[the_old_crowd] What Hippogriffs are for

[Kat Macfarlane]

I'm not sure that Hippogriffs would agree that Gribbo is what they are *for*. The ones I know have a very poor opinion of the game, pointing out that it brings out the worst in young Hippogriffs and teaches them to be violent and deficient in manners.

I suspect Draco was only pretending to be ignorant of correct human-Hippogriff protocols. For which he got what he had coming to him, the little brat.

Unflappable purrs,

Gatta
Quantum me cogitis omnes!


  I can never understand how Draco Malfoy (in PoA) was so very ignorant
  of the correct way to approach a hippogriff, considering that his
  grandfather, Abraxas Malfoy, was such a notable Gribbo player, and
  owned such a notable string of hippogriffs.

  Gribbo, also called Grippo, Grappo, Griffgraff and Hippogriff Grab, is
  a wizard sport over one thousand years old. All players ride
  hippogriffs, with no saddle nor bridle, only a rope wrapped a couple
  of times around the beast's neck and torso, then tied, to which the
  rider may cling. The pitch is a large are with a tall pole at each
  end, usually adorned with colorful flags and streamers. 

  There is an object called the "prize" and an official called the
  "honor". The honor holds the prize at the center of the pitch and the
  players form a ring around him. They wait tensely as the honor flies
  straight up, higher than the poles, and drops the prize. Only after
  the prize has left the honor's hands may the hippogriffs fly. The
  winner is the first player to fly a circle around both poles while
  holding the prize - that is called a 'prize circle'. 

  The players try to grab the prize from each other with the wizard's
  hands and feet and the hippogriff's beak and clawed front feet, and
  try to protect it from the grabbers with evasive maneuvers, two hands,
  six feet, one beak, and even some teeth, but not with magic. It is
  strictly against the rules for a player even to carry a wand during a
  match. No armour is allowed, not even dragonhide clothing, so players
  wear very thickly quilted trousers and hooded tunics, which did not
  prevent Abraxas from losing an eye and gaining several dramatic scars,
  as is usual among Gribbo players. Collisions are another common cause
  of injury.

  In Abraxas's time, the prize was usually a live sheep or large dog -
  live when dropped by the honor, anyway. Tradition states that the
  sport originally used a captured Muggle as the prize. As the prize is
  likely to be torn into fragments during the struggle, official matches
  have rules about what part or weight of the prize qualifies a prize
  circle. In unofficial matches, this will be decided by friendly
  consensus or by duels.



   

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