With multiple paths to choose from and a variety of spells to master, beginning your new journey in Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry puts the wand in your hands. But, can you be evil in Hogwarts Legacy? Now, that’s a good question. Evil and good aren’t quite black and white, but the short answer is yes. Kind of.
You can certainly be a menace and make use of some troublesome tricks and horrid Hogwarts Legacy spells (Hogwarts Legacy’s Alohomora is great if you want to steal things), but are there consequences to your actions? Will the Hogwarts Legacy houses disown you? Will you find yourself out on your wizardly butt alongside the Hogwarts Legacy beasts? Well, it’s time to shout ‘aparecium!’ as we seek out your answers.
Can you be evil in Hogwarts Legacy?
Yes, you can be an evil witch or wizard in Hogwarts Legacy, primarily by using Unforgivable Curses. If you’re unfamiliar with the term, Unforgivable Curses give you control over your victim, allowing you to manipulate them with Imperio, torment them with Crucio, or even Avada Kedavra them out of existence (check out our Hogwarts Legacy Dark Arts guide to learn more about the dastardly spells). However, you can only use these Unforgivable Curses against enemy combatants, while fellow students and faculty members are strictly off-limits. So there are some limits to how evil you can really be.
If you fancy being a little bit bad instead of full-on evil, you can also just opt for the rude dialogue options, and generally act like a loathsome little cockroach when talking to other Hogwarts Legacy characters. Sometimes it feels kind of nice to be an insensitive wart, doesn’t it? Take a peek at Call Me Kevin’s ‘being a bad wizard in Hogwarts Legacy’ video below to get a little taste of how being a general pain in the neck feels.
Is there a Hogwarts Legacy morality system?
So, if you go around casting the Unforgivable Curses (Crucio, Imperio, and Avada Kedava) and being rude to everyone, will the Department of Magical Law Enforcement come knocking at your door? Nope! Hogwarts Legacy has no morality system, meaning that you can embrace your dark side (as far as the game allows it) without having to face the consequences of your actions.
Of course, regardless of whether you choose to be a bit naughty, you still need to protect Hogwarts in order to progress through the game, so you won’t ever get to real Tom Riddle levels. But even if you are feeling a little guilty after choosing some mean dialogue options or casting a few too many curses, you can create multiple save files, so you can peer into both sides of the Mirror of Erised and experience the different gameplay routes as you see fit.
Well, there we have it, the answer to the question ‘can you be evil in Hogwarts Legacy’. If you need some help getting around, check out our Hogwarts Legacy map guide. Or, to make sure you’re passing all your tests, head over to our Hogwarts Legacy classes, Hogwarts Legacy potions, Hogwarts Legacy spells, and Hogwarts Legacy plants guides.
Hogwarts Legacy has drawn considerable criticism during its development, largely due to the fact that the creator of the Harry Potter series, J.K. Rowling, has made a number of transphobic remarks on social media in recent years.
While Avalanche has confirmed that J.K. Rowling is not “directly involved” in the development of Hogwarts Legacy, it is working with “her team” and Portkey Games, a Warner Bros. label dedicated to launching new experiences inspired by J.K. Rowling’s original stories. It is currently unclear whether she will earn any royalties from the game’s sale, but it is likely given it is based on her original body of work.
If you would like to learn more about transgender rights or lend your support, we’d encourage you to check out the National Center for Transgender Equality in the US and Mermaids in the UK.