Your account can and will be deleted if you do not follow this rule! Also, please make sure you use a valid email address so you can know when we approve your account.

This means you need to closely monitor your language as well as the content of your posts, both in and out of character. If you aren't sure whether something you are doing is okay - either don't do it, or PM a staff member prior to posting. The staff and the owner of this forum reserve the right to remove objectionable content, within a reasonable time frame, if they determine that removal is necessary. Anyone who feels that a posted message is objectionable is encouraged to notify an Administrator, Head Student, or Prefect of this forum immediately. Check the Staff List if you aren't sure who to contact.

No harassing, name calling, rudeness, or making fun via email, posts, PMs, etc.! Use the golden rule as your rule of thumb: Treat others as you would like to be treated.

Don't spam on the board or via the PM system! This includes, but is not limited to: excessive use of smilies in posts, excessive posts or posting simply to gain sickles or raise post count, posting the same post in multiple forums, using the board strictly for advertising your website/message board/male hormone supplements, bumping posts to the top of the forum without adding to the conversation, and making posts directed at one member (that's why we have PMs, you know!). Spam, flooding, advertisements, chain letters, pyramid schemes, and solicitations are also forbidden on this forum.

When you post, make sure your posts are at least 2-3 sentences long and that whatever you have to say is actually adding to the conversation! In addition, remember to use the spell check feature.

This is a roleplay forum, and roleplay forums require active members in order to keep storylines going! Please make sure you post at least once a week. If something comes up and you know you will be away from the board, post on the Vacation Notice Board that you will be away. If we don't know you're away, your account will be at risk for deletion in one of our periodic membership cleanouts!

If we need your assistance in any form (including our plans for world domination), we'll let you know!

We like to keep this community focused on Harry Potter, and when it's not, we like to keep the conversations away from debates that can wind up hurting others' feelings. Religion and politics are two major issues that spark debate and controversy, though they are not the only ones. Please be careful about which topics you bring into the General Discussion forum.

We encourage all our members to read the books by J.K. Rowling. Watching the movies can only get you so far - the books have much more depth and information. Our board roleplay takes place in the current calendar year, with the understanding that the Battle of Hogwarts happened in 1998.

What does this mean? Quite a few things, actually!
     * Do not attempt to control another character besides your own.
          You can only control your character, and you must ask permission before dictating any action for another character.
     * You can not harm, cast a spell on, kill, or do any action to another character without their consent.
           If you want to punch someone, feel free to throw the punch, but there is no guarantee that you will actually hit them. If you want to kiss someone, go ahead and lean in for the kiss, but again, no guarantee where the kiss will land.
     * This also means that your character is not perfect - not in looks, actions, speech, knowledge - nada. Nor should your character have an unrealistic traumatic past. Create a character with depth, including weaknesses and faults. It makes for much better roleplay!

This is unless you have otherwise been approved via an administrator. Please see the FAQs for more information).

   * Character Sheets posted anywhere other than the Character Sheet Forum
     * Posts requesting friends/enemies
     * Posts entitled 'Bored' or something similar
The best way to get involved, is to simply get out there and get involved! Find an active, open thread and start posting!

Therefore, all posts should be formatted in the third person, as though you are writing a story about someone. All posts should also be written in past tense. You write out a character's actions as a part of your narrative instead of using "*" or "::" to denote actions. The goal is to allow posts to be read like a continuous story, so feel free to be descriptive!

A spell list can be found in the Committee On Experimental Charms, Spells, and Potions forum, which you will be able to see once you are sorted. If there is a spell you would like to use, but can not find, please post in the Spell & Potions Request Forum. Use your common sense as well. If you are a first year, your abilities are severely limited - you aren't going to be able to take on a fifth year who might be taunting you.

You can get approval for a special abilitly at the Improper Use of Magic Forum once your character is sorted. Do not build your character around a special ability right off the bat, because there is a high chance that it will not be approved since we are very strict about granting special abilities. (Special abilities include: Animagus, Death Eater, Possession, Occlumency, Legilimency, Wandless Magic, and other abilities already known to the Harry Potter World. All other abilities will be denied.) Keeping special abilities limited to a few characters allows these canon abilities to stay special. It'd be no fun if everyone was running around with one!

This only applies to our roleplay areas. Classrooms and some event threads do not count towards active threads - so you may be in as many classes as you like as well as five additional, non-classroom threads. If an event allows for a free extra thread, this will be announced before the event begins.
  ** How do I know if a thread is active?
     ..* It is open for posting (aka it's NOT locked)
     ..* It is in a "Roleplay" area (Main Castle Areas, Quidditch Areas, Teachers' Offices, Special Events, or Hogsmeade)

You may not create a character that is related to or has a personal close relationship with any canon character from the Harry Potter books. However, casual, inconsequential, impersonal, but in-character conversation, interaction, and behavior with canon characters on the board is permissible.

What does this mean?
     A player may relate any experiences that would be normal for a Hogwarts student to experience. They can talk about a portrait waving, and possibly speaking a general greeting, but they can't be specific. They can mention seeing Peeves tormenting firsties - a normal thing for Peeves to do - but not be specific about when or who. Vague references that do not affect the player or the canon character in a dramatic way are ok.

For example:
This is ok: Harold rushed into his dormitory from class, anxious to see if his costume for the Halloween Feast. Earlier that morning he'd made sure to catch a house elf before heading off to breakfast and asked that special care be taken to clean and press it. As he picked up the costume, he was pleased to find that it looked as perfectly as he had hoped.

In this example, Harold is a pure blood wizard and is fully aware of the existence of House Elves, not only in the wizarding world, but in Hogwarts as well. As House Elves take care of the cleaning and care for everything in Hogwarts, this would be a permissible action.

This is NOT ok: Harold rushed into his dormitory from class, anxious to see if his costume for the Halloween Feast. Earlier that morning he'd made sure to catch a house elf before heading off to breakfast and asked that special care be taken to clean and press it. As he entered the dorm, he saw Dobby by his bed holding the costume with elfish pride. "Dobby has your costume ready just as you requested, sir."

In this example, Harold specifies the house elf by name and also vocalizes for Dobby. Both are incorrect.

We do have people portraying many canon characters, so be on the lookout for them, as they may show up at anytime in any thread. You may interact with canons within the context of a thread they have decided to join, but may not request canon character involvement in any other venue but the plot board, and even then there is no guarantee they can be involved unless it is approved via an admin.

The FAQs may answer many of your questions, and if they don't, feel free to contact a staff member. These rules are the basics for how we run the board, but the FAQs provide more of a comprehensive resource for our board guidelines and expectations.

1st time: Warning via PM
2nd time: Warning via PM, Loss of shop item, sickles, and/or certain board privileges, as decided by HPRPG.net Staff.
3rd time: Warning via PM, banning from board for a full week, loss of all special board privileges.
4th time: Your username, e-mail, and IP address will banned from the board. If you share your IP address with others, you will be hurting them as well.