i keep thinking about the physics of the spell itself. not the sexy parts, not yet, but the actual six serpents curse. salazar slytherin, back in 990 AD, got so mad about muggles getting into hogwarts (yes the game doesn’t call it hogwarts but come on, it’s hogwarts) that he literally invented a mind control dome. a whole field covering the school. anyone inside has to obey the caster. not just humans, witches and wizards with full powers too. that’s terrifying. that means dumbledore level wizards just… bend. the game tells you this in the intro text dump and then immediately moves on to you being the one who found the curse and decided to use it. no moral hesitation screen, no “are you sure,” just boom, now every student and professor is your puppet.

and look, i need to talk about this because it’s the one thing that keeps nagging at me even while i’m clicking through scenes with draco malfoy looking characters and various hogwarts house girls. virtual character consent. i know, i know, it’s a porn game parody, nobody asked for my AI ethics watchdog opinion. but the whole core mechanic is that nobody can say no. they physically cannot. the game frames this as hot, and sure, the art is decent even though it’s deliberately unpolished in that renpy “i made this in my bedroom” way that this niche loves. but there’s a moment with a ravenclaw girl in the library where she looks confused, not turned on, and the text says “her body responds even if her mind fights” and i had to stop and think about what i was doing. then i kept clicking anyway because i’m broken like that. the game doesn’t explore this. it just hands you complete dominion and a handful of choice nodes that lead to different explicit outcomes.

the choice system is weirdly specific sometimes. i spent way too long on a scene where you can pick which serpent to summon first, and it changes the color of the magic aura during the scene. that’s it. one aesthetic detail that has zero effect on the dialogue or positioning. but i obsessed over it for like five minutes. the green serpent makes the skin look sickly, the purple one has better contrast. this is what my brain latches onto while ignoring the fact that i’m roleplaying magical date ***.

there’s a multi path bit with a professor character that actually had me backtracking saves. you can humiliate her in front of her class or pull her into her office. the office route has this one CG where she’s grading papers while you’re, uh, behind her, and the papers scatter. very specific composition. the public route is more exhibitionism focused but the dialogue is stiffer, more generic. the private route has better writing but less action. stupid tradeoff. i chose private then immediately regretted it, reloaded, chose public, regretted that too. the game doesn’t let you have both in one playthrough. probably doesn’t matter.

one thing i noticed is the game completely forgets about the other founders. you’re using salazar’s curse but godric and rowena and helga are nowhere, not even as portraits or mentions. missed opportunity for some four founders drama. maybe a scene where you make them watch. i don’t know why i want that. i just do.