The Ultimate Hogwarts Dinner Event | How To Create A Flying Class

Last updated on 25 July 2022

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Welcome to the Flying edition of the Ultimate Hogwarts Dinner Event series!

Recently I was part of a team who turned our church into Hogwarts for a youth event. We decked out the entire building in Harry Potter magic, and for 2 hours the kids were students at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. In this series I’m sharing how we set up each classroom, and the activities we held in them. Be sure to check out the rest of the series by clicking the links at the end of this post.

“At three-thirty that afternoon, Harry, Ron, and the other Gryffindors hurried down the front steps onto the grounds for their first flying lesson. The Slytherins were already there, and so were twenty broomsticks lying in neat lines on the ground. ” – Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone

I have to say, while she’s barely in the series passed the first book, Madame Hooch is a favourite teacher of mine. I love the Trio’s first Flying class with the Slytherins and how Harry just conquers the class and because he stands up for Neville, he gets on the Quidditch team. Amazing.

Did you know you can actually play Quidditch? There are teams and everything (alas, it has quite made it to the Olympics. I live in hope). For our Flying class we set it up in the church hall, and had minimal decor, but maximum fun.

Note: In 2022, Quidditch the sport officially changed its name to Quadball.

Flying class decor

A couple of weeks before our big event, I was down in this same basement hall painting huge Quidditch banners. You may have seen my Instagram post as I was painting the Hufflepuff banner. We hung these from the pillars already so conveniently propping up the building, one on each. And that was pretty much it! The great of the props and the items around the hall were for the game itself.

Flying class activity

There are various different ways you can play Quidditch in this sort of setting, but ours involved setting up hoola hoops at either end of the ‘court’, and providing the kids with balls and brooms to hold between their legs. The kids were 6 aside, and had to get the Quaffle into the hoop, like basketball, to score a point. The other balls in play were Bludgers. For our version of the game, all players were all types of players. So everyone could score with the Quaffle (not just the Chasers) and everyone could try and hit other players with Bludgers (not just the Beaters). I’m not sure if there was a Snitch in play in this version.

The kids got their OWL grades passed on a) which team won and b) if their team lost but they still played really well, they could receive a pass grade.

How to play real-life Quidditch (or Quadball)

If you have more time and Quidditch is one of your only activities, then here’s a quick run down of how a proper game might look (find a full description laid out in this Chicago Tribune post):

Players

1 x Keeper – they guard the hoops
3 x Chasers – they score points by throwing the Quaffle throw the hoops
2 x Beaters – they throw Bludgers to ‘knock out’ the other team’s players
1 x Seeker – they have to catch the Snitch
1 x Snitch player who is often a volunteer – they have a tennis ball in a golden sock attached to their waist band. The Seekers have to try and grab that throughout the game.

Players of each ‘type’ wearing different coloured headbands to differentiate. Suggested balls to use: volley ball for the Quaffle, dodgeballs for the Bludgers, and a tennis ball for the Snitch.

Summary of game play

The Quaffle and the Bludgers begin at the centre of the field/court.
When a Chaser scores, the Keeper of the opposing team teams possession of the ball and continues play
If a Beater gets ‘knocked out’ by an opposing Bludger, they have to run to the end of the field, then get back on their broom before continuing. If they’re holding a ball at the time, they have to drop it before they run off.
The Snitch enters the game at the 18-minute mark. The Seekers try to catch the Snitch, and hope they don’t get a Bludger thrown at them.
10 points are awarded for getting the Quaffle through the hoop, and 30 points for getting the Snitch (which also ends the game).

The kids loved playing Quidditch; it was one of their favourite activities, even though they didn’t get to play for very long.

Well, friends, this ends the Hogwarts Dinner Event series! Be sure to head on back to the rest of the classes to see how we created each one, and learn about the activities they did in each.

Check out the rest of the series: