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"That lot from across the marsh have been at it again. Playing a stupid game on their broomsticks."
— Translated excerpt from Gertie Keddle's diary[src]

Gertie Keddle was a witch who lived on the edge of Queerditch Marsh in the 11th century.[1][2]

Biography[]

A rather uneducated witch by wizarding standards of the time, Gertie kept a diary in "badly spelled" Saxon, and only knew the name of one day of the week (Tuesday). In her diary, she chronicled the evolution of the "stupid game" the wizards from across the marsh played, that would later become Quidditch. She thought that the lot who played it, including her friend, Gwenog, were idiots. Gertie also owned a cabbage patch in which a leather ball, presumably the first ever Quaffle, landed.[2]

Behind the scenes[]

  • In 2017, in response to a tweet from the QI Elves saying that "Quidditch, digestive biscuits and overdrafts were all invented in Edinburgh", J. K. Rowling remarked that Quidditch was in actuality invented in Manchester.[3] This is not a reference to the location of Queerditch Marsh, however, but the actual place in which Rowling came up with the idea of Quidditch — in a hand-signed, annotated first edition of Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone that was auctioned for charity in 2013, Rowling remarked that she had invented Quidditch while staying in a small hotel in Manchester after a row with her then-boyfriend, adding rules that she was sure would infuriate men, which she found satisfying given her state of mind at the time.[4]

Appearances[]

Notes and references[]

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