Magic hovered in the chilly air as the Yale Quidditch team took off Sunday morning during their weekly practice. Equipped with broomsticks and broomstick substitutes (crutches and Swiffers), about a dozen muggles were “flying” between two sets of scoring hoops on Cross Campus.

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Like in the books, chasers scored by dunking the volleyball-“Quaffle” through one of three hoops guarded by the opposing team’s keeper. Beaters forced chasers to drop the Quaffle by throwing dodgeball-“Bludgers” at them. The game ended when a seeker caught a yellow-garbed runner — the “Snitch.”

Founded in the fall of 2009, the Yale Quidditch team placed 16th out of 46 schools in the November 2011 Quidditch World Cup held in New York City’s Dewitt Clinton Park.