Hogwarts Legacy is a massive open-world game filled with several side quests and activities to keep you occupied. These activities are a great break from running the main quests and a good way of leveling up quickly. They are also a great source for learning several useful spells and picking specific talents that synergize well with those builds. Eventually, you will have to progress through the main quests to reach the end of the story though.
The major questline going through the story will take you through the Keeper Trials, which detail the source of the protagonist’s Ancient Magic and how best to proceed forward.
Hogwarts Legacy Keeper Trials
There are four Keeper Trials in the game, each devised by a Keeper of the Ancient Magic to ensure that a worthy successor inherits the knowledge that lies at the end. After each trial, a Pensieve full of memories is revealed to the player and they will have to piece the story of what happened in the past together. All the memories center around one character: Isidora Morganach.
Only bits and pieces of the memories are shown to the player, prompting further completion of the trials. Every trial is composed of puzzles and illusions that the player will have to complete by using all of the spell knowledge that they have gathered up to this point. There will be a lot of Pensieve Warriors to fight along the way culminating in a boss battle with the Pensieve Guardian at the end.
Each trial has its own challenges and we will briefly explain how to get past them.
First Keeper Trial: Percival Rackham’s Trial
The first trial in the game is the trial of Percival Rackham. This trial is easier than the rest and serves to guide you through some of the longer and more complex trials. The trial teaches you about how Ancient Magic Hotspots work in these areas, creating paths that wouldn’t otherwise exist. Interact with the Hotspots and make your way to the first battle with the Pensieve Protectors.
Related: How to destroy the orb and beat the Pensieve Guardian from Destructoid
After you defeat them, make sure to check around for pathways you can reveal with Revelio. When you pick up all of the chests and rewards that are strewn about, it’s time to move on. You can do that by getting on the floating platform and then using Accio on an interactable chain handle to pull yourself to the next area.
This area will also teach you about the Ancient Magic archways that distort the area around you. Going through these archways will change your surroundings in such a way that certain pathways will get cut off while newer ones will arise. Manipulating this to your advantage will lead you through a series of chests and on to the final boss room.
After clearing a few more platforms with Accio, head up the staircase to fight a gauntlet of Pensive Protectors. Eventually, you will run into the giant Pensieve Guardian that looks more intimidating than it actually is. Make sure to time your rolls to dodge some of its attacks and use timely Protegos to reflect the others.
Defeating this boss will grant you access to the first Pensieve memory.
Second Keeper Trial: Charles Rookwood’s Trial
The game’s second trial is the trial of Charles Rookwood. This trial is a bit more complicated than the previous one and will require the use of spells that you learned during your professors’ assignments at Hogwarts. Many players consider Charles Rookwood’s trial to be the most tricky of the four, but if you keep calm and think your way through, it shouldn’t be too much trouble.
Most of the difficulty in this trial can be attributed to the Ancient Magic archways. You will have to distort the shape of a few items to progress from one room to the other. A perfect example of this lies in the first room when you head down the initial set of stairs and activate the Ancient Magic Hotspot. You will have to move back and forth through the archway to change the rock into a pillar, and vice versa, to get the perfect shape you need to progress.
Beyond this point, a lot of platforming with the archways and using Accio awaits you. The room beyond this one will engage you in combat with several Pensieve Protectors. After this, move the path towards the middle to continue. The final run in this trial room will see you fighting enemies that aren’t visible but can still pack a punch.
This phenomenon isn’t a glitch, it just means that you have to head to the other side of the archway in order to see and interact with the enemies. Defeat them all to head to the next room which involves some more rock-archway manipulation to get across. Head to a platform that can be rotated and choose the middle path once again to head to the boss room.
The boss battle works exactly the same as the previous boss, except you will have to break the glowing orb before it charges up. Depending on the color of the orb, you will have to hit it with a different type of spell. If it glows purple, hit it with a Force spell. If it glows yellow, hit it with a Control spell. If it glows red, hit it with a Damage spell.
Defeating the boss here will grant you access to the second Pensieve memory.
Third Keeper Trial: Niamh Fitzgerald’s Trial
The third Keeper trial is the trial of Niamh Fitzgerald. This trial is quite possibly the easiest of the four trials if you know what to do, which is why we’re here to help. To break it down, this trial is divided into three parts with each one requiring you to reach a certain objective before you can progress to the next part. They can be tricky since they are completely unlike the previous trials so far.
The first part of the trial will require a stealthy approach. Make sure to avoid all enemies without getting caught to progress. When you get a prompt to go back, turn around and take the door to the left. Continue along through the darkness till you get to a wooden bridge. Cross the bridge to get the first of the three Deathly Hallows: The Invisibility Cloak.
The second part of the trial will need you to put on the Invisibility Cloak and head through the left gate into a new area. This is where you will find the second Deathly Hallow: The Elder Wand. Avoiding enemies here will be much easier with the Cloak till you get the Elder Wand. Then use the wand to defeat all enemies and break a path open to proceed forward and encounter Death. Defeat two rounds of enemies that Death summons to proceed to the final area.
The third and final part of the trial involves getting the last of the Deathly Hallows: The Resurrection Stone. Acquiring the last of the three is relatively easier compared to the last two. Just follow the path ahead till you come across Death standing by a tombstone. Without spoiling anything, what happens next will have you follow Niamh to the end of the trial.
This will lead you to the third Pensieve memory.
Fourth Keeper Trial: San Bakar’s Trial
The final trial is the trial of San Bakar. This will round up all four trials in the main questline of the game and will reveal to you the entire truth of Isidora Morganach. This trial takes you all the way to the end of the map, in the southeast region of Cragcroft where you are told that your skills will be put to the test, especially your handling of beasts.
Once you get to the location, head to the Manor Cape area and burn off the foliage to pass through with Professor Fig. This reveals the carving of a Graphorn which foreshadows what is to come next. Professor Fig then evacuates since you have to fight the beast alone. Go into the Graphorn’s Den and you will finally meet the beast itself, a unique Graphorn titled “The Lord of the Shore”.
This will possibly be the toughest boss battle yet, with the Graphorn’s attacks hitting fast and hard. To top it off, when the beast’s health drops below half, he pulls out a Dark Souls-esque second phase on you by getting faster and stronger than before. When the battle finally reaches its conclusion, you will be given one of two options, choose “Attack” or “Kneel”. If you kneel, you will bow down to the Graphorn as it stops attacking and becomes your ally.
Ride the Graphorn back to the Pensieve Chamber and use its charging attacks to get rid of any obstacles you might encounter. Standing on a particular circular platform will open up a path to San Bakar’s portrait and the final Pensieve memory.
