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Hogwarts Legacy mods hint the RPG had bigger plans for companions

Hogwarts Legacy is a delight for Harry Potter fans but mods are suggesting a deeper companion system was planned for open world RPG on PS5, Xbox, and PC.

Hogwarts Legacy mods companions system hidden voice lines: an image of Amit Thakkar from the Harry Potter game

For all its glaring faults when it comes to the anti-semetic imagery of goblins and the rather racist naming conventions J. K. Rowling has implemented in the Wizarding World, the Harry Potter series does share a somewhat positive message when it comes to the power of friendship and companions. So, it’s safe to say that quite a few Potterheads were excited about the fact that there were companion-focused quests and missions in Hogwarts Legacy – something we’re sure many hoped was a chance for them to recreate their own Golden Trio experience (the term used to collectively describe Harry Potter, Ron Weasley, and Hermione Granger).

However, as we all now know, the companion system available in Hogwarts Legacy is lacklustre – in fact, it’s almost wrong to call it a companion system at all. There are three characters (Sebastian Sallow, Natsai Onai, and Poppy Sweeting) with unique questlines for you to complete – refered to as a “Relationship Line” in-game. But, beyond actively playing through these Relationship Line missions, you can’t really interact with any of these supposed companions – beyond the odd bit of dialogue anyway.

When it boils down to it, for all intents and purposes, these companions are nothing more than background NPCs with the same level of interaction as the other nameless students you pass in the corridors of Hogwarts Castle. It doesn’t seem like this was always the case though; recently, some of the best Hogwarts Legacy mods have been hinting at the fact that a wider companion system was possibly planned for the Wizarding World RPG.

What mod are we talking about? Well, it’s something you may have seen for yourself online. Simply called the Companions Mod, this modification for the PC version of Hogwarts Legacy essentially changes save data to add companion characters to the open-world exploration available. As this Nexus Mods page explains, they can follow you around, fight enemies with you, join you in the Room of Requirements, and even go toe-to-toe with the toughest foes in a Battle Arena. It’s not a perfect system, of course, but it’s something that adds a little more life to the Wizarding World Avalanche Software has presented players with.

Interestingly, though, it’s also something that seems to suggest a wider companion system was in play at some point in the development of Hogwarts Legacy. Why? Well, because some of the companions have quest-specific dialogue that is triggered by this mod; this is something that is effectively hidden away in the game’s files because these characters don’t often accompany you on missions.

A perfect example of this can be found in this Reddit post from ‘Noxx-OW‘. While they are playing through Beeting A Curse, a side mission where players must retrieve Marmaduke’s Crest for Samantha Dale, it’s clear that Slytherin Quidditch nut Imelda Reyes says some quest-specific dialogue. In this instance, it’s a reference to cursed feet – check it out for yourself below:

interesting! with the companion mod on PC, Imelda Reyes has some side quest-specific voicelines! from HarryPotterGame

You’ll be pleased (or disheartened) to know that this isn’t the only instance of quest-specific dialogue presenting itself while using a Hogwarts Legacy companion mod. This Tik Tok from ‘miss__soapy‘ shows Sebastian, Natty, Poppy, Imelda, and Amit Thakkar all seem to have quest-specific dialogue when it comes to finding the reward from the Hogwarts Legacy map with floating candles.

@miss__soapy Found hidden dialogue in the floating candles quest! There was even dialogue for Imelda which is interesting 🤔 guess she was considered a companion! #hogwartslegacy #slytherin #hufflepuff #sebastiansallow #trending #fyp ♬ original sound – sophia 🐝

When you look at this alongside this discussion on which companions have the most hidden dialogue, it seems as though the five student characters mentioned above are the ones that look like they might have been companions in any true companion system being planned for Hogwarts Legacy. You can take quite a few characters with you on your adventures using the Companions Mod, but it sounds like Ominis – for example – is destined for side-character NPC status.

When exploring the Hogwarts Legacy map and everything it has to offer, there are instances when the Player Character quips something along the lines of “I wish someone was there to see that” – an utterance that would be strange to include if there was never any option to have someone there to see that, as it were. So, you have to wonder if these are the remnants of last-minute changes to select missions or the ashes of a more developed companion system that never saw the light of day.

Either way, we were certainly under the impression that there was a deeper level to the friendships you could develop in Hogwarts Legacy ahead of launch. When you think about the leaks and rumours regarding Quidditch, it does seem like this could be another thing that might have been something more.

We know for a fact that Hogwarts Legacy DLC isn’t on the cards for Harry Potter fanatics, but there’s nothing to say we won’t see some of this content introduced in post-launch updates. We just don’t know for sure, yet. Hogwarts Legacy really drops the quaffle when it comes to mini games, though – so, maybe not.

Hogwarts Legacy has drawn considerable criticism during its development, largely due to the fact that the creator of the Harry Potter series, J.K. Rowling, has made a number of transphobic remarks on social media in recent years.

While Avalanche has confirmed that J.K. Rowling is not “directly involved” in the development of Hogwarts Legacy, it is working with “her team” and Portkey Games, a Warner Bros. label dedicated to launching new experiences inspired by J.K. Rowling’s original stories. It is currently unclear whether she will earn any royalties from the game’s sale, but it is likely given it is based on her original body of work.

If you would like to learn more about transgender rights or lend your support, we’d encourage you to check out the National Center for Transgender Equality in the US and Mermaids in the UK.