Lesson One
Contents
1. 1 Who is Who of HOL
2. 2 Classes
3. 3 HOL Forum
1. 3.1 Registration Steps:
2. 3.2 SPAM
3. 3.3 NETSPEAK
4. 3.4 Other Important Forum Links:
4. 4 IRC: Internet Relay Chat
1. 4.1 Official HOL Channels
2. 4.2 Basic HOL Commands
3. 4.3 Getting on IRC
5. 5 Beans versus Points
6. 6 Discussion Boards
Who is Who of HOL
In order to find your way around HOL, one of the most important things is knowing exactly who everyone is and what they do, so you have an idea of what kind of organizations (administrative or else) there are. To know who runs which part of HOL, as well as who to turn to with questions, concerns or, even, an idea for a new contest. If you ever want to search for anyone or find out how many people share the same last name as you, you can always go to the members search. It can be found Here or under “Main Areas” on the Entrance Hall.
The founder and master mind behind HOL is Prof. Emerald Dybendahl, whose duties, along with those of the Headoffice (Prof. Emerald Dybendahl, Prof. Rhiannon Llewellyn, Prof. Ulol Kimil, Prof. Mark Mandrake, and Prof. Esmerelda Knotwise), include appointing Heads of House, Head Students, Professors and other staff members, supervising HOL rules, approving new classes and clubs and verifying House Points.
Recently, HOL has acquired a new Headmaster as our former Headmaster found his calling elsewhere. Possibly, he wanted to go fishing. We are very happy to welcome Prof. Ulol Kimil to the wonderful halls of HOL, we shall now see you into an early grave.
Sometimes, the Heads of House, often abbreviated to HoH, can become kind of confusing, so bear with me as I explain the hierarchy within the different houses.
These five people are each in charge of their house, much like the Heads of Houses in the world of Harry Potter are. They run their Houses’ Common Rooms and IRC channels, appoint prefects and Deputy Heads of House and make sure that their respective Houses keep running the way they are supposed to.
Instead of listing each Head of House, Deputy Head of House, Prefects, and those aspiring to be Prefects, I will link you to pages on the HOL site which will be quite helpful.
Hufflepuff: Hufflepuff Staff
Gryffindor: Gryffindor Staff
Ravenclaw: Ravenclaw Staff
Slytherin: Slytherin Staff
There are also a group of students who are net yet full-fledged Prefects, but their job within HOL is equally important.
Prefects and aspiring Prefects are perhaps the most important to know of for all students, since they are here to answer your questions and to forward your concerns and suggestions to “higher authorities”. So with a few exceptions (questions about specific classes can be addressed to professors etc), your House prefects are the ones to turn to with everything you have on mind.
Head Students, unlike prefects, aren’t connected to a certain House, but rather whole of HOL in their work. They keep order around the castle and run the HOL Student Committee. Our current Head Students are Rorey Padfoot, Zoki Phantom and Alexia Rapier.
In addition to everyone listed above, there are also a number of other staff members, such as the HOL Groundskeeper, Pixel Ouais; HOL Caretaker Mark Mandrake; and Department Heads and Co-Heads for the Library (Prof. Ulol Kimil and Prof. Cassandra Lobiesk) and Art Department (Rorey Padfoot, Maya Winters).
The Chat OPs Committee (they appoint Channel Operators for official inter-House channels) consists of Prof. Cassandra Lobiesk, Prof. Mark Mandrake, Prof. Missa Matz, and Zoki Phantom.
The Quidditch Board (oversees all official Quidditch matches and generally runs all things Quidditch) we have Rames, Mark Mandrake, Ulol Kimil, Missa Matz, Cosmo B. Mott, Maya Winters and Prof. Tarma Amelia Black
Each House’s Quidditch team is lead by Quidditch captains: Askeron Kyle and Cosmo Brown for Hufflepuff, Jenny Lupin and Chadwick Cadet for Gryffindor, Kyrie Adderholt and Arielle Lemoyne for Ravenclaw and Ashley Margaret and Cody Lewis for Slytherin.
It is common that staff, students, and members can change positions rather frequently. Such as, new prefects stepping up or down and students being promoted to different positions. Please check for a full HOL contacts here.
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Classes
Class sign-ups are one of the most exciting events here at HOL. (Never thought you’d live to see the day someone said that, did you?) However, this excitement can turn into frustration and disappointment if the following two issues aren’t taken into consideration when choosing your classes:
1. You can take a maximum of five classes per semester, but you only have to take two in order to be considered an “active” student. When choosing your classes, keep in mind how much time you have to devote to HOL. Real life always comes before HOL. (If you did not realize this before, please realize this now, because it is the most important rule at HOL.) If you do not have the time to devote to five classes, then please do not sign up for five. Only choose as many classes as you feel you can reasonably handle after your real-life routine and obligations are met. It takes seven years, which is fourteen semesters, to graduate from HOL. There is plenty of time for you to take the classes you want to take if you can’t handle taking them all at once. Choose classes with workloads/assignments you know you can handle during the present and let the future take care of itself.
NOTE: If you pay attention to the classes you are looking at, some of them say “one-term or full year” class. If you take a one-term class, it will only take a single semester on HOL. If you sign up for a full year class, it will take the entire HOL year, rolling-over into the Spring term. This basically means if you take two full year classes and three one-term classes in the Fall, you will only be able to sign up for three new classes in the Spring term. Take that into consideration.
2. Do not make the mistake of just signing up for classes that look interesting. Go to a course’s actual website and read the course description before you sign up for the class, and make sure you understandwhat is expected of you in that class before you sign up for it. You might be writing 10,000 word essays, otherwise. Just kidding, or maybe we’re not… If you are unsure as to how something will be done in a class or what will be expected of you in a class, please contact the instructor with your questions and concerns first before you commit yourself to that class.
Now, you may be wondering to yourself, what if you did everything you should do when you chose your classes and now something that you didn‘t expect happened and you can‘t finish the class? What if you suddenly got sick and had to have an operation and were in the hospital for a long time? What if your computer broke and you couldn’t afford to buy a new one right away? What if you were failing classes in school in real life and didn’t have time for HOL anymore? Again, and we cannot stress this enough, Real Life comes first.
You can let your instructors know what’s happening if you can and, depending on the class and the situation, maybe your instructor can work with you on getting caught up and staying in/passing the class. Regardless of whether or not anything can be worked out with your HOL instructor, you MUST deal with your real life issues first. You will not be expelled for failing classes for a reason that wasn’t your fault, and even if you fail a semester, you have plenty of time to retake classes and catch up when things in real life are straightened out for you. After 90 days of inactivity on HOL, you are set to “passive” mode. You are not expelled and you can come back any time you want to try again.
All right, so now you know how to choose your classes wisely. But how do you browse classes and sign up for them? Let me explain it to you, step-by-step:
1. When new class sign-ups are open, the announcement will be posted in the HOL Blog and on the HOL forum. (The HOL Blog consists of the news announcements that make up the far left hand column of the HOL home page.)
2. There are links for signing up for classes in two different places. The more prominent one is the third tab down in the column in the middle of the HOL home page, which says “Exciting Classes.” The other one is located by clicking on the “Main Areas” tab in the far right hand column on the HOL home page. After clicking on the “Main Areas” tab, click on the “Classes” link. Both links take you to the same exact area, which lists links to the available courses and has the buttons to click to sign up for those courses.
3. Class titles are rust-colored and are actual links to the class website pages. Therefore, if a class title interests you and you would like to find out if the class is for you, all you need to do is click on the rust-colored class title to be taken to the course itself. Course descriptions and the actual first lessons/assignments are available on the course web pages during class sign-ups.
4. If you decide a course is for you and you would like to enroll in it, click the button to enroll in it. The button is on the HOL page that lists the classes available for sign-ups. The button is not located at individual classroom sites. The only way to enroll in a class is to click the enrollment button in the “Classes” section on the HOL website.
5. When you click a button to enroll in a class, you are not automatically enrolled in that class. Clicking that button simply sends a request to the instructor that you would like to enroll in their class. The instructor has the final say as to whether or not you are approved to take the class. Common reasons for not being accepted into a class are the class is full, or you do not meet the criteria to take the class (for example, you are a first year and the course is not open to first years, or you needed to take a prerequisite course first that you did not take).
6. If you do not hear back right away as to whether or not you have been accepted for a class you signed up for, it is usually not a reason to panic. The instructors are bound to their real life obligations as well and, depending on how many people have signed up for the class, they simply may not have gotten around to accepting or rejecting you for the class yet. If a substantial amount of time goes by (for example, over a week) and you have not heard anything either way, then it is advisable that you try to contact the instructor.
So now that you know everything you need to know to enroll in courses here at HOL, why are you just sitting there? Go do some investigating and enrolling! Sheesh!
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HOL Forum
HOL’s main forum is one of the most important places to sign-up, after you are Sorted and registered for the HOL Office. The forum is the medium for many announcements, contests, classes, clubs, and even casual chit-chat (though do note that SPAM is not your friend, and will summon the mods on your head). So make sure you’re signed up quickly after you have your HOL ID.
Registration Steps:
1. From the HOL main page, click on the text box beneath ‘Join HOL!’ entitled ‘HOL Forum’.
2. In the centre, under the forum’s logo, is the text ‘Welcome, Guest’. Next to it are two links: ‘Log in’ or ‘Register’. Click to be taken to the Forum terms & rules.
3. After thoroughly reading the terms, check the ‘I agree’ box and click ‘Register’, upon which you’ll be taken to the actual registration form.
4. Please sign-up with your full HOL name. Example: Harry Malfoy. If you use underscores (Harry_Malfoy), no spaces (HarryMalfoy), numbers (HarryMalfoy86), a nonsensical nickname (HarMalfMeister), etc, your account will not be validated. Choose a password that you can easily remember, but not the same password that you use for your e-mail or any other important login.
5. You are asked to enter your e-mail address twice; please use the same one both times. Also, make sure it will be one that you check often. On the right side of the form, there are two e-mail options – one is to receive e-mail from the forum administrators, which should already be automatically checked. Leave it, because the admins might need to contact you, and may not know your address otherwise. The other option is optional; for anyone to be able to e-mail you. If this is something you don’t want, leave it unchecked.
6. There’s a 6 digit security code to enter, to verify that you are in fact a student, and not a random Internet robot. Type it into the text box on the left exactly as it appears.
7. Enter your HOL ID as it appeared when you were assigned it. It should contain the first two letters of your first name and a number. Example: xx000(0).
8. There’s a drop down menu to set your local time. You don’t have to, but it’s easier to know when things happened on the forum if it’s on your time. Using the Private Message system or checking replies to topics you’re active in would become particularly annoying if you can’t be sure exactly when they were posted.
9. Click ‘Submit my registration’ and wait for an admin to activate your account. Do not be alarmed or frustrated if it does not happen instantly. Also, please do not PM or otherwise hound the mods/admins about activating your account. It will happen; be patient. You should receive an e-mail when it’s activated.
SPAM
Spam can be a lot of things: Useless or pointless posts, especially anything whose sole purpose in life is to hike up your post count to get a broom, one word post, multiple one word posts, simple “I agree” posts, creating new threads on subjects which are already discussed in another topic, discussing your broom, your lack thereof, the arrival of your new broom… all that is considered SPAM, but is by no means an exclusive list. Having a huge signature is also considered as spamming, as well as using colors/size which are not appropriate. Spam is a waste of bandwidth which costs money, so please make efforts.
If you’re not contributing anything to the discussion, don’t post! You may lose points for it. At the very least, you risk irking your fellow schoolmates and professors, spam is annoying. Remember that we are managing over 3000 registered students. Keeping the chaff (SPAM and junk) down will help ensure the grain (good discussion) doesn’t get lost in the jumble.
You get brooms in the forum according to the number of posts you’ve made.
- 100 posts: Oakshaft 79 – 200 posts: Moontrimmer – 300 posts: Silver Arrow – 500 posts: Cleansweep One – 750 posts: Comet 140 – 1000 posts: Cleansweep Two – 1300 posts: Cleansweep Three
And then: Comet 180, Tinderblast, Swiftstick, Shooting Star, Nimbus 1000, Nimbus 1001, Nimbus 1500, Nimbus 1700, Twigger 90, Nimbus 2000, Nimbus 2001, Firebolt…
Do not post on the boards only to get a broom. If a you spam, you will get a warning. If you keep spamming, you will lose points. If that is still not enough, your number of posts will be set back to 0. And you could even be banned from posting for a while if you keep disrespecting the forum rules.
NETSPEAK
Netspeak is not allowed in the forum, and your post will be deleted if you use it. Netspeak is like: “hello plz hlp me wit sumtin’ ppl”, “c u”, “u r 2 b…”. This also includes all caps posts.
It makes you look stupid and uneducated and is also hard to translate for HOLers who do not use English as their first language, and there are many individuals that applies to.
Please write the entire word out. Proper grammar, spelling, and punctuation doesn’t only show you are intelligent and respectful, but it also makes it easier and more enjoyable to read for everyone.
I seriously doubt you would want to read Harry Potter books in netspeak.
Other Important Forum Links:
o Forum Guidelines for Links and Signatures: Information on signatures, and links. These guidelines go for all 5 forums!
o Private Information On HOL: Guidelines about keeping your information safe.
o Forum Rules: Other rules about the forum. Let’s not break them!
o Ask a Prefect (Remember to not answer people’s questions, unless you are a prefect!)
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IRC: Internet Relay Chat
Most of this information has been taken from the HOL Wiki. It has been edited and updated.
Rather than send out a batch of owls and have flock return at the same time, the muggles invented IRC. IRC (Internet Relay Chat) is a virtual meeting place where people from all over the world can meet and talk; you’ll find the whole diversity of human interests, ideas, and issues here, and you’ll be able to participate in group discussions on one of the many thousands of IRC channels, or just talk in private to family or friends, wherever they are in the world.
IRC to some is a black art (hmmm… must be a Slytherin invention), but seriously, it may not work the first time you try. Keep trying! There are plenty of people who would be happy to help you.
Official HOL Channels
HOL has ‘official channels’ that are monitored by professors, head students, and certain students designated as channel operators. In all these channels, the HOL Channel Rules apply. All channels are on the irc.blitzed.org network.
A channel operator (ChanOp or Op) is someone with a “@” by their nickname in a channel’s names list. Channel operators are the moderators of a particular channel. In a private, non-HOL channel, this means they can kick you out of their channel for any reason, in HOL channels they will kick you in accordance with the HOL IRC Guidelines.
An IRC operator (IRCop) is someone who maintains a server or part of the IRC network. They cannot fix channel problems. They cannot kick someone out of a channel for you. They also cannot /kill (disconnect a user from their IRC server temporarily) someone just because you gave the offender channel operator privileges and said offender kickedyou off. IRC-ops have better things to do than interfere in channel affairs.
o
#hol (main HOL channel for everyone)
o #gryffindor (Gryffindor house channel)
o #hufflepuff (Hufflepuff house channel)
o #ravenclaw (Ravenclaw house channel)
o #slytherin (Slytherin house channel)
o #quidditch (main Quidditch channel, Quaffle play)
o #snitch (main Quidditch channel, Snitch play) (Only for the snitchplayers, snitchref and Quidditch-boardmembers)
o #grandstand (main Quidditch audience channel)
o #refchan (used during Quidditch games for referees and team captains)
o #staffmeeting (used for monthly HOL faculty meetings)
These are the official channels, but there are more that are created and used temporarily – e.g. for classes, the Summer Quidditch League, and student committee meetings – where the IRC guidelines apply as well.
The four house channels are managed solely by the house administration, and meant for students of that house, though guests are usually welcome.
HOL is not responsible for any conversation outside these channels (such as temporary or permanent private chatrooms). However, serious misbehaviour in unofficial channels or private conversations that violate the essential rules for an all-ages site, such as pornography, sexual harassment, explicit violence, privacy intrusion, or threatening will have serious consequences no matter where this happens on the network.
Basic IRC Commands
Important Note: All IRC commands start with a ‘/’ (slash)
o /HELP shows general help or help on the given command.
o /IGNORE removes output from specific people (note, use with caution. To remove all ignores, type /ignore -r)
o /JOIN to join a channel. Example: /JOIN #hol
o /LIST lists all current channels.
o /ME sends anything about you to a channel. Example: /ME slaps HarryPotter with a large trout. Displays: * Ayesha_Nitehawk slaps HarryPotter with a large trout.
o /MSG sends a private message. Example: /MSG Nick Sends a private (only seen by that nick) to someone.
o /NICK changes your nickname. /NICK {New Nickname} Changes your nickname to whatever you like. If your intended nickname clashes with someone else’s as you enter IRC, you will not be able to enter until you change it to something else. Duplicate nicknames are not allowed; this is enforced by the IRC servers. Example: /NICK RonWeasley. Displays: *** Ayesha_Nitehawk is now known as RonWeasley. Please note — don’t leave any spaces. Use a “-” or “_” to connect names like Ayesha_Nitehawk.
o /PART to leave a channel (same as LEAVE)
o /QUIT exits your IRC session and you leave the server, (same as BYE and EXIT)
o /WHOIS displays information about someone Example: /WHOIS Ayesha_Nitehawk
Getting on IRC
There are four different ways to get in the HOL channels on IRC:
o IRC Client: Download a stand-alone IRC program like mIRC for the PC or X-Chat Aqua for the Mac. This is the most recommended way to get on IRC, as it is the fastest, most reliable, and most customizable. If you would like to play quidditch, this option is the most advisable because all others are too slow. The best IRC client for PCs is mIRC and the best for Macs tend to be Colloquy.
o Main HOL Page:Use the ‘HOL Chatrooms LOGIN’ form on the right sidebar. Enter your nickname and change the channel if needed, then click on ‘Login’.
o Blitzed CGI:IRC:Recommended for logging on from a library or internet café. Enter your nickname in the first field, and change the Channel to ‘#hpgalleries’ or any other channel you want to join.
o Java Chat:Many people prefer the Java chat applet to CGI:IRC. Andy (Fraggle) made this spiffy portal for HOL, where you can access the major HOL channels with a simple mouse click.
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Beans versus Points
Apart from the various awards and points it is possible to earn within your own house there are two HOL-wide things that all students can earn: Points and Beans. There are a number of differences between the two, both in what they are good for and how they are achieved.
Points are mainly won by participating in classes. From a class it is possible to earn 300 points each semester, usually split evenly between class work and extra credit. The points count towards the house cup, and as such are both a personal achievement as well as a group achievement. An award is given out each month to the top point earner in all of HOL and some houses do the same for the top point earner of the house. Also some houses have end of year awards for having earned a certain amount of points. Points are also earned by participating in various HOL-wide activities in the Library and Art Department.
Beans are vastly different from points, yet also connected. The connection lies in that you earn beans for earning points, but not the other way. So when you do homework for a class the professor awards you points for the work you did, and as a reward for getting those points you earn some beans.
That however is the only point where beans and points are connected. Beans do not count for the house cup and so they are only a personal achievement rather than a group accomplishment. There are also a number of other ways of earning beans, for instance by growing plants at
the Greenhouse and then selling the produce at the Thrift Shop, or by putting your beans in Gringotts and seeing them multiply week for week. As is suggested both by the ability to sell things for beans and by being able to put them in the bank beans can be seen as a currency, also it is possible to buy things such as books, candy and plants for the beans in Hogsmeade.
So where beans can be thought of as money, points would be analogous to a more vague form of credit for doing well, exactly as it is in the Harry Potter series where points are awarded to students for doing well in their classes.
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Discussion Boards
Discussion boards are different from the HOL and house forums. Discussion boards are more personal in a sense, as you only get to see the ones you can reply in. Everyone can see two of the discussion boards (all your personal boards can be found here.) They can see the board for the HOL Library and the Art Department. All questions or concerns can go here for either department. The other boards you can see are for your classes. Many professors put information on their discussion boards, such as Introduction threads, extension threads, or a grades thread. Some classes actually do hold discussions on their boards. This class’s discussion board can be found here. Keep an eye on it for information and changes!
