Can you be evil in Hogwarts Legacy?

The stories of the wizarding world usually follow an epic battle between good and evil from the perspective of those that are perceived to be the heroes. Because of this, the darker side of the wizarding world is a bit of an enigma, which has Hogwarts Legacy players hoping that they can decide for themselves whether they want to play the magical game as an evil villain or as a noble hero.

Related: Hogwarts Legacy house sorting: Which house should you choose?

Hogwarts Legacy is all about fans of the wizarding world getting to tell their own story. But does this also mean that players can choose their own path when it comes to whether or not they want to pursue the lighter side of magic or venture into the world of the Dark Arts?

Can you practice the Dark Arts in Hogwarts Legacy?

Players get to forge their own path in Hogwarts Legacy. This means that they will certainly have the choice to be evil, but to what extent this expands to is a bit unclear. However, there are some aspects of gameplay that are known and can be considered in determining just how evil players will be allowed to become.

It has been confirmed numerous times and even featured in various trailers that Hogwarts Legacy will allow players to utilize the three unforgivable curses. These curses are Crucio, which causes the target excruciating pain, Imperio, which allows the caster to exact total control over the target, and worst of all, Avada Kedavra which instantly kills the target.

All three curses were extremely taboo in the Harry Potter franchise, but Hogwarts Legacy is taking a drastically different approach. Players will be able to learn and utilize these curses if they wish to do so.

Performing the unforgivable curses may cause other characters to react in negative ways. However, Hogwarts Legacy has been confirmed to not have a morality system which means that players can freely cast these spells as they wish without fear of being punished for doing so.

Where players may potentially see the negative effects of being evil is in certain conversations with other characters. In Hogwarts Legacy, players will be given the opportunity to deeply befriend certain characters called companions.

With these characters (and perhaps with other side characters, too), players will sometimes be presented with different dialogue options or important choices. In these situations, players can oftentimes choose to be mean or helpful, which will likely result in differing responses.

How exactly friendships work in Hogwarts Legacy is still a bit unknown, but considering that players are given a lot of free will in the game, it is highly likely that being mean to companions regularly could result in a decreased friendship or no friendship at all. Companions are key to learning new abilities, so players may want to tread lightly with their companions until it is confirmed whether or not players can freely be evil to them without consequences.

One example of a precarious choice that may come with intense consequences was already teased in the “Sebastian Sallow’s Dark Legacy” video. In this companion quest, players will have to decide whether to let Sebastian cast Crucio on them, learn Crucio to cast it on Sebastian, or learn Crucio but still let Sebastian cast it on them.

Companion quests are optional, but will always help players learn more about the characters they embark on the quests with and usually also grants them new wizarding skills. But in a case like the one mentioned with Sebastian, it’s hard not to imagine that certain choices may result in players pursuing a darker path and possibly damaging their companion relationships.

While it is unclear how evil players can choose to become in gameplay, cosmetic-wise, players can truly embrace the Dark Arts with Hogwarts Legacy’s Dark Arts pack. This pack comes with a Thestral mount, a Dark Arts cosmetic set, and a Dark Arts battle arena, which at least means that players can practice the unforgivable curses in style.

Ultimately, it will be up to players themselves whether they decide to journey down a darker path in the wizarding world. The Hogwarts Legacy team has made it clear that players’ journeys in the game are up to them, and that this does definitively mean that they can be evil to some extent.