This digital edition first published by Pottermore Limited in 2017
First published in print in Great Britain by Bloomsbury Publishing Plc in 2017
Text © J.K. Rowling 2001, 2017
Cover design © Olly Moss 2016
Interior illustrations by Tomislav Tomic copyright © Bloomsbury Publishing Plc 2017
Harry Potter characters, names and related indicia are trademarks of and © Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc.
J.K. ROWLING’S WIZARDING WORLD™ J.K. Rowling and Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc.
All rights reserved
The moral rights of the author and illustrators have been asserted
Comic Relief (UK) was set up in 1985 by a group of British comedians to raise funds for projects promoting social justice and helping to tackle poverty. Monies from the worldwide sales of this book will go to help children and young people in the UK and around the world, preparing them to be ready for the future – to be safe, healthy, educated and empowered.
Comic Relief (UK) is a registered charity: 326568 (England/Wales); SC039730 (Scotland).
Named after the light-giving spell in the Harry Potter books, Lumos was set up by J.K. Rowling to end the use of orphanages and institutions for vulnerable children around the world by 2050 and ensure all future generations of children can be raised in loving families.
Lumos is the operating name of Lumos Foundation, a company limited by guarantee registered in England and Wales, number 5611912. Registered charity number 1112575.
Source ISBN 978-1-78110-556-6
ISBN 978-1-78110-923-6
A warning: If you rip, tear, shred, bend, fold, deface, disfigure, smear, smudge, throw, drop or in any other manner damage, mistreat or show lack of respect towards this book, the consequences will be as awful as it is within my power to make them.
Irma Pince, Hogwarts Librarian
Praise for Quidditch Through the Ages
‘Kennilworthy Whisp’s painstaking research has uncovered a veritable treasure trove of hitherto unknown facts about the sport of warlocks. A fascinating read.’
Bathilda Bagshot, author, A History of Magic
‘Whisp has produced a thoroughly enjoyable book; Quidditch fans are sure to find it both instructive and entertaining.’
Editor, Which Broomstick?
‘The definitive work on the origins and history of Quidditch. Highly recommended.’
Brutus Scrimgeour, author, The Beaters’ Bible
‘Mr Whisp shows a lot of promise. If he keeps up the good work, he may well find himself sharing a photoshoot with me one of these days!’
Gilderoy Lockhart, author, Magical Me
‘Bet you anything it’ll be a bestseller. Go on, I bet you.’
Ludovic Bagman, England and Wimbourne Wasps Beater
‘I’ve read worse.’
Rita Skeeter, Daily Prophet
With thanks to J. K. Rowling for creating
this book and so generously giving all her
royalties from it to Comic Relief and Lumos
Contents
Foreword by Albus Dumbledore
1. The Evolution of the Flying Broomstick
2. Ancient Broom Games
3. The Game from Queerditch Marsh
4. The Arrival of the Golden Snitch
5. Anti-Muggle Precautions
6. Changes in Quidditch since the Fourteenth Century:
Pitch
Balls
Players
Rules
Referees
7. Quidditch Teams of Britain and Ireland
8. The Spread of Quidditch Worldwide
9. The Development of the Racing Broom
10. Quidditch Today
About the Author
Foreword
QUIDDITCH THROUGH THE AGES is one of the most popular titles in the Hogwarts school library. Madam Pince, our librarian, tells me that it is ‘pawed about, dribbled on and generally maltreated’ nearly every day – a high compliment for any book. Anyone who plays or watches Quidditch regularly will relish Mr Whisp’s book, as do those of us interested in wider wizarding history. As we have developed the game of Quidditch, so it has developed us; Quidditch unites witches and wizards from all walks of life, bringing us together to share moments of exhilaration, triumph and (for those who support the Chudley Cannons) despair.
It was with some difficulty, I must own, that I persuaded Madam Pince to part with one of her books so that it might be copied for wider consumption. Indeed, when I told her it was to be made available to Muggles, she was rendered temporarily speechless and neither moved nor blinked for several minutes. When she came to herself she was thoughtful enough to ask whether I had taken leave of my senses. I was pleased to reassure her on that point and went on to explain why I had taken this unprecedented decision.
Muggle readers will need no introduction to the work of Comic Relief and Lumos, so I now repeat my explanation to Madam Pince for the benefit of witches and wizards who have purchased this book. Comic Relief harnesses laughter to fight poverty and injustice in a most imaginative way. Using it to raise funds to help save and improve lives – a brand of magic to which we all aspire. Lumos, in turn, brings light to the darkest of places, revealing children hidden from the world and guiding them home. By buying this book – and I would advise you to buy it, because if you read it too long without handing over money you will find yourself the object of a Thief’s Curse – you too will be contributing to this magical mission.
I would be deceiving my readers if I said that this explanation made Madam Pince happy about handing over a library book to Muggles. She suggested several alternatives, such as telling the people from Comic Relief and Lumos that the library had burned down, or simply pretending that I had dropped dead without leaving instructions. When I told her that on the whole I preferred my original plan, she reluctantly agreed to hand over the book, though at the point when it came to let go of it, her nerve failed her and I was forced to prise her fingers individually from the spine.
Although I have removed the usual library-book spells from this volume, I cannot promise that every trace has gone. Madam Pince has been known to add unusual jinxes to the books in her care. I myself doodled absent-mindedly on a copy of Theories of Transubstantial Transfiguration last year and next moment found the book beating me fiercely around the head. Please be careful how you treat this book. Do not rip out the pages. Do not drop it in the bath. I cannot promise that Madam Pince will not swoop down on you, wherever you are, and demand a heavy fine.
All that remains is for me to thank you for supporting Comic Relief and Lumos and to beg Muggles not to try Quidditch at home; it is, of course, an entirely fictional sport and nobody really plays it. May I also take this opportunity to wish Puddlemere United the best of luck next season.
Chapter One
The Evolution of the Flying Broomstick
NO SPELL YET DEVISED enables wizards to fly unaided in human form. Those few Animagi who transform into winged creatures may enjoy flight, but they are a rarity. The witch or wizard who finds him- or herself Transfigured into a bat may take to the air, but, having a bat’s brain, they are sure to forget where they want to go the moment they take flight. Levitation is commonplace, but our ancestors were not content with hovering five feet from the ground. They wanted more. They wanted to fly like birds, but without the inconvenience of growing feathers.