Why Do We Need Quidditch?

    I cannot count the number of times I have read PoA since it first came out. It is easily my favourite book out of the series so far and probably always will be.
    Of course people wonder why this book out of all the others is my favourite. I can fit the answer into one simple word: Quidditch
    Believe me, Quidditch isn't something you can just simply cut out of the 3rd movie. Removing Oliver Wood means removing the Quidditch matches? Why? Because he's the Gryffindor captain and Keeper. Without him what are they going to show? Harry searching for the Snitch? That is not a Quidditch match. There's more to the sport than just the Snitch!
    Not to mention all the characters that are introduced and the predecessors for the relationship problems in the 4th book. Without Quidditch you've pretty much sent not only this film but the next one to their graves.


Allow me to elaborate:
Match One: Gryffindor vs. Hufflepuff


    The first important match of the book. Harry meets Cedric Diggory, the new Hufflepuff captain. As we know in the 4th book, Cedric becomes the Hogwarts Champion in the Tri-Wizard tournament. He also becomes Harry's competition for Cho Chang which comes as a blow seeing as how nice Cedric appeared to be.
    Don't forget that the Dementors also make an appearance at this game, causing trouble for Harry. Because of the Dementors, Harry loses consciousness and falls off his broom. Thus, he loses a match for the first time and his Nimbus 2000 crashes into the Whomping Willow, breaking.


Match Two: Gryffindor vs. Ravenclaw

    When this match starts (after constant nagging to get a new broom from Oliver), Harry has his brand new Firebolt. The Firebolt is what Harry uses not only to win the Quidditch Cup but to defeat the Hungarian Horntail he goes up against in GoF.
    Then there's Cho Chang, the Ravenclaw Seeker and the girl who catches Harry's eye. Despite being yelled at by Oliver, Harry nearly loses the match because he's too busy staring at her. Thus begins Harry's first love interest which continues on through the 4th book.


Match Three: Gryffindor vs. Slytherin


    Then there's the finals, the entire reason I was planning on seeing the movie for in the first place. The match believed to end all matches (until of course the World Cup), what Gryffindor has been working towards for seven long years.
    A brutal match, finally coming down to a race between Draco and Harry to see who can get to the Snitch first. With the Firebolt Harry received, he beats Malfoy, catching the Snitch and winning Gryffindor the Quidditch Cup.

    Putting aside the fact that winning the Cup causes Oliver to blubber like a baby, this match is very important, as are all the others. Cutting them out is killing to movie and all the other movies which will potentially follow. You can't condense the movie into 2 hours and expect to get away with a good or even decent job.

-Melisus the Wee

Other Rants

1.    He's the captain of his team, without the captain, I'm sure they'll be no Quidditch at all.
2.    Not having Quidditch means not having Cedric nor Cho. Also we won't see Harry's reaction to the dementor and the destruction of the Nimbus 2000.
3.    Without Harry falling on the ground because of the dementors, there's no point for Lupin teaching him the Expecto Patronum spell. Remember that he taught him this so he could play Quidditch safely.
4.    Without having the Nimbus 2000 destroyed, there's not going to be a Firebolt. There won't be the little fight over telling McGonagall about the broom, and then I ask, what connection will they use to assume that Black tried to kill Harry? Because before of that incident, the ONLY suspected that he was after him.
5.    If there's no Quidditch, that means that all the other characters involve in the sport will be gone too...or at least that's what I'm suspecting.
    I had so many hopes for this movie, but after this, and if they don't change their mind soon, I don't think I'll be wanting to see HP3, let alone HP4.

~~Hikaru

    During the Quidditch match Harry encounters the Dementors. We all know that the first time this happens, he falls off his broomstick. This gives him a reason to learn "Expecto Patronum", the Dementor-repellant charm, which is vitally important throughout the story; it allows him to save not only Sirius but himself as well.

    Oh yeah and - this is the first year Gryffindor wins the Quidditch cup in... a few years (five or six? i forget the exact number but it shouldn't be too difficult to look up). That gives them a lotta points towards the house cup.

-Sarah

    Most of all the humor from J. K. Rowling's "Prisoner of Azkaban" is with Oliver Wood and the Weasley's. It is centered around Oliver's desire to win the Quidditch Cup in his final year at Hogwarts at any cost. These are just a few of the funnier scenes from the book. Just pick one or a few scenes and combine them into one game! Please remember that the only Quidditch in J. K. Rowlings' "Goblet of Fire" is in the Quidditch World Cup and not any played at Hogwarts. So, please give us fans, some Quidditch in "Prisoner of Azkaban"!!!!

1. POA - Chapter 8 - "The Flight of the Fat Lady" by J. K. Rowling:
Gryffindor Quidditch Practice:

""This is our last chance - my last chance - to win the Quidditch Cup," he told them, striding up and down in front of them." . . . . " Wood swallowed, as though the memory still brought a lump to his throat. "But we also know we've got the best - ruddy - team - in - the - school," he said, punching a fist in to his hand,..." . . . ."We've got two unbeatable Beaters." "Stop it, Oliver, you're embarrassing us," said Fred and George Weasley together, pretending to blush." etc.
It would be nice to see the entire teams' interaction in this scene. Not only Oliver, the Weasley's, and Harry's reponses but, it would also be nice for "The Girls" to speak too! This of course does not include his entire speech. The entire speech is GREAT!!

2. POA - Chapter 9 - "The Grim Defeat" by J. K. Rowling:
Gryffindor vs. Hufflepuff:

""They've got a new Captain and Seeker, Cedric Diggory - " Angelina, Alicia, and Katie suddenly giggled. "What?" said Wood, frowning at this lighthearted behavior. "He's that tall, good-looking one, isn't he?" said Angelina. "Strong and silent," said Katie, and they started to giggle again. "He's only silent because he's too thick to string two words together," said Fred impatiently." " (Please let "The girls" speak!)

" "Impervius!" "There!" she said, handing them back to Harry. "They'll repel water!" Wood looked as though he could have kissed her. "Brilliant!" . . . . "Lucky the ground was so soft." "I thought he was dead for sure." "But he didn't even break his glasses." . . . . Harry's eyes snapped open. He was lying in the hospital wing. The Gryffindor Quidditch team, spattered with mud from head to foot, was gathered around his bed. Ron and Hermione were also there, looking as though they'd just climbed out of a swimming pool." "
Another great scene with the entire team covered with mud and Wood in the front looking dejected! It would also be great to cast Cedric Diggory, just for that short scene before his big debut in "Goblet of Fire".

3. POA - Chapter 12 - "The Patronus" by J. K. Rowling:
Wood finds out that Harry has a "Firebolt":

" Wood went pale. "I'll go and talk to her, Harry," he promised. "I'll make her see reason. . . . A Firebolt . . . a real Firebolt, on our team . . . She wants Gryffindor to win as much as we do . . . I'll make her see sense. A Firebolt . . . " . . . . "Bad news, Harry, I've just been to see Professor McGonagall about the Firebolt. She - er - got a bit shirty with me. Told me I'd got my priorities wrong. Seemed to think I cared more about winning the Cup than I do about you staying alive. Just because I told her I didn't care if it threw you off, as long as you caught the Snitch first." Wood shook his head in disbelief. "Honestly, the way she was yelling at me . . . you'd think I'd said something terrible. . . . Then I asked her how much longer she was going to keep it. . . . " He screwed up his face and imitated Professor McGonagall's severe voice. "'As long as necessary, Wood'" " 
Another funny scene were you could have Wood imitating McGonagall with her standing right behind him with Harry's broom ready to give it back to him!

4. POA - Chapter 15 - "The Quidditch Final" by J. K. Rowling:
Gryffindor vs. Slytherin for Quidditch Cup:

Probably the fans' most favorite scene in the book, and in close competition with Hermione slapping Draco Malfoy in the face.
" The tiny golden ball was held tight in his fist, beating its wings hopelessly against his fingers. Then Wood was speeding toward him, half-blinded by tears; he seized Harry around the neck and sobbed unrestrainedly into his shoulder. Harry felt two large thumps as Fred and George hit them; then Angelina's, Alicia's, and Katie's voices, "We've won the Cup! We've won the Cup!" Tangled together in the many-armed hug, the Gryffindor team sank, yelling hoarsely, back to earth. "
If you want to see a movie theater erupt - just put in that team embrace!

-Kim

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