[HPforGrownups] who fouled whom?

[Simon]

No: HPFGUIDX 18645

Doreen: <<<I am not a sports fan, by any means. I read this part of GF and I am
totally confused.
Shouldn't Slytherin get the penalty? Isn't Malfoy the one who committed the
foul? It is a foul to grab another player's broomstick.
At the end, it says the Slytherins are delighted with Malfoy's foul on Harry...
if this is the case, why did Gryffindor take the penalty?>>>

Little Alex: <<<I assumed that at first, too.  Then I realize that it'd be damn
odd for the Slytherins to be so *delighted* when the Gryffindors gets penalty
shots. But yes, I still agree.  I guess the Slytherins just have to be damn odd,
then.>>>

Well first I will point out that the book in question in PoA and it is chapter
15. The quote is still included below, but I will put my comment in here first.


At the stage of the game in question the score is such that whichever teams
seeker gets to the Snitch first will win The Quidditch Cup. The job of seeker
involves trying to capture the Snitch, but also involves stopping the opposing
seeker from getting it. The sport does not send people off for foul play and
instead just gives out penalties, which means that the opposition can score at
most 10 points, but also there is the chance they will get nothing.

Harry reacts to the Snitch first and has a head start on Draco. He will get
there first, which would result in a Gryffindor victory, unless Draco does
something. So he does the first thing that comes to mind and that is to grab of
Harry's broom to slow it down. In doing so he commits a foul, but much more
importantly stops Harry from getting to the Snitch and distracts him long enough
for the Snitch to vanish.

Yes Draco has committed a foul and yes the penalty is given against him. But
this is not that important. What is important is that he has kept his team in
the game. This is why the Slytherins are so happy with him. If Harry had caught
the Snitch they would have lost, but instead there is still the opportunity for
them to win. At times in sports you have to commit a foul to keep your team in
the game (hoping that the punishment from committing the foul is less than the
punishment from not committing it).

In sports such as this to say X gets the penalty means that the opposition, Y,
has committed the foul and that X now gets some sort of 'free shot', an
opportunity to score with fewer players involved (a one-on-one with the keeper
if my memory serves me correctly). Y commits the foul and has a penalty awarded
against them and X has the penalty awarded to them. The penalty is the free
shot. It is the punishment for breaking the laws of the game.

In the circumstances of the game Draco did the right thing. He took the action
that kept his team in the game.

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Quote (PoA chapter 15 - The Quidditch Final):

"Harry put on a huge burst of speed; the wind was roaring in his ears; he
stretched out his hand, but suddenly, the Firebolt was slowing down --

Horrified, he looked around. Malfoy had thrown himself forward, grabbed hold of
the Firebolt's tail, and was pulling it back.

"You --"

Harry was angry enough to hit Malfoy, but couldn't reach -- Malfoy was panting
with the effort of holding onto the Firebolt, but his eyes were sparkling
maliciously. He had achieved what he'd wanted to do -- the Snitch had
disappeared again.

"Penalty! Penalty to Gryffindor! I've never seen such tactics." Madam Hooch
screeched, shooting up to where Malfoy was sliding back onto his Nimbus Two
Thousand and One.

"YOU CHEATING SCUM!" Lee Jordan was howling into the megaphone, dancing out of
Professor McGonagall's reach. "YOU FILTHY, CHEATING B --"

Professor McGonagall didn't even bother to tell him off.  She was actually
shaking her finger in Malfoy's direction, her hat had fallen off, and she too
was shouting furiously.

Alicia took Gryffindor's penalty, but she was so angry she missed by several
feet. The Gryffindor team was losing concentration and
the Slytherins, delighted by Malfoy's foul on Harry, were being spurred on to
greater heights."

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Simon
--
"Insanity is inherited. You get it from you kids." - Anon
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