In the Shadow of the Study – Hogwarts Legacy Quest

Sebastian Sallow will send you an owl saying that he wants to meet outside the Slytherin common room to discuss the ‘Scriptorium’ of Salazar Slytherin. This is in reference to your last conversation in The Great Hall during In the Shadow of the Bloodline. He believes there will be some information in the ‘Scriptorium’ to help his sister, and he needs Ominis’s help to find it.

• Quest Type: Relationship Quest
• Location: Lower Grand Staircase, Hogwarts Castle, Highlands (map)
• Requirements
  • Complete In the Shadow of the Bloodline
  • Complete The High Keep
  • Complete Astronomy Class
• Rewards
  • 180 XP
  • Crucio (optional)

Meet Sebastian Outside the Slytherin Common Room

If you’re not in Slytherin, it might be confusing figuring out where to fast travel. The Floo Flame that will take you directly there is the Lower Grand Staircase. After arriving, head down the stair set and Sebastian will be waiting for you in the corridor. Speak to him with /, and he will say that he tried to compel Ominis to help them enter the Scriptorium, but Ominis is strictly against having anything to do with black magic. As a result, you offer to talk to Ominis, perhaps you can persuade him when Sebastian could not.

Follow Sebastian through the halls, and you will quickly come upon Ominis. After speaking with him, he becomes convinced that he can honor the memory of his dead aunt by gaining access to the Scriptorium. The entrance is in the same corridor where you’ve met him-how fortunate.

Open Slytherin’s Door

Ominis reveals that the entrance has something to do with the three brazers in the hallway. There are two down the hallway that you just came from, and one in the other direction. When you use the Confringo spell (or another fire spell) on them, they catch fire. Cast Confringo at all three, and the way to the Scriptorium will open.

Figure Out How to Progress

Walking into the spooky corridor, you will find a letter from Ominis’s aunt. It mentions that there will be challenges ahead. As you’ll see, that’s sort of an understatement. Next to the letter, will be a shattered stone tablet. If you cast Reparo, the tablet will…repair itself, showing the depiction of a snake.

Explore Beyond the Serpent Door

Speak to Ominis, and he will open the door by speaking Parseltongue; it’s a Slytherin thing. Go through the door, and you will find a dark maze with locked doors. You can use Lumos to help you see, or even better, Confringo to ignite the torches along the walls. First, let’s open the door to the right when you first enter.

You will see a snake statue next to the door and when you select it, you can shift the runes below it with and . You will also notice that there are markings on the door. That’s right, you have to match the runes under the snake statue with the runes on the door. However, be advised that you are timed, and if you’re too slow the statue will strike!

Don’t worry about entering the area you just opened, instead, turn around and head the opposite direction. You will see another locked door, but the snake statue isn’t next to it. The statue is actually in the adjacent room, whose entrance the player has to duck under some metal bars to enter. Input the correct runes under the snake statue and this door will open.

Past the door you just opened, is another locked door with its own runes. But, again, there’s no snake statue in sight. Remember that first door we opened? Memorize the runes on the door and head back to the first door you opened. Through the passage, you will find a snake statue at a dead end. Use it to enter the correct runes, and the last door will open.

Talk to Ominis and Sebastian about Crucio

Once the player has opened the final door and entered the room, the three students will be trapped. After some analysis, Sebastian theorizes that the door will open if the Crucio curse is cast on someone. Ominis refuses to cast it, but Sebastian says he thinks he can do it, or he can teach you to cast it. At this point, the player has three choices for how to continue.

Here’s the dialogue options to respond to Sebastian:

• Very Well. I don’t want to learn the Cruciatus Curse.
• I want to learn the Cruciatus Curse. But you must cast it on me.
• Teach me the Cruciatus Curse and I’ll cast it on you.

The choices are self-explanatory; All of them will result in the door being opened, but only the top one will keep you from learning the curse. If you choose to learn Crucio, you will have to complete the mini-game before casting it or having it cast on you. Thankfully, the plan works, and the students are freed from being trapped in the room forever.

Search Slytherin’s Scriptorium

After a very traumatizing journey, the player will find themselves in a small study. Sebastian urges you to help him search for anything that could help him with his cursed sister. In the middle of the lower-level, you will find Slytherin’s Spellbook on a table.

Go up the stairs and give it to Sebastian. He will thank you and Ominis, then you can leave the study via a statue in the back of the top-level. Before leaving, make sure to open the two chests for some well-earned loot.

The exit will put you back in the corridor outside the Slytherin common room. Listen to what Ominis has to say, then the quest will be finished.

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In the Shadow of Discovery