Need Four Reviewers/Testers

I'm currently in the beginning stages of developing a Hogwarts based, comprehensive Choose-Your-Own-Adventure fanfiction, and need four reviewers, both to give feedback during the early planning, and also to play through Paths of the story as I write them, to make sure everything works the way it should, and also to proofread my story and give me Potter Advice.

Although I love the series, I'm not a Potterhead. I haven't really done Pottermore, and in fact, I haven't been in touch with the universe in some time, save through Wikia research over this past week or so. So the four testers must be familiar with and knowledgeable about the extended Potter universe, to help me get all the little details right, and to make the experience as smooth and canonically correct as possible. I would prefer to have one reviewer from each 'House,' that is, the house you feel you most identify with, but you will also be playing through the game in other houses as well. (So by this, I mean: Sometimes the Slytherins will be the good guys. If you just don't think that's possible, I'd rather you not volunteer.)

The four testers must also be writers, since you'll be critiquing my story both from a creative and a technical standpoint. If you really like this story idea, but don't write, please just be patient for the chapters to be finished and posted, and leave the testing to people who write. And by writers, I'm not demanding you be published or even well-schooled; if you write decent fanfiction as a hobby, you still qualify.

I'll also forewarn you that my muse is fickle. While I've been steadily planning this for about a week, and can generally stay on topic for anywhere between three months to a year, maybe two, there's every chance I will simply drop this project if I decide I'm not 'feeling it' anymore. Updates will be sporadic and sometimes months apart. I'm a casual writer. I spend most of my life writing, but it's mostly just for fun, and I don't focus on a story I'm not in the mood for, I don't bother with deadlines, and almost never actually finish a work. I'm actually opening this up to review in hopes that the four testers will help keep me motivated and will give me new ideas if I'm facing writer's block, and so will keep me on track and MAKE me follow through and finish this story. But even if all goes well, it will still take a LOT of work and will take a very long time for me to finish it. (It's only a First-Years story, and due to how extensive it will be, sequels are only a slight possibility, if this story goes well.) If you commit to being a tester for the First Years story, you'll be in it for the long-haul.

If you'd like to apply to be a reviewer, please fill out the following form and post it here. Deadline will be... Sometime in a month, I guess. (See what I mean about deadlines?) XD After about a month, I'll choose the testers, and I'll PM the four testers and give them links to what I've got so far.

Application Form:

Username:
Hogwarts House you identify with:
What you think your Wand would be like:
Writing Experience (you can include a link to a work if you'd like):
Are you willing to get PM's and links to new updates in the story over the next year or so, and are you committing to checking out the updates and providing at least a minimal amount of feedback on the updates provided? (Yes or no)

I'm pretty excited about this story, and I hope you'll be able to join me in the creation process. :)

 

Thanks for being the first applicant, Tale! Also, from what I've read about wand types lately, that wand totally fits you, I think. :)

 

Sort me baby

Username: Ars Nova
House: Gryffindor
Wand: Ebony, Unicorn hair, 13 3/4", surprisingly swishy
Writing: Journalism, Prose
Commitment: u kno it

 

Username: Shuhbooty
Hogwarts House you identify with: Ravenclaw.
What you think your Wand would be like: Sycamore with unicorn hair 14 1/2 and flexible.
Writing Experience (you can include a link to a work if you'd like): Intermediate I guess. I've posted mostly poems on this website and most of my fanfictions are 5+ years old. Here.
Are you willing to get PM's and links to new updates in the story over the next year or so, and are you committing to checking out the updates and providing at least a minimal amount of feedback on the updates provided? (Yes or no) Absolutely, yes!

 

Username: Kingdom Hearts530 (Heart)

Hogwarts House you identify with: Hufflepuff

What you think your Wand would be like: Silver Lime wood with a phoenix feather core, 12 ½" and slightly yielding flexibility (per Pottermore)

Writing Experience (you can include a link to a work if you'd like): High School Newspaper Editor (I can throw you some links if you like, just pm me cuz I don’t want all of KHV knowing my HS), AO3, Fanfiction

Are you willing to get PM's and links to new updates in the story over the next year or so, and are you committing to checking out the updates and providing at least a minimal amount of feedback on the updates provided? (Yes or no) Of course <3

 

Thanks for applying, everybody! :)

(though it occours to me it will be hard to pick between everyone later.) XD

I'll give you guys a little teaser to tide you over: the Reader will get to pick out of four characters at the start of the game. Although the characters were somewhat built for specific houses, they'll each of them have the chance to get into any house. House placement (and Wand ownership) will be determined for the player during the prologue, which will be them getting the chance to interact with different future-classmates while they shop around Diagon Alley. The actions the player chooses in the prologue will determine the entire course of their school year experience, as not only their house placement is decided from this venture, but their school relationships will begin to be built as well.

Lol, now you have a hint of what I mean by extensive. XD

 

The Harry Potter nerd in me is squealing xD

Good luck to whoever Maru chooses :)

But you should choose me cuz I'm wearing a HP shirt at this very moment

 

Posts about apparel will have no standing in the end game, sorry Heart. XD

Though on the note of your application, the link to your ff.net account isn't working for me.

of course now I know I'll feel bad no matter which Hufflepuff I choose because you're both such nice and awesome people, and only the jerks are mean to Hufflepuffs. XD

 

I'll set it on fire when I wake up since I'm on my phone (shhh totally not going to bed at 6 am.)

But if you want it's the same name as my AO3- KH530 (please excuse some very old writing that is on FF. The poems are great though.)

 

I've got a preliminary question for you guys, which may or may not affect your selection, lol. XD

How do parents of Muggleborn wizards take their child shopping in Diagon Alley, when the Leaky Cauldron is invisible to Muggles? Is there, like, some sort of password included in their letter that makes the place visible, like there was with Grimauld Place? Or are they like, escorted by a wizard representative at first? If there's no canon answer, feel free to theorize.

 

I like this idea on principle, but I would offer a warning: Making four characters at least a decent fit for all four houses runs the risk of them coming off kinda samey. I would really take care to emphasize their differences, and not just personality-wise but in mechanical terms. If the Slytherin character wants to join Gryffindor, for instance, the Sorting Hat could make a ruckus about it, at first refusing to sort them there. Just an example of how the narrative structure can tell the reader something about the characters, rather than you having to spell it all out for them.

I think it would be quite funny if the question just wasn't answered. Like, their child wanders off into a store they straight-up can't see, and they just have to trust that all the bright-eyed, be-robed schoolchildren are actually picking out supplies and not just waving twigs in an alley like crazy people. That said, I hear Rowling answers HP questions via Twitter, if you care to try that.

 

Good note, thanks for the feedback. :) The way I have it set up so far is that in order to get into the opposite houses, the character has to undergo a major change in the prologue. For example, the Gryffindor Character is a Muggleborn, and without giving too much away, she's going to have a run in with a very pure-blood Slytherin family early on in the prologue. She'll be confused by their insulting demeanor and will come out of it feeling deeply ashamed of her large obviously Muggle family. Throughout the day, she'll either befriend other, more open-minded wizards and decide that her fam is okay and hate Slytherins, (Gryffindor Path, with possibility of Hufflepuff or Ravenclaw) or she'll start trying to hide her heritage in shame and take a more secretive and power-seeking approach, which is the only Path the Gryffindor character can take that will give her the chance to get into Slytherin. Though, a note, she'll still hate the Slytherins and if she ends up one of them, her story will be one of doubt and confliction, searching for understanding and self-acceptance.

That's just one example of how I'm setting up the different characters to allow them into other houses. Lol, the others aren't quite as extreme, but it's funny that you bring that up, because exploring other Paths for the other three characters is something that I was planning on asking advice for later. XD

 

Dig it. B) I am good at nothing if not theorycrafting so I'm totes down 4 that.

 

Lol, sounds good. Creativity is perhaps the one thing I'm looking for above all else. XD Unfortunately, it's also the hardest thing to successfully measure, so yeah, thanks for the feedback, it really shows that you're willing to really help out, and that you'll spot and help spice up any mundane aspects of the story. :)[DOUBLEPOST=1468690935][/DOUBLEPOST]

(didn't see this earlier lol)
I actually do like this idea, and it's really funny, except iirc, Hermione's parents are seen in Diagon Alley in one of the books, though they don't have any speaking lines, and can obviously see what's going on around them. I'll also need to have the Gryffindor Character's parents able to interact with the shopkeepers and everything, because they'll have to exchange Muggle money for Wizard money, and also will do most of the actual purchasing, as they wouldn't be comfortable handing their eleven year old a bunch of gold, saying "have at thee" and watching her go. But thanks for the twitter idea, I might do that. And lol, then in an indirect way, I'd have THE AUTHOR helping me write this fic. XD

 

As far as I know, there is no canon answer for your question exactly. However in the second book/movie, we do get to see Hermione's parents escorting her to Diagon Alley where they met up with the Weasleys. So because of this, I'm going to assume there's probably something like a secret password or something. It's nice to think about.
(Also, taking a look at the wiki, it states that "In 1991, Mr Granger and his wife accompanied their daughter to Diagon Alley to purchase her school supplies, including her wand from Ollivanders Wand Shop." However, there's no citation that states where this information came from so your guess is as good as mine)

Fanfiction Try that Maru <3

 

Thanks, Heart! I actually looked you up by username already, but thanks for providing the link anyway. :)

As for the feedback on my question about Diagon Alley, thanks. I've sent a tweet to Rowling to ask, but if she doesn't get back to me, I think I will go with the passcode idea.

Thanks, Heart and Nova, for helping with that question. :)

 

I'm p sure from the movies and books it was referenced that Hermione did go with her parents to DA. Like in the movie Chamber of Secrets, Hermione had all those books and I cant remember if she said, "I have to get back to my parents". (gives me another excuse to watch the movies again this week)

However for the password, on the Leaky Cauldron I thought the place was visible in general? Because like I stated before, it's referenced/hinted that Hermione is with her parents shopping. BUT I did read somewhere that when muggleborns get their letters, it's just proof that they are, who they say they are. So maybe that is a reason/key to entering, w/o a "secret password" to enter the LC. Maybe the letter just carries a special spell.

Spoiler

When Dumbledore gives Tom Riddle instructions (source via the book half-blood prince) on how to enter/go to DA was told to visit the Inn/Bar keeper. Because not only is password needed, but you have to know the sequence when you tap the blocks. I think this changed every year/time, I'm not sure.

So to my knowledge there isn't any canon on this.

 

Sorry for the late reply. XD

I might be mistaken, but I think in the first book, when Hagrid is bringing Harry to the Leaky Cauldron, Harry notices that most of the normal people walking by don't seem to notice that the building is even there, which is why I think that Muggles can't see it. But I think right now, the general consensus is that the letter holds a key to letting Muggle parents of wizard children get into Diagon Alley, so that's all very helpful, thanks everybody.

As for the sequence of bricks to tap and the password, there is a password to get in? lol, it's been a long time since I read the books, especially any book that wasn't Deathly Hallows (since that was my fav, it was the one I usually read if I was in the mood) so if you need to get a password from the innkeeper, that's a helpful note.


Also, just to be clear for everybody, if there's ever a question on books vs. movies canon, I'll go with book canon every time. Most of the time, this won't be important, since I'm not really including any of the events of the books, but for little things like how to get into the Leaky Cauldron, I do prefer the books. Just a note for everyone.