Quidditch Through the Ages (Hogwarts Library)

by J.K. Rowling and Kennilworthy Whisp

[jesstheaudiobookworm]

Listening to Quidditch Through the Ages was such great fun! I've owned the physical copy for more than a decade now, originally purchased with the box set containing Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them. They are presented in text, as in audio, as Hogwarts textbooks.

Even though I always preferred Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (the textbook, not the movie) to Quidditch Through the Ages, I have to admit that the audiobook version of the latter ended up being my favorite. The majority of the content in Fantastic Beasts was more interesting to me than this subject matter of Quidditch Through the Ages, simply because I would rather hear about magical creatures than Quidditch facts. However, the last portion of the Quidditch Through the Ages audiobook gave me more enjoyment than the rest combined.

The last 30 minutes or so is a dramatized account of the 2014 Quidditch World Cup. With narrative from Ginny Weasley Potter, as sports commentator, and Rita Skeeter as gossip columnist, we are given a play-by-play of the Quidditch match between Bulgaria and Brazil (from Ginny) and the movements of the Potter/Weasley/Longbottom/Lovegood crowd watching from the VIP box (from Skeeter). This scene takes place about three years before the "19 Years Later" epilogue in The Deathly Hallows and The events of The Cursed Child.

This bit of the book was absolutely brilliant! I could practically see it playing out before my eyes. We were even given some juicy information about the characters. For example, Skeeter mentions that Luna Lovegood wore a rainbow colored wedding dress with a tiara made from unicorn horns when she married Rolf Scamander. That absolutely made me crack up! She also noted that Neville Longbottom is the godfather of Albus Potter. I'm sure that has been mentioned somewhere before, probably on the Pottermore website, but it was new information to me.

As I mention in every Harry Potter-related review, I'm the kind of Potterhead that craves whatever I can get my hands on. Therefore, there was no way I wouldn't love Quidditch Through the Ages. It was so great to return to the Harry Potter universe and get an adorable little glimpse into the lives of our favorites. Rowling's writing has this wonderful ability to automatically transport me back into my childhood. Quidditch Through the Ages was no exception.

Narration review: The 2014 World Cup scene was a wonderful surprise once I arrived at the end of the audiobook, but what I was most excited for from the very beginning was Andrew Lincoln's narration. In case you don't know, Andrew Lincoln is the magical man who stars in The Walking Dead. And what I didn't know was that he isn't American. That was another fantastic surprise courtesy of Quidditch Through the Ages.

In The Walking Dead, Lincoln has one hell of a southern drawl that this southerner actually thought was authentic. Apparently not (I googled him to confirm) and his natural British accent is just as amazing. This man could read the phone book and I would think it was the best thing I had ever heard. Quidditch Through the Ages also boasts a plethora of sound effects, all done very well, especially during the Quidditch World Cup scene. The Foley (sound effects) was so immersive it made me feel like I was actually there watching the match. ♣︎