Despite the painting’s verbal abuse.
One of the small, unimportant quests available to you in Hogwarts Legacy is the “Portrait in a Pickle” side quest. This one is very easy to miss. Unlike other side quests that come to you, you have to stumble across this one. Considering it will only be available after completing the “In the Shadow of the Relic” quest with Sebastian, it’s late enough in the game that you really have no reason to go to the Library. And that’s where you need to be in order to find Ferdinand Octavius Pratt screaming from his frame just to the right of the Library Floo Flame.
He’s been stolen!
Mr. Pratt is very annoying, and he doesn’t make it easy to sympathize with him. He will, however, ask you to find his second frame that has been stolen from the wall in The Three Broomsticks. Once you accept the quest and head to the scene of the crime, you will meet the student who arranged the whole thing. As revenge for Pratt’s espionage side gig, where he eavesdrops on students and reports back to the headmaster, the student paid a group of thieves to take him away.
Like most quests, you can just follow the map to find each part of the mission. After chatting with the student at The Three Broomsticks, you will have to go way down south to the coast to find the ruins where he’s being held.
The ruins are guarded by some Ashwinders, so you will have to do a bit of dueling. However, by this point in the game, you’re honestly more than capable of taking them on. Having traits on your gear will help, and you are bound to have mastery of your favorite spells. Funny enough, the Ashwinders aren’t the hard part of this quest. Finding the portrait took longer than I want to admit. This is the one instance where the map isn’t helpful. I moved all over the island before I finally found the right opening.
You have options.
The portrait is underground, but there are two underground openings! One will take you to the coast, so obviously, that is not the correct entrance. You want to go behind the barrels to get to the still-screaming Ferdinand. He will berate you a little more, but there are some fun options available to you.
When he asks you to take him back, you can threaten to either burn him or hang him in the dreaded Hog’s Head Inn instead. After making your dialogue choice, the instructions for the next step will reflect it! I had the choice to either take the portrait back to The Three Broomsticks or hang him in Hog’s Head Inn. I was nice and put him back, but I loved having the option.
Once you return him to Hogsmeade, you’re done. No reward, but hey, it’s all just part of the fun. If you need help just finding the location, don’t feel bad. By this point though, if you haven’t already, you’ll need to get ready to face the big bad guy, so here is some advice on how to defeat Ranrok in Hogwarts Legacy.
