GENERAL
What kind of characters are restricted?
— None! We don't believe in restricting characters and like to keep as many options open for players as possible. Some types of characters can be won as awards for contests and games, and those will be restricted to contest winners only.

Can my character have an original shop on High Street?
— Until the current shop list is closer to being filled up, the staff won't consider adding any extra shop forums or putting it on the occupations list.

Are the months real time or do they change more frequently?
— They are real time. For example, today in real life is January 16th, 2011. On the board, it is January 16th, 1881.

When and how are activity checks done?
— Activity checks are done on the 15th of every month. The staff keeps track of the post counts of every account. If the post count was the same as it was during the last activity check, it means that no IC posts have been made and the account will be placed as inactive.

Is there an account/character limit?
— Nope. However, if the staff frequently sees that you have trouble keeping the amount of characters you have active, we will recommend that you drop a few.

Are we allowed to roleplay with ourselves?
— Sure are!

Can we use half-breeds with a creature that does not have proof that it can or cannot produce with a human?
— We like to stick to canon as much as possible, at least with what we know about the world. Neither house elves, mers, centaurs or leprechauns can mate with humans. It's similar to dogs and cats - they're a lot like, with four legs, ears, a tail, etc. but they're different enough that they can't breed.

I want to adopt a canon or a wanted character, but the account name is already taken. What do I do?
— Register with a different name (ie a . at the end of the name) and an admin can fix the name for you. Just post your request in maintenance.

English is not my native language/I'm worried my writing skills are not good enough for posting here.
— We have several members already where English isn't their native language! So long as you are able to communicate effectively, you're welcome aboard! We're welcome to all writing skill levels, whether it be beginner or advanced. Whether it's your first RP or your fiftieth, we'd love to have you.

The playby I want is taken, can I share it with another member?
— Of course! You must ask permission from the other member first, however.

Can we lock a canon so that nobody else can pick them up after we are finished?
— Locking canons will be on a case by case basis that will need to be discussed with the admins. As long as it doesn't go against book canon (or there is still a male heir left somewhere in order to carry on the family name and blood status, if applicable), we are fine with locking them. We would be more concerned about how developed the character became, how many changes, etc. rather than a specific post count. Hence, case by case.

How do I know what is PG-13 appropriate and what isn't it?
— We have an in depth discussion about it here.

Why doesn't Charming do "Of the Month" awards?
— In Lola's experience, of the months have turned bac to many times and end up in a popularity contest and hurt feelings. Instead, we do a Posting Wizard of the Month contest where members can signup and have their post count totals tracked for the entirety of the month with the winner receiving a prize. We also have a thread in chat and stuff that links to threads that members are particularly enjoying.

Are we allowed to backdate or postdate a thread since threads are assumed to take place on the day that they are posted?
— If it needs to take place on the 15th, just say at the top of the post that it takes place then. The whole "it takes place on the day it was posted" is a generalized type of thing - just for anyone who needs to know the date of a thread that, let's say, isn't particularly important to the plot aside from getting your characters acquainted and/or it simply wasn't mentioned in the thread itself. The past forum is for members to use their own judgement on. We're not strictly regulating timelines.

What happens to a thread when one of the participants inside becomes inactive?
— You're more than welcome to try and salvage threads with inactive characters! One-on-one threads are a bit harder, but if you can find some way to wrap those up you're welcome to do so. When one person goes inactive in a group thread, you're free to keep posting around them to finish the thread - or you can write them as having left and continue on without them around.

I want my character to have twins, what do I need to do for it?
— In order to keep the amount of twins on the board realistic, we have implemented a permission random die roll system here.

Can my character change their identity? How would I go about doing it?
— Characters may change their identities out of necessity but not for convenience. All changes of identity must be approved by staff. A change of identity would include but is not limited to changing: appearance, name, occupation, and social class for the purpose of being, for all intents and purposes, perceived as a different person.

SETTING
How dedicated to historical accuracy are you?
— See our Mission

What's the current official stance on Muggle-borns in the game during this time?
— The current official stance would be just as it is in the books- neutral. Some dislike them, some are neutral, and others highly approve of them. It really depends on the individual characters of the game and how they feel about Muggle-borns. What happens in-game (plots and such) has a lot to do with the development of characters and IC going-ons. If there were a lot of Muggle-born haters in the game, I would imagine that there might be some kind of uprising where they try to ban Muggle-borns from living in Hogsmeade and attending Hogwarts. It would certainly be an interesting plot![/s] This was done in our first sitewide plot, which you can read up on here.

What kind of woods are wands made of?
— This HP Lexicon entry is incredibly helpful and will give you plenty of options to choose from.

How do characters here relate to the characters in the books generation-wise?
— The canons in the Marauder's generation (Sirius, James, Lily) would have young (20-30s generally) grandparents and possibly older ( 40s-50s) great great-great grandparents on the board. In Harry's generation, the 20-30 year old age group would be Harry's great-great-great-grandparents. The 40-50 age group would be nearer to his great-great-great-great grandparents. This is based off of the Black Family tree that J.K Rowling sketched out.

How often would wizards have bathed?
— See this documentation.

Assuming servants are of the lower-class variety, would that also make the higher-ups of the servant world still lower-class, or more middle-class?
— We have all servants be in the lower class group. At Charming, we just have upper, middle and lower class for sake of the user groups. There aren't any middle-lower classes or upper-middle classes, for example.

What are some good examples of middle-class occupations that women can hold (if any)?
— My character here is Violet Ollivander, she is the librarian at Hogwarts. She wasn't able to find a husband and has decided she's going to be a spinster. Other occupations could be working at a shop on High Street (some of the nicer places, like the clothing stores), at the Ministry it could be being someone's secretary or a welcome witch (same as at the Hospital), a healer at the hospital, a governess or private tutor, and then there are open positions for Hogwarts professors as well.

How does the underage magic trace work?
— We have a discussion thread on it here and here.

Before the official founding of Hogsmeade in 1877 were there people living in the area previously and more came until it became a town or was it completely isolated?
— It was isolated. There was a town here already, as it was built in the medieval times, but it was long abandoned until in 1877 people were like "Hey, I can't take these stupid muggles anymore so I'm moving somewhere where they can't go - i.e. Hogsmeade." That's when it took off and whatnot.

What's the difference (experience, expectations, etc.) between a summer intern (mainly at the hospital, since you need a lot of NEWTs to get a job at a healer) and a regular intern?
— The summer interns are more like errand-running type of people. They're not qualified to actually work on patients and whatnot. They might be assistants, depending on the job, but the real interns - the ones who have finished school - are going to be the priority. If they intern for 2 or 3 years, they're probably more likely to get hired on immediately as a healer once they complete their schooling at Hogwarts and won't have to go through the internship program. The people who are already graduated are the ones who will be hired on first, though.

What the general attitude of caucasian-Muggles is towards minority-Muggles?
— They're pretty open to them, from the research I have read. Slavery was abolished in 1833. However, they were much more open and accepting of them than they were in the states. They did trade with a lot of countries also, (including India and China, among others) and would have tradesmen or people relocating regularly. From my understanding anyway, they were fairly open to minorities. Social class was far more important to them. If they were wealthy and black - they were wealthy and therefore awesome. If they were poor and Indian, they were poor and therefore a slumrat.

What kind of magic can veelas use?
— See here.

What is the typical season for Hogsmeade debutantes?
— A proper young lady wouldn't start her season until her coming out ball, which would be her last evening at Hogwarts. From there, it would make sense for the season to last throughout the summer and end a bit before the new school term starts on September 1. So, I believe it is safe to say it is approximately from May 31st - August 31st.

What is the life expectancy of wizards in this era?
— This is discussed here.

How much would my character get paid?
— We have an amazingly helpful and simplified document written about it by Emily and Kayte here.

How old are professional quidditch players and their captains?
— This is discussed here.

How can I improve/worsen my character's social status?
— Characters can move down a social class if they no longer have the financial means to support it (such as being cut off from the family funds, not earning enough, or otherwise losing everything). They can also move downwards if their reputation falls. Characters can move up a class if they can afford to, through improved employment or marriage. A character with a seriously damaged reputation will not be able to improve their status even with money. Women always take their husband's class, with the exception of fallen women who impact their husband's class instead.

HOGWARTS
If my character is a student at Hogwarts, what should I write as their occupation?
— You can write their year. I.e. "Sixth Year". If they are a prefect, head girl/boy or a quidditch player, this would be the place to stick that in.

When are the Hogwarts students' excursions to Hogsmeade and how is it done?
— Since it was considered improper for young ladies to walk about without chaperon's, Hogwarts provides chaperons through teachers and Head of Houses as well as other staff members. They are assigned to a location and whomever wants to go to that particular location will be escorted there in a group. Seeing as the groups could be rather large, it would be easy to escape from the chaperon's view. Third years and higher are allowed to go on the excursions. Students who have written permission from their parents/guardians are allowed to visit their families in Hogsmeade if there is a good reason, such as a family emergency.

The school schedule can be found here.

What is the Hogwarts uniform like?
— It is being played here as the same uniform as in the books. A unisex black robe during class attendance, but regular Victorian clothing during the evenings and weekends.

How do we know what year students are in?
— If they would have had their 11th birthday by September - when the school year starts - they will have started attending. So for example, a student born in September 1865 would be 16 years old, and since they were born in September, they would be a sixth year. If they were born in October 1865 however, they would not have been 11 by the time the school year started and would have had to wait until the next year. They would be 16, but placed as a fifth year.

How do I get my character on the Quidditch team?
— Post in maintenance and your title and the roster will be updated as long as that position is open.

Can my student get married and still attend Hogwarts?
— No. The purpose of Hogwarts is to give a student an education so that they can later find a respectable marriage. If they're already married, there is no point to finishing.

Can my student get pregnant and still attend Hogwarts if she isn't married?
— No. Hogwarts does not allow pregnant students to attend. Once she announces that she is pregnant or it becomes obvious that she is, she will be quietly and firmly asked to leave the school.

Can I play a transfer student?
— No. The books did not allow any student to transfer to Hogwarts from another magical school. We try to stick to canon as much as possible. Transfer students are not allowed.

What is taught in the music class at Hogwarts?
— Think along the lines of magical music - In the books, Professor Flitwick had a choir not only of Hogwarts students, but magical toads that sang as well. You could also go as far to say that they also can learn to play magical instruments.

How do OWLs and NEWTs work for girls?
— Seeing as the girls take the same subjects as the boys, then they would also be tested in those subjects. However, there is the possibility (and it would probably depend on the examiner) that girls would be tested on more domestic aspects of those subjects.

Have women always been accepted at Hogwarts, or has this been recently established?
— Since the books don't say otherwise, we can assume that women have always been accepted at Hogwarts. We play it out as if it has always been so, although them playing quidditch is definitely frowned upon but not impossible for them to do.

Do Hogwarts interns change their status descriptions during the summer to reflect their jobs?
— It's up to you, most people have them changed. They'll have "Summer Intern" in their title and will have their intern place as their usergroup - which can be an opportunity for a usergroup stamp.

How do non-prefect students keep themselves clean? Do they have dorm bathrooms, or house bathrooms or have to share with their room mates?
— We have a discussion about this here.

If students want to stay at Hogwarts for Christmas, who stays with them and can they go to Hogsmeade freely?
— See this post.

How many classes does the average student take? How many classes do they have to take? How many is probably the max.
— This is discussed here.

I want my character to be a prefect or Head Girl/Boy. What do I do?
— If it is during the school year: Fill out the form that is located here and PM it to a staff member. Your character will be scored by the staff. They must have an average score of 3 in order to be given the position. If it is during the summer, wait until the staff selections thread is up for that upcoming school year - usually they take place in July.

Can my character begin Hogwarts a year late?
— No, characters can either start at 11 or they don't go at all - hence why we also don't accept transfers.

If my student character has to miss school due to financial reasons, health reasons, etc. can they come back to Hogwarts once those reasons are fixed?
— If your character has missed school, you must show proof that they have been tutored in the appropriate areas or they will not be welcomed back. Your character will need to petition the board of governors for permission to return. The board of governors will not be allowed to be created as characters and the decisions are solely controlled OOCly and jointly by the staff.

Can my character sneak out/into Hogwarts?
— No, the Headmaster has placed protective charms as a barrier for Hogwarts. Apparition inside school property is impossible without his special permission. It is also agreed that the secret passageways that allow students to sneak underground into Hogsmeade have yet to reveal themselves to students.

The FAQ questions are taken from the Guest Help section, cbox, and PMed questions. It is constantly being updated, so check back often.