If Hogwarts Legacy 2 wants to avoid the same boycotts its predecessor faced, the sequel cannot take the same approach that the original did.
gamerant.com
For years, the
Harry Potter franchise has dominated pop culture, with
Hogwarts Legacy acting as the franchise's most popular video game adaptation. It's no wonder that controversy surrounding the franchise has sprung up at some point, as the first
Harry Potter book was released almost thirty years ago. Nevertheless, it's disappointing that such a well-loved piece of pop culture has been sullied in the eyes of many Potterheads despite new content for the franchise, like
Hogwarts Legacy, continuing to release.
Unfortunately,
Hogwarts Legacy was unable to unmuddy the name of the
Harry Potter franchise. While the game may have been met with a positive player and critic response, it was also the subject of boycotts upon release. Avalanche Software and Warner Bros. Games tried to placate fans within the game itself, but the developers' attempt was poorly received. It goes without saying that Avalanche Software and Warner Bros. Games cannot try to avoid controversy the same way
Hogwarts Legacy did in the game's allegedly slated sequel.
Creeping through the promotion and marketing for
Hogwarts Legacy prior to release was the never ending controversy surrounding J.K. Rowling's transphobic comments. Rowling's comments on the trans community, in conjunction with the reexamination of
portrayals of people of color in the Harry Potter books, have essentially reduced the legacy of
Harry Potter from a juggernaut in young adult fiction to a nostalgic, but messy, memory. The large majority of Rowling's comments were posted on her X (formerly Twitter) account, with the catalyst of these views being publicly perceived when she liked a Tweet in 2018 that described transgender women as "men in dresses." Since then, she has constantly posted about the issue on X and has been publicly labeled a TERF – a trans-exclusionary radical feminist.
Knowing J.K. Rowling's controversial positions on the trans community specifically led Avalanche Software and Warner Bros. Games to include a minor transgender character in
Hogwarts Legacy. Sirona Ryan is the main bartender
at the Three Broomsticks in Hogsmeade. The game establishes that she is fiercely loyal to Hogwarts and its students, as she stands up to Victor Rookwood in a key scene. Though it's always great to see more representation in any kind of media, Sirona Ryan does not truly add much to
Hogwarts Legacy's plot other than being a minor NPC. As such, some have viewed the character's addition as performative representation rather than a meaningful statement against Rowling.
J.K. Rowling's harmful statements toward the transgender community cannot be fixed by simply adding a transgender woman to her most popular work and main source of income. Candidly, there is nothing that Avalanche Software or Warner Bros. Games can do to avoid Rowling's controversial statements, as it's likely that she will never change her mind on the subject. But that doesn't mean the developer can't strive to improve the brand's trans representation with
Hogwarts Legacy 2, likely with the intent of avoiding its predecessor's
boycott that was due to Rowling's statements.
Transgender Potterheads still exist despite Rowling's statements, so the expansion of Sirona Ryan as a character could be one way that Avalanche Software and Warner Bros. Games attempt to prevent a hypothetical boycott of
Hogwarts Legacy 2. This expansion would have to be rather large and genuinely impact the story rather than
Sirona Ryan's role from the previous game maintained, proving the character is not performative representation but something more substantial.
Right away, a few ideas spring to mind. Sirona Ryan's role as the head proprietor of the Three Broomsticks could be beneficial to the plot if the bar serves as
a key location in Hogwarts Legacy 2. Perhaps she could once again come to the defense of her patrons, like the main students in the hypothetical sequel. If the game takes the mystery route, Sirona Ryan could essentially act as the archetypal trustworthy adult or mentor that mysteries led by teenagers tend to have. She could be a major quest giver and ally on certain tasks, appearing regularly throughout the entire game. Another option would be to include a transgender student as one of the key protagonists or companions in
Hogwarts Legacy 2.
The statements made by J.K. Rowling over the last seven years regarding the transgender community have unfortunately damaged a piece of media that was once widely loved. Though it ultimately comes down to fans deciding if they are willing to separate the art from the artist, and Avalanche cannot clean up Rowling's mess,
the developer behind Hogwarts Legacy can do more than insert a very minor trans character in its next game. Hopefully, characters like Sirona Ryan can be featured more heavily in
Hogwarts Legacy 2, alongside transgender students, to bring a sense of comfort to trans Potterheads who decide to give the game a try.
