The Harry Potter franchise comes to a close of sorts with the

this Friday, but for true fans, the world created by British author J.K. Rowling transcends the books and movies.

Take for instance quidditch, the sport Rowling created for the series. Once confined to the realm of fiction, in recent years the sport has spawned teams worldwide, many bound in an "official" context under the banner of the

, "a magical nonprofit dedicated to promoting the sport of quidditch and inspiring young people to lead physically active and socially engaged lives."

The association boasts nearly 300 teams in the United States alone, including nine in Michigan — among them teams from Eastern Michigan University, Grand Valley State University, Michigan State University and the University of Michigan. (See some amateur video of a match between MSU and U of M below.)

How to play quidditch

According to the

set up by the International Quidditch Association, the game is played between two teams of seven each — all "riding" brooms — on an oval field roughly 48 yards long by 33 yards wide (in the book, the field is in the air and the game is played while flying; the IQA's rules are an adaptation.)

It gets a little complicated at this point, but the basic idea is that each team has three "chasers" whose job it is to score by moving a ball — the "quaffle" — down the field by running or passing with the goal of throwing it through one of three of the opposing team's goal hoops to score.

Each team also has two "beaters" who throw "bludgers" — other balls — at opposing players to temporarily knock them out of play; one "keeper" whose job it is to guard the team's goal hoops and prevent the other team from scoring; and one "seeker" whose job it is to chase down the "snitch runner" and remove the "snitch" in order to end the game. (The snitch is a ball tucked in a sock that hangs from the snitch runner's shorts.)

Once the snitch is caught, the game ends and points are tallied. The team that caught the snitch gets an extra 30 points.

Quidditch in the Olympics?

Of all the legacies Rowling leaves behind with her Potter series winding down — though with her recent announcement of the new

website, any kind of winding down is unlikely to truly happen for some time — it's interesting to think that a new sport could be one of the most lasting.

If quidditch continues to grow in popularity, for instance, might we see a future professional league like the NBA or NFL? How about a quidditch competition in the Olympics?

That may be pushing it, but who knows? If Rowling's imagination is powerful enough that it's come this far — transcending words on a page to become living color in the movies and inspire real-life

and sports — anything can happen. And that seems to be what makes great fiction great in the first place: It helps us believe that anything is possible.

Simon A. Thalmann is the online editor for Booth Features. He can be reached at sthalmann@kalamazoogazette.com.