In Hogwarts Legacy, certain parts of Phineas Nigellus Black’s life and personality are immediately apparent, such as his unreasonable animosity toward muggleborns or his preoccupation with maintaining the good name of his family, but there are other, less visible facets of his past that only keen-eyed players will notice.
The bulk of the students and staff members make their dislike of the Slytherin Headmaster quite clear, so it’s not surprising that he tends to keep to himself.
Despite how enigmatic he may be, there are a few easily missed bits of language, objects, and encounters in Hogwarts Legacy that might provide light on Headmaster Black less obvious character details.
- Professor Sharp Makes Boil Tonics for Headmaster Black
Although the Potions teacher has some unsettling goals, as revealed in a hidden Professor Sharp cutscene, his highly amusing exchange with Headmaster Black in Hogwarts Legacy is still likely to earn him praise from players.
Professor Sharp approaches them to talk about a specific brew that his master had ordered while the main character consumes the Polyjuice Potion and turns into a doppelganger of Phineas.
It turns out that the Headmaster had been secretly dealing with some boils, so he assigned his unfortunate colleague the responsibility of making a Boils Tonic to address the problem.
- Black Attempted To Change the Hogwarts Admission Process
In Hogwarts Legacy, Headmaster Black already appears to be annoyed by the player’s late entrance, but a secret letter indicates that his intentions for the school’s admissions policy are even more evil than he initially admits.
Black had already written to Faris Spavin, the current Minister for Magic, requesting him to modify the “admissions procedure at Hogwarts,” according to the letter.
Even if it is hinted that he intended to make it such that only purebloods were allowed to enroll in the witches’ and wizards’ school, it’s still disturbing and surprising information.
- Black Encourages Bullying
A simple-to-miss detail about Headmaster Black in Hogwarts Legacy portrays him as someone who almost encourages bullying.
A first-year, half-blood Hufflepuff student is targeted by 2 older Slytherin students in a clip that ROCKSTAROS published on YouTube.
They first levitate the student’s textbook before setting it on fire. Phineas sees the situation and goes to the group shortly after, but he does not provide much assistance.
The Hufflepuff student’s burning book is put out but frozen on the marble floor when he casts Glacius upon it.
The first-year begins to explain what occurred, but the Headmaster cuts him off and says, “I wasn’t speaking to you,” before turning to the Slytherin kids and saying,
“The wise rabbit doesn’t aim to outpace the tortoise, since it’s not necessary.”
He may have ended the Hufflepuff student’s suffering out of responsibility, but by letting the bullies go free, he implied that their victim wasn’t worth the trouble since he was a half-blood.
Hogwarts Legacy’s little in-game information about Headmaster Black builds a picture that is clearer than ever about the school’s least respectable Headmaster, however there is still a lot that players don’t know about him.
It appears that Sirius Black’s animosity for his distant grandfather was legitimate after all, since the previously mentioned details from Hogwarts Legacy serve to further demonstrate that he was truly prejudiced, self-centered, and an absurd candidate for the position of the school’s Headmaster.