Wondering which Hogwarts Legacy spells you can cast in the halls of the famous school? Spellcasting is one of the biggest draws of attending Hogwarts – that and getting into magical mischief – so which spells will we be able to use in Hogwarts legacy, and how will spellcasting and combat work?
Counting all contextual spells, there are 31 learnable Hogwarts Legacy spells. Of these spells, you can allocate 23 to up to four different spell slots per loadout. You can get up to four loadouts at once by unlocking the relevant Hogwarts Legacy talents with points you earn by leveling up. Learning the spells in the open-world game will happen either by attending class, as a reward for completing assignments or learned during main story missions. Here is everything you need to know about them.
All Hogwarts Legacy spells
Here we will outline precisely when you can learn each of the 31 Hogwarts Legacy spells, what they do, and any requirements you need to meet before you learn it. They will appear on the list in the order you can learn them in the game, with those from assignments appearing on the list as they appear in-game.
| Spell name | Spell effect | How to learn | Requirements |
| Basic spell | Fires a bolt of magic for a small amount of damage. | Taught by Professor Fig during the tutorial. | N/A |
| Protego | Grants a temporary shield to deflect yellow attacks. | You already know this spell, but it’s first used in the tutorial. | N/A |
| Stupefy | Stuns an opponent after you block with Protego. | You already know this spell, but it’s first used in the tutorial. | N/A |
| Lumos | Illuminates the surrounding area. | Taught by Professor Fig during the tutorial. | N/A |
| Revelio | Reveals nearby objects | Taught by Professor Fig during the tutorial. | N/A |
| Accio | Pull an item or enemy towards you. | Taught by Professor Rowen in the first Charms class. | Beat the tutorial. |
| Levioso | Levitates objects and enemies. | Taught by Professor Hecat in the first Defence Against the Dark Arts class. | Beat the tutorial. |
| Repairo | Repairs a destroyed object. | Professor Rowen’s Assignment (after your first two classes) |
Collect the Hogwarts Legacy flying page near the broken statue. Collect the flying page in the Defence Against the Dark Arts tower. |
| Ancient Magic | Deals massive damage to an enemy or neutralises them at the cost of one Ancient Magic bar. | Automatically during Troll attack in Hogsmeade. | N/A |
| Ancient Magic Throw | Throws an object at an enemy. | Automatically during Troll attack in Hogsmeade. | N/A |
| Incendio | Sets fire to items or enemies. | Professor Hecat’s Assignment 1 (after your first visit to Hogsmeade) |
Win two rounds of Crossed Wands. Complete a round of Spell Combination practice with Lucan Brattleby. |
| Disillusionment | Blend into your surroundings, making it harder for enemies to see you. | From Sebastian Sallow during the Restricted Section story quest. | N/A |
| Petrificus Totalus | Binds most enemies permanently but only significantly damages tougher foes. | Learned automatically after learning Disillusionment. | N/A |
| Expelliarmus | Damages and disarms an enemy. | Professor Hecat’s Assignment 2 (after visiting the Restricted Section of the Library and reporting to Professor Fig) |
Successfully avoid enemy attacks by dodging ten times. Cast Incendio on five enemies. |
| Depulso | Repels objects and enemies with significant force. | Professor Sharp’s Assignment 1 (after discovering the Map Chamber) |
Acquire and use a Focus potion. Acquire Maxima and Edurus potions, and use them simultaneously. |
| Confringo | Launches a fireball at an enemy. | From Sebastian Sallow during the In the Shadow of the Undercroft story quest. | N/A |
| Diffindo | Slashes objects and enemies for massive damage. | Professor Sharp’s Assignment 2 (after completing In the Shadow of the Undercroft story quest, Room of Requirement story quest, and flying class) |
Acquire and use an Invisibility potion. Acquire and use a Thunderbrew potion against enemies. |
| Wingardium Levisosa | Levitates and controls an object in the air. | Professor Garlick’s Assignment 1 (after completing In the Shadow of the Undercroft story quest, Room of Requirement story quest, and flying class) |
Acquire and use a Venomous Tentacula. Acquire and use a Hogwarts Legacy Mandrake on multiple enemies simultaneously. |
| Glacius | Freezes an enemy on the spot. | Madam Kogawa’s Assignment 1 (after completing the first Ancient Magic trial) |
Pop five balloons over Hogsmeade Station. Pop five balloons around the Hogwarts Legacy Quidditch pitch. |
| Alohomora | A spell to unlock locked doors and chests in Hogwarts Legacy. | From Gladwin Moon during The Caretaker’s Lunar Lament story quest (after completing the first Ancient Magic trial) | You can upgrade this spell’s level by finding Hogwarts Legacy Demiguise Statues and handing over the moons to him. |
| Descendo | Slams enemies into the ground with force. | Professor Onai’s Assignment 1 (after recovering the Helm of Urtkot) |
Collect a Hogwarts Legacy Troll Bogey. Cast Depulso on a levitated enemy. |
| Flippendo | Flips objects and enemies upwards and backward. | Professor Garlick’s Assignment 2 (after recovering the Helm of Urtkot) |
Grow and harvest a Fluxseed. Acquire all three combat plants and use them simultaneously. |
| Transformation | Transforms objects and enemies into other objects. | Professor Weasley’s Assignment (after completing the Fire and Vice main quest) |
Collect the field page guide in the Underground Harbour. Collect the field page guide from the Book on Intermediate Transfiguration in the library. |
| Bombarda | Deals heavy damage to a target on impact and causes an explosion to destroy heavy objects and damage nearby foes. | Professor Howin’s Assignment (after the first Ancient Magic trial and learning about capturing Hogwarts Legacy beasts) |
Acquire a giant purple toad with the Nab-Sack. Acquire a Diricawl with the Nab-Sack. |
| Avada Kedavra | Kills an enemy instantly. |
From Sebastian Sallow during an Unforgivable Curse side mission. This is an optional quest. Also temporarily available during Dark Arts battle arena. |
N/A |
| Crucio | Causes damage over time to an enemy. |
From Sebastian Sallow during an Unforgivable Curse side mission. This is an optional quest. Also temporarily available during Dark Arts battle arena. |
N/A |
| Imperio | Temporarily causes an opponent to become an ally. |
From Sebastian Sallow during an Unforgivable Curse side mission. This is an optional quest. Also temporarily available during Dark Arts battle arena. |
N/A |
As you level up, complete Hogwarts Legacy challenges, and earn experience, you can upgrade your spells to make them more powerful in preparation for increasingly difficult battles.
Best Hogwarts Legacy spells for combat
The Unforgivable Curses are probably the most useful spells but have a negative stigma. For those who don’t wish to delve into the Dark Arts, the best spells for combat are:
- Expelliarmus
- Confringo
- Accio
- Descendo
You won’t get all these spells immediately, so when choosing your loadout, the best configuration is to have one yellow spell, one purple spell, and at least one red spell (if not two).
We’ve chosen these spells because they give you the most bang for your buck. For example, Confringo will launch a fireball at your target and, if upgraded, will fire off extra fireballs when it hits an enemy to home in on any other target. Expelliarmus is particularly handy against other wizards and any goblins with axes. It sadly won’t knock a troll’s club out of its hands, but they’re tougher than most regular enemies.
As for Accio and Descendo, you want spells that keep enemies in the air and as close to you as possible. Accio will bring far-away enemies close to you so you can easily hit them with your basic attacks. Upgrading this spell makes it affect more than one target. Descendo will cause lots of damage as you slam the enemy’s face into the dirt before floating in the air for a short time. Flying enemies will take extra damage from this spell, helping you handle their speed.
How to use spells in Hogwarts Legacy
The Hogwarts Legacy spells can be split into two groups: slottable and essential. While you can choose your favorite slottable spells to keep in your “spell diamond” for quick access and can change them around at will, essential spells are deemed more crucial by the developers and are more likely to be needed in any situation – Revelio is one of these.
By pressing the spell key (T on the keyboard and mouse or right on a controller’s d-pad), you can allocate spells to each of the four spell slots. Your four chosen spells are shown in the spell diamond in the bottom right-hand corner of the screen. You can cast them by pressing the numbered key, holding the controller’s right trigger button, and pressing the relevant button.
Eventually, you can unlock up to four loadouts for 16 equipped spells, which you can switch by scrolling with the mouse wheel or holding the right trigger on a controller and pushing one of the four d-pad directions.
How does Avada Kedavra work in Hogwarts Legacy?
The Avada Kedavra spell is no doubt the most infamous spell in the wizarding world, and the darker wizards out there may be wondering how it will be used in Hogwarts Legacy. It’s a powerful spell, instantly killing its target, so you’d think it would be a pretty game-breaking spell in a videogame, right? Avalanche Studios has considered this and seems to have worked out the perfect balance for the killer spell.
First of all, yes, you can use Hogwarts Legacy unforgivable curses, and yes, Avada Kedavra will instantly kill an enemy. As you can probably imagine, the cooldown on Avada Kedavra is considerably longer than any other spell in the RPG game, so make sure you use it wisely. You can, however, use certain Hogwarts Legacy potions to reduce that cooldown.
That’s everything we know about all the Hogwarts Legacy spells. You may be wondering just when the Hogwarts Legacy Room of Requirement will appear before you, who the Hogwarts Legacy characters are, and is Harry Potter in Hogwarts Legacy? Even more importantly, perhaps, is your house, so if you don’t want to leave your sorting up to chance, make sure you know how to import your house and wand to Hogwarts Legacy, and you’ll be rewarded with exclusive house robes.
Alternatively, you can tweak your adventure with some Hogwarts Legacy mods to add in a Shrek broom or make those pesky spiders a little less scary. There’s also a mod to make the fast travel Floo Flame statues shut up, which is good, as they talk far too much.
Additional tips and full spell list by Dave Irwin.
The creator of the Harry Potter series, JK Rowling, has made a number of transphobic remarks on social media in recent years. Warner Bros. has the license to make games based on Harry Potter. While the details of that deal aren’t publicly known, and WB Games says, “J.K. Rowling is not directly involved in the creation of the game”, it is likely that, as the creator and owner of the Harry Potter IP, she will earn royalties from its sales. If you’d like to learn more about transgender equality or lend your support, here are two important charities we encourage you to check out: the National Center for Transgender Equality in the US and Mermaids in the UK.