Answer 1: https://scifi.stackexchange.com/a/7404/6675 | 24 upvotes
As Kevin noted, Harry was given a special exemption. From Book 1:
"He's just the build for a Seeker, too," said Wood, now walking around Harry and staring at him. "Light -- speedy -- we'll have to get him a decent broom, Professor -- a Nimbus Two Thousand or a Cleansweep Seven, I'd say."
"I shall speak to Professor Dumbledore and see if we can't bend the first-year rule. Heaven knows, we need a better team than last year. Flattened in that last match by Slytherin, I couldn't look Severus Snape in the face for weeks...." [ this was Prof. McGonagall speaking - DVK ]
Answer 2: https://scifi.stackexchange.com/a/7381/6675 | 2 upvotes
When McGonagall was telling Wood about Harry (or somewhere very close to that), she said she'd talk to Dumbledore about getting an exception for him.
"He's just the build for a Seeker, too," said Wood, now walking around Harry and staring at him. "Light -- speedy -- we'll have to get him a decent broom, Professor -- a Nimbus Two Thousand or a Cleansweep Seven, I'd say."
"I shall speak to Professor Dumbledore and see if we can't bend the first-year rule. Heaven knows, we need a better team than last year. Flattened in that last match by Slytherin, I couldn't look Severus Snape in the face for weeks..."
Answer 2 has a whopping 22 LESS votes than Answer 1. Answer 2 has also been posted a month before Answer 1. Even Answer 1 references Answer 2. Yet, currently, they say literally the same exact thing, with the exception of the opening sentence, one that states which book the quote is from, the other answer narrating the context of the quote.
I don't really understand this at all...