The Dark Horse

Introduction

Hello everyone, welcome to our Walkthrough for The Dark Horse Side Quest of Harry Potter Hogwarts Mystery. This quest should become available after completing Horsing Around Side Quest.

This is a creature-related side quest and completing it should help you increase your friendship experience with Hagrid. This quest is not time-limited, so you don’t need to rush it, but in order to complete it, you’ll need to have max level Thestral in Magical Creatures Reserve.

Summary

Walkthrough

Video guide for this chapter is available at our YouTube channel. Use the button below.

Once you start the quest, Hagrid will ask you to meet him in the Dark Forest area of Magical Creatures Reserve, so go there when you are ready.

Upon arriving, you’ll notice that Hagrid is not the only one waiting for you. As it appears, he also invited Merula. And by the looks of it, she’ll be very curious to know why.

Apparently, Hagrid was given a special assignment by Professor Dumbledore. He will be speaking to the International Confederation of Wizards and giving a demonstration on Thestrals.

However, he has yet to explain why he needs your help.

Talking with Hagrid requires earning five stars within three hours. One star is needed to pass.

There is a bonus progress action tied to your character, so prioritize it if you want to save some energy.

Once you’re done, you’ll learn what Hagrid intends to do. He wants to use a Thestral in his demonstration to help change the confederation’s mind on them.

Hagrid is hoping that he can show them that even a Thestral that’s had limited exposure to strangers can be comfortable working with a large group of people.

He’ll also tell you why he needs your help.

And you’ll be surprised to learn that Merula has seen death and can actually see Thestrals. She’ll tell you there was an incident involving her parents and an Auror.

Eventually, both you and Merula will agree to help Hagrid. You’ll simply be glad to get the opportunity to learn more about Thestrals. Merula will admit that she’s only doing it since she might earn some House Points.

However, in order to help Hagrid, you’ll need a Thestral. This exactly is your next task. To adopt Thestral, you’ll need 75 Red and 15 Blue Notebooks. Luckily, the side quest is not time-limited, so you can take as long as you need to complete this task.

Next, you should proceed to the Training Grounds to start preparing your Thestral. Shortly upon arriving, you’ll introduce your Thestral to Hagrid and Merula.

While Hagrid will be happy to meet your Thestral, Merula, on the other hand, won’t share his enthusiasm.

You’ll try to reason with her and remind her that you are helping Hagrid change witches and wizards’ opinions on Thestrals.

However, she’ll only seem interested in earning some House Points.

Not long after that, you’ll get to prepare your Thestral. Doing that requires earning five stars within three hours. All five stars are needed to pass, so avoid starting this task if your energy is low.

Both Merula and your Thestral have actions with bonus progress tied to them, so prioritize those in order to save some energy.

Hagrid will praise your Thestral when you complete the task. He’ll be confident that the creature will be comfortable around the International Confederation of Wizards officials.

Sadly, Merula will think that Thestrals bring bad luck.

You’ll then get to choose whether you want to side with her or Hagrid. Other than a few dialogue lines, this choice won’t significantly impact the story, so feel free to pick the option you prefer.

Regardless of your choice, Merula will get very angry. Apparently, she recalls some quite unpleasant memories every time she sees a Thestral.

Her outburst will upset your Thestral quite a bit.

The Most Powerful Witch at Hogwarts will decide that the House Points aren’t worth it, and she’ll leave.

Hagrid will be very disheartened by that.

This will give you an interesting idea. You’ll tell Hagrid that he can use the opportunity to practice his demonstration on Merula. If he can convince her to change her mind, he won’t have any problem with the International Confederation of Wizards.

Hagrid will ask if you’ll be okay if the two of you work together on convincing Merula. You’ll be completely fine with that. However, in order to win Merula over, you’ll need to improve your persuasion skills.

To do that, you need to complete 15 social encounters. These include Meal with a Friend, playing Gobstones, and drinking Butterbeer.

Once you are done, proceed to the Courtyard to meet Merula. When you arrive, you’ll notice the speech bubbles above some of the characters. Tap on those if you want to see what they have to say.

Hagrid will once again thank you for coming up with the idea to practice his demonstration on Merula.

Still, he’ll be worried a bit. You have two options to react to this. This choice won’t impact the story in any big way, so pick whichever option you prefer.

Shortly after, you’ll approach Merula and tell her that you need to talk. Sadly, she won’t really be interested in helping Hagrid.

Eventually, you’ll manage to convince her to at least hear you out.

Persuading Merula requires earning five stars within three hours. All five stars are needed to pass.

You’ll notice that both Hagrid and Merula have actions with bonus progress tied to them, so focus on those actions to save some energy.

Once you complete this task, Merula will agree to help you. Hagrid will be glad that the two of you managed to convince Merula to give Thestral another chance.

However, she is still holding onto something that makes her hesitant about Thestrals, so you have yet to convince her to change her mind.

Hagrid will suggest spending some time with your Thestral before letting Merula near it again.

To do that, you need to reach the maximum trust level with the Thestral. This may take a while, but since this side quest is not time-limited, you don’t really need to worry about it.

When you’re done leveling your Thestral, proceed to the Training Grounds to meet Merula. Hagrid will be very happy to see you and your Thestral.

You’ll suggest letting Merula take the lead this time.

She won’t like that idea very much. You can choose to antagonize or encourage her. While both of these options will lead to the same outcome, it is somewhat recommended to encourage her.

Eventually, she’ll agree to help.

Working with your Thestral is the next task. To complete it, you need to earn five stars within three hours. All five stars are required to pass.

The only action with bonus progress here is tied to Merula, so prioritize it if you want to save some energy.

Once you’re done, Merula will admit that she was wrong about Thestrals. In her own way, she’ll admit she enjoyed spending time with the creature.

Your Thestral will happily flap its wings. Hagrid will say that the creature is starting to like her.

Not long after that, Professor Dumbledore will arrive and mention the unpleasant memory of Merula’s past.

She’ll be surprised that the Headmaster knows things about her past. He’ll smile and say that he wants to help his students if something is troubling them.

He’ll explain that he wanted Merula to work with a Thestral so she could realize that something wonderful can come from even the most unpleasant circumstances.

Interestingly enough, Merula will agree with him. The Headmaster will be glad that she learned something important.

Shortly after, Professor Dumbledore and Hagrid will take their leave.

Before they go, you’ll ask Hagrid to meet you in the Magical Creatures Reserve when he returns.

For the next task, proceed to the Dark Forest to catch up with Hagrid. Your Thestral will happily greet you once you arrive.

You’ll then get to talk to Hagrid about his demonstration on Thestrals. Doing so requires earning five stars within three hours. All five stars are required to pass.

There is a bonus progress action tied to your Thestral, so focus on that one to save some energy.

As it appears, Hagrid’s demonstration was a huge success. He managed to change a lot of witches and wizards’ minds about Thestrals.

He will thank you for being kind enough to help him. You have two options to respond to him. This choice won’t significantly impact the story, so feel free to pick the option you prefer.

Hagrid will thank you once again for everything you’ve done. He’ll say that you are quickly becoming one of his closest friends.

This will mark the end of The Dark Horse side quest. Hit the collect button to claim your rewards. You will receive 175 Experience points.

You will also earn 300 Friendship Experience points with Hagrid.

Slowly but steadily, you’re becoming one of Hagrid’s closest friends. Who knows, maybe one day he’ll even teach you how to make his famous rock cakes.

Thank you for reading and see you soon in the Wizarding World!