Chapter 15 Harry Potter Learns Quidditch

Meet the Author

• Joanne Kathleen Rowling is a well-known British author who has sold millions of copies of her famous series titled Harry Potter.
• Born: 31st July 1965
• Place of Birth: Yate, United Kingdoms
• Major Books: Harry Potter series
• Best known for: Her contributions into the genre of fantasy fiction. (You can read more about fantasy fiction under the title “Bonus Info” that comes after the summary)

Historical background to the Novel

JK Rowling in one of her interviews had mentioned about how she came across the idea of Harry Potter. She was travelling (1990) from Manchester to London on a train when the idea for Harry Potter came to her.

She says, "I have been writing almost continuously since the age of 6 but I had never been so excited about an idea before. I simply sat and thought for 4 hours and all the details bubbled up in my brain and this scrawny, black-haired, bespectacled boy who did not know he was a wizard became more and more real to me".

Even though she was rejected by several publishers in the beginning, the first book of the seven series volume got published in June 1997. The last one among the series was published in July 2007.

Summary of the Chapter

The chapter begins with Harry having trouble keeping up with his studies. He was drawn to his dormitory where the new broomstick was lying on his bed. That was the day when he was going to start practicing on the Quidditch pitch. He soon ran upstairs with a run to unwrap the Nimbus Two Thousand.

Harry had a lot of trouble keeping his mind on his lessons that day. It kept wandering up to the dormitory, where his new broomstick was lying under his bed, or starting off to the Quidditch pitch where he’d be learning to play that right.

Harry and Ron are very excited to see the new sleek and shiny broom. It had a mahogany handle and a long tail of neat straight tricks. By seven o'clock in the evening Harry left to the pitch. This was the first time he entered a stadium.

There were hundreds of seats that were raised in stands around so that the spectators could see the game going on up in the air. There were three golden poles with hoops on both ends of the pitch. This reminded Harry of the little plastic sticks through which ordinary humans (Muggle children) blew to make bubbles.

Harry got onto his broomstick and kicked off from the ground to fly up. He went around the goal posts excitedly. The new Nimbus Two Thousand moved around as he wanted with a slightest touch.

Soon Oliver arrived to teach the rules and regulations of the game. He opened the crate and showed four different sized balls. Wood told Harry Potter that the game was easy enough to understand but it wasn’t that easy to play it.

Now Quidditch is easy enough to understand, even if it’s not easy to play.

Wood then started to explain to Harry about the game, the players and their role in the game. Each team consists of seven players. In which three of them are called Chasers. As the name suggests, Chasers have to chase the ball called Quaffle and put it through any one of the hopes to score a goal. One such entry would gather ten points every time. This reminded Harry of basketball that humans used to play. But Oliver Wood does not understand his reference as he was a wizard.

The next set of players are called Keeper. Every team consists of one Keeper. Keepers guard the goal post.

Oliver Wood then showed two identical balls which were jet black in colour. Harry noticed that those balls were straining to escape the straps. As Wood let them go up, those black balls rose high in the air and went straight across Harry's face. Harry had to move but the ball hit his nose. tBut Wood got hold of the ball and managed to pin it to the ground. These balls were called Bludger.Wood explained further about the game while struggling to put the Bludger into the crate. These balls try to knock off the players from their brooms. That was why they have Beaters on each team. They try to protect the player from Bludgers. He added that the Weasley twins were their Beaters.

Three Chasers try and score with the Quaffle; the Keeper guards the goalpost; the Beaters keep the Bludgers away from their team, Harry reeled off.

Harry was very much concerned whether the Bludgers ever had killed any player. Wood gave him confidence by stating that no one had died due to Bludgers, but some had gotten hurt.

The last ball he took out of the crate was tiny and was about the size of a large walnut. It has a bright golden colour and fluttering silver wings. It was called the Golden Snitch. Seekers had to catch it. Harry is the Seeker in his team. When Seeker's catch the Snitch they win an extra hundred and fifty points. The game can only end when the Golden Snitch is caught.

Since Seeker's have such power they get fouled a lot. Wood remembered an incident when the game went on for 3 months where they had to bring in substitute players.

Harry shook his head. He understood what he had to do all right, it was doing it that was going to be the problem

Harry understood the responsibility he had in the game.

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