Hogwarts Legacy Coolest Easter Eggs

With such a huge wealth of lore to draw from, Hogwarts Legacy has been filled to the brim with detailed references to both the books and the films, to the extent that devoted fans will recognize something familiar every few minutes. Because the game is set in the 1800s, it can easily draw upon a rich history, alluding to aspects of the series from both the past and future.

In this article, I’ll be digging into every nook and cranny to bring you the most interesting Easter eggs the game has to offer. I’ve categorized the following entries into Character References, Creatures, and Items: even if you think you know them all, there will no doubt be secrets you haven’t heard of here, so let’s delve in!

Criteria

Here are the criteria I’ll be using for including items on this list.

• Must be canonical references: It somewhat goes without saying, but to make it clear, I’ll only be including references within the officially published works in this article. The developers have included nods to other works in Hogwarts Legacy, but I’ll be keeping it focused here.
• Must not be too obscure: I’ll be covering minute and especially well-hidden Easter eggs in this guide, but only those with a clear, tangible link. I’ve spotted a few theories on Reddit about certain aspects of the game, but upon further investigation, a lot of them are debatable to the point where I don’t think they can be considered proper Easter eggs.
• Can include references to spin-off titles: References to the Harry Potter series will, of course, form the bulk of the Easter eggs in this guide, but I’ll also be including those that reference all of the author’s works in this universe.

Character References

#1 – The Weasly Twins

• Location: Zonko’s Joke Shop, Hogsmeade
• Requirement: triggering the event at random as you walk past.

Let’s start with one of my favorites.

As you traverse the bustling streets of Hogsmeade, you’ll notice the area is filled with students peering eagerly through the windows of gleaming storefronts. Zonko’s joke shop is no different, and every time you pass, there’s always a small crowd.

Occasionally, though, you’ll spot two familiar ginger twins: a clear reference to Fred and George Weasley, the prankster pair notable for much of the comic relief in the Harry Potter series. Not only this, but fans will recall that later on in the story, the twins take over the shop themselves.

#2 – Snape-In-A-Box

• Location: The Room of Requirement, Hogwarts Castle
• Requirement: walking by the location

People have found a ton of cool secrets in the game’s recreation of the Room of Requirement, but my favorite has to be this one.

You may have come across a little Jack-in-the-Box toy on one of the illuminated tables that activates when you walk past it. It was only on my second visit to the area that I noticed the signature shoulder-length hair and grave expression of Severus Snape, however.

Fans have speculated the figure may even resemble the famous Potter Puppet Pals series version of Snape (it does seem pretty uncanny!).

#3 – Nearly Headless Nick

• Location: Gryffindor dorm, Hogwarts Castle
• Requirement: pass by the main staircase

Nearly Headless Nick has been an important cameo character since the first film, so it’s only natural that he manifests several times in Hogwarts Legacy, too.

Sightings aren’t exactly common, but they come around frequently enough that I wouldn’t classify his appearance as an Easter egg per se. Yet, a pretty rare occurrence happens if you’re heading up or down the main stairs in the Gryffindor dorm at night.

Most of the ghost’s other appearances are fairly fleeting, but in this one, we find him hilariously pleading with the house elf Scrope to polish his own stone bust after he’s finished with the headmasters. This is the character’s most extended appearance in the game despite its uncommonness.

#4 – The Lore Behind Professor Phineas Nigellus Black

• Location: throughout the main story
• Requirement: none

This one’s somewhat of an obscure reference, even if it manifests in a character you’ll become very familiar with by the end of the story.

The most astute fans may have realized that Headmaster Professor Phineas Nigellus Black was referenced in the Black family tree displayed in the Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix movie.

In the film, Sirius Black reveals this character to be his great-great-grandfather and explains that he was “the least popular headmaster Hogwarts ever had.” It’s great to see the developers draw from this forgotten piece of lore and bring life to a character we’ve all wondered about.

#5 – Sirius Black Cell

• Location: at the top of the spiral staircase in the Charms classroom office
• Requirement: unlocking the office door

In the Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban book, there’s a reference to then-convict Sirius Black being held in a small prison cell above the Charms classroom.

In the game, we can see a clear replica of this area if we head into the office in the Charms classroom and up the spiral staircase to the roof. As a reward for your snooping around, you’ll also find a chest to the right of the cell once you’ve unlocked it.

Creatures

#1 – Giant Squid at the Window

• Location: Slytherin common rooms, Hogwarts Castle
• Requirement: casting a spell at the center window

The imposing yet benevolent Giant Squid is mostly featured in the books but shows up several times in the game. While most are aware of the Slytherin exclusive quest in which you make an offering of a piece of toast to the squid (a Goblet of Fire reference), many won’t have spotted the obscure appearance in the Slytherin common room.

If you head to the middle window looking out into the Black Lake and cast a ballistic spell of your choosing at the glass a few times, a huge squid tentacle will splat onto the window, suckering on for several seconds before disappearing.

#2 – Dancing Ghost Couple

• Location: In the ballroom near the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom
• Requirement: visit the location at night

Near the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom, there’s a grand staircase leading to an ornately designed ballroom with a self-playing three-piece orchestra to the left.

People are eerily absent during the day, but if you return at night, occasionally, you can find a ghostly couple dancing to Mozart. They don’t make an appearance every night, as most times when I passed, they couldn’t be found.

#3 – Hopping Pot

• Location: Tomes and Scrolls, Hogsmeade
• Requirement: pay 3000 gold

If you’ve visited Tomes and Scrolls at Hogsmeade, you might have come across the opportunity to purchase a Hopping Pot Spellcraft for use in The Room of Requirement. The spell spawns a small cauldron that hops around on one foot and periodically offers you a random potion.

But the Hopping Pot wasn’t created for Hogwarts Legacy; it’s from one of the short stories in The Tales of Beedle the Bard called The Wizard and the Hopping Pot. You can find more about the story from this Wiki page.

#4 – Follow the Butterflies

• Location: The Three Broomsticks, Hogsmeade
• Requirement: Speak with Clementine Willardsey to start the quest

Here’s a reference to one of the most memorable moments in Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets that pokes fun at Ron’s intense arachnophobia.

Fans will remember Ron’s classic lament at having to follow an army of spiders into the Forbidden Forest, exclaiming, “Why spiders? Why couldn’t it be follow the butterflies?”. It seems Ron would’ve felt much more comfortable in 1800s Hogwarts, as Clementine Willardsey’s quests ask the player to do just that.

Located in The Three Broomsticks, she asks if we’ll follow a group of orange butterflies into the Forbidden Forest, where they lead us to a chest with some hidden treasure inside.

#5 – The Irritated Knight Finally Snaps

• Location: left wing of the main outer hallways in Hogwarts Castle
• Requirement: walking past the two knights on multiple different occasions

For me, this one is the funniest Easter egg in the game. Many players will be familiar by now with the two knights standing side by side in the main Hogwarts corridors: one of them is humming, and the other, irritated by his companion’s music, nudges him to stop.

If you walk past the pair enough times on separate occasions, though, the scene continues to escalate. It culminates in the knight on the right finally snapping and beating the other senselessly, ensuring to dismember him piece by piece!

Having seen the interaction between the knights the initial time, most players will likely run straight past from then on, but stop by to watch each time, and eventually, your patience will be rewarded.

#6 – A Niffler and a Mandrake Chilling on a Cliff Edge

• Location: Tutorial section
• Requirement: deviate from the path crossing the remade bridge

During the starting section of the game, Professor Fig will mentor you on the basics. You’ll remember you’re tasked with following him after being transported to an island via the Portkey. Once Fig rebuilds the large stone walkway leading to the other side of the ruins, and you reach the other side, immediately turn left to reach a small cliff edge.

Sitting there right on the edge of the rocks, you’ll find both a model of a Niffler from Fantastic Beasts as well as a handmade plush of a Mandrake as depicted in the Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets book and film. There are a few more of these in the game, but none are hidden to this extent (nor would you expect an easter egg in the tutorial section).

Having spotted them, you’ll also be rewarded with a chest you can loot directly left of the pair.

Items

#1 – Hagrid’s Motorbike Rollercoaster Reference

• Location: the Goblin Outpost, north grounds of Hogwarts Castle
• Requirement: none

Harry Potter fans who have been to Universal Studios in Orlando will most likely have seized the opportunity to ride Hagrid’s Motorbike rollercoaster. While waiting in the queue, you might have noticed an archway at the start of the ride depicting a mermaid, and the developers of Hogwarts Legacy have included this exact same archway in the game. Head to the Goblin Outpost ruins in the north area of Hogwarts to see it for yourself.

Even cooler, flying through the preceding arch and around the area also maps accurately to the path of the ride itself!

#2 – Boggart Closet

• Location: Staff Room, Hogwarts Castle
• Requirement: none

Everyone will have heard about Draco Malfoy’s famous Vanishing Cabinet making an appearance in the game by now, but did you know you can also find another, lesser-known piece of furniture-based lore?

Head into the Hogwarts Staff Room, and you’ll spot a particularly ornate and unusual wardrobe or closet in the corner of the room. This is identical to the one found in the Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban film, as it is the one used by Professor Lupin when he teaches the students about Boggarts — a shapeshifting creature he keeps in the wardrobe that manifests as the victim’s biggest fear.

#3 – The Chess Board in the Headmaster’s Office

• Location: the Headmaster’s Office, Hogwarts Castle
• Requirement: walking by the location

If you head into the headmaster’s office, you’ll find a chessboard that plays itself. If you watch closely, you’ll see that the moves being played are repeated over and over again, and the match in session each time is over notably quickly.

The moves taking place on the board replicate the fastest possible way to beat someone at real-life chess—the maneuver we see is called the ‘fools mate’ in which a player checkmates the king in only two moves.

#4 – Toilet Potion

• Location: The girl’s bathroom near Professor Fig’s classroom
• Requirement: open the toilet cubicle doors

If the player goes into the girl’s bathroom near Professor Fig’s class and opens the door of each cubicle, they’ll see that these abandoned units have a bright green potion brewing in a cauldron on top of the cistern.

This is a clear callback to the time Hermione brewed Poly Juice Potion in Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets—the occasion when Harry and Ron needed to infiltrate the Slytherin common rooms by camouflaging themselves as Crab and Goyle. It seems that Hermione wasn’t entirely original in her choice of location!

#5 – Medussa Painting

• Location: Bell Tower Courtyard
• Requirement: have learned the Alohomora spell

There are many puzzle doors located within Hogwarts, and having located the one at Bell Tower Courtyard, unlocked the door with Alohomora, and solved the puzzle, you’ll find a painting in front of you.

The painting depicts Medussa staring down at another misfortuned person. If you’re familiar with the story, locking eyes with this mythological figure causes the person to turn to stone, and this is exactly what happens to you if you look at the painting.

I walked past it at first, but interacting with the painting actually causes the player to go rigid and momentarily fall to the ground before regaining consciousness. If you look closely, you’ll also notice that the figure in the painting similarly oscillates between these states.

#6 – Chamber of Secrets Engraving

• Location: the Slytherin dungeons
• Requirement: none

I don’t think Hogwarts Legacy would be complete without reference to one of Hogwarts Castle’s most famously hidden areas, The Chamber of Secrets, so that doesn’t make for an Easter egg in and of itself.

What does require a sharp memory and a keen eye, though, is what’s engraved on the taps. If you take a really close look, you’ll see a small engraving of a serpent representing Slytherin House on one of them—the same engraving Harry finds to alert him to the presence of the chamber that we get a close-up of in the film.

Unfortunately, we still can’t enter the chamber yet, but maybe in some DLC.

#7 – Never Tickle a Sleeping Dragon

• Location: Central Hall
• Requirement: none

Many fans will know of the Hogwarts motto, “Draco Dormiens Nunquam Titillandus” which means “never tickle a sleeping dragon”, but for the first time within the lore, we can see the saying actualized.

You’ve probably already spotted the giant dragon mural above the doors in the central hall, but there’s a lot of detail to its movement. On the right-hand side, we can see a tiny wizard tickling the dragon under its chin, causing it to stir.

#8 – The Secrets of the Darkest Arts Book

• Location: the restricted section of the library, Hogwarts Castle
• Requirement: sneak into the restricted section with Sebastian Sallow during the Secrets of the Restricted Section quest

So far as important items go relating to the Harry Potter franchise, The Secrets of the Darkest Arts text is up there. This is the seminal book that Tom Riddle used to discover how to split his soul into numerous special items called Horcuxes, and you, too, can spot it for yourself in Hogwarts Legacy.

During the eighth main quest in the game, we venture into the forbidden section of the library, where we can find the book on one of the shelves, vibrating violently to be opened.

Wrapping Up

I hope this article inspired you to go and check out these cool easter eggs, and also to search every corner of Hogwarts to find more of your own. If you’re after more Hogwarts Legacy tips, tricks, and guides, be sure to check out our other articles, such as Hogwarts Legacy Gobstone Guide or Hogwarts Legacy Avada Kedavra Guide: Unforgivably Fun.

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