Extreme Harry Potter Word Crawls: An Adventure

It's Harry Potter read-through time which made me remember the Extreme Harry Potter Word Crawl I once did during NaNo and beyond to write novel7 (I believe...). Then I decided to start this thread and start the Extreme HP Word Crawl over, because I don't remember how far I got the last time I did it and I want to do the entire thing.

For now, I'm going to use it to finish this draft of When I Was Anna. That won't take me to the end of all seven years of the crawl, so when I start my next project I'll pick up the crawl and continue, however long it takes to finish the whole crawl.

I'm not putting any parameters on myself like to write every day or to do so many challenges a day/week or anything like that because it just stresses me out and makes me feel like a failure when I don't hit that :p But Camp NaNo is about to start and we'll be in corona isolation for another month at least so let's crawl!

Extreme HP Word Crawl: Year 1


As of right now, this draft of Anna stands at 26,987 words. This number will fluctuate a lot because I'm editing - changing the tense from the previous draft, strengthening scenes, changing scenes, deleting unnecessary words, etc.

First I have to declare my blood status based on the speed in which I write. I'm going to declare myself a Halfblood because I don't write nearly as fast as I used to, which is fine!

I get my owl inviting me to Hogwarts and thus need to sprint 100 words because I'm so excited:
DONE, 138

Now I'm in Diagon Alley and the amount of words I write in 10 minutes determines how much gold I get so pressure is on!:
Well, I didn't write for the full 10 minutes because I got to the end of the scene in 145 words which is sad if I wrote 5 more words I'd get another galleon but it really doesn't need 5 more words so...
Galleon count: 1

Interlude to research three agencies since I finished a scene.
1. Lukewarm
2. Tepid
3. Pass

Ollivander's time! I roll a die and get 3, so 300 words:
DONE, 330


Next time.... I get to pick out a pet and then I'll head to platform 9 3/4 and start to make my trek to Hogwarts!

Next up, I'm finishing my shopping and it's time to choose a pet by writing for 15 minutes:
DONE, and for the record I'm choosing an owl.

Now I'm finally on platform 9 3/4 and I'm settling into my seat by writing to the nearest 1000, which for me will be 353 words:
DONE (if I had to write more than 500 words I'd get a galleon, but alas my galleon count remains at 1).

Interlude to research three agencies since I finished a scene.
1. Pass
2. Pass
3. Pass
That was nice! :p

Next time.... time to arrive at Hogwarts and pick my house!
spoiler alert - it's ravenclaw :p

Before I can arrive at the castle I have to eat a snack on the train. I get to choose between Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans, a chocolate frog, a licorice wand, or a pumpkin pasty. Out of those a chocolate frog is my favorite, so I have to write for 5 minutes:
DONE

Now I'm at the castle!! While I talk to everyone I have to write for 10 more minutes:
DONE

Time to get sorted. I'm a Ravenclaw, so I have to write to the nearest 1000, which for me is 639 words. Oy. Here we go:
DONE (actually went over! 1141 total on the scene)

Sorting complete I chat with the people around me and have to do a three digit challenge. My last three digits for the manuscript at this point, counting the scene I'm working on now, is 941. So 941 words. OY. Here we go:
(thank goodness for word wars in a WFP right now!)
92 words in and scene done!

So quick interlude to research three agencies.
1. Pass
2. Pass
3. Medium

Back to the 941 challenge:
Okay! I'm 390 words in and I lost all of my mojo for the day (I'm literally in the middle of a sentence :p)
So we're going to pick up here tomorrow and then head on up to Ravenclaw Tower!

Picking back up from this sentence that I literally quit halfway through... time to write the remaining 581 words leftover from chatting with my new Ravenclaw peers in the great hall:
DONE! (and went over!)

Okay, so now I'm adjusting to my classes and am enjoying my first few weeks at Hogwarts. I need to write for an hour. If I write at least 1000 words within that hour I will get more galleons! (So if I hit 1000 before my hour is up then I'll move on to the next challenge).
I'm also about to finish a scene but just so I know I'll hit my 1000 words, I'm going to wait to research agents until my hour/1000 words is up.
Starting at 9:00PM:
9:44: DONE (1039)
I succeeded so I get two galleons making my galleon count: 3

Interlude to research three agencies since I finished a scene during that 45 minutes.
1. Pass
2. Lukewarm
3. Pass

Now it's time to go to potions and Harry Potter asks me where history of magic is. While I think about it, I have to write 200 words in 10 minutes.
DONE (went over again!)
Since I succeeded Harry gives me a galleon making my galleon count: 4
(My galleons will be important later I promise!)

I'm happy with what I did today and I feel like I'm in a good stopping place (I like the scene that's next up to work on!)

Next time... I have a run-in with Fluffy the dog!

Two days in a row!
I've gotten locked out of my room, Mrs. Norris found me, and while I was on the run with Harry, Ron, and Hermione we stumbled across Fluffy the dog! I have to roll a die and multiply by 100 - 300 words for me:
DONE (313)

Now there's a troll in the dungeon and I have to sprint to 250 words while I help Harry, Ron, and Hermione fight it:
DONE (268)


Next time... Christmas time!

(I was supposed to post this LAST Saturday, like the Saturday before this past Saturday and never did....)

First up, I'm heading down to Hagrid's hut and eat some treacle fudge, but my mouth gets stuck together so I have to write for 15 minutes:
DONE

It's Christmas morning and I get 3 galleons from my parents making my galleon count: 7 Fred & George challenge me to write 1000 words in under an hour in exchange for a galleon.
NOW I can use my galleons to skip rounds I don't want to do, up to three per year. I'm going to SKIP this round making my galleon count: 6 I need some shorter bursts today.

I'm also going to skip the next round because I have to word war with someone at the Gryffindor/Slytherin Quidditch match for 15 minutes and if I win I get two of their galleons and if they win they get two of mine. So now my galleon count: 5 and I can only spend one more this year.

Harry tells me about his suspicions that Snape is after the stone. I'm heading out with Harry, Ron, and Hermione to try to save the stone. I have to write for 10 minutes while we put Fluffy to sleep (as a Ravenclaw I can skip this round without penalty, but I don't want to skip three in a row so....):
(oops I never actually did this I don't think) :p

I should win an award for how effectively I procrastinate working on this story...
Even though I love it and believe in it!!
Skill. I tell ya!

Okay I'm still putting Fluffy to sleep and will write for 10 minutes:
DONE

Uh-oh! Now we're caught in a patch of Devil's Snare and I have to write 300 words in 5 minutes:
Oh yikes. Only 162!
Luckily Hermione sets the plant on fire and we escape but I have to write 300 additional words to impress her:
DONE (421)

And we're at the end of a chapter so let's research some agents!
1. Pass
2. Pass
3. Pass
4. Medium

Next time... we play chess!

It's time for chess! I get to choose a pawn, rook, bishop, or knight. I'm going to choose a bishop. I have to write for 20 minutes and then I can take a 5 minute writing break:
DONE (it took me some time to get myself together to do it, but then I did and actually accomplished a fair amount!)

I'M GOING TO FINISH THIS CRAWL TODAY!

Harry and Hermione are now going on to the next room and I'm going to stay and help Ron. I have to sprint to 500 words while I go get Dumbledore to help us:
DONE

And finally, we find out the truth about Professor Quirrell, I'm awarded 50 house points for my bravery helping Harry, Ron, and Hermione, and while my house mates congratulate me I'm going to write for 5 minutes:


We did it!!! Year one: DONE
Only six more years to go!

Extreme HP Word Crawl: Year 2

We're up to 35,111 words in the manuscript total, which means I wrote 8124 words in year one! Not too shabby
(But I haven't cut out unnecessary words yet so that will change...)

But alas, onwards to year 2!

We begin our journey this year with the Weasleys. I've been spending my summer with them and I'm going to write for 10 minutes while I travel with them by flying car to go rescue our friend Harry:
DONE

Molly wants us to help around the house and for each task we complete we'll get a galleon. I'm going to do 2 of the 3.
First up fix the clock by writing 250 words: DONE
Then I'm going to help Molly cook dinner and write for 20 minutes: DONE
Making my galleon count: 7

Interlude to research some agents since I finished a scene:
1. Lukewarm
2. Lukewarm
3. Pass
4. Pass

I got my booklist and Lockhart's name is all over it! I need to write 3% of my word count because I'm scared that buying all of his books will cost me 3% of all my money :p
3% of my total word count is 1076 words. OY here we go:
DONE! And went a little over.

Next I'm supposed to write 500 words in 15 minutes while I use floo powder to get to Diagon Alley, but since I'm a Ravenclaw I get to skip this round without penalty.

I get to pick up some gold from Gringotts and the amount of words I write in 10 minutes determines how many galleons I get. (I'm about done with another scene so this will be interesting :p):
Welp, finished the scene in 84 words so one galleon for me! Making my galleon count: 8

I'm still in Diagon Alley, and I just spent so much money on books (what a problem :p) that I have to write 500 words:
DONE

Next I'm going to travel to Hogwarts with Harry and Ron in the flying car and I have to word war with someone for an hour. Don't really want to so I'm going to use a galleon on this one. (Remember I can skip a challenge for the price of a galleon, but I can only use 3 per round). Galleon count: 7

We've made it to Hogwarts but crash into a tree that attacks us!! So I have to write 300 words as I make my walk of shame into the school:
DONE

Oops, now I have to serve detention because of my flying car incident, and because I'm a Ravenclaw I have to write 500 words while I gather feathers for Professor Flitwick to use with his students:
I'm about halfway through my detention, but I need to step here tonight because it's already past my bedtime :p

Finishing up my detention! I still have to write 289 words to get to 500:
DONE

In my first Lockhart class, he has me roll a die, multiply by 100, and write that number of words while I try to recapture all of the cornish pixies he set loose in class. Thank goodness for Hermione helping us out! I rolled a 5, so 500 words again:
167 words down and I finished a scene.

Quick interlude to research some agents while Hermione has the pixie situation under control:
1. Medium
2. Lukewarm
3. Pass

So sorry for leaving you hanging like that Neville!! Let's finish this 500 word challenge, 333 words to go:
DONE

Now Ron is puking slugs and I have to write for 5 minutes while we take him down to Hagrid's hut to help him feel better:
DONE

I've been invited to Nearly Headless Nick's deathday party and I have a choice to either go to the party or go to the feast (sorry Nick I'm going to the feast!). If I had gone to the party Harry would have given me a galleon of thanks for going with him, oh well. I have to do a fifty-headed hydra (which means five minutes of panic writing, you try to write 500 words in five minutes :p):
DONE! 333 words. Not bad!! Although now I"m going to spend the next five minutes going back to fix all the typos (because there are a lot :p)

Uh oh, Mrs. Norris has been petrified and I have to write to the nearest 1000 as I explain to Mr. Filch and Dumbledore that I didn't do it and I'm not the heir of Slytherin. That's 579 words for me:
449 words finished the scene out. The next scene is a short one so I'm going to finish it out to finish the chapter and then research some agents.
DONE

Now I'm supposed to word war with a friend during dueling club practice (but since I'm solo I'm going to skip this round making my galleon count: 6

It's Christmas morning and we're going to take some Polyjuice potion and sneak into the Slytherin common room to find out if Draco is the heir of Slytherin. I have to write 400 words while we do this:
248 and finished this little scene, so I'm going to call that close enough!

Interlude to research some agents because I finished a scene/chapter:
1. Medium
2. Lukewarm

I completed a five chapter chunk and went back and deleted useless words, taking 432 from the total so far.

Picking up with Harry approaching us because Hagrid might have opened the chamber of secrets. I have to write for 15 minutes while I mull this information over because I just can't believe it: DONE

Now as I'm waiting for the Gryffindor/Hufflepuff match to start, Professor McGonagall cancels the match and I have to go back to my common room and write 100x a dice roll. I roll a 3, so 300 words: DONE

Uh oh, Hermione and a Ravenclaw prefect were petrified so Harry, Ron, and I go talk to Hagrid about the chamber. While we're there the Minister of Magic comes to take Hagrid away and I have to write for five minutes while we wait for the coast to be clear to go back to the castle: DONE

I have to write 3% of my total word count while I go follow the trail of spiders like Hagrid told me to and almost get eaten by Aragog. Yikes! That'll be 1219 words. Oy! Here we go: DONE

I finished a scene but agents will have to wait until tomorrow because it's already past my bedtime!

We're onto a chapter I really like!!

Uh oh, there's another message that Ginny has been kidnapped and I need to write 300 words while I go down to the chamber with Harry and Ron: DONE

Ron's wand backfires and Lockhark loses his memory! I have to write for 20 minutes while I try to clear the rubble with Harry: DONE

Clearing the rubble with Harry didn't work so I have to do a 50-headed hydra (write 500 words in 5 minutes LOL) while we go into the chamber together: 408!!!! so close!!! Wow it's literally all typos and a garbled mess After fixing it all, 411!

But since I didn't quite make it to 500, I turn and see the basilik's reflection in the water and I'm petrified!! I have to skip the next two rounds while I wait for Harry to save the day and revive me.

Next thing I know I'm waking up in the hospital wing, all is well and I have write for 15 minutes while I get on the train to go home after another year! DONE


Year two: DONE
Five more to go!!!