Outside of the castle and Forbidden Forest, one of the more well-remembered aspects of the Hogwarts grounds is the Whomping Willow. This aggressive tree made a big impact near the beginning of the story in Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets when Harry and Ron flew Arthur Weasley’s car into it and when the secret passage to the Shrieking Shack was discovered under it in The Prisoner of Azkaban. With all of this in mind, how careful should you be walking around the grounds? Will you need to watch out for the Whomping Willow in Hogwarts Legacy?
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Does the Whomping Willow appear in Hogwarts Legacy?
No, the Whomping Willow does not appear in Hogwarts Legacy simply because it has not been planted on the grounds in the timeline yet. Hogwarts Legacy takes place in 1890. The Whomping Willow would not be planted until Remus Lupin would arrive as a student to Hogwarts in 1971.
It was inserted at this time so that Lupin, who was a werewolf, could crawl into the secret passage to the Shrueking Shack before his transformations. The violent nature of the tree would then keep any students from getting in contact with him in his ravenous state.
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While we appreciate the developers not going against the established timeline, it would have been fun to walk around and see the Whomping Willow in action. Since you can fly a broom around the area, it would be interesting to see the tree react to you when you got a little too close. Regardless, there is no Whomping Willow in Hogwarts Legacy. Maybe in a future game set further along the timeline, we will see it again.
