Hogwarts Legacy's opening introduces players to their customizable character, Professor Fig, and his friend George Oslic from the Ministry of Magic. The protagonist is joining Hogwarts as a 5th Year Student, something which is noted to be very unusual, and Professor Fig is tasked with instructing them on the basics and bringing them to the school safely.
On the way to begin their Hogwarts Legacy journey, the group takes a flying carriage towards Hogwarts, and George reveals a strange object he received from Professor Fig's wife, Miriam, who is now missing and presumed dead. He believes it is somehow connected to the Goblin Rebellion and their leader, "Ranrok," but neither he nor Fig can open the container. The player character notices a strange glow and, on touching it, manages to open it, revealing a key.
The carriage ride is interrupted by a dragon with a collar, glowing darkly, who tears away half of the carriage and kills George, sending Fig and the Protagonist plummeting toward the ground along with the key. Grabbing the protagonist's hand, Fig uses Accio to summon the key to his hand, and both are whisked away to a strange cave.
Scottish Highlands
Shortly after arriving, Fig gives the player a Wiggenweld Potion, and the game teaches players how to use potions to heal. After recovering, players can get up and follow Fig out of the cave, revealing strange ruins and revealing that they are now in the Scottish Highlands near the Coast. Fig decides the only sensible course of action is to explore and worry about the fact that someone just died later.
Follow Fig and the on-screen prompts to learn the basic movement controls while he explains his wife Miriam's research into Ancient Magic. Before long, players will reach a strange, ice-like crystal wall blocking the path forward.
The Professor suggests the player demonstrate the wandwork they've been practicing, and Basic Cast is unlocked. This is the player's standard attack, and hitting the Crystal wall with it a few times will shatter it.
Continue following Fig until he turns right after climbing up a wall, then head left to grab a chest with some money in it before heading back to following him. Fig will use Reparo to restore the path to the ruins, and players will advance into the ruins proper. From here, Fig suggests investigating, and players are free to explore a little.
Interacting with various objects around the ruins, like the Mural and the Statue, causes the protagonist and Fig to chat about them. From the statue, players can head right to find a narrow path leading to more enchanted stones. Investigating this will reveal that only the player can see the reflection of another location in the rock, and on touching it, both the Protagonist and Fig are transported somewhere strange yet very familiar.
Gringotts Bank
After waking up the Goblin at the desk in this new area and showing them the key, Fig and the player discover that they have reached Gringotts Bank via a Private Entrance and are taken to one of the oldest vaults: Vault 12. After a long ride down into the depths of Gringotts and a prickly encounter with a guard, the Goblin Banker lets Fig and the Protagonist into the vault. Apparently, the instructions given were to Let the holder of the key into the Vault, then lock the door, so he locks them in.
After teaching players the Revelio spell via a short minigame, players will need to use Revelio to find the way forward and then follow Professor Fig to find a shining spot that, once interacted with, changes the ground. Using Revelio near the reflection of a statue will cause the actual statue to appear and prompt a conversation where Fig teaches the player Lumos. Using Lumos to line the statue up with its reflection will cause it to animate and call reinforcements.
The Knight attacks the Protagonist, prompting them to use Protego and introducing the ability to block attacks with it. The player will need to block three attacks to pass this tutorial and then fight off the knights by using Basic Cast and Protego. Professor Fig then vanishes, and players are left alone in the chamber. Moving causes sparks of magic to appear, and following the direction they fly in will lead to another glowing spot and, in turn, another statue puzzle.
This time the player needs to line up three statues using Lumos after revealing them with Revelio, so players will need to walk close to them with the spell active to get their attention and then move to a position where all three are lined up with their reflections. This time it is their reflections that follow the light rather than the statues themselves, but the trick is otherwise the same as before, and lining them up will trigger another fight.
After fending off the first few, the game introduces Stupefy. This spell is a counterattack performed by holding down the button after blocking an attack with Protego and stuns the target when hit. Use this three times and then finish off the remaining statues to continue.
Follow the trail of magic sparks again to find a third glowing spot that creates a portal when interacted with, and head inside to find a strange pendant floating above a Pensieve. Fig reappears here and explains how Pensieves work before finding a strand of memory in the pendant and pouring it into the bowl. Viewing the memory, players see Charles Rookwood and Percival Rackham discussing the creation of this place and showing the use of Ancient Magic.
Unfortunately, there isn't time to discuss this as Ranrok arrives, murders the Goblin Banker, and tries to take the pendant. In the ensuing scuffle, a security system is triggered, and a giant knight appears to attack Ranrok and his men before the Protagonist can find a way out and escape with Fig in tow. Apparently, that vault was connected to Hogwarts, and we finally arrived.
After a stern conversation with Headmaster Black and an introduction to Professor Weasley, players participate in the Sorting Ceremony and can choose their House. Professor Weasley leads them to their Common Room, and the introduction is finished.
Hogwarts Legacy is available for PS5, PC, and Xbox Series X/S and is coming soon to PS4, Xbox One, and Nintendo Switch.