The Encyclopedia of Quidditch
"Let us win, but if we cannot win, let us break a few heads."
--
Falmouth Falcons club motto
(QA7)
Terms, Maneuvers, Tactics, Tournaments, and Fouls
Much more information about these terms can be found in the book Quidditch Through the Ages, which every Quidditch fan--wizard or Muggle--should own. The Lexicon gives only the basic information about these things; readers are urged to purchase the complete book and support Comic Relief, a very fine charity.
A
Aingingein
Irish
broom game.
All-Africa Cup
The top trophy among
African Quidditch teams.
It has been won twice by the
Gimbi Giant-Slayers
(QA8).
Australian League See Australian League.
B
bats
See bat, Beater's.
Beater
A player who protects other players from
Bludgers
while attempting to hit the Bludgers toward
opposing players using a small
bat.
blagging
Foul: Grabbing onto the broom tail of
another player
(QA6).
blatching
Foul: flying to intentionally collide with another player
(QA6).
Blooder(archaic)
An early term for
Bludger, used in
Goodwin Kneen's
twelfth century
letter
(QA3).
Bludger
See Bludger.
Bludger Backbeat
A method of hitting the
Bludger backwards,
difficult to pull off with any precision but very effective for disorienting
opponents, who don't expect a
Bludger to come at
them in that way (QA10).
blurting
Foul: locking broom handles with another player
to pull him or her off course
(QA6).
braking charm
See braking charm.
broomsticks (racing brooms)
Ridden by the players and referee.
bumphing
Foul: intentionally hitting a
Bludger toward the
crowd in order to halt the game momentarily and thereby denying an opposing
Chaser a score
(QA6).
C
Catcher
(archaic)
Probably an old term for Chaser, used in
Goodwin Kneen's
twelfth century
letter
(QA3).
Chaser
Player who passes the
Quaffle, trying to
throw it through the goal; there are three on a Quidditch team.
cobbing
foul, excessive use of elbows
(GF8,
QA6)
Cuaditch
(archaic)
old term for Quidditch c. 1269
D
Dom
See Dom.
Dopplebeater Defence
Beater tactic which involves both
Beaters hitting the same
Bludger
at the same time, resulting in a particularly nasty attack
(QA10).
Double Eight Loop
A maneuver used by Keepers to defend all three goals;
it involves flying in a figure eight formation around the goal posts at a
high rate of speed
(QA10).
E
European Cup
Established in
1652,
this competition is held every three years. The cup has
been won by the Vrasta Vultures
seven times
(QA8).
F
flacking
Foul: Keeper foul: pushing any part of his or her body
through a goal hoop to prevent a score
(QA6).
flier
Term for a Quidditch player (QA8).
formation looping
maneuver for which the
Sumbawanga Sunrays
are famous (QA8).
G
goals
Three on each end of a pitch,
fifty-foot poles with hoops on them.
Golden Snidget
Small round-bodied bird that was chased as part of the game of Quidditch
for about a century in the 1200s and 1300s, until the bird became nearly
extinct. The Snidget was eventually replaced in Quidditch by the
Golden Snitch
(QA4).
Golden Snitch
See Snitch, Golden.
H
haversacking
Chaser foul: when the
Quaffle
goes through the hoop before it is released from the
Chaser's hand (it must be thrown to score)
(QA6)
See also haversack in Strictly British.
Hawkshead Attacking Formation
Three Chasers together, one in the center and slightly
ahead of the other two (GF8).
Hunter
(archaic)
Old term for the Seeker from the mid-1200s
(QA4)
I
International
Association of Quidditch
J
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K
Keeper
Player who guards the goal hoops.
Kwidditch
(archaic)
Early spelling of Quidditch in the 1100s letter by
Goodwin Kneen.
L
long goal
Shot from well outside the scoring area. The
Vrasta Vultures are known
for this (QA8).
M
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N
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O
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P
Parkin's Pincer
This move, reportedly invented by the original
Parkin family who founded the
Wigtown Wanderers,
involves three Chasers flying from three different
directions at an opposing Chaser
(QA10).
penalty
The referee awards penalties to a team when a foul is called in their
favour. A Chaser then flies from the center circle
of the pitch toward the goal and tries to score. No players are allowed
on that side of the pitch except the opposing Keeper
during this attempt
(QA6).
pitch
The Quidditch pitch is a grassy oval field, 500 feet long by 180 feet wide.
There is a small circle in the center of the field where the balls are
released. Three 50-foot-tall poles with hoops on them stand at either end
as goals. There is a scoring area marked off at each end, around the area
of the hoops.
Professional Quidditch pitches are located on deserted moors and sometimes
protected by charms to hide them from Muggle eyes.
(See
Quidditch stadiums).
Plumpton Pass
This seemingly careless Seeker move is named for
the fastest Snitch
catch in British history,
Roderick Plumpton's capture
of the Snitch up his sleeve in 1921
(QA10).
Porskoff Ploy
a Chaser makes as if to dart upward with the
Quaffle,
drawing an opposing Chaser upwards, then dropping the
Quaffle to another
Chaser
(GF8).
Q
Q.U.A.B.B.L.E. See Q.U.A.B.B.L.E..
Quaffle
See Quaffle entry
in magical items and devices.
quafflepocking
Chaser foul: Tampering with a
Quaffle to make it
fly differently
(QA6).
Quality
Quidditch Supplies
Shop in Diagon Alley
(CS4).
Quidditch Cup
won by a Hogwarts House each year, stored in the
office of the head of the victorious House
(OP19)
Quijudge
(archaic)
Fourteenth century
term for the referee.
R
reverse pass
Play for which the
Tchamba Charmers are
particularly well known. The Chaser throws the
Quaffle over
his or her shoulder
(QA8).
S
scoring area
Areas of the field marked off by curved lines around the goals where only
the Keeper and one Chaser at
a time may be.
Seeker
Player whose objective is to spot and catch the
Golden Snitch.
skinning
Foul, flying to deliberately collide with another player
Sloth Grip Roll
This maneuver involves a player rolling upside down to avoid a
Bludger
(QA10).
Harry learned this move early in
his fifth year
(OP17).
Snitch
See Snitch, Golden.
snitchnip
Foul which happens when any other player than the
Seeker touches the
Golden Snitch
(QA6)
Starfish and Stick
This maneuver is used by the Keeper to protect as
large an area as possible. To accomplish this move, the
Keeper hangs by one hand and one foot from his or her
broom, extending the other hand and
foot as far out as possible
(QA10).
Starfish Without Stick
Don't even think about it
(QA10).
"Stingers"
Nickname for fans of the
Wimbourne Wasps
(QA7)
stooging
A tactic once allowed where two of the Chasers would
ram the opposing Keeper aside so the third
Chasers could score a goal. This was outlawed in
1884
and Stooging is now a foul
(QA6).
T
Transylvanian Tackle
Although technically legal because no contact is made, this fake punch
to the nose can be extremely disconcerting for an opposing player
(QA10).
U
United States Cup
Quidditch tournament held in the United States. The
Fitchburg Finches
have won this cup seven times
(QA8).
V
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W
Woollongong Shimmy
A high-speed zigzagging maneuver performed to throw off
Chasers; perfected by the
Woollongong Warriors
(QA10).
Wronski Defensive Feint
Seeker dives toward the ground as if he sees the
Snitch, only to draw the opposing
Seeker into a similar dive and drive him into the
ground. This maneuver was invented by famous Seeker
Josef Wronski
(QA10) and used to great effect
by Viktor Krum in the
World Cup match of
1994
[Y14]
(GF8).
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Y
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Z
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