The Harry Potter wizarding world is full of magical beasts--as evidenced by the fact that three of the movies are dedicated to a magizoologist. It should come as no surprise then that Hogwarts Legacy not only has magical beasts but utilizes them as well.
Mounts
To get around the world faster than walking everywhere, students are able to mount and then ride brooms and some beasts. It would appear at present that the total number of mounts has been set at four. They are:
- your broom
- a hippogriff
- a graphorn
- a thestral (only if you own the Dark Arts pack)
Beast Den Locations
The following is a list of known beast dens and the specific beasts that you can find there:
- Puffskein den, Forbidden Forest (technically), on the road between Hogwarts and Hogsmeade
- Thestral den, North of Upper Hogsmeade heading into marshes
Protection from Poachers
One of the primary plot threads that runs throughout Hogwarts Legacy deals with the existence of poachers and the damage they do to the populations of local magical creatures. To combat their efforts, you can both attack the poachers directly in combat as well as collect endangered animals and rehabilitate them in the vivariums contained within the Room of Requirement. Successful rehabilitation requires both feeding and care.
Billywig
It looks like a fly, except giant and hideous. I'm not entirely sure how the physics of this particular creature works, but they mostly hover. Their stingers are useful ingredients in multiple potions.
Centaur
Confirmed in the gameplay reveal trailer in the opening minute and later mid-video while touring about with Poppy Sweeting. On July 21, 2022, a 21-second animation was released featuring several tapestries and statues honoring centaurs in the North Tower of Hogwarts.
Diricawl
They are known to muggles as "dodo birds", yet they haven't gone extinct. They sport fantastically vibrant plumage and the expected amount of idiocy that you'd find in a Warner Bros. cartoon.
Dragon
Poppy Sweeting almost gets us killed. I never trusted that woman. The following dragon species have been confirmed for the game:
- Welsh Green (part of the art book leak on January 17, 2023)
- Hebridian Black (seen at start of gameplay reveal trailer)
- Hungarian Horntail (part of the art book leak on January 17, 2023)
- Ancient Magic
Dugbog
Looks like a toad with a piece of driftwood on its head.
Fish
For what it's worth, fish can be seen swimming outside of the windows in the Slytherin common room tour video.
Fwooper
One of these is visible in the hands of a student and there is a tree full of them about halfway through the gameplay reveal trailer. Fwoopers are dangerous in that their song can mesmerize a victim, keeping them pinned in place for hours or days.
Garden Gnome
Marsh-dwelling psychopaths that remind me of the little kids you have to baptise in Bioshock.
Giant Purple Toad
I'll give you three guesses what color these things are. It's a frog, but larger than a frog, and carrying around skin so bright there's zero doubt they're poisonous to eat.
Golden Snidget
Prior to the advent of modern machining technology, the wizarding world used small birds known as snidgets as the "snitch" in Quidditch. Sadly, these birds began to die out as accidents and over-hunting destroyed their population--so much so that the Ministry of Magic had to issue severe penalties for poachers found to have injured or killed one.
Graphorn
Mount: Most-likely
Confirmed on multiple occasions.
Hippogriff
Mount: True
The main character is seen riding a hippogriff on two seperate occasions during the gameplay reveal trailer. In addition, there is a named hippogriff known as Highwing that appeared in the extended version of the "Save Highwing" cutscene that was shown during the AutoDesk event on August 3rd, 2022. In that cutscene, Highwing is captured by poachers who subdue him and move him to the roof of a castle, forcing the main character and Natsai Onai to enter the castle and rescue him.
Jobberknoll
A beautiful blue bird with long, graceful plumage on both it's head and it's tail. Perfect for the witch or wizard whose quill is just too bland.
Kneazle
Looks like a cat. Purrs like a cat. Has that look of consternation when you love it like a cat. If you call it a cat the others will yell at you.
Mooncalf
An entire herd of mooncalves are not only visible just standing around but the user can suck them up into a bag similar to the one that Newt Scamander users.
Niffler
Mount: No
Not only are nifflers confirmed but one of the nifflers gets his very own mugshot during the gameplay reveal trailer. If it turns out you can ride a niffler then I'll eat my own monitor.
Puffskein
Imagine if a tribble ate a mouse and the mouse's tail continued to whip around outside of the tribble's mouth. If you don't know what a tribble is, you may not be nerdy enough for this game.
Squid
Harry Potter lore includes the fact that there is a giant squid who lives in the Black Lake. While speculation about this ramped up considerably when the cover of the art book was posted to Amazon and featured a squid on the cover, it was confirmed on January 20, 2023 when pages from the art book were leaked and, on page 233, the devs confirmed at least one squid living in the lake. In addition to the living squid in the lake, there is also a tile mosaic of a squid in the back of a cave found by the waterfall that runs under the clocktower courtyard bridge.
Streeler
It is unknown at this time what a streeler is or if you can actually find and/or interact with one in the game, however a random Ravenclaw student NPC at Hogwarts can be heard discussing how he was "run over" by one as one of the random male-voice barks in the game.
Thestral
Mount: Only via the Dark Arts Pack
The appearance of thestrals during the gameplay reveal trailer raised some questions about the main character as it is official Harry Potter canon that thestrals can only be seen by those who have seen death. However, during the original announce trailer, we see a flying carriage bringing the main character to Hogwarts and the thestrals are not visible--possibly implying that the witnessed death occurs during gameplay. In June 2022, code was found on the Hogwarts Legacy web site that revealed the possible existance of a thestral mount, though this could be a DLC or an old idea that has since been canceled.
Troll
The very first piece of action we see in the gameplay reveal trailer is a troll crashing through a building in Hogsmeade. It is assumed this is the "distraction" Ranrok and Rookwood are discussing later in the video. There is also another troll later in the video who is chilled (but not frozen) by the main character, though it continues on its path and damages the player.
Unicorn
They're like a horse with a horn on it's forehead. I am reminded of the scene where Lord Voldemort slays and then drinks a unicorn in the first book. Nothing destroys your reputation like a draft of the silver.