A Merlin Trial is an ancient magical puzzle found scattered across the landscape. In its dormant state, it appears as a circular stone platform on the ground, engraved with a distinct swirling pattern. These platforms are often overgrown with vines and blend into their natural surroundings. (video game) To activate a trial, a witch or wizard must place a sprig of Mallowsweet in the central indentation of the stone circle. Once activated, the vines recede, and the platform glows with a faint green light, revealing the components of the puzzle in the immediate vicinity. (video game)
According to the historian Nora Treadwell, Merlin created these trials to test a witch or wizard's ingenuity and magical prowess. They were designed not as a show of force, but as challenges that often involved restoring or interacting with the environment, reflecting Merlin's belief that a good heart was as crucial as magical strength. (video game) Solving a trial causes vines with glowing blue flowers to rapidly grow over the stone platform, signifying its completion. For the protagonist of Hogwarts Legacy, completing sets of trials magically increases the capacity of their gear storage. (video game) There are numerous variations of Merlin Trial puzzles, each requiring the use of specific spells: (video game)
The Merlin Trials were created by the legendary wizard Merlin during his time as a student at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, where he was sorted into Slytherin house. He scattered these challenges across the countryside for future generations to discover. For centuries they lay dormant, waiting for a witch or wizard with the right combination of skill and perception to solve them. (video game) In the 1890s, the trials were being studied by Nora Treadwell, who dedicated herself to finding and cataloguing them. She introduced the concept to the protagonist of Hogwarts Legacy and provided the initial Mallowsweet needed to begin solving them. (video game)
The Merlin Trials are a major side-quest and collectible activity within the Hogwarts Legacy narrative. While not part of the main plot, their completion is mechanically essential for the player, as it is the only way to increase gear inventory space. This encourages widespread exploration of the game's open world. (video game)
Merlin Trials are a gameplay feature created exclusively for the 2023 video game Hogwarts Legacy. They do not appear in the original seven Harry Potter novels by J.K. Rowling, nor are they mentioned in the films or other supplementary materials. They serve as one of the primary open-world puzzle systems in the game, designed to test the player's knowledge and application of a wide variety of spells.