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Capitol Hill Muggles Seek The Snitch At Quidditch

In 2010, a friend of Eric Andres told him that some Northern Arizona University classmates regularly got together for real-life Quidditchgames. The fact that Quidditch was a fictional game played by made-up characters in Harry Potter novels wasn't lost on the college junior. 

Andres said his first thought was, "That sounds stupid-awesome." So he went to check it out. 

By the end of his senior year, Andres had helped grow the school's six-member club into a 60-player program with equipment, sponsorships, school support and tournaments. And yes, they are required to ride brooms, same as the in the popular J.K. Rowling books. And no, those brooms can't fly. 

It turns out terrestrial, non magical,  non fictional Quidditch, is a mashup of dodgeball, basketball and field hockey with one key prop: They compete while running and holding the brooms between their legs. 

"I tell people broom injuries account for five percent or less of the injuries in Quidditch,"  explained Andres, who brought the game and his organizational skills to Seattle's Capitol Hill after graduation.  Today, even the University of Washington has a Quidditch team.

Click on the link above, muggles, for the full story.