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Welcome to the House Cup!

So what is this game about?

Students are sorted into 4 Houses. The staff create crafting challenges. Students craft items in real life and post pictures of those items as responses to the challenges. This earns points for their House. At the end of the term, the House with the most points wins!  All of the points-earning challenges are hosted as forum threads in the HP Knitting/Crochet House Cup Ravelry group. This group also hosts the Great Hall, a place to socialize and ask questions, and other threads that students of all Houses would be interested in, such as announcements, a thread for Sorting, break month activities, trophy threads to recognize particularly awesome projects, and more.

The Houses have their own Ravelry groups that host social threads, activities, and non-points-earning challenges. Each House has different personalities (which are not exactly the same as the House personalities in the Harry Potter books), and their own staffs, which makes the structure and activities of one House different from the next. All students are welcome to visit and socialize in any House, whether or not they are currently sorted there. The House Ravelry groups can be found here:

• Gryffindor

• Hufflepuff

• Ravenclaw

• Slytherin

Challenge types and timelines

A term runs for three months: January–March, May–July, or September–November. December, April, and August are known as "break months". All dates and times are given in US Pacific Time.

• Each month of term, there are 8 challenges known as classes.  Projects for classes must be started and turned in within the month.  Projects can be large or small.  Finished projects earn 15 points for the student's House, plus bonus points.  Partially finished projects earn 5 points for the student's House, plus bonus points.  A student may earn up to 90 base points for classes each month (plus bonus points.)  Classes are important because the requirement to earn sorting priority is to submit one class per month, partial or finished.  Having sorting priority puts you at the top of the list (tied with many other crafters) for being sorted into a House during the next term that you play.

• Detention happens each month. In Detention, you can earn 10 points for finishing or mending a project, even if that project was started before the beginning of the month.

• OWLs are challenging projects that take 2–3 months to complete. Students must submit a proposal during the first three weeks of term in order to do an OWL. Read more about OWLs here.

• NEWTs are very challenging projects that take more than 3 months to complete. Students must submit a proposal during the first three weeks of break month in order to do a NEWT.  Read more about NEWTs here.

• Order of the Phoenix Missions are challenging projects that take 5–8 weeks to complete.  Students must submit a proposal during the "BROOM window" during the first month of term in order to do a Mission.  Storytelling is also especially encouraged in the Order of the Phoenix thread.  Read more about Missions here.

• Quidditch and the Headmistress Challenge are series of points-earning challenges that vary from term to term. Read more about Quidditch here.

Prefer to read info in slideshow form?  Here's the Slideshow of Necessity!