Страница 7 из 10
The Holyhead Harpies is a very old Welsh club (founded 1203) unique among Quidditch teams around the world because it has only ever hired witches. Harpy robes are dark green with a golden talon upon the chest. Th Harpies' defeat of the Heidelberg Harriers in 1953 is widely agreed to have been one of the finest Quidditch games ever seen. Fought over a seven—day period, the game was brought to an end by a spectacular Snitch capture by the Harpy Seeker Gly
This Irish side was founded in 1291 and is popular worldwide for the spirited displays of their leprechaun mascots and the accomplished harp playing of their supporters. The Kestrels wear emerald—green robes with two yellow 'K's back to back on the chest. Darren O'Hare, Kestrel Keeper 1947–60, captained the Irish National Team three times and is credited with the invention of the Chaser Hawkshead Attacking Formation (see Chapter Ten).
The Magpies are the most successful team in the history of the British and Irish League, which they have won thirty—two times. Twice European Champions, the Magpies have fans across the globe. Their many outstanding players include the Seeker Eunice Murray (died 1942), who once petitioned for a 'faster Snitch because this is just too easy', and Hamish MacFarlan (Captain 1957–68), who followed his successful Quidditch career with an equally illustrious period as Head of the Department of Magical Games and Sports. The Magpies wear black and white robes with one magpie on the chest and another on the back.
This team comes from the Isle of Skye, where it was founded in 1292. The 'Prides', as they are known to their fans, wear deep—purple robes with a gold star on the chest. Their most famous Chaser, Catriona McCormack, captained the team to two League wins in the 1960s and played for Scotland thirty—six times. Her daughter Meaghan currently plays Keeper for the team. (Her son Kirley is lead guitarist with the popular wizarding band The Weird Sisters.)
Founded in 1163, Puddlemere United is the oldest team in the League. Puddlemere has twenty—two League wins and two European Cup triumphs to its credit. Its team anthem 'Beat Back Those Bludgers, Boys, and Chuck That Quaffle Here' was recently recorded by the singing sorceress Celestina Warbeck to raise funds for St Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries. Puddlemere players wear navy—blue robes bearing the club emblem of two crossed golden bulrushes.
The Tornados wear sky—blue robes with a double 'T' in dark blue on the chest and back. Founded in 1520, the Tornados enjoyed their greatest period of success in the early twentieth century when, captained by Seeker Roderick Plumpton, they won the League Cup five times in a row, a British and Irish record. Roderick Plumpton played Seeker for England twenty—two times and holds the British record for fastest capture of a Snitch during a game (three and a half seconds, against Caerphilly Catapults, 1921).
This Borders club was founded in 1422 by the seven offspring of a wizarding butcher named Walter Parkin. The four brothers and three sisters were by all accounts a formidable team who rarely lost a match, partly, it is said, because of the intimidation felt by opposing teams at the sight of Walter standing on the sidelines with a wand in one hand and a meat cleaver in the other. A Parkin descendant has often been found on the Wigtown team over the centuries and in tribute to their origins, the players wear blood—red robes with a silver meat cleaver upon the chest.
The Wimbourne Wasps wear horizontally striped robes of yellow and black with a wasp upon their chests. Founded in 1312, the Wasps have been eighteen times League wi
Chapter Eight
The Spread of Quidditch Worldwide
Quidditch was well established in Ireland by the fourteenth century, as proved by Zacharias Mumps's account of a match in 1385: 'A team of Warlocks front Cork flew over for a game in Lancashire and did offend the locals by beating their heroes soundly. The Irishmen knew tricks with the Quaffle that had not been seen in Lancashire before and had to flee the village for fear of their lives when the crowd drew out their wands and gave chase.
Diverse sources show that the game had spread into other parts of Europe by the early fifteenth century. We know that Norway was an early convert to the game (could Goodwin Kneen's cousin Olaf have introduced the game there?) because of the verse written by the poet Ingolfr the Iambic in the early 1400s:
Around the same time, the French wizard Malecrit wrote e following lines in his play Hélas, Je me suis Transfiguré Les Pieds ('Alas, I've Transfigured My Feet'):
Grenouille: I ca
Grapaud: But Grenouille, I ca
Grenouille: You know, Crapaud, that I am to be Keeper this morning. Who will stop the Quaffle if I do not?
The year 1473 saw the first ever Quidditch World Cup, though the nations represented were all European. The nonappearance of teams from more distant nations may be put down to the collapse of owls bearing letters of invitation, the reluctance of those invited to make such a long and perilous journey, or perhaps a simple preference for staying at home.
The final between Transylvania and Flanders has gone down in history as the most violent of all time and many of the fouls then recorded had never been seen before — for instance, the Transfiguration of a Chaser into a polecat, the attempted decapitation of a Keeper with a broadsword and the release, from under the robes of the Transylvanian Captain, of a hundred blood—sucking vampire bats.
The World Cup has since been held every four years, though it was not until the seventeenth century that non—European teams turned up to compete. In 1652 the European Cup was established, and it has been played every three years since.
Of the many superb European teams, perhaps the Bulgarian Vratsa Vultures is most renowned. seven times European Cup wi