Major Spoilers for Hogwarts Legacy AheadHogwarts Legacy has had many mysteries teased since its initial announcement that are thankfully unpacked throughout the narrative. It was always interesting what the customizable protagonist’s particular role in the game would be, for example, and Hogwarts Legacy’s unique 1800s setting lays the framework for new secrets and characters to pave a new path in the franchise. This is a great way to show how unique and appealing Hogwarts Legacy is apart from the traditional Harry Potter iconography.
Hogwarts Legacy’s Ancient Magic stands out as a genuinely intriguing mystery that unfolds through character interaction. The potential rewards and perils of Ancient Magic are examined through the Keepers, led by Percival Rackham, who are all tasked with protecting Ancient Magic and a reserve of Dark Magic channeled through it. This leads to learning about Isidora Morganach and her father, but also ties in well with Hogwarts Legacy’s present day story of the Sallows, including what had happened to Anne Sallow.
Hogwarts Legacy Connects the Morganachs to the Sallows
Interestingly, Sebastian Sallow receives the most attention of any companion character in Hogwarts Legacy because his relationship questline is fundamentally woven into the main quest. Sebastian seems like a common Slytherin archetype at first, but it is learned that his entire goal is finding a cure for his ailing sister, Anne.
The only explanation for her cure that is given to the player is that she was cursed by goblins in the Sallow’s hamlet of Feldcroft, and this hamlet becomes prominent later in the narrative when players learn that Feldcroft had endured a drought much earlier in history that was relieved by Percival Rackham, a wizard who had an affinity for Ancient Magic. One of Feldcroft’s inhabitants, Isidora Morganach, witnessed the Keepers casting spells to rectify the drought, and it is here that she also witnessed the Ancient Magic used, demonstrating that she too had an affinity for it.
Isidora later attends Hogwarts as a Ravenclaw student and eventually becomes a professor later in life, but she has turned to experimenting with her Ancient Magic abilities to literally take individuals’ pain away, beginning with her father. Isidora kept this ‘pain’ and stored it as a form of Dark Magic. Hogwarts Legacy’s Victor Rookwood and Ranrok pillage through Feldcroft in the present day while searching for these Dark Magic reserves, and therefore Anne’s ailment and the Sallow’s subsequent tragedies are the direct result of Isidora’s unchecked ambition.
Hogwarts Legacy Hides a Key Factor in Anne Being Cursed
Percival Rackham cannot be blamed since he did not know Isidora would have an affinity for Ancient Magic, though without Percival intervening in the Feldcroft drought Isidora may never have seen Ancient Magic. Either way, it is originally assumed that Anne was inflicted with a Dark Magic curse wielded by Ranrok’s Loyalists. The curse itself seems arbitrary either way because it is a plot device used to render Sebastian malicious and tormented by his sister’s illness.
However, it is learned that Rookwood had cursed Anne, but this reveal is only significant in how it changes Sebastian’s perspective on goblins. Likewise, Rookwood cursing Anne instead of simply killing her seems like it was a choice that would keep her alive in order for the events of this relationship questline to occur. Rookwood is not made out to be a redeemable character, and thus it would have actually made more sense for him to kill Anne in an effort to keep his involvement with Ranrok a secret, but cursing her with a nondescript illness is likely a worse fate.
Hogwarts Legacy is available now on PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X/S. PS4 and Xbox One ports are scheduled to release on April 4, whereas the Nintendo Switch version is arriving July 25, 2023.
