Rules/FAQ

[abhorsen.]

Rules

[*]Your house will work together to get through the maze and each of your exams. Unless specifically stated otherwise, you can divide up the tasks in any way that you wish.

[*]There will be items and exams hidden throughout the maze. To claim items or to start an exam, one of your housemates will need to post in a given thread saying that you're starting the exam or which items you're picking up. Exercise caution before you pick things up - while some items are necessary to complete your exams or are just helpful, others will actually harm you. You’ll need to reply to the thread specifying what objects you’re claiming. If you choose to leave objects on the ground, you can always go back to retrieve them later.

[*]Your house only gets one submission per exam, so be careful that you're getting everything right and have chosen the mark you want to aim for carefully. If you get something wrong, you may end up with a lower mark or failing the exam altogether.

[*]You must find and attempt all seven core OWLs (Astronomy, Charms, Defense Against the Dark Arts, Herbology, History of Magic, Potions, and Transfiguration) and at least three core NEWTs.

[*]Your house may explore different areas of Hogwarts and/or Hogsmeade simultaneously, but you may only work on one exam as a time. Once your house decides to sit for an exam, you may not take an additional exam until that one is completed.

[*]Not everyone has twitter or skype. While we won't stop you from having some off-site conversations, major decisions (including but not limited to whether to start exams) need to be made on the forums. At least two members of the house must agree, and you must give other house members fifteen minutes to dissent. Should there be objections, you’ll need a majority of people active in the discussion at the time to agree.

[*]Should you have any questions, we ask that you post them in the Ask the Staff thread pinned in this forum. All questions will be hidden to everyone but staff members, and we'll generally post the answer in your common room - it will just get you the quickest answer if we only have to check one place.

[abhorsen.]

FAQ

Do we need to include any specific notation in our reviews, story summaries, or forum posts?

No - and in fact, you should actually avoid including any mention of the HC in them, so you don't inadvertently tip off other houses to what obstacles might lie ahead.

 

How long do reviews need to be?

All reviews left as part of this event must be at least 1000 characters in length, not including generic things like "Hi, I'm here with a review!"

 

Where can we leave reviews?

All reviews must be left on HPFT's archive.

 

Does material submitted for exams have to be specific to the House Cup?

A number of obstacles and exams will allow you to leave new reviews or transfer reviews over. If transfers are allowed, your reviews (obviously) don't need to be specific to this event, since by definition you left them before this. Otherwise, the reviews do need to be new.

 

Any reviews may be new or transferred over from another site, provided they meet the 1000 character minimum and any other restrictions. In addition, you may substitute review responses to any reviews others have left you for up to 75% of your reviewing requirements for a given task. These responses do not have to meet any story-based restrictions. - update 6/22

 

You may use other existing material provided it isn’t posted anywhere in that particular form yet. For example, if an exam asks you to write a one-shot about a death eater and you happen to have one about Bellatrix Lestrange that’s nearly finished, you are permitted to use it provided it hasn’t been posted anywhere else. Or, if an exam asks you to write two paragraphs on a subject in the form of a textbook, you are welcome to use existing headcanons to do so, provided that the words themselves are new.

 

Is there any specific format to the passwords?

Yes! All passwords are lowercase and with no spaces, punctuation, or articles (unless it's part of a proper name). No middle names or suffixes will be used for people, and two-part answers will be in alphabetical order. For ciphers, you'll need to include both the solved cipher and the key.

 

Some examples:

Answer: Expecto Patronum -> expectopatronum

Answer: James Sirius Potter -> jamespotter

Answers: A sphinx and a dragon -> dragonandsphinx

Solved cipher: Why Muggles Need Electricity | Key: Muggle -> whymugglesneedelectricitymuggle

 

So what’s with that resource thing?

Some of your exams or obstacles may require you to come up with headcanons. Ideally, we would like to post some of these on our social media as resources for people to use with attribution to the creator(s); if you’re uncomfortable with that, please say so when you post the exam.

 

Will you tell us what exams and clubs are hidden through the maze?

No. All of the subjects depicted in the original series have both OWLs and NEWTs hidden somewhere in the Hogwarts castle or grounds, but there are potentially other exams and a variety of clubs as well.

 

Why can’t I see my housemate’s reply to a thread in Hogwarts?

All replies to threads within the final examinations forum are hidden unless a staff member approves them, so that other houses don’t know where you are and what you’ve done (and vice versa). You won’t be penalized for posting a second reply to a thread if there's a miscommunication, though, so don’t worry about that.

 

How long do reviews left for the event have to be?

ll reviews left as part of this event must be at least 1000 characters in length, not including generic things like "Hi, I'm here with a review!"

 

Will we get any hints?

No. The OWLs you’re required to get are hidden in fairly accessible locations; after that, it’s up to you to find more. Passing exams will give you advantages that you can use later on and you’ll also find hints scattered across Hogsmeade and Hogwarts, so if you’re struggling, try something else - you might end up finding something to help you out. That said, the staff reserves the right to change our minds if everyone is really struggling.

 

What happens if we inadvertently break the rules?

It depends on the rule(s) you've broken. Possible penalties include but are not limited to losing points or having exams closed off to your house.

[abhorsen.]

As you guys get deeper in the maze, I want to emphasize this bit, since it's different than most events that people may be used to:

 

You may use other existing material provided it isn’t posted anywhere in that particular form yet. For example, if an exam asks you to write a one-shot about a death eater and you happen to have one about Bellatrix Lestrange that’s nearly finished, you are permitted to use it provided it hasn’t been posted anywhere else. Or, if an exam asks you to write two paragraphs on a subject in the form of a textbook, you are welcome to use existing headcanons to do so, provided that the words themselves are new.

 

Edit: To clarify, that also applies to new chapters in multichaptered stories, provided the chapter isn't posted. If you have a novel about Harry and you need to write 1000 words on Harry for your Harry Potter NEWT, you could write a new chapter for your novel to fulfill that.

[abhorsen.]

It seems like that of you are still having a bit of trouble with the passwords. We want to emphasize the standardized formatting one more time:

 

Is there any specific format to the passwords?

 

Yes! All passwords are lowercase and with no spaces, punctuation, or articles (unless it's part of a proper name). No middle names or suffixes will be used for people, and two-part answers will be in alphabetical order. For ciphers, you'll need to include both the solved cipher and the key.

 

Some examples:

Answer: Expecto Patronum -> expectopatronum

Answer: James Sirius Potter -> jamespotter

Answers: A sphinx and a dragon -> dragonandsphinx

Solved cipher: Why Muggles Need Electricity | Key: Muggle -> whymugglesneedelectricitymuggle

 

(bolded emphasis for this post.)