Hello, all!
We know that many of you are excited for the near year at Hogwarts to begin, so here's what we're going to do:
1. On OCTOBER 1, Hogwarts will be cleared of past threads and opened up to students again. Posts made before that day should only be done by Admin characters (the blue ones, and Keiran Hayes, the new Headmaster). These will almost exclusively consist of OPEN threads or information about areas like the Library or the House Dormitories.
2. The ILVERMORNY PLOT
will continue, but it should be noted that the plot is still taking place during the month of June. So you can have a student both at Ilvermorny as well as at Hogwarts.
3. HOWEVER, make note of the fact that we do not yet know how the students were saved, or when, or what state they'll be in when the problem is solved. We do know that it will happen over the summer, likely in July (IC) at the latest. So the students will have been given the month of September to get back to normal. But you should not make references or assumptions about what happened, because that's almost like godmodding or metagaming. It's entirely fair to say they had a rough summer or it scared them or it was hard to be away from their family, just as a few examples.
4. THE TRAIN IS NO LONGER RUNNING. That means your student can do one of these things:
- Side-along apparate with a staff member on October 1. Parents will not be able to get students in because the wards have been increased. So if your student knows a staff member, they could ask for help.
- Parents can, however, go to the Ministry with their children to take a floo into Hogsmeade. There, they'll find thestral-drawn carriages which will take the students up to Hogwarts. These will be guarded by Aurors, and once they're past the Hogwarts wards they should be extremely safe. But this gives the parents an option of seeing their kids directly to the edge of the grounds, and might make them feel better about their kid going back to school.
- Students can take a floo from the Ministry of Magic on the evening (IC) of October 1st. You don't necessarily have to write this out, and we will open a thread for that with Robert Lupin and Safiya Jordan, his secretary, so parents can know the Minister is helping their students get back to school if they go this way. They'll arrive within an hour before the feast starts.
- If the family has a great deal of money, they could purchase a portkey through the Ministry, which will drop them off at Hogwarts ten minutes before the feast starts. Students could also put their money together to buy one, but know that portkeys are rather expensive, especially for students who may or may not have jobs. The money could come from family, though, so it's still an option.
5. The Hogwarts EMPLOYMENT CLAIM has been updated. Those who are currently professors/staff or have left professor/staff slots should have had their Occupation information updated. Rules for Staff and Professors will be sent out as well as posted in the Great Hall for everyone to see, so if the commitment required may be too much for you, wait until that's been posted before applying for a position at Hogwarts.
Please post your questions here so we can clear up any confusion you might still have.
by 
