[HPforGrownups] Re: The trouble with Quidditch

elfundeb elfundeb at gmail.com
Fri May 18 01:44:12 UTC 2007


No: HPFGUIDX 168914

Bart:
My best guess: JKR wanted to make the Seeker the most important player on
the team, and didn't bother to do the math to see that he was the ONLY
important player on the team.

Debbie:
 Basically, the job of the rest of the team is to keep from falling so far
behind that the Seeker cannot win the game by catching the Snitch.

JKR made the Seeker *the* most important player to draw a parallel to, ahem,
The Chosen One, i.e., prophecy boy, i.e., Harry.  Frankly, Hermione could
brew enough polyjuice for the entire Order to impersonate DEs and learn
Voldemort's plan, but the information would probably be worthless without
Harry.  They'd score points, but ultimately would be chewed up by Voldy or
his henchmen -- which is basically what's happening now.  Lupin hangs out
with the werewolves while Emmeline Vance is murdered.

150 points for catching the Snitch may be a bit rich, but it would be worth
a lot more to the WW if Harry caught Voldemort.


Ken:
 I honestly had the exact same
thought independently this morning in the shower. Krum's decision to
catch the snitch when Bulgaria was only 160 points down makes no sense
under the scoring rules. Maybe it wasn't likely they would gain back
enough ground to win with the snitch but it was sure worth waiting a
while to be sure of that.

Debbie:
Krum lost confidence in his team.  In choosing to take what glory he could,
he failed his teammates.  (Sound like any Evil Overlords you know?)  Not
logical in light of the actual score.

And though Harry approved of Krum's action, he would never choose glory over
a victory.  In the Quidditch final in PoA, Harry saw the Snitch at a point
when the Gryffindor Chasers hadn't scored enough to take the Quidditch Cup,
and Harry lured Malfoy away instead of going for the Snitch.  Harry plays
for the team.


David:
But if you recall in the Goblet of Fire, the Irish Quidditch
team out manuevered and outflew the Bulgarian team and Krum
had to catch the Snitch to end the game and end the game on a
more favorable term for his team and country otherwise the
score could have been 340-20 Ireland.

Debbie:
And that's why the Irish side is symbolic of Harry & Co. while Krum and the
Bulgarians are not.  The Irish side never quit trying, especially the
concussed Lynch.  Even though Lynch was outmatched by Krum, he didn't let a
little wooziness stop him from locating and streaking toward the Snitch.
Once Lynch crashed to the ground, Krum could have let the Snitch fly away,
but he did not.  And it was the hard teamwork of the Irish chasers, combined
with Krum's showmanship, that enabled Ireland to win the match.  Just as
Harry's refusal to give in to Voldemort allowed him to escape from the
graveyard.

The point is, for JKR 150 was just a number that illustrates a point.  It
doesn't matter whether the game really makes sense.

Debbie
who doesn't think JKR is a serious sports fan


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