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Golden Snitch

From Harry Potter Wiki

Golden Snitch
Object information
Manufacturer

Bowman Wright

Usage

Quidditch

First appearance

Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone

Last appearance

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

"Get the Snitch or die trying."
—Oliver Wood to team Seeker Harry Potter[src]

The Golden Snitch, or sometimes Snitch, is a ball used in Quidditch. It is small and golden-coloured with wings and is about the size of a walnut. It flies around the Quidditch field at a high speed, sometimes pausing. The Seeker of either team tries to catch the Snitch, which is worth one-hundred and fifty points. The game can only end when the Snitch is caught.

Snitches have flesh memories, and can remember the touch of the first person who handled them in case of a disputed capture. Even the maker and the referee have to wear gloves when handling them. Harry Potter caught the Snitch in his mouth in his first match in the 1991–1992 school year.

Albus Dumbledore left the first Golden Snitch that Harry Potter ever caught to him after he died. He enchanted the Snitch to hold the Resurrection Stone, and it would only open for him once he accepted the fact that he needed to die to defeat Lord Voldemort. Because Harry caught the Snitch in his mouth, the writing on the Snitch - I open at the close - was only revealed when he held it up to his mouth.


[edit] History of the Golden Snitch

Seeker Harry Potter in pursuit of the Golden Snitch.

The Golden Snitch was originally not a ball, but a little bird called a Golden Snidget. It was introduced in 1269, when the Chief of the Wizards' Council, Barberus Bragge, unleashed a Golden Snidget during a Quidditch match, offering a reward of 150 Galleons (now worth over a million Galleons) to the player who caught the Snidget.

Thereafter, it became customary to set frightened Snidgets loose during games. As a tribute to Bragge, 150 points were given to the team that caught the Snidget. This Snidget-catching craze naturally harmed the bird's population, but the wizarding community was then unwilling to stop this barbaric activity, and ceased to use Snidgets only when the bird was labeled as endangered.

A replacement for the Golden Snidget was sought, and the skilled metal-charmer Bowman Wright invented the Golden Snitch to replace it. The Snitch weighed exactly the same as a Snidget, and its rotational wings imitated the bird's, allowing it to change direction and speed like its living counterpart.

One tale concerning the Snitch is that, during a match on Bodmin Moor in 1884, it managed to avoid capture for six months until both teams finally gave up in disgust at the performance of their Seekers. Cornish wizards and witches insist to this day that the Snitch is still living wild in the area.

[edit] Appearances

The Golden Snitch in Harry's hand.


Game of Quidditch
Officials: Quidditch referee
Player positions: Beater • Chaser • Keeper • Seeker
Playing equipment: Beater's bat • Bludger • Broomstick • Golden Snitch • Quaffle
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