Flying over the quidditch pitch in the fresh morning air … someday
Hogwarts Legacy (2023) is an absolute blast of a video game. It was so successful upon release that a sequel is in development. HBO is shooting a Harry Potter reboot series of the books. It’s a good time to like the Potterverse.
One of Legacy’s strengths is how it combines the expected lore we all know with a fresh story. The plot has nothing to do with Potter and takes place years prior — the late Victorian era — to the books.
Our character begins as a fifth year student who’s attending Hogwarts for the first time.
ONE
On a street in London I and Professor Fig, who’s quickly teaching me what I’ve missed for four years, load a carriage and prepare to travel to Hogwarts.
TWO
A ministry official, George Osric, apparates in. He’s got news to share with Fig, but not here on the street. The coachman shakes the reins of invisible steeds and we fly away.
THREE
In the clouds, Osric reveals a canister made of goblin metal that Fig’s wife Miriam sent him before her death. She thought it had some connection to a rebellious goblin named Ranrok. It’s mysterious; however, I can see a glowing symbol on it.
FOUR
Fig and Osric see nothing. When I touch it, it opens to show a golden key.
A dragon with red eyes attacks, biting the carriage in half. It eats the back end, which includes Osric. The front end drives on, thestrals now appearing in the traces. We fall from the broken carriage, Fig grabbing for my hand and calling the key to himself as the dragon prepares to eat us. A portkey transports us away to a remote location.
We’re on a rocky coastline in the Scottish Highlands. The portkey took us here on purpose, and George and Miriam died in pursuit of its mystery. Let’s look around (and begin the tutorial).
As we follow the path, Fig tells me that Miriam spent her life researching an ancient form of powerful magic that has been lost to time.
Ruins stand on a promontory. A statue of a bearded man suggests who may have once lived here. I find a mirrored wall that reveals a room behind it. The wall glows with the blue symbol that was on the portkey canister. I touch it and we step through.
SWITCH
We’re in a room in Gringotts Wizarding Bank. A goblin sleeps at a tall desk.
FIVE
When startled awake, the banker asks if we’re here for Vault 12. Fig hands him the portkey. We climb into the transport cart and head down into the depths of the bank. Our vault would have been one of the first built, nearly 400 years ago. A goblin has been waiting at that desk ever since.
We stop at a checkpoint. I notice that the guard has red eyes and a glowing red armband, just like the dragon and its collar. As we continue to our vault, the guard takes another cart and heads in an adjacent direction.
Entering our vault, we’re trapped when the Banker, following instructions from the original owner, locks us inside.
By following the glowing blue symbols I can see, we make our way through the depths of the vault. It’s a fight tutorial against stone knights.
SIX
At the far end we come into a room with a glowing blue locket suspended over a pensieve.
SEVEN
Fig pours the liquid from the locket into the basin, and we watch the memory.
EIGHT
The bearded man, Professor Rackham, consults with his friend Charles Rookwood. They talk about the person who will come later, the one able to use ancient magic, who will discover the vault and learn all the secrets they know.
Before we can discuss what we’ve seen in the pensieve, goblins burst into the room. The Banker objects — they don’t have a key. Ranrok, eyes glowing red, sends a burst of red magic at him, killing him. Then he begins to fight Fig. We’re losing to Ranrock, but his power has awakened the room. A gigantic statue knight with a broadsword attacks. I notice a wall that’s see-through. Fig and I escape, transported to the grounds near Hogwarts.
NINE
We stand in the doorway to the Great Hall, just in time for the end of the Sorting Ceremony. Headmaster Black greets us with a snooty attitude and dismisses Fig’s concern about goblins.
(I’m sorted, which means I can pick my house. For this playthrough, I choose Ravenclaw.)
After I’m welcomed by my housemates and invited to dine with them, Headmaster Black announces that no quidditch will be played this year because a student was injured. And he introduces me to Deputy Headmistress Weasley, who will monitor my progress throughout the year. She leads me to my common room. I awake in my dormitory the next morning, ready to begin the game.
CRITICAL NOTES
This opening sequence — story, tutorial, and cut scenes — has a very succinct Enneagram. It introduces our villain, Ranrok. The cinematics, especially the roller coaster ride on the Gringotts cart, are spectacular. The early fight mechanics are simple and clear.
One of the things a tutorial should do is represent what the rest of the game will be like. A gamer wants to know if investing time (and money) into this game is worth it. People who are here for the Potter experience are given known lore — the pensieve, the Sorting Hat, the Wizarding Bank — that reassure us.
It’s a good start. I had no idea it came with a complete and successful Story Enneagram!