[HPforGrownups] can quidditchc really work?

[dangermousehq at hotmail.com]

No: HPFGUIDX 47831

Phoenix wrote:
I have a lot of questions about quidditch. I can't see, so the 
movie was no help to me if it explained this, and I don't remember the books 
saying so, but here goes. I assume the chasers use both hands to catch and 
make scores.
And the beaters use both hands to hit the bludgers. And I assume they are 
moving while doing this. How are they controling the brooms during this? Or 
how do they keep from falling off? If someone can give me and idea, it would 
be greatly appreciated Thanks.
Phoenix

Me:
According to Quidditch Through the Ages, the quaffle is charmed not only to float to the ground but also to be adhesive--you can hold the quaffle one-handed. Furthermore, you can hold in against your chest (you know, when you take a football for example and pivot it against your arm?). The beaters also probably use one hand, but could use two...

I think that there's quite a bit of game time where both hands are off the broom, and to solve your question, we'd need to know how the brooms themselves operate. Clearly, they're charmed to fly in different directions at different speeds and do certain things, like spin midair or not splinter, or be cushioned for comfort. The piloting aspect is tricky. I'd like to think that you might squeeze the stick of the broom, and that kind of triggers acceleration, but I think it's more likely that the broom is somehow linked to your brain. Evidenced in the flying class in Book One, whem some students can't even get their broom to jump into the air, showing that to some extent, using a broom is controlled by the brain. You'd probably be able to steer, accelerate, decelerate, etc as long as you're on the broom.

But staying on is a different manner. Without your hands, you could fall off pretty easily, right? Wood is dismounted by a bludger in Book One, Quirrell jinxes the broom-nearly shaking Harry off, and later falls off in Book Three. I like the idea of having an adhesion charm, but these events make it seem unlikely to exist. I guess you have to have pretty strong legs!

-DM


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