Yeah, hazel (dunno ur real name so callin' u hazel!), our Common room is the best! It rocks n bounces.
Anyway, as sugar bun asked for some info on Quidditch, luckily I do have a copy of "Quidditch Through the Ages", I'll post some history about the evolution of the Golden Snitch! Here it is:
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The name, "Snitch," is derived from a minute bird called "Snidget" who was used as the world's first ever Snitch in the game of Quidditch.
From the early 1100s Snidget hunting had been popular among many witches and wizards. The Golden Snidget is today a protected species but at that time, Golden Snidgets were common in northern Europe, but difficult to detect by Muggles because of their aptitude at hiding and their very great speed.
The diminutive size of the Snidget, coupled with its remarkable agility in the air and talent at avoiding predators, merely added to the prestige of the wizards who caught them.
Some Snidget-hunters carried nets, some use wands and still others attempt to catch it with their bare hands. The one who caught the Snidget used to get a prize of many Galleons. Snidgets were often crushed during this deplorable game.
Snidget-hunting was reprehensible in many ways. Every right-mindd wizard and witch must deplore the destruction of these peace-loving little birds in the name of sport.
Snidget-hunting finally crossed paths with Quidditch in 1269 at a game attended by the Chief of the Wizards'Council himself, Barberus Bragge. We know this because of the eye-witness account given by one Madam Modesty Rabnott of Kent to her sister Prudence in Aberdeen( this letter is on display in the Museum of Quidditch). Acording to Madam Rabnott, Bragge caught a little Snidget in a cage and told the assembled players that he would award one hundred and fifty Galleons(equivalent to a million Galleons tody) to the player who caught it. According to Madam Rabnott's letter, she shouted at the wizards who were casting Repelling spells, forcing the poor Snidget back to the stadium with no means of escape. Madam Rabnot shouted at the wizards but Bragge just threw the empty birdcage at her. Well, then she saw red(must have been a Gryffindor BTW), and she cast a Summoning charm on the Snidget and as she was quite good at Summoning, the Snidget flew right into her hands and then she ran like fury and let the Snidget escape! Even though she was caught and Bragge was quite angry at her,but his advisors calmed him down and she was only fined 10 Galleons for disrupting the game.
However, after this game,Sidget's were used in Quidditch and the player catching it(called Hunter at that time) was awarded a 150 points in memory of Bragge's award of 150 Galleons. In that medieval Quiddicth game however, the Snidget had to be killed! But soon, the poplulation of the Snidgets decreased rapidly and also, the more enlightened Elfrida Cragg took over from Bragge. She made the Golden Snidget a protected species and outlawed both its killing and its use i a Quidditch game.
The invention of the Golden Snitch is credited to Bowman Wright of Godric's Hollow. Wright who was a skilled metal-charmer, set himself to the task of creating a ball that mimicked the behaviour and flight patterns of the Snidget. The Golden Snitch, as he called it, is Wright's creation, and it was a walnut-sized balled, exactly the size of a Snidget. Its silvery wings had rotational joints like the Snidget's, enabling it to chage direction with the lightning speed and precision of the living bird. Unlike the Snidget however, the Snitch was bewitched to remain within the boundaries of the field. With the introduction of the Snitch, the game Quidditch had been truly born.
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What do you think about this eh? I shortened it up a lil bit.
Anupamaa
