I Believe I Can Fly: Part 1

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The world of videogame entertainment is really varied. Using modern technology, game devs are able to mix genres and open up new directions in games. They try to create content based on their creative ideas, and make the boldest dream into a reality. Well, at least a virtual reality.

Let’s take aviation for example: there’s been so many different methods of flight and interesting vehicles in videogames! You don’t get surprised by seeing an airplane or helicopter anymore. But to ride a magical griffin, or to fly above town with a jetpack – now that is a much more interesting experience.

In the world of H. Potter we have learned about another method of aviation – the broom!
Being a very interesting magical attribute of the wizarding world, it became the inspiration for a unique kind of sport – Quidditch. And the H. Potter videogames allow players to participate in it…


In these articles we’re going to see how hard it was to control the broom at the beginning and how easy it became in the end. We’ll also find out what interesting details were left behind the scenes. And we’ll see what other interesting things we got to fly in the H. Potter games.


Flying lesson. Broom

The broom became a big part of Harry’s life. Having discovered his talent at age 11, Harry immediately became part of the Quidditch team. And as the years went by, his talent of flying this unusual artifact have only improved.

Philosopher’s / Sorcerer’s Stone

The first time we get to fly in the air on a broom is during Madam Hootch’s Flight Lessons. We get a fun experience: listening to upbeat music, flying through rings of different sizes, hitting the walls and learning to adjust your speed. We’re able to feel what it’s like to fly up in the sky, sitting on a stick without any safety mechanisms.


Flight Lessons and Quidditch matches aren’t the only times we will get to fly on our broom. We will also get the chance to fly across the forest, caves and courtyard areas as we chase Malfoy and try to get back Neville’s Rememberall.

And during the road to the Philosopher’s/Sorcerer’s Stone we’ll have to board the broom again, this time to catch the key for the locked door. Now is where it’s time to put your Seeker skills to the test!


You can improve your skills by playing Quidditch matches with other Houses. In the Main Menu you can gain access to the Quidditch League, where you will have the chance to play 6 matches.


Most of these games take place during the day, but one of them is during the sunset, and one game, that very few people know about takes place during night!


Night Quidditch in SS/PS!

Our visitor Alice04 (thank you, Alice, for sharing this info with us!) has discovered that this match takes place during the Quidditch Final if Gryffindor is playing against Hufflepuff. In order to achieve this you would need to play as badly as possible in the matches against Hufflepuff (take as long as possible to catch the Snitch, and lose a lot of stamina), and do your best in matches with the other teams.


Chamber of Secrets

In the second game of the series the Quidditch went through some changes: no longer do we have full control of the broom. Harry will qutomaticly follow the Snitch, and all we can do is to slightly move him a few meters to the side. The main objective became to kick the enemy Seeker and prevent them from catching the Snitch. It’s actually possible to lose matches now. Harry can also buy Quidditch upgrades from Fred and George: a Nimbus 2001 broom, which increases Harry’s speed, and Quidditch armor, which makes Harry take less damage when hit during matches.


Keep in mind: after each match, the score difference is added to the winning team’s House Points. You usually earn somewhere between 10 to 60 points for each match. So if you want to spend as much time as possible in the Bean Bonus Room, you should run to the Quidditch Pitch and win a few matches before each House Point Ceremony. It’s especially important after the Spongify Challenge. Since you’ll have access to all the spells in the game, you will want to have as many points as you can in order to be able to spend the as much time in the Bonus Room as possible and collect the maximum amount of beans.


Chamber of Secrets also has an interesting moment that you may not find even upon replaying the game from start to end multiple times. It’s a little fragment from the movie, placed in the final match.

While Harry and Draco are chasing the Snitch, they fly behind the stadium stands and continue their fight there. The result of the chase depends only on you. If Harry manages to catch the Snitch, we’ll get to see a nice cutscene with the Quidditch award ceremony!


Final Quidditch match with the scenes behind the stands and the awards cutscene:


Quidditch World Cup

Quidditch has become such a popular and fun sport that the developers have created a whole game about it. In this game we will not only get to catch the Snitch as a Seeker, but we’ll also get to play the game as a Beeter and Chaser. Graphically the game isn’t so different from previous games, but in addition to the Hogwarts Stadium we will get to visit other countries, where we will see the Northern Lights, large canyons and wicked tricks your teammates can perform, and you can learn to do yourself!


In the videoclip that comes with the Demo version of QWC, the developers talk about the making of the game. From watching this video we can learn that Quidditch is a mix-mash of multiple different kinds of sport: soccer, basketball, and even snowboarding! We can see how the developers made the characters and locations, as well as special tricks and music development.

Video about the creation of the game “Quidditch World Cup”


So in conclusion we can say that in the first game Harry’s first steps in the field of air travel were done pretty well. This version of Quidditch was pretty hard, but very interesting, because we had full control of Harry’s broom, we could fly anywhere on the stadium. The future games have modernized the flying and added some new features. In “Chamber of Secrets” Harry learned to push his opponents, and in “Quidditch World Cup” players could control other positions on the team, travel the world and do tricky moves.
Each game has its own Quidditch mechanics, so each has its own pros and cons. So there’s no clear best and worst Quidditch.
In the next articles we will analyze the other games and see what new things do they bring to aviation. We will see what sort of objects and animals can also fly in the air, how to pass the “Dragon” level for a gold medal, how to fly on the Thestrals, and we’ll find out which level is the most beautiful in terms of flying! Stay tuned!


Continued: I Believe I Can Fly: Part 2


Written by Setebos

Video from QWC prepared by IraOOKS

Translation into English: Andrew


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