Last Thursday marked the inaugural meeting of the Quidditch Club. Inspired by the Harry Potter sport played on broomsticks, Quidditch has recently been made into a sport that even non- wizards can play. Allison King (’11) and Vivian Qin (’11), the founders of Quidditch club, have always been Harry Potter fans. The idea for the club came to them when “CNN did a program about colleges forming Quidditch teams last spring,” said King, and the girls decided to create their own team.

At the first meeting of the club, Allison and Vivian explained the rules of Quidditch. Players must hold a broom between their legs at all times and because there cannot be a flying Snitch (the fastest and smallest ball used in the game of Quidditch), a cross country player will take its place and run around the field instead. The goal of the game is to score points by shooting the “quaffle” into hoops for points and catch the human Snitch. Allison and Vivian have tried to alter the rules so that non-wizarding people can play, but still keep the authenticity of the game.

“I just thought that my group of friends would come, but a lot people did,” said Vivian. Over 20 students came to the first meeting. Although this may mean some people have to sit out during a game, if the Quidditch Club raises enough money for equipment, there can be multiple games occurring at once. The Quidditch Club will meet once or twice a month for the rest of the school year. Quidditch Club is an excellent way to bring the magical world to life and a definite must for all Harry Potter fans at East.