Quidditch
Quidditch

Stooging

"Me and me dad like watching them Keepers flattened."
-- a young Quidditch fan to the Daily Prophet in June 1884 (QA6)

Stooging

Stooging is a formerly allowable Quidditch tactic (now considered a foul) where two of a team’s Chasers would shove the opposing Keeper aside so that the third Chaser could score a goal (QA6).

Although it wasn’t technically a foul at the time, it would have been one of the 700 fouls or incidents catalogued in 1473 during the Quidditch World Cup tournament (QA6).

It was outlawed and declared a foul in 1884, due to the number and severity of injuries to Keepers, and a penalty is now awarded to the opposing team. The Daily Prophet article published on 22 June 1884 “Our Chasers Aren’t Cheating” describes the uproar when this decision was announced (QA6).

Kennilworthy Whisp, in his book “Quidditch Through the Ages“, describes ‘stooging’ as “more than one Chaser entering the scoring area” (QA6).

Commentary

Etymology

The word stooging (Engl) has been used to mean (1) drifting aimlessly and (2) performing the role of being the butt of a comedian's jokes (Oxford English Dictionary). The Quidditch usage provides a new third meaning.

From the Web

Writing by J.K. Rowling on Pottermore:

Pottermore feature: Quidditch collection

Harry Potter Wiki: Stooging

Pensieve (Comments)

Tags: cheating fairness fouls numbers rules sportsmanship tactics

Editors: and