Order of the Phoenix
Codex

The Order of the Phoenix is a branch of Advanced Studies. It consists of 4 Departments, each with its own Mission Chief.  Each term, Agents of the Order have an opportunity to complete a Mission, a project that is more than a class and less than an OWL.

Where does this fit into the House Cup?

An Order of the Phoenix Mission is an optional project that takes longer than a month and is, therefore, too big for a class. You can think of it as at least half of an OWL. If you like to do a little storytelling and role-playing, those things are particularly welcome in the Order!

Order of the Phoenix Missions only involve Ravelry crafts: knitting, crochet, spinning, weaving, and/or dyeing.

WIPs are not accepted for Order Missions, unless specifically stated in the OOTP thread at the beginning of the Term. Historically, this happens no more than once per calendar year, usually during Fall Term.

How many points does my Mission earn?

A completed Mission is worth 100 points for your House! If you do not finish, but you do show that you completed at least 25% of your project before the deadline, you will earn 25 points for your efforts.

So, what happens when?

The Order of the Phoenix thread in the House Cup group should appear near the beginning of Term. The header will contain links to the Missions, the secret signals, a schedule, and Places You Ought to Visit. You can then decide which Mission you would like to attempt. During that time, you can ask as many questions as you'd like about project suitability. Mission Chiefs like to visit the different Houses' Advanced Studies threads, so it's absolutely OK to earburn them there. Please DO NOT earburn your Mission Chief in the Order of the Phoenix thread itself, since earburns disrupt the orderly flow of Mission approvals.

BROOMs will be accepted between certain dates! Check the schedule. This changes every term.

Agents must wait for the designated GO! date to begin their Missions.

FAWKESs (photo and written documentation of completed projects) will be accepted between certain dates. Again, check the schedules. Dates change every term. 

What's a BROOM?

Basic Request for an Official Order Mission = BROOM! A BROOM is the plan for your Mission. It is a flexible plan for your crafting project, written to demonstrate how it will fulfill the Order mission. This project should take you at least 5 weeks to complete but no more than 8 weeks. If your project is small but you are new to the craft or a slow crafter or recovering from a broken wrist in a dramatic Quidditch incident, putting that information in your BROOM will be important. Keeping this general guideline (5 to 8 weeks) in mind, plan your projects accordingly. Mission Chiefs want to say, "YES!"

Let your BROOM be as clear as possible about your project goals and as flexible as possible about details.  Your BROOM itself will be the standard by which your final project is judged.  ("I will make four colorwork, adult, mid-calf socks" is an excellent plan! Far better than "I will make exactly this pattern with exactly this yarn.")

If you name a yardage, be VERY careful and state it as "at least this many yards"!  Approximations and ranges will not be accepted. If you go over your stated yardage, no worries. If you go under, your Mission will not be accepted as complete. 

Please find a template for BROOMs in the Order of the Phoenix thread.

What if my Mission Chief doesn't approve my Mission?

Mission Chiefs want to say, "Yes!" If your BROOM simply needs an adjustment, your Mission Chief will get back to you suggesting some possible changes. Then you can change your BROOM! If your BROOM seems way too hard, your Chief might ask, "Are you sure?"  If your BROOM seems to fit a different prompt better, your Chief might transfer you to a different Chief.

If your BROOM seems like less than five weeks of crafting, the Chiefs will look at your other projects to see how long things normally take you. In your BROOM, please help them to say "Yes!" by mentioning if your life has changed in a way that would affect your crafting ability. If you're a very young or inexperienced crafter, let your Chief know - this might be the perfect place for you to try something hard and have a nice timeframe to finish it!

Your Mission Chief will reply to you as quickly as they can, so you can adjust your BROOM.  If they run up against the BROOM deadline themselves, they will give you chance to adjust as necessary.

Once we begin, what happens?

You craft for 5 to 8 weeks. After five weeks, the Chiefs will begin accepting final Mission reports. In the meantime, you're welcome to drop into the thread and post pictures of your works in progress, brag or cheer another Agent, whatever you like. This is encouraged! The Order also encourages storytelling, developing your Agent's persona, and roleplaying with the staff as much as you like!

What if I need to deviate from my plan?

No.  The Order will not accept changes to the plan--this is a shorter crafting window than OWLs, so there is no time for it.

The Order Chiefs will hold you to your BROOM. If you said a purple baby blanket in your BROOM and the purple yarn didn't work out, your replacement yarn had better be purple!!  This is why you should propose a flexible BROOM.  Your Chief would rather see you propose "a cabled vest" than a specific pattern, so that you can decide mid-project to change up the cables, eschew the waist-shaping, and add beads.  

So when do we get to turn our completed Missions in?

Five weeks after "GO!", the Chiefs will begin accepting completed Missions. Not before. The submission deadline for your Order Missions is different from the end of term! Check the schedule.

How do I submit my final/partial Mission report?

Your submission, code-named FAWKES for Field Agent WorK Effort Summary, includes all the pertinent information necessary for your Chief to approve your FAWKES. Don’t forget to include a photo of each finished project which shows the entire project per the guidelines in the Student Handbook .  

For all BROOMs that need to satisfy a minimum yardage requirement, which is either specified by  the Mission prompt or by the student’s BROOM acceptance criteria:

• If the photo of your project doesn’t clearly show the total yardage stated in your FAWKES, further review may be required.

• If yardage is a key part of your BROOM and you think the photo might not fully reflect the yardage at first glance, feel free to include an explanation or additional documentation in your FAWKES.

 Please find templates for FAWKES in the Order of the Phoenix thread.

Make sure your Mission fits the House Cup rules for finished objects!

Special Cases and Rulings

• Socks: 

  • Agents may undertake a Mission involving a single pair of complex adult mid-calf socks ("complex" = cables, color work, lace, in fingering weight yarn) IF that constitutes 5 to 8 weeks of work for them. Plain Vanilla socks (= solely stockinette or ribbing) are not complex. 

  • New sock knitters may invoke the First Socks Ever Clause and petition their Chief to make a single pair of plain vanilla socks in fingering weight yarn. 

  • All Agents will remember that standard socks for Missions come in pairs, are 7"/17.5 cm from floor to top of cuff, adult-sized socks, use fingering weight yarn,  and have complete heels and toes.  The Mission team will not accept a single pair of ankle socks, shorties, or socks knit in a yarn weight larger than fingering for a BROOM or a FAWKES.   

• On submitting 25% versus 100%: We are always concerned about your safety! Once you have turned in your Mission Report, you are marked as “Safely Returned”. You may not go back out into the field. If you hand in 25%, you may not return later in the hand-in-time with 100%. We've already graded you.

• Pairs: As for classes, items that traditionally come in pairs, such as socks and mittens, do not need to come in pairs to be part of a BROOM or finished Mission. (A single mitten is unlikely to be large enough to be a Mission by itself, but it can be combined with other things that are not mittens to create a Mission of the proper size.)

• The Blocking Ruling: A picture of the finished object blocking will be accepted as finished. Your Chief would love to see it unpinned if time allows. If the item needs blocking to be finished (a lace shawl for example) it must be blocked to count as finished.  

• A Note About Machine Crafting: When we read your BROOM, we will assume that you are planning to craft your mission entirely by hand. If you are planning to make all or part of your mission using a machine such as a knitting machine, please include that information in your BROOM. 

• The “torso” Ruling: If you propose something that you say will "cover your torso", we’ll be expecting to see something that is at least waist-length.

Anything else I need to know right now?

Mission prompts change from term to term, just as Class prompts change month to month. Mission prompts are meant to be broad and give students a lot of opportunities for crafting. We are here to help you grow and stretch as a crafter!  

Remember, Chiefs want to say “Yes!” If you know that your project that you really want to make will take 5 to 8 weeks, but you can’t see how it would fit the Mission Prompts, post about it in the thread - you’ll have four Chiefs and two Assistants on your team to help you figure it out.

Badges for completed Missions

You’ll find the links to the badges below. Just right click on the image to get all the usual options to save.

OotP Specialist Program

The Order of the Phoenix has designed a way to reward Agents who complete several (3) harrowing Missions in a department within the Order and live to tell the tale. This program celebrates these brave Agents for their dedication to keeping the wizarding world safe, and starting in Winter term 2020, Agents began their quest to earn the title of Specialist in a department of the Order.

Click here to see your Specialist Program progress!

Titles are as follows:

Central Command Specialist, level 1

Recruitment Specialist, level 1

Security Operations Specialist, level 1

Undercover Operations Specialist, level 1

An agent who becomes a specialist in all 4 areas will earn the title Agent of Merit. This is an amazing achievement, which will take an Agent a minimum of 4 years!

Answers to some questions about the Specialist Program:

Do all 3 missions need to be completed one right after the other?

No! The Order will keep track of completed missions in their magical master notebook, which will tell them when an Agent has achieved a title.

Do I have to stop doing Missions in that area once I am a Specialist?

Absolutely not! You are always free to offer your services to the Order in whatever way you think is best for you and the Order.

What if I complete 2 sets of 3 successful Missions in one area?

You move up a level; for example, an Agent who completes 6 Missions for Undercover Operations will earn the title Undercover Operations Specialist, level 2, upon completion of the 6th Mission.

Why aren’t Missions before winter 2020 being counted?

This much use of time turners would violate Section 1(e), subsection 27.45, paragraph 4 of the Proper Use of Time Turners Statute of 1687. It would also tax out limited time resources beyond what the Order Chiefs can offer.

Can NQFY and SOS Agents make progress toward a Specialist level?

Yes!!

Do Partial FAWKES count toward becoming a Specialist?

Sadly, no. Only completed FAWKES count.

Where do we find the badges?

Badges are below.