A magical snowstorm has blown up near Hogwarts, covering the school and Hogsmeade in an instant winter. The source of the snow seems to be somewhere in the Forbidden Forest. Who will find the source of this magical mayhem and save Hogwarts!
This event will last through this week, and will include all the characters in Hogwarts and Hogsmeade. There are some teomprary rules to consider, so I'll start by outlining those.
For the remainder of this event, there will be constant wind and snow blowing around Hogwarts and Hogsmeade...a true blizzard with 50-70 MPH (Mile Per Hour) winds and constant snowfall. This of course makes travelling between them, or into the forest difficult. You'll have to think of how to get from place to place (if you dare travel out at all). Also, visibility will be low, so it's easy to get lost. If you attempt to RP outside the school without a teacher, a user who RPs a teacher will GM your attempts, taking the environmental effects into account. Finally the temperatures will be below zero degrees (Fahrenheit) so be careful you don't freeze! Travel from Hogwarts to Hogsmeade for students won't be allowed (without special permission), however traveling from Hogsmead to Hogwarts (especially for the residents who wish to use the castle as shelter) will be possible and is encouraged. If you need someone to GM the trip through the storm, grab a teacher, or someone from the admin team to GM.
The castle itself has become completely frozen, with every solid surface (walls, floors, ceilings, etc) becoming frozen over with slick ice. It's magical ice, so while it CAN be melted by magical fire, it will slowly begin to re-freeze over the areas. Hogwarts has ancient magical protection for those who dwell there, so the temperatures will be uncomfortably cold, but not dangerous. As long as you're inside the school, you MAY slide aorund a bit, but you won't be in any danger. Classes will still be in session, so please attend them to see how the teachers will be coping, and teaching the students in this crisis. Teachers, please make sure your classes are being taught, and feel free to teach what you think is necessary for this event. All the students will be summoned to Great Hall where IC announcements will be made by the staff with instructions for the students. Feel free to post there and start this event with yoru characters getting those instrcutions.
So obviously the whole goal of this is to shake things up a bit and have fun. With Hogwarts frozen it'll create some new challenges for your character to overcome and RP with. How does your character react to the cold? Do they have to find somewhere inside to RP instead of their normal place since it's being beaten by frozen winds? Will they meet some new characters since it'll be a little cramped inside? Who will they meet from Hogsmeade that's taking shelter inside the castle? What new things will they be learning in their classes to deal with this?
Also, I would expect those leading Hogwarts will be calling for aid from the Ministry (though of course how they'll get to Hogwarts needs to be figured out since you can't appirate in, and walking from the forest would be dangerous). This means that characters from the Ministry could potentially be called into this as well, and could also be at Hogwarts.
Finally, the source of the freezing blizzard is in the Forbidden Forest. Characters may venture in to try to find the source and stop it...but be warned your characters could be killed without any extra user permission. Further, students will be dissuaded IC, and will have to find a way to leave Hogwarts without the teachers knowing. If students RP trying to leave the castle, andy teacher may post on their RP and stop them. However, any adult characters that want to give it an attempt by themselves (or have a better chance in a group) may do so by posting on the forest. I'll GM those attempts...but it WILL be dangerous, and failure might mean death. I hope this event is fun for everyone, and of course if you have any additional ideas to help make this more fun, feel free to post in the comments below. If you want to run a mini-event during this (a schoolwide snowball fight, etc) post below and someone on the Admin team will set it up and post an announcement about where it's occurring.
Any events that started before this will continue (like the quidditch matches) so don't forget about them!