Discussion Lesson 1: Broomsticks

Well if I may, I think that we should open the discussion with the best broom in my opinion, the firebolt.

No other broom can compete with this broom, either in looks, speed or presitions.

I believe this is correct. The firebolt is the most recent and most up to date broomstick. I believe that it is the most popular amongst quidditch players for its speed and flying control

The Firebolt series are very good, for racing brooms, but I think for Quidditch I'll always favour the good old Nimbus series. They're sturdy, reliable and great when playing as a Chaser.

Don't get me wrong, the firebolt is a good broom - just not the best for the position I play in Quidditch.

I think it would be a good idea for the manufacturers to develop a firebolt for each Quidditch position.

What are your thoughts on family brooms? I for one do not think they are a safe way of transporting children around.

I agree, there should be a longer, thicker broom with saftey restraintes for the family since FLying Carpets are noe illegal. Does anybody know why?

I am sure flying carpets probably were responsible for too many injuries.

I am a huge Firebolt fan. The look and the speed are superior.

I agree that the firebolt series would be benificial to bring out more brooms for each quidditch position, therefore making the firebolt run into the first place for quiddicth brooms, although I disagree that the firebolt is not suitable for all positions. Its speed and accuracy covers each position in a quidditch game well. I would prefer to see my quidditch team all on firebolts than all on nimbus brooms

Quidditch isn't all that we use our brooms for, though - they have other uses! For example, one would rather use a flying carpet than a broom to travel great distances, should they be unable to Apparate. One of the most famous brooms, the Oakshaft 79, wasn't what one would enjoy riding, particularly today, in the world of Quidditch - it was heavy and unable to fly quickly - but it will be remembered as the first broom to cross the Atlantic Ocean. This is the advantage of broomsticks to carpets - travelling over seawater would be sure to weigh the fabric down, and we'd unfortunately end up in the sea.

Broomsticks, however, are not so popular in Asia, where flying carpets are still traded and much preferred to our brooms today. Quidditch, therefore, still has to make a huge appearence in the East, but Japan has recently raised its game.... and I should be talking about broomsticks, not Quidditch. XD

Although quidditch is not the only reason for broomsticks, it is what has made broomsticks more popular. The majority of brooms are created and tailored specifically for the use of quidditch and other broom sports.

also if we look at comfort, the firebolt is one of the most comfortable brooms around, as well as being personalised to the owner, and perfect for quidditch!

I must admit travleing with brooms is another use for them. But lets take the time when Harry was traveling to Grimmauld place. He was very uncombortable during the journey, saying he would have perferred to be a car. This where brooms loose fans. Those bad at quidditch or injured could not use them. Which why there are flying cars and apparation

True, but flying over Muggle Britain would do that to you - the weather here is horrendous, and flying at altitudes such as the ones the guards and Harry were flying at is sure to be uncomfortable. The air is thinner than at ground level, colder, AND it was raining. But you are right - travelling by broom is slow, inefficient, and most certainly weather-dependent.

So do you think that brooms are just used for Quidditch and travelling? What else could they be used for?

We are talking about the firebolt versus Nimbus and other brooms right? The main factors that have to be taken into consideration are obviously, speed, accelleration power, response time and comfort.

The firebolt takes into account nearly all of these, however, the comfort part is not as covered...tell me truthfully, would you really want to sit on a broom for hours without some sort of pillow or something soft? Magic has made a difference, but it isn't always the answer. Firebolts would still feel as though you have something up your bum, whether there is a charm on it or not. The brooms which are rounder and flatter handled (making htem slower) are actually more comfortable!

Well in some cases speed is not an issue. You just want to enjoy the ride or weiw is when you would get those brooms. It all depends on what your looking for in a broom, SO knowing your brooms first helps. Lets see.. does anyone know what the first broom was called?

Duck the Duck wrote:

The Firebolt series are very good, for racing brooms, but I think for Quidditch I'll always favour the Nimbus series

What are your thoughts on family brooms? I for one do not think they are a safe way of transporting children around.

Family brooms...I'd have to stick with the cleansweep. I think the cleansweep is the best broom for children whoare just starting out and are not entirely ready for the more advanced brooms. I love the firebolt! But, for some postions, as Duck said just arent right for that type of broom. In my opinion, Seekers would favor the firebolt more while I think chasers, beaters and keeper would benefit from the Nimbus

Quote :

Lets see.. does anyone know what the first broom was called?

The first brooms were made by individual talented wizards, in the ninth century or so everyone made whatever they could and traded for what they couldn't. But the first broomstick created specifically for sports use and mass produced was the Cleansweep One.

I have another concern about the Firebolt: Why is there no safety charm on such a supposedly advanced broom? Brooms should be built with safety charms that prevent their users from falling off in midair, or at least the brooms should chase their riders and catch them from underneath if they do fall. I find it odd that no broom-maker has to date addressed this problem.

Perhaps some wizards enjoy the element of danger, but I think most would be comfortable knowing that if they fell they wouldn't dive for the ground headfirst.

Hehe that's like saying the broom has a mind of its own, and you know what Arthur Weasley said - 'Never trust anything that has a mind of its own!' XD

Jokes aside, do you see my point about that? If the broom was to know that its owner had fallen off, you'd have to ask all sorts of questions... for example, would it have eyes? It wouldn't know exactly where the owner was falling, and hence wouldn't know exactly where to level itself out in order to catch the owner before they hit the ground. Another question is whether or not riders really do want to have a safety mechanism fitted on the broom, especially for Quidditch. The thrill of Quidditch itself is not knowing what will happen. Do you really think the Weasley twins will get a kick out of flying around on a broom they KNOW won't let them fall at least once?

Also, people don't dive to the ground head-first XD Completely off topic, but instinct is to spread yourself out, create more surface area, and hence you'll be on your back or your front. Obviously either way is going to hurt. But anyway, more surface area means more air resistance, meaning you slow yourself down. It's instinct. :P

LOL. good point though. Let's make a list of all the saftey features a broom shouold have (add to mine please)

• saftey net (catching feature)
  
• anti-bucking charm
  
• unbreakable brake
  
• immune to all dark magic
  
• stability and control
  

any others..

You know how surf boards and snowboards have something that you tie to your foot so that you wont lose your broom well they should have that on a broom except they might want to have something like a bunjee cord. I agree that during qudditch this would take all of the fun out of it but they should have this for when people go on long travels that way if theres a big gust of wind they wont fall down to thier certain doom because you got to fly up pretty high to stop the muggles from noticing you.

exactly, not all brooms need to come with safety features, but at least the family brooms should, the ones that wizards depend on to get them somwhere in one piece.

and I think someone mentioned about how uncomfortable Harry was on the way to Grimmauld place...maybe brooms could come with some sort of ward that protects its rider from the elements? Again, this would be only for family brooms, since obviously Quidditch is no fun if it's completely safe.

And for poeple who like playing with danger, or for people training for Quidditch, brooms can be created specially with no brake, and try to buck their riders off.

One beoom style they tried to put a cushion on the handle to add comfrot but it didnt work. there was probably a lot of problems like for insent it could have been slpping around a lot or falling off

exactly, i wpuld want everyone to be comfortable, but having a cushion probably isnt the best solution. It would proably make you fall off or have bad balledce, not a great feature for quidditch players

I agree and turing could cause a lot of prblems because as you go to make a sharp turn the cushion could move and you could slip right off of the broom. Though it could be better then some of those old brooms

well, not really the cushion slipping, Its you might not distribute your weight evenly so when you turn woosh! your off!

Yea i guess it would but it probably better then the Oakshaft 79 it couldnt make turns too well so it wasnt used in professional qudditch

That brings up a good point. Some brooms are great for quidditch and others aren't. SOme brooms are just for travle or leisure.

stephy wrote:

I agree and turing could cause a lot of prblems because as you go to make a sharp turn the cushion could move and you could slip right off of the broom. Though it could be better then some of those old brooms

I believe there is actually a cushioning CHARM used on all broomsticks today which probably makes the riding experience a bit more comfortable. But still, the riding position on a broom is not the most comfortable position anyway...I mean there isn't much sitting space. I think I prefer carpets, pity they're illegal.

If brooms do not have a cushioning charm already built in, you can actually do it yourself:

Quote :

Cushioning Charm

incantation unknown

The Cushioning Charm creates an invisible "pillow" on the handle of a broom to make flying more comfortable.

*Invented by Elliot Smethwyk in 1820 (QA9).

Harry potter Lexicon

I think this way is better because then the rider has a choice rather than just buying a broom with it already in built

True but I don't think anyone would want to ride a broom without a cushioning charm...I mean, the shape of the broom is hard enough to balance on as it is, and uncomfortable.

also, on a different note, perhaps they could do something to preserve a wizard favorite broomstick, sort of like bronzing a baby's shoes like some Muggles do. So maybe they could coat the broom in gold or something, so that it can be used as a decoration when the wizard is no longer interested in using it to fly with.

They would do that with a classic broom. I think that everyone thinks brooms are only used in quidditch and for travleing and leisrure. THiS iS NOT TRUE! Other sports that use brooms are:

• Aingingein (Ireland) (QA2)
  Played on broomsticks, using a ball called a Dom and a series of flaming hoops.
  

• annual broom race (Sweden) (QA2)
  

• Creaothceann (Scotland - banned in 1762) (QA)
  

• Quidditch
  

• Quodpot (USA) (QA)
  

• Shuntbumps (survives only as a children's game) (QA2)
  

• Stichstock (played in Germany - died out in fourteenth century) (QA2)
  

• Swivenhodge (still played) (QA)
  

It is very true that people forget these other sports, though pershaps the wizard community should ecorperate more broom sports in schools so young witches and wizards would grow up celebrating them all and enhancing their knowledge

also, perhaps there could be special editions of certain brooms, or collector's brooms.

And do any broom companies as of now give you the option to personalize your broom, if you wish, by inscribing a name on it? That would be a good gift idea, and an easy way to tell brooms apart.

Yes, but it would probably be very expensive. Maybe they play them to train or quidditch.

I think that they do but like KatieBellaTrix said it would cost a lot. Also like said before they should have other games instead of qudditch for all to play because not everyone like qudditch.

Other games, do mean in Hogwarts?

No games that are played internationally like Quodpot,Shuntbumps and Stichstock to name a few. there was a list of more games posted on page two. Theres a whole bunch of games that a lot of people dont know about

lol i noe I posted the list. I guess they have national leagues and if they do have internation its proably not that big

They might. Some of thoses games though are not played that often if at all because they just are not as famous as qudditch

Yea, Thats what I meant, Its like Hockey and baseball in America. Hockey is a sport and people (like my brother) love it, but more people love baseball.

I dont really like any of thoses sports i perfer soccer but enough about that. Can anyone else think of a good reason why they probably anit as big as qudditch

proabably violence. I know I know I but it's true. If you look at America and our football, its really popular and the people just hit each other, People think thats funny. It's really popular so is wrestling and boxing.

Probably. well anyway. what else should we talk about involving broomsticks

I was wondering why broomsticks are the primary flying vehicle in England. I know flying carpets are illegal now, but why? I said this already, and I'm sure many would agree with me that a carpet would be much more comfortable than a broomstick.

For sports I understand why they use broomsticks, but for traveling, why not use a carpet? Why are broomsticks so popular?

Probaby because like cars, they are easier to see then brooms, and the risk of exposure is higher. Saftey might also be a reason but I'm not sure.

That thought has come to me too.

Yes but in times of peace, there isn't really any danger of exposure...why would someone want to shoot down a broomstick/carpet?

Also, in order to harm someone in the air, the person performing the spell would also need to be in midair, or at least close by, so whoever was on the carpet would know to look out.

But I had a thought, maybe it's easier to place irremovable spells on carpets, like maybe even while the thread is made or the carpet woven, and if those spells wouldn't be able to be detected afterwards, that would be a reason why everyone uses broomsticks. Because maybe broomsticks can be more easily tested for dangerous spells.

no, by exposure I mean muggles oculd find out about the wizarding race if they saw flying carpets, there much bigger.

I also just had a random thought that if it rains while your on your carpet it would all collect and you would be thrown out fo the air.

alos another thing is that if you were flying over the ocean your carpet would get wieght and wiegh more causing you to fly even lower until your sitting right in the water

KatieBellaTrix wrote:

no, by exposure I mean muggles oculd find out about the wizarding race if they saw flying carpets, there much bigger.

I also just had a random thought that if it rains while your on your carpet it would all collect and you would be thrown out fo the air.

I think the way wizards keep their brooms out of sight is by flying high. So the same thing can be done with carpets. Or an invisiblity spell can be put on the carpet, and a Disillusionment charm on the person, so that would take care of the Muggle problem. Besides, most Muggles never think to look up. In the cities Muggles avoid looking up because that marks you as a tourist.

Also, there are probably simple spells to repel water off carpet. The carpets could even come with that spell already installed.