A Deep Dive into Harry Potter’s Quidditch Career
Nearly twenty nine years ago, 11-year-old Harry Potter first mounted his broom as a member of the Gryffindor Quidditch team. Fans of the beloved series all remember what happens next. Harry, proclaimed as the “youngest Quidditch player in a century”, riding a shiny new Nimbus 2000 broomstick, famously catches the Golden Snitch with his mouth to secure Gyrffindor’s first victory over arch-rival Slytherin in years. And just like that, a Hogwarts Quidditch legend was born. In Harry’s subsequent years at Hogwarts, he would acquire an even better broomstick, the Firebolt, and Gryffindor would capture the Quidditch Cup three times, further cementing Harry’s iconic status on the pitch.
Those accomplishments are undoubtedly impressive, but are they really deserving of legendary status? A closer look at Harry’s Quidditch career might reveal his accomplishments aren’t quite as impressive as they initially seem. Over his six years of enrollment at Hogwarts, through a combination of injury, suspension and match cancellations, Harry Potter played in just nine total Quidditch matches for Gryffindor, compiling a record of seven wins and two losses. In addition, Gryffindor managed to clinch the Cup twice without Harry on the pitch. Just how valuable could Harry have been if his team managed to win more championships without him than with him?
In this article, blog, (rant?), I will attempt to analyze just how valuable Harry was to Gryffindor as their Seeker. I’ll go match by match, breaking down Harry’s performance in his nine games for Gryffindor. I will also be taking into account other factors such as broomstick advantage over opposing Seekers and the support Harry received from teammates. Finally, I will analyze the four matches in which Gryffindor played without Harry to see just how big of a drop-off there was without him.
So here we go. Six years, thirteen matches and one Quidditch legacy to dissect. Was Harry Potter really the “Chosen One”? Let’s find out. Welcome to “Harry Potter and the Value over Replacement Seeker”.
1991–92 Season
Vs. Slytherin
Match Summary
Just weeks after he first climbed onto a broom and impressed Professor McGonogall by making an incredible diving catch of Neville Longbottom’s remembrall, Harry is thrust into his very first Quidditch match. Harry spends most of the first part of the match away from the action as part of Gryffindor Captain Oliver Wood’s strategy to “keep out of the way until you catch sight of the Snitch” (SS 187). Gryffindor and Slytherin exchange some early turnovers before Angelina Johnson strikes first for a Gryffindor goal.
Just after making a nice move to avoid a Bludger, the Snitch is spotted flying past Slytherin Chaser Adrian Pucey and Harry gives chase. Slytherin Seeker Terrence Higgs is neck and neck with him, but Harry speeds ahead and nearly has the Snitch in grasp before Slytherin’s Marcus Flint illegally collides with him. Gryffindor earns a penalty shot and Alicia Spinnet buries it to put Gryffindor up 20–0.
Suddenly and without warning, Harry’s Nimbus 2000 lurches wildly, trying to buck Harry off the broom. None of the players or spectators know it now, but this is the work of Professor Quirrell, who is jinxing Harry’s broom in an attempt to kill him. With everyone focused on Harry, Flint steals the Quaffle and scores five times without anyone noticing.
Down in the stands, Hermione, thinking that it is Snape jinxing the broom, sets fire to the Potions Master’s robes. The ensuing chaos is enough to break Quirrell’s eye contact, lifting the jinx on Harry’s broom.
Just moments after regaining control of his broom Harry dives toward the ground and miraculously catches the Snitch by nearly swallowing it. Gryffindor wins 170 to 60.
Analysis
This is undeniably an impressive performance by Harry, especially in his first match. Even more impressive than catching the Snitch was the fortitude Harry showed in staying on the broom at all. At several points he’s dangling completely off the broom, holding on by just his hands. A lesser flyer would’ve most certainly have been on their way to St. Mungo’s before Hermione had time to disrupt the curse.
But aside from surviving an assassination attempt, how well did Harry fly? I say pretty well. His dodge of the Bludger was a nice move for sure, but I think his reaction to the first Snitch appearance was delayed and it could have cost Gryffindor the game.
It’s not Harry who first spots the Snitch. It’s actually announcer Lee Jordan who, in the middle of the action, proclaims for the audience and players to hear “wait a moment-was that the Snitch?” (SS 187) as a streak of gold flashes past Pucey’s head.
It’s only after this announcement that Harry finally sees the Snitch. In my opinion, a truly great Seeker shouldn’t need the announcer to tell them where the Snitch is. They should be able to find it themselves. Had Harry spotted the Snitch before all the players were made aware, he could’ve had a clear lead on Higgs. Instead they’re side by side for the initial chase.
Here’s where you have to take into account each Seeker’s broomstick. We know Harry is piloting the Nimbus 2000, but the book never specifies what Higgs is working with it. Author JK Rowing clearly states that “Harry was faster than Higgs” (SS 188), but it’s unclear how much of this is due to the broomstick or Harry’s flying ability. When Malfoy joins the Slytherin team in year two, the entire squad is outfitted with Nimbus 2001s and its clearly seen as an upgrade from their previous years brooms, so I’m willing to bet that Higgs isn’t riding a Nimbus in this match. This gives Harry a distinct advantage in terms of raw speed.
Harry would have most certainly caught the Snitch if it wasn’t for Flint’s illegal block, but had Harry gotten a quicker jump on the Snitch, he probably would’ve ended the game before Flint could get to him.
As for the eventual catch of the Snitch itself, we actually don’t get a ton of info on this. It’s much more detailed in the movie version. On screen, Harry and Higgs go into a steep dive that Higgs pulls up early from because he’s a scaredy-cat and doesn’t want to crash. But Harry perseveres and all Potterheads can picture in their mind the famous image of him standing up on his broomstick like a surfboard, arm outstretched and making the iconic mouth-catch as he falls off his broom. But I’m not going by the movie. I’m going strictly by the book and the catch plays out much less dramatically on the page.
Here’s all we get in the book: “Harry was speeding toward the ground when the crowd saw him clap his hand to his mouth as though he was about to be sick — he hit the field on all fours — coughed — and something gold fell into his hand” (SS 191).
It’s worth noting that this happens just after Harry regains control of his broom. Right after surviving a near-death experience, Harry is already searching for the Snitch and spots it immediately. Really excellent stuff from our guy. But how does he end up nearly swallowing the Snitch? This is going to seem like an overly-critical nitpick, but I’m guessing Harry misjudged his dive. He probably missed grabbing the Snitch with his hand, but was going so fast that he ended up right on top of it and… voila!! The Snitch ends up in Harry’s mouth and Gryffindor wins. Did Harry luck into that? Maybe.
Final grade: A
Nitpicks aside, I can’t really give Harry anything less than a solid ‘A’ for this. I mean, he’s eleven freaking years old and overcomes fouls and an attempt on his life to catch the Snitch in his first ever match. Rookie mistakes aside, it took a true “Chosen One” to pull that out of the hat… or mouth?
Vs. Hufflepuff
Match Summary
Snape replaces Madam Hooch as referee for this match and his bias against Gryffindor immediately impacts the game. Snape quickly awards two penalties to Hufflepuff, one after George Weasley hits him with a Bludger and another for seemingly no reason at all. But even Snape’s shoddy officiating can’t stop Gryffindor from winning. While Ron and Neville brawl with Malfoy, Crabbe and Goyle in the stands below, Harry spots in the Snitch and catches it after a spectacular dive. And just like that, the match is over after just five short minutes. Gryffindor wins 150–20.
Analysis
No nits to pick here. A truly superb performance by Harry made all the more impressive given the circumstances. Remember, Harry and friends still think that Snape was behind the jinx in the first match and believe that Snape is officiating to give himself a better shot at killing Harry. That couldn’t be further from the truth. We later find out Snape was officiating so that he could better protect Harry in case Quirrell tried to attack again. But the characters don’t know that and it puts a lot of stress on Harry thinking he will have to watch his back from Snape. In fact, Ron and Hermione are so worried that they practice the Leg-Locker Curse with Harry so that he can use it to protect himself against Snape if necessary.
Ultimately, though, I don’t think the threat of attack from Snape was too much of an obstacle for Harry to overcome. Just before Gryffindor takes to the pitch, Wood notes that Dumbledore has come to watch the match. This immediately has a calming effect on Harry. “Harry could have laughed out loud with relief. He was safe. There was simply no way that Snape would dare to try to hurt him if Dumbledore was watching.” (SS 222).
Harry no longer fears for his life, but he’s still got to deal with Snape’s biased officiating. Wood puts it bluntly to his seeker: “Don’t want to pressure you, Potter, but if we ever need an early capture of the Snitch it’s now. Finish the game before Snape can favor Hufflepuff too much.” (SS 222). Yeah, no pressure at all there, Wood. Way to take it easy on your pre-pubescent Seeker. But Harry comes up big for Gryffindor and delivers exactly what Wood ordered.
Final Grade: A+
Like I said, you can’t nitpick catching the Snitch in 5 minutes. It’s the Quidditch equivalent of a first round knockout in boxing. That’s some real prime Mike Tyson level shit from Harry.
Side note: Who’s Hufflepuff’s Seeker in this match? They’re never mentioned because Harry catches the Snitch so fast, but it’s important because if it is Cedric Diggory, that would factor into my comparison of him against Harry. More on that when we get to year three. I’m pretty sure this isn’t Cedric because when Cedric’s father Amos brags in Goblet of Fire about Cedric beating Harry, it’s implied that Cedric is undefeated against him. The easy answer is simply that Rowling hadn’t invented the Cedric character yet, but its plausible that Cedric just wasn’t on the Hufflepuff team in Harry’s first year. Cedric was a third year in 1991–92 and it’s possible that Hufflepuff already had an established Seeker, maybe in their seventh year, and Cedric was waiting his turn. Not everyone can be Harry and join their Quidditch team so young. The 1992–93 matchup between Gryffindor and Hufflepuff was cancelled, but I’m guessing we would’ve seen Cedric in that game.
Vs. Ravenclaw
Match Summary
Harry doesn’t play in this match due to injuries sustained during his confrontation with Quirrell and Voldemort. We don’t see the match in the book so we don’t have any details except that Gryffindor suffered their “worst defeat in a century”.
Analysis
So it’s obviously implied that Gryffindor was hopeless without Harry and completely overmatched. There are a lot of problems here. Let’s start with the utter lack of preparation on Gryffindor’s part not to have a reserve seeker available. In fact, earlier in the book when Ron and Hermione urge Harry not to play against Hufflepuff because of Snape, Harry tells them that “there isn’t a reserve Seeker. If I back out, Gryffindor can’t play at all.” (SS 217). It’s a total mess. This falls on Wood and McGonagall for not having an emergency Seeker ready to go. There are at least 70 Gryffindor students and Quidditch is the most popular wizarding sport. Most of the wizarding-born kids presumably grew up riding brooms, but we’re supposed to believe that not one of them can adequately fly to at least give Gryffindor a chance? I call bullshit.
Did Gryffindor only play with six players? It makes no sense. You don’t even have to play the backup at Seeker. Since Seeker is the most important position, why not transfer your second-best flier to the Seeker position? I get that goal scoring and seeking are different, but the skill sets of Chasers and Seekers are still similar enough where there can be crossover. Ginny Weasley proves this point later. If I were Gryffindor, I would’ve put one of the Chasers, either Alicia Spinnet or Angelina Johnson (whoever is faster) at Seeker. They’re both described as excellent fliers and could easily stalk Ravenclaw’s Seeker and keep close to them in case the Snitch appeared. That’s certainly a better strategy than just playing without a Seeker entirely, which it seems like Gryffindor did.
Even if Gryffindor played shorthanded, I still don’t think they would’ve suffered their “worse loss in a century”. That statement implies that Gryffindor was already losing by a significant margin before Ravenclaw caught the Snitch. I just think Gryffindor is too talented for that to happen. Sure, this version of the Gryffindor team isn’t quite as good as their ’93-‘94 peak and they were probably demoralized by losing Harry, but I just don’t see them getting embarrassed that badly. If anything, I would expect Gryffindor to rally under the adversity and at least outscore Ravenclaw on goals, even if there was no hope of catching the Snitch.
This is a clear example of authorial intent defying logic. Rowling gave Gryffindor such a lopsided loss to highlight how integral Harry is to all aspects of the story. I just don’t think it aligns with the facts that were presented to the readers.
But if we are supposed to believe that the ‘91-‘92 Ravenclaw team could outscore Gryffindor by that much, perhaps Harry playing would not have even mattered. We’ll never know for sure. If I had to guess, though, Gryffindor would clearly be favored.
1992–93 Season
Vs. Slytherin
Match Summary
The infamous “Rogue Bludger Game” or perhaps just “The Dobby Game”. Slytherin has a new Seeker in Draco Malfoy and the entire team is riding Nimbus 2001s thanks to Lucius Malfoy’s donations. With Gryffindor at a clear disadvantage in the broomstick quality department, Wood implores Harry to “get to that Snitch before Malfoy or die trying.” (COS 167). The rogue Bludger which was bewitched by Dobby comes straight for Harry as soon as he takes to the air. With Beaters Fred and George Weasley too pre-occupied protecting Harry rather than their Chasers, Slytherin takes a quick 60–0 lead.
Gryffindor calls timeout to regroup. Harry tells Fred and George to protect the rest of the team and that he’ll avoid the Bludger on his own. The other players try to convince Wood to stop the match and ask for an inquiry, but Harry objects. Wood sides with Harry and when play resumes, Harry is left to fend off the Bludger alone.
Harry performs a number of nifty aerial maneuvers to avoid the Bludger. As Malfoy mocks Harry’s wild twirling, Harry spots the Snitch next to Malfoy’s ear. Preoccupied by the Snitch, Harry is hit by the Bludger and breaks his right hand. Despite his pain, Harry still manages to fly towards the Snitch and catches it with his left hand. Gryffindor wins 150 to 60.
Analysis
This is Harry’s magnum opus. It’s a pure masterclass in flying from beginning to end. Given the circumstances, it’s easily Harry’s best Quidditch performance in his Hogwarts career. I believe that the rogue Bludger was even more of a challenge to overcome than the bucking broomstick in Harry’s first match. Quirrell’s attack only lasted for a few moments and everything in the game pretty much came to a stop during the incident. The rogue Bludger, however, attacked Harry throughout the match and severely impeded his ability to catch the Snitch. Harry shows his incredible flying skills to avoid the Bludger and he exhibits great strength and resiliency to still catch the Snitch despite breaking his dominant hand. At the moment he catches the Snitch, he’s only got his legs on the broom. That takes incredible bravery and skill.
This is also the first and only match in Harry’s career in which he is at a broomstick disadvantage. Malfoy may be a mediocre little shit who only got on the team because of his father’s money, but he’s still on a better broom than Harry. We see the rest of the Gryffindor team initially struggle to adjust to the speed of the Nimbus 2001s as they surrender six quick goals to Slytherin. I’m sure Gryffindor would’ve improved had the game lasted longer, but they certainly don’t win this match without Harry.
Final Grade: A+
Can’t ask for anything more from Harry given the circumstances. He overcame his toughest task yet and still managed to come away with the Snitch. Sure, it would’ve been interesting to see how Harry would’ve done if he had been matched up against a better Seeker than Malfoy, but that’s not Harry’s fault.
The rest of this season’s Quidditch matches were cancelled due to the Chamber of Secrets crisis so unfortunately this is all we get from Harry’s second year.
1993–94 Season
Vs. Hufflepuff
Match Summary
Usually the first game of the year pits Gryffindor against Slytherin, but the match is delayed after Malfoy injures his arm (go Buckbeak!!). Instead, Gryffindor plays Hufflepuff amidst a torrid rainstorm and howling winds. The conditions make it nearly impossible for Harry to see anything due to the rain on his glasses. After a while, Wood calls timeout and the Gryffindor team huddles together. Gryffindor is up 50 points, but Harry still can’t see well enough to spot the Snitch. “I’ve got no chance with these on” (POA 177) he says. Suddenly, Hermione appears and performs the Impervius Charm on Harry’s glasses to repel water.
When play resumes Harry can finally see clearly, but there’s still no sign of the Snitch. Then Harry sees the silhouette of a shaggy black dog in the sky, the omen called the “Grim” that Professor Trelawney had predicted would be the death of Harry. Understandably distracted, Harry is alerted by Wood that Cedric has spotted the Snitch. The Snitch is about halfway between Harry and Cedric and they both race towards it. However, the Dementors appear on the pitch below and Harry is caught under their effect and loses consciousness, falling from his broom. Just after Harry falls, Cedric catches the Snitch and Hufflepuff wins. Harry’s Nimbus 2000 blows into the Whomping Willow and is destroyed.
Analysis
Harry suffers his first Quidditch defeat in gut-wrenching fashion. This is a really tough break for Harry and he got royally screwed by the Dementors. Unlike previous times in which Harry had overcome major external obstacles to win a Quidditch match, this was just too much. First, the horrible weather, then the Grim and finally the Dementor attack. It would have been a miracle for Harry to catch the Snitch after all that.
But as unseemly as it may seem to kick a wizard while he’s down, I do think that this wasn’t Harry’s best performance even before the Grim and the Dementors. I can’t really use the weather as an excuse for Harry since it impacted all the players. However, Harry does note that Cedric is heavier than he is which makes it harder for Cedric to be blown off course by the wind. That’s an advantage for Cedric, but Harry is still on a better broom so I’d have to say it’s a wash.
After Harry cleared up his vision issues, he still had a window of time to catch the Snitch unabated before the Grim appears. It’s unclear how long this stretch of time is, but it’s enough where Harry could’ve reasonably spotted the Snitch. I know I’m splitting hairs here, but I think a truly great Seeker gets at least a glimpse of the Snitch in that period of time. Instead, Harry is understandably distracted by the Grim and lets Cedric get the jump on the Snitch. Harry still has a chance to beat Cedric to the Snitch before the Dementors appear, but we’ll never know for sure if he would have. Wand to my head, I honestly think Cedric still beats Harry to the Snitch if they both stay on their brooms. This just seems liked Cedric’s day. He’s physically stronger and more balanced in these conditions and I think he has every bit of Harry’s nerve. Cedric isn’t going to bail out even if there’s a possibility of crashing. Plus, Harry’s got to eat a little humble pie at some point and I think it would’ve happened here. But given what we’re presented with, this match rightly comes with an asterisk next to it.
Final Grade: Incomplete
I can’t reasonably pass judgement on Harry’s performance as a whole given the circumstances. You can gain points for overcoming massive, unfair obstacles as Harry has done in the past, but you certainly don’t deserve to lose points if you can’t overcome them. The brief section of the match in which Harry was unencumbered could’ve been better, but it’s tough to knock Harry for that.
Vs. Ravenclaw
Match Summary
In fair conditions, Harry and Gryffindor take on Ravenclaw. This is Harry’s first match riding his new Firebolt, which is described as the “fastest broom in the world”. The match starts and Harry is followed closely by Ravenclaw Seeker Cho Chang who he has developed a bit of a crush on. Cho keeps darting in front of Harry, forcing him to change direction. Harry spots the Snitch and dives for it. He almost gets to it, but is forced to veer out of the way to dodge a Bludger and loses sight of the little golden ball.
Meanwhile, Gryffindor has jumped out to an 80–0 lead. But Ravenclaw eventually claws back and scores three goals to cut the deficit to 80–30. Harry spots the Snitch again, but is blocked by Cho. Rather than try to blow past her, Harry swerves to avoid a collision. This prompts a reprimand from Wood who yells “HARRY THIS IS NO TIME TO BE A GENTLEMAN… KNOCK HER OFF HER BROOM IF YOU HAVE TO” (POA 261).
Cho continues to mark Harry rather than look for the Snitch herself. Frustrated by this, Harry fakes like he’s seen the Snitch and goes into a steep dive. As Harry pulls up, he actually spots the Snitch across the pitch. Harry races towards the Snitch with Cho behind him, but before he can get to it, several Dementors appear on the ground. Harry instinctively casts the Patronus Charm at the hooded figures before turning his attention back to the Snitch which he catches rather easily. Gryffindor wins 230 to 30. The Dementors, it turns out, were just Malfoy and his Slytherin cronies disguised in hoods, attempting to distract Harry.
Analysis
Harry’s first match with the new Firebolt goes just as well you might expect. He’s got the fastest broom on the pitch by a long shot. All the Ravenclaw players except Cho are riding Cleansweep Sevens, a solid broomstick, but clearly nowhere near the Firebolt’s capability. Cho is riding an even worse broomstick; a Comet Two Sixty, which Wood says “is going to look like a joke next to the Firebolt.” (POA 254). And it clearly shows as Harry easily outruns Cho. But despite her “joke” of a broom, Cho is still holding her own against Harry and he remarks that she was “undoubtedly a very good flier” (POA 260).
Cho smartly realizes that she can’t compete with Harry on pure speed and instead flies interference on him. This proves successful when she blocks him from getting the Snitch earlier in the match. Cho is clearly the savvier flier here and she does everything she can to prevent Harry from getting the Snitch. For his part, Harry certainly let his attraction for Cho get in the way of his Quidditch game. As Wood points out, Harry shouldn’t have been such a gentlemen. I see this as a major knock against Harry’s performance. He’s letting his personal feelings distract him from winning the match. That’s not the mark of a great Seeker.
In the end, Harry’s eventual catch of the Snitch is largely due to the Firebolt. There was simply no way that Cho and her Comet Two Sixty could’ve kept up with Harry in a dead sprint to the Snitch. Had she had a better broom, Cho would’ve had a fighting chance. She really outflew Harry in this matchup and showed a lot of talent. Put them in equal brooms and I think Cho clearly wins. Put Cho in the Firebolt and Harry in the Comet Two Sixty and Cho dusts him no question.
Since we’re on the subject, who let Cho fly on such abysmally slow broom to begin with?!? I get that not every team has a Lucius Malfoy who can drop thousands of galleons on a set of Nimbus 2001s, but some Ravenclaw fan has got to step up to make sure their Seeker isn’t going against the wizarding equivalent of a Ferrari with the likes of a 1981 Ford Pinto. Ravenclaws are supposed to be smart! There has to be at least one rich alum who loves Quidditch and doesn’t want to see their Seeker get embarrassed. But I digress.
Final Grade: B-
Ultimately, I think this is a Firebolt-aided win. Yes, Harry pulls some great moves and deserves style points for swiftly dealing with Malfoy’s prank, but he was out-flown by Cho and misses several opportunities to end the match earlier than he did.
Vs. Slytherin
Match Summary:
This one is for all the gobstones. Gryffindor has to beat Slytherin by at least 210 points to win the Quidditch Cup. This means Harry can’t catch the Snitch unless Gryffindor is six goals up. Slytherin opts for a lineup of size over skill, clearly trying to physically intimidate Gryffindor. George stops an early attack from Slytherin with a well-placed Bludger. Angelina Johnson recovers for Gryffindor and scores easily. During the celebration, Marcus Flint deliberately collides with her. In retaliation, Fred hits Flint with a Bludger and each team is awarded a penalty shot. Alicia Spinnet scores for Gryffindor, but Wood saves Flint’s shot.
The chippy play continues as Slytherin commits another penalty and Gryffindor extends their lead to 30–0. Harry spots the Snitch, but knowing that he can’t catch it yet until Gryffindor is up by 60, he turns around and fakes like he has seen the Snitch on the opposite end of the pitch. This heads-up move draws Malfoy away from the Snitch’s actual location and keeps Gryffindor’s hopes alive. Harry then makes a nifty move to avoid both Slytherin Beaters trying to attack him, causing the two to collide.
A few more Slytherin penalties allow Gryffindor to go up 70–10. If Harry catches the Snitch now, Gryffindor wins the Cup. Harry promptly sees the Snitch and speeds after it, but Malfoy illegally grabs the tail of Harry’s Firebolt, slowing him down. The teams trade goals again and with the score 80–20 in favor of Gryffindor, Harry sees Malfoy go into a dive after the Snitch. Malfoy is clearly in front, but the speed of the Firebolt makes up the ground and Harry knocks Malfoy’s arm out of the way at the last second to catch the Snitch. Gryffindor wins 230–20 and captures the Quidditch Cup for the first time in eight years.
Analysis
I think this is another Firebolt-aided win, but not nearly as much as the previous match. First of all, Malfoy is on a Nimbus 2001, which is a bit slower than the Firebolt, but still a world class broomstick. Malfoy is certainly on more equal footing with Harry equipment-wise than Cho was. What Malfoy doesn’t have though are Cho’s flying skills. He’s clearly outclassed by Harry for most of the match. Harry’s diversion to lure Malfoy away from the Snitch was brilliant and kept Gryffindor in the game.
That being said, Malfoy does spot the Snitch before Harry on the decisive chase. In fact, Malfoy is described as “miles ahead” (POA 312). Was Harry able to make up the difference due to the Firebolt’s raw speed or his own natural flying ability? I say a bit of both. He definitely doesn’t catch up to Malfoy without the Firebolt. In fact, Harry seems to be relying more on the Firebolt. He even pleads with his broom: ‘“Go! Go! Go!’ Harry urged his broom’” (POA 312). That seems to indicate that the Firebolt is doing most of the heavy lifting here rather than Harry. He’s just along for the ride at that point. Harry does deserve credit for knocking Malfoy’s arm aside and catching the snitch, but I still don’t think he gets to that point if he’s not on the Firebolt. He may not even have gotten there if he was on a Nimbus 2001 like Malfoy. The margin for error was so small that only the Firebolt could’ve made the difference.
Also, I think it’s important to note here that Harry’s supporting cast is far better than Malfoy’s. This Gryffindor team has been together for three years and they’re completely in sync and each member is at their absolute apex. Oliver Wood is in his 7th year with loads of experience. He’s a phenomenal Keeper who would go on to play professionally and he looks every bit the part in this match. You can count the number of goals he allows this season on one hand. Angelina Johnson, Alicia Spinnet and Katie Bell are a brilliant and efficient goal-scoring trio. They easily put Gryffindor up by the 60 points needed. Any lesser group of Chasers probably wouldn’t be able to amass that lead so quickly. Harry catching the Snitch wouldn’t have mattered if not for the outstanding play of Gryffindor’s Chasers. And not to be forgotten, the Weasley twins are probably the best beaters at Hogwarts. Add in Harry and the ’93-’94 Gryffindor team was a real Murderer’s Row on broomsticks. They’re head and shoulders better than Slytherin and everyone knows it. That’s why Slytherin had to resort to committing penalties and brutish acts of violence in an attempt to rattle Gryffindor. They just couldn’t hang.
Final Grade: B+
Excellent performance from Gryffindor overall. Harry was great too, but he honestly was Gryffindor’s weakest link in this match. Yes, he caught the Snitch, but due in large part to the Firebolt. Harry also never should never have let a scrub like Malfoy get the jump on him in the first place. Harry’s slow reaction nearly cost Gryffindor the Cup despite clearly being the superior team.
1995–96 Season
Vs. Slytherin
Match Summary
The Triwizard Tournament cancelled Quidditch for the 1994–95 season so this is the first Quidditch we get in a while. With Wood graduated and off to the professional ranks, Ron becomes Gryffindor’s new Keeper and Angelina is elevated to Captain. New on the Slytherin side are Malfoy’s henchmen Crabbe and Goyle as Beaters. The Slytherin fans in the stands immediately pounce on Ron’s insecurities by breaking out their “Weasley is our King” chant. Ron is clearly rattled by this and Harry even momentarily abandons his search for the Snitch to watch Ron miss badly on his first save attempt. Slytherin goes up 10–0. Harry, still distracted by the chanting and his concern for Ron has to be reminded by Angelina to get back to looking for the Snitch. Meanwhile, Ron quickly lets in three more goals. Angelina responds with one of her own to put Gryffindor on the board, but they still trail 40–10.
At long last, Harry finally sees the Snitch and makes a dive. Malfoy is across the pitch and follows suit. The Snitch changes direction, going closer towards Malfoy. Harry wheels his Firebolt around and closes the gap on Malfoy. They’re neck and neck, both reaching out for the Snitch, but Harry barely beats Malfoy to it again. Gryffindor wins 160–40.
After the match, Malfoy taunts Harry and Weasley twins, making crude jokes about both of their families. Harry and Fred attack Malfoy and are given lifetime bans (along with George) from Quidditch by Professor Umbridge.
Analysis
In the grand scheme of the things, Harry probably has never had a more timely catch of the Snitch than he did here. With Ron’s confidence completely shot, Slytherin would have undoubtedly scored more goals and the deficit could have grown insurmountable. There was a very real chance that if the match had gone longer, Gryffindor could have fallen behind by more than 150 points. Ron was simply that bad. In fact, I think Ron’s poor play had an effect on the entire team. Gryffindor’s Chaser trio were not nearly as crisp as they were in their previous match against Slytherin. It’s clear that Wood was a key safety valve for Gryffindor. They never had to worry about letting too many goals in with Wood guarding the hoops. The drop-off at Keeper for Gryffindor allows Slytherin to finally be on equal footing talent-wise with their rivals. Slytherin clearly played better overall in this match and if Harry hadn’t caught the Snitch when he did, it would have gotten ugly fast.
Despite Harry’s heroics, he still deserves some criticism for his performance, mainly getting distracted by the chant and the drama surrounding Ron. “Harry realized that he had been stationary in midair for more than minute, watching the progress of the match without sparing a thought to the whereabouts of the Snitch” (OOTP 408).” That’s just pure Seeker malpractice on Harry’s part. A minute may not seem like a long time, but it’s an eternity in Quidditch terms. I get that Harry is concerned for Ron, but if he really wants to help his friend, he needs to just catch the Snitch quickly to end the suffering. Harry and Gryffindor are extremely lucky that Malfoy kinda sucks and wasn’t able to spot the Snitch during the time Harry was distracted.
I give Harry credit for spotting the Snitch first and even though the Firebolt probably aided him, I’m not going to split hairs with the Firebolt vs Nimbus 2001 debate. They’re almost on equal footing, plus Harry is far more talented than Malfoy anyway so I think he still catches the Snitch if they’re riding the same model broom.
Final Grade: B
Harry loses major points for causally chilling out while Gryffindor’s hopes were collapsing around him. He still catches the Snitch, but damn he nearly screwed the whole thing up.
Side Note: Pour some butterbeer out for Fred and George. This was their last ever match for Gryffindor. It’s also truly the end of an era. Angelina and Alicia graduate after this year and Harry never gets to play with the core group of players from his first three years again.
Vs. Hufflepuff
Match Summary
With Harry suspended, Gryffindor finally has an adequate reserve Seeker and inserts Ginny Weasley into the lineup. The team’s replacements for Fred and George are far less competent. Andrew Kirke and Jack Sloper (yeah, he’s as bad as his name suggests) are apparently the best Gryffindor can muster. Things look bleak for Gryffindor and Fred offers a grim assessment on the eve of the matchup against Hufflepuff. “They’re going to be slaughtered. They’re complete rubbish without us.” (OOTP 573).
The match isn’t described in too much detail in the book, but we are told it was 22 minutes long, but clearly enough time for Gryffindor to make a comedy of errors. Ron lets in 24 goals, apparently at a rate of more than one a minute. That’s impressively bad, honestly. Not to be outdone, Sloper misses a Bludger and instead hits Angelina in the face with his bat. Kirke freaks out when a Hufflepuff Chaser flies straight at him and topples off his broom.
At one point in the match, Harry notices from the stands that Ginny sees the Snitch fluttering by Kirke’s knee, but hesitates, perhaps costing her the catch. Gryffindor falls behind by 160 points when Ginny catches the Snitch out from under the Hufflepuff Seeker’s nose. That ends the match, but Hufflefpuff wins 240–230.
Analysis
Despite missing a potential opportunity to grab the Snitch earlier, Ginny is clearly not the weak link of the replacements, in fact most observers seem impressed by her flying and she does catch the Snitch, showing her pure talent. I’ll give Ginny a pass for not immediately going at the Snitch when it was by Kirke. As evidenced by Sloper accidentally hitting Angelina, Gryffindor’s new Beaters are a threat to themselves and their teammates alike. If Ginny goes charging right at Kirke, he probably ends up colliding with her, or just falling off his broom like he did with the Hufflepuff player earlier. Ginny probably saved both herself and Kirke from severe bodily injury by not immediately going after the Snitch.
It’s easy for Harry to be an armchair-Seeker and think that he could’ve caught the Snitch when it was by Kirke, but I still think Kirke finds a way to inadvertently prevent the catch. I will say this for Harry. He doesn’t always spot the Snitch first, but he’s usually pretty decisive about chasing it once he sees it. He’s always quick into a dive as we’ve seen in many of his past matches. I say he dives straight for Kirke, but they collide and both end up in the hospital wing.
My final verdict is that Gryffindor still loses even if Harry plays, assuming Fred and George are still suspended. The twins were always the safety blanket for the entire team. Hardly any non-rogue Bludgers got past their defense. With the twins gone, and their replacements doing more harm than good, it’s no wonder that Gryffindor was behind by so much. In fact, I find it extremely impressive that the Chasers managed to put eight goals through the hoops in just 22 minutes despite having no protection from Bludgers. If the twins play, this is a sure win for Gryffindor.
Vs. Ravenclaw
Match Summary
The “Ron Weasley Revenge Game” or perhaps just the “Weasley is our King Game”. Thanks to Hufflepuff beating Slytherin, Gryffindor only needs to beat Ravenclaw to improbably defend their Quidditch Cup in spite of their makeshift squad. Ron gives up a quick goal and then we don’t see any more of the action described on the page because Harry and Hermione leave the stands to accompany Hagrid to the Forbidden Forest. When they return hours later, Gryffindor has won the match and the Cup, and Ron is hailed as a hero for making many miraculous saves. We’re told later that Ginny catches the Snitch right out from under Cho’s nose.
Analysis
Hard to do much of a breakdown here given the lack of specific details, but the win is obviously due in large part to Ron finally finding his form as a Keeper. It seems like he really locked down Ravenclaw after the early goal. We don’t know the final score, but I think it’s safe to assume that Gryffindor was in the lead just before Ginny caught the Snitch.
Kudos to Ginny for going toe-to-toe with Cho and coming away with the Snitch. It’s fair to say that Cho isn’t quite as good here as she was in ’93-’94. She’s been under a ton of stress since the death of her late boyfriend Cedric, followed by her whirlwind romance with Harry. Hermione mentions earlier in the book that Cho is “afraid she’s going to be thrown off the Ravenclaw Quidditch team because she’s been flying so badly” (OOTP 459). So Cho is definitely in a bit of a funk this year, but I have to assume that she must’ve been somewhat competent for Ravenclaw to have won at least one of their previous matches. Assuming Cho is still rolling with her Comet Two Sixty that puts her at relatively even level with Ginny who is likely riding some version of a Cleansweep like her brothers.
But does Harry catch the snitch if he plays? We saw from their previous matchup how important the Firebolt was to Harry’s victory over Cho. He’s still got the broomstick advantage, but I honestly wonder if Harry could keep his emotions in check going up against his ex-girlfriend. Even watching Cho from the stands, Harry’s feelings are all over the place. “Harry felt his stomach perform, less of a back flip, more of a feeble lurch as Cho walked out onto the pitch…Even the sight of her chatting animatedly to Roger Davies as they prepared to mount their brooms caused him only a slight twinge of jealousy” (OOTP 684). Harry’s trying to tell himself he’s not jealous, but he clearly still has some unresolved issues with Cho and I’m not sure how that would manifest itself if they were matched up in the air. We saw Harry get thrown off his game by his budding crush on Cho in their first match. Those emotions are now a million times more complicated after their failed romance. I’m honestly not sure what Harry would do, but he’s proven to be easily distracted by minor things on the Quidditch pitch so I think it’s fair to say that it would break his concentration somewhat. I think Ginny is a much safer bet in this match. She’s a no-nonsense, cold-blooded killer in the air. I much prefer her to Harry’s Jekyll and Hyde act.
1996–97 Season
Vs. Slytherin
Match Summary
It’s the dawn of a new era for Gryffindor Quidditch. Angelina and Alicia are gone and Harry is the new Captain. Longtime Chaser Katie Bell (who honestly should be the Captain) is joined by Ginny, making the move over from Seeker, and newcomer Demelza Robbins. Jimmy Peakes and Ritchie Coote are the new Beaters and while they’re not quite Fred and George, they’re certainly massive upgrades over Kirke and Sloper. Ron retains his position as Keeper at the tryouts thanks to Hermione confunding Cormac McLaggen. Unfortunately Katie gets cursed by a necklace intended for Dumbledore and Dean Thomas takes her place prior to the first match.
The bigger problem for Gryffindor leading up to the match is that Ron has lost all his confidence from the end of the previous season and has a disastrous string of practices. To help give Ron an edge, Harry fakes like he’s put Felix Felicis in Ron’s drink. Malfoy has called in sick so some dude called Harper starts at Seeker for Slytherin.
The match starts and Harry’s new lineup immediately pays dividends. After a half hour, Gryffindor goes up 60–0, with Ginny scoring four times and Ron making save after save. Gryffindor’s lead stretches to a hundred when suddenly Harper rams into Harry and gets some trash talk in before speeding off. An enraged Harry gives chase intending to ram Harper back, but fails to realize that Harper has actually spotted the Snitch. By the time Harry comes to his senses, Harper is still ahead of him and even the speed of the Firebolt doesn’t seem to be enough to close the gap. With Harper feet from the Snitch, Harry resorts to a taunt. “How much did Malfoy pay you to come on instead of him,” (HBP 297) Harry yells. It’s enough to make Harper double-take and fumble the Snitch which gives Harry enough time to catch it. Gryffindor wins.
Analysis
Great match for Harry the Captain, bad match for Harry the Seeker. All of Harry’s decisions as Captain pay off beautifully from making Ron think he has “liquid luck”, to the overall outstanding play of the team that he’s put together. But all that is nearly undone by another questionable performance from Harry as a Seeker. For the third time in the last four matches, the opposing Seeker spots the Snitch before Harry and gets a head start. And just the like the other three times, the Firebolt plays a big role in Harry’s recovery. It’s unclear whether the Slytherin team still has their set of Nimbus 2001s now that most of the players who received the original ones have graduated and Lucius Malfoy is in jail. Draco doesn’t seem like the type to lend his broom to Harper so I’d say that Harper is flying on a solid broom, but a step below the Nimbus class. This once again gives Harry a massive speed advantage and it helps him close the gap after Harper is clearly ahead. But if it wasn’t for Harry’s last ditch taunt and an epic choke job from Harper, Slytherin wins.
Final Grade: C+
At the risk of sounding like a broken record, Harry continues to let little things distract him on the Quidditch pitch and it’s a major recurring problem that nearly costs Gryffindor again. Harry was so focused on getting revenge on Harper that he failed to notice the Snitch when it first appeared. Harper literally has it in his hands, but can’t close the deal. Heck, even Malfoy probably catches that. Had it been any other competent Seeker, Harry would’ve been beaten. This is the Quidditch equivalent of a baseball player reaching base on an error. Harry doesn’t catch the Snitch if Harper doesn’t fumble, it’s as simple as that.
Vs. Hufflepuff
This turns out to be Harry’s last ever match for Gryffindor and his career ends rather unceremoniously. With Ron in the hospital wing after narrowly surviving drinking poisoned mead, Harry has no choice but to start McLaggen at Keeper. On the way down to the pitch, Harry notices Malfoy suspiciously walking away from the stadium. Harry, who is still trying to figure out what Malfoy has been up to, is clearly bothered by this. He’s late to meet with his team and already seems off his game.
The match starts and Harry sets out looking for the Snitch, but McLaggen is too busy yelling instructions at the Gryffindors and lets a goal in. Harry and McLaggen exchange angry words, but McLaggen keeps letting goals in and after a while Hufflepuff amasses a 70–40 lead. Suddenly, and for reasons passing understanding, McLaggen grabs Peakes’s bat, demonstrating how he would like Peakes to hit a Bludger. Harry has had enough of McLaggen’s antics and speeds towards his insubordinate Keeper, but he ends up flying right into the Bludger that McLaggen has hit. Harry is knocked out. Hufflepuff wins 320–60.
Analysis
This is almost a reverse of the previous match. Terrible performance by Harry the Captain that completely destroys any chance of a Gryffindor victory. It all starts with Harry being distracted by Malfoy, which causes him to be late to the final pre-match meeting. In that time, McLaggen seemed to install himself as acting Captain and began barking orders to the rest of the team. McLaggen was always an insufferable and arrogant asshole, but if Harry had been more on top of things, he could’ve set McLaggen straight and prevented some of the antics we saw on the pitch. Instead, Harry has lost any ability to control McLaggen who has no respect for Harry’s leadership. We don’t even get to see Harry’s performance as a Seeker because of his disastrous mismanagement. Put simply, Harry has no one to blame but himself for this clusterfuck.
Final Grade: F
Side note: Let’s take a moment to appreciate that this is Hufflepuff’s third consecutive win against Gryffindor. As a House, Huffelpuff is often the butt of many jokes, but there is no denying that they certainly had Gryffindor’s number in the nineties. Not only is Hufflepuff the only team to beat Gryffindor when Harry plays, but they also have a winning record against Gryffindor to boot, with their only loss coming in Harry’s first year. Due to the match cancellations in ’92-’93 and ’94-‘95, Hufflepuff casually goes at least six years without losing to Gryffindor. In fact, Hufflepuff’s unbeaten streak may have stretched even longer since it is unlikely that Quidditch was played at Hogwarts under the Death Eater regime in ‘97-’98. If Hufflepuff managed to beat Gryffindor when Quidditch presumably resumed in ’98-’99, then a whole generation of Gryffindors would have gone through their entire Hogwarts tenure without seeing their squad beat the supposedly second-rate House in Hufflepuff. Tough stuff for Gryffindor.
Vs. Ravenclaw
Match Summary
For the second year in a row, Harry goes and gets himself suspended and can’t participate in the Cup-deciding match with Ravenclaw. Harry is in detention for the entirety of the match so we don’t get it described to us which means we know even fewer details about this match than the previous year’s clash with Ravenclaw. What we do know is that due to Gryffindor’s lopsided loss to Hufflepuff, they must beat Ravenclaw by 300 points to clinch the Cup. Cho is again matched up against Ginny who returns to the Seeker position in Harry’s place and Dean Thomas fills in for Ginny at Chaser. In the end, Gryffindor manages to pull off that steep task and wins 450–140.
Analysis
We don’t know much about this match, but it’s clearly impressive that Gryffindor could outscore Ravenclaw by that much, especially with their top goal-scorer (Ginny) back at the Seeker position in place of Harry. The trio of Katie Bell, Demelza Robbins and Dean Thomas managed to score 30 goals on Ravenclaw, a truly amazing feat. Ron seems to have performed well again, clearly outplaying his Ravenclaw counterpart. To amass this many goals, the game probably went on for quite a while. I imagine that Ginny probably used a lot of delay tactics and fakes to keep Cho away from the Snitch until Gryffindor was up by the necessary amount of points to win.
Harry showed the ability to execute that tactic in his third year match against Malfoy and I’m sure he could’ve done it again here. With most of his feelings for Cho resolved, I don’t think going up against her would be as much of a problem as it would have been if they had met the previous year. What I do worry about with Harry is what kind of distractions a long game might throw at him. We’ve seen him get flustered time and time again by little things. It would take just one distraction to come up in this game that might allow Cho to catch the Snitch. Again, I much prefer Ginny’s focus than Harry’s. I think she would be much more disciplined in this match and that’s what it would take to win. Gryffindor probably wins if Harry plays, but I still think Ginny gives them a better chance. This marks two years in a row that Ginny subs for Harry and leads Gryffindor to the Cup. You could say she’s the Nick Foles to Harry’s Carson Wentz. Ginny’s not nearly as talented as Harry on paper, but she’s got the clutch gene and comes through when it matters most.
Conclusion
Alright, so this turned out to be embarrassingly long, but I think I’ve laid out the good, the bad and the ugly from Harry’s Quidditch career. Don’t get me wrong, he’s certainly a great Quidditch player, but I think Harry is overrated and undisciplined. I believe Harry peaked in his first and second years. He overcame some massive obstacles to win his early games such as the bucking broomstick and the rogue Bludger. But I think Harry regresses badly by the time we get to year three. In fact, I think acquiring the Firebolt actually made Harry a worse Quidditch player. Having the fastest broom gives him a false sense of security and he lets his opposing Seekers get head starts on the Snitch on three different occasions. He’s only able to pull out victories due to a combination of the Firebolt’s speed and in the case of the match against Harper, sheer dumb luck. Harry’s overall record is 7–2, but I honestly think his record would be 5–4 if he doesn’t have the Firebolt, with the year three and year six matches against Slytherin becoming losses.
Harry’s inability to stay completely focused throughout an entire match is another major issue. It’s so maddening that Harry has the fortitude to survive the bucking broomstick and rogue Bludger, but he lets silly little things like his crush on Cho, Slytherin’s rough play, his concern for Ron and his obsession with Malfoy take his focus away from the Snitch. My theory is that younger Harry was a better Quidditch player because he hadn’t fully found his self-confidence. He needed to be completely laser focused at all times for fear of failure. But once Harry tasted success, he let his confidence turn into a bit of arrogance, which resulted in sloppy play. Harry should have been getting even better as he progressed at Hogwarts, but he actually got worse and that’s concerning.
I’m inclined to separate Harry’s Quidditch career into two parts: “Nimbus Harry” and “Firebolt Harry”. “Nimbus Harry” provided hope to a Gryffindor team that hadn’t experienced success in years. He was fearless, decisive and resilient, which allowed him to make some seriously impressive Snitch captures that I don’t think any other Seeker could have under the circumstances. “Firebolt Harry” still had a lot of that skill, but he was much more inconsistent and unreliable. On-pitch distraction issues aside, Harry gets himself suspended or has to leave the match early due to injury for four of Gryffindor’s eight matches in the Firebolt era. How can a Seeker truly be valuable to their team if the team can’t rely on them?
There’s hardly a drop-off at all when Gryffindor goes from “Firebolt Harry” to Ginny. And as I’ve stated, I think Ginny was uniquely better suited to win the Cup-clinching matches against Ravenclaw in years five and six.
So there you have it, “Nimbus Harry” was a legend, but “Firebolt Harry” was just a past-his-prime flier living off his reputation along with his ridiculously fast broomstick. They say you always remember your first broomstick and I believe that Harry’s Nimbus 2000 was truly special. It helped him discover his talent, value and worth in a wizarding world that was still intimidating and foreign to him. He caught that first Snitch with his mouth and a legend was born. But the legend died on a fateful, rainy day in 1993 when Dementors caused the Chosen One to fall from the sky and the blustery winds blew his beloved Nimbus 2000 into the Whomping Willow where a truly magnificent broomstick — along with a Quidditch career for the ages — met a sudden and unmagical end.
