Skip to main content

harry potter - Does Hogwarts have sports if you're not in a Quidditch team?


The only organised physical activity in the Harry Potter books seems to be the Quidditch Cup. The teams for that are very small (even assuming a reserve for every position, there only 14 players per house times 4 houses - that's not a lot of students). Aside from flying lessons with Madam Hooch, which seem to only happen in first year (To what extent are flying lessons provided at Hogwarts?) - is there any other activity for students who don't make it onto the Quidditch team? Do they just give up? Are training sessions provided by Madam Hooch to help people train for try-outs? Is there a B-league that's never shown? Do they play any other sports, or have PE lessons, or is running away from fellow students' curses considered sufficient exercise?


I've read the books and never found any reference to non-Quidditch-Cup exercise, but perhaps there is something from an interview or Pottermore that touches on this - any suggestions?



Answer




The best example of a sport encouraged, at least a one point at Hogwarts, is Dueling (kudos MajorStackings)


Dueling


We know from Quidditch Through the Ages that from 1750 the Department of Magical Games and Sports began passing legislation regarding the game of Quidditch, so this confirms that this particular department is indeed involved in sports.


We also see in the film version of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix that the Daily Prophet has a 'Sports' section.



Now, it seems a bit ludicrous to me that a whole department be established for a single game/sport and I was right to suspect there were other games/sports. We have...**



  • Gobstones, a game rather like marbles with a magical twist. According to the previously linked Pottermore reference, there are even International leagues (probably where the Department of Magical Games and Sports comes in).


Gobstones



  • Wizard Chess (kudos user13267)


Wizard Chess




  • Exploding Snap (kudos user13267)


Exploding Snap



  • Garden Gnome Tossing (kudos MajorStackings)


Garden Gnome Tossing



  • Dragon Baiting (kudos MajorStackings)

  • Speed Spells (kudos MajorStackings)


  • 3 Headed Dog Racing (kudos MajorStackings)

  • Owl Racing (kudos MajorStackings)


So, in the wizarding world in general, it seems people can play Quidditch or Gobstones, or perhaps a muggle sport if they felt that way inclined and were sufficiently familiar with the rules.


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

harry potter - Do the Kwikspell courses work?

In Harry Potter we are introduced to Kwikspell course in The Chamber of Secrets (and never hear about it again). We see Filch taking courses, presumably by mail. The descriptions of Kwikspell make me think it is for people who are weak in magic (kind of like how Neville was supposed to be when he was younger), but had magic in them nonetheless. However, Ron's comments later in the chapter make it sound like it is mainly for Squibs to learn magic. However, it is strongly implied through out all the books that Squibs are essentially Muggles, and will never be able to do magic. How then is a Kwikspell course supposed to work? Do we have any information to know if it works at all? Is it a scam? An answer from any level of canon is welcome. Answer Kwikspell courses are (probably) useful to some wizards, but not to squibs. The Kwikspell course literature comes with two testimonials. Madam Z. Nettles of Topsham writes: ‘I had no memory for incantations and my potions were a family joke...
Post a Comment
Read more

futurama - How much time is lost in 'Time Keeps on Slippin''

In time Keeps on Slippin' , Farnsworth creates a basketball team which he matures by abusing Chronitons. This leads to time skipping forward by random, but ever increasing amounts. How much time was skipped in this way? Answer Unfortunately, I don't think a good estimate can be made for this, for two reasons: Many of the time skips move forward by an indeterminate amount of time. At one point, the Professor mentions localized regions of space skipping forward much more than others. We then see two young boys on the street below complaining about having to pay social security, only to suddenly become senior citizens and start complaining about wanting their money. Thus, each individual could have experienced a different amount of time skippage.
Post a Comment
Read more

star wars - What "exactly" happens when someone turns to the Dark Side?

When I saw the original Star Wars saga as a kid, the concept of the Dark Side imprinted in me was quite simple. You did a bad thing, so you're a bad person so you go to the Dark Side and keep doing bad things. Now, obviously this doesn't hold true in reality. In my mind it is perfectly reasonable for Luke to kill the Emperor and Vader and then just flee the Death Star and rejoin the Alliance. After all they are at war, those are enemy officers that have captured him and are taunting him by threatening with death of all loved ones and the whole operation was intended to kill the Emperor anyway. The same would hold true for Anakin. He could have killed Mace Windu to save the Chancellor and Padme but that doesn't mean he's going to then go mad and kill all Jedis including children. It doesn't add up from a merely psychological point of view. He had a set of objectives and that made him want to keep the Chancellor alive (quite valid by the way, Mace Windu is quite clums...
Post a Comment
Read more

Was the "pure soul" of Harry's what had really hurt Voldemort?

In the Order of the Phoenix, Voldemort possesses Harry, and it hurts. Greatly. I think that Dumbledore explained that it was because Voldemort's rotten soul was incapable of assimilating Harry's pure soul, that Voldemort didn't understand the love and friendship etc that Harry has in his heart. But, I think it was a lie. Remember that in Deathly Hallows, while looking for information regarding Horcruxes, it is discovered that it is in fact possible to merge a soul fragment back, but that the process was extremely painful. Now then, if Voldemort tried to possess Harry, and Harry had a fragment of Voldemort's soul, I think that it could have been the true cause of Voldemort's pain: the fact of having his soul so close of another fragment. I think that Dumbledore knew that fact, but had to lie to Harry because it was inappropriate to let him know that he had one of Voldemort's soul fragments at the moment. Is that right? Or was it truly the pure soul of Harry's...
Post a Comment
Read more