hoops to score 10 points.
It didn’t matter whether on which side of the hoop the Quaffle went through however, the keeper must be between the hoop and the chaser attempting to score to block the Quaffle.
In other words, the keeper should be blocking the ball from scoring rather than trying to stay behind the hoop and focus on not letting the Quaffle through. (This was a foul actually) Although catching the snitch may seemed important consistent scoring by the Quaffle was the core quality of a strong Quidditch team.
Bludger
The Bludger was an iron ball that tried to collide with the witches or wizards on their brooms. There were two bludgers flying around that the two beaters had to swing their bats to protect their teammates while project the bludgers to the opponents.
There was a protective repel spell cast on the bleachers of the spectators, so the spectators aren’t harmed from the bludgers.
Golden Snitch
The Golden Snitch, or the snitch was a golden ball about the size of a walnut that could make extreme maneuvers at high speed.
Each team’s seeker must locate the snitch to finish the Quidditch match and earn 150 points. The Golden Snitch was named after the Golden Snidget that was a magical bird with extreme maneuvers in high speed.
Originally Quidditch matches used the Golden Snidget for matches, however along with the popularity of Snidget hunting, the Golden Snidgets were hunted almost to extinction.
The Golden Snidget was extremely fragile as well so the Ministry of Magic had to designate it as an endangered species.
The Golden Snitch was invented to replace the inhumanity of using Golden Snidgets.
The Golden Snitch had flesh memory in cases to resolve disputes over seekers almost simultaneously grabs the snitch. The snitch would remember the flesh of the first body part that the seeker makes contact by this flesh memory.
Harry Potter catches his first Golden Snitch by his mouth which Slytherin House argued it wasn’t a fair catch but Harry’s capture of the snitch was admitted and Harry led his debut as a seeker for Gryffindor House to victory.
Quidditch team positions
For each Quidditch team, there were seven players that consisted of three chasers, two beaters, one keeper and one seeker.
Two teams would compete in one game so a total of 14 players were present on the field. Chasers were responsible of shooting the Quaffle into the opponent’s hoop while bludgers were responsible for protecting their team members from the bludger that would crash into players while the bludgers were also responsible for projecting the bludgers to the opponent.
The keeper defended the three goalposts by blocking the Quaffle shots by the opponent. Each Quaffle shot in the goal hoop was worth 10 points.
The seeker was responsible to catch the Golden Snitch that gave 150 points to the team and immediately marked the end of the Quidditch match. The Golden Snitch must be caught for a Quidditch match to end.
Professor Minerva McGonagall, a fanatic Quidditch fan
Although, her position is unknown, Professor Minerva McGonagall was once the Gryffindor Quidditch team player during her youth.
She was a fanatic Quidditch fan and player herself but sadly, she fell off from her broom on a fatal Quidditch match between Gryffindor House and Slytherin House that decided the winner if the Inter-House Quidditch Cup.
Professor McGonagall not only fell off from her broom and watch Gryffindor House lose but had a concussion and broke some of her ribs.
As a passionate Quidditch fan and desires to see Slytherin House beaten by Gryffindor House, once she witnessed Harry Potter’s broom flight skills, she knew that Harry Potter would be just the right seeker that could fulfill her desires.
Presumably, Professor Minerva McGonagall gifted the Nimbus 2000 anonymously and secretly to Harry Potter.
Harry Potter's father James Potter was also a seeker for the Gryffindor Quidditch team. M.G. McGonagall defintiely wasn't Professor Minerva McGonagall though and presumably one of her relatives. The Special Services dto Hogwarts award is also one thing to keep in mind througouth the Harry Potter series;
Gryffindor Quidditch Team at Harry Potter’s 1st year
The three chasers were Katie Bell, Angelina Johnson, Alicia Spinnet. The two beaters were George Weasley and Fred Weasley twin brothers.
The keeper and captain of Gryffindor House was Oliver Wood and the seeker was Harry Potter. Interestingly which is a bit of a spoiler is that all members of the Weasley family would play on the Gryffindor House Quidditch team.
Slytherin Quidditch Team at Harry Potter’s 1st year
Although not all of them were identified, Slytherin Quidditch team was considered the strongest during Harry’s 1st year. The keeper was Miles Bletchley, seeker was Terence Higgs while the two beaters were unknown.
One chaser is unknown while the other two were Adrian Pucey and Marcus Flint. Marcus Flint was the captain of the Slytherin Quidditch team and rivaled Oliver Wood throughout their school year.
Slytherin Quidditch team was infamous for using all possible means for their victory while their skills were considered the best among the other 3 houses as well.
Quidditch Tournaments
Like the world cup in real life, the Quidditch World Cup was held every four years. The Quidditch World Cup was a national team competition. There were also different professional leagues per each country that would compete in their own league systems.
Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry held the annual Inter-House Quidditch Cup which each dormitory team would compete with another once. The victory of the Inter-House Quidditch Cup was determined by the total points that each house has accumulated rather than the number of wins or losses.
Simple Quidditch Rules
The rules of Quidditch were established by the Ministry of Magic of Great Britian. The International Association of Quidditch governs the international federation of Quidditch abiding by these rules.
The rules book of Quidditch were lengthy and complicated like the rules of real-life baseball because there could be numerous variables that could happen during Quidditch.
The Golden Snitch must be caught to end a Quidditch match.
In other words, a Quidditch match could last for several days until the Golden Snitch was caught. Although there could be time-outs, to officially end a Quidditch match, the Golden Snitch must be caught. The longest Quidditch match recorded was 6 months long.
Winner of Quidditch
Catching the Golden Snitch ends the match and grants 150 points. However, the overall score matters and even if a seeker catches the Golden Snitch, the opposing team could outscore if they’ve already had a lead over 150 points.
Basic rules of Quidditch by the Official Rule book
Players must not stray over the boundary lines of the pitch, although they may fly as high as desired. The Quaffle must be surrendered to the opposition if any player leaves the boundary (it is unknown what the penalty is if a player on defence leaves the pitch)
'Time out' may be called at any time by the Captain of a team. Time out may be extended to two hours if a game has already lasted for more than twelve hours. Failure to return to the pitch after this time will lead to the team being disqualified.
Penalties can be awarded to teams by the referee. A single Chaser may take the penalty by flying from the central circle towards the scoring area. The opposing team's Keeper may attempt to stop the shot being scored, but all other players must not interfere (it is unknown if the Seeker may still attempt to catch the Snitch while a penalty is being attempted).
Contact is allowed, but a player may not seize hold of another player's broomstick or any part of their anatomy.
No substitution of players is allowed throughout the game, even if a player is too injured or tired to continue to play. (Note: According to Goblet of Fire, during the Quidditch World Cup, at some point it lasted for days, and the players had to be switched out so that they could get some sleep).
Players may take their wands onto the pitch, but they must not be used on or against any players, any players' broomsticks, the referee, any of the four balls, or the spectators.
A game of Quidditch will only end once the Golden Snitch has been caught, or at the mutual consent of both team Captains.
Only the Keeper can block quaffle shots thrown by the opposing team.
Beaters are not allowed to send the Bludger's toward the Keeper unless the Quaffle is inside the scoring area.
