Quidditch Through the Ages
| Written by: | J. K. Rowling |
|---|---|
| Central Theme: | School book about sports |
| Synopsis: | An In-Universe book decribing the rules and history of the magical sport Quidditch |
| Series: | Harry Potter |
| First published: | 2001 |
Quidditch Through the Ages is a book mentioned in Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone which was later Defictionalized as a real book written by J. K. Rowling Kennilworthy Whisp. It describes Quidditch through the ages. Published in 2001.
Albus Dumbledore's introduction claims that it is a duplicate of the copy kept in the Hogwarts library and describes how Madam Pince was reluctant to let it be made available to Muggles.
A companion piece to Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them.
Tropes used in Quidditch Through the Ages include:
- Alliteration: With the exception of Puddlemore United, every single one of the quidditch teams described in the book.
- Aint No Rule: Quidditch, with an appropriately arcane multitude of rules covering every possible event, averts this trope spectacularly.
- However, many of those are Obvious Rule Patches (see "attacking your opponent with an axe" below, or the article about how standardized goal sizes had to be introduced, citing the team that had "great wicker caves" for their own team to score in and tiny baskets you "couldn't get a grape in" for the others). So it seems that the only reason Aint No Rule doesn't apply in contemporary Quidditch is that over the centuries, all possibilites have been exhausted. (Or have they?)
- The full list of Quidditch fouls are kept under lock and key lest they "give people ideas". Knowing Rowling, at some point a team of dedicated pranksters, lawyers and players set out to see just how many ways to get around the rules there were and their findings are now a) the basis for the rules and b) the most dangerous document in wizarding history.
- It is stated though that 90% of these fouls are redundant, since they would be impossible to without breaking the "no wands" rule also in the book. Most of the other 10% would not occur to even the dirtiest player (such as the axe one above).
- All There in the Manual: This is the manual.
- Americans Hate Soccer / Does This Remind You of Anything?: In a In-Universe reference to the low popularity of soccer in the real-life US, it is stated that American wizards (and not just the US, all of the Americas here) dislike Quidditch in favor of their own sport, Quodpot. Instead of getting a ball into a hoop, as in Quidditch, the Quodpot ball has been bewitched to explode and must be thrown into a cauldron of potion.
- Not an exact fit, though. Canada is a Quidditch nation, while South and Central America prefer Quodpot. If we were considering the soccer/football parallel, only Canada and America would play Quodpot, completely disagreeing on the rules.
- An Axe to Grind: Apparently happened at one point.
- Defictionalization
- Fictional Document
- Flying Broomstick: Their origins are described in the book.
- Footnote Fever
- History Repeats: Twice it's shown a rule change that prompts wizards to say "They Changed It, Now It Sucks" - once for turning the goals from baskets on stilts into fixed-size hoops, and another for banning "two chasers knocking out the goalkeeper"
- Literary Agent Hypothesis
- Noodle Incident - The 1492 Quidditch World Cup. Every single foul was committed. Including the one about the axe, as seen above. But it also includes "Attempting to decapitate your opponent with a broadsword," "Another player other than the Seeker touching the Snitch," "tampering with the Quaffle," and "Attempted murder of the referee."
- Obvious Rule Patch
- Seppuku: Apparently Japanese players like to destroy their brooms after a defeat.
- Unnecessary Roughness: Quidditch fouls include, for example, "attacking one's opponent with an axe"
- Wacky Racing
- Wronski Feint
