The Harry Potter franchise is up there with Star Wars and the Marvel Cinematic Universe as the most expansive fictional universes. With any fictional world this large, it sometimes results in big question marks or even inconsistencies in the plot. The official Wizarding World franchise and all of its subsidiaries are a known offender of unsolved plot holes, so where does this leave the upcoming Hogwarts Legacy?
Hogwarts Legacy will expand on the universe in a significant way by stepping into uncharted territory. The 1800s in the Wizarding World have been lightly touched on, but never explored in the way they will be with Avalanche Software's upcoming RPG by allowing the player to assume the role of a Hogwarts student and essentially write the Wizarding school's history. The author herself has even admitted that she's dug herself into some of these holes with her writing, but JK Rowling is mostly hands-off of this project. This leaves Hogwarts Legacy with either a big opportunity or a big problem: how will it approach some of the biggest plot holes in the franchise?
The Time-Turner Is a Symbol for Continuity Errors
According to dedicated fans, the Time-Turner is one of the biggest inconsistencies in the Wizarding World franchise, and it leaves Hogwarts Legacy the chance to use the magical item as a plot device, perhaps even to introduce beloved characters like Minerva McGonagall or Professor Dumbledore. Though it could be a fun mechanic for Hogwarts Legacy's storyline, this could also be a further detriment to the universe's consistency, depending on how it's handled, of the Time-Turner appears.
In the Prisoner of Azkaban section of Pottermore, Rowling admitted she may have approached the idea of time travel "too light-heartedly," which resulted in a number of issues with future plots. However, she said she later solved this issue by smashing "all remaining Time-Turners during the battle in the Department of Mysteries." Later on, though, the Time-Turner would become majorly important to the plot of the two-part play, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, which occurs after the destruction of the magical items. This implies the existence of more Time-Turners, leaving the possibility open for it to appear in Hogwarts Legacy.
Though the appearance of a Time-Turner in Avalanche's upcoming game could make for interesting sidequests and missions, this could also lead to more fandom questions, such as why McGonagall had a Time-Turner in the first place, how they are created, or simply how many are in existence.
What This Means for Hogwarts Legacy
The Time-Turner is just one of many examples. Whether it's a conversation about the time travel object or any other piece of information, either past inventions of JK Rowling or new magical creations made by Avalanche, Hogwarts Legacy may stretch the Wizarding World's continuity to a breaking point in a way that Fantastic Beasts is already doing. No matter if it's big or small, fans will point out the inconsistencies, and it could hurt the game's credibility.
Because of this, Hogwarts Legacy has a lot of hidden responsibility. Between the Time-Turners, Thestrals, using magic outside of Hogwarts, and the many confounded dates, the Wizarding World is unfortunately littered with continuity errors. How will Hogwarts Legacy approach them? Will it choose to ignore them as much as possible, or solve them so that they make sense?
However, when it comes to these kinds of details, not every fan cares, especially not when it's about a fantasy universe. Some may simply write off the continuity errors as nitpicked mistakes that appear in most large franchises, such as Star War's take on whether or not Princess Leia had proper Jedi training. But with the game set in the 1800s, Hogwarts Legacy likely won't be able to avoid the growing plot hole issue.
Hogwarts Legacy is set to release in 2021 for PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X.