Hogwarts Legacy keeps witches and wizards quite busy, containing a plethora of characters to meet, places to explore, and things to do - but some quests should be omitted from students' schedules altogether, as they aren't worth the trouble. Deputy Headmistress Weasley might not approve of this sentiment, encouraging players to explore and collect as many Field Guide pages as possible, but those not willing to sacrifice their sanity will be better off displeasing the Transfiguration professor and avoiding Hogwarts Legacy's worst side quests.

While most optional missions aren't outright excruciating, they can often seem repetitive or uninspired. Unfortunately, many take on the form of basic fetch quests that only differ in dialogue and items of interest, and despite their illusion of choice, they have no impact on the narrative whatsoever. In fact, even some of Hogwarts Legacy's best side quests fall victim to these weaknesses, but thankfully, they come nowhere near the rock bottom that Hogwarts Legacy's worst side quests showcase.

Related: 10 Things To Do In Hogwarts Legacy Most Players Never Discover

5 Solved By The Bell (The Bell Tower Puzzle)

A player character standing in front of the bells in the Bell Tower, with all eight in their proper slots.

Exploring the school and uncovering all of its secrets is one of the best ways to enjoy Hogwarts Legacy, but one particular discovery in the Bell Tower Wing is a waste of players' time. Located directly above the Choir Room, the Bell Tower puzzle is easy to stumble across even before finding the "Solved By The Bell" side quest, and it can easily intrigue them with its seemingly simple solution. After all, sharp-eyed students will notice that in order to complete the puzzle, they'll only need to insert the two stray bells back into their slots at the top of the tower.

However, this misleading quest can't actually be solved until they've unlocked Wingardium Leviosa, a more advanced Hogwarts Legacy spell that won't come until hours down the line. Once they've received a Herbology assignment from Professor Garlick, those who have Accio or Levioso unlocked may mistakenly believe they have the right tools for the job and are prone to wasting their time with this bad Hogwarts Legacy side quest. Even those who do have Wingardium Leviosa shouldn't bother with this puzzle, as it has no reward - making it an all-around useless endeavor.

4 Zenobia's Gobstones

The Hogwarts Legacy player character talking to an NPC named Zenobia.

The game highlights all types of students around the school, from first-years to seventh-years and even transfer students, like Natsai Onai. While the range is appreciated, many players may wish that they'd never met Zenobia Noke, one of the few younger students they'll have the pleasure (or displeasure) of interacting with, as she's the source of one of Hogwarts Legacy's worst side quests, "Zenobia's Gobstones."

Unlike Hogwarts Legacy's best characters, she's one of the most annoying students to interact with, constantly boasting her talent for Gobstones and berating those who don't want to play the magical mini-game with her. Not only that, but the task that she burdens the protagonist with is equally frustrating. It will send them on a scavenger hunt across the entire castle, searching for small, round stones that are almost impossible to spot, even with the help of Revelio.

Even worse, every time the player nears one of Zenobia's Gobstones, their character will make a comment about how they should keep an eye out for high places. This can be a helpful reminder at times, but can quickly become irritating while trying to accomplish other, better side quests in Hogwarts Legacy. In order to avoid this aggravating dialogue and the unnecessary pressure to complete "Zenobia's Gobstones," the quest should be avoided altogether.

3 Cache In The Castle

The map for the Cache in the Castle Quest map next to Arthur Plumly from Hogwarts Legacy.

Hufflepuff may be Hogwarts Legacy's best house, but Arthur Plummly's "Cache In The Castle" side quest is among the game's worst, thanks to the similarly annoying dialogue that stems from it. Gameplay-wise, it's not a bad mission, as it challenges the player with finding certain areas around Hogwarts based on a mysterious treasure map. As with Zenobia's gobstones, they'll also hear comments from their character when they recognize a clue, but counterintuitively, the dialogue actually takes a turn for the worse after completing the quest altogether.

Even after solving the puzzle and being rewarded with the Authentic Historian's Uniform, Arthur will continue to reference their findings every time he's in the general vicinity. Clearly, he's happy to have discovered one of Hogwarts' many secrets, but his high-pitched excitement never dwindles throughout the course of the game. Anyone who doesn't want to be congratulated for completing "Cache In The Castle" every time they run into Arthur should take care to avoid this bad Hogwarts Legacy mission, for their own sake.

2 Well, Well, Well

A Hogwarts Legacy student standing next to the well in the Well, Well, Well quest in Hogwarts Legacy at night.

Whereas most of Hogwarts Legacy's worst side quests are so categorized because of their annoying nature, "Well, Well, Well" is bothersome because it's nearly impossible to complete. Finding it is already a challenge in and of itself, as it can only be obtained by exploring the region southeast of Aranshire and approaching a seemingly standard well. However, those who manage to stumble across this obscure location will quickly discover that it's not an average well, as it will speak to the player and provide them with a treasure map. The problem lies in that the map is ridiculously vague, only depicting a tree and a crumbling ancient ruin.

This practically worthless hint, coupled with the game's massive map size, makes completing "Well, Well, Well" almost unreasonable. Without using a Well quest guide, it requires flying endlessly around the open world in search of these two common features, which is hardly an exciting use of a witch or wizard's time. Although those who do manage to find the right spot will be rewarded with a unique hat and a few Galleons, it's barely worth the blood, sweat, and tears that go into completing this poorly designed Hogwarts Legacy side quest.

Related: Hogwarts Legacy's Map Size: How Big Hogwarts Legacy Really Is

1 Reaching 100% Completion

An image of a Hogwarts Legacy student being sorted into a House with a red, yellow, green, and blue background.

While not technically a side quest, the worst thing that a student could task themselves within the wizarding world RPG is obtaining Hogwarts Legacy's completion trophy. Such an achievement is usually worthwhile, especially for players who consider themselves completionists - but unfortunately, earning 100% is borderline agonizing in this particular instance. In order to do so, they'll need to complete all the game's 95 Merlin Trials, which exemplify Hogwarts Legacy's biggest problem: artificially inflating the experience with pointless, time-consuming tasks to conceal a lack of meaningful gameplay.

Hogwarts Legacy is sadly riddled with these needless side quests, and although the most obvious examples are the exasperating 95 Merlin Trials required to earn the game's completion trophy, there are other side quests that reinforce this issue - such as "The Man Behind The Moons," wherein players are tasked with seeking out Demiguise Statues around the map. Only those with real tenacity will be able to finish all of these simple, yet exhausting activities, which ironically makes earning 100% in Hogwarts Legacy its own worst side quest.

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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