This coming Tuesday, as a part of I heart HU Week, Harding students will be playing a sport that normally requires magic and broomsticks. Fortunately, we Muggles will find a way to play around it. The game is Q uidditch.
The sport is inspired by J.K. Rowling’s “Harry Potter” series, which is played by wizards on brooms, chasing flying balls through the air.
“I am a huge Harry Potter fan so this is pretty exciting,” senior Carmen Lynn said. “I can’t wait to snatch the Snitch.”
The question on every-one’s mind still remains: How can a game full of magic in the books and movies be transformed to play in a place without magic?
Junior Carter Wright said it is very possible.
“There’s actually an of-ficial international Quidditch website with a 200-page rulebook,” Wright said.
Wright works for the Campus Activities Board and plans to help organize the event and make sure everyone understands the rules. According to the website, InternationalQuidditch.org, the International Quidditch Association was invented by Xander Manshel and Alex Benepe in 2005. Manshel began organizing the first Muggle Quidditch matches at Middlebury College, tweaking the rules from J.K. Rowling’s “Harry Potter” novels.According to the website, real-life Quidditch should have three essential elements: creativity, community and competition.
Rules and happenings in the “Harry Potter” movies such as the players’ flying on brooms, the Snitch’s being a gold ball with wings and players’ falling off of their brooms onto the ground have been changed to better suit real life. Each player must always have a broom between his or her legs, a Snitch is a “Snitch runner,” and a player must step off the broom after being hit by a Bludger.
There will be three hoops set up, and the goal is to get the Quaffle, or volleyball, through one of those goals. The ultimate goal is to catch the Snitch, which will most likely be a member of Harding’s cross-country team who will aimlessly run around campus and randomly make his or her way to the field.
With these rules in place for Harding’s upcoming Quidditch tournament, it is sure to be a success. The teams will consist of at least seven players, and eight teams will make for a complete tournament. Each game will last 10 minutes. Teams will wear different colored shirts to make it easier on the players during the game.
“I love the fact that it’s something from the ‘Harry Potter’ books coming to life,” Wright said. “It’s a fun game and I think it will be a good atmosphere and really festive.”
