Gryffindor Quidditch Team, Years 1 - 3

Honestly, you have not lived life until you have seen a game of Quidditch acted out using British special effects. ;)

By the way, wondering what exactly the title of that picture is? It's Gryffindor Quidditch - History in the Making. I know, it got a bit blurry. That's what happens when the greatest graphic-making program you own is Microsoft Paint. :P

Speaking of pictures, please don't take this one. I modified a picture I found on the Internet with the text you see above. If you wish to do the same thing, find a blank picture and type the words in yourself. It's very easy to do! To find the picture, try typing "quidditch" into the image search on google.com or some other search engine. Thank you. :)

And now, on to business...

Flying

Quidditch is played up in the air on broomsticks. Therefore, the first essential skill to playing the game is knowing how to fly. Wizards have specially enchanted broomsticks specifically for quidditch, such as the Nimbus Two Thousand (Harry's first broomstick) and the Firebolt. Hogwarts provides team members with Cleansweeps, which are considered less desirable (at least if you're talking to Draco Malfoy).

The Field

Quidditch fields consist of 3 hoops elevated on large poles at each end. Think of the blowers that come in bottles of children's bubbles. Each hoop is a different height. As soon as I can find a good picture from the movie, I will put it here as a visual aide.

The Rules

As Gryffindor Quidditch Captain Oliver Wood explained, "Quidditch is easy enough to understand." Really, it is if you break it down. A tad confused on the rules? Try reading one section at a time and digesting that before you go on to another. I guarantee you'll be a quidditch expert by the time you're through! :)

First of all, there are three balls in quidditch. The largest one, colored red, is called the quaffle. The medium-sized ball, colored black, is the bludger. The smallest one, a gold ball with silver wings, is called the snitch.

Let's start with the quaffle. There is one quaffle in play during a game. The chasers (there are 3 on each team) try to throw this ball through one of the opposing team's hoops. Each time it makes it through, that team receives 10 points. However, each team's keeper can stop the other team from scoring this way by catching the quaffle before it goes through the hoop. The keeper remains in front of his or her team's hoops throughout the game. Opposing chasers can steal the quaffle from the chaser in possession...much like soccer/football.

The bludger is a ball that comes after any player in its path, no matter which team that person happens to be a member of. Beaters use their sticks (much like miniature baseball bats) to hit the bludgers at members of the other team. They are meant to knock players off course, especially those in possession of the quaffle. And yes, they do hurt.

The golden snitch is perhaps the most important ball used in quidditch. It flutters around the field, waiting to be caught. The seeker is supposed to catch the snitch; that is his or her only job. Because the snitch is quite small and very difficult to see (it moves very quickly), both seekers hover around the field in search of it.

But why is the snitch so important? There are two reasons. One, the snitch is worth 150 points to the team whose seeker catches it. Two, it ends the game.

The team that catches the snitch usually wins, but not always (example: book 4, the Quidditch World Cup). For example, let's say that Gryffindor has 20 points in a game and Ravenclaw has 180. Then Harry catches the snitch, earning Gryffindor 150 points. A little mental math will tell you that the final score is 170 : 180, meaning that although Gryffindor caught the snitch, Ravenclaw won because they had more points.

Team Uniforms

Each team has unique uniforms bearing their team mascots (i.e. Gryffindor lion, Slytherin snake, Hufflepuff badger, and Ravenclaw bird) and colors. The uniforms consist of capes, sweaters, and protective gear.

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