Minor Update:

The Professor team has made a change in how they Spells will be acquired. Players must get a P or above in a class to get a spell. Players who get a T as a grade on their homework assignment will not be eligible to learn the spell or potion offered in a class.. Players will still get access to spells at the year end (as if they never did the assignment), however not during that school year.

Why was this done?

There have been certain players who have been copy-pasting wiki articles, sending in entirely wrong assignments or simply not doing the assignment as requested. This has left an incredibly burden on the Professor Team as they grade not only homework from legitimate sources but also from these users, wasting their valuable time. Often they would send back these assignments, sending more time doing so and they would a short time later in some cases get the same assignment sent back to them. This time siphon prevents Professors from doing their job effectively and contributes to staff burn out.

What about those players that choose to earn T's

A rare breed I can appreciate for being very in character. Getting T's will mean that you gain no House Points for that assignment (which is not new) and you will not learn the spell at that time. Being poor at academics this would be logical. However, we understand the need for game mechanics and those spells will be made available to you at the end of the school year as if you never did the homework in the first place. You can still learn the spell by earning a P, so you might want to put in a small amount of work because you were having a good/smart day if there is a spell you really want to know sooner than later.

How can I prevent getting Ts?

It is rather hard to get a T. You have to copy-paste a wiki article, copy-paste someone else's (or your own PLEASE STOP DOING THAT) work. You have to fail to answer the questions properly or so the assignment. You might just spam letters/gibberish into the lesson.

How do I get Good Grades?

• Read the instructions the Professor has left you.
• Read the lesson, a lot of times the answers are in there.
• Ask questions if you have them. The Professors will not give you answers but they can point you in the right direction.
• Answer the questions as fully as you can. Do not aim for the minimum, always go a little higher.
• Clearly state the use of your moniker. Using your own name will result in grade losses (often a full letter grade at the least).
• Do not use the same moniker. If you submit 3 assignments to the same professor and your name is Salty Sally in all of them, they will know it is you. While some might not mark you down for this, others will. Just use a new name.
• Do not copy paste the work of others, your own work or an online article. By all means cite sources, quote resources but we want you to answer the questions in your own words and the words used by other people will not count towards your word count.
• If you have a very specific homework format, it is very likely it will be recognized. Homework anonymity is very important. Avoid using fancy formats or over-coding your homework.

Hello everyone!

We all know with the graduation that you get an added 5 stat points that you can place anywhere in your stats without breaking your caps, however, there seems to be some confusion on where to apply for your stat points and we apologize for that.

When applying for your new stat points please include them in your Encyclopedia Trunk Update Form and not the Ability Applications.

Again we apologize for any confusion.

Happy RPing!

The Quidditch Games are up. Please cheer for your favorite team and wish both luck. This is the first game with some exciting additions and changes to the Quidditch System, these will change how the game is played rather dramatically. The moderator will be Neculai Lazar from Ravenclaw, and an experienced Quidditch moderator. While he is experienced, this may be a challenge for him. Please give him every courtesy and respect you can and try to make his moderation as easy as possible.

Relevant Links:

• The Hufflepuff v Durmstrang Quidditch Match
• The Spectator Thread

Since we've had a lot of questions about forward dating threads, whether or not you can roleplay in Hogwarts and what you can do... Here's a quick guide on how it works over the summer break.

Advice for First Years:
IC you start the journey in September, which is when you will be travelling to Hogwarts and getting sorted.

However, if you wish to, you can attend Summer Camp beforehand.

For the students who have only just arrived over summer:
You will have received a letter from Hogwarts staff, in which we invite you to come and spend a few weeks in our company already. This to prepare you with Hogwarts' regulations.

If you are attending summer camp, it's best to RP there first as though you have not been sorted yet. Your character will be unaware of the house they are going to be in, in character. They will be sorted in Sept, on their first day.

OOC Camp threads will likely last into August anyway so you should have things to do. However, you can also do some threads in August in Diagon Alley - buying your supplies etc.

If you are not attending summer camp, you will be able to roleplay your September threads from July 1st. Usually we only allow forward dating for a maximum of one month but for first years, summer might be a bit bland so you can forward to Sept. I would not recommend this if you are attending camp as there are events and friendships that might change how your character feels or what they do. But if you are not attending, you are free to start your journey from 1st July. Just put a note at the top of the thread with the IC date (i.e. 1st September).

For Second Years and above:
Regardless of whether or not you are attending Summer Camp, usual rules apply here and you can only forward date your threads by a maximum of one month. Ideally, avoid doing it but if you do it, that's the maximum. If you are at Summer Camp, it is recommended that you finish those threads before as there may be things that happen that effect you.

You cannot RP "September" threads, like first years can because you can backdate your threads. This exception is only for first years to give them something to RP during these otherwise quiet months.

You are welcome to RP in Hogwarts backdating your threads to before 30th June.

Campers! The Chess Combat games are up! Players can check who they are teaming up with and start discussing the layout and tactics. Spectators can gather in the spectating threads and cheer up for their favourite teams and players!

This is going to be HOT!

Game 1	Spectators (Game 1)
Game 2	Spectators (Game 2)
Game 3	Spectators (Game 3)

Campfire Stories Summer Event

Hello students, the Summer Event is going strong and starting today we open the Campfire Stories thread! You can relax at the fire, listen to some stories or, if you want, tell some of your own! It's totally safe.

Forward Dating Threads

There has been a lot of confusion and questions about how far you can 'forward date' a thread. Originally, it was "within the month", meaning that July can only be July threads. However, some people did it differently, which caused some confusion. This has now been changed for ease, consistency and general fairness.

You can now forward date your threads up to a maximum of one month.

To clarify, "up to a maximum of one month" means that if it's 15th July, you can future date to 15th August.

Ideally, avoid doing it if you are unsure of what might happen - as your character's timeline could be affected. However, if you do forward date, that's the maximum.

Please note: During Summer, first years have an exception. Please read the following thread for more information: LINK.

Outside of Summer [July-August], normal rules apply and it will be "up to one month" for all.

Reminder about homework pseudonyms

Please do NOT use the same pseudonyms in your homeworks, even across different subjects. Particularly if you choose to use very unique names. With our newest staff roles - the Assistants - they now are regularly grading homework for multiple classes. Other professors or HoH do as well, especially towards the end of the month or when the original professor is unavailable in real life. We may recognise the pseudonyms if you choose to repeat them. Please choose different names in EVERY piece of homework to avoid breaking anonymity, if you wish to add a name at all.

Please remember: Multi-accounts are something we actively look for. Please do not do it, eventually I/another staff member will find them, expending valuable time doing so that could have been spent on site development or adventures. I spent over twenty hours these past 2 weeks investigating doubles that proved to be doubles, triples, and so on... delaying events, adventures and projects. In addition, it erodes the trust of the staff as well and effects their ability to make this site better.

On a tangent, please do not have other players post for you. Please practice good account security. This includes having someone complete event posts or do homework for you. We have written an addendum to our homework rules regarding this. Link

I have also updated homework rules to mention pseudonyms. We offer the option of a pseudonyms for those that require a name when writing, but we do take confidentiality very seriously.

Please help us help you make this experience as fun as possible.

New Pets!

We have added 2 new lizards and 2 new spider pets for players to enjoy. For more details, please refer to the Projects Announcement or Magical Menagerie.