Hogwarts Legacy Ending Explained: Where Does The Wizarding World Go From Here?

"Hogwarts Legacy" takes place in 1899, setting it well before the events of the novels and movies at the center of the "Harry Potter" franchise. This gives the game the opportunity to show fans a new side of the Wizarding World through the players' own custom character, who joins the school as a fifth-year student. The game's story explores some characters and events that fans have only heard about beforehand, as well as introduces entirely new elements, like a new source of the universe's magical power.

The storytelling in "Hogwarts Legacy," which has received praise from critics, includes a wide range of characters, numerous magical MacGuffins, and plenty of twists to keep fans on their toes. The game also features a few different endings, which heavily impact how the game's story fits into the "Harry Potter" universe. So, here is the ending of "Hogwarts Legacy" explained, as well as the game's implications for the Wizarding World moving forward. 

The main conflict of "Hogwarts Legacy" isn't immediately revealed to the player, but it is eventually discovered that there is a mysterious ancient magic that only certain wizards can perceive and access. The protagonist meets four Wizards, the Keepers, who have devoted their lives to keeping this power hidden from the world. However, it turns out that a professor at Hogwarts named Isidora has access to this power. The player learns that she is capable of removing emotions from other wizards to help her procure this energy. Furthermore, Isidora has become addicted to this power, which she hordes in a massive repository beneath the school. 

After discovering the truth, the Keepers and the player travel to the repository to confront her. While the Keepers initially want to resolve the conflict peacefully, Isidora proves to be too consumed by her addiction and she attempts to fight back. This results in a battle that sees Isidora killing the Keeper Niamh before being killed herself. Afterwards, the Keepers and the protagonists dedicate themselves to locating any other undiscovered repositories of ancient magic.

During their search for further repositories, the protagonist also discovers the motivations of the game's two primary antagonists, the goblin Ranrok and Victor Rookwood. Up until this point in the game, the reasoning behind the pair's uneasy alliance remained a mystery. However, it is revealed that Victor is the estranged son of the Keeper named Charles Rookwood. Their strained relationship drove Victor to try and rebel against his father's wishes, believing that wizards deserve more power over the world than non-magic Muggles.

And so, Victor aligned himself with Ranrok, who began leading a violent goblin rebellion around the same time. This alliance allowed Victor to disrupt parts of the Wizarding World and spread his influence. In exchange, he gave Ranrok access to a repository of the ancient magic that Charles had hidden below his childhood home. Ranrok believed that this power would give him and his fellow goblins the ability to stand up to the wizards that oppressed them, although he knew that he would need more. 

Lodgok is a goblin character that the protagonist gets relatively close to throughout the campaign. Logdok is the younger brother of Ranrok, although the pair had a falling out over the goblin rebellion. Lodgok never approved of this uprising, especially as he knew it would inevitably become violent. So, rather than assist his brother in his machinations, Lodgok aligned himself with the wizards of Hogwarts to try and put an end to the upheaval before it went too far or did any more damage. 

Lodgok's proximity to Hogwarts means he also ends up assisting the player character throughout the game, eventually traveling with the protagonist to a mine that Ranrok uses to harvest ancient magic. The pair are ultimately caught by Ranrok and Victor, however, resulting in the reveal that Lodgok has been hiding a journal with information on the ancient power than Ranrok had been desperately searching for. 

This revelation makes Ranrok feel betrayed by his younger brother. In a rage, Ranrok strikes Logdok with a burst of energy that fatally wounds the younger goblin. But before he dies, Lodgok also reveals the location of the last repository of ancient magic, pushing all sides toward the final showdown to control it.

To increase their chances of sealing the final repository, the protagonist is sent to a wandmaker to get a special wand crafted for that very purpose. They have no trouble in getting the wand made, but they are approached by none other than Victor Rookwood as they leave. Victor tells the player that they should work together, as he also doesn't want Ranrok to gain access to the power. He was just manipulating the goblin to his own ends. Instead, Victor says that wizards have a right to this ancient power — and he wants the player to help him take it.

Interestingly, the protagonist is not given a choice in how to handle Victor, as the player character automatically draws their wand and denies Victor's offer. As a result, the protagonist is grabbed and teleported to an arena filled with Victor's lackeys. 

The battle is a difficult one, but the hero is able to overcome Victor and his men. However, Victor's fate is never entirely clear. Instead, the player and Victor clash with beams from their wands and Victor disappears in an explosion. There are no final words or a corpse left behind, which seems to hint that Victor could have survived the encounter. And considering cheating death is kind of a classic move for dark wizards in the "Harry Potter" universe, it stands to reason Victor could return one day.

With their new wand in hand, the player and various members of Hogwarts' faculty make an advance on the repository while Hogwarts is being attacked by Ranrok's forces. Throughout the fight to the repository, various members of the faculty are picked off or otherwise stop to hold off Ranrok's advancing forces. This leaves only the player and Professor Fig to deal with Ranrok and defend the ancient magic source. They're too late to stop Ranrok from accessing the energy, transforming himself into a massive dragon with the power to destroy the entire school and wreak havoc on the world at large. 

This begins the final boss fight of "Hogwarts Legacy." The player and Professor Fig eventually manage to defeat Ranrok for good, saving the school and ultimately bringing an end to the wider goblin rebellion. The fate of the ancient magic, however, is determined by the player's responses to two questions from Professor Fig just before the fight. This choice will determine whether players see the good ending — or the evil ending.

The good ending of "Hogwarts Legacy" is given to the player if they vow to seal the repository and keep it a secret forever. The effort of doing so, even with the help of the special wand, sadly proves to be too much for Fig. 

After containing the power, Fig is found on the ground, weakly clinging to life. In his final moments, he tells the player that he believes they will prove to be a capable Keeper and that he knows they will keep the world safe. He tells the protagonist that his late wife would have loved them, then he passes away.

The evil ending of "Hogwarts Legacy" is chosen if the player tells Fig that they plan on taking the power of the repository for themselves. This choice results in a cutscene in which, after defeating Ranrok, the player absorbs the power of the repository while ominous music plays. The protagonist is then depicted with glowing eyes that seem to indicate a malicious turn before the scene abruptly ends.

Interestingly, the evil ending never shows the Professor Fig's last moments. Regardless of whether the player gets the good or evil ending, however, there is a cutscene that plays afterwards of Hogwarts faculty observing a moment of silence for the deceased professor. Considering the fact that Fig was such a close mentor to the player character throughout the game, it's odd not to see how the "bad" ending would affect the professor. Is it possible that he somehow survived in the darkest timeline?

After beating the game, the player is able to continue playing to complete side quests, improve their character, and prepare for their final exams for the year. When players achieve almost 100% game completion and reach level 34 (out of 40), a cutscene of the game's true ending will be unlocked. This scene shows various students that the player got to interact with during their time at Hogwarts as they tackle their final exams by brewing potions, overcoming a boggart, and passing more traditional tests on paper. 

After the tests are concluded, the player's character then attends the awarding of the House Cup for the year. During the ceremony, Professor Weasley speaks up at the last minute to award an extra 100 points to the player's house. These points are awarded for the player's bravery and actions during the attack on Hogwarts, and they result in the player's house winning the House Cup for the year. As the game finally reaches its end, the protagonist is seen celebrating with their friends.

Depending on which House they are assigned at the start of the game, the player will meet a number of companions throughout "Hogwarts Legacy." One of the most interesting of these is Sebastian Sallow, who belongs to Slytherin. Sebastian is a charming and confident student who quickly pulls the player into his orbit. As the protagonist gets to know him, however, they learn that Sebastian has had a troubled past. Not only was he sent to live with his uncle after the death of his parents, but his sister is afflicted with an unidentified disease that is slowly killing her. 

These troubled circumstances drove Sebastian to dabble in the Dark Arts before ever meeting the player. If the main character continues to spend time with Sebastian, they will also find themselves attempting to help him cure his sister through the use of dark magic and ancient relics. At the end of this storyline, the player finds themselves surrounded by zombies and desperately trying to perform a ritual in a cavern. Sebastian's uncle then confronts the pair, hoping to prevent Sebastian from becoming more corrupted by the Dark Arts. 

The conflict turns heated, however, and Sebastian ends up kills his uncle out of desperation. His sister then arrives to destroy the tome needed to save her, leaving Sebastian heartbroken over his failure. Sebastian's storyline might be the one that's tied the closest to the themes of power corrupting the people who misuse it.

A running theme throughout "Hogwarts Legacy" is the idea that some power so great that no one should be allowed to wield it. This concept plays a massive role in the game's main plot line, which follows the protagonist's attempts to keep the world from discovering the ancient magic. Not only are the Keepers treated as heroes by the game for doing just that, but the game's "evil" ending solidifies the message even more. Even if the player intends to use the ancient power for good, their character is doomed just by having it at their disposal.

This theme is also explored through Sebastian Sallow's storyline. He was so desperate to save his sister that he turned to the forbidden Dark Arts, which are infamous for their corrupting influence in the Wizarding World. While he had good intentions in wielding them, they drove him not only to the brink of madness, but to destroy his own family. In the end, it was all for nothing. Whether it's Isidora, the protagonist, or Sebastian, "Hogwarts Legacy" tells us that some power should simply stay buried.

Given the generally solid critical reception enjoyed by "Hogwarts Legacy," it seems possible that this game could be the start of a whole new era for the Wizarding World. There are many directions for a possible continuation of the game's story could go, and a few parts of its story definitely seem to lay the groundwork for sequels. 

Firstly, the player's character is only a fifth-year student at Hogwarts, meaning they have two more years of school ahead of them. The game also left the fate of some characters undetermined, such as Victor Rookwood and Professor Fig (in the evil ending, at least). A sequel could explore whether or not Victor is tied to Augustus Rookwood, a Death Eater from the original books. Perhaps Fig could return and attempt to reach the protagonist after they've been corrupted by ancient magic. If a sequel were to pick up from this game's bad ending, the protagonist of this could game could even become the villain or a future story.

With over a century of history to explore, the series could also jump forward in time to intersect with the timeline of the "Fantastic Beasts" movies or the more modern day stories. With a mythology as vast as the Wizarding World's, just about anything is possible.