The Hogwarts Experience Spoiler Policy for The Deathly Hallows

The day we've been waiting for for ten years is almost upon us: the release of the seventh and final Harry Potter book.

Over the next couple of months, there are going to be masses of rumours and spoilers all over the internet. So where do we stand in terms of spoilers? Please read the following information so that you understand our spoiler policy.

What are Spoilers?

There are four types of spoiler that you may come across. The first are officially released spoilers, and will come from reliable sources such as jkrowling.com, The Leaky Cauldron and Mugglenet. These can be talked about in the correct area (see below).

The second type are rumours – those which may or may not be true. Again, you can talk about these in the correct area.

The third are post-release spoilers. You've read the book, but not everyone has, and so you need to be careful. You can discuss the book post-release in the correct area (see below).

The final type are the worst: the illegally released spoilers. These include, but are not limited to: scans of pages in the book, and any unofficially released parts of the book. These are very serious and MUST NOT be posted anywhere on the site. This is because JK Rowling has issued an embargo on anything of this nature being released and redistributed and it is against the law. Anyone found to be posting these types of spoilers will be officially warned!

So What Can We Post and Where?

-We will allow spoilers of the first two types in the correct area. This is the sub-forum entitled “7th Book – Deathly Hallows” in the Book Discussions forum. Here, you can post theories for the book, as well as spoilers. Please ensure that you use spoiler tags around anything that could be considered a spoiler, these are formed by:

Code:

[spoiler]TEXT[/spoiler]

Also, if it is a new topic that you are creating, ensure you add **SPOILERS** in the topic title.

-A few days prior to the book being released, we will open a “Post-Release Deathly Hallows” forum, where you will be able to discuss all aspects of the book. This will be a free-for-all area. You will not need to use spoiler tags or mark the topic title as spoilers. It will be assumed that if you enter this forum, you have read the book and want to discuss it!

Spoilers for Deathly Hallows must not be posted anywhere else on the site, only the forums mentioned above. Don't post them in your signatures – you will be warned. New members signing up with spoilers in their username will be asked to change their name.

Do not send spoilers by PM – if you find someone has done this to you, please report them to Elfie immediately.

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Thankyou for reading the spoiler policy. If everyone can do their best to stick to the guidelines, then we can ensure that, as a community, we are helping those who want to avoid spoilers!

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UPDATE

We will not be closing the chatbox on the release weekend, as we know that you'll want a place to discuss the book with others.

However, we will remove the chatbox from the bottom of the page, replacing it instead with a link that opens in a new window. This will prevent any chat and spoilers about the book being immediately visible at the bottom of the page.

Come 20th/21st July, entering the chatbox is at your own risk, and only recommended once you have read the Deathly Hallows, as spoilers are likely!

This is a general warning for everyone - there are some huge spoilers doing the rounds and they look very genuine. If you really don't want to have the book ruined for you, I recommend you don't visit any HP websites that you don't fully trust.

On HE we're pretty much guaranteeing that you won't see any spoilers here, though there is always that small doubt that a troll will come along and ruin it for us.

Just be aware that some forums don't have spoiler policies and they are around! I almost saw a big spoiler on LiveJournal this morning, so seriously - they are everywhere!

It would be a shame to have the book ruined for you with only a few days to go, and please don't ruin it for anyone else!