One of the first spells you'll want to learn in Hogwarts Legacy is a classic unlocking spell. But knowing how to unlock Alohomora is a skill in itself. You don't really need it to complete the game, making it entirely optional. But without it, you'll be at a major disadvantage when it comes to earning money, finding collectibles, and completing your map.
Down below, we'll run you through exactly how to learn the intricate spell, how to solve the little minigame that follows every use of it, and why you'll want to seek it out as soon as possible. It leads to a lot of valuable rewards, and you won't see half of the wizarding world without the ability to open locked doors.
How to learn Alohomora and unlock chests and doors in Hogwarts Legacy
A while into the game, maybe five hours or so, you'll meet up with Gladwin Moon, the Hogwarts caretaker, and he will teach you how to open locked doors and chests in Hogwarts Legacy.
He'll teach you the Alohomora spell, which gives you the ability to pick locks by fiddling with the lock itself. Magical caretakers don't need a ring of keys - they just pick locks with sparks. Below is the path of the spell when you learn it.
It's not a spell you need to cast, you just interact with a lock to start using it.
Once the lock mechanism is on screen, as you can see in the screenshot below, rotate the left stick on your controller until the gears in the bottom right start to twitch. Then, carefully line it up until a green light glows on the gears.
- Check out: How to open eye chests in Hogwarts Legacy
Keeping that light shining, use the right stick on your controller to do the same for the central gears. Once it twitches, tweak it until a red light shows as below. This time, the light will be smaller and dimmer than the green one.
Keep them both lit for a couple of seconds and the lock will unlock. You can also just feel for the controller rumble. Once you feel that buzz, you're right on the money.
What you'll notice, though, is that there are three different lock levels and, therefore, three different levels of Alohomora.
When you approach a lock, you'll see the level on it if you're not able to unlock it yet.
How to level up Alohomora
To level up your lock picking skills and get Alohomora level two and three in Hogwarts Legacy, you need to find Demiguise Moons. Gladwin Moon will teach you how these work when you first learn Alohomora. You can only find them at night.
When you find them, take them back to Mr. Moon and after a while, he'll improve your Alohomora spell for you. You'll need to find a total of 22 to learn every rank of the spell - 9 for Alohomora 2 and 13 more for Alohomora 3.
Beyond unlocking chests and doors, there's a lot more to do in Hogwarts Legacy. We also have guides on how to lock on in the game, how to solve the Merlin Trials, and how to pass time. For more Hogwarts Legacy guides, here's how to get the Elder Wand, whether there are romance options, and whether you'll be able to use the Deathly Hallows.