Quidditch is a rather unreasonable sport.
Ivy understood this the first time he read about the game in Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone when he was young.
Though it is indeed cool to play while riding a flying broomstick, that wasn't the reason Ivy liked Quidditch.
The rules of Quidditch are fairly simple. On an oval-shaped field, there are two teams, each occupying one half of the field, with the goals located at the ends of the oval.
There are three goals in total, each with a different height. Scoring is done by throwing the Quaffle through one of the goals, earning 10 points per successful throw.
That's all there is to the setup of the field.
Since Quidditch is a ball game, the balls are a vital part of the game.
In addition to the Quaffle, there are two other balls in Quidditch: the Golden Snitch and the Bludgers.
In a Quidditch match, there are two Bludgers, iron balls about 6 inches (15 cm) in diameter, slightly smaller than a soccer ball. They are enchanted with flying magic that causes them to automatically track players riding on brooms. They fly restlessly through the air, constantly attempting to interfere with players' movements and knock them off their brooms.
The Golden Snitch is the most important ball in Quidditch. The match only ends when the Snitch is caught; otherwise, a Quidditch match could last for months.
It's a small, gold metal ball about the size of a walnut, with silver wings that allow it to fly swiftly. Although magic can make things float or fly without wings, the Golden Snitch was designed to replace a magical creature called the Golden Seeker, and so it is adorned with silver wings as a symbolic feature.
To ensure that the first player to touch the Golden Snitch is recognized, each Snitch is enchanted to remember the skin of the first person who touches it. To guarantee this, each match uses a newly enchanted Golden Snitch, which has never been touched by anyone's skin before it takes flight—not even the craftsmen who create them, as they wear gloves while working.
To distinguish it from the Bludgers and Golden Snitch, the Quaffle is a red leather ball about the size of a soccer ball. Although it doesn't fly on its own like the other two balls, it is enchanted with a grip charm to help players grab it easily while riding their brooms at high speeds. Additionally, the Quaffle is enchanted with a slow-fall charm, ensuring it won't fall too quickly if a player drops it, allowing the game to proceed without frequent restarts.
Now that the basic setup of the field and the balls in Quidditch has been explained, it's time to move on to the players and their roles.
A Quidditch team consists of seven players. There is one goalkeeper who defends the three goals, one Seeker whose job is to catch the Golden Snitch and end the game, two Beaters who use bats to control the Bludgers, and three Chasers who try to score goals with the Quaffle.
Each player on the team has their own specific role and must focus on their task, meaning they should not interfere with the other balls on the field.
Now that you've thoroughly learned the rules of Quidditch, it's time to hop on your broomstick and join your friends for an exciting match!
What? No pitch? Just find a clear space and use magic to conjure three hoops as goals!
What? No teammates? Honestly, are you really a Hogwarts student? Don't they love to act in groups? With four houses, you'll easily find teammates!
What? No broomstick? Are you even a wizard? You can play Quidditch with a budget broomstick, you know? Don't tell me you're a Muggle? Stop joking around! Wasn't all that I just said a waste of breath?
Ivy closed The Easy Guide, Quidditch Quick Manual, and silently sighed.
What a simple set of rules.
Aside from the basic introduction, the manual didn't even list any fouls, and compared to all Muggle sports, Quidditch is far too "free."
In the records of the Department of Magical Sports, there are a total of 700 listed Quidditch fouls. However, the detailed information about these fouls has never been made public to the wizarding world (the Ministry of Magic believes that wizards who see this list "might get inspired").
This means that referees in a Quidditch match are incredibly important—they can almost singlehandedly influence the course of the game since no one really knows what constitutes a true foul. Even the players on the field are unsure.
Moreover, there's only one rule regarding magic in Quidditch: no wands. To be precise, it says, "No wands may be used against the opposing team." This means, if you want, you can cast Levitation Charms on everyone to reduce their weight and give their brooms more power or cast Protego on players to protect them from the Bludgers.
For Ivy, this rule barely limits his magical ability. After all, most of the time, he doesn't rely on his wand to cast spells. And now that he has the Gaze Magic proficiency, he can prepare 2 spells of Petrification in each eye in advance, and with just a glance, he can freeze opposing players and cause them to fall off their brooms. Or he can use a single-ring Suggestion spell to turn two opposing players against each other, which would give him countless open goal opportunities if it's the goalkeeper!
Even without using magic, Ivy still has countless strategies to win easily. Compared to football or basketball, Quidditch is far too simple for wizards.
One of the most important points is holding the ball.
As the primary goal scorer, Quidditch doesn't have a time limit for how long a Chaser can hold the Quaffle. In basketball, you have to dribble after three steps, and in football, if you don't kick the ball first, you can't even run.
But in Quidditch, there's no such limit for Chasers using brooms to fly. This means that if your broom is good enough, you can literally fly around with the Quaffle until the end of the match!
In fact, this was the case during the 1994 Quidditch World Cup. The Irish team, equipped with Firebolt brooms, won decisively due to their broom advantage, even though Viktor Krum caught the Golden Snitch. The Irish team had already scored over 150 points before Krum even spotted the Snitch.