Accio Goblet!

Accio Goblet has come to an end. Once again, I wish to thank everybody who made this game possible.

♥ you all!

With everybody leaving Hogwarts today, the plot of Goblet of Fire comes to an end - and, as a result, so does the plot for Accio Goblet.

The game does not end today, however. You have two more weeks (until the 12th of July, to be more specific) to have your character write anything else you feel he or she still needs to say about the events that happened between the end of the school year and the dementor attack in Little Whinging. Daily Prophet campaign against Harry and Dumbledore, mourning for Cedric, Ministry connections, or anything else you want. Or, if you prefer, you can tell us all about what your character did in the following years, rather than just this summer.

As a point of reference, I should mention that the delegations of Durmstrang and Beauxbatons returned to their schools, where the rest of the staff and students had waited a few days longer to celebrate their return. In Beauxbatons, Madame Maxime retold the recent events to the whole school and declared her full support of Dumbledore's words. As for Durmstrang, well, as you all know Karkaroff ran away after the Third Task, so it fell upon the students from the delegation to nominate a spokesperson to do the same thing.

Anyone who wishes to carry on playing their characters (or, alternatively, play a different character(s) but with this wonderful group of players), you can check out Felix Felicis, a postwarts PSL set in 2003. Several Accio Goblet characters are already ageing up eight years and starting their transition, so come and join us!

And although there's still two weeks to go, let me give a huge THANK YOU to everybody who was involved in this game. You are all fantastic! ♥

First of all, the Model International Confederation of Wizards has been added to the Classes & Clubs page, together with the names of the students who have shown interest in representing a certain country - I might add the countries (in brackets) to that list, if you guys think it could work. Let me (or Mel in her recent post on the subject) know if your character is interested.

On a sadder note, we've lost quite a few players this month. In the case of Natasha, this was due to health problems, and I think I speak for everyone here when I say we wish you a quick recovery. ♥
If your characters were dropped because you missed the activity check, but you're still interested in being a part of the game, drop us a note at the holds page requesting to be added back, and you'll get your invites again asap.

As you can see from the latest notification, Apparition lessons will start on February. Sixth years from Hogwarts and Beauxbatons and seventh years from Durmstrang are eligible to attend, as are any seventh years from Hogwarts and Beauxbatons who were too young to get their licence last year - though in the case of Hogwarts students, they could have still attended the classes last year and take a later exam if they so wished.

Also, regarding Rita Skeeter's latest article, I would like to remind you that the wizarding world is almost as prejudiced about giants as they are about werewolves. For that reason, for the most part, it will make sense for only Gryffindors and some muggle-borns/muggle-raised to speak in defence of Hagrid - the former because Hagrid is theirs, and the latter because they're not as aware of how bad giants are. Well, possibly some Beauxbatons folk can too, for obvious reasons, depending on whether they buy Madam Maxime's "I've got big bones" excuse or not.

Thanks to the ever-awesome Katie, the prefect rounds have been updated, with the schedule extended to the end of June (the term ending later than usual this year because of Jo's mad maths skills the Tournament).


Also, I'd like to remind you to drop your comment at this month's Activity Check! As you're probably aware by now, we've extended the deadline because of the holidays, so you have until Jan 5 to reply this time.

Today, the students will find out about the Yule Ball. Unlike with previous events, this announcement will be made by the heads of houses/foreign schools - which, in the case of Slytherin and Durmstrang, is bound to be interesting, I'm sure.

So that you can remember the basic information on the Ball, I give you a direct quote of McGonagall's explanation to the fourth year Gryffs: ( Under the cut. )
After the announcement, the four champions will be called aside and told that they're meant to open the ball - which means that going stag is not an option for them.



I should also add, due to some people asking about it recently, that while the foreign students have to spend Christmas at Hogwarts due to transportation matters, attendance to the Yule Ball by Hogwarts students (or, indeed, having to spend the holidays in the castle) is not mandatory, even if the mention of the dress robes to the supplies list seems to suggest otherwise. This quote (by Molly Weasley in chapter 5) gives the impression that older students are free to go home if they so wish: "I'd invite you for Christmas, but... well, I expect you're all going to want to stay at Hogwarts, what with... one thing and another."

Like Molly, I expect most students will want to stay at Hogwarts to enjoy the festivities, but if your character is not the partying type or sees no reason to stay, they are free to catch the Hogwarts Express with the younger years. This doesn't mean that a certain long-haired Scot is off the hook, though...

One:
For those of you who are interested to know, we'll be keeping the canon date (the 24th of February) for the second task, which will fall on a Sunday. Since Ludo Bagman has mentioned it to the champions after today's task and it's clear it's not going to be made a secret, you can feel free to use it as a reference if you need it.

Two:
And now it's party time! We know from the book that the Gryffindors will hold a party for Harry, and you can be sure Samir (at least) will make sure there's enough food in the Hufflepuff common room for one as well. You can feel free to use the comments for this post to discuss whether Beauxbatons or Durmstrang will do something for their champions.

Three:
Also, it's from this point on that the amount of "Potter stinks" badges starts to shrink, at least among the Hufflepuffs. We can't be sure whether it's because they changed their minds about Harry after seeing him face the Hungarian Horntail or because Cedric asked them to cut him some slack (Harry seems to believe it's the latter, but he can't be sure), so if you're playing a badge-wearer feel free choose the option you feel suits their personality better - or you can choose to have them keep the badge.

Four:
On a different note, I'm sorry to announce that Alex has left the game, so no more Kathryn. :( Please run the button.

Five:
And finally, don't forget to comment in this month's Activity Check. Only three days left!
And stay tuned, as our new plot post will come very soon...

Just a note to let you guys know that the meeting time for all the new clubs have been added to the Classes & Clubs page. Here's when they meet:

• Fashion Club: Tuesdays, 5pm


• Art Club: Wednesdays, 5pm


• Drama Club: Fridays, 5pm


• And, of course, Flying Club: Saturdays, 4pm

If you feel a club should meet at a different time let us know, so that we can try to find something that will please everybody.

Also, we still need a faculty head for Drama Club, and a lot of those clubs still have open clots for student head, so any suggestions and/or volunteers are welcome.

First of all, run the button again, and please welcome Megtoo, who brings us Keegan Connolly (keeconnolly)!


Secondly, the ever wonderful Katie has devised a table for prefect rounds, which you can check out here. There's also a link in the Classes & Clubs page. If you're playing a Hogwarts prefect (or thinking of applying for one) feel free to request a group. The first pairing in a group will take the first round (9-11pm, though dates can be changed or rescheduled) and the second will take the second round (11pm-1am, with again possible rescheduling). Anything later than 1am will be taken by the professors and Filch.

Note: Foreign students are guests in the castle, and therefore are not expected to do rounds or do anything prefectly. Regarding the Beauxbatons contingent, Madam Maxime takes full responsibility for looking after her students, though if anyone who used to be head of class back home wishes to assist her, they're free to do so - provided they make an official request to her, of course. As for the Durmstrang delegates, officially it should work the same way as with Beauxbatons, but since Karkaroff can't really be trusted on these matters the students should perhaps elect one or two of their group as unofficial prefects in case of emergency.

As I figured it would help everybody, I added the teams from Beauxbatons and Durmstrang to last year's Quidditch roster. Feel free to suggest player names (there will be a lot of spare places otherwise, after all) or even colours for the French teams!

We have received some complaints about the large amount of students who are showing public support of Harry and/or suspecting of sabotage, and so we would like to remind everybody that, in canon, the vast majority of people - including his own best friend - were convinced that he had indeed put his name in the Goblet or, at least, had someone else trick it for him.

( Quotes. )

This wave of Harry hatred will get so big that, during the first Hogsmeade visit, almost everyone will be seen sporting "Potter stinks" badges - one of the few exceptions outside of Gryffindor house being Cho (and, we can assume, Cedric's close circle of friends, though only because he'll very likely ask them not to wear them). And, of course, let's not forget that almost all Gryffindors are so excited to have their own champion that none of them will listen to Harry when he tries to tell them he had nothing to do with it.

It's okay to have a few voices of reason, but they need to be a very small minority. Even the teachers are picking sides, people, so let's stick to canon here!

We're sorry to inform you that Emily has left the game, which means we've lost Angelina. Run the button, when you can. Of course, this means that Emily #2 becomes just Emily - don't worry, tags at this comm have been changed to avoid confusion.

On a happier note, the foreign students arrive today! An IC/OOC post will be made later, where you can describe what your characters did during the arrival and subsequent feast - and once that post is up, you'll be able to start posting as your foreign character.

And finally, don't forget to drop a comment at this month's Activity Check! There's still a lot of names left, and very little time to do it.

Holds for Beauxbatons and Durmstrang students are now open! If you have made a request for a hold in the previous mod post, then you'll find it in the holds page - but please repeat your request there so that we can notify you whenever your hold is about to expire.

Also, the links to the info pages for all three schools have been added to the navigation table, and some extra info has been added to the rules and FAQ. Check out your character's school page for details on their learning environment prior to arriving at Hogwarts - and remember that if you have a question that doesn't feature in either page you can always ask. :)

Firstly, run the button, as Katie adds to the game her second character, Ruby Robins (laal)!


Secondly, the club rosters have been updated at the Classes & Clubs page. Flying Club is the only new club with an established meeting time so far - I went for Saturdays since that seemed to be the preferred date when Angelina posted about it, but it can be changed to any other time if people decide a reschedule is better. As before, we'll be more than happy to reschedule. We're also open to suggestions to when the other clubs should have their meetings - weekdays at 5pm, weekends, or any other idea you might have. And as before, spots are still open for student heads on several clubs (Emily, would you want Angelina to head the Flying Club since she made all the preparations?). And since I'm bound to have missed something while organizing the rosters, if I've missed any name just let me know!


And finally, I'd like to announce that the info pages for Beauxbatons and Durmstrang are unlocked and ready for your perusal. They are yet to be linked to this journal's main page as we're hoping for some feedback from you on how clear and informative they are, as well as our take on the schools.
We're adding these pages to the game because in about a week (October 15th, to be more precise), we'll be opening holds on the foreign students, with a dozen characters (six boys and six girls) for each school. Once these holds are available, the character limit will extend to five per person - three from Hogwarts, one from Beauxbatons, and one from Durmstrang. We already have 2 ½ early holds for Beauxbatons, though, so if you want to request someone before the 15th feel free to do so! The only thing you have to keep in mind is that all foreign students need to be 17 by the time they arrive at Hogwarts, since they are all volunteers for the tournament, and also that Durmstrang will have no muggle-born students.

Bad news, everybody. We just lost Ren, and with her Orsino.

Run the button!



Also, we should start talking about the new clubs. Characters have been discussing many options, like drama, art, flying and even fashion. Which ones do you (and your characters) want to see added to the list?

Also, if anyone wishes to see any of their characters as head of any of the existing clubs (most spots are still available) just say the word.

As you have read in the rules, we'll have activity checks at the end of each month - usually around the 23/24, in order to give you a week to get ready. However, since we're still introducing our first characters, there won't be an activity check for August.

As a reminder, the minimum requirement at the end of each month will be of two pieces of activity per character. A piece of activity can either be:
* a post with at least 100 words or five sentences
* a thread/log with at least five comments from your character
* an owl message
* a complete narrative
* a hiatus note if you've been absent for a week or more


Secondly, the plot post for September will be posted on the 28th, and will feature such events as the students' return to Hogwarts, and Draco Malfoy, the Amazing Bouncing Ferret! If you have any ideas for incidents that should feature in the calendar, like someone accidentally transfiguring their fellow student into a pineapple or a disturbing encounter with Moaning Myrtle, let us know so that it can be added to the list.


Also, in two days time the Quidditch World Cup final will take place. For that reason, we'll be having two IC/OOC posts (one for the game and another for the Death Eater riot) where those of you with characters attending the game can thread and/or comment as much as you want about the game and the Death Eater riot later on. If you prefer, of course, you can just have your character post about it in their journal.


And finally, I'd like to point out that, with the exception of Rita Skeeter (whose acid green quill is sure to cause some damages in a few days' time), all non-playable canon characters are up for grabs. The teaching staff icons that you can see at gobletnpc are just placeholders in case any of them might be needed for a thread, and can be replaced by another PB of your choice if you decide to claim any of them for yourself. To make a claim, just log into the NPC journal and add your name either to the keywords of the icon description.


If you have any question that hasn't been answered in this post, just leave a comment. I'll reply asap!

Accio Goblet! is officially open.

Have fun playing!








Edit: Run it! Crystal joins the game, bringing us Leanne Clearwater (daydreaming)!

Hello, and welcome to Accio Goblet! We'll open in about a week, so in the meantime let's introduce ourselves and our characters, and discuss any plot/game/character ideas anyone might have. I'm Patricia, your friendly mod, and I'm available for any question or suggestion.

Remember to run the friend button - we've had a new addition today (Barney Dunstan, played by Alison), and more will follow in the coming days.

Let's get this show on the road!