Skip to main content

harry potter - Why did Victor Krum catch the Snitch in the Quidditch World Cup?


In the 4th book (unfortunately, not in the 4th movie), Victor Krum caught the Snitch which ended the game, but his team lost.


But, why in the name of sanity would he do that?


He was a world-class player, and I don't think he was a selfish player to not play for his team.


As a Quidditch game can endlessly run for years, all he needed to do was stall the opponent's Seeker to prevent him from catching the Snitch. Even if his team was playing severely poor, given enough time, they could improve. So, there was always hope.


Why did Victor Krum catch the Snitch in the Quidditch World Cup?



Answer




The Irish Seeker was about to catch it anyway.


Krum didn't decide to catch the Snitch without prompting. When Krum caught the Snitch, the Irish Seeker had seen it and was going to catch it himself. Without either cheating, or otherwise playing unfairly, there was no good way to stop Lynch from catching the Snitch other than Krum beating him to it.



“Look at Lynch!’ Harry yelled. For the Irish Seeker had suddenly gone into a dive, and Harry was quite sure that this was no Wronski Feint; this was the real thing … ‘He’s seen the Snitch!’ Harry shouted. ‘He’s seen it! Look at him go!’


Half the crowd seemed to have realised what was happening, the Irish supporters rose in a great wave of green, screaming their Seeker on … but Krum was on his tail. ” - Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, Chapter 8 (The Quidditch World Cup)



Krum and Lynch crashed into each other in their battle for the Snitch. If Krum hadn't caught it, it was likely that Lynch would have, meaning that the Bulgarian team would have lost by 310 points instead of 10 points. By catching the Snitch, Krum turned it from a humiliating defeat to a more dignified defeat.



“Krum, his red robes shining with blood from his nose, was rising gently into the air, his fist held high, a glint of gold in his hand. The scoreboard was flashing BULGARIA: ONE HUNDRED AND SIXTY, IRELAND: ONE HUNDRED AND SEVENTY across the crowd, who didn’t seem to have realised what had happened.” - Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, Chapter 8 (The Quidditch World Cup)




If Krum didn't catch the Snitch, his team would have lost 10 - 320 instead of 160 - 170. By beating Lynch to it, he made it a much lesser defeat.


Ginny Weasley did the same thing during a Quidditch match at Hogwarts where she was the substitute Seeker for Harry, and the Gryffindor House Quidditch team without Harry wasn't actually very good.



“It was hard to say what the worst thing was: Harry thought it was a close-run contest between Ron’s fourteenth failed save, Sloper missing the Bludger but hitting Angelina in the mouth with his bat, and Kirke shrieking and falling backwards off his broom when Zacharias Smith zoomed at him carrying the Quaffle. The miracle was that Gryffindor only lost by ten points: Ginny managed to snatch the Snitch from right under Hufflepuff Seeker Summerby’s nose, so that the final score was two hundred and forty versus two hundred and thirty.” - Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, Chapter 26 (Seen and Unforeseen)



Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

harry potter - Did Dolores Umbridge Have Any Association with Voldemort (or Death Eaters) before His Return?

I noticed that Dolores Umbridge was born during the first Wizarding War, so it's very likely she wasn't a Death Eater then (but she is pretty evil -- who knows?). After that Voldemort was not around in a way that could affect many people, and most wouldn't know he was planning to rise again. During that time, and up through Voldemort's return (in Goblet of Fire ), did Umbridge have any connection with the Death Eaters or with Voldemort? Was she doing what she did on her own, or was it because of an association with Voldemort or his allies? Answer Dolores Umbridge was definitely not a good person. However, as Sirius points out, "the world isn't split into good people and Death Eaters". Remember that he also says that he doesn't believe Umbridge to be a Death Eater, but that she's evil enough (or something like that). I think there are two strong reasons to believe that: Umbridge was proud to do everything according to the law, except when she trie...
Post a Comment
Read more

What is the etymology of Doctor Who?

I recently decided to watch Doctor Who, and started viewing the 2005 version. I have the first two episodes from the first season, and I can't help but wonder what is the etymology of the name "Doctor Who"? And why does the protagonist call himself "the Doctor" (or is it "the doctor")? Answer In the very first episode of Doctor Who (way back in 1963), the Doctor has a granddaughter going by the name "Susan Foreman", and the junkyard where the TARDIS is has the sign "I.M. Foreman". Barbara, who becomes one of the Doctor's companions, calls him "Doctor Foreman" (probably assuming that is his name given his relationship to Susan), and Ian (another early companion) does the same in the second episode, to which the Doctor says: Eh? Doctor who? What's he talking about? "Foreman" is most likely selected as a convenient surname for Susan to use because it happened to be on display near where the TARDIS landed....
Post a Comment
Read more

story identification - Animation: floating island, flying pests

At least 20 years ago I watched a short animated film which stuck in my mind. The whole thing was wordless, possibly European, and I'm pretty sure I didn't imagine it... It featured a flying island which was inhabited by some creatures who (in my memory) reminded me of the Moomins. The island was frequently bothered by large winged animals who swooped around, although I don't think they did any actual damage. At the end one of the moomin creatures suddenly gets a weird feeling, feels forced to climb to the top of the island and then plunges down a shaft right through the centre - only to emerge at the bottom as one of the flyers. Answer Skywhales from 1983. The story begins with a man warning the tribe of approaching skywhales. The drummers then warn everybody of the hunt as everyone get prepared to set "sail". Except one man is found in his home sleeping as the noise wake him up. He then gets ready and is about to take his weapon as he hesitates then decides ...
Post a Comment
Read more