LEGO Harry Potter 76420 Triwizard Tournament: The Black Lake [Review]

The March 2023 Harry Potter wave includes one more playset, 76420 Triwizard Tournament: The Black Lake. This returns to a scene that LEGO has only depicted once before, almost 20 years ago (!) in 2005. This version takes advantage of the reintroduction of dark turquoise, which was just leaving the LEGO color palette back when 4762 Rescue from the Merpeople was released. Here’s our review of the set, which contains 349 pieces, 5 minifigures, and a Grindylow, and is available now for US $44.99 | CAN $59.99 | UK £39.99.

This set is based on a license The LEGO Group has with the Warner Brothers films, not J.K. Rowling directly. The transphobic views expressed by Rowling do not reflect the values of The Brothers Brick or, indeed, those of The LEGO Group. The magical world Rowling created, in which many who felt a bit different could see themselves, meant a great deal to so many people, including those that Rowling now demeans. TBB affirms each individual LEGO fan’s choice to claim a piece of the world for themselves, or to reject it entirely.


The LEGO Group provided The Brothers Brick with an early copy of this set for review. Providing TBB with products for review guarantees neither coverage nor positive reviews.

The contents

Inside the box are the instructions, four numbered bags, and a loose large tan 8×16 plate. There are no stickers!

The build

The build is split into two sections, designed to stack on top of each other. The first half is the viewing platform, from the water level up, where the Triwizard Tournament contestants enter the water and the spectators and judges watch from a balcony above. Inside the upper level is a nice coffee service, as well as a hidden vial of Gillyweed to help Harry out. The diving platform can be flipped to send a minifigure flying off, and the clock at the top of the tower rotates – though since you’re turning an entire clock face with hour, minute, and second hands in fixed positions, it’s more of a gesture to a timekeeping feature than useful. There is also, for some reason, a rowboat. There was one in 4762 Rescue from the Merpeople as well, and it seems there might be one in a LEGO Harry Potter video game level, but there’s no other apparent reason for its inclusion.

The second half of the build is the underwater columns where Ron and Hermione (and we’ll imagine Gabrielle Delacour and Cho Chang) are sleeping prisoners of the Merpeople. The color palette here is lovely; sand green, dark turquoise, and dark blue gives a good impression of a murky underwater scene, and are great colors to have more of.

Ron and Hermione are “chained” to the bottom of the lake as though they would otherwise float upwards, with the help of two black flexible axle pieces. It’s a clever touch and though the axles aren’t hidden at all, the black is pretty unobtrusive.

The minifigures

Harry has two facial expressions, each with gills from the Gillyweed. The other effect of the herb is elongating Harry’s feet into flippers, which are provided in light nougat for the first time. The Triwizard Tournament uniform tank top is fine, and the longer black hair piece is good, but shorts would be much more accurate to the scene.

Viktor Krum has a … suggestion … of the Durmstrang logo on his chest, and a double-sided head that adds another option in the “heads that look awesome/terrifying inside an animal costume”, although there is light nougat visible behind the shark head’s back teeth, which distracts from the otherwise elegant menace. Having the shark head piece from the Shark Suit Guy in light blueish gray will allow for more realistic sharks roaming your LEGO cities, and less Left Sharks dancing awkwardly.

Ron & Hermione have pretty adorable sleeping faces that make these figures unique, but the rest of the pieces are common. If this set were going all-out, maybe some evidence of water on the clothes would have been a final touch.

The included Merperson features a double-sided head that is equal parts imposing and scary, a very nicely detailed torso with intricate scaling down the back, a gorgeously detailed hair piece (which only previously appeared in pink in a Vidiyo minifigure), and a completely plain and unprinted tail piece. On balance it’s a very good minifigure but continuing the scale pattern on the tail would have made it a fantastic one.

The Grindylow features an unsettling grin and plenty of tentacles in the relatively new satin trans-black color. It’s cute enough; it also is part of a trend of molds that have been showing up in this Harry Potter wave and in some Super Heroes sets that feel like they’re blurring the line between “regular” or City style animals and Friends animals. Obviously a Grindylow doesn’t have a real-world, eyelash-less equivalent, but it does seem to sit somewhere between the standard LEGO fish and the Disney Flounders of the world.

Conclusion and recommendation

Let’s be direct: if you are a not a Harry Potter completionist, you are unlikely to miss this set if you don’t buy it. It’s not priced to be a parts pack, and even though technically all of the minifigures are unique, only the Merperson is completely unlike other existing figures, with Harry and Krum being relatively similar as well. There are, of course, exceptions to this, but if you fall into one of them, you probably already know from just looking at the set why you need it, and don’t need this review. That said, if you don’t already have any of these characters, and you like the scene, go for it! 349 pieces is light for a US $45 set, but five minifigures – especially if they’re unique to you – is not. Also, there’s the Grindylow. And the color palette is quite lovely and very reusable for your own creations.

76420 Triwizard Tournament: The Black Lake contains 349 pieces and 5 minifigures. It is available now from the LEGO Shop and worldwide for US $44.99 | CAN $59.99 | UK £39.99 or from Amazon. It may also be available from third-party sellers on eBay.


The LEGO Group sent The Brothers Brick an early copy of this set for review. Providing TBB with products for review guarantees neither coverage nor positive reviews.

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5 comments on “LEGO Harry Potter 76420 Triwizard Tournament: The Black Lake [Review]

  1. Jag

    I could go the whole year with just reading about Lego and would gladly give up seeing someone’s opinion about anyone’s non-Lego viewpoint. Whether it’s someone’s jumped-to conclusion in the comments or someone else’s pandering in the header, neither have anything to do with Lego. Really takes away from your articles and makes me only want to scan pictures and ignore your review. But hey, that’s just me. I guess that means I hate [insert anything here].

  2. PKV

    I think it would be hilarious if you just started referring to Rowling as “she who must not be named.”

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