Feature characters are those character types that are important to the plot of the game, and usually have some amount of significant influence, magical power, or expertise. For the good of the game and the overall story arch, it is necessary that these character's applications be scrutinized more closely and their players held to a higher standard of activity. See 'news feature activity' for more details.

Brand new feature characters may be applied for through email. They need to fill out an additional field or two, depending on which type they are. Already existing, on-grid characters, such as graduating seventh years, should apply for Feature status through an on-MUSH application in the Application Room off the OOC Nexus.

Feature characters often have special skills, ranging from advanced combat to things like Runemastery or contacts. However, these require additional generic applications. You will be informed as to which applications you need to fill out upon the approval of your email application. This allows us to properly cnote these facets of your character for staff reference.

Feature characters are responsible for a great deal of the RP that occurs on Hogwarts Express. It is impossible to monitor activity of every Feature character, but it is expected of them. Actively maintained Livejournals used as IC journals, while not officially part of the game, are good indicators of activity. You should be participating in TPs, showing up to events, and showcasing your RP logs through he_logs. Features that know that they will not be able to be active should let their faction head or the helpers know that they will not be available and work out a plan. Leave-of-Absences are acceptable.

For Death Eater and certain Ministry characters, there are Livejournal communities that keep track of ongoing plot events through 'reports.' You are expected to participate in them. IC promotions hinge on how proactively you play your character and how often you report back to your IC superiors through LJ. For more on IC journals and LJ communities, read on in 'news livejournal'.

Teachers should develop a curriculum and teach at least one class every month. Those who do not may contact the school faction head and discuss it with them. Perhaps you are not teaching because of your involvement in a TP? That is reasonable. Teachers who do not teach classes (or at least RP around the school) for an extended period of time may be placed on sabbatical and replaced by other characters.

Available features are Teachers, Hogwarts Staff, Death Eaters, Ministry, and Underground.

Teachers
Teachers are the actual teaching staff at Hogwarts. Players are not allowed to create professors as their first characters on the game.

There are currently four different levels of teaching staff within the game:

Guest Lecturers are invited by Dumbledore to come to the school and speak about a particular topic. If you are a guest lecturer, you usually have a full-time job: an Auror might come in to do Defense lectures, an artificer might do a Vocational Studies lecture, and so forth. Lecturers are not held to a specific degree of activity, but if you never hold a lecture you will likely be removed from the teaching staff list.

Teaching Assistants work directly under a professor and are responsible to that teacher. While they may substitute on a limited basis, they may only do this with the express permission of the professor and must be overseen. They are far more involved in grading, research, and overseeing study sessions. Assistants are 6th or 7th year students and those recently graduated and within the 'college education years.' Assistants have no specific activity requirements but they should be out and about in the school area.

Associate Professors are teachers in their own right but have not yet been awarded tenure. They have their own offices and classrooms and are usually in their mid twenties to early 40s. All new professor characters are associate professors for at least one IC year, at which point they are reviewed for tenure. At this point one of three things happens: they are given tenure, they stay on as associates for another year, or they are asked to leave. Associates who run at least one class per OOC month can reasonably expect a promotion. Associates who never RP around the school at all are generally asked to leave.

Professors are tenured teachers. They are assumed to be experienced and will only be reviewed if there is an IC or OOC complaint. Most will be in their 40s and above. In order to become a HoH, one must be a full professor. Once again, Professors are asked to teach at least one class per OOC month. Professors who never teach may be OOCly asked to leave by staff.

Hogwarts Staff
"Hogwarts Staff" refers to all of the support staff members at Hogwarts. These characters have no specific activity requirements. However, if you hold one of these positions and never play it, there is a chance will let other interested players apply to play the position alongside you. Players are allowed to apply for the following positions:

Caretaker: The caretaker is responsible for upkeep and management of the castle itself. Think Filch. He or she knows where everything is stored and is responsible for fixing or cleaning up messes made by students. The House Elves that man the kitchen also help with day-to-day maintenance and cleaning and manage student laundering.

School Nurse: The school nurse is responsible for patching up the students. He or she works alongside the Healing Arts professor, but is the one to take call during class hours.

Librarians: The Head Librarian is a full-time job and carries a lot of responsibility. Supplemental staff include a number of assistants and students looking to pick up some extra spending money. Students are not available to earn money this way until their fourth year, at which point they can earn two sickles a Saturday afternoon (four hours) or a sickle for two hours on a weekday.

Please note that while Prefects and the Head Boy and Girl are considered staff members, those two positions are not available through application. The school area roleplay staff selects these characters based on activity and attitude.

Death Eaters
Death Eaters are wizards and witches who have sworn complete allegience to Lord Voldemort. They all bear the skull-and-snake tattoo, a mark of the close and lasting relationship. It's not a contract one can easily back out of, if ever. Players are not allowed to create Death Eaters as their first characters on the game.

Death Eater players should be well-versed in the game's theme. Death Eaters are expected to strictly adhere to ICA=ICC and play their characters intelligently. It is fairly difficult to get these applications approved due to the high level of maturity we demand of these players, not to mention the great responsibility that comes of playing a potentially powerful villain character. For more information about playing Death Eaters, see "news adult death eaters."

Ministry
Being one of the biggest factions on the game, Ministry characters include everyone in every department of the Ministry of Magic, the governing body of the British Wizarding world. There are twelve departments in the Ministry, each with its own ins and outs and ranks. For more information on the RP opportunities here, check out 'news adult ministry.'

Many of the departments deal with dangerous situations - MLE, MAC, RCMC, and Mysteries in particular. Players in these departments need to be especially aware of consent and ICA=ICC. Also keep in mind that the Ministry is ultimately a place of business. Even if you fill out a successful application, you can be ICly fired if you try to pull things that wouldn't fly in a real job - insubordination, illegal activities, harassment, etc.

Students who wish to intern with the Ministry do not need to fill out special applications. Instead, they should watch for the bulletin board posts that go up around the end of the school year and follow the directions there in order to get their placements. These typically happen through IC interviews with characters from the HR department. The ICA=ICC rule applies equally here: you can be removed from an internship for silly behaviour.

Underground
Not every shady character in the HP world is aligned to Voldemort. Underground characters are the common criminals - thieves, fritzers, mercenaries, illegal objects dealers, practicioners of Dark Magic, and so forth. Practicioners of Dark Magic or traders of Dark artefacts are sometimes referred to as Dark Wizards.

They live risky lives, often dealing in equal parts with both good and evil factions. There is little structure to the Underworld. Underground players must fully understand consent and ICA=ICC and be prepared to play their characters intelligently and maturely.

The Underground is also a prime recruiting ground for Death Eaters, given the rich variety of skillsets and the morally flexible people working there. If you are recruited by a Death Eater you must fill out a Death Eater application in the applications room to finalize the move. For more information about playing Underground characters, see "news adult underground."