Golden Snitch

The Golden Snitch, or sometimes Snitch, is a ball in Quidditch. It is small and golden-colored with wings. It flies around the Quidditch field at a high speed, sometimes pausing. The Seeker of either team tries to catch the Snitch for a score of 150 points. The game ends when the Snitch is caught.

History
The Golden Snitch was originally not a ball, but a little golden bird called a Snidget. It was introduced in 1269, when the Chief of the Wizards' Council, Barberous Bragge, unleashed a Golden Snidget during a Quidditch match, offering a reward of 150 Galleons (now worth over a million Galleons) to the player who caught the Snidget.

Thereafter, it became customary to set frightened Snidgets loose during games. As a tribute to Bragge, 150 points were given to the team that caught the Snidget. This Snidget-catching craze naturally harmed the bird's population, but the wizarding community was then unwilling to stop this barbaric activity, and ceased to use Snidgets only when the bird was labeled as endangered. The Snidget was then replaced by the Snitch, whose wings and golden color remind us of the bird and its unfortunate demise.

See also:

 * Quaffle
 * Bludger