It appears that the Patronus charm, arguably one of the most iconic spells in the Harry Potter mythos, will not be available to players in Hogwarts Legacy. This spell featured prominently in the third installment in the series, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, as a means of fending off the Dementors - terrifying wraithlike entities that feed off their victim's positive emotions which, if included, could be among the most horrifying enemies in Hogwarts Legacy.The Patronus is a unique spell in that it takes the form of an animal that the caster has a strong affinity with. Throughout the Harry Potter series, several characters made use of the spell, which became something of a necessity in the fight against Voldemort thanks to the Dementors (somewhat unsurprisingly) turning against the Ministry of Magic and aligning themselves with the Dark Lord. For context, Hogwarts Legacy takes place in the 1800s, long before the events of the Harry Potter series, which takes place in the 1990s. Some famous examples of Patronuses are Albus Dumbledore's phoenix, Hermione Granger's otter, and Severus Snape's doe.Responding to a question regarding the inclusion of Patronuses in the upcoming Hogwarts Legacy, WB Games Support confirmed that there are no "announced" plans to include the spell at this time. The curious wording of the tweet does not eliminate the possibility of the Patronus arriving later in the form of downloadable content. At this time, the only known additional content for Hogwarts Legacy is a PlayStation-exclusive quest that will eventually make its way to other platforms a year after the game is released.
The Patronus charm has a very specific use case in that it is used exclusively to ward off and banish Dementors, which according to the known history of the Wizarding World did not appear beyond the confines of their native Azkaban until the late 20th century, most prominently after Sirius Black escaped from the remote island prison. Thus far, it appears that the developer is making every effort to be as faithful to the established timeline as possible, which has lead to some speculation that the future headmaster Dumbledore could appear in a Hogwarts Legacy sequel as a youth.
While some fans might be disappointed that they won't get to use the popular charm and find out what form their Patronus might take, there are still plenty of other spells to learn and experiment with in Hogwarts Legacy, including the infamous Unforgivable Curses. In any event, this news is a good indication that players will not have to worry about Dementors lurking about and sucking the joy out of the long-awaited Hogwarts Legacy.
Hogwarts Legacy launches February 10 for PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X/S, April 4 for PS4 and Xbox One, and July 25 for Nintendo Switch.
