Broomstick

Broomsticks are one of the means employed by wizards and witches to transport themselves between locations, the other principal (magical) methods being Apparition, the Floo Network, flying carpets (in some countries), the Hogwarts Express, the Knight Bus, or the use of magical creatures (such as Thestrals).

Only wizards and witches appear to use broomsticks in the Harry Potter books. House-elves, for example, use apparation.

In a thinly veiled but playful satire of the automobile industry, J. K. Rowling indicates that broomsticks are made by different manufacturers, that they are constantly being refined and upgraded so that new models are released and that certain brooms have attributes (such as acceleration speed) that make them far more attractive than others. Makes of broom include the Nimbus, Comet and Cleansweep lines.

In Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, there is a description of how a large group of wizards and witches may travel by broomstick and fail to be observed by Muggles through the use of a Disillusionment Charm that causes the body to take on the appearance of its surroundings. An earth-bound Muggle might then only see a slight shimmer in the night sky as broomstick riders pass overhead, which might be put down to blurred vision, sleepiness or a trick of the dark.

Quidditch, the most popular of the games of the wizarding world, is played on broomsticks.