Incipimus Iterum OOC

This month, to add a little bonus fun to the game we're doing a Bonus Activity Challenge. Participation is completely optional but not only is it a fun way to challenge yourself and maybe generate some unexpected interactions. It's also the first opportunity players have to be able to pick up a Player NPC.

The key thing for every player to remember for this challenge, is the importance of working together;

Don't drop threads once you've reached Bingo because then other players will suffer.

Communicate with your writing partners so they know you might need help to complete your challenge.

Don't be afraid to speak up in chat or even reach out to a Mod if you need to find something to get over the line.

Player NPCs are characters that do not have Activity Requirements every month. They're the fun side characters that help fill out the Wizarding World but you might not see played every day.

They could be anything from a Janitor who works for the Ministry, A Cafeteria Worker, The Mailroom person at The Prophet, or even the Parent or Grandparent of a character in game.

Player NPCs are the kind of characters who might make a cameo appearance in a scene or make the odd post here or there but there's not enough for you to justify them being a permanent character.

Player NPC's do not require full bios but they do require a journal with a mini bio on it. Something with enough details for us to know who the character is but we don't need to know their whole life story.

Player NPC's should not use popular PBs. The resource page has plenty of Icon Communities with plenty of options. Better still, there's an icon making prompt on the Bingo card so maybe that's the best way to get icons for somebody you have in mind!

Player NPCs are not a backdoor to having another full time character without the activity requirements. They will not be part of game plots. They will not count toward future bonus activity rounds. If your Player NPC grows into something you would like to see as a Player Character involved in plots, then you are welcome to submit an application for them as a full-time character. The Player of the NPC is the only one who can applyer for that NPC as a Player Character, unless they grant permission for somebody else to.

Player NPCs belong to the game. If you drop, the concept will remain in-game as a Game NPC. While the bio you write is your own, the name and PB remain. This is no different to if you are filling a line for a player, but instead you're filling a line for the Game.

To get Bingo, you need to get five squares in any of the following patterns;

The above patterns are examples. You can get Bingo for any line, row or diagonal, or for the corners and center square.

For a Thread to count toward your Bingo, it must be at least 3 Log replies or 10 Journal Comments unless otherwise specified.

A thread can be used a maximum of twice in the same Bingo.

If a thread is being used as part of your regular Activity Submission then it can only count toward one Bingo Square. (See FAQ)

• THREAD WITH A RAVENCLAW

  Have a thread with a character who belonged to Ravenclaw when they went to Hogwarts, that has at least 3 Log replies or 10 Journal Comments from your character.
  
  

• SUGGEST AN EVENT OR PLOT

  Plot or Event suggestions should be submitted to the Plot Submission comment on this post, or if you prefer, can be submitted to the Mod Drop Box if you would like them to be kept secret/a surprise. They should include at least a few lines on what the plot/event is and tell us if this is something you would like to see done in the game, or if it's something you want to run yourself.
  
  

  EVENT SUGGESTION FORM

  <b>EVENT IDEA</b> <b>MOD OR PLAYER RUN</b> Is it for Mods to run with or would you like to run it. Do you need mod assistance <b>ANYTHING ELSE?</b>
  
  

• MAKE AN OPEN JOURNAL POST

  Create a Journal Post on the Message Comm that is open for everyone to respond to. Posts can have warded messages as well, but there should be content available that every character can read and respond to. Your open journal post must have at least 10 Journal Comments by your character and threads should not be unnecessarily dropped by you, in order for it to count.
  
  

• CREATE A GAME MEME & SUBMIT TO THE MODS

  Game Memes should be submitted to the Mod Dropbox and not posted to the OOC Comm (or else we might have wall-to-wall memes). They can be recycled from other games, but if that is the case then the game they came from should be credited. We also encourage players to tailor the meme to suit the Incipimus Iterum Universe, where appropriate.
  
  

• THREAD WITH A HUFFLEPUFF

  Have a thread with a character who belonged to Hufflepuff when they went to Hogwarts, that has at least 3 Log replies or 10 Journal Comments from your character.
  
  

• HAVE A JOURNAL POST WITH OVER 50 COMMENTS

  Have a Journal Post made by your character that has at least 50 comments from both your character and other characters. Comments made between other characters do count toward your total, but there should be at least 10 Journal comments made by your character and threads should not be unnecessarily dropped by you, in order for it to count.
  
  

• TAKE PART IN A GROUP THREAD

  Have a thread with three or more characters, that has at least 3 Log replies or 10 Journal Comments from your character.
  
  

• APP A NEW CHARACTER

  Have a new character submitted and accepted into game during the Month of June.
  
  

• ANSWER 3 DIFFERENT JOURNAL POSTS

  Reply to at least 3 different journal posts with any of your characters. This can be 3 posts by 1 character or 3 posts by 3 different characters. You must have at least 6 Journal Comments from your character on each post for it to count. * This is the only exception to the 10 Journal Comment Rule.
  
  

• POST A WANTED AD OR ENABLE THIS

  Make a Wanted Line Comment on the Wanted Page, or leave a comment on the Enable This Meme asking to be enabled, or trying to enable others into things you want to see.
  
  

• THREAD WITH A CHARACTER WITH OPPOSING VIEWS

  This doesn't need to be Order Characters VS Death Eaters. Any thread where two characters could be perceived to having opposing views can count toward this. A Ministry Person VS an Anti-Authoritarian. Purist VS Muggle Rights. Matt Healy VS Joe Alwyn. (Okay maybe not but you get the idea). The thread must have at least 3 Log replies or 10 Journal Comments from your character.
  
  

• MAKE A MINGLE POST

  Create a Log Post that allows other characters to post top levels for other people to apply to. For this to count, you must have both a Top-Level comment from your character and you must have replied to an open top-level from another character.
  
  

• THREAD WITH SOMEBODY NEW TO YOUR CHARACTER

  Have a thread with a character who yours has never interacted with before, that has at least 3 Log replies or 10 Journal Comments from your character. These characters should be relative strangers before this interaction, not somebody they have a handwaved connection to that you have not had a chance to play out yet. They can know of the other person but this is the first time they're talking to each other.
  
  

• CREATE OR SUGGEST A NEW BUSINESS

  Business suggestions should include a write-up about the business, an image for the business and a list of three locations where the business might be situated. Businesses cannot be in Hogsmeade, London or Wizarding London (Knockturn Alley is allowed). Businesses should bring something new to the Wizarding World that doesn't already exist in game. IE. Not another Wand Shop. Business suggestions should be submitted to the Business Submission comment on this post.
  
  

  BUSINESS FORM

  <b>BUSINESS NAME</b> <b>BUSINESS TYPE</b> <b>LOCATION SUGGESTIONS</b> (Choose up to three) <b>BUSINESS IMAGE</b> <a href="LINK">Image</a> <b>BUSINESS DESCRIPTION</b> <b>ANYTHING ELSE?</b>
  
  

• WRITE A PUFF PIECE FOR THE DAILY PROPHET

  Write a Puff Piece / Fluff Article that is no less than 300-400 words long for The Daily Prophet. It can be a profile on a business, a write up on a Quidditch Match, an Interview with somebody in the community. Avoid the subject of Voldemort and Death Eaters, but feel free to write something about the rebuild of Hogsmeade after the Walpurgis Event. These pieces can be written by your character or by an unnamed reporter and should then be submitted to the Article Submission comment on this post.
  
  

• MAKE A CODE SHARING POST ON THE OOC COMM

  Share code that you have either created or modified with the game in an OOC post. It can be anything from Thread Headers to Playlist codes, to Character Relationship Charts. It does not have to be all your own coding, it can be based on another piece of code that you have since altered, but altered code must credit the original creator. You cannot just link code that you have taken from another creator.
  
  

• SUCCESSFULLY ENABLE SOMEBODY

  During the month of June, the Applications Submission form will have a section for the person to say who they were enabled by. The player can already be in game and apping a new character, or it can be a new player who you have enabled to join. We will also count it if anyone fills a wanted line or enable this post request that you have made, meaning somebody else could have enabled them to join the game but if they fill your line, then you both get to count it as successful enabling.
  
  

• WRITE A FLASHBACK SCENE OR NARRATIVE

  Write a narrative that is at least 500 Words [or] have a Log Thread with at least 3 Log replies from your character set in the past.
  
  

• CREATE A MOOD OR AESTHETICS BOARD

  This can be a prettied up coded post on your characters journal, or a link to an aesthetics board on Pinterest.
  
  

• WRITE A SCENE BASED ON A SHAMELESS TROPE

  We all have our fave shameless tropes. Stuck Together. Unresolved Sexual Tension. Hurt/Comfort. Work adversaries. Unequal Social Statuses/Opposites Attract. If you don't have a fave trope, a little googling will help you on your way. Write a scene based on a trope of your choosing with at least 3 Log replies from your character.
  
  

• THREAD WITH A SLYTHERIN

  Have a thread with a character who belonged to Slytherin when they went to Hogwarts, that has at least 3 Log replies or 10 Journal Comments from your character.
  
  

• CREATE A FANART, FIC OR ICONS<

  Maybe its a wallpaper for a phone or Desktop, a fanfiction for two characters in-game that could have zero basis in game canon, offer to make 10 or more icons for another player. To make it easier we've even added an Icon Request post below for players to comment with icon requests and some screenshots they've sourced. You just need to make them.
  
  

  ICON REQUEST FORM

  <b>PLAYED BY</b> The Celebrity in question <b>PREFERRED SOURCE</b> Photoshoots, TV shows, Movies etc <b>LINK(S) TO SCREENCAPS</b> Link to a gallery, a zip folder or link individual caps <b>ANYTHING ELSE?</b>
  
  

• MAKE A CR CHART OR PLAYLIST

  It can be a coded Character Relationship Chart or Playlist on your journal or a simple playlist done on Spotify or YouTube. It doesn't have to be overly fancy coding. Some great CR Charts get made by adding a comment to a post with a gif and a write up or song lyrics for each character. Like this.
  
  

• COMPLETE THE ULTIMATE CHARACTER QUIZ

  Complete the Ultimate Character Questionnaire for one of your characters.
  
  

• THREAD WITH A GRYFFINDOR

  Have a thread with a character who belonged to Gryffindor when they went to Hogwarts, that has at least 3 Log replies or 10 Journal Comments from your character.

CAN I USE MY BINGO ANSWERS FOR ACTIVITY CHECK?

Sure you can. But. If you use a piece of Activity for Activity Check, it can then only count toward one Bingo Square. For example; If you make a Journal Post and in that post you have a 10 comment long thread with a Ravenclaw, You can either count it toward two squares, [or] you can count it toward one square and Activity. We don't want to make completing the challenge and activity impossible, but it shouldn't be extremely easy either.

WHEN I GET BINGO, WHERE DO I POST IT?

Your completed Bingos can be posted to this post, but should then be linked as part of your Activity at the end of the month. For example, post all the proofs for Bingo on this post in one comment. Link to that comment when you post your Activity. Mods will sweep through and verify you do have Bingo if you want to be on the safe side before Activity Check hits.

I HAVE AN IDEA FOR A PLAYER NPC BUT I'D PREFER TO SEE SOMEBODY ELSE PLAY THEM

Whether it's a family member (parents/grandparents/siblings too young to be played actively) or just a random concept for something you think would be great, just comment to the NPC Suggestion comment below. The Mods will comment to say if the concept is approved or needs to be tweaked to work and then anyone who wishes to pick it up should they complete the challenge can do so. There will even be some Mod Suggested NPCs for people to pick from.

NPC SUGGESTION FORM

<b>CHARACTER NAME</b> If Any <b>CHARACTER PB</b> Suggested PB <b>OCCUPATION</b> Self Explanatory <b>MINI-BIO</b> If you have any ideas for them <b>ANYTHING ELSE?</b> Self Explanatory


I HAVE BINGO, WHEN CAN I SUBMIT MY NPC BIO?

You can work on the idea whenever you like. You can even reach out to the Mods to get approval for the concept but we ask players to wait until after the next Activity Check and we officially confirm your Bingo for you to submit them. Gently put, we shouldn't see any submissions until July 1st.

IS THERE A BIO TEMPLATE I CAN USE?

Sure is! Look below.

NPC BIO FORM

<lj-raw><fieldset style="margin:0 auto;width:550px;font-family:helvetica,arial,sans-serif;font-size:13px;color:#111;text-align:justify;line-height:170%;border:1px solid #eee;padding:0 20px 10px 20px;border-radius:3px;"> <legend style="padding:0 20px;text-align:center;"> <img src="ICONURL" style="width:100px;height:100px;border-radius:100px;"> </legend> <div style="padding:20px;"> <center style="font-weight:bold;font-size:8px;text-transform:uppercase;letter-spacing:3px;"> <font style="font-family:arial black,gadget,serif;color:#000;font-size:20px;">NAME_HERE</font><br> SUBTITLE_HERE </center><br> <div style="border-bottom:3px solid #ddd;margin-bottom:10px;font-family:arial black,gadget,serif;text-transform:uppercase;letter-spacing:1px;color:#000;"> ABOUT CHARACTER_FIRST_NAME </div> <b style="font-size:10px;letter-spacing:2px;">NAME.</b> Info<br> <b style="font-size:10px;letter-spacing:2px;">AGE.</b> Info<br> <b style="font-size:10px;letter-spacing:2px;">OCCUPATION.</b> Info<br> <b style="font-size:10px;letter-spacing:2px;">BLOOD STATUS.</b> Info<br> <b style="font-size:10px;letter-spacing:2px;">HOGWARTS HOUSE.</b> Info<br><br> <div style="border-bottom:3px solid #ddd;margin-bottom:10px;font-family:arial black,gadget,serif;text-transform:uppercase;letter-spacing:1px;color:#000;"> MINI BIO </div> Up to 2-3 paragraphs. <br><br><center style="font-size:9px;letter-spacing:2px;"> <b>PLAYER.</b> name <b>TZ.</b> time <b>PB.</b> pbname <b>DISCORD.</b> username#1234 </center> </div> </fieldset></lj-raw>


WILL I EVER LOSE MY PLAYER NPC?

Players must have an Active Player Character in game to retain their NPC. For those players who only have one character, if you drop the character and in the same calendar month, hold a new one then you will not lose your NPC. If you fail to apply for them, however, then you will lose your Player NPC.

WHAT HAPPENS TO THE NPC IF I DROP?

NPC's are like Lines for the game. If you drop, the bio and your journal may go away but the concept and name of the NPC will still exist in the game universe and can then be picked up by somebody else, or will continue on as a general NPC.

WHAT IF I DROP BUT THEN COME BACK IN A MONTH OR TWO?

You won't get back your Player NPC. Don't worry, there will be future opportunities for you to get one again.

IS THERE A TIME LIMIT FOR HOW LONG I HAVE TO APPLY FOR MY PLAYER NPC?

You will have a maximum of three months to submit your Player NPC Bio for approval. Players who have not submitted their Bio by the September Activity Check will lose them.

I WANT TO DO THE CHALLENGE BUT I DON'T WANT A PLAYER NPC. CAN I GET SOMETHING ELSE OR GIVE MY NPC TO ANOTHER PLAYER?

If there is something else you would like instead of a Player NPC, we're certainly open to hearing you out and considering your request. You cannot, however, transfer your NPC to another player.

THIS IS A REALLY BAD MONTH FOR ME. THERE'S NO WAY I'LL BE ABLE TO COMPLETE THE CHALLENGE BUT I WOULD LOVE TO HAVE A PLAYER NPC

This won't be the only opportunity to be able to claim a Player NPC. It is just the first so if you can't possibly achieve it this month, rest assured that there will be future opportunities for you to get one. Even if you can only spare a day here or there for heavier tagging? Reach out to people in-game. We're sure others would be willing to boomerang a thread or two to help you get over the line if you really want it now.

First and foremost, before you read anything else, go check out the Event Post so you understand what is happening. The post is viewable but will be locked for comments until Sunday the 30th.

What exactly is Walpurgis night you ask? In reality, it has a number of names with a number of different meanings depending on your faith and where you live. In terms of the Incipimus Universe? It's a celebration that is observed by Witches & Wizards all over the world to celebrate the arrival of spring.

Hogsmeade is not the only village that holds celebrations, but it is one of the largest ones. No need to worry about Muggles accidentally stumbling across the festivities and forcing the Obliviators to work overtime. Hogwarts students in the final years at school have attended for many years, and perhaps that is why so many return to Hogsmeade year after year.

It's a mostly uneventful affair that is usually seen as a chance for people to take their families out for a nice evening and while there's been the odd prank, the Hogwarts students who thought they could sneak fire whiskey into their drinks and even the odd troublemaker. It has always been handled quickly and quietly and has never managed to put a dampener on the day.

At least until today...

In case you need to know who is involved or require a little justification to have your characters there:

While we don't want to rob anyone of the freedom to do as they please, we can't have 20+ characters each claiming to have killed a Chimaera. Limits are a necessary element to any larger-scale event to ensure that things don't get out of control. There are even a few helpful tips to help you consider this event on a larger scale.

Low-level injuries such as cuts, scrapes, and bruises are a free for all. Anything more than that, please respond to the Injury Randomiser comment below, and we'll give you a level of severity for injuries that you can have. We're doing it this way so we don't have every active character having critical injuries. You can learn more about this in the Event FAQ.

Anyone may have an encounter with a Chimaera but you may not (in fact could not) kill them.

Anyone may have an encounter with an unplayed Death Eater but you may not say you killed them. They will get out of there before you have the chance and you should be aware that they are not useless. They have been hand-chosen by Voldemort himself to be here. If you engage in wand combat and live, you should consider yourself lucky. Wand-combat inexperienced characters will not kick the ass of a Death Eater.

Property damage is likely. Windows will be broken, shopfronts wrecked or destroyed. Maybe don't say that your house blew up but if you want to say that it had low-medium damage? Sounds good.

Think before you journal. Would your character even have their journal with them? If they do, do they have a Quill and Ink? Can they break it out when chaos is raining down around them? We are pro journal posts, as long as it makes at least the vaguest sense that your character would write or respond to journal posts. If not? We're sure there will be a lot of post-event journal entries flying around.

Do not discount psychological trauma from an event like this. The average person who does not see this every day would not just shake it off. Maybe your character got lucky, and they didn't see much, but that doesn't mean they would be unfazed by it all.

Let's be realistic here. Not everyone will be joining the fight. We encourage people to think outside of the box and look for options that best suit your character. If you're stuck, take a look at the list below, it might inspire something;

Healers. Or those with basic medical training. There will be injuries and people will need help. Set up a makeshift triage in some poor person's living room while reinforcements are sent for.

Leaders.There are children present. Children who will get separated from their families. People in a mad panic blindly running around. One of the most important roles would be getting people to safety.

Hiders. (Pretend it's a word). There are plenty of people who will do, what is arguably the smartest thing, and take cover. Grab a friend (or stranger) and hole up somewhere around the village until it's safe to come out.

Chaos Creators. These are your Death Eaters, or frankly, your other criminal types who might try to take advantage or even add to the chaos.

Fighters. Your DMLE will be heavily represented here. Magizoologists with a good understanding of what they are up against. Reckless idiots who are in way over their heads and will likely get yelled out by an Auror ;)

No one Witch or Wizard is going to take out a Chimaera solo. While they might be younger and slightly less lethal than a fully grown Chimaera. It's a little like saying that a Great White Shark is slightly less lethal than Jaws. If it wants to use you as a chew toy? It will.

With that in mind, you'll see group sign-ups in this post's comments. Try to be fast on these sign-ups as it will be hard for us to slot things in, in time for people to plot. We will try and create groups based on the answers provided to best figure out how to do this. Different groups may have different approaches to things, and that's okay! This is an ideal opportunity to see what works and what doesn't.

— GROUP SIGN-UP FORM —

<b>Player Name:</b> Your Name <b>Character Name:</b> Your Characters name <b>Character Journal:</b> <lj user="YOUR_JOURNAL"> <b>Preferred Plotting Method:</b> Custom, Discord chat group <b>Posting Preference:</b> Do you want to do a single thread, go in order of everyone in the group? Would you prefer to do a summary of what happened? Do you want to get together and contribute to and write a group narrative? There is no right or wrong here. We will try and group by preference if anyone has one. <b>Anything Else:</b> Is there somebody signed up for groups that your character would never separate from? Do they have specific knowledge that might make them extra useful against a Chimaera? Should they absolutely be told to stay TF out of the way even though they'd sign up?

Very much what it sounds like. Want to be paired up with somebody at random? Fill out the form in this section and we'll give you a random pairing.

All we as is;

Do not sign up for more threads than you can handle. It's not fair to those you get paired with if you flake on them.

Sign-Up Deadline is Saturday the 29th of April. We will reply to the sign-up comment to announce when they are closed. We will not make allowances for anyone who signs up after the deadline.

— PAIRING SIGN-UP FORM —

<b>Player Name:</b> Your Name <b>Character Name:</b> Your Characters name <b>Character Journal:</b> <lj user="YOUR_JOURNAL"> <b>Preferred Plotting Method:</b> Link to Dropbox, your Discord handle, your email address. <b>Any Preferences:</b> Do you only want to be hiding. Do you absolutely not want to fight anything? Please include any must-haves or hard-nos related to plots that we might not be aware of already.

Got questions? Please reply to the FAQ comment on this post. We will answer and update this post to ensure everyone can easily see the same clarifications.


So what is this injury randomiser you mentioned under limits?

Simply put? It is how severe your character's injuries can and preferably should be. We aren't going to force anyone to take on more than they're comfortable writing. You can opt out of certain levels if you wish but the only way your injuries can be more than so minor you all but overlook them. is to comment to get a randomised severity level.

What are the severity levels and what can I expect from them so I know if I want to opt-out or not?

Can my character apparate out of there?

Yes. But there are two things to keep in mind. You cannot apparate to Hogwarts, and as we have seen in canon? Apparating is not easy to do in times of high stress. Splinching can occur (Medium - High-level injury). The other factor to consider? In a moment of panic, would your character think to apparate? People don't always do the thing they should when in mortal danger.

I want one of my characters family members to die or be critically injured during this, can they?

Yes, but please get sign-off from the Mods first. We will not allow canon characters not in-game to be killed off. Nor do we want to see people trying to kill off their whole family or the same player having deaths across every character they play. It's early. Moderation is key. People will die, but for the most part, they will be thus far unnamed characters within the Wizarding World.

I want my Death Eater character to kill somebody off, can they?

Similar to above, yes but please run it past us. We have no problem with it but no canon characters for this, and we do need to know so we can build it into the aftermath.

Why are Voldemort and the Death Eaters doing this?

We just... don't know. This is a sentence you will get used to seeing when you ask questions that pertain to knowledge about things that are not public knowledge. We know why they're doing it. They know why they're doing it, but the average person does not, therefore it will not be explained.

I want to do a thread with a Death Eater? Can I?

So the way this is going to work. You can request a thread with a Death Eater that will be written out, but unless the player of the Death Eater chooses to post using their own journal, you won't know who it is. There is a Death Eater journal thedeatheaters and both Mods and Death Eater players can and will be using this for shenanigans. Please remember that there are only so many people and that having a DE thread with every non-DE character would be impossible. There will be a comment for expressions of interest, and you may get something from there. Alternatively, a DE player may offer a thread, and then it will be up to them how they plot.

Wait... who's the dead guy? I didn't see him anywhere.

We're not always going to explain the reveal, but as this is a first big event, we thought we'd break things down so that you guys can appreciate the clues that were laid down and how you might be able to spot things in the future.

We do want to stress, you don't have to get into this side of things. You will not miss out because you are too busy to read everything. Ultimately, we will drop breadcrumbs and draw attention to them where needed. For this, however;

In a thead back when the game first opened, Caleb Higgs made the following reference: One of his colleagues from Greece needed a stiff drink so they could discuss the sudden spike in Chimaeras popping up.

An article about the "Beastly Black Market" appeared in the Daily Prophet on April 13th.

Chester Hillicker was reported missing and appeared on the Timeline for April 18th, 1978. He joins the other Ministry employees who have already gone missing this year (pre-game-start).

A missing poster for Chester was also added to the games Wanted Page

Employees of the MoM had his Missing Poster shared with them because this is something that would have gone up at the Ministry and would be seen every day.

Emmeline Vance then made a Journal Post about another missing MoM employee.

A Missing Poster for Chester was printed on the Front Page of the Prophet, in a Newspaper Article about Time Turners.

Lastly, for those of you who are canon nerds like us. The name Hillicker may be a familiar one to you. In our Universe, Chester Hillicker was the Father of Iola and Tamsin Hillicker.

I'm not in a headspace for dark things but I still want to be involved. Can I do a thread set during the first half of the evening instead?

Absolutely. Where possible we'll always endeavor to give options to players. In the end, they don't have to attend the event in Hogsmeade, or yes, they can attend, and you can handwave their leaving before or when things blow up.

Do I have to thread things on the event post?

Not in the slightest. Just be sure to clearly label your log for the event so we can stalk them see.

I'd prefer to skip to the aftermath. What can I expect?

Some information just won't be available until plotting is done, but you can expect an increased presence of Aurors in Hogsmeade the week following Walpurgis. They will be there both to reassure the people who live in the Village and provide some comfort to the parents of students who are attending Hogwarts. There will be deaths but we're not talking in the hundreds here. More than ten, however, certainly. Hogsmeade weekends for Hogwarts students have been canceled until further notice. (Voldemort is why we can't have nice things. Sorry).

Can Hogwarts students sign up for groups?

Sure. They might be met with some resistance from Aurors, and we imagine Professor McGonagall squawking "What do you think you're doing?" in her thick Scottish accent but in the end? Nobody has time to argue with teenagers about whether they should be involved, and a certain group has proven they can do magic well above their school level.

Do we have to kill the Chimaera?

Nope. In fact, it's probably easier if you find a way to incapacitate it rather than kill it. These creatures are tough, fast, and lethal, and like almost any predator if you back it into a corner and it believes it's a choice between you or it. It will ensure it's you and it can easily do so.

Can I say my character is an expert on Chimaera?

Are they a Magizoologist? Did they spend time in Greece studying them? If not, no. It's highly unlikely they would have been covered in Care of Magical Creatures, and we Mods know of only one player-character in-game that is likely to have specialized knowledge. The average person would know what they read in the Daily Prophet a couple of weeks back, and that is... not much.