You're flying over the lush, rolling greenery south of the castle, your eyes peeled for that familiar stone circle on the ground. You’ve got your Mallowsweet ready. You’ve got your spells mapped. But then you hit a wall because one of the Hogwarts Valley Merlin Trial puzzles just isn't making sense. Honestly, we've all been there—circling a ruin for twenty minutes because a single stone pillar is hidden behind a random bush.
Hogwarts Valley is actually one of the densest areas for these trials. It’s got 16 of them. That is a lot of Mallowsweet. If you’re trying to max out your gear slots, you basically have to live in this valley for a while. The puzzles here range from "I can do this in my sleep" to "why is this boulder not moving where I want it to?"
Most players think they can just spam Revelio and call it a day. It’s not that simple. Sometimes the things you need to hit are outside the standard pulse range, or they're tucked away in bandit camps that require a full-blown combat encounter before you can even start the puzzle.
The Most Frustrating Hogwarts Valley Merlin Trial Locations
Let’s talk about the one near Keenbridge. There’s a trial just north of the town that involves those sinking platforms. You know the ones—you jump on them and they start to descend. If you touch the grass, you're done. You have to start over. It’s basically "The Floor is Lava" but with 19th-century wizarding vibes.
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Then you’ve got the Brocburrow trial. This one is a classic "Big Ball, Small Hole" situation. You’ll find the Mallowsweet altar in the middle of the hamlet. The actual boulder? It’s way up the hill to the south. You have to use Depulso to nudge it down the path. Pro tip: clear the wooden barricades first. If the ball gets stuck on a piece of fence, it’s a nightmare to wiggle it loose. I’ve seen people use Wingardium Leviosa to just carry the thing, which honestly feels like cheating, but hey, if it works, it works.
Another tricky one is hidden in the West Hogwarts Valley hills. It’s a "nine-pillar" puzzle. These are usually easy, right? Just blast the stone balls off the pillars. Except in this specific spot, the pillars are scattered around a ruined building. One of them is literally inside a fireplace behind a breakable wall. If you aren't looking for that specific crumbling texture, you'll never find it.
The Spell Toolkit You Actually Need
Don’t even bother starting these until you’ve progressed a bit in the main story. You need a specific "golf bag" of spells to finish every Hogwarts Valley Merlin Trial. If you’re missing even one, you’re just wasting Mallowsweet.
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- Confringo: Essential for the long-range fire pillars. Incendio is often too short-range.
- Flipendo: For those "dice" puzzles where you have to match symbols.
- Lumos: To lure the glowing moths. They're like magical kittens; they'll follow the light.
- Wingardium Leviosa: Much better for the ball puzzles than Accio. You get way more control.
- Reparo: A few trials in the valley have shattered statues you need to piece back together.
Why You’re Probably Failing the Symbol Puzzles
The symbol puzzles (the ones with the cubes on top of pillars) are the absolute worst if you don't know the trick. People just spam Flipendo and hope for the best. Don't do that.
Look at the symbol on the stationary base first. Then look at the symbol on the moveable cube. You need to match the symbol and the orientation. If the symbol is a bird facing left on the bottom, the bird on the top needs to face left too. If it's upside down, it won't trigger. You usually have to hit the cube from different sides to change which way it flips. It’s basically a 3D Rubik's cube that shoots green sparks when you get it right.
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Tips for Efficiency (And Sanity)
If you're going for the 100% completion or just the "Merlin's Beard!" achievement, do these in batches. The Floo Flame network in Hogwarts Valley is pretty generous.
- Fly High: Get on your broom and cast Revelio from a high altitude. It significantly increases the area you can see.
- Mallowsweet Farming: Don't buy it. It's a scam. Buy the seeds from The Magic Neep in Hogsmeade once, plant them in a large pot in the Room of Requirement, and you'll have more than you'll ever use.
- Clear the Mobs First: Several trials in the south of the valley are right in the middle of Poacher or Goblin camps. If you try to do a moth puzzle while an Executioner is throwing fire at you, you’re going to have a bad time.
One final thing—the rewards. Some people get annoyed that the trials don't give you "cool" gear. They just give you space for gear. But in a game where you’re constantly looting every chest in sight, that extra inventory space is the difference between enjoying the game and spending half your life in the "sell" menu at Gladrags Wizardwear.
Actionable Next Steps:
- Check your map for the Hogwarts Valley region and count your completed trials. If you're under 16, you've still got work to do.
- Head to the Keenbridge Floo Flame to start the cluster of trials nearby, as they are the easiest to chain together.
- Ensure you have Flipendo unlocked before traveling to the western mountain trials, as several require it for the symbol cube puzzles.