Harry Potter: Hogwarts Mystery is a story-driven roleplaying game created by Portkey Games and Jam City in which users play as students at Hogwarts in the 1980s. In the game, you’ll be able to create your own customized avatar, attend classes with famed Hogwarts professors, learn spells and other magical abilities, build relationships, and duel your enemies. After years of waiting for a new Harry Potter video game, the just released Hogwarts Mystery is instantly interesting as it gives a chance to reconnect with well-known characters and to role-play at Hogwarts, just like Harry and his well-known friends. The biggest issue with Harry Potter: Hogwarts Mystery is running out of energy. It’s especially frustrating when you’re in the middle of a lesson, duel or whatever. Even though here are actually a handful of locations throughout Hogwarts that will give you an additional energy point several times each day. Hogwarts Mystery is a narrative adventure, where its scenarios take the form of potion-making and broom lessons, conducted via simple on-screen tapping and the occasional need to trace a specific gesture. As the story-led experience pushes you into the game’s central plot there will be a few dialogue options without any chance to actually fail,. Your Hogwarts character, whoever he or she is, had a brother who attended the school before you but vanished upon leaving, and there are continuous rumours he was somehow involved with a certain ‘You Know Who’, almost similar with the Harry Potter sequel story. Hogwarts itself holds many of the answers, and there are many hidden areas and facts within the castle to explore. The stories are set across the length of a school year, with friends who need help, classes to pass and house points to earn.
Harry Potter: A Hogwarts Mystery is an RPG for fans of the wizarding world. Actually, it’s more of a visual novel than a game. It follows a fairly specific storyline with just a bit of side tasks. Whatever you want to call it, there’s plenty to learn and a few tips to make your experience even better. There are a few things we’ve learned from playing Harry Potter: Hogwarts Mystery that we’d like to share with you. The biggest issue with Harry Potter: Hogwarts Mystery is running out of energy. It’s especially frustrating when you’re in the middle of a lesson. Hogwarts Mystery does everything it can to stop you from playing it. The lessons quickly become dull and the writing is disappointingly bland, though it does make an effort with character dialogue. Duelling other students and casting spells are fun, but most of the time you’re just tapping. Aside from answering the odd Potter-themed question in class, you never have to engage your brain. Like a lot of smartphone games, Hogwarts Mystery looks a bit basic, but it’s not lazy; it’s colourful and gently humorous. Fan-pleasing touches come in the form of dialogue voiced by actors from the Harry Potter films. The most important and frustrating feature of the game, will be the constant demand of energy. Harry Potter: Hogwarts Mystery is free to download and play, but it has quite a few reasons you may feel compelled to spend real cash. Refilling your energy stock is one of them. You’ll use energy to complete actions, like picking out books, practicing charms, or taking notes in class. Some actions only require a few energy points, while others will deplete your entire stock before you’re even done with a task. When you run out of energy, you’ve got two choices. You can either wait until you’ve replenished enough to complete the task or purchase a refill with gems. Actions are limited by time, but whenever you’re facing a task that requires a lot of energy, you’ll be given a lot of extra time to earn it through waiting for points to replenish. If you’re impatient, you can buy a refill, but remember that you’ll probably end up using up that energy again in a future task, so don’t overdo it. Your energy stock will replenish every time you level up, which can be very useful if you level up in the middle of a task.
Things to consider while playing:
Whenever you see a house elf, tap it. You’ll replenish a point of energy stock. Choose coins or gems as your reward for completing tasks if you want to quickly unlock new items for your character (like new hairstyles or outfits).
Choose gems as your reward for completing tasks if you want to be able to refill your energy stock faster and continue on with the game’s story without having to wait for your energy to replenish on its own. Choose an attribute as your reward for completing tasks if you want to raise its level higher. There are a handful of locations throughout Hogwarts that will give you an additional energy point a couple of times each day. I.e whenever you see a house elf, tap it. You’ll replenish a point of energy stock:
- East Towers – Tap the second portrait from the entrance to this tower next to the Charms classroom.
- West Towers – Tap the first portrait from the entrance to this tower next to the Prefects’ Bathroom.
- Lower Floor – West – Tap the torch on the right side of the entrance to the Great Hall.
- Dungeons – Tap the House Elf that is usually standing near the Potions Classroom
- Castle Grounds – Tap the stick on the ground along the second pathway you see.
- Lower Floor – East – Tap the stack of books that are sitting on the bench.
- Hogsmeade – Unknown.
Your energy stack also fills up every time you level up. Keep that in mind when you’re hoping to get through a very long lesson. Choose coins or gems as your reward for completing tasks if you want to quickly unlock new items for your character (like new hairstyles or outfits). Choose gems as your reward for completing tasks if you want to be able to refill your energy stock faster and continue with the game’s story without having to wait for your energy to replenish on its own. Choose an attribute as your reward for completing tasks if you want to raise its level higher. Regarding dueling has two main parts. First, the rock-paper-scissors style ‘Stance’ round to see who goes first. Then, choosing a spell or action when it’s your turn. To win the ‘Stance’ round, you have to predict what you think your opponent will choose (sneaky, defensive, or aggressive) and select the stance that overpowers it.
You’ll notice that during lessons, you’re given a couple of options for spending your energy. You may be able to listen to a teacher, take a break or write down notes. Many of the point rewards are given as part of the game’s storyline, you can earn points for correctly answering questions when a teacher asks. Each option requires a different amount of energy. Some are low-energy actions, while others are energy hogs. The key here is to recall information you’ve learned from reading the Harry Potter series of books (or at least from watching the movies). Your professors will ask you questions that you don’t learn in the game. You’ll know the answers by being knowledgeable about the Harry Potter series. When you start a lesson, use higher-costing actions. Try to keep one or more low-cost actions in the wings so you can use them when you get close to a mid-lesson star. They don’t carry over to the next section of the meter. For example, when you start a lesson, pick an action that costs four or five stars. Do so a second or third time. Then, when your meter is very close to the first star of a multi-star lesson, pick an action that only costs one or two stars. This way, your energy isn’t going to waste. That being said, the more energy you spend, the more experience points and gold your character earns. If you are in a lesson that is 3 or 8 hours long, you’ll have to replenish your energy no matter what, so you can use this to your advantage by selecting the higher energy costing actions throughout the lesson to increase your experience points and gallons faster. This game is set up to put you in a position to feel compelled to make microtransactions to continue playing the game. Don’t be tricked into buying energy. It’s just not worth it. The key is to be vigilant and have patience.
Characters or Friends in Harry Potter Hogwarts Mystery:
- Rowan Khanna [Year 1]
- Ben Copper [Year 1]
- Penny Haywood [Year 1]
- Bill Weasley [Year 2]
- Nymphadora Tonks [Year 3]
- Tulip Karasu [Year 3]
- Barnaby Lee [Unknown]
-The First Year at Hogwarts-
An owl arrives from Dumbledore with a letter bearing your name and you’ll find yourself at Diagon Alley to prepare for your wizarding education.
Chapter 1 (The beginning):
As soon as you start the game, you’ll be able to pick your character’s gender, hairstyle and color, and a few additional features. You can choose to be either a witch or wizard. You’ll also be able to select your facial style including skin color, nose shape, eye shape, eye color, eyebrow thickness, and lip style. Clothing options won’t be available at first but you’ll unlock them as you level up. Your character (avatar) will start off situated at Diagon Alley, where you’ll have to look for the things you’ll need for your first year at Hogwarts. Start talking to Rowan (You can’t do anything else except talking to Rowan first, so it’s going to be easy). Rowan will help you pick up the books you need from the “The Flourish and Blotts” as well as your magic wand from ‘Ollivanders’. After completing the first set of tasks, you’ll be able to choose your character’s name. If you’ll decide you’d like to change your name later, you’ll be able to do so after the tutorial part of the game. Tap your profile, then tap the edit icon next to your name in the upper left corner, which looks like a pencil, then change your name. Rowan Khanna will be your first and most profound friend.
Chapter 2 (Hogwarts):
After the first chapter, which is basically a tutorial, you’ll start your journey at Hogwarts. Each chapter has a certain number of parts to it. You’ll need to complete tasks for each part before moving on to the next chapter. You must complete actions to earn stars, which count toward finishing a task. You’ll be able to fill your star meter by performing actions, which are usually very simple: just tap an item or person the specified number of times. These taps cost energy, which is renewed over time. You’ll earn rewards for completing activities. You can choose which items you want as your reward. If you want to unlock new outfits for your character, we suggest choosing coins. You’ll also be asked questions that refer to something that was just taught in a lesson. If you’ve been paying attention, you’ll get the answer right. Lessons also teach you how to use your wand in order to perform the magic in the suitable way. Using your wand requires you to draw symbols on your device. They’re usually fairly simple, like an upside-down V or a circle. You have to remember these gestures, though. They’ll be important later in the game. After you’ve started learning magic, a new icon will appear on your screen. The Magic tab shows you all of the potions, charms, and broomstick tricks you’ll learn at Hogwarts across all of your years in school. You can earn more attributes, level up, and attend magic lessons while you wait. The real story begins when you get to Hogwarts. The first thing you’ll do when you arrive is head to the Great Hall to be sorted by the ‘Magic Sorting Cap’. Just like in the movie, you can choose from one of the four Hogwarts houses. You’ll actually be able to choose your own in which house to join. The ‘Sorting Hat’ may be able to read your personality, but ultimately leaves the decision up to you:
- Gryffindor – The brave a chivalrous
- Hufflepuff – The kind and diligent
- Ravenclaw – The witty and wise
- Slytherin – The cunning and ambitious
Most likely, every early-days fan chooses Gryffindor and Rowan follows you by becoming also a Gryffindor. After the house selection you’ll be headed to the ‘Gryffindor Common Room’ where you’ll have a conversation with Rowan and then you’ll both head to your first ‘Class of Charms’ with professor Flitwick. Here, you’ll be able to learn the spell of ‘Lumos’ which provides light. Regarding each action and proceeding you have a finite bar of energy you can hold at one time, and when this is depleted you’ll need to pay up or just wait it out and keep checking back before time runs out. You regain one energy point every four minutes, and there’s no way to regain free energy doing another activity. The only challenge involved is remembering the game’s clock is still ticking away while you’re doing other things, so you can then return to finish what should have been a two minute experience. Begin a scene and you’ll be told for how long in real-world time you may finish it (usually around an hour or two) and, very roughly, how long it will take to complete in terms of in-scene actions – the number of times you need to tap things to move the story on. Without paying, you’ll quickly run out of the energy required to fulfil all of those actions. In this chapter you’ll also meet for the first time Merula Snyde and her particular approach towards you (a Draco Malfoy type-like character). She represents the bullying, dominant student who claims to be the best witch in the entire school of magic. That doesn’t seem to bother you until you encounter her while bullying your so far best friend Rowan. After intervening you’ll have to choose one of the three answers in order to clarify your posture towards her. The conversation will be interrupted by the immediately unfriendly declared professor Snape who takes all of you at his class of portions. This class won’t work so perfectly for you given professor Snape’s hostile statements and unlovely ways of approaching your character. The first class of portions directed by prof. Snape will make you lose 10 points for the house you represent – Gryffindor. The situation continues with going back to the Gryffindor Common Room where you’ll meet for the first time, Angelica Cole, your Prefect. She will notice you about a just received letter with professor Snape’s signature that demands you to get a jar of ‘Pickled Slugs” in order to get the 10 points back to your house. You can ask Rowan to come with you. The directions given in the letter from Snape take you to a bizarre room located in the East Towers. Accompanied by Rowan you doubtfully enter this room to face a dangerous plant called Devil’s Snare as the trap that Merula Snyde had prepared towards you. This the first time your character is in danger and you will be running out of energy in the attempt to escape the trap. You can either pay up, or leave them being strangled until your energy recharges. You’ll probably struggle to continue many times through even the first in-game interactions because of that tortuous energy system. The game encourages you to make a purchase and continue immediately rather than wait and leave your avatar suffering. You somehow manage to escape the trap using the just-learned magic of ‘Lumos’ while Rubeus Hagrid hears the disturbing sounds from the back of the door and he saves you by opening the enchanted door. You meet Hagrid for the first time and then you have to go back to your house common room and report back to Angelica if Snape gave you the 10 points back. You have the fake letter but even though you can’t prove nothing against Merula yet. After the attack you just had from the Devil’s Snare you have to change your clothes. Angelica advices you to spend some fun time with Rowan at the courtyard playing Gobstones. At the same time you receive a notification from Ben who’s having trouble at his flying class. He’s having issues with the flying instructor Madam Hooch and you must encourage him a bit to overcome his fears. Until the next flying class begins you still have the time to go meet Rowan at the courtyard to play Gobstones. You’ll both have a great time while playing where you’ll easily figure out which options to choose. You get interrupted by Merula and her evil intentions. She claims she has learned the rest of your brother’s mysterious disappearance and recounts that he is now Voldemort’s collaborator. She threatens to duel you and you can either cast a spell or walk away. If you choose to walk away she would feel pretty ignored and will make a ‘Flipendo’ spell on you anyway.
Chapter 3 (Learning):
It’s important that you become a well-rounded witch or wizard. As you play, you’ll encounter times when you’re asked a question by a professor or classmate. The answer you give might increase a specific attribute, which improves your interaction with other non-player characters in the game. These attributes are:
- Courage – Represented by a green shield
- Empathy – Represented by a pink heart
- Knowledge – Represented by a purple book
Try to maintain a balance of these attributes. You’ll come across many different witches and wizards in your journey and you’ll want to have the right attributes so you can choose options that work best in any situation. If your attribute level is too low, you may not be able to select a particular option during an interaction. You’ll also be able to interact with non-player characters throughout the game. When a character wants to hang out with you (like to play Gobstones or have lunch with you), you’ll see a handshake icon. Tap the icon to begin the interaction and strengthen your friendships. The interactions will cost you a nominal fee of coins and some friends are harder to please than others. When you start an interaction with a character, you’ll be able to see the recommended attributes for a successful interaction. Attributes aren’t the only thing you’ll need to have a good time with a friend. You’ll also need to make the correct choices during the interaction. You’ll want to base your choices on your friend’s current mood. You can find out what that is by tapping the friend’s profile picture in the upper left corner while you’re in the interaction. Your friend will express one of the three attributes. When it comes time to selecting the answer or action you want to take in the interaction, choose the option that most closely fits the friend’s mood. If your attributes are too low, you won’t be able to choose the right option, so make sure you’ve got a balanced set of attributes as you play. You’re not exactly beloved in Hogwarts, especially by members of rival houses, like i.e Merula Snyde (Slytherin). There will be times when you’re confronted with the option to duel. Similar to strengthening friendships, you’ll want to meet certain minimum attributes before entering into a duel. A character that wants to duel will have an icon next to them that looks like two wands crossing. During a duel, you’ll be given the option to sneak attack your opponent, aggressively attack your opponent, or defend an attack – Very similar to a game of Rock-Paper-Scissors.
Before you have your first duel, you must find the ‘Duelling Book’ in the Artefact Storage Room down the Corridor, at the Lower Floor-West. Rowan will accompany you into this mysterious room where it won’t actually be that easy to find the book and this where you encounter your first visions and non-existing voices. After finally finding the book, Chapter 2 is over and Chapter 3 will be on. The discussion of the book will need at least 1 hour to become available if you don’t enough energy to skip, so you might continue the flying class. You’ll have to master the basics of flying before even being considered for a spot on the Quidditch team (prospectively). Attend and complete the lesson while continuing to help Ben so that Madam Hooch will appoint 10 points to Gryffindor for helping friends at overcoming their fears. Now you can discuss with Rowan at the Great Hall. Rowan will seem a bit stressed out and you have to offer your help about it to make Rowan feel better. Rowan is particularly worried about you and your brother’s issue. Encourage him and be his support through the answers of your dialogue in the Central Hall. You will be asked about your visions and he will want to listen more about them. The discussion after is headed towards the duel against Merula and Rowan mentions you that Professor Flitwick is a champion dueller. You’ll have to ask him (Flitwick) to give you some tips and teach you cool duelling spells. You’ll have to go outside in the Courtyard to meet Prof. Flitwick. He’ll ask you what do you need the duelling spells for and the best answer from you would be that you just need to know how to defend yourself, as you have been attacked before. Mr. Flitwick will be understandable enough to teach you the finest self-defence spell he knows – Expelliarmus.
Chapter 4 (Duelling):
After successfully learning the ‘Expelliarmus’ spell from Mr. Flitwick you’ll have to promise him in the end that you’ll only use the just-learned magic spell to defend yourself. The professor reasonably warns you about any scenario that you might use spells not for self-defence purposes it will will get you expelled. Now, get back to the Gryffindor Common Room to meet with Rowan. Rowan shows you the ‘Tickling Charm’ that he has just revealed inside the book. The spell needs 3 hours to be learned and then you will be able to use ‘Rictusempra’ whenever you find it suitable. Try it in advance upon Rowan who just won’t stop laughing by the many tickles. To go further in this chapter you must finish all the lessons, including the Wiggenweld Potion. Then, Angelica (your Prefect) will want to meet you at the Courtyard to learn more about the duelling spells you have learned so far. Angelica suggests that you should duel with Rowan to give it a try.
(Duelling an opponent) Keep in mind:
Sneaky > Defensive
Defensive > Aggressive
Aggressive > Sneaky
Sometimes you can as well predict a character’s stance (i.e Merula chooses Aggressive a lot while Ben chooses Defensive a lot). At the same time Merula may choose Sneaky or Defensive. The Stance round is mostly based on chance. During your action round, you’ll be able to select one of two options: If you choose Aggressive, you can either cast an attack spell or throw a vial. If you choose Sneaky, you can cast a disarming spell or throw a vial. If you choose Defensive, you can drink a healing potion, cast a defensive spell, or throw a vial.You can see which action has more of an effect by reading the description under each one. Some actions reduce an opponent’s stamina by a small amount or medium amount. Test yourself in a ‘friendly’ against Rowan and try the spells that you’ve learned so far. A duel against Merula will be attained after. You’ll find yourself at the Courtyard where is standing Rowan and many other students from various houses including Merula. She is bullying Ben and you decide to interfere. The duel against Merula starts instantly as she makes a ‘Flipendo’ spell on you. Beat Merula who uses her Aggressive stance very often by using some Sneaky attacks accordingly. When Merula is defeated Snape and Flitwick will appear at the courtyard demanding to punish the one who started the duel. Mr. Flitwick defends you after asking which one starting the duel first and your response reveals Merula as the one who did attack first. You remain justified due to your self-defense purpose. You’ll be ready to move on at the next chapter only after finishing the ‘Wingardium Leviosa’ Incantation at the Charms Classroom.
Chapter 5 (Mystery Displayed):
Victorious in your duel with Merula, you must now answer to Professor Snape meanwhile the Hogwarts mysteries lie just around the corner. On your way to Snape’s office you meet Penny Haywood, the most popular girl of your year and she lets you know that you can count on her help in the future. You thank her and continue your way to Snape’s. Snape is waiting you accompanied with Merula. Snape will make some hostile statements against both of you and especially for you and your brother. He asks you: “Why shouldn’t you receive the harshest punishment for your actions?” and you have three options:1) I helped my friends, 2) I don’t answer to you, 3) I’m sorry. You try to justify yourself by saying that you stopped Merula from bullying you and your friends. Anyway Snape drops 20 points from Gryffindor. The discussion gets interrupted by a concerned Mr. Filch who tells Snape that something has happened concerning the vaults. Snape orders you to return to your Common Rooms and goes with Mr. Filch. Merula suggests that they are talking about the ‘Cursed Vaults’ and you decide to follow them. You’ll go through the corridor and stand right next to Merula sneaking their dialogue. Filch mentions an incident that has occurred including some ice from the vaults while Snape suggests that this may be related to your character’s situation in Hogwarts. Filch asks Snape some questions regarding the vaults and about your brother who wanted to open them somehow. Snape makes sure that Filch will lock the door of the vault and will keep it guarded. You will meet Rowan at dinner and tell him what you have just heard. You explain what you heard earlier as it turns out these things are also happening in your visions (vault and ice). Rowan wants to help you and you have to convince him to help you investigate. The most suitable answers for Rowan would be: “Q:What if we get caught? – A: We won’t. We’ll be prepared”, “Q:I’m worried about your vision… – A:We’ll work it out together”, “Q:What about Snape? – A:You’ll work out a brilliant plan”, “Q:What about the Cursed Vaults? – A:We’ll break the curse”. After this dialogue Rowan will be open to help you investigate the corridor. You both decide you’ll start searching within the Upstairs Corridor tonight when everyone falls asleep.
Along with Rowan you are both standing at the door where Filch and Snape were when you and Merula were spying. Rowan feels a bit hesitated and asks you if you are sure about all this (searching this corridor). The best answer from you is to search quickly. You think you’ll be fine as long as you hurry and stay aware of your surroundings. This is when you hear something coming from the end of the corridor. You start searching the place (several energy points needed) and while investigating the door, Mr. Filch’s cat Mrs Norris comes in. You and Rowan run in a hurry to your Common Room. This is when you must finish all the given lessons (Nox, Mount Broom) to continue at the next chapter.
Chapter 6(Classes):
During lessons, you’ll be asked by a teacher to “focus.” There is an outline of two circles in the center of the screen. There is also a ring that pulses in and out. It will increase and decrease in sizes, at one point lining up inside the two circle outlines. Tap the screen while the ring is within the two circles (the ring turns green) to get “Brilliant.” If you place your finger on the screen at any time after the Focus starts, you can simply lift your finger when the ring turns green. It works the same as tapping. You don’t have to wait for the story to prompt you to take lessons. You can continue learning potions, charms, and flying whenever you want. You can also take longer lessons to increase the amount of attribute points (Courage, Empathy, and Knowledge) you earn and generate some well-needed House Points. You can also choose the length of time it takes to complete lessons from 1, 5, or 8 hours long. The longer the lesson, the more attributes and House Points you’ll be capable of earning. So if you’ve got the time, choose a long lesson. You just have to be vigilant in keeping track of how often your energy replenishes. If you’re about to level up, select a longer-lasting lesson. You’ll fulfill your entire energy stock when you level up, so you’ll get twice as many actions. The best thing to do is not to claim free energy until you need it. Leave it unclaimed while you’re in a lesson. You can collect it when you need to during your lesson. If you’re close to completing a lesson, pop back in after 10 – 20 minutes instead of waiting for a full energy replenishment. This will get you through a lesson faster and you’ll feel like you’ve progressed somewhat, which is less frustrating than waiting an hour-and-a-half each time you run out of energy.
Returning at the Gryffindor Common Room you’ll face Angelica who wanted to see you regarding the 20 lost points for Gryffindor. Your answer is in the form of a statement that you’ll find a way to get the House Points back. She puts more pressure on you saying that everyone in Gryffindor is suffering due to your poor decisions and that you are ruining any chance of winning the Houses Final Cup at the end of the year. Angelica demands you to stay out of trouble and to only be focused on your lessons. You are more or less convinced and carry on with the remaining classes to fulfill the chapter. When you go to the Charms class, Mr. Flitwick tells you that you are excused from today’s lesson. You surprisingly ask him why and he tells you that todays spell is the ‘Knockback Jinx’, an incredibly painful spell for the victims, very often used during duellings. Mr. Flitwick suggests that given your history it’s best to not teach you another duelling spell at this time. You mention the injustice that this disciplinary action would mean given that Professor Snape already punished you by taking away twenty House Points. Mr. Flitwick then admits your point and tells you to take your seat. During the Flipendo Lecture, the professor will ask a question: “What kind of spell is Flipendo?” and the correct answer would be “Jinx”. The learning of Flipendo will take a while (3 in-game hours). Now that you have successfully learned the Flipendo cast you will be able to escape the locked room as well as defend yourselves if there will be anything dangerous inside. Go at the Potions Classroom directed by Snape and finish with your Herbicide Potion. Salute Snape and apologize again to him. He’ll reply with arrogance and instruct you to go sit at your desk and get started. When just sitted Merula will ask you if you have told anyone about what Snape and Filch said back in the corridor. You confess that you’ve told to Rowan and this when Merula expresses her aim to enter into the vault herself. At the meantime the Herbicide needs 3 in-game hours to be learned. During the lesson try giving Merula some advice regarding her potion. You’ll earn 10 points of empathy if you do help her against her will and arrogance. Snape will give 10 points to Gryffindor if you successfully manage to finish the potion as requested.
Chapter 7 (Preparing for the Room):
Now that your Prefect is satisfied with the points that Snape gave for your house your attention is towards the locked door. There are many questions on your head like why Snape want it to be kept secret and what does it have to do with you. Go and meet Rowan at the Great Hall, he’ll have a plan to help you get inside the locked room. While talking to Rowan you reveal the plan of giving ‘Sleeping Draught’ to Mrs. Norris (Filch’s cat) in order to get past her. Then, you’ll be able to open the locked door with the Alohom*ora spell while the Knockback Jinx (Flipendo) will help you escape if you get trapped inside the room like with the Devil’s Snare. Nevertheless, you can’t just ask Snape to help you with the ‘Sleeping Draught’ so you decide to ask Penny Haywood’s help. Rowan also suggests this might be a good idea. To accomplish your plan you come to the conclusion that you’ll also need a third person to help you. Rowan asks you who do you want to bring between Ben Copper and Penny Haywood. They both seem fitting but you ultimately choose Penny to be your companion into this. Right after the dialogue with Rowan in the Great Hall you receive a notification from Angelica who wants to meet you. Angelica points out your duelling skills that would certainly need improvement for the upcoming challenges. Angelica states that given that you’ve already proven to be better than Rowan, now would be the right time to practise with another friend. An owl will notify you to meet your adversary on the Training Grounds. The duel will be against Ben. You’ll have two points at your duel with Ben: “Give your all” or “Go easy on Ben”. The most suitable choice would be to give your all, given that you’ll both learn much more if you don’t go easy on each other. After the duel with Ben you can continue to the Potions classroom where you’ll meet Penny. Penny agrees to help you but first she asks you what do you need brewing a Sleeping Draught for. You’ll have three answering options: 1)It’s for Mrs Norris (The truth), 2)I just love potions, and 3)I can’t tell you. You can decide to tell her the truth. She’ll be excited and will confirm that your secret will be safe with her. While beginning the preparation of Sleeping Draught you notice that Snape is not in the classroom and Penny tells you that Snape won’t be your Professor of Defence Against the Dark Arts anymore as he’s campaigning to Dumbledore. After, you both begin with the preparation of the potion that’ll need 3 in-game hours to be ready. The Sleeping Draught will be ready to be used even if you haven’t spoken to Penny yet to assure she’ll help you further in entering the room. You’ll need to wait 3 in-game hours to talk to her again. You’ll meet Penny at the Great Hall and she’ll ask you why would you choose her. Your 3 answers will be:1) You know potions, 2) You know the gossip, 3) You’re my friend. You choose the third and admit that Rowan already agreed to help but you might not have many friends. Penny confirms that now you have at least two friends (including her also). She says she’s your friend, but being a Hufflepuff and not knowing exactly your plans cannot yet guarantee her commitment. Recruiting Penny will need 125 coins and some answers from your part. Her first question is: “Why do you believe in your plan?” and the best answer is:”I believe in my friends”. She’ll tell you “It’s dangerous…” and you’ll answer “That’s why we need your help”. The next question is “What about Mrs Norris?” and your best answer will be “We need a Sleeping Draught”. She’ll be finally convinced after these answers.
Go back to finish the remaining classes including the Alohom*ora spell with Mr. Flitwick. During the Alohom*ora class you’ll be asked some questions by Rowan. The first question will be: “Who is the Divination professor?” and the correct answer is “Professor Trelawney”. The other question will be “Who is the History of Magic professor?” – Correct answer: “Professor Binns”. The correct answers will give you attributes. It’s very important to raise your attributes early on. It will affect your ability to interact with characters in the story. If you don’t have a high enough attributes to answer a question, you may lose out on the chance to interact with that character at a later point in the game. Also always choose skill points whenever possible. The higher your skills, the more options you have when talking to teachers, who could ultimately reward you with house points. You can also take extra lessons whenever possible to earn House Points.
Now, before moving on to the next chapter where you’ll obviously try to open the Locked Door of the Cursed Vault, you have to duel your Prefect first. The situation starts when Rowan asks you at the Great Hall on how are you feeling about the upcoming duel with your Prefect. You can choose to tell him/ her that you are rather excited, nervous or focused. Along with Rowan you’ll both study some duelling techniques at the Great Hall that will last about 3 in-game hours and after that the time for the duel has come so you head to the Training Grounds to meet Angelica. Angelica approaches you with the question: “Are you ready for our duel?” and you have 3 options: 1)I’m ready, 2) Probably not and 3)Are you ready for me? You can choose any of them to clarify your attitude. Angelica will be a lot aggressive with her moves so keep that in mind. After beating Angelica you’ll have to choose from “Tell everyone that you defeated your Prefect in a duel” and “Don’t tell anyone”. The “I won’t tell anyone” option will give you much empathy points.
Chapter 8 (Inside the Room):
Start by attending the flying class with Madam Hooch. You have to unlock the Liftoff and Landing lesson. During the Flying lesson you may be asked from the professor or whoever: “Which of these is not a type of broom?”, and the correct answer is:” Occamy”. Another question you may be asked is regarding Madam Hooch: “In addition to teaching Flying lessons, what is Madam Hooch’s other job?” and the correct answer is “Quidditch Referee”.
After finishing the flying class you’ll receive a notification from Penny who tells you that the potions are prepared and that you have to hurry to the locked room while Filch is off patrolling the castle. On the way you’ll encounter Mr. Filch with an angry tone of voice. He recognizes you while being aware of your brother. You can choose to “Trick him” through the given options at your conversation. After the event assemble with Penny and Rowan at the corridor. Give the Sleeping Draught to Mrs Norris to fall her asleep. The plan seems to work as the cat immediately sleeps. Now you can open the door using the Alohom*ora spell. This when you notice Merula right behind you. She makes Flipendo spells upon you three clearing her own way to the locked door of the Cursed Vaults. Penny has brought a Wiggenweld Potion which you can use to stop Merula, make her pay or even help her. As soon as you enter the door you notice Merula being held by some ice, just like in your visions. Rowan gets caught by the ice as well and you help him/ her liberate through the Flipendo spell. Along with Rowan you help Penny to get as well liberated from the ice and then it’s Merula’s turn. You can either help her or leave her like that. You decide to help her anyway. Then, continue through the frozen door using again the Flipendo spell. The spell doesn’t work upon the door so Penny decides to use a ‘Strengthening Solution” and this when she manages to open the door after the potion she just drunk. Before going you notice several signs in the upper part of the door. Rowan makes sure to memorize them all. You get out with many unanswered questions but at least you managed to escape the spreading ice while acquiring new clues about the Cursed Vaults mystery. This is when you receive a notification from Angelica who demands to go at the Great Hall as she wants to speak with you right away. Angelica has heard rumours that you have entered an unallowed area of the school accompanied with Rowan, Penn and Merula Snyde. She asks you directly if what she has heard is true. You decide to lie, telling her you entered the corridor alone because you thought it was connected to the Cursed Vaults and was hoping to find a clue about your brother. After your answer Angelica tells you that Dumbledore has requested to see you later this evening. After meeting Angelica you meet Rowan who asks you why haven’t you been spending more time in the Gryffindor Common Room. The Quidditch is getting closer and everyone at Gryffindor is putting their heads together to figure out how to beat Slytherin. You go to the Gryffindor gathering to discuss more about the struggles that your house is having. You all decide you’ll have to be bold this year against Slytherin. On your way to Professor Dumbledore Rowan catches you before entering his office. Rowan says it’s about the code you saw scrawled in the cursed ice. According Rowan the code says:”The Ice Knight stands guard pas the Vanished Stairs.” You mention that in your visions you have also seen stairs and a suit of armor. Rowan expresses his/ her will to spend the summer holidays searching for any references he/ she can find to Ice Knights and Vanished Stairs at Hogwarts.
Chapter 9 (Dumbledore – Summer Vacations) :
You meet Dumbledore at the Courtyard. He knows you are expecting a lecture about all the wrong things you have done this year and instead he tells you to ask him whatever you need to know between 3 options:1) Your vision, 2) The Cursed Vaults and 3) Your brother. You decide to ask him about your brother. Dumbledore confesses he doesn’t fully understand what led to his fall and that you’ll learn more in the upcoming years at Hogwarts. Although you have made many mistakes this year Dumbledore admits that you’ve also demonstrated bravery, compassion and resourcefulness. Considering all the things he appoints 100 points for Gryffindor. The final advice from Dumbledore is to be mindful of how your decisions impact others, while also quoting “It is not our abilities that show what we truly are, it’s our choices.” Now, it’s time to gather in the Great Hall! The time to announce the winner of the House Cup has come. Dumbledore congratulates Gryffindor for winning this year the House Cup. After that Dumbledore wishes you happy summer holidays.
