Quidditch takes off on campuses
Inspired by J.K. Rowling's 'Harry Potter' series, Middlebury students hit the fields
That's right - at Middlebury College, students have formed a Quidditch team, modeling themselves after those described in J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter fantasy series.
Middlebury sophomore Alex Benepe, the current Quidditch organizer, started the mock team while anticipating the release of the movie Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire in fall 2005.
"Anyone who's tried it loves it," Benepe said. "People have forgotten how much fun it is to go outside and just throw a ball around."
But unlike Rowling's magical characters, Middlebury students are forced to compensate for their lack of supernatural powers when playing the sport.
Students run with brooms between their legs instead of flying on them, and Middlebury sophomore Rainey Johnson serves as a human replacement for the snitch, which, in the book, is a tiny gold ball with wings.
But more-violent aspects - from broken arms to attempts to knock others off of their brooms - of Quidditch depicted in Harry Potter are more easily replicated.
"There aren't any rules about fouling, so kids usually do whatever it takes to get the ball," Benepe said, and Middlebury freshman Greta VanDeventer described once getting a "floater" while playing the game when she was accidentally stabbed in the eye with someone's thumb.
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From The Daily Pennsylvanian. Read the rest here.
[Hat tip to Critical Mass.]
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