"Someone brought Potter a flying broom, Professor." Draco Malfoy said busily.

"Yeah, yeah, that's right. " Professor Freeway said, cracking a smile at Harry, "Professor McGonagall told me all about the peculiarities of the situation, Mr Potter, what model did you get? "

"It's a Lightwheel 2000, Professor." Ron was still wearing the same redness on his face from the altercation, which made Professor Freeway think for a moment that his complexion looked a little like that other Gryffindor who exploded when he learnt any spell.

Harry, on the other hand, was still focused on his nemesis at the moment, and desperately trying to restrain himself from laughing at the look of horror on Malfoy's face, he deliberately added, "And I got it thanks to this Mr Malfoy."

Luke couldn't help himself, the look on Malfoy's face at the moment was just wonderful, a look of disbelief.

"Since you guys are fine with it go about your business." Professor Freeway was very kind, smiling and twisting his head to look at the newest talented student in his academy, "Luke, you come by the Quidditch training ground after school this afternoon, Roger Davies will be waiting for you there."

"Okay, Professor." Luke said goodbye to his dean, Harry and Ron, who had just left, hadn't gone far, they were waving hard at him from behind the pillar ahead.

Luke hurried up to them quickly, Ron with a gloating look on his face, "Luke, did you just notice the look on Malfoy's face, he never thought in a million years that we'd be blessed by a disaster! Harry got a Lightwheel 2000!!! and is an official member of the Gryffindor Quidditch team, that's so cool! Now I'll see how that Malfoy bloke can brag about his flying talent..."

"Awesome, I have good news for you guys too. Thanks to Harry, I've become a member of the Ravenclaw Quidditch team as well, so maybe we'll get to cross paths in the future." Luke was also very happy; if the Saviour hadn't been the first to break the rules and get the school to give him the green light, it wouldn't have been as easy as it was now if he had wanted to play in a tournament in his first year himself.

"It wasn't thanks to me, I wouldn't have made the team if Malfoy hadn't thrown Neville's memory ball." Harry laughed, Harry laughed as he took the opportunity to taunt once again.

"So you think this is a reward for breaking school rules?!" An angry voice came from behind them, and Hermione thumped the last few steps at the stairs, looking disgruntledly at the parcel in Harry's hand.

Harry's tone became a little weaker, "I thought you weren't going to talk to us."

"I hope so, better not say anything now either," Ron said, "It makes us feel good."

Hermione grunted and said no more as she sauntered away, her nose raised high.

"It's baffling, where did she get the superiority complex?" Harry scratched his head in confusion.

"Probably down to some know-it-all title. Oh sorry Luke, I didn't mean you." Ron looked at Luke apologetically, "She's not quite as good as you, but she's much more arrogant than you."

......

Luke remained very stoic for the rest of the lesson, patiently listening to the lectures and taking notes. Although he was also looking forward to Quidditch practice after class, he knew the importance of seizing the moment - time slipped by quickly and unnoticed when attention was focused.

After class, Luke quickly packed his bag and then uncharacteristically didn't go to the library, instead heading straight to the Quidditch training ground, as it was only a matter of time before he finished his task anyway with the progress he was making.

Roger Davies, the captain of the Ravenclaw Quidditch team, was already waiting for Luke on the pitch, his slender torso and toned limbs all showing that he was an athletic man, the soft sunlight filtering through the green branches of the trees, speckling the ground with gentle circles of light, big or small.

"Hey, Mr Luke Harris, over here!" Roger waved at Luke in the sunlight.

Luke took three steps and quickened his pace, and when he was close enough to make brief introductions to each other, the Ravenclaw Quidditch captain bent straight down and opened a very large wooden crate at his feet containing various implements needed for Quidditch matches.

"Mr Harris, do you know anything about Quidditch?" Roger asked, "I mean not a fan kind of level of understanding."

"Of course Davis, I have some knowledge." Looking at Roger's distrustful eyes, Luke paused, "The red ball is a ghost flyer, the chasers pass the ghost flyer to each other and try to get it through the other team's hoops for ten points each time, the keeper is responsible for guarding his team's hoops ......"

Luke was being too modest when he claimed to know some of it, back when he had been awarded Neptune he had learnt the rules of the game of Quidditch very thoroughly, and he had given his new captain a once over on the uses of each set as well as some of the basic tactics that he knew - although his influence on them was still in words.

"That was awesome, worthy of a Ravenclaw point controller, it looks like you're not just a fan, but you've done some research on tactics." After saying that, Roger tossed Luke a small wooden stick before adding a more Ravenclaw-esque question, "So do you know the history of Quidditch?"

"Erm...that I don't know much about." Luke was a little bemused, having taken the batsman's bat he had expected the practicalities to follow, and while he found the history of magic quite interesting, he didn't have that kind of time to read such idle books when he had a mission to attend to, "Quidditch was the first, and so far the only, broom sport that has been loved by wizards from pretty much all over the world. Of course, it wasn't the first broom sport. All the other ancient broom sports, such as the German bollard theatre, the Irish stilted barrels of fire or the Scottish head crucible were only locally popular and did not have the same appeal as Quidditch does today. Since the sport of Quidditch came into existence, it's been going on and on for almost a thousand years."

Seeing that Luke didn't know much about it, Roger somewhat gleefully slipped a book out of his case and held it out to Luke to let read first to learn about the sport itself.

Luke who was a little confused by the Ravenclaw style training methods: "Aren't we going to have a test? ...."

"Oh, there's no rush on that one, it's fine to wait until you've read it."

Seeing Roger stop and look expectantly at the book in his hands, Luke sighed and read it cooperatively, more or less understanding why the Ravenclaw Quidditch team rarely won the championship at Hogwarts. (Author's Note: Since this is a free chapter now anyway, I'm taking the opportunity to give you a little Quidditch knowledge at the end of this article; there are allusions to things like why the Golden Flyers are worth 150 points, and I think it feels kinda funny.)

It was only when Luke had finished reading the book that the Ravenclaw Quidditch captain greeted Luke on his broomstick, followed by Roger releasing a shiny black, wandering ball that was desperately struggling in a box. As soon as the wandering ball was free, it quickly slammed towards Luke's face, and with a backhanded swipe, the wandering ball was knocked high and far through the iron ring that stood tall over the training ground.

"Heh, what did I see, you went through the iron ring with a wandering ball, fast and ...... oh ......" Before Roger could finish, the swift wandering ball came crashing down from the sky at Roger, who desperately held the Swiftball and retrieved it back into the box, where the Swiftball reluctantly wriggled around.

Then Luke tried to match Roger in performing some difficult game tricks. Things like backward passes and Lansky defensive fakes, and next he tried Luke's hand at some flying tricks, each of which Luke managed to pull off competently, his excellent reflexes, athleticism, and keen powers of observation making Roger tsk, tsk, tsk, tsk, tsk, tsk, tsk, tsk, tsk, tsk, tsk, tsk, tsk, tsk, tsk, tsk, tsk, tsk.

"If you're this good at goalkeeping, you're good for all positions!" Roger exclaimed excitedly, "Luke, you're practically all-round, I think we Ravenclaws are very much in the running for this year's Quidditch Cup!"

Unlike the scaled back flying lesson, Luke, who had been let loose to fly for a while, was also excited, and he was enjoying this feeling of controlling the whole field and flying into the wind. "So what role can I take?"

"I think you could start as a ball chaser, we could really use the support of a strong player in the scoring department. As for ball finder -" it was obvious that Roger was hesitating, weighing up which position would be more advantageous to put Luke in.

"We've also recruited a very talented ball finder this year, she's very - er - cute, might as well give her a try first." Roger was in a trance, and Luke thought that the newly recruited ball finder must be a very beautiful and impressive girl.

Luke then proceeded to find out who the ball finder was from Roger, it was Autumn Chang, a second year Asian girl.

The next few days were even busier for Luke, apart from the wizarding alchemy he had to perform every morning, and completing his increasingly heavy coursework, he still had to spend long hours in the library in his remaining after-school hours, and had to cope with Quidditch practice three times a week.

[The following is Quidditch related information, so those who don't like it can just cross over without interrupting the reading of the next chapter. I think Quidditch is disliked and misunderstood by a lot of people in a lot of ways, so here's a posting of relatively complete information for once to give you an idea.

Ancient Broom Games

Pillar Guard Play: This game originated in Germany. A wizard acts as a guard or goalkeeper in an effort to protect an inflated dragon bladder. The rest of the players would take turns flying at that bladder, trying to pierce it with the sharpened end of a broomstick handle. The first person to pierce the bladder is the winner.

Fire Barrels on Stilts: This Irish game requires participants to carry a Dom or ball, one by one, quickly through a series of burning barrels supported by stilts and suspended high in the air. The contestant who manages to get a Dom through all the barrels as fast as possible, without catching fire along the way, is the winner.

Heads Over Crucibles: this is an extremely violent and dangerous game that originated in Scotland. Each player attaches a crucible to his head with a belt. At the sound of a trumpet or drum, as many as one hundred enchanted stones of various sizes, which have been suspended a hundred feet above the ground, begin to fall to the ground. The players rose and fell in all directions, catching the falling stones with the crucibles on their heads. The winner is the one who catches the most stones.

Aerial Collision: A very simple form of flying broomstick tournament where the object is to knock the others off their broomsticks. The last person to remain on the broom wins.

Backwards Broom Riding: A broom sport developed in Herefordshire, England, in which athletes ride their broomsticks backwards and hit a pig's bladder back and forth with the spiked end of the broomstick between circles of hedges. Whoever hits the bladder scores points, and the first to reach fifty points wins.

Development of Quidditch

The sport of Quidditch takes its name from its birthplace, the Quidditch Marsh. An eleventh-century witch named Gertie Kiddle, who lived near the swamp, recorded in her diary what she saw and heard during the week. In her diary for several days in a row, she describes the development of the Quidditch match at the beginning and mentions how various elements of the game were introduced.

Gertie had simply complained in the beginning about her annoyance when a group of people on flying broomsticks were playing a ball over a swamp and it ended up falling into her vegetable patch. She confiscates the ball and casts a poisonous spell on the man who approached her for it. On the next day, the people playing with the ball didn't give up; they made a new ball. They also started throwing the ball into the woods at one end of the swamp to score points. This was the earliest prototype of the ghostly flying ball and the scoring circle.

On the third day, the ball players got two rocks to fly around in the sky and try to knock them off their broomsticks. This was the precursor to the wandering ball. She also mentions the presence of a "big Scottish wizard" who may have been a player in a much older broomstick game called Crucible, which also suggests some connection between the two flying broomstick games.

Records of Quidditch from this period are quite limited. For the next century, there is little mention of the sport - until the twelfth century, when a wizard named Goodwin Nyne reintroduces the sport in a letter to his Norwegian cousin Olaf.

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By this time, the sport was known as Kwidditch, with specialised teams, player positions and different balls with their own names. Goodwin's letter reveals that ball chasers were known as 'Catchers' at the time, while the wandering ball was known as a 'Blooder'.

Neen's letter also reveals a new twist on the sport: three barrels on stilts were used as wickets instead of trees. As a modern sport, this was undoubtedly a huge step forward. As you can see, the Ghostly Quidditch that Nin was playing at the time was very similar to the Quidditch of today.

The Golden Snitch

At this point, the only element still lacking in the sport of Quidditch is the Golden Flyer, which has perhaps the most interesting history of any Quidditch ball! Its introduction is directly related to a match played in Kent in 1269 - when the name of the sport of Quidditch became Cuaditch. A century after Goodwin Nairn's letter to his cousin, the sport seems to have gained more popularity and more people have become involved. However, the movement has changed very little in the meantime.

In the match that took place as mentioned above, Barberoo Bragg, then Speaker of the Wizarding Council, came to watch the match. As Goldfinch hunting was popular at the time, Bragg brought a small bird called a Goldfinch to the game. He told the players on the field that whoever caught the Goldfinch in the game would receive one hundred and fifty galleons - a sum that may not seem like much now, but it was a lot of money back then.

This was easier said than done: the Goldfinch was small, fast, and could change direction in an instant. This challenge allowed the wizard who caught the Goldfinch to become famous.

What happened next on the Quidditch pitch was predictable: the players completely forgot about the game and everyone was trying to catch the Goldfinch, while the spectators were using evasion spells to force the fleeing Goldfinch back onto the pitch.

Witch Modesty Laburnor, who had also come to watch the game, took pity on the flyers and saved the bird with a summoning spell and hid it in her robes. An enraged Bragg fined her ten galleons for disrupting the tournament, but she had long since set the golden flyer free.

Madame Rabuno's actions saved the Goldfinch's life, but the Goldfinch and Quidditch have been linked ever since. In every game, a Goldfinch is released, and each team has a player - initially known as the Hunter, and later the Ball Finder - dedicated to catching it. -who is dedicated to catching it. If the Hunter could catch and kill the Goldfinch, his team would win 150 points to symbolise the 150 Galleons promised by Breno.

However, the popularity of Quidditch caused the numbers of Goldfinches to plummet, and by the mid-14th century, the Goldfinch was finally declared a protected species by the Wizarding Council led by Alida Cragg. This meant that the Goldfinch could no longer be used in Quidditch matches, and in addition, the Modesty Laburnor Flyer Sanctuary was established in Somerset to safeguard the Goldfinch's future existence.

However, there had to be a replacement for the Golden Flyer in Quidditch matches, and while most people were looking for another bird to replace the Golden Flyer, a metalsmith from Godric's Hollow by the name of Bowman Wright had a different idea - he invented a fake Golden Flyer, which he called the Golden Flycatcher. His invention was very similar to the flyer you see on the Quidditch pitch today: it was a golden blob with silver wings, it was the same size and weight as the real Golden Flyer, and it could fly in a way that was just as fast and agile as the Golden Flyer. In addition to this, the blob doesn't run to the outside of the stadium, so spectators no longer need to use the Repel Spell.

The sport of Quidditch was able to continue after the flyer was approved as a replacement for the Golden Flyer. By this time, all of the balls used in the modern sport of Quidditch were present, and the composition of the teams had been perfected. However, even though the sport of Quidditch at that time had become very similar to today's game of Quidditch, its specific rules and the style of the pitch were still subtly different from today's Quidditch. It was not until 1883 that the style of pitch for the game of Quidditch was finalised.

Committees

The International Confederation of Witches Quidditch Committee (ICWQC) is the international body responsible for overseeing the game of Quidditch, as well as organising the Quidditch World Cup every four years. Also an international organisation related to Quidditch is the International Quidditch Federation. In the United Kingdom, Quidditch matters are managed by the Department of Magical Sports, where the British and Irish Quidditch League Command is also located.

Players

Quidditch matches are contested with seven players on each side, including three ball chasers, two batsmen, a wicketkeeper and a ball finder. Four balls are also used in the game: a Ghost Flyer, two Wanderers and a Golden Flyer.

The goalkeeper is responsible for defending his team's goalposts and preventing opposing players from scoring; the three ball chasers are responsible for throwing the ghost ball into one of the opposing team's three goalposts to score points for their team; the two batsmen protect their teammates from the wandering ball and hit it at opposing players; and the ball finder is responsible for looking for the golden thief in the field, catching it, and ending the game. The team that catches the Golden Flyer wins an extra one hundred and fifty points, but this does not mean that this team will necessarily win, as the difference in points between the two teams may be greater than one hundred and fifty.

Quidditch Pitch

The Quidditch pitch is usually a five hundred foot long and one hundred and eighty foot wide oval with a small circle in the centre of the pitch about two feet in diameter, from which all the balls are released at the start of the game. There are three goalposts of varying heights in the scoring areas at each end of the pitch. Since Quidditch is a sport played in the air, the stands at a Quidditch stadium are located at a higher level.

The goalposts with iron rings currently in use were still a barrel during the time Goodwin Nunes lived. And by the time the Golden Flyers were introduced, they had been replaced with baskets placed on stilts. As practical as the baskets were, they came with another problem: there was no limit to the size of the baskets, so they varied in size from pitch to pitch.

In 1620, scoring zones were added at each end of the pitch. In addition, the baskets at the top of the goalposts were made smaller, but the size of the baskets still varied from pitch to pitch, and in 1883 the standard rules for goalposts were finally introduced, with standard-sized rings replacing the baskets. This is how the modern Quidditch pitch took shape. The year following the replacement of the baskets with iron rings, a new rule was introduced in Quidditch, stating that only ball chasers with ghost flyers were allowed in the scoring area. As a result, "pinning" fouls were banned. Both of these changes caused considerable controversy, and there were even riots and threats against the Minister of Magic.

Quidditch pitches were built in places that would not attract muggle attention. This had been in place since 1398. The wizard of the time, Zacharias Mumps, had emphasised the need for safety measures against Muggles during matches: 'Choose a wild, uninhabited area away from Muggle settlements, and make sure that you won't be seen by the Muggles when you get on your broomstick and fly.' If you are building a pitch for long-term use, the Banish Muggle spell is a useful spell. It is also wise to hold matches at night." But even before that, in 1362, the Wizarding Council had banned Quidditch matches within fifty miles of a known Muggle town. This rule was amended again in 1368 to state that Quidditch matches were also banned within one hundred miles of a Muggle town. This may indicate that the sport of Quidditch was rapidly gaining popularity. Eventually, the Wizarding Council issued another decree with satisfactory wording: no games were to be played "wherever there is the slightest possibility of Muggles seeing the game," "or we shall see that you will be chained to the dungeon wall to play."

The International Confederation of Witches Secrecy Act, enacted in 1692, made all magical ministries directly responsible for the consequences that resulted from the conduct of magical sports in their own jurisdictions. Thus in England, the Department of Magical Sports was created. Quidditch teams that did not adhere to the Ministry of Magic's guidelines and policies were forcibly disbanded, one example being the Bunbury Bangers.

Match progression

At the start of the game, the Quidditch referee releases the four balls for the game in a circle in the centre of the pitch. The enchanted Ghostly Flying Balls and Golden Flyers will fly straight into the air, while the Ghostly Flying Balls will need to be thrown into the air by the referee to signal the start of the match (this is similar to the way basketball and Gaelic football start in Muggle sports, both of which involve the referee throwing the ball into the air).

Because Quidditch matches are played for an indeterminate amount of time (some matches can go on for days if the flyers aren't caught), matches are not divided into quarters, but captains can ask for a timeout. Teams use the same set of goalposts throughout the game.

A ball chaser earns ten points for his team by throwing a ghost fly ball into the iron ring of any of the opposing goalposts. After a goal is scored, the opposing goalkeeper throws the Ghost Flyer to continue the game.

A match ends only if the Golden Flyer is captured, or if the captains of both teams agree. If the ball finder catches the Golden Flying Squid, then his team will be awarded an additional 150 points. The flyer has a physical memory and it recognises the first person who touches it with their hand in case there is a dispute over the catch. The winner of a game is the team that has scored the most points at the end of the game, not the team that caught the golden flyer. Thus, if a team is ahead by more than 150 points when another team's ball finder catches the fly-half, they can still win. One of the more famous examples of this occurred in the 1994 Quidditch World Cup final. At that time, the Irish team won the game 170-160, despite Bulgarian ball finder Viktor Krum catching the Golden Flyer. However, in the event of a tie in the match, the method of dividing the winners remains unknown.

Rules

Worldwide, the popularity and competition of the sport of Quidditch is closely monitored and analysed by the International Wizarding Federation Quidditch Committee.

In 1750, the Division of Magical Sports established official rules for the sport of Quidditch.

While there are no restrictions on how high a player can fly during a game, a player may not go beyond the boundaries of the pitch. If a player flies beyond the boundaries of the pitch, his or her team must surrender the ghost fly ball to the opposing team (but the penalty is unknown if the defence leaves the pitch).

The team captain may signal a "time out" to the referee. This is the only time during a match that a player can touch the ground. If a match has lasted more than twelve hours, the time-out may be extended to two hours. If a team fails to return to the court after two hours, that team is disqualified from the match.

The referee may award a team a penalty kick. The chaser of the main penalty kick will fly from the centre circle to the scoring area. All players must stay back while the ball chaser is taking the penalty kick, except the opposing team's goalkeeper, who can prevent the ball chaser from scoring (it is not known if the ball chaser can still catch a fly-half during a penalty kick).

It is permissible to take a ghost fly ball from another player's hand, but under no circumstances may a player cling to any part of another player's body.

In the event of an injury, no other athlete may come onto the field to replace them. The team will continue to play after the injured athlete has been taken off the field (although according to The Sorcerer's Stone, during Quidditch matches, if the match goes on for several days, then the team will send substitutes onto the field to take the ballplayers off for a nap).

Players may bring their wands onto the pitch, but under no circumstances may they use them against opposing players, opposing players' brooms, the referee, the ball, or any spectators present.

A Quidditch match can only be ended if the Golden Flyers are caught, or if the captains of both teams agree.

Only the goalkeeper can stop the opposing team's Ghost Flyers from throwing the ball.

An 1849 amendment to the Quidditch rules states that if anyone in the crowd uses any bad spell or charm on a player, then their team is automatically disqualified from the game, regardless of whether or not the team ordered or supported the use of such magic.

Foul play

A total of seven hundred means of Quidditch foul play are listed in the records of the Division of Magical Sports and Physical Education. However, the details of these fouls have never been made available to the general public of the wizarding world (in the opinion of the Division of Sport, wizards who see this list "might be inspired"). As long as the ban on using wands on opposing teams is upheld, 90 per cent of the listed fouls are unlikely to occur under any circumstances. Of the remaining ten per cent, most of them would never happen, even to the most despicable athletes. However, there are ten fouls that are more common (those in parentheses are the ones that apply):

Pulling: Grabbing an opponent by the end of his broomstick to slow him down or impede his progress. (All players)

Punching: Deliberately hitting an opponent in flight. (All players)

Sharp Brake Broom: urgently stops the broom in flight, hoping to deflect the opponent from the direction of flight. (All players)

Batting out: hitting a wandering ball towards the spectators. (For batsmen only)

Elbow Strike: the misuse of the elbow against an opponent. (All players)

Hitting behind the ring: hitting any part of the body through the iron ring to hit a ghostly fly ball - the keeper should block the ring in front of it and not behind it. (For goalkeepers only)

Holding the ball in the ring: the ghost fly ball remains grasped in the hand as it passes through the iron ring - the ghost fly ball must be thrown. (For ball chasers only)

Destroying a ghost fly ball: tampering with a ghost fly ball - for example, puncturing it so that it can land at a faster speed or travel in a zig-zag pattern. (For ball chasers only)

Touching the flyer: any player other than the ball finder touches or grabs the golden flyer. (All players except the ball finder)

PINCHING: More than one ball chaser enters the scoring area. (For ball chasers only)

All seven hundred means of foul play were seen at the 1473 Quidditch World Cup Final. In addition to the ten foul tactics mentioned above:

Morphing the ball chaser into a skunk;

Attempting to chop off the keeper's head with a machete;

Releasing a hundred blood-sucking bats from under the robes of the Transylvanian captain during a match;

Setting fire to the tail of an opponent's broomstick;

Striking an opponent's broomstick with a bat;

Axing an opponent.

Quidditch moves

Over the centuries, Quidditch players have invented a number of difficult and interesting moves that continue to raise their level and the excitement of the game. Some of these moves are:

Countering a wandering ball - A batsman swings a short bat backhand to hit a wandering ball and confuse his opponent.

Double Strike - Two batters hit a walker at the same time, making the walker's attack more lethal.

Double "8" Ring Fly - The wicket-keeper spins rapidly around the three wicket rings in order to ward off a ghostly fly ball.

Eagle Head Attack Formation - Three chasers fly towards the goalposts in an arrow-like formation, forcing the opposing team's chasers to step aside.

Parkin Pincer Tactic-Two ball chasers approach one of the opposing ball chasers from either flank, while another ball chaser flies headlong towards him or her.

Prenton's Copyback Tactic-Confuse your opponent by hiding a flyer in the ball-chaser's sleeve.

Pokov Booby Trap- One ball chaser flies above and throws a ghost flyer directly at another ball chaser located directly below him or her.

Inverted Pass - A ball chaser throws a ghost fly ball over his shoulder towards a teammate behind him.

Sloth Hugging Tree Roll - A player hangs on to a broomstick and clutches the handle with both hands and feet to avoid a wandering ball.

Starfish Hanging Upside Down-The goalie grasps the broom handle with one hand, hooks one foot on it, and stretches out on all fours to ensure that the ghostly fly ball is blocked as much as possible (and is most vulnerable to a wandering ball).

Transylvania Fake - A trick to confuse an opponent by pretending to hit them in the nose (as long as you don't actually hit them in the nose, the trick is legal).

Woolongong Zigzag - The ball chaser travels at high speed in a zigzag pattern to confuse the opponent.

Lansky Fake - The ball catcher pretends to see the flyer far below, and rushes towards the ground to make the opposing ball catcher imitate himself. However, the former stops his dive when he is about to touch the ground, so that the opponent will not be able to react in time to hit the ground].