With Hogwarts Legacy 2 and the Harry Potter reboot on the horizon, Warner Bros. plans to coordinate between the two to create a connected Wizarding World universe. Honestly, it makes perfect sense. Both releases seem destined to be massive moneymakers and, hopefully, pretty good too.
Despite taking place roughly a century before the events of the books, Avalanche’s original game links up to the wider franchise in a few ways. But its era allowed the creators to explore new characters without having to adhere to established journeys. As it adapts the novels, the upcoming HBO show doesn’t have to take anything from Hogwarts Legacy or its sequel to retell Harry’s story. However, that doesn’t mean it shouldn’t.
In fact, the series needs the game’s unique, expanded lore and magic to set itself apart from the movies. The vast majority of Hogwarts Legacy’s spells are based on the books, with the game altering their presentation and usage. The HBO show should use Hogwarts Legacy’s versions to make the magic feel fresh, visually stunning, and more dynamic than what we’ve seen before.
Ancient Magic: The Visual Spectacle the Show Needs
This is the big one. The Harry Potter novels feature Ancient Magic as essentially a footnote, leaving the concept vague while crediting it to incredible acts without explaining the mechanics behind it. For instance, Lily’s protective ward that saves Harry supposedly uses Ancient Magic.
Hogwarts Legacy not only greatly expands this part of the lore, but it also transforms Ancient Magic from an abstract concept into a visual spectacle and a tangible part of the combat system. Like other magic types in Harry Potter, Ancient Magic has an associated color: blue and silver.
The game splits Ancient Magic into essentially two categories: finishers and the Ancient Magic Throw. The latter is basically telekinesis, while the former has far more interesting use cases. A wordless form of magic, players tap into raw energy hot spots to execute brutal attacks, be it summoning lightning, ragdolling enemies, or transforming targets into chickens.
Honestly, Ancient Magic’s potency means that HBO must use a light touch while incorporating it into the show. Harry cannot exactly become Thor and summon lightning, nor can he really utilize wordless magic consistently throughout the story. Still, the show should reference Ancient Magic to make the Hogwarts Legacy protagonist’s existence feel connected to the wider lore.
Depulso Needs a Bigger and Cooler Presence
Once again, Depulso is introduced in the novels, where it is mainly known as the Banishing Charm. Although useful, Depulso is the definition of a utility spell that wizards and witches use casually every day to move objects around. The movies largely reduce this charm into a red energy blast, which is fine but not that interesting.
For the most part, Hogwarts Legacy keeps the core idea behind Depulso intact. It pushes a target away. The difference comes in its usage as a cornerstone weapon in the player’s arsenal, turning a forgettable charm into a satisfying combat maneuver that utilizes environmental damage.
Casting Depulso releases a massive, invisible shockwave that violently launches enemies backward. If an enemy hits a stone wall, a pillar, or another enemy, they take massive, crushing collision damage. That’s so much more interesting than a blast that knocks down enemies for a bit. HBO should get creative with this one and show the destructive potential of a well-placed Banishing Charm.
Crucio Should Be Way More Visually Electrifying
The Torture Curse should be one of the most terrifying spells in Harry Potter, and its aftermath certainly gets the message across. The spell inflicts such pain on its victim that it could break them entirely if they cannot dispel it. The books don’t go into detail on this attack’s visual style, rightfully opting to focus on its impact.
As a flash of light wouldn’t translate that well, the movies utilized a red blast to showcase the attack. In comparison, Hogwarts Legacy’s visual design is brilliant, and that’s why the HBO show needs to copy it. Instead of a basic red movie beam or an invisible book effect, the game created a crackling, pulsing web of deep, dark crimson and black energy that wraps around the target.
Don’t get me wrong, the movies do a fantastic job of adapting Harry Potter’s spells in an easy-to-follow way, and their method works well enough. However, the show should use Hogwarts Legacy’s presentation instead. The visual distinction alone would make the Unforgivable Curses feel truly unforgivable.
Levioso: More Than Just Wingardium Leviosa
Wingardium Leviosa might be the most famous Harry Potter spell of all time. Naturally, Hogwarts Legacy incorporates the traditional Wingardium Leviosa as a spell that can be used outside of combat scenarios. However, the game opted to tweak the lore by splitting this concept into two spells, with the second being called Levioso.
Rather than carefully and slowly lifting an object, Levioso shoots a fast bolt that snaps enemies off the floor, leaving them vulnerable to further attacks. Gameplay-wise, Levioso acts as a stun spell that is vital for crowd control, as it essentially takes the target out of action for a few seconds.
You also need to use Levioso to crack certain types of shields, making it a vital tool that can easily be replicated by the HBO show. Imagine Harry using Levioso in a duel to briefly incapacitate a Death Eater before following up with another spell. It would add a layer of tactical depth that the movies never quite captured.
The Disillusionment Charm: Stealth Mode Activated
If you have played a million games that clumsily incorporate stealth mechanics, you would be forgiven for believing that Hogwarts Legacy created the Disillusionment Charm to let you creep by creatures undetected. However, book readers likely know that this charm’s origins are found in the books, which make more liberal use of the magical camouflage than the movie adaptations.
The latter largely stick to Harry’s Invisibility Cloak, perhaps to avoid confusing audiences by having two similar but still different forms of magic. The HBO show should have far more time to define unique spells, so it doesn’t need to pretend that the Disillusionment Charm barely exists.
Hogwarts Legacy makes pretty cool use of this spell while clearly setting its properties apart from the Invisibility Cloak. Instead of making the player completely invisible like a ghost, the Disillusionment Charm acts as advanced magical camouflage. The caster’s body turns translucent and liquid-like, actively warping and bending the light, shadows, and colors of the surrounding environment. Depending on where they stand, their outline could be visible. It’s a more grounded and visually interesting take on stealth magic.
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Way, Way More Spell Combos
For the most part, the books and movies present spells as purely transactional. Sure, a wizard might follow one spell with another, but their connection was largely inconsequential and lacked a sense of progression. Hogwarts Legacy’s crowning achievement is its spell combo system, which lets players get really creative with their attacks.
For instance, you can freeze a target with Glacius and then deal devastating damage using Diffindo or Bombarda. You can even use an enemy’s momentum against them by combining Accio and Incendio or Depulso. While it might be too much to expect Harry to become a combo wizard within his first couple of years at Hogwarts, this system could be used to differentiate beginners from experts and veterans.
Imagine a duel where a seasoned Auror uses a rapid succession of spells in a way that feels choreographed and intelligent, rather than just firing off blasts of red light. It would make the magic feel more like a martial art and less like point-and-shoot. The HBO show has the runtime to explore this depth, and it absolutely should.