Was Harry good enough at Quidditch to play professionally?

I can understand that Harry didn't play Quidditch professionally because he felt becoming an Auror to catch Dark Wizards was more meaningful. Was he good enough to, though?

Ginny played professionally after the war, but she was a Chaser. She wasn't as good a Seeker as Harry, so we don't really have a point of reference. Has JKR ever said anything about this? Any other sources?

Answer

Yes

There really isn't any question to the matter when you consider the surrounding Wizarding world.

Hogwarts was one of 11 total Wizarding schools.

Harry was consistently the best performing seeker at Hogwarts.

Quidditch teams recruit directly from wizarding schools. (see: Krum, and a noted attempt to recruit Charley Weasley).

So given that Harry was the top talent in the recruiting pool for England there is little chance a team needing a seeker wouldn't seriously consider him. Unlike in Muggle sports where even an above-average professional talent is one in a million, it appears that there aren't even a million wizards to pull from.

So Harry is at the top of the talent pool for all seven years at one of 11 noted scouting locations. This already places him around at least a one in a thousand level ranking. Given top athletes are one in a million out of a pool of seven billion Harry might actually better off on recruiting chances by a factor of seven than a one in a million muggle talent.

Furthermore there is obvious additional economic/promotional incentive to having "The Boy Who Lived" on your team.

Comments

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