Hogwarts Legacy – All Puzzle Types and Solutions

Hogwarts Legacy fully embraces the mysterious element of Hogwarts Castle and its surroundings, filling the world with a variety of puzzles. While not all repeating puzzles are tricky to complete, some can be a little confusing if you’re not sure which spell to use. Some of them are locked until you advance in the story, so you might have found one of those puzzles but still can’t complete it. Here are all types of recurring puzzles in Hogwarts Legacy and how to complete them.

moth mirrors

Moth Mirrors are metallic mirrors in white with a series of moth ornaments around the edges. To complete these puzzles, you must throw Lumos at the mirror. This will reveal a different location on the mirror, usually somewhere nearby. You must navigate to the area shown in the image, where you will find a moth. If Lumos is still active, the moth will follow. Take it back to the mirror and cancel Lumos so the moth returns to the mirror, completing the puzzle.

Symbol Doors

Symbol Doors has a series of images around the door frame and two math puzzles on the door itself, which are revealed when you interact with the door. To unlock the door, you must find two spinning question marks nearby and flip them over to the correct animals to solve the math questions, unlocking the door. For a more in-depth explanation, check out our Guide to Hogwarts Legacy Door Puzzles.

Statue holding a ball

The statue holding a ball is one of the simplest puzzles found in Hogwarts Castle. You are simply required to cast Leviosa on it to obtain a Field Guide page, after which the statue will disappear.

Merlin’s Trails

Merlin’s Trails is a special puzzle, marked by a set of swirling rocks on the ground. You must use Hollyhock Leaves to start each puzzle. Once activated, you’re looking for a set of stone pillars or structures in the nearby area. What you need to do with the pillars and how many there are varies from puzzle to puzzle. The first one you find (via a story quest) requires you to cast Incendio on three pillars. The second one I found required me to destroy bowls on top of around ten pillars using a basic attack. The third one I found required me to add a set of balls from a hidden location to a stone circle on the ground, so each one varied. Completing multiple Merlin Paths will increase the amount of gear you can carry, which is quite limited at the start of the game.

extinguished pyre

Also around the castle you can find unlit pyres, they look like other basins found around the castle. If you cast Incendio on them they will light up and reward a field guide page. These also occasionally appear on walls, out of range of Ignite. For this, you’ll need Confringo, which will light the pyre and spawn the field guide page, which you’ll need Accio to collect.

chest of eyeball

Another quick puzzle found at Hogwarts, the eyeball chests require you to use stealth, specifically delusion to get close and open the chest. For the location of all the eyeball chests, check out our Hogwarts Castle guide and our Hogsmeade eyeball chest guide.

locks

There are a ton of regular locks found in and around Hogwarts. To open the most basic locks, you will need to have unlocked the Alohomora spell. With that spell, you’ll enter a lockpicking minigame, where you’ll need to line up a red spark with a red arrow, before repeating with a green spark and a green arrow. For more information on when you unlock Alohomora and how to upgrade the spell, see our How to Unlock Doors and Chests guide.

semi-invisible statue

These little statues of a bird-like creature holding a moon aren’t exactly a puzzle, but you’ve probably noticed a few and been confused as to what they are, since they’re obviously interactable. These can be collected, but only at night and only after starting the quest. “The Groundskeeper’s Lament,” at which point you can start collecting them. If you find one during the day, open the map and choose to advance the time to night so you can collect it without going outside or waiting for it to naturally turn night. Collect enough and you can upgrade Alohomora to pick higher-level locks. For help finding these statues, check out our Semi-Visible Statue location guide.

ancient magical traits

Ancient Magic Traces are found in the desert around Hogwarts and similar to the Trials of Merlin, these puzzles can vary in solution. The main solution is that after interacting with the Ancient Magic Traces, three silver balls of Ancient Magic will appear in the nearby area, with vague smoky lines pointing to the location of each one. All you have to do is collect the three balls, which will complete the quest. Most of them are centered around small buildings, where you’ll need a platform through the building. Collecting enough increases your Ancient Magic gauge, which should give you an edge in combat.