Chapter 53 – An Unexpected Offer

Introduction

Hello everyone, welcome to our Walkthrough for Chapter Fifty-Three of Year Seven of Harry Potter Hogwarts Mystery. In the previous chapter, Dumbledore scolded you for endangering yourself and your friend, but he acknowledged that you stopped ‘R’ from moving forward with their plan.

You helped Olivia, Jacob, and Duncan reconcile and rebuild their old friendship. Suddenly, you received a letter from Merula. She invited you to meet her.

Before continuing the story, you can first finish your assignments. For now, you can do “Eye on the N.E.W.T.s” assignments, while “Mad-Eye’s Revenge” will be unlocked after you complete Task 4 of this chapter.

Summary

Walkthrough

To start the ”Eye on the N.E.W.T.s”, go to the Clocktower Courtyard. Once you arrive, you will meet Professor McGonagall. She will mention that students do better at their N.E.W.T.s tests when they understand their importance, and she’ll send you to study about those tests and their place in the Wizarding World so you can be better prepared for them.

You will have to do several tasks to complete the assignment. Feel free to do them in any order you like.

It is recommended to select the task duration that matches its star requirements.

Prioritize actions with bonus progress, so you can save a bit of energy.

Try to succeed in mini-tasks to earn extra attribute points.

When you complete all of the tasks, hit the Collect button and report to Professor McGonagall at the Clocktower Courtyard.

The professor will be pleased, and she’ll point out how important it is for a student to know the context behind the N.E.W.T.s.

After you completed all the tasks of the assignment, you can claim the reward in the Hogwarts section of the Achievements.

Since the other group of assignments is locked (more precisely, a room where the assignment takes place will be locked), you can proceed with the main story. When you’re ready, go to the Boathouse. Merula will ask about your friend’s health. Those lines will differ depending on whom you choose to go with you to Peregrine’s experiment.

She’ll be curious if your friend blames you for what happened. This choice won’t have a significant impact on the story, so feel free to choose the option you prefer.

After the chat about your friend, Merula will start explaining the reason why she called you. To complete this task, you need to earn five stars within one hour. Three stars are required to pass.

Bonus progress action is tied to Merula. Prioritize this action to save some energy.

You will find out that Merula’s aunt, Verucca, wants to meet you. Needless to say, you will be very surprised to hear that.

Merula will explain that Verucca sent her to request a private meeting with you. You have two options to reply with. This choice won’t have a significant impact on the story, so feel free to choose the option you prefer.

Unfortunately, Merula won’t be able to tell you what Verucca wants, because she doesn’t know, and even if she does, Unbreakable Vow will prevent her from speaking about it. If you date Merula, you will have additional lines of dialogue.

You will agree to come with her to the meeting. Before you go, you will have a waiting period of three hours.

After the waiting time is over, head to Knockturn Alley. Once you are there, you can tap on the speech bubbles above the characters to hear what they have to say. Verucca will send Merula to shop for something so she can be alone with you. She will explain that she was surprised by Peregrine’s experiment as well. That incident made ‘R’ the number one target for the Ministry of Magic.

A similar situation happened because of Rakepick, but this time is worse because Rakepick was just an agent, but Peregrine is the leader, and because of him, even Dumbledore is giving his full attention to ‘R’. Now, their plans are exposed.

According to her, your father is unhinged and dangerous, and that is a problem for everyone. She’ll ask you if you understand that you two have something in common. You can pick the option you like.

In order to understand what pushed your father over the edge, you’ll have to share your knowledge with her. To complete this task, you need to earn five stars within eight hours. All five stars are required to complete the task.

Bonus progress action is tied to Verucca. Prioritize her action to save some energy.

Verucca will tell you that the only hope of saving your father, as well as ‘R’’s plans, is for you and her to work together. She’ll propose to steal Dai Ryusaki’s amulet from your father. You and Jacob could do it, but only with her help.

You’ll have two options for reacting to this plan. Feel free to choose whichever option you like the most since the overall story won’t be affected much.

She won’t expect you to accept her plan immediately, and you’ll have time to think about it. But Verucca will warn you that there’s not too much time left.

You’ll decide to speak with Jacob. Verucca will propose to use Merula as a messenger, and she’ll give a mean comment that she is not good for much else. If you like Merula, you should pick the second option to defend her.

Whichever option you choose, you will find out that Merula’s mother was on good terms with her daughter.

You’ll decide to visit your brother at the Lakeshore. When you arrive, you’ll need to summon Jacob with Vermillious.

Your brother will come on foot, running, instead of apparating like before. He’ll explain that there’s no need for apparitions because he lives now in Hogwarts after his reunion with old friends Duncan and Olivia. Dumbledore gave him permission as long as he stayed away from trouble

You will mention that you met alone with Verucca Buckthorn. Jacob will be shocked to hear that, and he’ll ask why you risk meeting with her. This choice will affect some dialogue in the next chapter, but it won’t have a significant impact on the story, so pick the option you prefer.

You’ll explain to Jacob that Verucca wants to help you steal the amulet and save your father, albeit for different reasons. Jacob will wonder if there is any ulterior motive behind it. Your brother will suggest you speak about the pros and cons of this first before deciding. To complete this task, you need to earn five stars within three hours. Three stars are required to pass.

Bonus progress actions are tied to both you and Jacob. Since more bonus actions are tied to your brother, prioritize his actions, to save as much energy as possible.

You will point out that the only way to return the old dad is to steal the amulet from him. Jacob will mention that Verucca’s involvement makes things even more complicated. He will ask you how to approach this decision. Other than a few dialogue lines, this choice won’t significantly alter the story.

You will come to an agreement that you don’t have to fully trust her. Jacob will propose to meet Mad-Eye Moody to ask for his advice.

Go to the Ministry of Magic when you are ready to meet him. Once you are there, if you are curious, you’ll have the opportunity to hear out some of the characters there by tapping on their speech bubbles above their heads. Slide the screen left and right to see all the available dialogues. When you meet Moody, he will mention that Dumbledore already informed him about everything that happened with ‘R’’s experiment.

He will scold both of you, but in the end, he will be glad that you came to your senses in the end. He’ll wonder if you trust him because, after all the joined investigations you had with him, you went and left him. If you like Mad-Eye, go with the first option. Any other option will hurt him.

Moody will ask how you found out about ‘R’’s threat to the Ministry and why you didn’t tell the Aurors. Your explanation will differ based on what you told Elton during Chapter 51.

Unsurprisingly, Moody won’t like your excuses. His day will be further ruined when you mention that you received an offer from none other than a director of ‘R’.

Jacob will reassure him that this can be a unique opportunity. Moody will let you explain. To complete this task, you need to earn five stars within three hours. All five stars are required to pass.

Bonus progress action is tied to Mad-Eye. Prioritize his action to save a bit of energy.

Jacob’s plan is to lure ‘R’ and Dad into the open by using Verucca’s offer. This should give you and Verucca the opportunity to steal the amulet. Finally, the Aurors and Hit Wizards will take down Verucca and ‘R’. Moody will mention that this may be the opening the Ministry needs.

Mad-Eye’s initial plan is that Jacob leads the operation because you’ve been in danger for so long. However, you will convince him to let you lead instead because Verucca contacted you. Sending any other person would be suspicious.

Jacob will hope that the Ministry won’t have a reason to arrest your dad after the amulet is taken, but Moody will mention that the situation is way more complicated. When asked what they’ll do with your dad, Mad-Eye will hesitate to answer, and he’ll want to focus on the task at hand. If you think your father should be saved, pick the second option to defend him.

Moody will mention that your father’s curse will be considered during his trials. Now you’ll need to meet Merula and accept Verucca’s offer. Moody will wait for you to tell him the time and place for the trap.

Before you meet with Merula, you’ll have to wait four hours.

When the waiting time is over, go to the Boathouse to meet her. Merula will be surprised to hear that you and Jacob will accept the offer. She will bluntly ask the reasons behind your decision. You can choose whether you’ll reveal the entire plan to her or not. It is highly recommended not to reveal her plan because Merula is under the Unbreakable Vow. If her aunt asks her about it, she’ll be forced to tell her everything.

You will ask Merula if she has any advice on how to deal with Verucca. Luckily, she’ll have something to say about it. For this task, you need to earn five stars within three hours. All five stars are required to complete this task.

Bonus progress actions are tied to Merula and to the box next to her. Most of those actions are tied to Merula, so prioritize her actions to save some energy.

Merula will point out that she would not be able to help you because of the Unbreakable Vow. She’ll hope that you know what you are doing. She’ll ask you to confirm that. This choice won’t have a huge impact on the story, but it is recommended to reassure Merula with the first option.

Merula will hope that you and Jacob will succeed in your plans. If you fail, the whole world could change.

After Task 4 of this chapter, you will unlock the necessary room in the Ministry to do the second part of your assignments for this chapter. After you’ve done with the Main Tasks, go to the Clocktower Courtyard to meet Mad-Eye Moody.

Mad-Eye will be angry at you because you kept what’s going on with the ‘R’. He won’t accept your apology easily.

In order to forgive you, he will send you to finish all of his excess paperwork in the Ministry of Magic. That will be your “punishment” from him.

Choose the task duration that matches the star requirement.

As before, prioritize actions with bonus progress to save some energy.

Try to complete mini-tasks to earn extra attribute points.

When you complete all of the tasks, hit the Collect button and go back to the Clocktower Courtyard.

Mad-Eye will be surprised at how fast you’ve completed the assignment.

He was hoping that filing his paperwork would have been more of a punishment. If you make him angry again, he’ll triple your paperwork. You will be able to collect the reward for completing this assignment.

This will mark the end of the chapter. Hit the collect button to claim your rewards. You will receive 350 Coins and 2000 Experience Points.

Will Jacob’s plan with Aurors work? Will you stop Verucca and steal the amulet without hurting Dad? Will your friend recover from the experiment? Find out in the exciting next Chapter of Harry Potter Hogwarts Mystery.

Thank you for reading!