For the second year in a row, McGill University left the Canada Cup as the national champions in the sport of quidditch. For the record, there have only ever been 2 Canada Cups. There were some really intense and close games—ones that were too close to call until the final snitch grab—which made them very exciting to watch.
I went to the Cup this year as one of the golden snitches. This tournament was remarkable for a couple reasons. First off, it was very well organised. I can honestly say that I haven’t been to any tournament that was better-run than this one. The weather was ideal: brisk and sunny. The grounds were perfect for off-field snitching: a million places to hide. It was great. Also, there were about a million snitches, too. Almost every quidditch tournament I’ve been to has been lacking in snitches, and this one had an overabundance.
This was why I felt so honoured to be able to snitch for the consolation match (the match to determine 3rd and 4th place). I didn’t want to snitch the finals, since McGill was playing, and I just don’t want questions like, “did you let the McGill seeker catch you?”
The consolation match ended up going later than the final match, and I enlisted some of my McGill snitch friends to engage in some on-field mischief.
When I came back to the field, the score was 30-0, which meant that the snitch-catch tied the game. It’s sometimes said in quidditch that the only player who’s guaranteed to lose every match is the golden snitch. Tonight I made history, because the only possible exception is that of a tied game: When a game is tied, it goes into overtime in which the snitch does not leave the field, and at the end, the team with the most points wins. Overtime ends after a period of 5 minutes or by a snitch-catch. The five-minutes of overtime came and went, and by the end of it, I hadn’t been caught.
Carleton, the team that won, hoisted me up on their shoulders. I won the game! As the golden snitch! This almost never happens. It was the perfect conclusion to a fantastic tournament: my team won (congrats McGill!) and I won too!
Below is a video of me snitching another game earlier in the day. It’s not as consequential as the consolation match later in the day, but it gives you an idea. :)