Seeker

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Harrys Nimbus 2000 — Harry Potter was the youngest seeker to hold the position in a century

"This... is the Golden Snitch, and it's the most important ball of the lot. It's very hard to catch because it's so fast and difficult to see. It's the Seeker's job to catch it. You've got to weave in and out of the Chasers, Beaters, Bludgers, and Quaffle to get it before the other team's Seeker, because whichever Seeker catches the Snitch wins his team an extra hundred and fifty points, so they nearly always win. That's why Seekers get fouled so much. "

— A Seeker's job during a Quidditch match^[src]

Seeker is a position in the wizarding sport of Quidditch. There is one Seeker per team. The goal of the Seeker is to catch the Golden Snitch. They play a crucial role in Quidditch, as a game does not end until the Seeker catches the Snitch. A team whose Seeker catches the Snitch receives 150 points, which almost always wins the match for that team.

History

The position of the Seeker, known as the Hunter, was introduced in response to Barberus Bragge's introduction of the Golden Snidget during a match in 1269 making it the newest position in the game.

The 1269 game mentioned above was attended by Barberus Bragge, the Chief of the Wizards' Council. As a nod to the sport of Snidget-hunting, which was also popular at the time, Bragge brought such a bird to the game and released it from its cage. He told the players that one-hundred fifty Galleons — a large sum of money, particularly in those times — would be awarded to the player who caught the bird.

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Gryffindor Seeker Harry Potter chasing the Golden Snitch

This was easier said than done: the Snidget is very fast, very small, and can make sudden changes of direction at high speeds. The considerable challenge posed by the flight patterns of the bird is what made Snidget-hunting so popular in the first place.

What happened at the Quidditch game in question was rather predictable: the players totally ignored the game, and each and every one simply went off in pursuit of the Snidget, which was kept within the arena by the crowd using Repelling Charms.

A witch named Modesty Rabnott, who was also watching the game, took pity on the Snidget and rescued it with a Summoning Charm before rushing away with it hidden inside her robes. She was caught by a furious Bragge and fined ten Galleons for disrupting the game, but not before she had released the Snidget. This saved the life of this bird, but the connection with Quidditch had been made, and soon a Snidget was being released at every game. Each team had an extra player — originally called the Hunter, later the Seeker — whose sole job was to catch and kill the Snidget, for which one-hundred fifty points were awarded in memory of the one-hundred fifty Galleons offered by Bragge in the original game.

The quickly declining number of Snidgets led to a substitute for the bird, hence the Golden Snitch came into play, and the position was given the name Seeker instead of Hunter.

Traits

"Usually the lightest and fastest fliers, Seekers need both a sharp eye and the ability to fly one- or no-handed"

— Description of Seekers^[src]

Seekers are generally the smallest and lightest players on a team, and there is a certain glamour attached to playing as a Seeker. Generally, the Seeker is also the most fouled player on the team.

In team portraits, the Seeker sits in the middle of the first row.^[1]

Known Seekers

Team	Name
American National Quidditch team	Ariel Singleton
American National Quidditch team	Maximus Brankovitch III
Appleby Arrows	Gregory Cotton
Australian National Quidditch team	Lucy Karoonda
Bulgarian National Quidditch team	Viktor Krum
Chudley Cannons	Galvin Gudgeon
English National Quidditch team	Blythe Parkin
English National Quidditch team	Roderick Plumpton
Fitchburg Finches	Maximus Brankovitch III
French National Quidditch team	Cybèle Peltier
German National Quidditch team	Konrad Weiss
Grodzisk Goblins	Josef Wronski
Gryffindor Quidditch team	Charlie Weasley
	Ginny Weasley
	Harry Potter
	Unidentified Gryffindor seeker
Holyhead Harpies	Glynnis Griffiths
Hufflepuff Quidditch team	Cedric Diggory
Hufflepuff Quidditch team	Summerby
Irish National Quidditch team	Aidan Lynch
Japanese National Quidditch team	Shizuka Watanabe
Kenmare Kestrels	Aidan Kiely
Montrose Magpies	Eunice Murray
Montrose Magpies	Lennox Campbell
Nordic National Quidditch team	Tina Lundstrom
Puddlemere United	Benjy Williams
Pride of Portree	Dougal McBride
Ravenclaw Quidditch team	Cho Chang
Ravenclaw Quidditch team	Gilderoy Lockhart (claimed)
Slytherin Quidditch team	Draco Malfoy
	Harper
	Regulus Black
	Terence Higgs
Spanish National Quidditch team	Iñigo Fuente
Tutshill Tornados	Roderick Plumpton

Behind the scenes

In the film adaptation of Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, Harry's father, James Potter, was said to have been a Seeker. However, J. K. Rowling has stated that James was a Chaser.^[2]

Appearances

Notes and references

↑ Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Chapter 10 (Kreacher's Tale)
↑ About the Books: transcript of J.K. Rowling's live interview on Scholastic.com

Game of Quidditch

Officials: Quidditch referee
Player positions: Beater • Chaser • Keeper • Seeker
Playing equipment: Beater's bat • Bludger • Broomstick • Golden Snitch • Quaffle

[1] Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Chapter 10 (Kreacher's Tale)

[2] About the Books: transcript of J.K. Rowling's live interview on Scholastic.com

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