Even if it wasn’t the first Quidditch video game on consoles in 20 years, Harry Potter: Quidditch Champions, launching Sept. 3, would still be one of those adaptations that is ripe for Easter eggs, inside jokes, and subtle callbacks. There’s already a confirmed one that harkens back to meme culture more than a decade old.
That would be “Meme Hagrid,” listed on the official Harry Potter website itself. Quidditch Champions players will be able to equip a paper mask that approximates the low poly-count head of “Haggord,” a mission-giving NPC from 2001’s Harry Potter and the Sorceror’s Stone — known for having the earliest representation of Quidditch in a video game.
“Haggord” was ressurected as a meme sometime around 2012, according to meme know-it-alls Know Your Meme. PSOne Hagrid stayed in wide use as an image macro for the following four years, mainly the marriage of Hagrid’s stoic, mountain-like posture and expressionless Mt. Rushmore face, with a deadpan bit of expository dialogue (“Ye dun it nao, Arry Porrer.”)
Other Easter eggs include a representation of Harry catching (and nearly swallowing) his first Snitch in his Quidditch debut; a callback to Harry summoning his first competition broomstick, and the obscure Beauxbatons Academy of Magic and Durmstrang Institute, making their first visual appearance — whether video game or film. They’ve only been referred to in past Harry Potter media.
The roster of players and NPCs include Potter, of course, as well as Draco Malfoy, Ron, Ginny, Fred, and George Weasley, Cho Chang of Ravenclaw House, and Hermione Granger, no doubt.
Arry Poorer Kiddi — pardon me, Harry Potter Quidditch Champions launches Sept. 6 for Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Windows PC, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X. PlayStation Plus Essential subscribers can claim it for their libraries for free on the same date. It’ll be available until Oct. 1.
Featured image via WizardingWorld.com
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