Quodpot

A variant of Quidditch, Quodpot was invented in the eighteenth century by Abraham Peasegood, and is the most popular wizarding game in the United States. Peasegood travelled to the United States from England, and, during the trip, his wand came into contact with a Quaffle in his trunk. The resulting interaction meant that, when he took the Quaffle out and began throwing it around, it exploded in his face. Having a lively sense of humour, Peasegood and his friends set about recreating the effect on a series of leather balls, and the game of Quodpot was born.

Centred around the explosive properties of the ball, known as the Quod, a game of Quodpot is played between two teams with eleven players each. The players attempt to get the Quod into the pot at the end of the pitch before it explodes. When the Quod is safely in the pot - which contains a solution to stop the Quod from exploding - the scorer's team gets a point and a new Quod is brought into play. Any player in possession of the Quod when it explodes must leave the field of play.

Quodpot is immensely popular in North America, but is considered a minority sport in Europe, where the majority of wizards remain faithful to Quidditch.

Behind the scenes

• It could be argued that Quodpot, and its relationship to Quidditch, is a tongue-in-cheek reference to the state of sports in the real world, where sports that are popular in Europe (such as Football, Cricket and Rugby) are not as popular in North America, whilst sports popular in North America (such as American Football, Basketball, Baseball, and Hockey) are also not overly popular in Europe.

Appearances

• Quidditch Through the Ages