Quidditch for Muggles

J.K. Rowling introduced countless ideas and mythical creatures to the muggle world with her Harry Potter series. For example, Quidditch, the game played on flying broomsticks, is an impossible game that almost every kid hopes to play one day. Now, Quidditch is being played in colleges and high schools across the country, just without flying broomsticks and winged balls. Players run around a field wearing goggles and a cape while holding a broomstick between their legs and shooting balls through mounted hula-hoops. Surprisingly, the game is quite aggressive and many players have the wounds to prove it.

The popularity in the mythical game has dramatically increased over the past year. The Quidditch World Cup being held in New York November 13th and 14th will have over 60 teams nationwide competing for the spray painted gold prize. Hard-core Quidditch players are even trying to get enough support to make it an NCAA sport. In order to do so 50 schools must sponsor Quidditch as a varsity sport. Some even say that if Quidditch is able to reach NCAA status a future in the Olympics is possible.

J.K. Rowling has inspired people everywhere to think outside the box with her unattainable ideas. These ideas are now becoming reality with new technology and a lot of hard work. Scientists in the US and England are actually working to create and invisibility cloak. The cloak blocks certain microwaves and electromagnetic radiation to keep things invisible.

Edith Kollath has actually created the first ever book that "breathes." The series of books, called Things is based off the Monster Book of Monsters textbook from the Harry Potter series. The books actually look like they are breathing as they open and close (click on the picture of the book for a video). Also, Bertie Bott's Jellybeans have been concocted to mimic the candy that Harry eats. These jellybeans include brussel sprouts, caterpillar, diesel, and rotten egg flavors, just to name a few.

The Daily Prophet, the newspaper in the Harry Potter series, shows moving pictures instead of still life images. CBS is teaming up Entertainment Weekly to create a small screen that is actually inserted in a magazine to live up to the idea by J.K. Rowling. This two inch by one and a half inch screen will primarily be used for advertising, but maybe in the future it will hold moving pictures just like it does in The Daily Prophet.

Overall, the ideas Rowling introduced to the world makes us yearn for a little magic in our lives. The complex game of Quidditch can be simplified to allow muggles to play without flying broomsticks or magic, and now muggles can even buy breathing books. Bertie Bott's Jellybeans allow the muggles to taste what Harry actually tasted the first time he bit into an earwax flavored candy, and scientists are working hard to create a real life invisibility cloak. With these small changes muggles can get a glimpse into the life Harry Potter lives, just without his magical powers.

Quidditch photo: Collegequidditch.com

Invisibility cloak: CNN.com

Breathing book: Vimeo.com