That would make more sense. Thewikihas it wrong then. I don’t know if there is enough discussion in the books that shows it definitively.
I think in that situation, Quidditch should pull a page from Ice Hockey and “pull the Seeker” and have the Seeker act as an additional chaser to score more goals.
Krum is established in Book 4 at not the most mentally capable wizard, so his messing up the Snitch situation fits his character, then saying “I totally meant to do that” isn’t that hard to believe either.
sachertorte:
I disagree, his selection by the Goblet of Fire points to him being excellent at his magical studies, which must include mental capability. Unless you think that all of Durmstrang are pretty slow.
It’s been a while since I’ve read it, but wasn’t Krum the only one entered? I thought he was brought as the school’s pre-selected champion.
From page 259 of GoF:
“Anyone put their name in yet?” Ron asked a third-year girl eagerly.
“All the Durmstrang lot,” she replied.
Krum was clearly Karkaroff’s personal favorite, but anyone from Beauxbatons or Durmstrang who came to Hogwarts was a candidate to participate in the Triwizard Tournament. Logically, it makes sense - why would the other headmasters disrupt non-candidate students’ learning for no real reason?
These might be more like “Quidditch as practiced at Hogwarts” complaints rather than about the base game, but it’s hard to tell from the novels:
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Even though injuries are pretty common and other reasons (detention) for missing games are also pretty standard, there’s no bench for the team. The captain recruits the bare minimum number of players who practice together and then has to scramble to fill an empty slot, or forfeit, if something goes wrong. The fill-in person will likely have never played with the other members of the team before.
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There doesn’t seem to be any way to actually learn how to play Quidditch. There’s no “gym class” where everyone plays. There’s no junior varsity team. Harry just happens to be born with the gift, and there’s some reference to wizard-born students playing as a recreational activity – although how you play “2 on 2” Quidditch is a mystery. But most muggle-born kids seem like they’re out of luck.
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Given the scoring system, it would seem to make more sense to take your team and split it between guarding all three hoops and running interference / surveillance for the Seeker. In other words, forget about scoring goals at all. Other than it seeming ‘unsportsmanlike’ there doesn’t seem to be any thought to doing this.
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Since there are only two teams of seven players playing at a time, it seems churlish to rely on players purchasing their own brooms, particularly when there’s such a vast disparity in capability. I suppose there’s some analogy here to Olympic sports, where a well-funded country might have a much better bobsled or something. But for the most part sports where the equipment makes a difference, like auto racing, have pretty strict limits as to the performance range allowed. Having a rack of 20 official Hogwarts house brooms for use by everyone would make a lot more sense.
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If we’re to actually believe that there are games that last hours or even days, then it becomes even more ridiculous that you don’t have extra people to swap in. The sport is described as being physically exhausting even after the very short matches that Harry is in. It’s not like cricket where half the time you get to sit down and recover; it’s like soccer, where everyone is ‘on’ the whole time.
One thing I never understood here, it seems like the more professional matches last longer. Do they have a different snitch? Since it all comes down to the seeker, you would think better seekers would mean shorter matches.
This is my problem, too. I’ve only watched the movies, but catching the golden snitch is immediate victory, right? To me, it’s like if I’m playing in a basketball game but over on another hoop one guy from my team and one guy from the other team are having a free throw shooting contest and if one of the makes 20 in a row the game is over. Maybe it’s unlikely to happen, but when it does, it’s like what the hell were the rest of us even doing out here?
Not a team game, but very famously: No Más.
j
At least those are relatively similar games being performed in the same arena. Quidditch seems more like a simultaneous playing of basketball and competitive fishing a mile away.
That makes sense too. I’m referring mostly to Hermione’s comments about Krum, though I don’t remember the specifics either. It left me with the impression that he is more physical than mental. But that might also be only in the dating sense.
The scoring system was stupid by design, but apparently not stupid enough for Chronos.
enalzi, it’s never explicitly stated, but I think it’s pretty safe to assume that the pros do, in fact, use more difficult Snitches. I mean, why wouldn’t they?
Barkis is Willin’, the movies gloss over the details, but catching the Snitch is not immediate victory. It’s 150 points, and the end of the game, but the other team might still win if they had a lead of 160 or more before that point. Which is quite plausible, given what we know about the game.
ebb, there is in fact a gym class where they learn to play, or at least learn to ride broomsticks (which seems to be the primary skill involved in the game). That’s where Harry was when it was discovered that he had a knack for it: A Slytherin steals Neville’s Remembrall and throws it away, and Harry flies off and catches it.
sachertorte, Krum is mentally dim compared to Hermione. Which isn’t saying much.
You are doing a very credible job at an impossible task, sir.
Indeed. Rowling herself said she invented quidditch after a fight with her boyfriend, and is happy that the snitch infuriates men.
Nah, that’s like saying learning to ice skate prepares you for hockey. Sure, it’s a necessary skill, but there’s a lot more to hockey than skating, and a lot more to quidditch than brooming.
Besides, in the books at least, brooms are a pretty common means of transportation for wizards & witches. So everyone gets taught to fly a broom at Hogwarts, not just prospective quidditch players.
Am I the only one who remembers the book explanation? The Bulgarians were losing, badly, and there was no way they could come back. Krum caught the snitch to end the game “on his own terms.” He and his team were doomed to defeat, so he accelerated the defeat to minimize the humiliation. Quiddich doesn’t have a “mercy rule”, so Krum did the next best thing.
I can’t recall if Rowing also insinuated the more cynical analysis: He could say he’d succeeded in doing his bit as his team’s seeker and was not, therefore, culpable for the loss. But I think not, because I seem to recall him being developed as someone with a strong honorable streak with a paradoxically strong sense of ambition.
That’s more like Driver’s Ed.
They were down 160 points. When catching the Snitch gives you 150, it’s hard to say you can’t come back from that.
Yeah, I will grant that Krum’s losing catch was probably premature.
On the other hand, at the time the other team’s Seeker was also really close to making the catch. Ideally, you’d try to interfere with his catch rather than snagging it yourself, but maybe Krum decided that he wouldn’t be able to do that, and preferred losing by 10 to losing by 310.
Indeed, all you have to do is score twice, and you’re a lucky break away from victory. 660 points, you’re dead. 160, you are no further out of it than a basketball team losing 100-96.