Hogwarts Legacy: A Redditor speculates about Merlin's lineage, ancient magic, and the importance of moonstone

Not much is known about Hogwarts Legacy beyond its short reveal trailer from 2020 and the extended gameplay reveal in March this year. Players have been fed with a slow drip by the developers, which, at times, has been frustrating to negotiate with.

Yet, it has also fostered a number of creative and imaginative posts speculating regarding gameplay mechanics, the story, the protagonist, and more.

A recent Reddit post did an excellent job of threading a number of strands shown in the March trailer together into a coherent theory with a comprehensive explanation. Hogwarts Legacy is set in the wizarding world of 1890 and draws heavily from the established Potterverse while charting a fresh path.

This leaves enough room for players to speculate on a variety of things based on the source material available and the released trailers.

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A Redditor talks about the importance of moonstones in Hogwarts Legacy

User u/l_Nexility_l shared their speculative theory on how important moonstones can be in Hogwarts Legacy in the wizarding world's subreddit.

In real life, moonstone is a sodium potassium aluminum silicate that has a milky bluish hue. A similar color pattern is also noticeable, with ancient magic evident in the gameplay reveal.

In the Potterverse, it is a milky gemstone of medium value, with the unique property of shining very brightly. It is predominantly used in potion making, with Snape once asking fifth-years to write about its properties and uses in potion making as homework. Incidentally, players will be stepping into Hogwarts as a newly admitted fifth year student.

The Reddit post begins by speculating that the protagonist is a descendant of the great wizard Merlin and that some tragic incident right before the game has triggered him.

Although this has been a common fan-theory ever since March, u/l_Nexility_l states that a dragon might be involved in the incident and that the theory fits in with Hogwarts' motto of "Draco Dormiens Nunquam Titillandus" or "Never tickle a sleeping dragon."

The prominence of Merlin in Hogwarts Legacy has already been established with the reveal trailer, especially with puzzles and the statue. According to the Redditor's theory, along with being a conjuring currency, moonstones will play a major role in-game. They mentioned that the gemstone was referred to in Half-Blood Prince.

The mentions in the book (Image via u/l_Nexility_l/Reddit)

Goblins will be playing an integral part in the game with an impending goblin rebellion threatening the gameworld. The Reditor further clarified:

"Here we have canon that places moonstone well within goblins’ knowledge of imbuing it into things that they make; As well as it being in the family “for centuries” that allows some leeway to assume it could be from around the game’s time period. Even if the tiara was made prior to the game, it doesn’t really matter as we have a connection between the material and the goblins' use of it."

They also pointed to a fleeting moment in the gameplay reveal that they thought showed mining of moonstones. Given the various imageries of the moon and its cycle showcased, the theory conjectures that Merlin had discovered the gemstone's potent power in his time, mastered it and further created statues embedded with moonstone.

The statues and the dragon (Image via Hogwarts Legacy)

Certain statues in the March State of Play trailer of Hogwarts Legacy have a blue hue within them, which could indicate them being imbued with moonstone and ancient magic, both of which have the same hue. Interestingly, the final dragon seen in the trailer also has a shining blue hue on it.

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Fans react to and discuss the proposed theory

The theory is an interesting one, with other Potterheads appreciating it for being well-crafted and posited with plenty of points to support the hypothesis. The presence of moonstones as a conjuration budget in the Room of Requirement which can be earned during various game actions.

This does pose a question as to the amount of importance the theory posits on moonstones. Furthermore, the developers may end up creating a problem fitting it into the lore if they make a highly powerful Merlin descendant who was then never heard of or mentioned in the current Potterverse.

With around four months to go for holidays 2022, players are yet to learn about the release date, pre-order options, various editions and more. Until then, it is interesting to see fans deep-diving into the available clips and crafting well-thought-out theories.