What I have not told you is that we are the JV team. The varsity group is actually quite fit. But I quickly discover that even our nontraditional group of players can still tackle hard enough to knock a big boy down (one of the tiny girls knows kung-fu, it turns out), and score points when it counts.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s two minutes until the end of the match and my team is down twenty points. Gaining speed, I smack into the guy with the Quaffle and refuse to let go. (Might I mention that this guy is known as Bone Cruncher for a notorious moment in a previous tournament.) Annoyed, he shakes me back and forth, but I won\u2019t budge. Finally he passes the Quaffle off and a tiny girl that no one even realized was playing grabs the ball and scores for my team. Hurrah!<\/p>\n
\u201cGood game, everyone,\u201d says our captain as we toss our brooms into a pile next to the pitch. Nearby, one of the senior players attends to a boy who experienced a broom handle to the face. \u201cI think we\u2019re ready for the tournament. Now who wants to help me put away the hoops?\u201d<\/p>\n
Participating in Quidditch is important to me because solitary study is a norm at Oxford. I simply don\u2019t go to class, or interact with many people during my work time. To illustrate this point, imagine that you are in a lab class at CC–you will most likely have at least five contact hours with your professor and other students during one weekday. By contrast, I would spend all of those hours (as well as the additional CC \u201chomework\u201d hours) studying by myself in a library, without a professor or any other students. It\u2019s gratifying to know that I can learn without direct instruction, but the experience of studying with only books for company (especially in a castle basement) can be isolating. So it\u2019s good to have the Quidditch pitch to look forward to in the evenings.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s the last game of the night now, and the snitch is on the pitch with seekers in hot pursuit. I grab the Quaffle and run through two opposing chasers. I\u2019m clear! The hoops are ahead, singing welcoming happy melodies. At the crucial moment someone clamps down on me from behind, but I won\u2019t stop. I reach the goals and toss the ball through. Turning to accept a victorious cheer from my team, I realize that the game has already ended ten seconds before when the snitch was caught my my team\u2019s seeker. Ah well–I might not be a perfect player, but at least I\u2019m a member of the team.<\/p>\n
ps Here are some photos from the first ever British Quidditch Cup, at\u00a0which Oxford hosted 16 teams from around the UK.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" \u201cBrooms up!\u201d says the referee, and we all sprint for the center of the field. It\u2019s a race for the four balls, chasers running for the Quaffle (an under inflated volleyball) and Beaters for the three bludgers (dodgeballs). There\u2019s mud in my face so I can\u2019t really see, but I charge ahead enthusiastically and slam … <\/p>\n![\"The](\"http:\/\/sites.coloradocollege.edu\/blockfeatures\/wp-content\/blogs.dir\/3\/files\/2013\/11\/Chimeras-and-Quidlings.jpg\")
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