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Welcome to West Coast Academy. Thank you for deciding to Register and become a member at WCA, we ask that you please read through the following rules and guidelines to make your stay here is a pleasant one. (West Coast Academy follows and abides by the Proboards TOS.)

Rules of Conduct

No profanity, mock-swearing, or adult or offensive humor should be used in or on the boards, please. Words used in the books are okay to some extent, such as "bloody hell", "d**n", etc... but please don't overuse them as we have many young people who visit these sites.

No discrimination or personal harassment will be tolerated on this site. In the books there is a small amount of this against muggles, half-giants, squibs, house elves, and muggle-borns, and only in that string of usage will it be tolerated. I would daresay that the Goblins and the dragons should be the only ones behaving thusly, although dislike of those discriminatory type students by other houses is understandable. Teasing is allowed, but please be considerate in use of words not to offend or harass. (It is recommended that you send an OOC personal message to the character you are teasing to let them know it is only in jest or on the top of your post leave a note to inform them you mean them no illwill..)

No sexually explicit topics may be posted in the school boards. If caught exploring our patience with this subject, you may be immediately banned on the spot!

There should be no remarks directed at another member used to threaten or induce fear, this includes flaming. Verbal threats outside of context of the plots will be evaluated and we hold the right to suspend or terminate user privileges if this type of behavior becomes a problem.

When posting, please give others the chance to write for themselves in the storyline. Please don't "write in" other characters actions as they may have acted differently if give the option to. I encourage you all to get to know each other and to frequently use the Personal Message option to plan and communicate.

Finding or creating artifacts with special powers should be cleared with an Administer before introducing the item into the boards. Those not doing so may be subject to deletion of the material after a warning. If you are unsure who is an admin, just send a personal message to the user "admin".

No weapons, extreme violence, or gore, please. We hope this board will be PG and proper for use by all ages. The only weapons that will be promited are wands. Anything afterwards will need to be cleared with and Adminster.

Please do not use netspeak or write in short, choppy sentences. First person narrative ("*goes to the door. Opens it*") should be avoided in RP threads. Please post in third person at all times!!!! ("Jake walked to the door, turned the handle and opened it.") Use of magic should be reasonable - so not just play that you have amazing powers as a joke. This is a serious RP and we want to keep it realistic. (*see information on believable characters below*)

Character Guidelines:

Please do not try to get sorted secretly as a second identity, because we will find out. We will offer students the opportunity to have more than one character if they choose, but under certain situations which will be explained under the thread: Secondary characters. This is to prevent individuals from dishonestly representing themselves in order to spy on other houses, mess up character storylines, or other subversive behavior. A listing of all characters and their secondary id's will be provided upon request, so that students can be assured that they are in a safe environment. If you are caught under these pretenses you will recieve a warning.

You are allowed to have up to four charactors but keep them in the same house. If your charactor becomes inactive you have up to 2 weeks to post or it will be deleted by an admin. Youre charactor information will remain incase you come back, but you will have to start the process of creating your old account again. ^_^

Characters should not be closely related to, or named after anyone in the JKR books. This gets too confusing if everyone is Harry's brother... . Some information will be provided by an admin to clarify what happened to characters not present at Acad. We will update any information (such as adding or deleting characters) in the storylines as they are revealed in new books.

All students should be human: muggle, witch/wizard, or a combination. Please, no half-elf, half-fairy, or part any other creature unless they are included in the books. Half-giants (such as Hagrid), and part-veelas (Fleur Delacouer) will be allowed to an extent, as will twins, but they must be cleared with an admin for approval first. Any other forms of being should be explained or described upon joining the site, and an admin will make an official decision as to whether or not such a character can fit seamlessly into the HP universe.

Twins will be allowed so long as they are declared as such before sorting, and the Admin will determine if it is appropriate for another set of twins to enter the school at that time. It gets quite confusing for everyone when there are 10 sets of twins running around, so we hope that won't become a problem. The only twins that may be sorted into two houses separately would be in the case of two individuals signing up separately under different id's and choosing to be twins. If you need this clarified, please send an owl to the Admin.

Special powers should not be assumed as first years entering the school. This includes such powers as mind-reading, animagus abilities, talking or communicating with animals such as unicorns, etc... These powers may be developed over the course of your studies once your student makes it to the higher years at the Acad, but for beginners it is not common and would not fit the books. For older secondary characters, some of these abilities may be allowed so long as they are cleared with an Admin before posting. All animagi must register through the Transfiguration Department, and use of animal forms is restricted!

Characters should be realistic and balanced. Students should keep in mind the level of magic for their year, and being the most powerful in the school, or the prettiest, or most popular should be downplayed. We want everyone to have a good time and not have it turn into a popularity contest. Everyone at Acad will be given the opportunity to shine, excel, and participate in fun plots and storylines. Character development is emphasized at this school.

A gentle reminder that students will not be more powerful than professors in duels. You are 11 year olds coming to school for an education. Even Harry would not have tried to beat Snape in a duel upon entering Hogwarts. Just something to keep in mind.

If you carry any questions, please sumbit them here at the Inqueries, Complaints & Suggestions .