There’s lots of things to buy in LEGO Harry Potter: Years 1-4. More so than any other LEGO games. Spells, characters, Gold Bricks, Red Bricks…oh yeah. One’s going to need a lot of studs–the LEGO equivalent to real world money–and I’m here to show y’all a good strategy for acquiring lots of them as you play. Yes, I’m totally aware that simple password cheats exist to help you rack up the studs via multipliers, but personally…that comes across as cheating in my mind. I’d rather earn everything over time than just simply unlock it all in under 30 seconds.
Anyways, once you have access to the Foutain Courtyard at Hogwarts (which further gives you access to the Quidditch Training Field and the Clock Tower), you’ll be able to destroy all the statues around the fountain. Do this. Then use Wingardium Leviosa on the resulting pieces to unlock a Red Brick, also known as a parcel for owl delivery. Bring it over to the local owl, and you’ll unlock the Red Brick for Collect Ghost Studs. Immediately go to Diagon Alley and purchase this ability, which I believe costs like 90,000 studs; the sooner you turn it on, the better your bank account becomes.
During the main missions of the games, a ghost (Nearly Headless Nick, I believe) will be your guide around the castlegrounds and to your next important location. He leaves behind a trail of ghostly studs, which, without this new ability unlocked, give no actual…uh, studdage. Once you do turn this extra feature on, each ghostly stud gives you 1,000 studs. Ka-ching, ka-ching! Now all you gotta do is follow him around each and every time, sometimes leaving an area and coming back to follow him some more. The studs will accumulate really fast. Once you’ve completed all four years, however, the ghost will no longer be active…so, the sooner you get this, the better. Remember, the spell Accio costs four million studs. Let me show you what that looks like in number form: 4,000,000. Get to it!
I’m currently replaying the game solo to collect EVERYTHING as my OCD demands and finish up the Achievements list. I’m leaving the game data Tara and I played together alone until we can get explore the castlegrounds as one happy couple; she’s gonna be so excited to unlock Mad-Eye Moody. Heck, I was thrilled to see that Neville could use his pet frog! This game should really be called LEGO Harry Potter: Fan Service. I’m still very happy with a lot of it, too, but the boss battles disappoint me each and every time.
Grinding Down 