FAQ for Members

What is Hogsmeade all about?
How often is Hogsmeade? Why then?
What do I need to do to join the fun?
What sort of social activities are available?
Can I earn points and knuts at Hogsmeade?
Do I need to be on the club rosters to participate in activities?
I've heard about a dance. What does that mean?
What is this participation bonus I keep hearing about?
What if I do EVERYTHING?
Oh no! I was trying for the banner, but I messed something up. Now what?
Wow, that's a lot of activities. How do I keep up?
That's going to be crazy! Is there anything I can do prepare?
What do all of these tags mean? Which ones can I use?
I've heard about being stamped during Hogsmeade. What does that mean?
Where do I find more information about

hh_stamping?
Where do I find information about

hh_flourish activities at Hogsmeade?
I still have questions. Who should I ask?

What is Hogsmeade all about?
Hogsmeade is a weekend long frenzy of social and points-earning activities. It's full of TONS of things to do, and it can be a little overwhelming for the beginner. But don't feel the need to keep up with everything - there are so many fun things to choose from that you can pick and choose whatever you enjoy most and participate as much or as little as you like. Just come on down to

hogsmeadewkends and join the fun! There are lots of opportunities to make new friends and reunite with existing ones.

How often is Hogsmeade? Why then?
Hogsmeade happens twice per term, roughly every two months. It lasts from Friday afternoon to late Sunday night (US times)/ late Friday night to the wee hours of Monday morning (Europe times). Specific dates will be announced by the mayor as Hogsmeade approaches. Although not everyone will be available for every single Hogsmeade, the weekend time frame has been chosen to allow as many of our members as possible to participate. Hogsmeade is restricted to two per term because of the amount of planning involved for the club leaders/mods/shopkeepers, and because of the amount of energy/time contributed by the participants.

What do I need to do to join the fun?
To become a member of

hogsmeadewkends, you need to first be a member of

hogwartsishome AND your common room. Then submit a request for membership and it will be approved shortly. Once you've been approved, you can also join

hh_stamping to participate in stamping/voting as well.

What sort of social activities are available?
There are all kinds of social activities available. The Three Broomsticks friending meme is a Hogsmeade tradition, where you can talk about your interests and meet lots of new friends. Madame Puddifoot's Love Meme allows you to give and receive gifts, like icons, fics, sigtags, or quotations, so you can show your fellow HiHers some love. There will be tons of fun social posts, hosted by the four social directors. And Hogsmeade is open to social posts by ALL members, so you can make your own posts as well! Posts don't have to be related to Harry Potter or Hogsmeade, so go ahead and post about whatever you'd like.

Can I earn points and knuts at Hogsmeade?
There are TONS of ways to earn house points during Hogsmeade. All points earning activities will be tagged "#weekend: official points activity" as well as being posted in the sidebar so that they're easy to find. Many activities will also earn knuts, but not all, so check the individual activities for details.

Do I need to be on the club rosters to participate in activities?
No. Every points-earning activity is open to all members of

hogsmeadewkends. You do not have to sign up on any club or ward rosters to participate. However, if there are extra points given for owning bonus items, you will have to sign up to receive them. If a community hosts, the same open participation guidelines apply, so you don't have to be a member of that community, or have any positions within that community to participate.

I've heard about a dance. What does that mean?
The dance, also known as the Hogsmeade Ball or any number of seasonal variations, is a Hogsmeade tradition. It generally occurs on Saturday evening in the US/early Sunday morning in Europe and consists of about twenty threads, some of which are points-earning and some which are only social. The ball itself is too short to count for the participation bonus, but participating in any ten threads does count as one of the "extras" for the bonus.

What is this participation bonus I keep hearing about?
For those who give Hogsmeade their all, there is a reward of 20 points/10 knuts for participation in FIFTEEN of the points-earning Hogsmeade activities. Occasionally, if there are less than the usual twenty or so activities, the amount for the bonus will be lowered, but this will always be announced well in advance. All points activities that last for at least eight hours are eligible for the bonus, as well as several "extras," like participating in at least ten threads at the Hogsmeade Ball and stamping all of the applications at

hh_stamping. Full details for each Hogsmeade are posted with the schedule before the weekend starts.

What if I do EVERYTHING?
If you do EXTRA activities included in the participation bonus, you will receive a super exclusive sigtag, available only at this Hogsmeade, to commemorate your achievement. Typically, TWENTY activities are required for this, but it is subject to change based on how many activities are held during the weekend. The banner is regulation size for Platform, so you can use it to sort with or display it on your profile - whatever you'd like!

Oh no! I was trying for the banner, but I messed something up. Now what?
Making the banner the total completion prize rather than the points is designed to be flexible, to allow for just this situation, so fear not. If you are disqualified from an activity for some reason, you will still be eligible for the banner.

Wow, that's a lot of activities. How do I keep up?
The layout is also designed so that the sidebar of

hogsmeadewkends contains the most important information and links at the top, so anytime you are viewing the comm directly, it will be right on top, always visible :D

To help you keep up, there will be activity roundups posted throughout the weekend. They list the points earning activities in order of deadline and warn you about upcoming events. There are links galore, so you can go right to what you need. And as activities close, they include voting and results links as well. You can find the most recent roundup using this tag.

That's going to be crazy! Is there anything I can do prepare?
A few days before Hogsmeade, there will be a preliminary schedule posted at

hogsmeadewkends. It will give you a schedule for when activities will be posted so that you can prepare for them beforehand. And it will give you an exact number of points earning activities that will be included in the participation bonus that weekend, so that you can know what to focus on if you're going for that award. If there is anything special going on that weekend, it will be announced there as well. You are also welcome to use the activity viewer on the System to look at the activities for the weekend beforehand.

What do all of these tags mean? Which ones can I use?
These two lists contain all the tags CURRENTLY in use at

hogsmeadewkends. The first set of tags cannot be used without prior permission, but they will help you find your way around.

!mayor: activity roundup - your complete link roundup of activities, used only by the mayors

#weekend: hh_flourish - all posts related to flourish shops/stalls at Hogsmeade, used only by the flourish mods

#weekend: hh_stamping - stamping roundups and links, used only by the stamping mod

!mayor: post - general notices or informational posts, used only by the mayors

#weekend: official points activity - an activity in which you can earn house points, used only by club/comm leaders hosting activities

#weekend: social director post - fun activities not for house points, used only by the social directors

!mayor: suggestions/comments - suggestions and comments for the community, used only by the mayors

THESE tags can be used by any member, so you are encouraged to make your own social posts and join in the fun! Bold tags are those most likely to be used by ordinary members. Italic tags might be necessary for some kinds of social activities, but you probably won't need to use them unless you're a club/comm leader or social director.

#weekend: reminder - activity or deadline reminder, notice that additional parts have been posted, deadline or voting extensions, call for more votes

#weekend: results - final results for points-earning activities (usually) and some party games (rarely)

#weekend: social post - fun, open-ended social activities that you can participate in all weekend long (or after!) without worrying about deadlines or signups

#weekend: voting - vote on your favorite entries, usually for points-earning activities

I've heard about being stamped during Hogsmeade. What does that mean?
Much like back when you were originally sorted, you fill out an application and other HiHers vote on it. (And like at Platform, all HiHers can vote on applications as well, so you can earn points for voting even if you don't have an application up.) You start by being stamped as what HP character you are most like, but then there are lots of other fun themes to be stamped on as well. All the stamping goodness happens over at

hh_stamping, so join that comm too to get started. Stamping always happens during Hogsmeade, but a lot of the details change with each stamping weekend/term, so check there for details.

Where do I find information about

hh_stamping?
Within

hogsmeadewkends, Stamping roundups can be found using the stamping tag as well as in the sidebar. For information about how stamping works, see the General Stamping FAQ. You can usually find most information by checking the most recent stamping mod posts.

Where do I find information about

hh_flourish activities at Hogsmeade?
Within

hogsmeadewkends, all Flourish posts can be found using the flourish tag. Comments, questions and suggestions about flourish's involvement at Hogsmeade can be directed to the flourish mods or emailed directly to flourish.mod[at]gmail.com. You can usually find most information by checking the most recent flourish mod posts.

I still have questions. Who should I ask?
For questions about a specific activity, please ask the club/comm leader running that activity. Most activities will have a question comment for you to reply to for more information. For help finding your way around Hogsmeade, feel free to ask some of your old school housemates or your house's Social Director, or just ask one of the mayors. We can be reached at hogsmeademayor[at]gmail.com almost every hour of Hogsmeade. You can also contact us using any of the methods here Keep in mind that we've got a lot of things going on during Hogsmeade, so put something in your subject line to help us see it's important. If you need immediate resolution and can't get ahold of one of us, you can also contact the main mods at hih.officials[at]gmail.com.

Last Updated: 12 February 2014 by