Muggle Madness

Annenberg is the spitting image of Hogwarts’ Great Hall; the Harvard housing lottery resembles Hogwarts’ sorting ceremony; acceptance letters are delivered by owls. Harvard has almost everything that the magical world of Harry Potter contains—except for Quidditch.

Although Harvard is still missing out on the magic, “Muggle Quidditch” is sweeping through the nation. Well over one hundred colleges, including our Ivy League rivals Yale and Princeton, are already part of the Intercollegiate Quidditch Association, the official league started by Middlebury College students in 2005.

Muggle Quidditch is played just like wizard Quidditch—for the most part. The game includes equipment such as broomsticks, golden goal hoops, Quaffles, Bludgers, and a Snitch (in lay terms, balls). But without bewitched broomsticks and bewinged Snitches, the game has a few differences. Muggle (non-magic) players keep their feet on the ground, holding a broom between their legs, and play in confined areas such as soccer fields. A live person runs on and off the field to play the role of the Snitch, the evasive flying ball whose capture ends the game.

Though Harvard lacks a Quidditch team, it isn’t without enthusiasm for the sport. Veteran Quidditch player Christopher J. Carothers ’11 joined the Dartmouth College team in a game against Middlebury, playing as a Beater (one of the two team members responsible for throwing Bludgers at other players, contributing to Quidditch’s badass mayhem). Although Carothers says he doesn’t have the time to start a Quidditch team at Harvard, he adds that he would definitely play if one did start—and he isn’t alone.

“I think we need to get on board as soon as possible,” Harry Potter fan Christina M. Giordano ’10 says of the Muggle Quidditch phenomenon. “I mean, we are the school that most resembles Hogwarts. We can’t drop the ball on this one. Pun intended.”

The tamer version of Quidditch, however, doesn’t appeal to all fans: Edmund G. Soriano ’11 says, “I’d consider playing if we had flying brooms and Madam Pomfrey.”

While everyday brooms and UHS might seem to be poor substitutes, Muggle Quidditch is nevertheless gaining popularity. And with Harvard’s endowment and top research scientists, getting in the air might not be all that far away.