Minor Spoilers for Hogwarts Legacy AheadHogwarts Legacyplayers may be surprised to learn how much of an emphasis is placed on tending to magical beasts.Hogwarts Legacy’s open worldis incredibly large and throughout the Highlands are many species of creatures that players come across, whether they find themselves in a web-laced spider den or in a quaint pond full of Dugbogs. Not all creatures will be friendly and more often than not players will find themselves casting offensive spells to fend off mongrels, but the beasts that players can befriend can also become a great resource.
Diricawls, Fwoopers, Mooncalves, and Nifflers are only several of the beast species players can rescue and tend to inHogwarts Legacy. Each beast will offer players a unique resource material after having been fed and groomed, and there are ample opportunities in the Highlands to find such beasts. Some creatures are rarer than others, such as a phoenix which can only be collected once as an individual beast. Then there are Thestrals, which contribute to the Deluxe edition’s mounts and havenarrative significance for the protagonist inHogwarts Legacy.
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Harry Potter’s Thestrals Have a Unique Gimmick
Thestrals are notthe most exciting creatures in all ofHarry Potterlore, being simple winged horses with a distinct black, skeletal appearance. However, the gimmick of Thestrals is that they are invisible to anyone who has not seen death. Instead, these individuals will see a carriage being pulled seemingly on its own, for example.
This is a neat way to depict characters as having seen death at some point in their life, subtextually adding intrigue as to who died or what they saw occur. It was then interesting to hear thatHogwarts Legacyincludes a Thestral mountas part of its Deluxe and Collector’s editions.
This immediately insinuated that the protagonist will have already seen death, and many fans began speculating about what this could mean forHogwarts Legacy’s narrative. It is true that the customizable protagonist sees death throughout the events of the game, but it may surprise fans to know how early this occurs.
Hogwarts Legacy Has a Death in Its Opening Cutscene
Players witness a death almost instantly in the narrative which then reveals Thestrals to them. It is clear that the player-character has not seen death prior to the opening events ofHogwarts Legacybecause the carriage they ride into the clouds is seemingly not pulled by anything. George Osric is then ripped from the carriage as a dragon controlled by Dark Magic attacks them, and his death reveals the Thestrals to the protagonist.
The Thestrals become visible in real-time, and this is important because players get many chances to see Thestrals later in the game, which they would still not have been able to perceive if George had not been killed. Beast mounts do not become available until much later inHogwarts Legacy, andtherefore it was not necessary for the protagonist to see death occur so early into the game, but this cutscene is a fantastic way for the game to establish its tone.
There is little importance in players being able to see Thestrals from a narrative perspective following the Thestral reveal, but in gameplay it makes a lot of sense why this was decided upon. Players can later rescue Thestrals in a nab-sack, release and tend them intoVivariums available in the Room of Requirement, and even breed them.
Hogwarts Legacyis available now on PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X/S. PS4 and Xbox One ports are scheduled to release on April 4, whereas the Nintendo Switch version is arriving August 01, 2025.
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