Finally! One of the best parts of this whole game is riding around on a broom. The mechanics are smooth and very fun. Hogsmeade is off limits, but the rest of the open world and even sections of Hogwarts are broom-friendly. Although many locations on the map have the fast travel of Floo Flames, it can be fun just to fly places anyway.
Madam Kogawa is the flight instructor (and a very disappointed quidditch teacher since Headmaster Black ruled the game wouldn’t be played this year). We mount our school brooms — astride; “none of that side-saddle nonsense” — and start flying through large rings and around the grounds.
I return to Fig’s office to show him the book I found under Hogwarts. He notices the missing pages from the center of the book. He’ll need to examine the contents, hoping for a clue. Meanwhile, though, Headmaster Black has insisted that Fig go to the Ministry and explain Osric’s death. He’ll take the book with him.
(The quest for the book’s missing pages is the only one that varies based on your house. The replayability of this game is high because we all want to see the different house common rooms. Unless you’re a Ravenclaw, as I am in this playthrough, you won’t see the Ravenclaw common room. The way the game leads you into this quest is particular to your house, which is really fun.)
As a Ravenclaw, I’m called to visit Mr. Ollivander in Hogsmeade. A student named Richard Jackdaw stole a treasured family wand years ago. After solving Jackdaw’s puzzle, I find his ghost at the Owlery. The pages I want are of a map that Jackdaw stole from Peeves. Following the map led to Jackdaw’s demise.
(Sorry, Ravenclaw, but your common room is boring.)
Janet is a robot. I’m not sure she can have an Enneagram. It takes us a while to learn that she grows and changes with every reboot. The love she finds in one iteration carries over to future versions of Janet. That suggests that she will indeed have a personality type. Her character arcs.
However, what Type does she fall into? She doesn’t fit any of the general categories of Head, Heart, or Body. I refuse to count her computer brain as a Head Type reaction. Her willingness to pop in and help anyone in the community is not a Heart Type reaction; it’s her programming.
Characters who end up a Null because they were badly written do happen. However, characters who are purposely written as a Null — I discuss Bishop from Aliens as a deliberate Null in my book — are interesting. It’s harder than it sounds to write someone who fits no Enneagram.
Was this the right choice for Janet? The first android in Alien, Ash, is not a Null. A robot is not automatically devoid of a personality type. Janet is a wonderful character, beautifully portrayed. I wonder, though, if an Enneagram might have opened up possibilities in the later seasons when the show isn’t as sharp as it is in One and Two. A Body Type, especially for a robot that needs no physical expression to do her job, could’ve been intriguing.
Eleanor, dominated by Envy, must be a Heart Type. Our early impression of Eleanor is that she’s selfish; it seems she will always use other people. However, her innate desire to connect with her neighbors leads her beyond her uglier personality traits.
I feel certain Eleanor is no Two, lol. Do we go with Four or Three? On Earth, Eleanor was an accomplished jerk. That’s not how I think of a Three — their successes are usually admirable — but I won’t rule out that Enneagram. Dark Threes make good villains. It’s possible that Eleanor taps into and subverts this quality by becoming our protagonist.
Also, because of her vivacity, Eleanor could be a Four. Her emotions don’t fluctuate between high and low, but she brings a constant energy that other Enneagram numbers wouldn’t be able to sustain.
Whoa, this is a tough one.
I’m going to say Three because of Chidi. He’s so clearly a Six, a Three’s strength number. In every iteration of the Good Place, Chidi persuades Eleanor to be a better person. He models a moral personality that Eleanor has never considered. I don’t think Chidi would succeed as often if she were a Four.
I mean, right? No questions, no doubt. Chidi must be a Six.
He approaches the world as a Head Type: solutions will be found by thinking and analyzing. He constantly worries, which is a distinctive Six trait when it becomes persistent. He weighs everything from a black vs. white perspective, with no room for gray.
Although he’s morally resolute, he will go to battle for his friends. Chidi’s Sixness, the conflict within him when faced with the Good Place, is what makes him such a great character. Should he help Eleanor, who’s (unwittingly at first) breaking the rules? Once he’s decided on his choice, he won’t quit. The writing, the directing, and the acting have all nailed a beautiful portrayal of a Six.
I just wish his wardrobe displayed more eccentricity. Men Sixes have a strange sense of fashion, no matter how sophisticated their profession. The tweed-and-turtleneck makes for a great joke, but his pants should’ve clashed. Heh.
Wearing a turtleneck and a tweed jacket (lol) Chidi teaches Eleanor from the blackboard.
However, she’s more focused on the “You don’t belong here” note tucked in her binder.
Chidi notices and calls her on it. As they argue, a knock at the door sends them scurrying to flip the chalkboard and hide the books.
TWO
It’s Tahani with a flowering houseplant. After she leaves, Eleanor puts on a posh British accent and mocks her. Chidi’s confused that a neighborly visit gets Eleanor so worked up.
“I’m supposed to treat her with mutual respect?” Eleanor accuses. “That’s exactly what she wants!”
After an amused pause, Chidi responds, “Er . . . that’s what everyone wants.”
Professor Fig has heard about the troll attack in Hogsmeade. We both know that Ranrok must be after the locket we found in Gringotts. Fig has discovered an inscription on the locket. When he reads it aloud, a map appears.
In Fig’s office, I look at the map. It’s a plain floor plan of Hogwarts, but I can see blue glows over the Library’s Restricted Section. We’re both eager to go investigate. Into his office walks Headmaster Black, though. Black wants him now, no excuses. Our trip will have to wait.
However, I have an idea. Sebastian once bragged that he could sneak into the Restricted Section. I find him in the hallway. When he asks for more information, I tell him about Ranrock.
My secret’s safe with him. It’s off to the Library tonight for adventure.
I meet Sebastian on a staircase overlooking the Library entrance. We’ll need to sneak in. Using the Disillusionment spell, we get past the Librarian and some ghosts. Peeves the Poltergeist catches us, though, in the basement.
Sebastian volunteers to chase after Peeves. I don’t want him to get in trouble on my account. He “likes to have friends in his debt”, he says, and goes back upstairs to distract the Librarian. I head down further, until a blue glow at the bottom reveals a hidden doorway.
Through the secret arch is the Athenaeum, a room of puzzles to solve and statue knights to fight.
At the end of it all is another pensieve, this one with a book floating over it. The book opens, revealing a section of torn-out pages. Liquid flows from the spine and the memory drops into the basin.
I see Rackham and Charles Rookwood, as well as two other people. (These four are The Keepers.) They stand on an overlook. Down below is a blighted hamlet suffering a drought. With a nod at each other, The Keepers intervene. Rackham sends ancient magic into the sky, bringing rain. The other three wield his ancient magic, turning the grey village into a blooming, green place. A father hugs his son, who uses a crutch and looks sickly. The little girl looks straight up at The Keepers on the hillside.
Later in the memory, the girl, Isidora, is now a student at Hogwarts. Like Rackham, she is the only person to enter as a fifth-year and to see the blue traces of ancient magic. She seems very excited. Rackham insists she train and study before she can learn how to wield it. In the wrong hands it could be very dangerous.
And then I’m bumped back to reality, sneaking out of the Library. Sebastian, caught by Peeves and the Librarian, insists that he’s alone and no one else was here with him.
In Charms class I learn accio, the spell that pulls objects (and enemies) to me. One of my classmates is Natty, a girl from Uganda whose mother is the new Divination Professor. Natty, in Griffindor, is kind and adventurous.
We learn levioso, the spell that floats objects (and enemies), in Defense Against the Dark Arts class. I duel another classmate, Sebastian, in front of everyone. From Slytherin, Sebastian is a rule-breaker who’s also helpful and curious.
Using accio to play Summoner’s Court, a rare and delightful mini-game.
The houses don’t segregate as they do in the Potter books. Students mingle without making favorites. None of the rivalry exists (possibly because the game decided to avoid quidditch). Playing as a moustache-twirling Slytherin isn’t possible. Our student character can do a few selfish things, but nothing that would count as going to the dark side. (It’s one of the game’s weaknesses.) However, the game does use our perception of Slytherin as evil. We keep waiting for Sebastian to do something nasty. He’s not completely nice — he’s the person who teaches us the Unforgivable Curses — but he never stabs us in the back.
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.
Picking up where Episode One of The Good Place left off, Chidi still stresses while Eleanor tries to evade the problem. She calls for Janet. (Actually, Chidi calls for Janet because Eleanor can’t remember the name.)
TWO
First, Eleanor confirms that any conversation with Janet is confidential. Yes, not even Michael can access it. Then she asks Janet for bee-striped clothes.
At the town meeting in Tahani’s palace, everyone wears the same fabric. Michael, with false confidence, tells them all that he has no idea how the chaos happened.
THREE
And then Tahani’s normal clothes return as the bee-striped outfit fades away.
