You’ve definitely seen them. You’re wandering through the Library Annex or poking around a dark corner in Hogsmeade, and there it is—a stone chest with a giant, twitching eyeball staring you down. You walk up to it, hoping for loot, but the chest slams shut. It growls. It effectively mocks you.
It’s frustrating.
Honestly, these are some of the most lucrative objects in the entire game, yet they’re designed to be a total gear-check for players who haven't progressed far enough into the main story. If you’re trying to figure out how to open the eye chests in Hogwarts Legacy, the answer is actually incredibly simple, but the game does a pretty good job of hiding the solution until you’ve put in a few hours of work. You need to be invisible. That's the whole trick. But you can't just crouch and hope for the best; you need a specific spell that the faculty at Hogwarts isn't exactly eager to teach you on day one.
The Secret to Cracking the Disillusionment Puzzle
The primary way to get into these chests is by using the Disillusionment charm. You don't get this spell by attending a standard Charms class with Professor Ronen. Instead, you have to wait until you reach the main story quest titled "Secrets of the Restricted Section." During this mission, Sebastian Sallow—the Slytherin student who is quickly becoming everyone's favorite "bad influence"—teaches you how to blend into your surroundings. It’s basically a magical camouflage. Once you have this spell slotted into your spell diamond, the eye chests go from being an annoyance to being your primary source of income.
Here is the thing about the mechanics: the chest has a field of vision. If it sees you, it locks. If it’s already looking at you, casting the spell won't do anything because it already knows you’re there. You have to back away until the eye relaxes and starts looking around casually again. Once you’re out of its "aggro" range, cast Disillusionment. Your character will turn into a shimmering, translucent outline. Now, you can just stroll up and hit the interact button.
The chest won't react. You’ll grab 500 gold pieces. For the early game, that’s a massive amount of money.
Why the Invisibility Potion is a Solid Backup
Maybe you haven't reached Sebastian’s quest yet. Or maybe you just prefer brewing things over waving a wand. Can you use an Invisibility Potion?
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Yes.
Invisibility Potions work exactly like the Disillusionment charm for the purposes of these chests. However, I’d argue it's a bit of a waste. Invisibility Potions require Leaping Toadstool Caps, Knotgrass Sprig, and Troll Bogeys to brew. They also cost a fair bit of Galleons at J. Pippin’s Potions if you’re buying them outright. Considering the reward for the chest is 500 gold, spending 500 gold on a potion to open it is... well, it's bad math. Stick to the spell once you have it.
Where to Find the Most Eye Chests Early On
Hogsmeade is absolutely packed with these things. If you spend twenty minutes running behind the shops and into the small alleyways of the wizarding village, you can easily walk away with 3,000 to 4,000 gold.
Look behind Tombs and Scrolls. Check the side of Hog's Head. There is one tucked under a bridge near the entrance of the town. These are essential for buying the expensive items you need for your Room of Requirement later, like the Large Potting Table or the various Refinement Stations. Without the gold from the eye chests, you'll be grinding combat encounters for gear to sell, which takes ten times longer.
Inside Hogwarts itself, keep an eye out near the Viaduct Entrance and the Slytherin Dungeons. They are tucked away in corners that seem unimportant.
One thing people get wrong is thinking these chests respawn. They don't. Once you’ve snatched the gold, the chest remains open and empty for the rest of your playthrough. Think of them as a finite resource—a one-time stimulus package for your fifth-year student.
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Dealing With the "Glitchy" Chests
Sometimes, you’ll cast Disillusionment, walk up to a chest, and it still won't open. You're invisible, so what's the deal?
This usually happens because of the "line of sight" trigger. If you cast the spell while you are standing right in front of the eye, the chest "remembers" you are there. It’s a bit of a quirk in the game's AI. To fix this, just fast-travel away and come back, or walk far enough away that the chest's eye closes and it goes back to its idle animation.
Also, make sure you aren't sprinting. Even while invisible, making too much noise or moving too fast can sometimes trigger the chest to slam shut if you're playing on a higher difficulty setting. Approach it like you're actually sneaking past a librarian. Slow and steady.
Improving Your Sneakiness
If you really want to lean into the stealth mechanic, you can upgrade your Disillusionment spell via the Talent Tree. Under the "Stealth" tab, there are talents that make it harder for enemies (and these chests) to detect you.
- Sense of Secrecy I: Makes it harder for enemies to see you.
- Sense of Secrecy II: Further reduces the detection range.
- Human Demiguise: Allows you to sprint while using Disillusionment.
While these aren't strictly necessary for the chests, they make the process much smoother. Being able to sprint while invisible means you can clear out all the chests in Hogsmeade in half the time.
The Role of Talent Points
It's worth mentioning that you don't unlock Talents until you finish the "Jackdaw’s Rest" quest. This happens a bit after you get the Disillusionment charm. If you’re a perfectionist, you might want to hold off on your massive chest-opening spree until you can move faster while invisible.
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But honestly? Don't wait.
The gold is too valuable early on. You need it for seeds. You need it for recipe scrolls. You need it to buy that fancy broom from Albie Weekes at Spintwitches. The 500 gold per chest is a static reward, meaning it doesn't scale with your level. Getting it at level 10 is way more impactful than getting it at level 30.
Actionable Next Steps for Efficient Farming
To maximize your efficiency and stop staring at those locked lids, follow this specific progression path.
First, focus entirely on the main story until you hit the quest with Sebastian Sallow in the library. Don't get distracted by every side quest in the Highlands. You need that Disillusionment charm. Once the quest is over, make a bee-line for Hogsmeade. Start at the north end of town and work your way south, checking every alleyway. Use Revelio constantly; the eye chests will glow gold through walls, making them much easier to spot than just looking for them manually.
If you find a chest that won't open even when you're invisible, back off until it stops growling, wait three seconds, and then approach again. Once you have a few thousand gold, head straight to Tomes and Scrolls to buy the blueprints for the potting tables. This sets up your "passive income" and resource generation for the rest of the game. Mastering how to open the eye chests in Hogwarts Legacy is less about skill and more about knowing exactly when the game finally gives you the right key for the lock.