HALLOWEEN
children blew bubbles through, except that they were fifty feet
high.
Too eager to fly again to wait for Wood, Harry mounted his
broomstick and kicked off from the ground. What a feeling — he
swooped in and out of the goal posts and then sped up and down
the field. The Nimbus Two Thousand turned wherever he wanted
at his lightest touch.
“Hey, Potter, come down!”
Oliver Wood had arrived. He was carrying a large wooden crate
under his arm. Harry landed next to him.
“Very nice,” said Wood, his eyes glinting. “I see what McGona-
gall meant . . . you really are a natural. I’m just going to teach you
the rules this evening, then you’ll be joining team practice three
times a week.”
He opened the crate. Inside were four different-sized balls.
“Right,” said Wood. “Now, Quidditch is easy enough to under-
stand, even if it’s not too easy to play. There are seven players on
each side. Three of them are called Chasers.”
“Three Chasers,” Harry repeated, as Wood took out a bright red
ball about the size of a soccer ball.
“This ball’s called the Quaffle,” said Wood. “The Chasers throw
the Quaffle to each other and try and get it through one of the
hoops to score a goal. Ten points every time the Quaffle goes
through one of the hoops. Follow me?”
“The Chasers throw the Quaffle and put it through the hoops to
score,” Harry recited. “So — that’s sort of like basketball on
broomsticks with six hoops, isn’t it?”
“What’s basketball?” said Wood curiously.
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