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 6
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.
After such an eventful spring, it was nice to have some time to relax at the Burrow over the summer. But now, it’s time to go to Diagon Alley to buy your books for sixth year. Write 600 words as you pick up all of your necessary supplies.
You go with your friends to visit Weasleys’ Wizard Wheezes, where Fred and George challenge you to a little game: can you guess which one of them is Fred? Write 750 words in ten minutes in order to make your guess.
If you succeed: You guess correctly (though, to be fair, you had a 50% chance of guessing correctly), and they give you a Galleon.
If you fail: They tell you won, and that your prize is a piece of candy. You eat it without thinking about the consequence. It turns out that they’ve fed you a Fainting Fancy! Write 200 words after you wake up on the shop floor.
You spot Draco Malfoy acting suspiciously, and you, Harry, Ron, and Hermione follow him under the Invisibility Cloak as he goes to Borgin and Burkes. Participate in the Three Digit Challenge as you listen to him talk to the owner about a certain item he needs to repair. If you are in Slytherin, Draco trusts you and lets you come with him into the shop, and you hear the information in person. You may skip this round for free.
Though you were looking forward to spending time on the train with your friends, all of them are either in the Prefect carriage or invited to ride in a compartment with one of the new teachers, Horace Slughorn. Write for thirty minutes as you read in your empty compartment.
At the Start-of-Term Feast, Dumbledore announces that Professor Slughorn will take over as the Potions teacher because Snape is now teaching Defense Against the Dark Arts. Write 500 words as you worry about your marks in his class.
During your first Potions class, Slughorn hosts a competition to see who can brew the best Draught of Living Death, and whoever does will receive a small vial of Liquid Luck, or Felix Felicis. Roll a die, multiply your roll by 200, and write that many words as you struggle to make the potion.
Harry is now Quidditch Captain of the Gryffindor team, and you go with Hermione to watch as many people try out for the team. Write 400 words as you cheer Ron on as he tries out to become Keeper. If you are in Gryffindor, you are on the field trying out for the team yourself and may skip this round for free.
The first Hogsmeade visit of the year arrives, and on your way out of The Three Broomsticks, you watch in horror as seventh-year Katie Bell is cursed by an opal necklace. Write 3% of your word count as you help her to the hospital wing and explain to McGonagall what happened.
The morning of the first Quidditch match of the year, Harry pretends to slip Felix Felicis into Ron’s drink at breakfast. This leads to an incredible win over Slytherin, but ruins Ron’s and Hermione’s friendship as Ron begins to date Lavender Brown to get back at Hermione for not believing in his Quidditch abilities. Write 600 words as the biggest feud between your two friends begins.
Professor Slughorn is hosting a Christmas party tonight, and though you aren’t a member of the infamous Slug Club, a fifth year you previously didn’t know existed asks you to go with them. You only agree so you can spend time with Harry and Hermione, because it turns out your date is extremely overbearing and clingy. Write for fifteen minutes as you hide with Hermione from your horrible dates.
Christmas arrives, and this year you spend the holiday with your parents, something you haven’t done since beginning your time at Hogwarts. Write to the nearest thousand as you spend a quiet Christmas Day with your family. They give you a Galleon along with the rest of your Christmas presents to thank you for spending time with them.
During a homework help session with Professor Slughorn as he helps you learn how to perfect that Draught of Living Death, Harry brings Ron down and explains that he had accidentally consumed a love potion and needed an antidote. Slughorn pours all four of you some Mulled Mead and mixes the antidote into Ron’s glass. It cures him of his infatuation, but the mead is poisoned! Harry manages to save him with a Bezoar, and you write 400 words as you spend time with Ron as he recovers in the hospital wing.
It’s time to take your Apparition test, and you get so nervous that you end up Splinching off your left foot. Madam Pomfrey is able to reattach it easily, but makes you write for twenty minutes as you recover. If you are in Ravenclaw, Apparating comes easily to you and you may skip this round for free.
Harry takes some of his Felix Felicis in order to obtain a necessary memory from Professor Slughorn, and feels that he needs to go down to Hagrid’s hut to attend Aragog’s funeral. Ron and Hermione are skeptical, but you tag along and participate in a Fifty Headed Hydra to pay your respects to the giant spider that nearly killed you.
Slughorn came with you to Aragog’s burial, and afterwards, he and Hagrid get drunk in Hagrid’s hut and reminisce, as older men often do. Slughorn hasn’t ever really noticed you, but in his drunken state he invites you to join the Slug Club to make up for the shame he feels in giving Harry the memory he needs. Write 600 words as Harry leaves suddenly to get the memory to Dumbledore, and you’re left to get a very drunk Slughorn back to his chambers. If you are in Hufflepuff, Slughorn cooperates with you as you help him back to the dungeons and you may skip this round for free.
Now that Harry has gotten the memory from Slughorn, it appears that his lessons with Dumbledore are now resulting in a trip outside of the school. Before he leaves, he gives the remaining Felix Felicis to you to give to the others because he thinks that Malfoy’s succeeded in whatever he’s been trying to do. Write for fifteen minutes as you mentally prepare yourself for the possibility of a battle.
After Harry leaves and you’ve taken the Felix Felicis, you go to guard the Room of Requirement, where Harry thinks Draco has been repairing the object he purchased from Borgin and Burkes. When the room opens, the corridor is immediately filled with Peruvian Instant Darkness powder, and when the darkness clears, you’re attacked by a Death Eater who was let in by Malfoy. Write for forty-five minutes as you begin to battle Death Eaters with all the courage you can muster. Keep in mind that you are not allowed to skip this round even if you have enough Galleons to do so.
The battle leads you to the courtyard, and fear grows inside of you when you see the Dark Mark appear over the Astronomy Tower. Your momentary distraction allows the masked Death Eater you’re dueling to strike you with a Full-Body Bind. Write 750 words before Neville Longbottom sees you and unbinds you.
As Neville helps you to your feet, you see a robed body fall from the top of the Astronomy tower. You run forward and recognize that it is Dumbledore just as his corpse hits the ground. You’re stunned, and you write 100 words as you raise your wand in respect for your fallen Headmaster.
Dumbledore’s funeral emotionally impacts you more than you could have imagined. Write for fifteen minutes as you listen to the eulogies and watch the white tomb be lowered into the ground.
After the funeral, Harry tells you, Ron, and Hermione about the Horcruxes, how the locket he and Dumbledore went to fetch the night Dumbledore died was a fake, and that he needs to track down all of them and destroy them because they contain a part of the Dark Lord’s soul. He doesn’t want you to, but you assure him that you’ll help him on his hunt for the Horcruxes. Write 200 words as the reality that you won’t be returning to Hogwarts sinks in, and prepare for the task ahead.