The A–Z rules glossary

Every term below comes from the official rulebook’s own glossary — printed pages 25–29 — reworded into plain English and cross-linked to the page that explains the mechanic in full [official, checked 2026-10-12]. If a mid-game argument or BoardGameGeek’s empty Rules forum brought you here: find the letter, read two sentences, get back to the table.

Scope note

The definitions are our wording; the rules content is the rulebook’s glossary, pp. 25–29 of the official PDF, plus a handful of terms the rulebook defines only inside its rules sections — each of those carries its own page number. MinaLima’s promised online rules hub still returns a 404, so this plain-English pass is the reference the rulebook currently lacks [official, re-checked 2026-10-12].

A

ACROMANTULA TOKEN

One of the 3 Dark Arts Progress Tokens. It sits on the orange section of the Dark Arts Path and can only be claimed through one of the 3 orange Event Cards [official, p. 25–29].

ACQUIRE DECK

The face-down stack of cards a side can buy from — the House Players’ lives on the side board, the Dark Arts Player’s beside their own board. House Players buy from it with the Learn action (how Learn works) [official, p. 25].

ACQUIRE ROW

The 2 face-up House Player cards waiting beside the Acquire Deck. Discard 1 card — during Learn, or from a Card Acquire Bonus Space — to take one; taken cards are replaced from the deck [official, p. 17].

ACTION

A turn holds exactly 1 Main Action (Explore, Learn or Replenish) and, for House Players only, any number of Free Actions (using a Hogwarts Token, gaining a Parchment Scroll) in any order [official, p. 16–17]. The full loop: one turn, three phases.

ADJACENT SPACE

Two spaces are adjacent when they share a white or red dotted line [official glossary, p. 25]. (Movement & barriers.) Flag worth knowing: the movement rules describe moving 1 space as stepping to a space sharing a complete border (p. 10) — two slightly different wordings for the same boundary lines, never reconciled anywhere in the rulebook.

ADVANCE

Moving forward along the Hogwarts Loyalty Track or the Dark Arts Path — the two tracks that drive both sides’ fortunes [official, p. 25].

ADVANCED ACQUIRE ROW

The pricier of the two face-up card rows: it costs 2 discarded cards instead of 1, and taking from it also moves your pawn 1 space forward on the Hogwarts Loyalty Track [official, p. 17].

AT RANDOM

Choosing without looking. “Discard 1 card at random” means you pick a card you have not seen — no peeking, and no shop-floor cherry-picking of your worst card [official, p. 25].

B

BACKTRACK

Re-crossing a space your pawn already passed this turn, or ending its move on the space where it began. Illegal for every player — a pawn’s move is a one-way path [official, p. 10]. (Movement rules.)

BONUS SPACE(S)

Three board spaces — Card Acquire, Card Draw and Play Again — that fire only when a House Player pawn ends its movement on one [official, p. 10–11]. (Full rules.)

BUMP(ED)

What happens when a Dark Arts pawn ends its move on a space holding a House Player pawn: the House pawn is knocked all the way back to the Great Hall. Not the same as a stun, which is the House player crashing into the Dark Arts pawn — we file the mix-up as mistake 18 [official, p. 21]. (Bump mechanics.)

C

CARD ACQUIRE

A Bonus Space that hands you a card: take 1 from the Acquire Row, take the top card of the face-down Acquire Deck, or discard 1 card to take from the Advanced Acquire Row and step 1 space up the Loyalty Track [official, p. 11].

CARD DRAW

A Bonus Space that draws 1 card from your Draw Deck. Like every effect draw, it neither stands your stunned pawns up nor advances the Dark Arts Marker [official, p. 12].

CARD EFFECT

The instruction box on a card. It is optional unless the card says otherwise, and when it contradicts the game’s main rules, the card wins [official, p. 16].

COLOUR ZONE

One of the 3 coloured stretches of the Dark Arts Path — white, orange, red. Each zone gates one Progress Token and its own Event Card deck [official, p. 22, p. 25]. (The three zones.)

COLLECTING

Trading in the required items for a Defence Shield while your pawn stands on that shield’s space. Collect 2 shields and you win the game outright — first player to do so [official, p. 5, p. 25]. (Shields and winning.)

D

DARK ARTS PLAYER

The one player on the dark side, with their own board, Starter and Acquire decks, 4–7 pawns and the three Event Card decks. They have no Learn action and can never discard [official, p. 20–21].

DARK ARTS PLAYER LOCATION CARD

The destination card naming the exact main-board space where the Dark Arts Player’s pawns must gather — in the required number, at the same moment — to win [official, p. 15, p. 23].

DARK ARTS MARKER

The piece that crawls along the Dark Arts Path. It moves when a House Player Replenishes, when an Event Card instructs it, and when the Dark Arts Player holds every House Marker at once [official, p. 22]. (Replenish, the main trigger.)

DARK ARTS PATH

The Dark Arts Player’s own track on the side board — white, orange and red zones of Event Spaces leading to a final space that triggers the endgame [official, p. 22–23]. (The path in full.)

DARK ARTS PROGRESS TOKEN

One of 3 tokens — Giant (white), Acromantula (orange), Dementor (red) — the Dark Arts Player must collect, one per zone before leaving it, as one half of their win condition [official, p. 22, p. 25].

DARK DETECTOR

A single shared item, won by having the furthest-ahead pawn on the Hogwarts Loyalty Track at space 5 or beyond. Three of the six Defence Shields demand it; the other three want a D.A. Coin instead — no swapping between the two [official, p. 18, p. 25]. (Acquisition rules.)

DARK MASK ICON

The symbol that marks Deployment Spaces — the only doors through which Dark Arts pawns may enter the board [official, p. 20, p. 24]. (Deployment in context.)

DEFENCE SHIELD

One of 6 shields (two types of three) and the House win condition: end your pawn’s move on the shield’s space holding its printed trio — a Library Book Card, a Parchment Scroll, and a Dark Detector or D.A. Coin exactly as pictured. 2 shields win immediately [official, p. 5, p. 18]. (How shields score.)

DEFENCE SHIELD SPACE

The board spaces where the 6 Defence Shields start face up. Your pawn must end its move here, items in hand, to claim one — items alone claim nothing [official, p. 6].

DEMENTOR TOKEN

The red-zone Progress Token, claimable only through one of the 3 red Event Cards [official, p. 25].

DEPLETED

Your hand is empty. Shuffle your Discard Pile into a fresh Draw Deck and keep going — no card ever leaves your ownership for long [official, p. 12, p. 25].

DEPLOY

The Dark Arts Player’s way of bringing an off-board pawn into play: pay 1 movement point and place it on an open Deployment Space [official, p. 20, p. 25]. (Dark Arts player guide.)

DEPLOYMENT SPACE

A Dark-Mask-marked ground space where deployed Dark Arts pawns appear. Spaces already holding a Dark Arts pawn — including a stunned one — are off-limits [official, p. 20].

DIRECTLY

Some card effects move a pawn straight to a named space; a pawn moved “directly” never stops on any space in between [official, p. 25].

DISCARD

Put a card face up on top of the matching Discard Pile. A House-only privilege — see the FAQ for the Dark Arts Player’s stricter hand rules [official, p. 21, p. 25].

DISCARD PILE

Where your played and discarded cards stack, next to your Draw Deck. When the deck runs dry, the pile is shuffled back into it [official, p. 12, p. 25].

DRAW(S)

Take 1 card from the top of your Draw Deck into your hand, unless an effect says otherwise [official, p. 12, p. 25].

DRAW DECK

Your face-down deck of cards on your player board. Acquired cards go face-down on its top — never into your hand [official, p. 17, p. 25].

DRAW SPACE

The marked spot on every player board where that player’s Starter Deck sits [official, p. 8–9]. (Setup, steps o–t.)

DUMBLEDORE’S ARMY COIN (“D.A. COIN”)

One of 4 coins kept on the Room of Requirement board piece. End a House pawn’s move in the revealed room and take one; it is the fourth item on 3 of the 6 Defence Shields [official, p. 19, p. 25].

E–F

EFFECT

The game result of playing a card, landing on a space or using a component. Card effects are optional by default and overrule the main rules when the two clash [official, p. 16, p. 25].

EVENT CARD

A card from the white, orange or red decks, resolved whenever the Dark Arts Marker lands on an Event Space. Its House half resolves first (all House Players, if possible); then the Dark Arts Player chooses the event’s benefit or that zone’s Progress Token [official, p. 22].

EVENT CARD DECKS

The 3 shuffled event decks — 5 white, 5 orange and 5 red cards each — kept beside the Dark Arts Player’s board. Deeper zones deal harsher events [official, p. 4, p. 8].

EVENT SPACE

A Dark Arts Path space that triggers an Event Card the moment the marker lands on it [official, p. 22].

EXPLORE

The movement action for both sides: play 1 card from hand and resolve its move and/or effect in whichever order you choose [official, p. 16, p. 20]. (Explore in full.)

FLY OFF POINT

Marked departure and landing pads. With a card effect that allows it, any pawn can fly from one Fly Off Point to any other — at no movement cost at all [official, p. 10, p. 24]. (Flying in the movement rules.)

FREE ACTION

Extras House Players may take any number of times, before or after the Main Action: use a Hogwarts Token, or gain a Parchment Scroll [official, p. 17, p. 25]. (Free Actions in full.)

G–H

GAIN

Take or receive a token, card, effect or ability. Whatever is gained lands on top of your Draw Deck, not in your hand [official, p. 17, p. 25].

GIANT TOKEN

The white-zone Progress Token, claimable only through one of the 3 white Event Cards [official, p. 25].

GREAT HALL

Every House pawn’s starting hall — and the destination of every bumped pawn, sent straight back from wherever it fell [official, p. 6, p. 21]. (Setup, step d.)

GRID COORDINATES

The letters and numbers printed along the main board’s edges; Location Cards use them to point you at the exact space they name [official, p. 14].

HAND

The cards you hold on your turn. House Players refill to 5 with Replenish; the endgame is played out of a final hand of 5 [official, p. 17, p. 22–23].

HOGWARTS LOYALTY TRACK

A 7-space track on the side board, one pawn per participating house riding it. It is the only route to the Dark Detector and to opening the Room of Requirement — advance it by ending moves on Dark Detector spaces, through card effects, and via Advanced Acquire purchases [official, p. 18–19]. (The track in full.)

HOGWARTS TOKEN

7 tokens, one per card type, scattered across castle and grounds. Hold at most 1; from the turn after you gain it, return it to its own space and immediately Explore with a card of the matching type [official, p. 11, p. 17]. (As a Free Action; mistakes 10–12.)

HOUSE MARKER

Each House Player’s marker, sitting on their player board. A bump takes it; hold all of them at once and the Dark Arts Marker advances 1 space before every marker is handed back [official, p. 21].

HOUSE PLAYER

Any of the 1–4 players defending a house. They oppose the Dark Arts Player — and race each other, because only one of them can be first to a second shield [official, p. 5]. (Competition, not co-op.)

I–L

ICON

The shorthand symbols printed on cards and boards, decoded in the rulebook’s icon table (p. 24). They gate play: a Hogwarts Token only permits cards bearing its same icon [official, p. 11, p. 24].

INSTANT EFFECT

A card effect that resolves the moment it is played, with no condition attached — “draw 1 card” is the rulebook’s own example [official, p. 16, p. 25].

ITEMS SPACE

The area on a House Player board where your House Marker and held items live — and where Relinquish sends things from [official, p. 9, p. 25].

LEARN

The House-only shopping action: discard 1 card for an Acquire Row card or a blind draw from the Acquire Deck, or discard 2 for an Advanced Acquire Row card plus 1 Loyalty Track step. It needs a pawn outside any Protected Area [official, p. 17, p. 25]. (Learn in full.)

LIBRARY

The main-board space where Library Book Cards are won — the only place to get the book every Defence Shield wants [official, p. 11, p. 25].

LIBRARY BOOK CARD

One of the 3 items every Defence Shield needs. Hold at most 1; taking one resolves its effect — and anything it chains — immediately, then it lives on your player board [official, p. 11, p. 25].

LIBRARY BOOK DECK

The 11-card deck feeding the Library; 2 cards sit face up beside it, refilled from the top as they are taken [official, p. 7, p. 11].

LIBRARY BOOK SPACE

The 2 side-board spaces beside the Library Book Deck where face-up books wait to be claimed [official, p. 7].

LIGHTNING BOLT

The symbol marking a Reactive Effect — an effect that can be played outside your turn whenever its stated condition is met [official, p. 16, p. 24, p. 25].

LOCATION

A specific space on the main board, named and pictured on a Location Card [official, p. 14–15, p. 25].

LOCATION CARDS

Each side’s deck of destinations. House Players hold 3 at a time — satisfying 2 of them wins a Parchment Scroll — while the Dark Arts Player draws theirs from the path’s red zone [official, p. 14–15, p. 22].

LOCKED DOOR

One of the 4 obstacle types. House pawns stop at it unless an effect — Alohomora is the starter-deck pass — lets them through; Dark Arts pawns walk through freely [official, p. 10, p. 13].

M–O

MAIN BOARD

The central board of castle and grounds where all pawn movement happens [official, p. 4]. (Setup, step 1.)

MAIN ACTION

The one big choice of your turn: Explore or Replenish for everyone, Learn for House Players only — never more than one per turn [official, p. 16–17, p. 20–21]. (The three phases.)

MOVEMENT POINT

The unit of pawn travel: 1 point buys movement to 1 fully adjacent space [official, p. 10, p. 25].

MOVEMENT VALUE

The number in a card’s corner — how far you may move 1 non-stunned pawn (or, on multi-move cards, 2). You need not spend it all [official, p. 16, p. 25].

MULTI-MOVE

A card carrying 2 movement values. Move 2 pawns, each up to one value, or 1 pawn using the combined total — “3 + 3” means two moves of 3 or one of 6, and no other split exists [official, p. 16, p. 25]. (Mistake 6.)

NARRATIVE TEXT

The flavour line at the bottom of every card, quoting moments from the Harry Potter films. Pure theme — it carries no rules weight [official, p. 14].

NEGATE

Cancel an effect outright — a bump, a Hogwarts Token’s benefit, a card’s instruction. A negated card’s effect does nothing, and the card goes to the Discard Pile [official, p. 25].

OBSTACLES

The 4 barrier types — Locked Doors, Protective Spells, Physical Objects and Water. Dark Arts pawns cross all of them freely; House pawns need the matching card effect for each [official, p. 10, p. 25].

OFF-BOARD

A pawn waiting outside the main board — a state only Dark Arts pawns occupy, held in front of their player [official, p. 20, p. 25].

ON-BOARD

A pawn currently on the main board [official, p. 25].

ORANGE ZONE

The Dark Arts Path’s second stretch, holding the Acromantula Progress Token [official, p. 25].

P–R

PARCHMENT SCROLL

One of the 8 scrolls, won by satisfying 2 of your 3 House Player Location Cards at once — show both cards, discard them, take the scroll. 2 per player per game, and both go into shields [official, p. 17, p. 25]. (As a Free Action.)

PATH COLOUR INDICATOR

The left-edge icon on every Dark Arts card, naming the zone that unlocks its effect. Until the marker reaches that zone the effect is ignored; from that point on it works for the rest of the game [official, p. 21, p. 25].

PAWN

The figures representing players on the board — 16 House pawns and 7 Dark Arts pawns in the box [official, p. 4, p. 25]. (All components.)

PHYSICAL OBJECT

One of the 4 obstacle types; Strengthening Solution is the starter card that crosses it [official, p. 10, p. 13].

PLAYER AID CARD

Each player’s quick-reference card, summarising the turn structure and the key symbols [official, p. 4].

PLAYER BOARD

Your personal station — Draw Space, Items Space, Discard Pile — where your deck, marker and items live [official, p. 8–9]. (Setup, steps o–t.)

PLAY AGAIN

The Bonus Space that grants an immediate extra turn [official, p. 11, p. 24].

POOL

The informal name for the staging area in front of the Dark Arts Player where off-board pawns wait to be deployed [official, p. 6, p. 20, p. 25].

PROTECTED AREA

A blue-shield-icon space Dark Arts pawns may never enter — which makes them hiding spots for House pawns, safe from being bumped [official, p. 10, p. 20, p. 25]. (Mistake 13.)

PROTECTIVE SPELL

One of the 4 obstacle types; Partis Temporus is the starter card that crosses it [official, p. 10, p. 13].

REACTIVE EFFECT

A lightning-bolt effect that happens outside the player’s turn when its condition is met. Its 2 legal uses: play the card normally for its move and forgo the effect, or play it from hand for the effect alone [official, p. 16, p. 25].

RED ZONE

The Dark Arts Path’s final stretch, holding the Dementor Progress Token and the harshest event pressure [official, p. 25].

RELINQUISH

Remove a component from your hand or Items area and return it to its place, or to a discard pile [official, p. 25].

REPLENISH

The refill action: discard any number of cards and draw back to a hand of 5 (House Players, who also stand up stunned pawns and advance the Dark Arts Marker 1 space), or draw to 5 with no discarding allowed (Dark Arts Player) [official, p. 17, p. 21, p. 25]. (Replenish in full; mistakes 2–5.)

REVEAL(S)

Show a card’s face to the other players [official, p. 25].

REVERSING A STUN

Standing a stunned pawn back up. The everyday route is the Replenish action, which rights all of your stunned pawns at once [official, p. 17, p. 25].

ROOM OF REQUIREMENT BOARD PIECE

The hidden board piece that joins the main board when the first House pawn reaches Loyalty space 5 or beyond. It closes — and is removed — the moment every House pawn sits below space 5, stranding any pawn inside until the room is revealed again [official, p. 19, p. 25].

S–W

SECRET PASSAGEWAY

One of 3 colour-matched shortcuts joining two distant spaces. House Players only, only with a card effect that allows it, and it costs 1 movement point [official, p. 10, p. 25]. (Mistakes 15–16.)

SIDE BOARD

The upper board carrying the Dark Arts Path and the Hogwarts Loyalty Track [official, p. 4, p. 7, p. 25]. (Setup, step 2.)

SINGLE MOVE

A card with one movement value — a corner “4” moves 1 non-stunned pawn up to 4 spaces [official, p. 16, p. 25].

SKIP

Sit out your whole turn. Forced skips exist: the Dark Arts Player’s Confundo can make a House Player lose a turn entirely [official, p. 25]. (FAQ: skipped turns.)

SPECIFIED LOCATION

A movement value that names a destination instead of a number of spaces — move the pawn there, however far that happens to be [official, p. 14, p. 25].

STARTER DECK

Everyone’s 7-card opening deck, identified by a corner symbol; all four houses’ are identical, and the Dark Arts Player’s is not [official, p. 13, p. 25]. (Setup, steps o–t.)

STUN (STUNNED)

Lay a pawn sideways and it may not move by any means — card or effect. House pawns crashing into a Dark Arts pawn lay both down; events can stun too [official, p. 16, p. 25]. (Bump vs stun.)

SWAP

Exchange the positions of 2 components — pawns trading places on the main board, for instance [official, p. 25].

TARGETS

A House Player on the receiving end of a Dark Arts card’s negative effect. Some House cards can negate being targeted [official, p. 25].

TOKEN

Any physical object standing for something in the game — a Parchment Scroll, a Hogwarts Token, a Dark Arts Progress Token [official, p. 25]. (Component list.)

TURN

One player’s window to act. Play runs clockwise, starting with the House Player to the Dark Arts Player’s left [official, p. 10, p. 25]. (The full turn.)

WATER

One of the 4 obstacle types; Gillyweed is the starter card that crosses it [official, p. 10, p. 13].

WHITE ZONE

The Dark Arts Path’s first stretch, holding the Giant Progress Token [official, p. 25].

ZONE

Any coloured segment of the Dark Arts Path — white, orange or red [official, p. 25].

ZONE COLOUR INDICATOR

The card-anatomy name for the path-colour icon on Dark Arts cards — the same lock-and-unlock marker the glossary calls the Path Colour Indicator [official, p. 15].

Sources

Official rulebook PDF, MinaLima — glossary pp. 25–29, icon table p. 24, movement and turn rules p. 10–22: media.minalima.com — Defenders of Hogwarts rulebook. Empty BGG Rules forum (0 threads when checked): BoardGameGeek entry.