The Cruciatus Curse is one of the Unforgivable Curses that you can learn in Hogwarts Legacy. It is also one of the many ways to become evil in the game.
Crucio lets you torture your victim. This is the first unforgivable curse you learn in Hogwarts Legacy with the other two being Imperio and Avada Kedavra. If you cast the Cruciatus Curse or the Crucio on your foe, it will bring them immense pain and physical suffering that comes with permanent damage.
If a person is subjected to this curse for a long period, the suffering becomes so unbearable that the mind gives up and the victim finally goes insane. The most well-known example of this is Frank Longbottom, father of Neville Longbottom, who was driven to insanity by this curse used on him by 4 Death Eaters.
Considering the severity of the consequences of this curse, its use was banned and anyone caught using the curse was sent to the prison of Azkaban to spend the rest of their lives being tortured by Death Eaters.
However, there is no morality in the game, so you won’t have to be scared of being sent to the Azkaban prison and being tortured at the hands of Death eaters while performing Hogwarts Legacy Crucio.
Hogwarts Legacy Cruciatus Curse is a powerful and dangerous spell that you learn in a side quest called the ‘In the Shadow of the Study’—a relationship quest from the Sebastian Sallow Quest line.
How to start the quest
In Hogwarts Legacy, you will meet a Hogwarts student named Sebastian Sallow from the house of Slytherin. He will be the one teaching you the Cruciatus Curse as he has a deep interest in the Dark Arts.
He has his quest line in Hogwarts Legacy and his interest in the forbidden and forgotten knowledge is powered by the hope of finding a cure for his diseased twin sister.
Sebastian will be your means to learning the unforgivable Cruciatus curse in the ‘In the Shadow of Time’ side quest but you need to first clear two main quests and a side quest as well.
After you have completed the ‘In the Shadow of the Undercroft’ and the ‘In the Shadow of the Estate’ main quests and the ‘In the Shadow of the Bloodline’ side quest, then you can unlock Sebastian Sallow’s quest line.
After getting access to Sebastian Sallow’s quest line and completing the above-mentioned quests, you need to complete a main quest called ‘The High Keep’. Now ‘In the Shadow of Time’ quest will unlock provided that you have reached Level 16 as well.
How to unlock the Cruciatus Curse in Hogwarts Legacy
‘In the Shadow of Time’ side quest takes place mainly in the Slytherin Dungeon in Hogwarts Castle. Follow the below-mentioned steps to complete the Crucio quest in Hogwarts Legacy.
- Meeting Sebastian: As the quest begins, you need to go to the Slytherin common room and meet Sebastian there who will be looking for the Slytherin Scriptorium. In case you don’t find Sebastian there, you can wait for him in the bright circle and then meet him when he appears.
- Meeting Ominis: After meeting Sebastian, he will take you to Ominis and then you have to talk to him.
- Unlocking Slytherin Door: When you meet Ominis, he will ask you to open the Slytherin door by lighting 3 braziers, 2 of which are on the north and one on the east. You can use ‘Incendio’ the fire-making spell.
- Going inside: After you have unlocked the door, you need to enter it, take the stairs to go down, and discover the first out of five letters from Noctua Grant. You will also need to cast ‘Reparo’, the mending spell, on the debris lying on the floor.
- Speaking to Ominis: Now you will talk to Ominis and inquire about the Parseltongue, the language of snakes and then wait for him to open the door.
- Entering the Serpent Door: Inside the Serpent Door you will find three locked gates. To open the first one, use the ‘Lumos’ spell so that you can see better. Then look at the symbols on the gate and match your lock’s dial with them to unlock the gate.
You will find the second locked gate on your left. You can unlock this gate the same way by matching the dial with the symbols on the gate.
To unlock the third gate, you need to enter the second gate and look for symbols to match. Then, you need to go inside the first gate and there you will find the third gate. Match the symbols on the dial to unlock this gate. - Talking to Sebastian: Enter the third gate and you will discover the Crucio curse lying there. You need to talk to Sebastian who will talk to Ominis and then you will talk to Sebastian again.
- Learning The Cruciatus Curse: Now Sebastian will ask you if you want to learn the Crucio and you can either agree or refuse him in Hogwarts Legacy. Make sure that you select the dialogue option to learn the Cruciatus Curse otherwise the quest will continue and you won’t learn the curse spell.
- Finding Slytherin Scriptorium: Now use ‘revelio’, the revealing spell, to highlight important items including the Scriptorium. Pick up the Slytherin Scriptorium from the altar and give it to Sebastian.
- Going back to the Slytherin Dungeon: After you have left the Scriptorium, go behind the statue to leave and then the quest will end after Ominis and Sebastian have spoken to each other.
Once you complete all the steps mentioned in the side quest above, you will be able to unlock the Cruciatus Curse in Hogwarts Legacy.
Do note that you will have to make some choices to complete the quest. The good is that there are no choice consequences here to deal with. Whatever choice you make to complete the quest, you will get to learn the Cruciatus unforgivable curse at the end.
