Disclaimer: Harry Potter and Quidditch are the property of JK Rowling. I have not made and will not make any money from this work.
"Hey Harry, did you see? The new rule changes for the upcoming Quidditch season have been announced!" Ron said excitedly as he entered Harry and Hermione's compartment on the Hogwarts Express.
"Shh! Honestly, Ron, can't you see someone's sleeping?" chided Hermione in a loud whisper. Ron looked down, properly abashed, as he noticed an adult in tattered secondhand robes that looked even worse than his sleeping in the corner.
"He's probably fine," Harry consoled him. "He didn't wake up when we put our trunks up or when the whistle blew earlier. And what do you mean, rule changes? I haven't heard a thing all summer."
"Oh right, the muggles," said Ron as he remembered the Dursleys. "Well, the year before every Quidditch World Cup, the International Quidditch Committee, or IQC for short, meets to review the rules of quidditch and make adjustments as necessary."
"Wait," interrupted Harry, "the year before each World Cup? So the teams only get one year to get used to any rule changes?"
"No, of course not," said Ron. "The previous version of the rules won't go into effect until the next World Cup in five years, but all the professional and minor league teams start playing with the new rules right away, as does Hogwarts."
"Why's that?" Harry asked, confused.
Hermione answered, "The World Cup teams start practicing together this year and won't be on their respective professional teams all year. Meanwhile, this gives the other teams the opportunity to adjust to the new rules as soon as possible." She trailed off, seeing that Harry and Ron were gaping at her. "What? I may not like Quidditch, but that doesn't mean I didn't read up on it. Plus, it's important to my friends," she added while blushing.
Harry and Ron grinned at her. "Thanks, Hermione," said Harry. He turned to Ron, "So what's the big deal?"
"Well, usually it's not a big deal at all. They'll just change the speed of the snitch, weight of the bludgers, acceptable brooms, basic things like that," answered Ron. "But this year, a bunch of players, coaches, and owners convinced the Committee to make a major rule change for the first time in over 300 years!"
"What?" shrieked Hermione, completely forgetting about the sleeping man beside them. "That's when the bludgers were introduced!"
"Hermione, shh! Honestly!" Harry playfully whispered. Ron started chuckling as Hermione went red with embarrassment. "So why the change? And what is it?" he asked as he turned to Ron.
"Well, these people are of a group that say that Seekers have too much control over the outcome of a game. Sorry, mate," he said as Harry's face narrowed in indignation.
"They're right, in a sense, Harry," Hermione said quietly. "One of the reasons I don't like the game is that the Seeker seems like it's the only important position. Our team is pretty fantastic, but every time you've caught the snitch, Gryffindor has been up by less than 150 points. If your opponent had beaten you to it, they would have won regardless of what the rest of your team did. That's terrible for a sport."
"It didn't always use to be like that," Ron said, defending the sport. "100, even as recently as 50 years ago, snitches were much more maneuverable than brooms. 150 points was only rarely enough to decide a game. Now, though? Your Nimbus can easily outrun anything but a professional snitch in a straight line, and it can turn nearly as sharply. The Firebolt – you saw those, right? – is even better.
"Even with all that, the group trying to balance the rules wasn't able to get anywhere. Then, this year Bulgaria qualified for the World Cup with Victor Krum, the seeker, scoring all but 100 of his team's points – in a 6 game tournament. That got the movement a lot of popularity and made the Committee take notice."
"So, what did they settle on?" asked Harry. Hermione leaned forward, also intrigued.
"I'm getting there, hold on! Now, even though people agreed the roles needed more balance, there wasn't an agreement on how to go about doing it. Some people wanted to get rid of the Seeker altogether and use a time clock." He paused at Harry's shocked, horrified gasp. "I know, awful right? Fortunately, that idea never got anywhere. Others wanted the value of the snitch to be reduced to somewhere between 50 and 100 points, but still have it end the game. A few other proposals were mentioned, but I don't remember them right now. Everyone was wondering what the Committee would settle on, and they released their updated rules a few days ago."
He paused for effect. When Harry looked like he was about to burst, he laughed and said, "They didn't change the Seeker position at all, mate. What they did is really crazy. They changed the value of the hoops."
"What do you mean?" asked Hermione.
"You know how before now, all the hoops were the same size and worth 10 points? They all used to be 8 feet in diameter; now one is 10, another is 4, and the last is one and a half. The 10 foot wide one is still worth 10 points, but the 4 foot one is worth 30, and the smallest one is worth 50."
"So, someone can score three times and match the 150 you'd earn from catching the snitch," said Hermione.
"Exactly. It's going to completely change the way Keepers and Chasers play," said Ron.
"What do you mean, O Great Strategist?" asked Harry.
"Well, Young Grasshopper, if you're a Chaser, do you try to hit the 50 or go for the easier 30 or 10? If you're a Keeper, where do you guard? The 50 and 30 will be on opposite sides of the 10, so you can't spend all your time in front of one of those. But, not many people will aim at the 10, so you'll have to choose one or the other. Me, if I'm a Chaser I aim exclusively at the 30 unless I can catch the Keeper badly out of position on the 50. And, if I'm a Keeper I sit in front of the 10 near the 30, unless the other team is more likely to shoot for the 50."
"Sounds interesting," said Harry.
"Yea, I might actually enjoy Quidditch for once," Hermione agreed. They settled in for the long train ride.
Gryffindor's second Quidditch match of the season was against Slytherin, and it promised to be even more exciting than the first. Unfortunately, the excitement of the first match, against Hufflepuff, was mostly caused by the appearance of the Dementors and subsequent panic of the crowd rather than the actual match. Although Cedric Diggory caught the snitch after the Dementors knocked Harry off his broom, Hufflepuff still lost 410-370 thanks to the new rules. A few days after the match, when Harry was feeling better, Hermione told him that under the old rules Hufflepuff would have won if every goal was worth 10 points. However, with the Gryffindor chasers only needing to score five or three times to match Diggory's catch, Gryffindor won handily. That, more than anything, made Harry think the rule change had been a success.
Two mornings before the match, Professor McGonagall brought Harry his Firebolt, declaring it clear of any harmful spells. She did admonish him to be "more careful about accepting gifts from generous anonymous people, especially when a wealthy, murderous psychopath is out for your head." That and her glare prompted him to run to Hermione and beg her forgiveness for treating her so poorly.
Oliver Wood, Gryffindor's captain, was very nervous about the upcoming game and was therefore more excited than normal to have his star seeker back. Even with the new rules, 150 points was nothing to scoff at. Still, the Slytherins had a well-earned reputation for playing dirty. They used all manner of cheap shots, barely legal, and often illegal moves to get the Quaffle, disrupt the opposing Seeker, distract the Keeper, and give themselves an advantage.
As it turned out, he needn't have worried so much. In the past, Slytherin was able to win with these questionable tactics because the maximum penalty was 10 points, if the shooter was even able to make it in. However, with the maximum penalty now increased to 50 points, this was no longer as viable a strategy. Unfortunately for Slytherin, engrained styles of play are hard to overcome. Gryffindor earned 200 points off of eight penalty shots – two blocked shots, one 10, two 50, and three 30 point shots – and Wood only allowed two 30 point shots through and no fifties. Harry eventually caught the snitch to give Gryffindor an emphatic 760-250 victory.
A/N: That's it for my first fanfiction! Although the play of the games sounds and looks exciting in the books and movies, respectively, I don't see how anyone can enjoy a sport that places so much emphasis on a single player. No real-world sport is like that. I would have had Gryffindor lose a game with Harry catching the snitch, but the books portray the Gryffindor chasers as the best in the school.