Quidditch for Muggles

Let’s say you want to play Quidditch, the high-paced, high-flying game featured in J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter novels. Let’s say you wanted to play, but were hampered by the fact that -- oh... I don’t know -- you have zero magical powers and you lack the ability to fly. Take heart: it turns out these shortcomings might not be the deal breaker they first seem.

According to Sarah Hinckley of the Rutland Herald, the sport of quidditch is growing like magic (ahem) on campuses in eastern United States:

As the setting sun spun red light, similar to the streak of a flying bludger ball, onto the Middlebury College campus, the Mollywobbles celebrated victory and geared up to capture a championship cup. “We played really well out there today,” said team captain Charlie Hoffman. “We went out there and surprised a lot of teams. Hit ‘em low and hit ‘em hard.”

On November 15th, the first Intercollegiate Quidditch World Cup Fall Festival took place at Middlebury College in Vermont. Though thus far only Middlebury and Vassar have Quidditch teams, though Green Mountain College is currently putting one together. Others will no doubt follow.

Quidditch as played by American muggles was created by Middlebury junior Xander Manshel when he was a freshman. Manshel told the Addison County Independent that he “designed some rules that would work without magical forces, without an ability to fly.”