CHAPTER 9 QUIDDITCH
Quidditch is a sport that is played at all the major schools including Hogwarts. It does not exist so much in the muggle world because it requires flying ability. Even so, the muggles imitate it while pretending to fly.
It is important for muggles to pretend because it makes them feel better about themselves. There is nothing wrong with that according to psychologists. You can understand why muggles want to feel better about themselves when you consider all their limitations. It is no wonder that muggles like midgets.
Muggles can't fly. Most of them can't do magickal spells. They aren't good at dark arts. They can't time travel. We could go on and on comparing them unfavorably to the magickal peoples but in the interests of time we will stop here. It is also impolite to hurt their feelings as some of them will be reading this book.
In Harry's world, though, quidditch is more important than football or baseball. They don't even play those at Hogwarts!
Let me tell you about the time Ron tried out for the quidditch team. He was surprisingly good at the flying. But then his father, Mr. Weasely, came by and gave him a talking to. After that, Ron stopped flying and went back home. Mr. Weselly cast a spell so that the other children and the coach did not remember Ron's abilities.
To this point, it is unclear why this happened. It was probably because of shame, as most (experts say 73%) actions are based on shame. But the particularity of the shame is not apparent to the naked eye.
Shame is a funny thing. It is something that exists in all worlds including the muggle and magick worlds. There is a high chance it exists in alien worlds too. If shame were non-existent, imagine how different we would all be. But it is unrealistic to dwell on things that we cannot change. So we will now continue with quidditch.
Harry played a position called "seeker". He learned later that his father, James, had been a seeker as a boy. It is hard to compare them though because the game has changed so much over the years. It is really like apples and oranges.
Through quidditch, Harry came to terms with his self. Just as in real life, the Harry Potters are able to express themselves through sports. Harry also liked cricket, lacrosse and pro wrestling. The only sport Harry did not like was dwarf tossing because he found it inhumane. Tell that to the dwarves who want to make a living! These are the sort of dilemmas we face in life. Sometimes we have to choose between two difficult things, like maybe two different kinds of monsters. Neither seems like a good choice, but there are no other paths. Perhaps that is what leads to greatness. Of course, you could die too.
Others played the game of quidditch as well. But there are very few quidditch players you would have heard of.
Today Ron showed up at Quidditch and declared to Harry that he, not Harry, now owned the elf. Harry thought that Ron was making an apology, and he gave Ron a hug. Harry understood that his house elf would be returned tomorrow. He apparently did not understand Ron's new powers of speech.