Alright, you’ve caught me. I have to admit 💃that I honestly know little about sports. What? You mean to tell me that a person who w🃏rites articles about video games and Harry Potter from the comfort of her couch has little to no knowledge about the complex rules and nature of popular sporting activities? Color me shocked.

While it is true that real life is not an 80s teen movie where every single person is only allowed one interest and everything that goes against that interest is prohibited, I am not one of those revolutionary people that transcend high school labels and blend seamlessly into every social gro✤up category that there is. Though I do have a casual interest in baseball, football, and socce🥀r (thanks to movies starring the likes of Hilary Duff and Amanda Bynes who I was utterly obsessed with in my formative years), I am a video game playing, 18th-century literature loving, true to my core geek. And I am okay with that.

However, there is one s☂port that I know the ins and outs of and have more to say than “Did you see that ludicrous display last night?” And that sport is Quidditch. Thanks to hundreds of dorky university students like myself, Quidditch is now a real sport (with certain muggle orientated adjustments of course) that real people can play. And in honor of that, I present the sport loving Potterheads of the world with twenty-five fun facts all about one of the greatest sports of all time.

25 The ෴700 Unique Foul Plays

That’s right, you read that correctly. There are over 700 unique fouls that can occur during a game of Quidditch and it is the job of the game's referee to be on the lookout for each and every single one of them during every game of Quidditch. That is a lot of rules and infractions 🍎to be on the lookout for. And it is crucial that the ref retains constant vigilance throughout the match as Quidditch players (both professional and amateur) as well as their fans are known to fight dirty when they fear that their team might be losing.

24 Three Months And Counting 𝔍

Since a game of Quidditch only ends when the Snitch is caug🔴ht (unless both team captains override this rule unanimously), some Quidditch games have gone on for what seems like forever. Points will keep racking up on both sides but until that little fella is caught, no one can go home. The longest Quidditch match on record lasted three entire months. How is that possible? Players were switched out every few hours to allow them to rest, eat, and recuperate. I wonder how many fans stayed in their seats until that infamous match finally came to a close.

23 Give It To The Gobli♛ns ꦡ

We all know that goblin crafted technology and hardware is simply far supe✤rior to anything that a wizard could make on their own. Which is why the Firebolt was such a revolutionary broom at the time in which it was made. Though the Nimbus series were brilliant and reliable brooms in their time, the Firebolt was the first broom to incorporate Goblin crafted iron work pieces into the mix and it truly paid off. The broom was literally flying off the shelves at the time of its rele𝓰ase and quickly became the fastest racing broom in history to date.

22 No Dra🅘gons On The Pitch

In order for a game of Quidditch to run smoothly, safely, and efficiently, there needs to be some rules. Each rule was picked, argued over, and implemented by a committee dedicated to the regulation of the sport 𒁃and if broken, every single one of these rules comes with heavy consequences. One of my favorite rules is the one that states “no dragon is to be introduced into the stadium for any purpose including, but not limited to, team mascot, coach, or cup warmer.” I wonder what event caused this ruling to be necessary for all future matches.

21 ꧃⛎ One Snitch To Win Them All... Or Not

It is important to note that the Snitch is not always the deciding factor when it comes to ending/winning a Quidditch match. In exceptional cases, captains can agree to end the match as is and either hold a rematch at a later da🔯te or to tally the current points and give the match to the team with the highest. Also noteworthy is the fact that obtaining the Snitch does not guarantee that your team will win. In some cases, if the opposing team has enough points, the 150 points that the snitch awards your team will not be enough.

20 🃏 Share The Glory 🤡

There is a bit of a debate within the Quidditch-loving comm🀅unity on when the World Cup officially started. Though the first reported game of the event which would come to be known as the World Cup occurred i👍n 1473, this game only featured European teams. In fact, the rest of the wizarding world would not be invited to join the festivities until the 17th century. Since the majority of the world was not included in the early years of the competition, many fans believe that the event did not truly become the “world” cup until everyone was included.

19 Longest Running Spor🌞t 🌜

According to lore, myth, and legend, Quidditch is one of the longest-running games in wiza🍨rding history (and probably muggle history as well if we are being honest), as it has been played regularly for nearly 1000 years as the official version of the game, can ཧbe traced back to a spirited game held in the year 1050 at Queerditch Marsh. And though the game was played by both professionals and amateurs for centuries after its creation, the four year World Cup cycle was not established until the late 15th century.

18 ꦡ ICWQC Has Its꧃ Hands Full

Since there are over 700 fouls in the game of Quidditch coupled with the extensive rules and prac🐷ticality of holding matches (both big and small), the International Confederation of Wizards Quidditch Committee (which will be shortened to the ICWQC from here on out) which sees to basically every aspect of the sport always seems to have its hands filled with tasks, duties, and pesky legalities. In fact, the official rulebook which contains every single off/on pitch rule concerning magic and its use during and surrounding the game of Quidditch is approximately nineteen volumes long!

17 Origins Of Quidditch 🦂

Though Quidditch is a long-standing wizarding tradition, it is important to note that the sport (at its inception) was originally the combination of five other magical sports. Elements from each one of these sports were taken and combined to 𓃲create the sport that we all know and love. Swivenhodge provided the quaffle and chasers. Stitchstock provided the keepers. Ainginein provided the scoring hoops. An unnamed Scottish game provided the beater and bludgers. And the game of Shuntbumps provided the tradition to attempt to knock players off of their brooms.

16 🎶 𝓰 Finger Length Matters

One of the most entertaining aspects of sports is the ridiculous things in which egotistical players who cannot stand to lose blame their losses on. The list of excuses is seemingly endless. One of the most famous and amusing things that a Quidditch player blamed his loss on occurred in the year 1990 when a Scottish seeker accused his 𓄧genetics of costing him the game as the snitch was literal millimeters away from the tips of his fingers. He claimed that if his fat🦋her had blessed him with longer fingers that the win would have been his.