In Harry Potter, 1 Quidditch Game Delay Cost More Than 1 Player’s Life

Summary:

• At Hogwarts, no grounds were good enough to delay a Quidditch game, apart from the Triwizard Tournament.
• In The Chamber of Secrets, a cursed bludger specifically targeting Harry wasn’t enough to stop the game.
• In The Prisoner of Azkaban, a Dementor attacking Harry on the field didn’t even lead to a rematch.

In the Wizarding World, Quidditch is just as popular among the wand-bearing parts of the British population as soccer among its Muggle parts. Wizards are going crazy about their favorite Quidditch players, and this game is even officially played at Hogwarts, being the only sport that actively influences the school’s schedule.

Students love to watch and play Quidditch. Quidditch matters so much, in fact, that it’s impossible to delay — even if a player’s life is in obvious danger.

In Hogwarts, Quidditch Matters the Most

Seriously, Hogwarts just doesn’t ever delay its Quidditch games. A couple of times, we see the teams forced to play in a literal storm, and they don’t get a choice. The audience, too, has to sit there under bucketloads of falling water, cheering up their fellow students. No weather is too bad to play Quidditch — sounds like Wood, right?

Quidditch interferes with the school’s schedule, as well. When a game is supposed to take place, lessons are moved or terminated, not the other way around. Playing after classes? Duh, what a dumb idea! Quidditch over Potions, just like Wood said.

But weather and the curriculum aren’t the only objectively important things that fail to influence Quidditch games: even players’ lives being in danger don’t lead to delays.

Quidditch Over Lives, Any Day of the Week

Let’s jump back to Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets. Remember when Dobby cursed a bludger to specifically target Harry? Everyone noticed that, and the Gryffindor team even took a break to adjust their strategy to protect Harry. The entire audience, Madame Hooch included, knew that the bludger was out to get Harry — and no one even considered the heretical thought of delaying the game to save him.

Next year, in Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, Harry was attacked by a Dementor at the most crucial moment while playing Quidditch. No one stopped the game. No one delayed the game. Even Cedric Diggory tried to do a rematch despite winning because he knew it wasn’t his achievement, but no one listened. Dementors or not, the game must go on, and Quidditch rules are above safety regulations.

Of course, they also played under heavy rain and were surrounded by an army of Dementors then. No weather is terrible enough to postpone a game, and no Death Eater attempting to break into Hogwarts is scary enough to delay Quidditch.

Oliver Wood would have been so proud.