Muggles' Guide to Harry Potter/Magic/Which Broomstick

Muggles' Guide to Harry Potter - Magic
Which Broomstick
Type	Magic (Magazine)
Features	Comparative Broomstick reviews
First Appearance	Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban

Overview

Which Broomstick is apparently a magazine with comparative reviews of brooms.

Extended Description

After Harry's Nimbus 2000 broom is destroyed by the Whomping Willow, Harry is at a loss for a replacement. Oliver Wood suggests that he should look through Which Broomstick to select a replacement, and order one, over Christmas.

Analysis

From Harry's first exposure to a Nimbus 2000 broom in Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, we gather that there is something of a cult for performance brooms, as there was in the Muggle world for stereos and cars through the earlier part of the 20th century, and for computers at the time the series was written. Clearly there must be publications for the enthusiast. In the UK, the best-known of these magazines are, for stereos, Which HiFi, and for computers, Which PC. It is only to be expected that such a popular name would be used to publish for the Wizarding enthusiast community.

In the article on Brooms, it is suggested that performance brooms may, in the Wizarding world, be linked with older wizards trying to regain their lost youth, just as performance cars are linked to older Muggles. We can guess that the editorial and advertising policies of Which Broomstick will be slanted towards this demographic, despite never seeing the inside of a copy.