What Muggle Sports Would Hogwarts Students Play?

Sep 25, 2017

Posted by: Lainey Ruffner

Fun, Humor, News, Opinion

One of the biggest issues I have with the wizarding world is its apparent lack of sports. The only sport ever mentioned is Quidditch, bar wizard chess. Don’t get me wrong, Quidditch is awesome, and I personally would definitely be trying out for the school team. But say you’re a witch or wizard who just isn’t good at Quidditch, you’re automatically resigned to just being a spectator your whole life. Or maybe you are decent at Quidditch and you really enjoy it, but you just happen to be the 8th best person in your house. So then you just have to sit and watch while trying to improve or hoping someone gets hurt so you can step in.

It seems unfair that most students aren’t getting a chance to be active or be a part of a team while in school, two things that are very import parts of childhood. Plus it really seems hard to believe that a entire society of people could be satisfied to only ever have one sport to play in school, or one professional sport to watch as an adult, especially when Muggles have so many sports to choose from and many Hogwarts students are from muggle backgrounds!

So what if our favorite Harry Potter characters had grown up in the Muggle world with us? I have a feeling a lot more of them would be playing sports. So I took each characters personality, physical appearance (based on book description not movies!), and lifestyle and matched them with the Muggle sport that seems most fitting.

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Harry Potter- Soccer (Football):

It’s stated very early in the books that Harry is good at sports, even though he would get picked last in gym class because his classmates were afraid of Dudley’s gang. Harry spending his childhood running away from and dodging attacks by Dudley and his gang helped him to become very fast and develop quick reflexes for jumping and diving out of the way, all helpful skills with ball handling and dodging players in soccer. He is also stated to be fairly small and skinny for his age. His build only adds to his speed and ability to maneuver quickly. Harry’s built for a sport that requires short bursts of speed, but he probably has a good amount of endurance as well. He would’ve been great at dodging around defensemen and chasing after soccer balls, so I can see him being a forward. Soccer is also fitting because Petunia and Vernon would never have paid for fancy equipment or lessons so he would’ve likely just played for free on his school’s team, and would’ve needed to carpool with a teammate to games. He would’ve probably been good enough to be a starter and likely even captain later on. Failing that, his quick reflexes would also make him a promising martial artist!

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Ron Weasley- Swimming

Ron is described as being tall, thin and gangling with big hands and feet. He’s also stated to be long and lanky. This is a great build for a powerful swimmer. He could use those large hands and feet to power him through the water and that long reach to pull ahead of his competition. He’s not particularly known for being very coordinated or intelligent so he would thrive in a sport that didn’t involve too many strategic plays or ball handling skills. Also Ron doesn’t seem to do too well under pressure, so a sport where he can be all in his own late focused on himself without having to be face to face with other competitors would be just for him. Ron wouldn’t have been the best at his sport because he’s sometimes lazy and doesn’t like to practice and he would never have been able to stick to a good swimmer’s diet, but he would’ve been at least average.

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Hermione Granger- Field Hockey

Hermione’s build is never really described in the books so as a reader I usually assume this means she was fairly average in height and weight for a female her age. She’s not particularly aggressive or confrontational (aside from that time she hits Malfoy), so a sport with a lot of direct physical contact wouldn’t suit her, but she is fiercely loyal so she would do best on a team. She would be great at strategizing and coming up with new plays. Plus if her ease of mastering charms with complicated wand-work is any indication, she would probably be able to handle a field hockey stick quite well. Her parents would’ve made sure to be present for every single one of her games.

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Ginny Weasley- Lacrosse

Besides having red hair, we don’t really get detailed description of Ginny’s build, but growing up with 6 brothers and being such an independent spirit, we know Ginny has learned how to fend for herself and wouldn’t be afraid of a little bit of bodily contact. Plus we already know from Ginny’s adeptness as a Chaser that she’s quick and good at passing at catching the Quaffle. She’s fiery, powerful, intense, competitive, and fiercer than she looks, and she’d be more than able to stand her ground and prove herself on a lacrosse field.

Molly perhaps would not have approved of this choice of sport for her only daughter originally, but once she saw how good Ginny was she would give in and be as supportive as possible while having to divide her time between all her children’s hobbies. Ginny definitely would’ve been captain, as well!

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Draco Malfoy- Tennis

Since Draco doesn’t have a strong build to protect himself, he would definitely feel safer on his own side of the tennis court, but he would love the challenge of being able to look his opponent directly in the eye. He would have grown up being taken to the country club every weekend with Lucius and Narcissa for his private tennis lessons with a very expensive instructor and he would love showing off by sporting the most expensive tennis outfits. He would be decent because of all his expensive training, but never the best, however, he would make sure that everyone knew each time he won a match. His father would rarely make it to his matches and his mother would try her best to attend the important ones, however he would make sure at least a few of his friends and his girlfriend were always there to watch.

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Neville Longbottom- Golf

Neville is described as being round faced and plump and not very coordinated or athletic, so he might not fare too well in sports needing a lot of physical effort. He would likely only golf because his grandmother signed him up for it to get him involved and to round out his college applications. He wouldn’t be very good at it, but he would get out there and try his best and practice all the time, perhaps inviting his closest friends to join him on the pitch. He would be on a golf team at school and would be exceptionally supportive to his fellow teammates. In his later years, Neville might have felt confident enough to tryout for a new sport.

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Luna Lovegood- Rhythmic Gymnastics

Luna would love rhythmic gymnastics so she could wear colorful leotards and dance to her own beat. Her coaches would struggle getting her to focus during practice and she would always pick extremely unique music and choreography for her routines. She would often get deductions for doing something unconventional or not following rules, but she would never care how well she performed as long as she had fun. Xenophilious would come to all of her competitions and would often try to coordinate his outfit to match hers.

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Fred and George Weasley- Ice Hockey

Fred and George are said to a shorter and stockier than Ron and Percy, which make their build more adapt for a heavy contact sport. Plus from their success as Beaters we already know they can withstand a good hit and aren’t afraid to deliver one back. We also know they would have good hand-eye coordination and be able to maneuver a hockey stick as well as the upper body strength to deliver a strong shot. They would need a good solid team around them to entertain with their jokes and to stick up for and they would definitely need to be on the same team.

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Crabbe and Goyle- American Football

Crabbe and Goyle are the perfect build for American football. They would definitely be linemen and would be known for putting new players through a humiliating hazing ritual. They would also wear their letterman jackets all the time. They would be really good at their positions and would be able to lift more than most of their team but they would complain extensively anytime they were forced to run at practice.

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Cho Chang- Figure Skating

Cho Chang is described in the books as being very pretty, but we also know she is quick and athletic, and likely small and light since is the Ravenclaw Quidditch team’s seeker. Her good looks would only be accentuated by the elegant figure skating costumes and she would be strong and flexible enough to pull off the complicated maneuvers while still looking graceful. She would have a lot of male figure skaters try and pursue her for pairs skating, but she would prefer to skate alone. She would be a dedicated student during her lessons and practice diligently and would be able to master new skills quickly.

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Cedric Diggory- Basketball

Cedric is described as tall, well built and burly. He’s athletic and smart and is good at almost every sport, but really focuses in on basketball, because it’s his strongest. He’d be tall enough to get great shots off over the other players’ heads and muscular enough to make far away shots and passes. He would definitely be the star and captain of the team, possibly the coach’s son. He would have a lot of girls come to watch him play and likely be dating a cheerleader that he met at a game. He would wear his letterman jacket around and have a college sports scholarship all lined up.

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Viktor Krum- American Football

Viktor is athletic and muscular and does well under pressure. He would likely be the quarterback. He would definitely have a fan club of girls to follow him around in the muggle world as well.

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Fleur Delacour- Gymnastics

Fleur is lithe yet strong, as well as exceptionally beautiful. She would look extremely elegant and graceful out there no matter if it’s on the bars, beam, vault or floor. She would be a dedicated and obedient athlete and this would take her far as she would be willing to put in the hard work and time necessary to be a skilled gymnast.

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Percy Weasley- Volleyball:

Being tall and lanky like Ron, Percy would have done well in Volleyball. He wouldn’t have enjoyed a contact sport or anything involving too much running. He wouldn’t be too invested in it, because he knows his college pursuits won’t leave him much time for athletics, but he also knows playing a sport will look good on his college application. He would tend to boss around his teammates even though he’s not captain and not one of the better players.

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Bill Weasley- Baseball

Bill was also tall and thin, he isn’t necessarily described as being athletic, but he is described as handsome which leads me to believe he’s got a least some decently toned muscled. Based on the descriptions of his brothers this probably means he has some of upper body strength of Fred, George and Charlie despite being tall and lean. He’d be able to hit some nice long hard drives, throw far, and round the bases quickly. Bill’s laid back attitude and practical nature means he probably wouldn’t get too caught up in winning or losing and he wouldn’t be overly aggressive either, so he’d enjoy baseball more than any contact sports. He wouldn’t try too hard, but he’d be one of the best on the team anyway and he’d be genuinely modest about it. He would enjoy getting some down time to hang out in the dugout with friends while his team was batting and would also use the time to flirt with his small following of girls who cheered for him in the bleachers while the coach wasn’t looking.

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Illustration: Charlie Weasley by Osato-Kun on Deviantart

Charlie Weasley- Wrestling

Charlie is said to be short and stocky with muscled arms giving him a great build for a wrestler. We also know that if he can wrangle dragons, wrestling high school kids would be a breeze.

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Lavender and Parvati- Cheerleading:

These two seem peppy enough to enjoy cheering on the athletes at other sporting events. They are energetic and get support from sticking together – they would be eager to make a role model out of their cheer captain and do anything that she says.

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Dean Thomas- Soccer:

Okay, we cheated a little on this one since we already know Dean is a soccer fan!

What do you think about the sports we’ve chosen for these characters? Agree, disagree or have your own ideas on what sport these characters would excel at? Let us know on Facebook and Twitter, or in the comments below!





The Leaky Cauldron is not associated with J.K. Rowling, Warner Bros., or any of the individuals or companies associated with producing and publishing Harry Potter books and films.