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I am a HUGE Harry Potter fan and I love when major networks cover fictional events like it in real life. It may be nerdy but I absolutely loved the books and the movie series. Even if you aren't a Harry Potter fan, you might know Quidditch from the Vince Vaughn and Owen Wilson flick, "The Internship"
If you're still confused, Quidditch is a wizarding sport played on broomsticks. It's the magical equivalent of futbol and rugby. The object of the game was to score more points than your opponents. You have mini goalposts with a goalie and these large quaffles and bulger balls. Each goal was worth ten points and catching the Golden Snitch is worth 150 and ends the game. The Golden Snitch is this little gold ball with wings that pops up randomly and runs around the vicinity of the field. The game can go on for days until the snitch is captured, which is why captains mutually agree when to close out. You catch the snitch, you end the game. If you need more insight, check out the official rules.
So reeling it back in, Victor Krum snagging the Golden Snitch and losing is a major controversy in the wizarding world, especially in a World Cup match. That's like in the Super Bowl if Tom Brady decided to take a knee at the end of the 4th quarter while down instead of trying to win the game in the final drive. The object is to win the game.
In Harry Potter, The Goblet of Fire, you may remember the stud Bulgarian Victor Krum as one of the contestants of the Tri-Wizard Cup. If you remember in the movie, Harry and the Weasleys were at the Quidditch World Cup before the death eaters terrorized the match. Not shown in the movie in full, but very present in the books, Ireland was facing off against Bulgaria for the championship. They slightly mentioned it before the event went to shit.
In that match-up, however, like mentioned, Victor Krum caught the Snitch which ended the game, but his team lost. "How is that possible, you said it's worth 150 points". Well exactly. That's what makes it a controversy. Let me explain.
Victor Krum is the Pat Mahomes, Kevin Durant, and Mike Trout of Quidditch. He's an international figure and was part of a very talented Bulgaria squad. Ireland was obviously great as well, so it was set to be a fantastic matchup. Unfortunately, it was not. At the time before the snitch was caught, Ireland was up 170-10. It was an absolute mockery and total blood bath.
Harry Potter stirred the pot yet again. It is hard to say what actually occurred, but Harry noticed the snitch and shouted it, prompting the Irish Seeker (the guy who goes for the snitch, essentially the best player on each team) to chase it. Krum noticed the uproar and began to tail it as well. They began to battle it out, fighting tooth and nail for the gold object. Now if the Irishman snagged it, the game would be over and the final score would have been 320-10. Now that's embarrassing. You can't be on the big stage and perform like that. Imagine what wizard Twitter would look like? Krum had no option but to capture the snitch, ending the match at 160 Bulgaria to 170 Ireland. It was noble and it turned the performance into a more dignified defeat.
If you grew up a Harry Potter fan you always wanted two things. To get a letter from Hogwarts and play Quidditch. Neither happened for me, so I opted to write about it. Haters can hate but this is a wild sports headline and it makes sense why it occurred.