The Flamboyant French Team: The Quiberon Quafflepunchers

• Type: Professional Quidditch Team
• Home Country: France
• League: French Quidditch League
• Known For: Flamboyant play, the Quafflepunch move, and colourful Quidditch Robes

The Quiberon Quafflepunchers are a renowned professional Quidditch team hailing from France. They are celebrated throughout the wizarding world for their “shocking but brilliant” and highly flamboyant style of play, which emphasizes daring and often risky manoeuvres. This exciting approach to the game has earned them considerable success, including nineteen victories in the French League championship. The team's name and primary claim to fame derive from their signature move, the Quafflepunch. This is a controversial tactic wherein a Chaser, instead of throwing the Quaffle, punches it with a closed fist towards the goal hoops. While this move is a crowd-pleaser and has proven effective for the team, its legality has been debated. The official rules of Quidditch explicitly forbid kicking the Quaffle, and some critics argue that punching it violates the spirit, if not the letter, of that rule. Nevertheless, the move has become synonymous with the Quiberon Quafflepunchers' identity. All information regarding the team's history and playing style is sourced from the supplementary book, Quidditch Through the Ages.

The Quiberon Quafflepunchers are not mentioned within the seven core Harry Potter novels. Their existence is part of the broader magical world established in supplementary materials. Their primary role is to expand the reader's understanding of the international Quidditch scene, demonstrating that the sport is popular and has developed unique styles and strategies in countries beyond Britain. The controversy surrounding their signature move also highlights the complexities and evolving nature of Quidditch rules and refereeing on a global scale. They serve as an example of the detailed world-building provided by J.K. Rowling in texts like Quidditch Through the Ages.

• Quiberon: This is the name of a commune on a peninsula in Brittany, in the northwest of France. This name firmly grounds the team's identity in its French origins.
• Quafflepunchers: This is a descriptive portmanteau. It combines Quaffle, the red ball scored by Chasers, with “punchers,” a direct and literal reference to their signature offensive move.

The sole source of canonical information about the Quiberon Quafflepunchers is the in-universe textbook Quidditch Through the Ages, written by J.K. Rowling under the pseudonym of Kennilworthy Whisp. The book was published for the charity Comic Relief in 2001.