5 ways Hogwarts Legacy differs from the Harry Potter movies

Hogwarts Legacy has finally been released in all its glory, receiving positive reviews from players and content creators alike. While the weeks prior to the game’s launch were marred in controversy, Avalanche Software’s brainchild seems to have held its own, delivering a solid experience — albeit with a few technical and optimization issues.

While some players are busy exploring every inch of the Scottish Highlands, others wonder how different the game is compared to the Harry Potter movies. While Hogwarts Legacy mostly stays true to the Wizarding World franchise, a few things create a margin of dissimilarity between the two.

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Hogwarts Legacy vs. Harry Potter movies: 5 differences between the two

1) Portrayal of Slytherin house

In all the movies, Slytherin is associated with evil, with many students believing that it is a breeding ground for Dark Wizards. A very compelling piece of evidence bolstering this notion is provided in the first film.

During the Sorting Ceremony, Draco Malfoy is placed by the Sorting Hat in Slytherin. Reacting to this, Ron Weasley says: “There’s not a witch or wizard who went bad who wasn’t in Slytherin.” This is followed by Harry requesting the hat not to put him in that house.

Additionally, in one of the books, The Boy Who Lived is described as thinking that Slytherin students looked like "an unpleasant lot."

In Hogwarts Legacy, however, this house is known for its positive traits as well. If chosen as a companion for some of the early game quests, one of the protagonist's closest friends is established as a member of Slytherin. Students from all four houses are also seen engaging in conversation and banter all over the school.

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2) Ancient magic

Hogwarts Legacy focuses on the protagonist having access to an ancient form of magic that is unknown to most wizards. While the movies do talk about “love” as a universal form of magic, the one mentioned in Hogwarts Legacy is a physically wielded entity, giving players the ability to cast spells of devastating power.

Ancient magic can also be compared to a special attack that can only be utilized when its meter is fully charged.

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3) Ollivanders in Hogsmeade

It is widely known in the Harry Potter movies that Ollivanders is located in Diagon Alley. In fact, it is one of the first places Harry visits in the series to buy his famous phoenix feather wand from Garrick Ollivander.

Not only is Diagon Alley not a part of Hogwarts Legacy, but players will notice that Ollivanders is located inside Hogsmeade Village. External sources do suggest that the shop has a branch in Hogsmeade as well, but the movies never shed light on that.

Moreover, the owner of Ollivanders in the game is Gerbold Octavius Ollivander, the grandfather of Garrick Ollivander. This could mean that the shop is the same and only its location has been changed.

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4) Alohamora minigame

Alohomora is one of the most widely known spells among Harry Potter fans, so much so that it's nearly as popular as Wingardium Leviosa. This incantation basically plays the same role in Hogwarts Legacy and the Harry Potter movie series.

However, something that the community has recently been complaining about is the minigame that appears whenever players try to open a lock using Alohomora.

The movies did a great job of portraying this spell, as was demonstrated by Emma Watson’s Hermione Granger in Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone. In the films, all the caster needs to do is point their wand at a lock, say the incantation, and it snaps open.

However, Hogwarts Legacy has gamers use the spell as well as participate in a minigame that requires them to engage in lockpicking in a very Skyrim-ish manner.

Many fans of the franchise are somewhat unhappy with this feature, with some stating that it disrupts their sense of immersion. One player even joked about the minigame being the only reason they didn’t give Hogwarts Legacy a perfect score.

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5) Levioso vs. Wingardium Leviosa

Wingardium Leviosa, the Levitation charm in the Harry Potter franchise, is quite well known among fans. The credit for this mostly goes to the first movie, which features an iconic scene where Hermione Granger is trying to teach Rupert Grint’s Ron Weasley how to correctly perform the spell.

While Wingardium Leviosa is portrayed to perfection in Hogwarts Legacy, players are sure to be confused about the existence of another levitation spell: Levioso. This one is used to suspend another person in the air without any sort of motion involved and isn’t mentioned in the movies, or at least not with the same incantation.

In Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, members of Dumbledore’s Army are seen practicing another variant of the Levitation charm called Levicorpus. While the books state that this one is used to dangle a person by their ankles, the movie shows its effect as being the same as that of Levioso.

However, even Levicorpus doesn't come without its doubts since the same spell is used in another scene with Luna Lovegood, where she blasts a Death Eater away in the Department of Mysteries.

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It's clear that Hogwarts Legacy is a magical experience, which has been created using the Wizarding World's books and movies as reference points. The game's lore mostly stays true to the novels and other source material like Pottermore or J.K. Rowling herself. As such, Hogwarts School's appearance, along with the surrounding Scottish Highlands, in the gaming title is pretty similar to what's described in the books.

However, a few subtle differences separate the Harry Potter movies from Hogwarts Legacy, with the biggest one being the latter is set in the 1800s.