483 1/2 Wizolympics – Day 8 Update: Frozen Quodpot Final Round

Welcome back to the Frozen Quodpot Finals for the 483 ½ Wizolympics! After a brutal game earlier, where Russia illegally brought wands onto the field, we return to have the US and Denmark duke it out for the gold!

Wands have been strictly prohibited due to the infinite amount of spells one could use to enchant the Quods or the pots at the end of the field in order to ensure a win. In the qualifying match, Luka Levitan and the rest of the Russian team were disqualified due to their use of a Disillusionment Charm and a Blasting Curse. Nevertheless, it is certain the US and Denmark should play a good, clean game.

Says US captain Steven Knight, “Quodpot is our thing. Everyone else has Quidditch, but this is ours. This is a chance to show the world what Quodpot and America is all about, and we’re honored to be here, in the finals. We wish good luck to our DAnish competitors!”

In response, Denmark captain Aina Olsen comments, “We-a are so excited to be-a here still, in the final round. USA-a, best of luck!”

After the Russian Quodpot team cheated at their own Wizolympics, the match between the US and Denmark will hopefully not have any of that.

Again, Quodpot is a sport that was developed in America in the eighteenth century and has been a hit there ever since. A variant of Quidditch, it forgoes hoops and uses “pots” at each end of the field. Players must pass the Quod back and forth and get it into the pot at their respective end of the field. However, should they fail to do so, they risk having the Quod explode in their face and being forced to leave the pitch. In this special version of Quodpot, if the Quod explodes it will freeze a player for five minutes. Should a player throw the Quod into the pot at the end of the field, the ball itself will be doused in a solution to keep it from exploding, and a point is allotted to the team who scored. For the sake of time, five Quods will equal a victory for the Wizolympics. And absolutely no wands, which is hopefully clear now!

Looks like the match is about to begin! Another big thank you to Quality Quidditch Supplies for the Firebolts the teams are using, as well as George Weasley and his successful business Weasleys’ Wizard Wheezes for their Quods.

The United States takes the field first to big roars. The Baker brothers are big hits among female fans, and that can certainly be heard in their shrill squeals. Steven Knight heads the American team, waving to the crowd and smiling as he waits for Denmark’s captain to emerge from the locker rooms. Knight has put together a strong offense this year, even recruiting Quidditch player Elena Foster, who led the Texan Sweetwater All-Stars to winning the US Quidditch League the past three years. Foster is a famous Chaser, known more in North and South America, but her presence here has gained her more attention and popularity than most. Foster actually began her career with Quodpot, though, and she returns to the Quodpot field for this Wizolympics.

Denmark piles onto the field now, and Captain Aina Olsen immediately goes to Knight to shake hands. Olsen has prepared a strong defense with Klaus Haugaard, who has been playing Quodpot for many years and was originally recruited for a team in the US at one time, though he turned down their offer and decided to play for a team in Copenhagen instead. He is an international crowd favorite as well.

With that, the players have mounted their Firebolts, the Quod has been released, and the game begins! Iris Stokholm of Denmark is the first to take the Quod. She dodges Steven Knight and Colton Payne, both of the United States, flying quickly to the end of the pitch…

And Elena Foster of the US has taken the Quod! With the Quod curled under her arm she zooms back across the pitch, passes to Dylan Alexander, who then passes to Isaac Baker. Baker prepares to throw the Quod – and oh! It has exploded, and Isaac Baker has been frozen. He will thaw out in five minutes, but until then, he is out of the game. Looks like a rough start for the Americans, the world-renowned Quodpot team! Baker’s brother Thomas is kicking the ground, but he remounts his broom just as the second Quod is released.

Denmark seizes it first again, this time by Aron Sorensen, who flies around Shane Wolfe, Peter Barton, and Bryan Underwood, all of the United States. Knight flies in and manhandles the Quod out of Sorensen’s hands, throwing it to Foster, who flies up and forward a bit before launching the Quod at the pot. It lands in the solution. The US has scored first!

Mr. Oglethorpe, retired head of QUABBLE (Quidditch Union for the Administration and Betterment of the British League and its Endeavors), comments again: “Foster is a good find for the USA. If they recruited more Quidditch players for Quodpot, there wouldn’t even be a match here. The USA would have the game in the bag.”

The third Quodpot is taken by Lillian Wright of the US. She flies across the field with ease, passing by all the Danish players, launching the Quod at the pot past Haugaard’s head, securing a second goal for the Americans. The stands are really going wild now. A group of crazy fans have started shouting “’MURICA!” A security guard is presently making his way toward them.

Back to the game. Casper Frost of Denmark has seized the fourth Quod, passing it to Felix Hoyer, who aims at Olsen, but the Quod is intercepted by Knight, who zooms away and throws the ball at Isaac Baker, who is back and unfrozen. He scores another goal for the US, leaving the score at 3-0. Denmark calls a time out, and we have time to talk to Mr. Oglethorpe again.

“Well, that was a bloody rough start for the USA, but they’re pulling it around. Denmark hasn’t even scored yet, and the USA is already making it impossible for them to win. Denmark’s defense isn’t at its strongest today. Haugaard appears distracted.”

So he does, with his darting eyes and multiple sighs during this time out as Olsen attempts to pump up her team. They’ve once again mounted their brooms, and the game is back!

Poul Sonderby of Denmark grabs the Quod within three seconds of its release, bypasses most of the American players and knocks Foster to the side. She doesn’t fall off her broom, however, so no penalty is called. Sonderby scores for Denmark, bringing the score up 3-1. The Danes in the stands go wild, and Oglethorpe is applauding with a smile. The next Quod explodes on Dagmar Storm, and the frozen Storm is taken off the field.

A fight breaks out over the next Quod between Jacob Holt and the Baker brothers, and it explodes in all of their faces. All three are removed from the field, and tensions are getting higher.

Knight steals the Quod and passes it to Wright, who flies up the pitch and gets pushed by Frost, who steals the Quod and goes to score for Denmark, only to be intercepted by Michael Williamson, a new rookie member for the US Quodpot team, making his start on a small-town Iowa team and working his way up to the state team, earning Iowa its first national win of the US Quodpot League two years ago. He scores. It is now 4-1.

“I think the game is finished,” says Mr. Oglethorpe. No sooner has he said that is the Quod released, taken by Olsen but stolen by Knight, who makes the winning goal for the US. Once the Baker twins are unfrozen, the gold medal is handed out to the team, and screams of “’MURICA!” are filling the stands as security still attempts to quiet down the ruckus. Unfrozen Dagmar Storm and Jacob Holt rejoin the Danish team, and Captain Olsen goes over to shake Knight’s hand. Transylvania takes the bronzel, Denmark gets the silver, and the US takes the gold medal for Frozen Quodpot.

A pretty clean final Quodpot game with a nice show of good sportsmanship at the end! That’s all we can ask for at the Wizolympics! Tune in tomorrow for another fun event!

-Salina Heartstring, Daily Prophet reporter