Thursday, June 10, 2010

On Quidditch and Friendship

But from that moment on, Hermione Granger became their friend. There are some things you can't share without ending up liking each other, and knocking out a twelve-foot mountain troll is one of them.
I love this quote - it marks the beginning of the trio. Up until this point it's just Harry and Ron, and if you're re-reading, it gets a bit lonely without Hermione around. I've known this quote virtually off by heart for years, not because I sat and memorised it, but because, as a fantastic little quote about friendship with an anomalous reference to trolls stuck on the end, it just sticks in your head somehow.
'Jordan, I'm warning you -' / 'All right, all right. Flint nearly kills the Gryffindor Seeker, which could happen to anyone, I'm sure.....hit hard in the face by a Bludger, hope it broke his nose - only joking, Professor...'
My mum has always said she's a little bored by all the Quidditch matchs in Harry Potter, but it's one of the defining things about the books! I always find it harder to pick up books two and four simply because there's no Quidditch in them (well, one match in two). And a great part of Quidditch is the commentary. The banter, for want of a better word, between Jordan and McGonagall is always amusing, and definitely part of the appeal for me.
As an aside, I wanted to just revisit the whole mis-reading affecting your imagination thing. The Quaffle is described as being about the size of a football in this book. Unfortunately at the age of six/seven I was completely oblivious about the fact that soccer was actually known as football in the UK, and so happily imagined an AFL or rugby type ball for years, still do, and was again puzzled when the movie came out. It would be easier to catch anyway, I imagine.

3 comments:

thorium220 said...

i want a 'like' button to click

thanks for the sentimental, HP-themed post aly.

alyssa said...

Guess what Stephen? Now you can! I managed to modify an ad-on. =D
Also, any time, any time.

thorium220 said...

yeah i just noticed that! it is reassuring to know that i don't have to put words together but rater can just tick a box to register my approval.

now if you'll excuse me, i have some ticking to do!