What on earth is going on at NaNoWriMo HQ? Here's a high level summary compiled by an anonymous community member.
Word crawl/Extreme HP 2
First-year students are required to specify their blood status, depending on their writing speed: Muggleborn, for slower writers; Halfblood, for those at an average pace; and Pureblood, for those with exceptional writing speed.
Galleons are used to skip a round of the crawl that is particularly daunting. Students are reminded that only three Galleons may be spent per year and that it may be wise to spend your money wisely…
Be aware that rounds of the crawl get more intense and long as you move through your years at Hogwarts. This is because as you write more, you will be able to handle longer and more rigorous challenges.
Students may also bring, if they desire, an owl OR a cat OR a toad.
You’ve been spending your summer with the Weasleys, and when you and Ron find out that Harry’s in trouble, you go with him, Fred, and George to rescue him in the flying car. Write for ten minutes as you fly home to the Burrow.
Molly has some work for you to do to help around the house. For every challenge below that you complete, she gives you one Galleon.
De-gnome the garden: Word war for fifteen minutes with a friend. The loser has to write an additional 100 words!
Fix the clock: Write 250 words.
Help Molly cook dinner: Write for twenty minutes.
Errol arrives with everyone’s book lists, and Gilderoy Lockhart’s name is written all over it. Write 3% of your current word count, as you worry that it’ll take 3% of everything you own to buy his books along with everything else you’re going to need.
Floo powder power! Floo powder power! Write 500 words in fifteen minutes as you travel to Diagon Alley. If you are in Ravenclaw, you know exactly how to use Floo powder and may skip this round for free.
If you succeed: You spot a Galleon on the ground outside of the fireplace! What luck!
If you fail: You end up in Knockturn Alley with Harry. Write an additional 200 words as you find your way back to the Weasleys.
Your first stop is Gringotts to pick up some additional money for your schoolbooks. Write for ten minutes. The amount of words you write will determine how many Galleons you take out of your vault.
Muggleborns
Less than 150 words: 1 Galleon
150-250 words: 2 Galleons
More than 250 words: 3 Galleons
Halfbloods
Less than 200 words: 1 Galleon
200-300 words: 2 Galleons
More than 300 words: 3 Galleons
Purebloods
Less than 300 words: 1 Galleon
300-400 words: 2 Galleons
More than 400 words: 3 Galleons
You spend so much money in the book shop buying your books. Write 500 words as you try to balance your new books along with everything else.
On September 1st, you go with Harry and the Weasleys to Kings Cross Station, but you get stuck outside of Platform 9 ¾! You, Harry, and Ron decide to find another way to get to school this year… Word war with a friend for an hour during the long drive- er, flight in the Ford Anglia. The winner gets to take a Galleon from the other.
Upon your arrival at Hogwarts, you crash into a strange tree that starts to attack you! Write 300 words as you escape from the tree and take the walk of shame into the school.
It’s a miracle that you’ve arrived back at school safely, and that you weren’t expelled. Instead, your Head of House decides that you will be serving your detention with them. Keep in mind that you are not allowed to skip this round even if you have enough Galleons to do so.
Gryffindors: Write for 30 minutes as you search Professor McGonagall’s classroom frantically for the needles that Peeves decided to hide from the first years.
Hufflepuffs: Write 400 words in fifteen minutes as you help Professor Sprout transport some Mandrakes into Greenhouse Three. If you fail, your earmuffs become loose and you faint from their shrieks. Write an additional 150 words.
Ravenclaws: Write 500 words as you gather feathers for Professor Flitwick to use with his students.
Slytherins: Do the Three Digit Challenge as you collect ingredients around Hagrid’s hut for Snape’s newest potions.
Gilderoy Lockhart turns out to be a babbling idiot and tells you to roll a die, multiply your roll by 100, and write that many words in order to catch all of the Cornish pixies he let loose in his classroom. Naturally, it doesn’t work, but Hermione takes care of them for you. Immobulus!
Ron is puking slugs after standing up for Hermione! Take him to Hagrid’s hut and write for five minutes as you help him to feel better. If you are in Hufflepuff, you would help Ron no matter what and may skip this round for free.
You’re invited to Nearly Headless Nick’s deathday party on Halloween night. But the question is, will you go to the party or to the feast?
If you go to the feast: Complete a Fifty Headed Hydra as you stuff your face with delicious food. You do feel bad about not going to the party, though…
If you go to the party: Write for twenty minutes as you stand around the party, bored out of your mind and wishing you were eating food at the feast. When no one is around to notice, Harry slips a Galleon into your hand and thanks you for coming with him.
On your way back to the dormitory, you discover Mrs. Norris hanging from a torch racket, somehow Petrified… and somehow Filch seems to think that you did it! Write to the nearest thousand as you try to explain to Dumbledore and Filch that you couldn’t have done it because you’re not the Heir of Slytherin.
You and your friends decide to join the Dueling Club, and you’re excited to show off your skills! Word war for fifteen minutes with a friend.The winner of the duel gets bragging rights; the loser has to write an additional 100 words.
Merry Christmas! Your plans for the day: sneak into the Slytherin common room using Polyjuice potion to interrogate Malfoy and ask if he’s the Heir of Slytherin. Write 400 words as you impersonate a Slytherin student by taking the potion. If you are in Slytherin, you already have access to the Slytherin common room and may skip this round for free.
Harry approaches you, Ron, and Hermione and tells you that Hagrid very possibly could have opened the Chamber of Secrets when he attended Hogwarts. You’re not sure if you believe him, so write for fifteen minutes as Harry explains his logic to you.
As you’re sitting in the stands waiting for the Gryffindor vs. Hufflepuff Quidditch match to start, Professor McGonagall announces that the match is canceled and that you need to head to your common room immediately. Roll a die, multiply your roll by 100, and write that many words.
The news gets out that Hermione and a Ravenclaw prefect were Petrified, and you, Harry, and Ron decide that it’s time to talk to Hagrid about what happened in the Chamber of Secrets. You have to hide underneath the invisibility cloak when the Minister of Magic arrives and takes Hagrid away. Write for five minutes after he leaves while you wait to see if the coast is clear to head back to the castle.
During your Herbology class, you spot a trail of spiders heading out the door. That night, write 3% of your current word count as you follow the trail and nearly get eaten by Hagrid’s giant spider, Aragog. If you are in Gryffindor, you aren’t fazed by the terrifying spider and may skip this round for free.
There’s been another message left by the Heir of Slytherin, and this time, Ginny’s been kidnapped. You go with Harry, Ron and Lockhart into the girl’s bathroom, where you discover the entrance to the Chamber of Secrets. Write 300 words as you go down into the chamber.
It’s lucky that Ron broke his wand at the beginning of the year- when Lockhart tries to perform a Memory Charm on you, it backfires on him! He’s the one who loses his memory, plus it causes a part of the ceiling to cave in, separating you and Harry from Ron and Lockhart. Write for twenty minutes as you try to get past the rubble.
It’s no use- you have to go with Harry further into the chamber. Participate in a Fifty-Headed Hydra as you search for the monster. Keep in mind that you are not allowed to skip this round even if you have enough Galleons to do so.
If you write 500 words: You spot Ginny lying on the floor and run to her side. Complete the next two rounds.
If you do not write 500 words: You hear something moving behind you and turn around, spotting the reflection of a giant basilisk in the water on the floor. You are Petrified! Skip the next two rounds and take a thirty minute writing break as time passes and you wait to be revived.
You spot a young man around sixteen who Harry seems to recognize. His name is Tom Riddle, and he reveals that he’s nothing more than a memory of Lord Voldemort’s younger self. When you declare your loyalty to Dumbledore, Tom sets the basilisk on you! Write for 45 minutes as you try to defend yourself and avoid the basilisk’s gaze.
Fawkes flies down into the chamber with the Sorting Hat, and when Harry puts it on, a sword falls out of it, which he uses to kill the basilisk. You take one of the basilisk’s fangs and stab the diary. Write 100 words as the memory of Tom Riddle disappears.
After you get out of the hospital wing from your injuries, the year quickly ends and summer vacation is here. Write for fifteen minutes at the end of year feast before boarding the Hogwarts Express home for the summer