The release date for Hogwarts Legacy is just three weeks away, which means that the wizarding game packed with magical content for players to delve into will soon be released. While the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry itself is at the core of the game, there are many more locations beyond the castle walls that would be intriguing to visit.
Only a select few locations have been confirmed to be visitable in Hogwarts Legacy with the vast majority of them existing within Hogwarts itself, such as the four common rooms and numerous classrooms, and the surrounding area of the magical school, including never before seen villages and puzzling ancient ruins. However, the wizarding world has always been known for its immensely expansive size which means that fans are of course speculating where else the RPG might take them.
Related: Eight biggest things we learned from the Hogwarts Legacy gameplay showcase
Exploring the sprawling castle of Hogwarts itself is sure to be a daunting and immersive experience, but here are five other locations that we would also love to explore in Hogwarts Legacy.
Five places we want to explore in Hogwarts Legacy
A select few locations outside of Hogwarts castle itself have been confirmed to be included in the wizarding RPG. Thus, some of these locations are already confirmed to appear in the game, while others are not.
1) Diagon Alley
One of the most magical and well-known locations in the entire Harry Potter franchise is the shopping alley packed with shops to fulfill a wizard’s every need. This is where Harry Potter’s own wizarding journey begins and it feels like an immensely important aspect of the magical world.
Diagon Alley has not been officially confirmed as a visitable location just yet, but it’s difficult to imagine that the wizarding game would release without it. Next to Hogwarts castle itself, Diagon Alley is one of the most iconic and recognizable locations within the wizarding world.
Some Hogwarts Legacy leaks and images that have appeared in trailers seem to hint at the inclusion of the wizarding shopping alley. The end shot of the special cinematic trailer also featured what appears to be Big Ben in London which heavily implies that players will in fact get to visit both London and Diagon Alley itself.
Throughout a few different trailers, snapshots of what appears to be the underground area of Gringotts Wizarding Bank have appeared. This location is located right at the center of Diagon Alley which hopefully means that players will get to browse the many magical shops this location contains themselves when the game is released.
2) Other Witchcraft and Wizarding Schools
Hogwarts itself has always been at the very core of the Harry Potter franchise. Mentions of other wizarding schools, however, such as when the Triwizard Tournament took place in Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban and the references to North America’s wizarding school Ilvermorny in Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, have made fans extremely curious to learn more about the schools that exist beyond Hogwarts.
Because Hogwarts Legacy is centered around the school itself, getting to visit other wizarding schools is probably a long shot but would be extremely exciting for wizarding fans. Even if it’s only a brief sneak peek at the exterior of the school or a visit to just one piece, it would be an immensely fascinating expansion to the wizarding world.
Schools like the Beauxbatons Academy of Magic in France or the Durmstrang Institute in the northern part of Europe would be the most likely candidates to appear in Hogwarts Legacy since they aren’t too far off from Hogwarts. Ilvermorny School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, which is America’s wizarding school, is certainly the most unlikely since it would require players to travel immensely far from where Hogwarts stands in Scotland.
Getting to visit other magical schools in Hogwarts Legacy is fairly unlikely due to how massive and detailed they likely must be, but fans would certainly love for it to end up happening.
3) Hogsmeade Village
The wintery little town of Hogsmeade is like a cozier version of Diagon Alley located close enough to Hogwarts that students are permitted to take trips there on the weekend. Hogsmeade boasts many locations that Harry Potter fans know and love like Honeydukes sweet shop, the Three Broomsticks Inn, and Zonko’s Joke Shop.
This village is also where the Hogwarts Express picks up and drops off students to take them to and from Platform Nine and Three-Quarters. A spooky location called the Shrieking Shack also exists on the outskirts of the town and is thought to be haunted due to the screams villagers often heard from it but in reality, was simply a hideout for Remus Lupin’s werewolf transformations.
Outside of the locations and lore fans already know, there are several more shops and locations not featured in the Harry Potter films that players may get to fully explore for the first time in Hogwarts Legacy. Gladrags Wizardwear is a shop packed with magical attire, Madam Puddifoot’s Tea Shop is a romantic location mentioned in the Harry Potter books but not seen in the films, Spintwitches Sporting Needs may help supply players with wizard sporting gear, and The Haunted Hogsmeade Shop is a new addition to wizarding lore that will be featured in Hogwarts Legacy.
With so much to delve into, it’s quite exciting that Hogsmeade has already been confirmed as a playable location by the Hogwarts Legacy team and has been featured in a few promotional videos. This means that players will get the chance to explore this village when the game is released. Overall, Hogsmeade is a town packed with life, magic, and mystery for players to delve into and it will be an intriguing location to visit in Hogwarts Legacy.
4) Britain’s Ministry of Magic Headquarters
Another iconic location in the wizarding world is the Ministry of Magic. The branch of this governing body that fans are familiar with is the British one and would be another interesting place to visit in Hogwarts Legacy.
The magical governing body is located deep underground in London and boasts a plethora of different departments, all of which are dedicated to different unique magic-related tasks. It is a place full of mystery and magic that players could easily get lost in for hours.
The sheer mystery and unpredictability of the massive Ministry of Magic Headquarters would make it a location excellent for exploring. Getting to freely wander around would also enrich fans with a better knowledge of how the magical governing body functions.
Within the Ministry of Magic Headquarters, players could visit locations like the Department of Magical Law Enforcement to learn more about Aurors, the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures to expand their knowledge surrounding the vast number of mystical creatures in the wizarding world, and the Department of Magical Games and Sports to enrich their knowledge of Quidditch and other magical related sports. Beyond this, there’s even the puzzling Department of Mysteries shrouded in such bewilderment that its intrigue is in the same of the department itself.
The main character in Hogwarts Legacy is also someone shrouded in mystery and possesses unique ancient powers that would likely make them of particular interest to the governing body of the wizarding world. Thus, while the Ministry of Magic Headquarters has not been confirmed to be a playable location yet, it seems fairly plausible that it could appear in the magical game considering how important it is to the larger wizarding world and how mysterious the main character is.
5) Azkaban
On the spookier side of the wizarding world, another location that could be fascinating to visit in Hogwarts Legacy is Azkaban. Up until now, the Harry Potter franchise has only ever shown fans the exterior of the wizarding prison.
Visiting Azkaban would likely be a dangerous experience, but it would be intriguing to learn more about how the wizarding prison works. It also certainly wouldn’t be a happy or magical time and instead would be grim and dire, but Hogwarts Legacy seems to be embracing the darker side of the wizarding world by allowing players to perform the unforgivable curses so getting to visit Azkaban seems very plausible.
One scene that appeared in a Hogwarts Legacy trailer could possibly be directly teasing Azkaban as a visitable location. This scene features a hoard of Dementors swooping toward the screen in a narrow, dimly lit hallway that could very well be the interior of the wizarding prison.
Regardless of whether this scene is from Azkaban or not, it at least seems like players will get the opportunity to face deadly Dementors which means that they will on some level experience a fraction of the horrors that Azkaban has to offer.
Whether visiting these locations will remain a simple wishlist or become a reality remains to be seen. Players can find out for themselves which locations are visitable when Hogwarts Legacy launches on Feb. 10 for PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X|S. If you’re planning to play on the Xbox One or PlayStation 4 you’ll have to wait until April 4 for the wizarding game to launch while Nintendo Switch players will have to wait until summertime when it will then release on July 25 for their platform.
Published: Jan 21, 2023 03:21 pm