Besides how wholesome and warm the franchise is in its first entry, Harry Potter is also not alien to thrilling horror tropes. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets introduced arachnophobia to the franchise, while Prisoner of Azkaban could certainly be considered a full-blown horror movie on its own, let alone a dramatic turning point for the franchise’s tone. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire was a mixture of wholesome teenage romance and ritualistic themes, and each installment thereafter became more devastating than the last, and that's something Hogwarts Legacy can thrive on.
Hogwarts Legacy is an action-RPG with a narrative that has hardly been discussed. Much of the story being kept secret alludes to it having a lot of inherent spoilers that fans will learn when they play it, but there is at least the confirmation that players will be able to choose how they want their legacy at Hogwarts to be morally aligned. It seems as though choosing a darker path will introduce players to morally ambiguous choices and ultimately Hogwarts Legacy’s Unforgivable Curses, but a scripted quest featuring an explorable Azkaban would be a great way to cement its horror tone.
Hogwarts Legacy Revels in a Unique Horror Tone
If fans are uncertain how much of the horror genre will influence Hogwarts Legacy they should look no further than Sebastian Sallow’s Dark Legacy trailer or the PlayStation-exclusive Haunted Hogsmeade Shop trailer. Both trailers firmly root a lot of Hogwarts Legacy’s content in horrific incidents, though it is important to note that both quests are entirely optional, with the latter being locked to PlayStation for a year after launch.
The Forbidden Forest is obviously another profound source of horror, and Hogwarts Legacy looks like it is not going light on the dreadful atmosphere found there. Spiders, Inferi, and other haunting creatures await players in these dark recesses, and even if horror is only strongly perpetuated in the midst of Sebastian’s companion quest with Unforgivable Curses, it will still be an impactful and memorable part of Hogwarts Legacy for players who experience it.
Hogwarts Legacy Could Feature Azkaban as Part of a Scripted Quest
Dementors are confirmed to appear in Hogwarts Legacy thanks to the brief glimpse fans got of a few of them, though their role is undetermined. This one shot is intriguing because it may already confirm that players do get to travel to Azkaban, but it may also just be a cutscene set in Azkaban without the players ever journeying there themselves.
Dementors are the Azkaban guards, and seeing them at all either suggests this scene takes place in Azkaban or they have traveled to Hogwarts in search of an escaped inmate, as was the case with Sirius Black in Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. If the former option is true, then precariously walking through Azkaban and seeing dingy inmate cells would instill as much horror and suspense as would be imaginable for Hogwarts Legacy.
There could be multiple reasons why players would want to infiltrate or visit Azkaban, with the most logical being that players may need to speak to an inmate to learn more about ongoing events in the narrative. Having sections where players need to use stealth and sneak around corridors to evade Dementors could be horrifying, though it might also be possible for players to be prepared in advance for such encounters if they are able to learn Expecto Patronum.
The possibilities are infinite for what this one shot could be alluding to. It will be interesting to see where this shot lands within the events of the game, but an Azkaban sequence would punctuate Hogwarts Legacy’s horror tones tremendously.
Hogwarts Legacy launches February 10 for PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X, with PS4 and Xbox One versions coming April 4 and the Switch version launching on July 25.