Summary

  • In Hogwarts Legacy, players are faced with the choice of freeing Penny the house elf or keeping her in their service.
  • Penny is a part of the "Minding Your Own Business" quest, which is found in Hogsmeade.
  • After the quest is completed, Penny will stay and run the shop whether freed or asked to stay, with minimal differences.

While concluding the "Minding Your Own Business" quest, players will be faced with the decision of freeing Penny or keeping her around in Hogwarts Legacy, and it can be difficult telling which choice is ultimately the best. After all, to get to this point, they will have had to survive a lengthy, mind-boggling quest involving Fastidio the poltergeist and his psychological games, and so it might be tricky for some students to think straight when faced with this conversation.

This priginally Playstation-exclusive Hogwarts Legacy quest is dark enough as it is with its horror-esque aspects, but choosing whether to free Penny is arguably the most grim part of "Minding Your Own Business." As a house elf, Penny unfortunately has no free will in the wizarding world, and thus she's completely reliant on the kindness of the master she's bound to. With Cassandra Mason out of the picture, the protagonist has the opportunity to finally release Penny from the constraints of servitude - but in terms of gameplay, is it better to free Penny in Hogwarts Legacy, or to ask her to stay and run the shop?

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What Happens If You Free Penny In Hogwarts Legacy

A Hogwarts Legacy character standing in front of a large room in an abandoned green house, where cobwebs cover the plants.

In actuality, there is very little difference between setting Penny free in Hogwarts Legacy, and requesting that she help manage the shop. If players choose the latter option, she will happily oblige, but the same result can be produced by choosing to set her free. Upon giving her the floppy straw hat from Fastidio's dungeon, Penny will be audibly overjoyed at the fact that she's a free elf, and yet she claims that her lifelong dream is to run a store with a friend and sell to the residents of Hogsmeade. Thus, she will insist on staying and helping the protagonist out nonetheless.

Choosing Whether To Free Penny In Hogwarts Legacy Is Inconsequential

A life-sized wizard chess board, found in the Haunted Hogsmeade quest in Hogwarts Legacy.

In other words, it doesn't matter all too much whether players free Penny in Hogwarts Legacy, as she will remain at the player's side regardless of which dialogue option they choose. There will be no differences in how the shop is run; in fact, the only feasible distinction between the two outcomes is that freeing Penny will prompt her to wear her hat from that point onward. The cutscenes, of course, will also be slightly different based on which choice the player goes with.

If the student doesn't care much for the elf's sense of style, then they should feel free to choose whichever option they feel best suits their character's moral alignment or personality.

If the student doesn't care much for the elf's sense of style, then they should feel free to choose whichever option they feel best suits their character's moral alignment or personality. Those looking for a roleplaying playthrough may choose which option would work best for their character, and freeing the house elf is obviously the better moral decision for a "good" character.

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At the end of the day, choosing whether to free Penny comes down to personal preferences, as the decision has no impact on gameplay, the shop in Hogsmeade, or character relationships whatsoever. This illusion of choice is a common theme within the RPG, thanks to the lack of a morality system in Hogwarts Legacy, but this predicament in particular can easily trick players into believing otherwise. Since the decision is ultimately inconsequential though, witches and wizards should choose as they please between freeing Penny in Hogwarts Legacy, or kindly requesting that she stick around.

Hogwarts Legacy Game Poster
Hogwarts Legacy

Franchise
Harry Potter
Platform(s)
Xbox Series X , Xbox One , PlayStation 4 , PlayStation 5 , Microsoft Windows , Steam
Released
February 10, 2022
Developer(s)
Avalanche Software
Publisher(s)
Warner Bros. Games
Genre(s)
Adventure , Action RPG , Open-World
ESRB
T

Editor’s Note: Harry Potter creator J.K. Rowling has been accused of transphobia by those in the LGBTQ+ community. Although not directly involved in the development of Hogwarts Legacy, Rowling does stand to earn royalties from the game. We would like to reiterate our support for trans rights and that trans identities are valid. Support services are listed below for trans people impacted by discussions of transphobia.

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