House Players & the Four Houses

Understand house-player objectives, movement, and the race to complete two Defence Shields.

Choose your house

The defender roles are Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw and Slytherin. Each player represents a house rather than choosing Harry, Hermione or another named hero. One person must instead control the Dark Arts, so a five-player table contains all four houses and the opposing player.

The houses use identical starter cards, shown on printed page 13. Compare the seven verified starters in the card library. Choose the house you enjoy, then develop your deck and routes; the rules do not give the houses different RPG classes or a tier list. For exact starting pawns, hand and Location Cards, follow the complete setup lesson.

Coordinate without losing your own objective

House players can discuss plans and help resist the Dark Arts. However, the published victory condition belongs to a house player who collects two Defence Shields. Agree on this distinction before playing: cooperation can help, but shared opposition does not turn every resource into communal property.

The Dark Detector is a useful discussion point because only one is in play. Its ownership follows the Loyalty Track. D.A. Coins offer another route to compatible shields once the Room of Requirement is accessible. The room opening and closing case demonstrates why another house's Loyalty change can affect your route.

Develop a useful role at the table

These are editorial planning ideas, not official house bonuses:

• Route planner: compare available cards with the obstacles between you and your next destination.
• Resource runner: work toward an item you still need rather than gathering extras without a purpose.
• Watchkeeper: track enemy positions and point out a threat to a nearly completed objective.

You can change your tactical focus each turn. A familiar house name does not require a fixed build or style. Compare main actions with the tabletop reference, and consult clarifications for rule questions rather than assigning an undocumented house bonus.

The action-choice lessons make those choices concrete: move now or Learn, Replenish now or defer, ordinary or Advanced Learn, and a matching Token before or after Learn. Each hypothetical situation gives the starting hand, legal conditions, costs and end-of-turn ledger. They do not predict a best house or a win rate.

Sources

• Publisher rulebook — printed pages 5, 8–9, 13 and 18–19
• One Board Family's played review — identical starters and house coordination
• ComicBook's game overview — the four houses and required Dark Arts role