Random Thoughts on Quidditch

Like everything else in the wizarding world, I think Quidditch came out of Harry. In particular, I think it was designed to showcase his strengths — his grit and determination, his courage, his ability to spot things other people don't. And I also think it's an embodiment of Jo's principles, that she thinks highly of Seekers who rise above the game and focus on the one slippery, elusive, subtle thing they know is out there but almost no one else can see.

Since Seeker is also the term for someone who's having their tarot cards read, it's also apt for Harry because it's his life unfolding in the books. That probably makes all of us the Readers (the ones reading and interpreting the tarot cards), but I think the best contrast is with Jo's Seer. Trelawney has overly magnified eyes and fails to see the occasional truth in her own predictions, which Harry does see, but only in the course of seeking out Voldemort. Basically, I think Jo has a lot more respect for people who relentlessly seek out the truth than for people who see things and take them at face value.

I've sometimes stumbled over ideas that seem too good to be true and felt like Harry the time he accidentally caught the snitch in his mouth.

And while this may not have anything to do with anything, I also like how the number of points the Seeker earns (150) is the same as Dumbledore's age, which Jo gave as 150 in both 2000 and 2005. It might just be her "big, important number" (like I think the "forests of Albania" are just her "Forbidden Forest for grown-ups").

One final thing on this subject: I just learned yesterday that the halo of light often show around the heads of saints in artwork is called a nimbus.