The Importance of Quidditch in PoA (was Re: No Oliver Wood in PoA)

[Susan Atherton]

I too am pretty gutted about the absence of Biggerstaff (although, admittedly, it's partly because although I genuinely love Wood in PoA, I fancy the arse off SB, so I wanted him back :D), but I've noticed another point being brought up here, which is to do with the importance of Quidditch, specifically to the PoA script. I've been discussing this on the IMDb message board for PoA as well, and I've just written a ridiculously long post about it, so I figured I'd stick it on the list too, and get the feedback of people who, you know, aren't thick... 

~ducking flames from imdb peeps~

Just kidding :)

Although I respect the opinions of people who think Quidditch is merely a SFXtravanganza, rather than a plot device, I'm afraid I must disagree, and strongly at that. 

Here's why. 

The Harry Potter novels are written, with the exception of the first chapters of PS and GoF, entirely from Harry's POV. I know they're in the third person, but they are the views and decisions of an eleven year old, twelve year old, etc boy. This (in PoA) thirteen year old boy is, as all thirteen year old boys are, a sports nut. He's on the house team for his sport, he's very very good at it, and he really wants to win the Quidditch Cup for his house. He also wants to visit Hogsmeade village with his friends, to buy sweets and drink Butterbeer. 

Now, the concerns of McGonagall and the adults are that the dangerous Sirius Black is on the loose. Hagrid is worried that he's going to lose his job and his beloved Buckbeak will be killed at the best, scared he'll be sent back to Azkaban at the worst. Hermione is tiring herself out with living a year's worth of twenty seven and twenty eight hour days, not to mention the stress she's under to do all the work and the trauma of fighting with Ron, who she definitely loves and might even be in love with (depending on your ship, hehe). She's also trying to help Hagrid save Buckbeak - Hermione is under TREMENDOUS pressure during PoA, I hope Emma can pull it off. Ron is worried his poor Scabbers, who he claims to hate but really loves, has been eaten by Crookshanks. 

They all have their own problems, and some storylines (Sirius and Buckbeak, really) are far more important than Quidditch. Quidditch is just Harry's obsession, right? Right? Wrong. 

I believe the Harry Potter books are so popular because the characters are wonderful, yes, but also, they are so cleverly written. As an aspiring writer myself, I've read a lot of books, and I have to say, Joanne Rowling is one of the cleverest writers I've ever read. Obviously she'll always be Mrs Harry Potter, and I'd read her shopping list, but I do hope she doesn't just sit back and live off Harry (which she could conceivably do, she's a millionaire now) and instead continues writing, because the way she weaves together her plot threads makes for amazing books - but sadly, awful screenplays. (Of course, if she'd been adapting them herself... ~glaring at Kloves across the Atlantic~)

Without Quidditch, you lose MANY aspects of Harry. Harry's selfishness and thoughtlessness (is that a word?!) by ignoring everyone's warnings and sneaking into Hogsmeade anyway; Harry's arguments and sulks with Hermione over the Firebolt; Harry's narrowminded impetus for starting his Patronus lessons. 

Now, like all of us here, I think Harry is a great character, and I love him a lot. However, he is written as a real thirteen year old boy, which I think is why I love him - the things he does at the end of each book are the actions of someone who does not do something to seek popularity and recognition (ahemLockhart), no - Harry does these things not to break the rules or annoy anyone or suck up to Dumbledore, he does them because they need doing and he knows that. And when you know something needs doing, from killing an evil wizard to the washing up, you do it. Because if you don't, who will? 

This is why I hate Movie!Harry. Movie!Harry is a reckless, rebellious hero type - Book!Harry is a reluctant hero, who shies away from fame and fortune and gets the job done. To put it in Harry's own words "Do you think Voldemort will leave you and your families alone if Gryffindor win the house cup?!" (from PS, arguing with Ron and Hermione about sneaking out again) When things are more important than petty day-to-day troubles, Harry is your man. He'd just rather you got someone else. 

Returning to Quidditch, it is one of the big storylines in the book because it is important to Harry. Obviously, if you're reading it a second time, you want more Sirius stuff, to understand him better - but Harry doesn't care about Sirius Black, he isn't scared of him. As he says when he overhears the Weasleys arguing about telling him "No, the thing that was bothering Harry was that the chances of him getting to Hogsmeade now were virtually non-existant" (I'm paraphrasing, sorry). So because we are forced to look through Harry's eyes, we don't see the stuff Harry doesn't care about (History of Magic lessons, for example ;) ). 

So the importance of Quidditch seems at first very limited, but think about it. We have three Quidditch matches in this book, Gryffindor vs Hufflepuff, vs Ravenclaw, and vs Slytherin. 

GvsH: 
-Invaded by Dementors 
-Harry sees "The Grim" 
-Harry faints, falls off broom 
-Cedric Diggory catches the Snitch 
-Harry's Nimbus is destroyed by the Whomping Willow 

A very important match. In fact, the most important match, by far, in terms of plot. We see again the effects of the Dementors on Harry (and to far better effect and with more importance than the train sequence, although I'd wager I know which of the two will be left in - grrrr), and we catch a glimpse of a certain big black dog that will of course turn out to be pretty important later. We also see that Harry is not invincible, and Gryffindor don't always win their Quidditch matches. We see the honour of Cedric Diggory, and it sets up our sympathy for him in GoF. We see that Harry is mortified by losing the match (and Wood's suicidal, hehe) and determines to learn the Patronus Charm if it kills him - NOT to save himself from Dementors lurking round any corners, but to keep his concentration at Quidditch. Of course, without his knowledge of the Patronus Charm, he'd be in a spot of bother later, but this is how the plot interweaves. Harry's reasons for learning the spell are childish and silly (putting himself through such strain of learning the difficult Charm just to win at sport), but the fact that he knows it is vital for the conclusion. And of course, without Harry's Nimbus being destroyed, we won't get the Firebolt, won't get the tension with Hermione, Ron and Harry won't think to grill her about why she's so tired all the time, and Hermione's secret is kept until the conclusion. 

GvsR: 
-Harry meets Cho Chang
-The "Dementors" come to the match 
-Harry successfully casts a Patronus 
-Harry catches the Snitch 

Probably the second least important match in relation to plot development. The only real point of interest here is that Harry has mastered the Patronus in theory, but when faced with real Dementors he has trouble with it. But it does show that Harry's getting there, despite the difficulty of the spell, and this demonstrates Harry's convictions and his skill with a wand. The introduction of Cho is good, but hardly necessary movie-wise - it's good writing not to just crowbar Cho into Goblet, but one thing we can't accuse Kloves of is good writing.

GvsS: 
-Harry and Malfoy row a lot 
-Malfoy cheats by pulling Harry's tail 
-The Firebolt is first used 
-Harry catches the Snitch 
-Gryffindor win the Quidditch Cup and Wood cries :'D

Completely useless as far as plot development goes. All it shows us is that Malfoy and Harry don't like each other, and Malfoy isn't above playing dirty to win. Um, duh. However, I'd hope this is kept in, purely for the feelgood factor of seeing Wood (or NOT seeing Wood, grumble) crying over the cup, and Harry's elation. 


All in all, I believe it's very sad that Wood is being removed, as Quidditch is integral to the plot, and Wood is integral to the spirit of Quidditch in my eyes (he's just so into it, bless him). I would have liked to see all three matches, but I think we'll get just Crabbe and Goyle being faux-Dementors at the Slytherin match, or the faux-Dementors will be removed altogether. Ravenclaw isn't all that important, Slytherin isn't important at all but we gotta have the Cup (come on!) and Hufflepuff sets up so many plot points it HAS to remain.

Doesn't it? ~gulp~
Susan
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
"Help me Jebus!" --Homer Simpson
"Shame on you! Ugly baby judges you!" --Ross Geller
"Oh yeah, and did I mention I've got a baby?" --Stuart Alan Jones
"You know, I telephoned my grandparents the other day, and my grandfather said to me, 'We saw your movie.' 'Which one?' I said, and he shouted, 'Betty, what was the name of that movie I didn't like?'" --Brad Pitt


[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]