One of the most impressive, vast, and truly immersive open world video games in recent years is the one based around the addictive and inspirational wizarding world of Harry Potter; Hogwarts Legacy.
Obviously, the basis of Hogwarts Legacy is steeped in canon Wizarding World truths and backgrounds, but with JK Rowling only acting as a consultant during the development of the game, the creation of the story was entirely disconnected.
Having said that, there are myriad of hidden elements and Harry Potter easter eggs and references that, unless you’ve played the game through entirely as a Slytherin, Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff and Gryffindor numerous times, you may not have noticed them. Read on to find discover five of them.
1. A Deathday Party Behind a Locked Gate
Whether your character has been sorted into Slytherin house or not, behind a locked gate in the depths of the Slytherin dungeons is a large and airy room.
Inside is a Deathday Party (the ghost version of a birthday, of course), which Ron Weasley and Harry Potter attended during the first instalment, Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone. You can only attend the Deathday Party after you’ve completed one of the main quests of the game, once you’ve found enough Demiguise statues for The Caretaker’s Lunar Lament.
2. Fred & George Weasley
If any Harry Potter fan had to name the family that’s the most iconic in the series and indeed, has the most striking hair, it would have to be the Weasley clan.
In the books, Molly and Arthur Weasley are parents to seven children, all of whom attended Hogwarts as a child; Bill, Percy, Charlie, Ginny, Ron and of course the mischievous and joke-loving twins, Fred and George Weasley.
Obviously, Molly, Arthur, and their children aren’t explicitly involved in Hogwarts Legacy due to the game being set in the past, but next time you’re wandering around Hogsmeade, walk to the side of Zonko’s Joke Shop; staring into the window and planning what to buy are two boys who look uncannily like the famous Weasley twins.
3. The Iconic Frog Choir
Many fans of both the Harry Potter books and films alike state that their favourite in the series is Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (and not just due to the attractiveness of David Thewlis as Remus Lupin)!
In the musical room at the top of the Bell Tower (accessible by the floo flame in the Bell Tower Courtyard), the entire frog choir are sitting in the centre of the room, and as you walk past them, they’ll sing a familiar song to you.
In the Prisoner of Azkaban film, just before the start of term big feast, the same frog choir perform ‘Double Trouble’ in an impressively high pitched, six-tone choir formation.
4. The Prison Cell of Sirius Black
Beautifully designed custom arcade machines are the complete antithesis of a PS5 all-singing, all-dancing Hogwarts Legacy game and although the two couldn’t be more different in terms of innovation and technological prowess, there are still similarities.
Hogwarts Legacy is an open world game and as such, it leaves the exploration element entirely up to the user, and this is why there are so many hidden elements directly referencing the Harry Potter franchise.
One such exciting find is just above the secret passageway located in the charms classroom. As your character goes up the stairs, or indeed as they fly in from the forest on their broom, they’ll come across the cell where Sirius Black was unfairly imprisoned.
If you’re looking for an even more accurate and wholly canon experience, you could even fly into the location on a hippogriff, just as Hermione Grainger and Harry Potter do in the Prisoner of Azkaban.
5. The Chamber of Secrets
Serving as the central location for the main story in the second book in the Harry Potter franchise of the same name, you can even come across the entrance to the Chamber of Secrets in Hogwarts Legacy.
Unfortunately, and to the disappointment of thousands of Hogwarts Legacy players, you’re currently unable to actually enter the chamber (although when expansion packs are finally developed, this could change).
However, if you unlock and then travel to the floo flame located on the lower grand staircase, you’ll discover the girl’s bathroom where Moaning Myrtle met her death (in the future). On the bottom of one of the sinks in the main room, you’ll see the mark of Salazar Slytherin on the tap which is the exact location where Harry Potter talks in Parseltongue to open the chamber.
Sandra Larson is a writer with the personal blog at ElizabethanAuthor and an academic coach for students. Her main sphere of professional interest is the connection between AI and modern study techniques. Sandra believes that digital tools are a way to a better future in the education system.