By Kloe Palmer
It's not the Football World Cup yet, but its popularity is growing.
Quidditch – yes, the game Harry Potter and his wizard friends play while flying around on broomsticks - is now being played here.
Quidditch has leapt from the pages and is sweeping across the Muggle world.
Around 80 Auckland secondary school students are now competing in a weekly quidditch competition.
If you're not familiar with Harry Potter and the game of quidditch, you probably found that a bit baffling.
"It's like the brainchild of netball, rugby, soccer, handball and dodgeball, and there's a little bit of tiggie in there as well," says organiser Hugo Wills.
The game is played with six people aside, and only finishes when the 'seeker' - who is dressed in yellow - is caught by the chaser.
Wills is a year 13 student and organised the league as part of his studies, but at first schools weren't sure about whether the game would take off.
"There were three main reactions," he says. "Most people were like haha, that's funny, nice joke. Secondly, some people were really against it, which was surprising, and the third was that's such a good idea, and those are the people who play."
Nine local schools turned up here today in Ellerslie to prove themselves on the quidditch pitch.
The game's not just popular with Aucklanders - Muggles in Wellington and Christchurch are also beginning to mount their broomsticks.
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