Even if some are firmly convinced that not everything was better in the past. In 1990, smartphones hadn’t been invented yet, 16-bit consoles were considered powerful, and my class teacher thought a slap on the back of the head was pedagogically appropriate.
In Hogwarts Legacy there is also a hint of the past, specifically that of the famous magic school! There are clear references to the pedagogically questionable practices of an almost forgotten era.
Detention, detention, torture
If you’re familiar with the intricate corridors of Hogwarts School of Magic, you’ve probably come across an interesting chamber. It contains some school desks as used in classrooms.
The other paraphernalia lying around don’t really want to fit into the picture and are more reminiscent of a medieval torture chamber. A pillory where delinquents can be restrained by the neck and wrists, hanging cages to humiliate offenders… nothing students would like to see in a classroom.
Check out the chamber for yourself:
Controversy um JK Rowling
Comments by Harry Potter author JK Rowling about trans people have repeatedly sparked controversy. This article explains Rowling’s statements and summarizes reactions from those affected. The author is not directly involved in the development of Hogwarts Legacy, but indirectly benefits from profits from the Harry Potter brand through the trademark rights.
What was this chamber for?
Anyone who knows the Harry Potter books and films by heart should already know what was going on here. The cynical Hogwarts caretaker Filch recalls the days when students were tortured for misdemeanors:
Too bad they let the old punishments die out. There was a time when detention in dungeons got you hung up by your thumbs. God I miss the screams.
It is actually a chamber in which students used to be held in detention and had to endure one or the other ordeal. The found manual page confirms that:
It is possible that the quills are enchanted specimens that scratched what was written on the backs of the poor students’ hands and used their blood as ink. You may remember the scene when Professor Umbridge, who was prone to torture, used just such feathers.
Old prohibition signs still hang on one wall of the chamber as mute warning signs. In the dark days of Hogwarts, those who broke these rules faced extreme forms of detention. So torture. Everything was definitely not better in the past.
What did you find in Hogwarts Legacy that made you stop and think? Do you know of other more or less subtle references to the template? Feel free to write them in the comments!
