Dementors are some of the most intimidating and ghastly entities in Harry Potter lore, lending quite a bit to the dramatic turn to horror that the franchise took early on. The cold chill that follows them and the black, hooded appearance they have are clear signs that they pose a threat, and the fact that they absorb individuals’ souls along with their literal happiness makes these wraiths truly terrifying. Fortunately, witches and wizards alike may stand a chance in defending themselves against Dementors as long as they have learned to master the Patronus Charm, although that doesn't happen in Hogwarts Legacy.
Fueled by positive emotions and memories, Expecto Patronum emits a projection in the form of a luminous creature that is unique to the caster. Hogwarts Legacy features many different spells with some being much more unique than others, but it does not feature Expecto Patronum for one simple reason: the player does not come face-to-face with Dementors in any meaningful way that would result in combat against them. In fact, only one Hogwarts house in Hogwarts Legacy allows players to even see Dementors, and this is for good reason since there are no Dementors at the school.
Hogwarts Legacy Has Quest Exclusivity Per House
It was previously believed that the player’s desired Hogwarts house would not amount to anything significant apart from the common room and dormitories that they belonged to in their time at school. There is cosmetic significance to this choice, of course, with different gear skins bearing the colors and insignias of the house players have chosen. But something many players might not know unless they were to play Hogwarts Legacy as a student in all four Hogwarts houses is that each house has an exclusive quest.
These quests are rather short and all revolve roughly around the same result in finding and conversing with the ghost of Richard Jackdaw: Gryffindor’s exclusive quest in Hogwarts Legacy allows players to meet Nearly Headless Nick, for example. Other examples include Ravenclaw’s exclusive quest that takes players to Hogwarts’ Owlery and Slytherin’s exclusive quest that takes players to a quaint grotto. The quest exclusive to Hufflepuff’s house, though, features an entirely separate location apart from Hogwarts Legacy’s map that is inaccessible otherwise.
Hogwarts Legacy’s Hufflepuff Quest Brings Players to Azkaban
The reason why there are no Dementors at Hogwarts is that they are intended to remain at Azkaban, a prison that stands erect as an enormous monolith in the middle of the North Sea. Dementors serve as Azkaban’s guards exclusively, and thus it makes sense why they do not appear at the school.
It would be terribly disappointing if players could learn the spell for this one five-minute mission in Hufflepuff only to never use it again, and therefore it makes sense why the Patronus Charm is not available in Hogwarts Legacy either. Rather, Dementors have been known to visit the castle in Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban while searching for Sirius Black, and also in the mobile RPG Harry Potter: Hogwarts Mystery.
Therefore, it would not be out of the realm of possibility to have Dementors appear at the castle or throughout Hogwarts Legacy’s open-world Highlands for some comparable reason. Hogwarts Legacy is teeming with magical creatures and enemies anyway, and keeping Azkaban as its own tiny quest makes for a wonderful incentive to choose Hufflepuff in Hogwarts Legacy if players had not chosen it first.
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 on July 25, 2023.
