It is about that time of the year. You survived yet another year in Hogwarts. For some this was done with relative ease while for others, there might have been more than one brush with death. As everyone embarks on their summer holiday, there is also a fair amount of moderation that also needs to happen. For those who have not made an Encyclopedia Page, please make one as soon as possible. You can find the character encyclopedia here. 

To move up to next year, you need to satisfy 2 criteria:
1.) You must make a character encyclopedia and be on the official index [LINK] page before July 1.
2.) You must be registered on the site before July 1.

For those that do not wish to move up to the next year, perhaps they just joined the community recently and feel that they could get more out of being a first year until next year, please contact me and your HOH before July 1 or simply never make an encyclopedia page. (The former is a better idea, everyone should have a profile page that they can call theirs). 

Common Questions:
1.) Do I need to complete all of my homework/classes before I move up to next year? No, the homework system is an optional system that you do not have to participate in. The homework system provides you and your House Points which may lead to some pride or some prizes. In addition, homework is also a source of potions and spells that you can learn for your character.

2.) Can I do last year's homework when I move up to next year? Yes you can but we do intend to eventually change this because this creates a hazardous backlog of assignments that players can pile onto a Professor all at once. But for now you can do previous assignments.

3.) I just joined the site a week ago, can I graduate to next year? Yes, if you get yourself registered in Index before July 1st.

4.) I am already a second/third year, that means I must already be in Index right? No, not necessarily. We do biannual activity checks on player accounts. If you had not posted on the site in over 6 months, you may have been removed from Index. Why? We do this because we have to manually move players from one year to the next. This is a tedious process that is very time consuming and we have thousands of accounts. In addition, we want to reward players that are active with game progression. Please check the [INDEX] page and make sure that your name is listed. If not, please post in the Registration Thread

5.) I am still lost/confused. Is there a 'How to Guide' for this? This Link reviews everything we need for a player to Register to Index.

6.) Any additional considerations? Trunks follow a standardized format (link) and only allow limited code. A Trunk is necessary to be registered in Index. Please follow these instructions otherwise they will not approve your trunk.

Being Held Back a Year

All indexed users will be automatically graduated to the next year on or shortly after July 1. This is a manual process so this might take us a few days. So, this means that you will need to have your character Indexed by July 1 to graduate to the next year, otherwise they will be held back.

For players that wish to stay back a year, you do not need to be removed from Index (this is in fact a terrible idea), you just need to contact your Head of House - Marcus Iwasaki for Ravenclaw, Caradoc Browne for Hufflepuff, Galahad Browne for Gryffindor and Magdalena Wickham-Deakin for Slytherin and tell them that you wish to stay back the year. As it is possible that your Head of House might miss your message to them, feel free to add myself, Solomon Lear or my deputy headmaster Hjørdis Jensen to this message. Player choose to stay back for many reasons, such as registering onto the site late in the year and wanting to "get the full year experience," having a friend join that they want to be the same year as, or because they feel this will fit their character. The only restriction to this is: if you have roleplayed in the school this year, we are not able to undo your existence here. You would have been here at those times.

For players that have been held back, we do offer them a chance to catch-up. This is called the Advancement Program, this is an opportunity for players that have been held back one or more years. Information on this program can be found here. This opens up to general users on July 1, however for players in their 6th year that should be graduating that have been held back, we are offering them this option early. They are free to apply now to catch up. The Advancement Program otherwise will be open to players from July 1 to August 31.

Forward Dating

As we have a number of players that are choosing to remain first years, their ability to embed themselves into the community has been limited. As such until September 1, 2024, we are temporarily expanding the forward dating for all RP threads up to 3 months. This means that on June 11 you are able to temporarily post a RP forward dated as far ahead as Sept 11.

What is Forward Dating?

The date of a thread is defined by the first post. As such, threads are assumed to take place on the date that the thread has started, within a few days of the thread starting (for example if the thread starts on a Saturday and the thread is taking place in a classroom, it would be on Friday) unless otherwise stated. A player can backdate a thread as far back as they wish and they can normally forward date a thread up to 1 month. Basically it is a declaration that the thread started on a specific day.

What are the Rules of Forward Dating?

A player can normally forward-date up to 1 month from the start of a thread.

What is the change?

During the summer months we normally expand forward dating for 2 months to accommodate players that wish to "stay behind" or start with the impending school year. With the earlier graduation and players having declared their intend to stay behind as early as the first of the month, there are members in this community that have to wait weeks to have their first Hogwarts roleplay. So we have expanded this to 3 months last year so that they can start roleplaying right now if they so desire. This change worked out well last year so we are offering this again this year.

Is there anything we should know?

We always recommend caution when a user forward dates. The "first" experiences you have here may prevent you from participating in other group activities. Your experiences are often built off the past and you have skipped over this past. This can make it hard to take part in group activities.

Example: If there is an event or an activity that happens on the first or the second day of school, such as an ogre attacks your common room. Your character might find it hard to fully participate in this activity because there might be other participants that you have "already met" in character weeks later. Your lack of a time turner or a TARDIS will make it hard for you to take part in these group activities.

Another potential issue is not noticing that someone is forward dating a thread. Please make sure that you read the first-post of a thread fully, do not assume that a thread if forward dated (or not forward dating).

Example: is a first year graduating and IC looking forward to the end of the year and summer and starts a thread. A new player who will be in their first year this coming Sept will need to take part in a forward dated thread. That thread maker will need to be roleplaying as a second year or the soon to be first year will not be able to join the thread.

Is this change forever?

No, this is just a temporary extension until September 1 2023. As of Sept 1, all threads will only be able to be forward dated 1 month. Threads already in progress would be able to continue on, but no new threads will be able to be forward dated more than one month.

Is there anything I have to do to forward date my thread?

You need to be clear about when this forward date is in your starter post (and ideally each of your posts in the thread) so that joining players are aware of when this thread is taking place. This can be done by simply posting - Date: Sept 2, 2024 at the top of your post.

Adulthood

This is our first graduating class on site. This is a remarkable achievement because these players for the most part stuck to a single character for years. We are graduating the present 7th years June 14, this means that these players will need to be registered with Index by June 14th. You can verify if you are registered with Index by looking for your name in this thread. Index Cleaning completed yesterday, so this is the most up to date resource. This graduation occurs passively unless you have reached out to your Head of House and asked to be held back.

As an adult account, you will not notice any difference in your basic site permissions, you will still be able to access active threads as well as past threads. Obviously as an adult it will not make sense for your character to continue to be at this school after gradation, but you will still be able to backdate threads if there was some story you still needed to complete. However, your adult account will no longer be earning a scholarship or stipend from the common room as you have previous years. It is student accounts (or staff) that earn money, so you will start earning money once your student character is validated.

Graduated Adults will be eligible to create their new student character as soon as June 14. Graduated users will be able to have up to 2 characters at once, their adult character as well as their student character. A user cannot have 2 student characters. Staff members that use adults to accomplish their staff role can have up to three characters, their student character, their adult character and their staf-adult character. When a staff member leaves their position, they will need to pick which adult account they wish to maintain. The account that they no longer wish to maintain will be deactivated, please post in this thread to deactivate the third account. Graduated adults can register for their new student character by posting in this thread. Once you have registered your new student in this thread, you can create your new character as normal, this thread notifies the validation team that you are not a multi-account. If someone erroneously believes you are a multi-account, please simply refer them to this thread.

For player characters that are graduating but maintain a role as a Prefect or Captain, as these roles are tied to a specific house, we will offer the option of force-sorting so that you can maintain your role. You are welcome to "roll the dice" on things and be sorted, but this is a decision that would need to be made before you enter the sorting ceremony. If you plan to be force sorted, there is a place to mention this in the application. We will do our best to accomodate you. If you wish to have the full experience, we thank you for your time with us in the roles you had and look forward to what you will bring with your new character. We only ask that you give your team and head of house warning so we can open up applications before you step down from your role.

Graduated Adults will be eligible to pick or update their job on their adult character as soon as July 1 and this will remain open until August 31. This is accomplished in this thread. Please note, some jobs have prerequisites, such as having another (lower level) job before or having certain OWLS and/or NEWTS completed. These OWLS or NEWTS would need to be done before you apply for your job.

iNPCs are adults also, this means that technically they will be able to get a job. The only job that they are restricted from at this time is the librarian aide job because it would be difficult to manage the NEWTS and OWLS between PC and iNPC. iNPCs that wish to be a librarian aide can, but they will not earn the associated NEWT or OWL. Please remember, the OWLS and NEWTS completed at this time apply to both accounts.

Jobs Overview:

1. There are a ton of jobs, separated by various categories for ease. Pretty much anything you can think of should be on the list. The list has mostly magical jobs but you can do the muggle equivalent of them. [List of Jobs]
2. You must start at the Entry Level Jobs and can apply for this between 1st July to 31st August. [Apply here]
3. If you do not apply for one during this time then you'd remain as an unemployed adult for the rest of the year, which is fine but you then don't apply for the rest of the job system, so I guess you can stop reading. Skip to the next section.
4. If there are any requirements, you must fulfil them before you can get the job. Some jobs do not require anything. Some entry-level positions do not need anything but might require stuff as you move up. It just depends, check the list for details.
5. There are 4 Levels - Entry --> Intermediate --> Expert --> Master. Not every job has something at each level but a lot do.
6. If you wish to go from Entry --> Intermediate, you MUST complete 3 Eligible Roleplays in the year. Roleplays would be threads showing your character working in that job. [Eligibility details here]
7. If you don't roleplay in the year or don't hit your 3 eligible threads, you keep the job you had (i.e. you'd keep your entry-level job for another year).
8. You can do the same job for multiple years if you'd like to or change to another job that you are eligible for, if you prefer. The job system just explains how to advance, if you're hoping to go up.
9. Your iNPC (if you have/make one) can also take a job and do the above steps. The exception is Librarian Aide is only flavour on iNPC and you can't claim newts/owls. They share your PC's OWLs/NEWTs (whatever is on the account's report card).

OWLs / NEWTs: [Details & FAQ]

1. If you require OWLs / NEWTs for a job, you must have completed this via our homework system. If you haven't, do not want to do the homework or have failed it, you may want to become a "Librarian Aide" via the job system. Each year that you're a Librarian Aide AND complete your 3 eligible roleplays, you can claim 3 NEWTs (and the same OWLs). This is for those who don't want to do homework but are happy to roleplay and want to get a job that requires OWLs/NEWTs later.
2. If you need a NEWT, you must also have completed the OWL. Passing a NEWT doesn't automatically give you the OWL.
3. You must have received an A, E or O in your OWLs/NEWTs to be considered passing. If you failed, you can obtain them via the librarian aide job role (step 1).
4. Your iNPC shares the same OWLs/NEWTs that are displayed in your account's report card for the job system.
5. You MUST have a passing grade if you require this for the job BEFORE you apply for it.
6. OWLs + NEWTs can be done via the homework system at any time. However, as jobs can only be applied for during 1st July - 31st August, you will need them graded before you apply for the job. Grading can take 2 weeks. You will not receive house points after graduation.

Adults Overview: [Full Adult System link]

1. Regardless of whether you have a job, you roleplay or not, you will be classed as an Adult I as long as you're on the index by 14th June. [Index] You are being graduated early for players who wish to make a second character and get them indexed before summer camp.
2. Every year, as long as you remain on the index, you will move up a level (Adult I --> Adult II --> Adult III and so on).
3. This will be denoted in your profile as "Job, I", "Job, II". The first part will be your specific chosen job and the second part will always be your level.
4. You can add 5 stats OR 1 ability OR move 5 existing stats around. But there are some rules (i.e. there is a max cap. If you take an ability, your max cap goes down by 5, individual stat caps still apply etc). But you can get this without roleplaying, as long as you're on the index. [Full details here]
5. You can make a new student character (and an iNPC) if you would like to, see below. This is optional and can be done at any stage after you've become an adult. There is no deadline.
6. Please note that since HiO focuses on Hogwarts, you will be limited in what you can do if you choose not to make a student account. You can backdate threads in Hogwarts but you wouldn't be able to visit as an adult.
7. Current Prefects and Sports Captains are students who have house-bound accounts. On graduation, you will lose this access. If you wish to remain in the role, your second student will be able to continue (see below). If you do not want to do this, please let HOH know as soon as possible.

Second Character: [More Information link here]

1. If you'd like to make a second student account, you must post in the Second Character Registration thread. Once approved, please make your account. Do not make it before approval. Post in the thread after your account denotes 'Adult I' (not before). [Registration Thread]
2. If you are a current Prefect or Sports Captain, we will force-sort your new character into the same house so you can continue the role, if you would like to.
3. If you have a former staff adult character, you must deactivate one of your adults before you can make a new student. (Current adult staff can ignore this but if you do step down, you will have to choose two accounts to keep and deactivate the third).
4. Your first-year student can IC attend summer camp (which takes place in July-August, dates TBA), if you want to. This is optional. We suggest following step 1 + applying through index as soon as possible if you wish to attend camp, as you need to be approved before camp. Index may take up to 2 weeks (longer if edits are required).
5. You can only ever have 1 student account at a time. This means if you deactivate your adult, you cannot make a second student.
6. You can make an iNPC on this account as well if you'd like to and as long as the iNPC registration is open.