A Secret Passage needs permission and costs one movement point
Map icons do not make a shortcut automatically usable. House players need the relevant card effect for a Secret Passage or blocked boundary; Dark Arts has different map permissions.
This hypothetical situation was written by the wiki editors from the cited rules. It is an explanation, not a publisher ruling or a recorded playtest.
Starting situation
Hypothetical example: an unstunned House pawn has reached one red Secret Passage endpoint during an Explore move and has at least one movement point remaining. The played card’s actual text permits that passage. A separate candidate route crosses a Locked Door for which the card gives no permission.
Resolve it step by step
Read the actual card effect and its conditions before using the passage. A red passage symbol on the map by itself gives no movement permission.
Reject the Locked Door route unless an applicable card effect allows crossing that obstacle. Ordinary movement points cannot pay their way through a blocked boundary.
Use the permitted Secret Passage from the endpoint reached to the other endpoint with the same colour-coded icon.
Spend one movement point for moving through the passage. Do not treat it like the separately described, no-cost flight between Fly Off Points.
Resolve the rest of the move using the card’s remaining allowance and conditions. If the House pawn ends on a Bonus Space, apply that space’s ending condition rather than awarding a bonus merely for passing it.
Result
The House pawn can use the permitted red passage for one movement point. It cannot cross the unrelated Locked Door without permission. Dark Arts pawns can cross obstacles, but cannot use Secret Passages or enter Protected Areas.
Common mistakes
- Passage permissions depend on the actual card; do not infer a named spell’s effect from Harry Potter lore.
- Sharing a full boundary defines ordinary adjacency; distant passage endpoints become connected only under the passage rules.
- Castle walls are not automatically traversable merely because a card grants movement points or a different obstacle permission.
Sources & revision history
Page numbers refer to printed rulebook pages. Each link opens the PDF spread containing that page.
- Adjacency, obstacles, walls, Secret Passage eligibility and one-point cost, flight cost, Protected Areas and Bonus Spaces.
- Passage/obstacle icons and applying the actual House card’s effect before or after movement.
Rules source review: · Initial source-checked example. Hypothetical sequence, not an official ruling or a reported playtest.
Changes affecting this page
- · 1.6.0
Consistent terms, section search and two-side teaching
Unified 35 sourced English–Chinese terms and registered all three open rule questions. Search and guide backlinks now lead to matching sections in the current language. Added card-flow diagrams, conditional Dark Arts lessons and exact movement allowances alongside the five existing House comparisons. Unknown rules, routes, card effects and future draws remain unfilled.
View this revision → - · 1.3.0
Content quality work in this revision
Added a 24-category component catalogue, nine sourced card examples and a rechecked Alohomora entry; the catalogue remains an identified sample rather than a complete Acquire Deck. Added a complete setup and first-round walkthrough with a player-count checklist, cross-links across all eight guides, reference information boxes, a clarification register, page-specific history and local correction drafts. This records reviewed preview content, without announcing the custom-domain launch.
View this revision → - · 1.2.0
Diagrams, tabletop reference and navigation
Added original component, movement and encounter schematics, a printable quick reference, site-wide search, spelling suggestions and shareable filters. Reference entries and examples gained section navigation. Diagrams explain rules without claiming exact board coordinates.
View this revision → - · 1.1.0
First source-checked reference library
Published 40 bilingual entries and eight hypothetical rule examples alongside eight guides. Entries and examples include printed-page sources, related terms and review dates. Full-text search indexes the visible guide, entry and example text.
View this revision →