[HPforGrownups] Quidditch

[Liz Clark]

No: HPFGUIDX 191444

> Please forgive me if this question has been answered before, but with 
> regard to Quidditch, I think Rowling created a great game; however, in the 
> books, why does a captain only choose 6 players.  What about substitutes?
>
> Teams always have more players on the team than actually play on the 
> field. Subs are there if someone gets hurts, gets tired, has detention, or 
> are used to scrimmage against.
>
> How can a player, Dean or McCormick, just jump onto the field and play 
> with the team without ever practicing with the team.  All players need to 
> know how others play and team strategy.
>
> I love the series, but this drives me crazy!
>
> Dorothy

Liz responds:
Taken from PS ch10 - Wood is talking to 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.

Therefore there are subs in Quidditch, probably more imporant in official 
league teams than in school matches as the players for the school matches 
are usually at the stadium already, not halfway around the country!

But... following another thought, if someone is injured, it is likely that 
they are quickly resorted to health (by a mediwizard as at the Quidditch 
world cup) and you would presume in a school match, that serious injuries 
would be few and far between. Therefore the need for subs would be 
deminished or even unneeded. In the case of a player having detention... 
well, being on a Quidditch team is a great honour and privilege, so you 
would expect those players NOT to get detention and if they do, to normally 
get kicked off the team! Being sick, again is a rare occurance in the 
wizarding world, so unlikely.

I also remember reading each new member had at least 1 practise session, 
usually more. And would presume that if a player is unable to play on a 
certain day, then the team may be forced to forfeit the match. It makes me 
think that not having subs is a bad idea... yet how often have they been 
needed, other than to cover things that happen around Harry!

A final thought occurs... having more players having to practise would mean 
more characters are needed, and more vital decisions having to be made by 
the captains (and possible arguements, etc). I personally think that JRK 
didn't want to open such a can of worms and the subs may have been left out 
intentially.