Basic Plot Line
A main story plot means that the non-main characters will have more freedom. You have the liberty to do what you want with your characters within normal Hogwarts reality (though any major plot changes, as it states in the rules, must be discussed with the moderators). Everyone will have a chance to explore their character in detail! As a supporting role you must still play! What is a story just about the Trio? Just about Harry? BORING. I want lots of life in this RPG. I also want to keep things as "canon" as we can. It is entirely possible to play out your own plotlines and STILL stay canon. Canon means speaking like, thinking like, and reacting as your character would in the books. Some people confuse playing canon with restraining their character to a one-dimentional personality. That is not my idea. I simply want the characters to be those of JKR's making, not just you playing yourself under a different name. *winks*
This also means that one should not go frolicking around AIM having chats and posting them like mad like a deranged 13-year-old-HP-fangirl (lol, yes, they are frightening, those girls are!!! ACK! *runs screaming*). I want to remind you that I would love to see mature and creative writing in this community. I prefer, in regards to AIM RPing, narrative style entries to "live-action" conversation, though I don't want to cut the latter out completely. For examples of narrative style RPing on AIM, please visit this Blaise/Pansy conversation. And, for non-AIM communication see Snape's Potion's Class I have seen what each one of you is capable of - be it emails to me, your writing voice in your application, your entires, your comments, all sorts of places, and I KNOW that it is in you. It IS; and when it comes out into the RPG it will be beautiful.
With all that in mind, I would love to direct everyone's attention to the final plot summary of the community. Please read through it all and spend the remainder of the weekend refllecing on your character and how they relate to this plot. If any of you are feeling neglected at all or have any questions concerning the development of your character, the development of the plot, or the direction of the community as a whole, PLEASE tell/ask me at onesexybeest@hotmail.com
And so, without futher ado, a basic plot line:
Hogwarts:
It's the middle of 6th year, everyone has the war on their minds. Although students and teachers alike feel safe in the school there's a sense of dread for their families. While things seem to remain normal, there is still a pressing sadness on everyone. What will happen? How will it happen? The Death Eaters are growing in numbers, the Dementors have joined forces with Voldemort. Fudge has left the Ministry, and while we don't know who runs it, they are doing a good job so far. Not many Magic Folk are worried. The main goal of Hogwarts is to get students and faculty alike ready to jump in the fray and save their world.
The Outside:
The war is brewing, people are preparing for the worst and hoping for the best. The Order of the Phoenix still exists strong and Tonks, specifically, is working to keep Hogwarts clued in. With Lupin as a teacher within the school, Snape as the Order's spy, and her as an avid member of the Order there is a good connection.
Gryffindor:
The courageous souls of Gryffindor are either lost in confusion or raring to go (most are the former, versus the latter). Harry has jumped to many conclusions, kissed Hermione, and is wondering now about his own sexuality. Ron and Hermione are confused as well, neither realizing the others feelings for them, which makes for a lot of awkwardness between the two. Parvati and Lavender, even for their careless ways, seem to be less silly. The war is weighing on them all. The muggle-born are prominent in this house, and are looking for active ways to help in this matter. Remember it is Harry who must defeat Voldemort, bringing the house of the lion closer to this war than the any other house. The goals of Gryffindor lay in keeping the Muggle community safe and alert and, of course, to back up Harry in any way possible.
Slytherin:
Chaos reigns in the house of the snake, splitting it in twos and threes. Some students openly support the rise of the Dark Lord while others are lost among the crowd, scared due to their placement. There is an underground group of Slytherin working to help support the side of good. Professor Snape, looking past barriers of which side his students choose, is teaching them to survive, to battle the overwhelming opposition and come back from bad choices after all. Draco's world is turning upside down. Voldemort is perverting the ideas of a true Slytherin and turning his proud family into a piece of rubbish. Having caught a glimpse of a meeting held by the Dark Lord and watching how he treated his followers - it made Draco sick - he wants out. Unfortunately, Draco must openly support Voldemort to continue his life as he knows it. The goal of this house is unknown, some say they want to rise and support the Dark Lord, others say they want to overthrow that image of a Slytherin and bring honor back to the green house.
Hufflepuff:
Eagerness rises in this house of loyalty and work. Students want to stand out, they want a purpose and not to be shoved to the side. Hannah has lost her father and is connecting with Lupin who, at this point, is the only one she feels understands her. Zacharias is looking for the correct road to take when it comes to his social life and Susan is lost in her family history to find her own patronus. Those in the house of the badger are going to start up a new Dumbledore's Army with the aide of Professor Lupin. Many students feel that they have been led around too long and Hannah is being looked to as a leader. Seeking justice for a world that is letting it slip to the wayside seems their collective intent. Some are hesitant to take such a stand but those who are afraid of being left behind or absorbed in a world of others' making are pushing all the Hufflepuffs to participate. Hannah is avid about pulling her house together, young and old, to create a worthy foe against that of the Dark Lord. The goal of this house is to find it's spot among the other houses and to prove they are not just loyal followers but hard workers for the cause of right.
Ravenclaw:
After the death of Hufflepuff's Cedric Diggory, the house of Ravenclaw has awakened to the realities of the world in which they live; Cho Chang is going to make sure they are never going to be caught unaware again. While members of the house see the logic in both sides of the war, they are going to have to make the ultimate decision on which side to support. This house of thinkers has one side acknowledging giving in as a method of survival while others want to fight it out. Luna is looking to unify the houses once again, to have more allies than enemies in these dark times. Her own warped wisdom, given as if it were nonsense, still continues as she tries to find out exactly what happened to her mother. In the house itself, students are fighting for a unity under the cause of the good, sometimes they win two or three to their side and sometimes they lose them. Ravenclaw is the eye of the storm, full of the constant turmoil in the battle for light and life. As Dumbledore would say, the main goal of this house is to chose between what is right and what is easy. Their side goal is to unify the rest of the houses.
Reactionary Q&A:
- You've grouped people by house as though they will all work together in each house (not that I'm saying they won't). But is is possible that say a Ravenclaw or a Hufflepuff or whatever would work against their house?
We have grouped people by house, yes - houses are an intregal part of a character's personality. A house's "mindset" will affect your character and so that is why we grouped them that way. However, YES it is completely possible to work against your house. In fact, it is written directly into the plotlines! Go back and read it again to see what I mean.
In Hufflepuff there are those who don't want to take a stand, those who would prefer to do nothing. The most torn houses, though, are Ravenclaw and Slytherin. Read over those two's plot outlines. In Ravenclaw the "thinkers" are, in some cases, analyzing too much. It would be safe to assume there are many Ravenclaws who think it makes a lot more sense to join the dark lord. REMEMEBER, you don't have to be a Slytherin to join the dark forces! Speaking of Slytherin, it is plain that the house is harshly divided. There are kids openly professing heavy loyalty to Voldemort whereas there are those who desperately want to make Slytherin respectable and good again. They are not all evil! They are put there becasue of their most prominant skills - and nowhere is one of those skills listed "being evil." There will be a lot of betrayal, I assume, but I am not one to hand players a script. You will have to figure out for yourself where your loyalites lie, how your character feels about everything, their motives for doing whatever they're doing, etc..
The plot-lines we have put in the plot summaries are all straight from canon! Please do not assume that we are trying to tell your character what to do. The direct plot lines written in the plot summary that are NOT necessarily canon were all discussed with the players first. If a character acted a certain way in the books then we can assume they act that way now, can't we? This is all just a structure for you to play off of. If threre was no plot we would just be playing out a big unstructured mess that wasn't going anywhere :)
- As the DA will be started up again, will it be similar to the one of OotP or will it be less ... Harry-oriented now that Lupin has agreed to help?
Alas, this is for the characters to decide. We didn't want to tell Harry's player that he had to play Harry as the new DA leader. He was, afterall, VERY discouraged and downtrodden and otherwise "empty" at the end of the fifth book. We decided that it would infringe too much on Harry's RPer to tell them that Harry had to do the DA. However, Lupin will help start if up with or without Harry because the Hufflepuffs are so enthusiastic. This all, of course, has yet to be played out and we do not know what will ensue.
This is just a basic plot line. A very short look at the HWL world. To get a better grasp of the comings and goings look around at hogwarts_lives and timeturner_hwl
If you have any questions feel free to comment!