Fans of the Harry Potter franchise are waiting with bated breath to see what will become of the latest offering to the shrine of video games set in the magical world of Hogwarts, Hogsmeade, and beyond. The enchanted chips are expected to fall where they may on February 10, when Hogwarts Legacy arrives in the cupboard under the stairs.

For now, we have the picturesque cinematic trailer to pore over and try to glean what exactly we’ll get to do once we’ve boarded the Hogwarts Express.

Hogwarts Legacy – Official Cinematic Trailer

In the trailer, we see a Hogwarts professor (probably McGonagall) entrust an owl with an important message. The trusty messenger then takes flight to show us around Hogwarts’ grounds and beyond.

The owl first flies over the courtyards and into the Great Hall, its enchanted ceiling adorned with the famous floating candles. Next, it’s over some students levitating a book, through Nearly Headless Nick and a classroom of one professor Weasly.

Then, it’s out into the night and straight into the Forbidden Forest where a couple of students are busy doing the most famous activity the place has to offer: fending away Aragog’s children. We also get to see Buckbeak being attacked by a Death Eater who, joined by a couple of like-minded wizards tries to shoot the owl down with “Avada Kedavra”.

Next, we see a Hungarian Horntail, and then it’s finally time to deliver the message to the newest student of Hogwarts. We got serious chills the second that theme started playing, and we hope that Avalanche Software delivers a stunning open world worthy of the IP.

Hogwarts Legacy release date

• PC, PlayStation 5, Xbox X/S: February 10, 2023
• PlayStation 4, Xbox One: April 4, 2023
• Nintendo Switch: July 25, 2023