who fouled whom?

[Doreen Rich]

No: HPFGUIDX 18671

Thank you! Now it all makes sense. Yes, it would have been more 
important to stop Harry ... and I am assuming that it was this action 
which also upset Alicia so much that she missed the freethrow. It all 
comes together now.

Doreen, who understands better but still does not like sports :)


--- In HPforGrownups at y..., "Simon" <simon at h...> wrote:
> 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.
> 
> --------------------------------------------------------------------
-------
> 
> 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."
> 
> --------------------------------------------------------------------
-------
> 
> 
> Simon
> --
> "Insanity is inherited. You get it from you kids." - Anon
> --------------------------------------------------------------------
-------