Quirinus Quirrell

Steal the Philosopher's Stone and use it to bring Voldemort back to full power (both failed)
Become a very powerful wizard so he can become famous (before meeting Voldemort)

## Relationships

### **Enemies**

Harry Potter, Albus Dumbledore, Severus Snape, Rubeus Hagrid

## Personal Information

### Occupation

Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher at Hogwarts (1991-1992)
Dark wizard
Follower of Lord Voldemort

### Powers/Abilities

High Intelligence
Charms
Dark Arts
Nonverbal and wandless magic

### Likes

Serving Lord Voldemort, traveling around the world, killing unicorns and drinking their blood, practicing the dark arts

## Character Information

### **Origin**

*Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone*

### **Portrayed by**

Ian Hart

**Professor Quirinus Quirrell**, or simply known as **Professor Quirrell**, is the main antagonist of the 1998 novel *Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone* sand the 2001 film adaptation of the same name.Professor Quirinus Quirrell (26 September, 1967 or earlier – 4 June, 1992) is a supporting antagonist in *Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone* and the 2001 film adaptation of the same name who a half-blood wizard who attended Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry and was Sorted into Ravenclaw House. He was the Muggle Studies professor at Hogwarts, though he later became the Defence Against the Dark Arts professor during the 1991–1992 school year.

Before teaching Defence Against the Dark Arts, Quirrell went out in search of Voldemort, believing he could achieve recognition for finding him and could learn things that would ensure that no one laughed at him again. However, Voldemort, after finding out that he taught at Hogwarts, took over his body, though Quirrell put up some feeble resistance. He died in vain while trying to murder Harry Potter at Underground Chambers.

### Early life

"*Oh, yeah. Poor bloke. Brilliant mind. He was fine while he was studyin' outta books but then he took a year off ter get some firsthand experience.... They say he met vampires in the Black Forest, and there was a nasty bit o' trouble with a hag — never been the same since. Scared of the students, scared of his own subject —*"
— Rubeus Hagrid regarding Quirrell's youth and travels[src]

Quirinus Quirrell was born presumably before 26 September, 1967, somewhere in the British Isles, to a magical and a Muggle parent.

### Hogwarts years

Quirinus attended Hogwarts, where he was Sorted into Ravenclaw House. It is likely that he acquired his wand from Ollivanders when he was eleven.

As a boy, Quirinus was gifted but also delicate, teased for his timidity and nerves during his school life. Feeling inadequate and wishing to prove himself, he developed an (initially theoretical) interest in the Dark Arts. The feelings of insignificance and worthlessness that this bullying fostered embittered the boy, forging a latent desire to make the world sit up and notice him.

Minerva McGonagall was a professor during his time and was very kind and helpful to the young Quirrell, encouraging him to value knowledge. He was very grateful towards her and admired her bravery, wisdom, thirst for knowledge and kindness.

He also most likely obtained a high-graded O.W.L. and N.E.W.T. in Muggle Studies and Defence Against the Dark Arts, since not only did he go on to teach both but was also noted to have had a gift for the theory of Defensive Magic.

### As the Muggle Studies professor

During the special Teacher Appreciation Celebration at Hogwarts in the 1985–1986 school year, Merula Snyde was given the task to interview and learn about Quirrell, though she was not too pleased about this due to him being the Muggle Studies professor at the time. Merula and Jacob's sibling went to visit him to learn more about Minerva McGonagall.

During his meeting with Jacob's sibling, Quirrell asked them their opinion of Merula Snyde, asking whether they thought she was good or bad or somewhere in between. He also revealed the McGonagall's influence during some of the difficult time in his Hogwarts years were the "reason he is a teacher today".

### Campaign for the Philosopher's Stone

#### Meeting Lord Voldemort

"*A wizard – young, foolish and gullible – wandered across my path in the forest I had made my home. Oh, he seemed the very chance I had been dreaming of ... for he was a teacher at Dumbledore’s school ... he was easy to bend to my will ... he brought me back to this country, and after a while, I took possession of his body, to supervise him closely as he carried out my orders.*"
— Lord Voldemort recounting his meeting with Quirrell[src]

After teaching Muggle Studies for some time, he took a year-long sabbatical in 1990 in order to "gain first-hand experience", though in reality he had taken a 'Grand Tour' around the world in order to hopefully find whatever remained of Voldemort after his first defeat, partly out of curiosity, partly out of that unacknowledged desire for importance from his childhood. At the very least, Quirrell fantasised that he could be the man who tracked Voldemort down, but at best, might learn skills from Voldemort that would ensure he was never laughed at again. His journey proved successful as he did indeed find Voldemort, though he was no match for the Dark Lord (even in such a weakened state) and when he realised that Quirinus had a position at Hogwarts, Voldemort latched onto Quirrell’s body and went back to Hogwarts with him.

Quirrell also adopted a turban for everyday use after this sabbatical, claiming to have received it from an African prince as compensation for disposing of a zombie. It was also rumoured that he encountered vampires in the Black Forest, in Albania, and had a nasty bit of trouble with a hag.

Quirrell at some unknown point prior to 1991 came into possession of Vault 998 in the new vault area of Gringotts Wizarding Bank. He kept a small box containing various belongings, a large crate, and a chest containing Circe's Chocolate Frog Card that was given by Cuthbert Binns to James Potter before Quirrell came into possession of it.

#### Serving the Dark Lord

**Quirrell**: "*P-P-Potter, c-can't t-tell you how p- pleased I am to meet you.*"
**Harry**: "*What sort of magic do you teach, Professor Quirrell?*"
**Quirrell**: "*D-Defence Against the D-D-Dark Arts N-not that you n-need it, eh, P-P-Potter?*"
— Quirrell meeting Harry Potter for the first time in the Leaky Cauldron[src]
Quirrell spent his last year of life attempting to procure the Philosopher's Stone for Voldemort, who used his nervous disposition to his advantage, as his perceived lack of confidence had earned very little respect from the students at Hogwarts and consequently diverted suspicion away from his plans.

Quirrell's first plan was enacted before the school term started and involved going to Diagon Alley in an attempt to steal the Philosopher's Stone from Gringotts Wizarding Bank for Voldemort. While in the Leaky Cauldron, he met Harry Potter, who had come with Rubeus Hagrid. Quirrell pretended that he was going to buy a new book on vampires. Quirrell was unsuccessful in his attempted robbery, as Rubeus Hagrid had removed the Stone from its vault earlier that same day on Albus Dumbledore's orders.

After this first failure, Voldemort began to share Quirrell's body to ensure no further failure would occur, and as Voldemort's face was sticking out of the back of his head, Quirrell had to wear a purple turban for the entire school year. Quirrell tried to put up feeble resistance on occasion, but Voldemort was far too strong for him to overpower.

"*Troll -- in the dungeons -- thought you ought to know.*"
— Quirrell deceiving the school on Hallowe'en[src]

After this attempted break-in, he returned to Hogwarts to teach as Defence Against the Dark Arts, while another wizard replaced him as Muggle Studies professor. It is unknown who this wizard was. A few of his classes included the Curse of the Bogies, the Knockback Jinx, *Lumos,* and *Verdimillious*. The majority of the students found Quirrell's lessons to be a joke, as they did not take him seriously as a teacher. On Hallowe'en, Quirrell allowed a troll to enter Hogwarts as a diversion, and sneaked to the restricted Third Floor Corridor where the Stone was being hidden. Severus Snape, who suspected Quirrell, followed him and was bitten on the leg by the three-headed dog Fluffy in the process of trying to head Quirrell off.

Later in the year, during a Quidditch match between Gryffindor and Slytherin, Quirrell made his first attempt at Harry Potter's life. He jinxed Harry's broomstick to try to throw him off, but Severus Snape interfered again with a counter-curse. When Hermione Granger observed the crowd through binoculars in an attempt to figure out who was performing the jinx, she caught Snape discreetly uttering the counter-curse incantation but erroneously thought he was performing the actual curse. She later managed to run to Snape's stand and set fire in his robes in order to distract him and make him stop, but during her hurry she accidentally knocked Quirrell over, causing him to break the eye contact necessary for performing his spell correctly.

#### Targeting unicorns

"*... d-don't know why you wanted t-t-to meet here of all p-places, Severus...*"
— Quirrell's nervousness around Snape[src]

After the Quidditch match Harry witnessed an intense exchange between Snape and Quirrell. It seemed as though Snape was trying to intimidate Quirrell into handing over information regarding the stone. When Harry, Ron, and Hermione believed that Severus Snape was trying to intimidate Quirrell into helping him steal the Philosopher's Stone, they tried to be supportive and encouraging to Quirrell whenever possible by telling people off for laughing at his stutter, or smiling at him encouragingly whenever they passed him.

"*Next second, Quirrell came hurrying out of the classroom straightening his turban. He was pale and looked as though he was about to cry. He strode out of sight; Harry didn't think Quirrell had even noticed him.*"
— Harry being perplexed over Quirrell's upset demeanour[src]

About a week before Harry's exams, Voldemort ordered Quirrell to try to get the Stone again. Harry overheard this, and mistook the conversation for an argument between Snape and the Defence teacher. Throughout the year, Quirrell's body weakened drastically from hosting his master's soul, and in order to keep himself and Voldemort alive, Quirrell began to prey on unicorns in the Forbidden Forest and drink their blood. He met Harry, Draco Malfoy, and Fang there, and was about to attack Harry until Firenze the Centaur rescued the boy.

On 4 June, after Dumbledore had left for London, both Quirrell and the trio went through the obstacles blocking the way to the Stone. To get past Fluffy, Quirrell disguised himself and lured Hagrid into a card game by betting a dragon's egg. During the game, he managed to draw out information about Fluffy by convincing Hagrid that he was a Dragon dealer, and as such, shared Hagrid's penchant for dangerous pets. In Hagrid's enthusiasm, and most likely under the influence of alcohol, he let slip that playing music for the three-headed dog would put him to sleep. Quirrell then sent a forged letter to Professor Dumbledore summoning him to the British Ministry of Magic to get him away from the school. He went after the Stone, but was followed by Harry Potter, Ron Weasley, and Hermione Granger — though they believed their enemy to be Severus Snape.

#### Skirmish in the Underground Chambers

"*Yes, Severus does seem the type, doesn't he? So useful to have him swooping around like an overgrown bat. Next to him, who would suspect p-p-poor, st-stuttering P-Professor Quirrell?*"
— Quirrell (possibly influenced by Voldemort) on Harry's suspicions about Snape after revealing himself[src]

Quirrell was able to penetrate the first six chambers that protected the Philosopher's Stone, including the chamber in which he himself put a troll. He reached the final chamber only to find the Mirror of Erised, and was unable to figure out how to take the stone from it, going so far as to consider smashing the mirror.

Eventually, Harry alone managed to reach the last chamber, and was surprised to meet Quirrell instead of Snape. Quirrell non-verbally bound Harry and summoned a wall of fire behind the door to prevent him from escaping, then, on Voldemort's command, forced Harry to look into the mirror. Harry saw his reflection with the Stone in his own trousers' pocket, and felt it indeed being transferred to his real pocket. When Harry lied about what he saw in the mirror, Quirrell unwrapped his turban to reveal Voldemort's face, bound to the back of his head.

#### Death

**Voldemort**: "*Seize him! SEIZE HIM!*"
**Quirrell**: "*Master, I cannot hold him -- my hands -- my hands!*"
**Voldemort**: "*Then kill him fool, and be done!*"
— Quirrell's last words, attempting to kill Harry Potter for his master[src]
Quirrell's life ended then, when Voldemort forced him to attempt the murder of Harry Potter (figuring out Harry had the Stone and being unable to persuade him to give it willingly). Unfortunately, the body Quirrell and Voldemort were both sharing manifested in burns and blisters during his fight with Harry due to the protective charm Harry's mother left in his skin when she died for him. Harry collapsed from the pain in his scar, but Quirrell's body was burnt so horribly that Voldemort dispossessed his body and left him to die. However, despite being effectively turned into a living Horcrux for the last year of his life, Quirrell did not ultimately lose his soul, having even tried to put up feeble resistance on occasion (in spite of the fact that Voldemort was far too strong for him).

### Legacy

**Dolores Umbridge**: "*Your previous teachers in this subject may have allowed you more licence, but as none of them — with the possible exception of Professor Quirrell, who did at least appear to have restricted himself to age-appropriate subjects — would have passed a Ministry inspection —*"
**Harry Potter**: "*Yeah, Quirrell was a great teacher there was just that minor drawback of him having Lord Voldemort sticking out of the back of his head.*"
— Dolores Umbridge and Harry Potter arguing over Quirrell's reputation as a teacher[src]
Three years after Quirrell's death, Lord Voldemort told his Death Eaters during their rendezvous in Little Hangleton that Quirrell was a fool, and that he only allied with him for his position as a professor at Hogwarts.

In 1995, the then Defence Against the Dark Arts professor Dolores Umbridge mentioned him when she was criticising the past DADA professors for not teaching them things that would pass a Ministry inspection, considering that he was a possible exception due to teaching "age-appropriate subjects". Harry then retorted that Voldemort was on the back of his head, earning him another week's detention.