Quidditch Time! (was: On following rules and Percy's predilications)

[blpurdom]

No: HPFGUIDX 37477

--- In HPforGrownups at y..., Whirdy at a... wrote:
> Off on another track - even though Quidditch was suspended for the 
> Triwizard Tournament, while many voices were heard, did I overlook 
> the outraged protest of the new team captain who is ?  And how is 
> one selected or elected for the House Team?  The only two mentions 
> of joining any team is MM presenting Harry to Oliver as "your new 
> seeker" and Draco Malfoy being "swept" onto the slytherin team.  
> 
> And is there "sand-lot" or "little-league" Quidditch?  It is the 
> most popular Wizard sport, or the most popular Wizard spectator-
> sport?  And can anyone clear up the rules about substitutions?

On page 94 of PS, Dumbledore says, "Quidditch trials will be held in 
the second week of term.  Anyone interested in playing for their 
house teams should contact Madam Hooch."  Oddly, this makes it sound 
like Hooch, not the team captain, is in charge of deciding who's on 
the team.  Perhaps this is to assure that the best players are 
chosen, not just the captain's friends (if this is the case, 
McGonagall is taking liberties.)  It could be that the existing 
Gryffindor players (Bell, Johnson, Spinnet, Weasley & Weasley, 
Harry) are too excited about the tournament to voice a protest over 
Quidditch.

I think that "sand-lot" Quidditch is unlikely, given how much the 
Ministry has to go through just to hide professional games from 
Muggles.  ("The necessity for keeping the game of Quidditch secret 
from Muggles means that the Department of Magical Games and Sports 
has had to limit the number of games played each year."  QTTA, p. 
31.)  Doing this for multiple pee-wee teams seems like it would be 
rather burdensome for the Ministry; people would probably rather 
have more professional games if there was an option.

On page 125 of PS, Wood tells Harry, "A game of Quidditch only ends 
when the Snitch is caught, so it can go on for ages -- I think the 
record is three months, they had to keep bringing on substitutes so 
the players could get some sleep."  This would seem to be 
contradicted by Quidditch rule #5 from QTTA:

"5. In the case of injury, no substitution of players will take 
place.  The team will play on without the injured player."

However--Wood didn't say the substitutions were because of injury. 
It was so the other players could sleep.  This seems to imply that 
some other excuses may be acceptable for making subsitutions.  Also, 
it implies that if the Seeker is injured, the team must play without 
him/her, in spite of the fact that only the Seeker may touch the 
Snitch (a player who is not the Seeker who touches the Snitch is 
committing the foul called a "Snitchnip").  It seems this rule 
wasn't very well thought-out, frankly.  It doesn't say 
categorically, "No substitution of players will take place," it 
qualifies this statement by talking about injuries.  What if someone 
curses a player such that they can no longer function, but they're 
not technically injured?  Could you have a substitution then? Etc., 
etc...

I supposed it's possible that if one team is missing its Seeker, the 
other captain could magnanimously invoke rule #7 and agree that the 
game is over.  ("7. A game of Quidditch ends only when the Golden 
Snitch has been caught, or by mutual consent of the two team 
Captains." QTTA, p. 28.)  This probably should have been done by the 
captains in the three-month match to which Wood refers.  Since rule 
#2 says a time-out can be no more than two hours (and then only if 
the game has lasted more than 12 hours), this would certainly make 
it difficult to carry on playing without substitutes.  (Play for 
twelve hours, rest for two.  Sounds like fun, eh?)

So, to answer your question--No, the rule about substitution cannot 
be cleared up until JKR authorizes a new, corrected version of QTTA 
or writes something in canon which contradicts or better explains 
rule #5 in QTTA.  As it stands now, the rule is far too vague.

--Barb

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