What 'Hogwarts Mystery' Has in Common With My Chronic Illness
Full disclosure. I am a massive Harry Potter fan. I’ve read the books so much that the pages are falling out, and I’m still kind of pissed I never got my Hogwarts letter. So of course when the Harry Potter “Hogwarts Mystery” game came out and I could get finally my wand and board the Hogwarts Express, I was on it like a car bonnet.
A couple of days into the game I started to see posts online of people getting incredibly frustrated with how low the player’s energy level is and how long it takes to complete tasks.
Players have to stop and wait for four minutes for the characters timer to gain another energy point before continuing.
Larger tasks with greater rewards can take all day.
They are down right incredulous to find out it takes energy to “take a break” or “rest.”
It takes so long … to get energy in Harry Potter: Hogwarts Mystery … I'm trying to sass Snape in a timely manner & chill with my girl Rowan and you're making it real fuckin difficult
— ˡᵃᵘʳᵉⁿ (@twentytwocairo) April 26, 2018
Many are calling for the game to be altered to make the game easier to play and more realistic.
But, the thing is, the energy restrictions had barely registered for me, because that is how I live my life. That’s how millions of us live our lives when we’re chronically ill. It’s perfectly normal for me to have to stop what I’m doing because I don’t have enough energy.
I have a condition that means my cells can’t produce energy like it should.
me waiting for my energy to come back after i do anything for 5 minutes #HogwartsMystery pic.twitter.com/iCkGHt6CmT
— getanjoly (@getanjoly) April 26, 2018
I can’t work, I can’t watch TV, I can only see one friend a month, and I haven’t left the house in three and a half years. There are hundreds of thousands more just like me.
As for the “resting” issue, what most people consider rest and relaxation, like watching TV or playing a game on your phone for example, is another tiring activity for people struggling.
I need?? energy?? to take a break???? #HogwartsMystery pic.twitter.com/zgH9xdOmlT
— Spacey Reader ???? (@moon_fiction) April 26, 2018
For us, resting is lying down in a darkened room trying to do nothing but concentrate on our breathing, because it’s the only way our energy levels recoup.
What J.K. Rowling, Warner Brothers, and Jam City have inadvertently done is make a perfect example of what it’s like to live with a chronic illness.
As frustrating as it might be for some people, I hope they don’t change it.
It might give them an idea of what it’s like to do it in real life.
Image courtesy of the “Hogwarts Mystery” Facebook page
Hannah is an illustrator and blogger from an incredibly flat part of England, called the Fens. Harry Potter aficionados may recognize this as the birthplace of Salazar Slytherin. She is housebound with ME/CFS, and lives with her parents/carers, and her cat, Jessicat Fletcher, who is part adorable, fluffy kitten, and part vicious hellbeast.
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