Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone: Chapter 9 1/2 - The Nimbus 2000
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Chapter 9 1/2
The Nimbus 2000
Harry continues to focus on his lessons the next few days… and also on the mystery of the package from vault seven hundred and thirteen. Then one day, while having lunch in the great hall, hundreds of owls fly in carrying letters for their owners. Several of the owls are flying in a group, holding a long object in their talons.
They fly towards Harry and drop the object onto the table in front of him. The object is long and slim, and wrapped in brown paper - it is obviously a broomstick! There is a letter attached to the object. It reads:
Ron and the children nearby all look at the broomstick in amazement. Later that afternoon, Harry opens the package in his room. “A Nimbus Two Thousand!” says Ron, who is very jealous because he knows he will only get one of his older brothers’ broomsticks. “I’ve never seen one before!” The broomstick is beautiful. It is long and thin, and it looks very fast!
They all talk excitedly about flying on their broomsticks. And they can’t wait to see Harry fly on his. As seven o’clock approaches, Harry leaves the castle and runs towards the Quidditch field. Inside the stadium there are rows and rows of seats. The rows of seats go high into the air so all the spectators can see what is going on during the games.
At each end of the field there are three tall poles with round hoops at the top. Harry thinks they look like giant sticks that children use to blow soap bubbles. While he is waiting for Wood to arrive, Harry decides to try out his new broomstick. He gets on and kicks off the ground - what a feeling! He soars up high into the sky and flies back and forth through the hoops. The broomstick responds perfectly to all his movements.
Then Harry hears a shout from below, “Hey, Potter, come down!” Oliver Wood is there waiting for him. He is carrying a large wooden box. When Harry gets down Oliver says, “McGonagall was right about you - you are a natural. I’ll just teach you the rules tonight, then you can begin to practice three times a week with the team.”
“Quidditch is easy to understand, really. There are seven players on each side. There are three Chasers, one Keeper, two Beaters and one Seeker.” Harry looks confused when he hears all these new words, but he repeats them diligently so he can memorize them quickly. Then Wood opens the large box. There are four balls of different sizes inside the box.
“This ball is called the Quaffle,” says Wood. It is made of red leather and is about the size of a normal football. “The Chasers throw the Quaffle to each other and try to throw it through one of the hoops to score a goal. You get ten points every time the Quaffle goes through one of the hoops.” That’s kind of like basketball, Harry thinks to himself. He understands basketball well enough.
“Now the Keeper,” continues Wood, “- I’m the Keeper for Gryffindor - I have to defend the hoops from the other team’s Chasers. I make sure no one scores on us.” Ok, thinks Harry, the Keeper keeps the Quaffle from going through the hoops. Got it! “What are the other balls for?” asks Harry.
“I’ll show you,” says Wood. “Here, take this.” He gives Harry a small stick, like a short baseball bat. Then he shows Harry two identical balls. They are black and a little smaller than the Quaffle. “These two balls are called Bludgers.” Harry notices the Bludgers seem to be moving and trying to escape from the box! But there are strong straps that are holding the balls down.
“Stand back,” warns Wood. He unstraps one of the Bludgers and it zooms high into the air and then speeds straight at Harry’s face! Harry swings the bat to protect himself, and the ball flies away into the air in crazy zigzags. It turns quickly back towards Wood and flies right at his face. But Wood is able to catch it and hold it on the ground.
“The Bludgers,” says Wood, having difficulty holding the ball down, “fly around and try to knock players off their brooms. The Beaters protect the other players from the Bludgers - the Weasley twins are the Beaters on our team.” Harry looks worried. Wood has a bit of difficulty putting the Bludger back into the box. “Um, have the Bludgers ever killed anyone?” Harry asks.
“There have been a bunch of bruises and a couple of broken noses, but nothing serious at Hogwarts. Last of all is the Seeker - that’s you. You don’t have to worry about the Quaffle or the Bludgers.” He reaches into the box and takes out the fourth and last ball. It is about the size of a squash ball. It is bright gold and has little wings that are flapping up and down rapidly.
“This,” says Wood, “is the Golden Snitch. It’s the most important ball of all. It’s hard to catch because it’s so fast and difficult to see. It’s the Seeker’s job - your job - to catch it. Your main objective is to get it before the other team’s Seeker does. The team who catches it wins one hundred and fifty points, and the game only ends when someone catches the Snitch. Any questions, Potter?” Harry shakes his head, no.
“We won’t practice with the Snitch yet,” says Wood as he puts it back in the box. “We’ll start with a few of these first.” He takes some ordinary golf balls from his pocket. A few moments later, Harry and Wood fly up into the air. Wood throws the golf balls as hard as he can, one at a time, in every direction so Harry can try to catch them.
Harry does not miss a single golf ball. Wood is very excited. They practice until it becomes too dark to see the golf balls. “We’ll win the Quidditch cup for sure with you on our team!” yells Wood as they descend to the ground. Wood puts the golf balls into his pocket, picks up the box, and they head back to the castle. Harry feels very content. For once in his life, he has discovered something that he is good at.
