Quidditch has escaped the realm of Harry Potter to become its own recognized sport, with teams from across the nation coming together each year to compete in the U.S. Quidditch Cup.
This year was the ninth edition of the U.S. Quidditch Cup, which saw 60 teams competing in Columbia, South Carolina April 16-17.
Before the weekend began, each of the teams were sorted into pools of five based on rankings from games played this season. The teams in each pool competed against each other with the top three teams advancing to bracket play in day two.
The Appalachian Apparators, Boone’s community team, are currently ranked 32nd in the nation and this was their third year qualifying and competing in the U.