Broom Weaving
Ugh, I’m getting a little bored talking only about the school, don’t me wrong the school isn’t boring but I’m running out of steam. So, to take a break, here’s my notes when I went down a rabbit hole on broom racing.
Broom Lore
Broom Base
The base of a broom mattered for its personality. Just like the materials in a wand would. However, no brooms are made of bone or any otherwise easily chippable material. Most are made of wood, stone, metal, porcelain, and masonry. Broom personalities also aren’t like wand personalities, brooms may be more dramatic or sensitive more like how car engines are. Each length of every broom was varnished to give them the best chance possible and kept the material from rusting or falling apart due to moisture. Some handles were wrapped in cloth or rubber to give a sturdier grip, otherwise the handle shapes and grips could be customized.
Broom Metalwork
The metalwork of the broom determined how truly sturdy it was. The stronger the metal the better the broom. The strongest and lightest metals were used in racing brooms. Metals didn’t affect the personality of the broom, just the endurance.
Broom Bristles
The Bristles and bristle cut of the broom effected aerodynamancy as well as the personality. The material of the bristles could affect the personality depending on the texture of the material. So wheat stalks could make a particularly stubborn broom whereas unicorn tail hair could make a much more agreeable broom. The cut of the bristles highly affected its top speed.
Broom Modifications
Broom modifications were mostly made of professionally carved runes or special add ons. Specially carved runes were usually to add onto the charms or enchantments already on the broom as those would have been carved on the inside of the broom. Special add ons were usually things that might look decorative but serve a bigger purpose.
Broom Ornaments
Broom Ornamentation was hardly used on racing brooms. However there is a community of people with highly customized and fast brooms. So, it is possible to have a highly decorated and fast broom, but it is highly discouraged in the use of them in broom racing. Although, there are Breeze races which mimic Fizzle street races as they are unofficial, dangerous, and illegal especially in fizzle areas; where the group of highly decorated fast brooms do race.
Broom Enchantments
Broomsticks had various enchantments placed on them to help with riding and flying. Over time these spells went from being simple, like an invisible seat, to being more complex, like a temporary boost in speed. Different models even had unique charms on them such as a form of enchantment where they are made to arrive unconsciously at one's side when called.
Brooms
The "Witch's Broom" was made so that people of the wizarding world could easily fly through the sky, almost unseen, and get to their destinations in a timely manner. However, due to the past, the Witch’s broom is very often associated with wixcraft in the unmagical world. However, this has not stopped the broom companies from continuing to make more and try to outdo each other. In order to control the broom flying through the sky and draw out its maximum flight ability, control of the rider's balance was of utmost importance. In more modern times, the broom is treated more as the wizarding version of a race car than say a bicycle.
So without further ado, here are some of my favorite broom models. And why:
Meadow Breeze
- The Meadow Breeze was a broomstick designed for family use. It was simply safe and reliable. It came with a built-in theft alarm and an optional extending cushioning charm for multiple passengers.
- Their bristles tend to be soft for safety and the handles are very well smoothed. These are the slowest brooms on the market, however they are beloved by all families.
June Bug
- These were in the days of the cottage industry. The broom had a thick handle and sturdy metal work which was designed for endurance. Meant to withstand high wind conditions.
- It has a soft rounded shape to its handle which makes it highly attractive for witches, but rather slow. It is comparable to a vintage VW Beetle in top acceleration.
- These are mostly owned by vintage collectors or witches of all ages who like to decorate it with flowers and generally cutesy accessories.
Wishing Star
- The first racing broom, it cornered and dove like no other broom in existence at the time.
- Many of these are considered vintage racing brooms and can often be seen in windows of restoration shops, looking good as almost new.
Sky Dancer
- The Sky Dancer broom was equipped with an anti-meddling varnish and a built-in wobble ward charm. It could accelerate from zero to sixty miles per hour in 6-7 seconds.
- These are also out of style as racing brooms, however they are kept on the market and were rebranded to luxury brooms, fitted with a more plush cushioning charm.
Show Stopper
- It was the first broom to incorporate a Braking Charm, which would mean riders would be less likely to overshoot their destinations.
- These were highly decorated luxury brooms. As the name implies they were for the rich to show off their wealth and often came with various cosmetic charms as opposed to speed ones.
Swept Away
- It can do zero to sixty miles per hour in 7 seconds, with a decent tailwind. Otherwise it’s closer to 10 seconds.
- These have a spiraled broom handle as well as an attractive curled bristle shape, which flattens out to catch the wind when it’s in a tailwind allowing for the extra speed boost.
Storm Chaser
- The perfect middle ground broom. It has a zero to sixty of 4-5 seconds, making it fast but not too fast.
- It comes with a storm trail charm that is semi-customizable. The customer can choose from rain, lightning, snow, or fog as a trail for their broom.
Fairy Catcher
- The direct competitor to the storm chaser. It can sometimes outspeed them but they are generally a competitive match.
- This comes with a semi-customizable trail charm as well as a softer cushioning charm. The trail options are petals, colorful leaves, butterflies, or snowflakes.
Alacris Airforce
- Named after the fastest breed of pegasus, this broom is the casual racer’s best friend as it can hit zero to sixty in 2.5 on a windy day to 3.5 seconds. Making it not the fastest but not the slowest.
- This broom comes with a holographic hovering charm that displays the broom company's logo when it’s close enough to the ground or a cloud to do so.
Spectrum Charger
- The best competitor to the Thoroughbred Airforce. It reaches a zero to sixty in about that same time, however this broom has a thicker and squared handle making it more durable.
- This broom comes with a nightlight charm. Which isn’t as useful as it sounds because it simply shines the magical equivalent of decorative rgb lighting through the bristles and length of the broom.
Stargazer
- Designed with a slim handle and the ability to fly higher than any other broom and still remain controllable.
- These were often decorated with stars and moons. They weren’t the fastest but within a tailwind they could almost catch up to a Spectrum Charger, almost.
Cloudjumper
- The Cloudjumper was capable of going from zero to sixty miles per hour in 2 seconds. This broomstick also boasted an unbeatable braking charm and could fly itself to its owner when they said the magic word.
- It also was varnished to not resist going through clouds as much as the moisture could often slow down the broom if it’s wood.
Sunny Rise
- At the time of its release, it was the fastest broomstick in production. It easily hit zero to sixty in 1.7 seconds, being barely above the Sunset Fall.
- This broom was varnished in a color changing effect that mimics the rise of the sun in the morning. It also comes with an optional ‘lucky charm’ decoration.
Sunset Fall
- The Sunset Fall was a revolutionary design, capable of higher top speeds and the ability to turn 360 degrees in mid-air on a fixed spot.
- The handle was varnished in a subtle color changing effect that mimics the fall of the sunset. It was also enchanted with an anti-rollover charm that helped the rider not fall off as easily when spinning or doing tricks.
Aeromancer’s Magic
- It has the most aerodynamic bristle shape of all racing brooms on the market. The broom itself boasted a zero to sixty in 1.5 seconds flat.
- Each broom is made by hand by a large team of wizards, instead of by runic automation that mass produces them at a faster pace.
- It also comes in a luxury option that is slower, having a zero to sixty of 3.2 seconds, but can be highly customized for personal luxury.
Upwind Breeze
- The broom itself boasts a zero to sixty in 1.3 seconds flat. The fastest broom on the market.
- It actually takes inspiration from the Meadow Breeze model but makes it much more sleek and modern.
- It comes equipped with the first ever nitrous-like charm, which briefly strongly boosts its speed when the magic word is said and leaves a thin solid trail of clouds in the sky. This must be used sparingly to avoid over charging the broom.
Diamondback
- The Diamondback was found to warp and wobble at its top speeds. It also included several gimmicks and cosmetics, including an inbuilt broom call (which is like a car horn) and a sparkler charm (which caused a trail of sparkles to be left in the trail of the broom), and gained a reputation as a broom flown by those with more money than sense.
