Introduction

Are you interested in playing online Quidditch? Do you think you have the wit and the speed to play for your house? Well, join the Quidditch team!

Plano Hogwarts Quidditch is played online in the Quidditch Field, which is a chatroom. It is based on Harry Potter trivia. Questions and tasks used during the game are taken from every Harry Potter book, Fantastic Beasts and Where To Find Them, and Quidditch Through the Ages. They may also relate to Plano Hogwarts itself, but none will pertain to the Harry Potter films or to the life of JK Rowling.

There are seven players, two teams, and one referee, just like in the books. There will also be a moderator for Beaters and a moderator for Seekers.

Players' broomsticks are their internet services. So, internet issues or problems with speed are equivalent to cheap or faulty broomsticks, and will not affect the game in any way.

Top

Joining the Team

If there are open positions on any team, interested players may owl their Head of House for instructions on joining the team. It is recommended that each team also keep at least three reserve players. The Quidditch forum contains a list of all four Houses' Quidditch teams. It will be the team captains' responsibility to update the list.

Teams must choose their team captain among themselves. Choose a person who is dedicated to PH and would be a good leader.
The Locker Rooms are located in the Quidditch forum.

Top

Scheduling A Match

Quidditch matches will usually take place on Friday evenings. Specific times and dates are given two weeks ahead of a game, although this isn't guaranteed if a game must be rescheduled.
A schedule of all the matches will be put up shortly after term begins, with dates/times for the first two matches.

Matches may be rescheduled if and only if BOTH teams' captains agree to a new date and time and notify the Headmistresses (planohogwarts@hotmail.com) at least three days in advance. If the Headmistresses do not receive notice three days in advance, then no change will be made to the schedule.

Top

Referees

Typically, one of the Headmistresses will referee a game. Occasionally, a staff member (who is NOT affiliated with either of the two teams playing) may referee a game. Refereeing is no easy picnic, so it is limited to only the most experienced members.

Top

Players

In a complete team, there are three Chasers, two Beaters, a Keeper, and a Seeker.
A team must have at least a Seeker and a Chaser to play. Teams are advised to train on multiple positions, because if only a few players show up to a match, then those players may need to change positions in order to cover the necessary spots.
If a team has only three players, then those three players are advised to play Seeker, Chaser, and Keeper.

The day before a game, both teams' captains must send a list of their players and positions to the Referee. These lists must include all necessary substitutes, if any.

If a player does not show up to a match, the captain may choose a substitute to play. However, once the game begins, no changes may be made. The only exception is the Seeker--if a Seeker must leave the game, then another player may switch positions to play Seeker, or a substitute may be called in to play Seeker.

Top

Quaffle Play

Chasers will have to answer trivia questions about the Potter books and occasionally Plano Hogwarts.
Keepers will have to wait for a Chaser to answer a question correctly and then attempt to block the Quaffle.

1. First, the referee asks the Chasers a question. The Chasers attempt to answer the question. Each correct answer is a Quaffle caught.
2. The first Chaser to come up with an answer enters it into the Chatroom. Chasers from each team may pick one of their three to be the one to type in the answer when ready.
3. If incorrect, play continues until the correct answer is given. Each team has three chances to answer correctly before the referee asks a new question.
4. If correct, play moves on to the Keeper of the opposing team.
5. A correct answer to the Chaser question is just like attempting to score with the Quaffle. So, the referee asks the opposing team's Keeper a question. The Keeper has ten seconds to answer.
6. If incorrect, the Quaffle was missed by the Keeper, and the Chaser scores 10 points.
7. If correct, the Quaffle was caught by the Keeper, and so the Chaser doesn't score.

Chasers: These questions will be fairly hard, but not too difficult. Some readers may remember the answers, some might need to look them up. They will be a little specific (ie: Who was very keen to export flying carpets to Britain? Ali Bashir, stated in GOF during the World Cup). The reason is because we want to make sure that every chaser does end up researching at least once during a game--that's what will make it challenging!

Keepers: These will not be specific at all. They will be based mostly on speed. After all, the Keeper has 10 seconds to answer, so there will not be time to research. For example: What is Dumbledore's full name? Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore.

Top

Bludger Play

Beaters will be completing tasks related to the books.

1. First, the Beater Mod (Beater Moderator) sends a task to all the Beaters. These tasks may be sent through PM or the instant messaging system that is part of the Quidditch Field chatroom.
2. When a team's Beaters have completed a task, they must submit the answer to the Beater Mod. If incorrect or incomplete, play continues until a correct answer is submitted.
3. If correct, one of the team's Beaters must type in 'BLUDGER!' in the chatroom. Only one Beater from the correct team does this.
4. When this happens, all players from both teams (excluding that one Beater) must type 'DODGE' (correctly spelled) into the chatroom.
5. Only the first three dodges from each team are counted. If the Beater's team gets 3 dodges in before the opposing team, then the opposing team loses 10 points. If the opposing team gets 3 dodges in before the Beater's team, then no one loses points.

Hint: Think lists! Beaters will have tasks rather than straightforward questions. Think of lists like the classes, the clubs, a group of people, spells used during an event, etc. Beaters have no time limit, of course. But, the more lists they submit, the more points the opposing team loses, the greater the chance for your team to win! Example: List all the classes offered at Hogwarts in alphabetical order.

Top

Snitch Play

Seekers will be asked the most difficult questions about the books. Their job is to capture the Snitch, which is hidden in the castle or forums.

1. First, each Seeker will receive a question through PM by the Seeker Mod. There are five questions total.
2. When a Seeker has the correct answer and submits it to the Seeker Mod, s/he will receive a clue through PM, along with the next question.
3. All five clues (from all five questions) will point to the location and description of the Snitch.
4. The Snitch is this: ^{ }^. A word or phrase will be placed next to the Snitch. Each Snitch is unique to each game. Example: ^{ }^Hallows
5. BE WARNED. Fake snitches will be planted around the castle too, so Seekers need to pay attention to the clues they recieve.
6. The first Seeker to find the Snitch types it into the chatroom along with the url or description of its location. If incorrect, play continues until the correct Snitch is found.
7. If correct, the game will end immediately. The Seeker who caught the Snitch will earn 50 points for his/her team.

Hint: These questions will definitely be difficult. Once a Seeker finds the Snitch, the game is over, so the questions need to be hard enough to build competition. To practice, Seekers can increase their speed at researching and finding answers. Memorizing facts won't be the best. Also, someone from your team can make up clues to finding the Snitch, and the Seeker can try and put them together. Solve Riddles. Practice surfing the boards for when you know the Snitch's location--get to know the forums and the castle really well!

Top

The Quidditch Field

To locate the Quidditch Field, look under the right block "The Castle"; click on "The Quidditch Field." All games are played here. Only the main play will be posted here.

• The main play is where the Chasers and Keepers type their answers and where the Snitch is posted. The Chasers' and Keepers' questions are posted here, too, along with BLUDGERs and DODGEs.
• The Beaters' and Seekers' tasks and questions are sent through PM or the instant messaging system that is part of the Quidditch Field chatroom.
• For members who simply want to watch the Quidditch match, please sign into the chatroom as your forum/castle username.
• As an audience, the members may watch, but are NOT allowed to chat during the game. Warnings will be given, then house points will be deducted.
• All members are asked to not enter/leave the chatroom during the game, or disconnect/connect during the game. If your internet is presenting any problem, then do not enter the game while it is being played.
• For all students who are PLAYING in the Quidditch match, enter the chat with your position, an underscore, and then your castle username. Example: Seeker_Potter. Limit your castle username to the first 8 letters.
• Once in the chat, players must immediately change their font color to their respective house color. Gryffindors must choose red, Hufflepuffs must choose orange (yellow is difficult to see), Ravenclaw must choose blue, and Slytherin must choose green.
• The Referee must enter as 'Referee'. The mods will be: 'Position_Mod', where position is, of course, the position the mod is moderating. For example: Beater_Mod will send tasks and questions to the Beaters, and Seeker_Mod will send clues and questions to the Seekers.
• All moderators and the referee of the quidditch game must choose purple as their font color.
• If these rules are not followed, then players' answers will be ignored. If rules continue to not be followed, players will be put out of play.

Top

Game Time Table

Every match will be played in the following format:

1. Players enter the chatroom at least 10 minutes before game begins.
2. All audience members are present in the chatroom at least 5 minutes before game begins.
3. The referee posts 'THREE', 'TWO', 'ONE', 'BEGIN!'. At 'BEGIN!', the game begins.
4. The referee immediately posts the first question to Chasers. The Beater mod sends a task to the Beaters of both teams, and the Seeker mod sends the Seekers of both teams their first question.
5. Game continues as explained above until the correct Snitch is caught and entered into the chatroom.
6. The referee announces the results. For example, "Gryffindor wins, 120 to 80!". The game is over.
7. After the referee anounces the results, audience members may begin to chat.

Top

The Quidditch Cup and Points

The Quidditch Cup is awarded at the end of the final match of the Quidditch tournament. All points earned during a Quidditch match are recorded. At the end of the tournament, the team with the most Quidditch points, regardless of the number of matches won, will win the Quidditch Cup.

At the end of each Quidditch match, the point totals are considered. The difference between the point totals will earn the winning house that many house points. For example, if Gryffindor beat Ravenclaw 135 to 100, then Gryffindor will earn 35 House points. These House points do not determine the Quidditch Cup winner. Only the Quidditch points (points earned during the match) are considered for the Cup.

Top

Answering Questions

• Do not type in all-caps. (Exceptions: DODGEs and BLUDGERs.) It is very distracting to players. Warnings will be given, then penalty points will be awarded to the opposing team.
• For names, you must type in the first and last name of the REAL name--not nicknames. (ie: Harry Potter, Filius Flitwick, etc.) If we have not been told a person's first name, then you can list just the last name. However, make sure that you are certain that the first name hasn't been revealed. For Dumbledore, you must write 'Albus Dumbledore'.
• If we do not know the real name, then you can just type in the nickname. For ghosts, use just nicknames. Voldemort is the one exception: for his name, you can type in either "Lord Voldemort" or "Tom Riddle".
• For spelling errors--you can make just one error in a name. An error will be defined as one misplaced letter, or 2 to 3 switched letters. (ie: Griffindor instead of Gryffindor, Snaep instead of Snape, etc.) These will mostly be typos. Anything more than that will not be counted and will be considered wrong answers.
• For colors or other specific descriptions, type in what the book or JK Rowling says. For example, electric blue is a specific blue, so just 'blue' won't be accepted.

Top

Miscellaneous

• Team members may not talk in the chatroom unless it is part of the play. If they wish to meet during the game, they must find a way to do this on their own.
• Members who are watching the game may discuss the game as it is being played in the Quidditch forum. Prior to the start of each match, a new topic will be created for the upcoming match. It is strongly recommended that players do not post in this topic during the game. Players should focus on the game at hand since time is vital.
• Practices can be conducted in the Quidditch field, but we cannot guarantee privacy. If teams are practicing in the field, other teams and members are asked to let them practice without disturbance.

Top