Quirinus Quirrell

"I met him when I travelled around the world. A foolish young man I was then, full of ridiculous ideas about good and evil. Voldemort showed me how wrong I was. There is no good and evil... there is only power, and those too coward to understand it... Since then, I serve him faithfully, although I have let him down many times."

- Quirinus Quirrell

Professor Quirinus Quirrell was a wizard who attended Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry and was Sorted into Slytherin House. He was the Muggle Studies professor at Hogwarts, though he later became the Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher during the 1991–1992 school year. While Quirrell travelled around the world, looking for first-hand experience before teaching D.A.D.A, he met Lord Voldemort, and then was spiralled into corruption. He shared his body with Voldemort and became loyal to him, helping him find the Philosopher's Stone, and eventually died while trying to murder Harry Potter, who succeeded in stopping him.

Early life
Little is known of Quirrell's early life. He was born into the Quirrell family. He was Sorted into Slytherin House at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. It is likely that he obtained his wand from Ollivander's Wand Shop, when he was eleven. Also, he probably obtained a high-graded O.W.L. and N.E.W.T. in Muggle Studies and Defence Against the Dark Arts.

Work at Hogwarts
At some point, Quirrell took up a teaching position at Hogwarts as professor of Muggle Studies. After teaching for a while, he took a year-long sabbatical in order to gain first-hand experience. Quirrell claimed to have received his turban from an African prince as compensation for disposing of a zombie, and it was rumoured that he encountered vampires in the Black Forest of Albania.

Meeting Lord Voldemort
"When I failed to steal the stone from Gringotts, he was most displeased. He punished me...decided he would have to keep a closer watch on me..."

- Quirinus Quirrell to Harry Potter on his first failure

Quirrell did indeed encounter something horrible when he travelled around the world: Lord Voldemort. The barely-alive Dark Lord twisted the gullible Quirrell into his service, seducing Quirrell with the promise of glory. In 1991, Quirrell attempted to steal the Philosopher's Stone from Gringotts Wizarding Bank for Voldemort. Quirrell was unsuccessful because Hagrid had removed the Stone from its vault earlier that same day on Dumbledore's orders. After this first failure, Voldemort decided to possess him. As Voldemort's face was sticking out the back of his head, Quirrell had to wear a purple turban the entire school year to hide him.

Serving the Dark Lord
"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 on Harry's suspicions about Snape after revealing himself

Quirrell returned and taught Defence Against the Dark Arts while another wizard replaced him as Muggle Studies Professor. He was acting jittery and nervous, either so people wouldn't be suspicious of him or because he was beginning to crack under the pressure of serving Lord Voldemort. Either way, his lack of confidence had earned very little respect from the students at Hogwarts. A few of his classes included the Curse of the Bogies, the Knockback Jinx, the Lumos spell and the Verdimillious spell. On Halloween, Quirrell allowed a troll to enter Hogwarts as a diversion, and sneaked to a restricted Third Floor Corridor where the Stone was being hidden. Severus Snape, who suspected Quirrell, followed him, and was bitten by the three-headed dog Fluffy in the process of trying to follow Quirrell.

Later in the year, during a Quidditch match between Gryffindor and Slytherin, Quirrell attempted to kill Harry Potter, whom he saw as a threat to him. He jinxed Harry's broomstick in order to try to throw him off. However, Severus Snape interfered again with a counter-curse. It was Hermione Granger who stopped Quirrell by rushing to set fire to the robes of Severus Snape (who she believed was jinxing Harry's broom) with Lacarnum Inflamarae, having previously knocked over Quirrell and causing him to lose concentration on jinxing the broom in the process.

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, such as telling people off for laughing at his stutter, or making encouraging winks whenever they passed him.

Later that year, in order to keep his master alive, he began to prey on unicorns in the Forbidden Forest and drink their blood. To get past Fluffy, Quirrell disguised himself and played a card game with Hagrid in exchange for a dragon's egg. During that game, he managed to draw out the information on how to get past Fluffy, which was to play him music, so that it would fall asleep. Hagrid later assumed that Quirrell in disguise was actually a Dragon dealer. Quirrell then sent a forged letter to Professor Dumbledore summoning him to the 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.

Battle in the Philosopher's Stone Chambers and death
"What is this magic?!"

- Quirrell's last words.

Quirrell had penetrated the first six chambers that protects the Philosopher's Stone, including the chamber in which he himself put a Troll in, by easily knocking out the creature himself. Quirrell reached the final chamber, only to find the Mirror of Erised, and unable to figure out how to take the stone from it, going as far as to thinking of shattering the mirror.

Eventually, Harry alone managed to reach the last chamber as well, 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 unbind Harry to force him to see into the mirror, on Voldemort's demand. Harry saw his reflection having the Stone in his own trousers' pocket and felt it indeed being transferred to his real pockets. Quirrell revealed to Harry his master, Lord Voldemort, bound to the back of his head. Voldemort deduced that Harry had the Stone and, in the ensuing struggle to get it, Quirrell was unable to endure Harry's touch. The magic left by his mother's sacrifice was powerful enough to burn Quirrell, and Voldemort, seeing his servant was no longer of any use to him, left him to die. Dumbledore later explained to Harry that Voldemort left as little mercy to his followers as his enemies.

Physical description
"Even Professor Quirrell was tremblin' ter meet yeh — mind you, he's usually tremblin'."

- Rubeus Hagrid to Harry Potter

In 1991, Quirrell's associates noticed a change in him upon his return from a trip to Albania. He not only began to wear a garlic-scented purple turban, but one of his eyes developed a twitch and he often appeared quite pale and nervous. His voice was stammering, and he often stuttered. He was usually trembling, and was prone to fainting. His nervousness turned out to be something of an act; even though he was terrified of disobeying Lord Voldemort, he was really very cold and calculating.

Near the end of his life, his reason for wearing the turban became clear. Quirrell had joined with Lord Voldemort and agreed to allow Voldemort's fledgling body to latch on to the back of his head. It was only able to grow into a face, and used Quirrell for transportation and sustenance.

Personality and traits
Not much of Quirrell's personality before he met Lord Voldemort in Albania is known; as he said, when he was a young man, he believed in good and evil, and was a good person. He was also said by Rubeus Hagrid to be a very intelligent and talented wizard, though he was usualy stammering, possibly because he didn't have much confidence. However, when he met Lord Voldemort, Quirrell's personality changed; he "realised" that there was no good and evil, and that there was only power, and those to weak to see it. Quirrell wanted to serve Voldemort, but he admitted that at times it was hard to follow Voldemort's orders because he was such a great wizard.

Quirrell throughout the school year had usually acted incompetent to the point of stuttering his words, but once he had revealed himself to be a servant of the Dark Lord, he showed his true colours by acting cold, aggressive, and calculated. His reasoning behind acting in the manner he had throughout the school year was so that no one would suspect him, because "who would suspect p-p-poor, st-stuttering P-Professor Quirrell?" . This act is just one example of his expertise in manipulating people. Because of his special gift with trolls he was able to lure a troll into the school to distract everyone on Halloween while he attempted to get past Fluffy. Quirrell disguised himself and tricked Hagrid in to playing cards with him at the Hog's Head. Between getting him drunk and enticing him with a dragon's egg he was able to get the information he needed on getting past Fluffy. He even managed to deceive the great Albus Dumbledore by forging a Ministry letter to him to lure him away from school.

According to Dolores Umbridge, Quirrell was the only teacher at Hogwarts that would have passed an inspection by the Ministry of Magic, as he was one of the few to teach age-appropriate magic (theory based).

Magical abilities and skills
Rubeus Hagrid once claimed that Quirrell was a brilliant mind, suggesting that he was an intelligent and powerful wizard. After being possessed by Lord Voldemort, Quirrell gains much more power due to their bond.


 * Creature Expert: Quirrell has no difficulty whatsoever in taming animals, such as Iguanas. He is also "quite gifted" with trolls and was somehow able to acquire a Norwegian Ridgeback dragon egg to give to Hagrid.


 * Non-verbal Magic: Quirrell was skilled with non-verbal magic, conjuring ropes without the incantation.


 * Wandless Magic: Quirrell was able to do wandless magic, conjuring ropes without a wand, and jinxing Harry Potter's Nimbus 2000 broomstick, although that may have been due to Voldemort's presence.


 * Transfiguration: Quirrell was apparently skilled with conjuration, a difficult branch of Transfiguration. He could conjure both fire and ropes, nonverbal and wandless.


 * Dark Arts: Quirrell was apparently skilled with Dark Arts. He jinxed Harry Potter´s broomstick and even had the ability to cast a wandless Killing Curse.


 * Flying: Quirrell was shown to be able to fly clear across a chamber without an object, defying the rule that wizards cannot fly without an object. This ability most likely came from Lord Voldemort, who had devised the method himself. He shares this ability with Severus Snape and Lord Voldemort.

Lord Voldemort
"I met him when I travelled around the world. A foolish young man I was then, full of ridiculous ideas about good and evil. Voldemort showed me how wrong I was. Since then, I serve him faithfully, although I have let him down many times."

- Quirinus Quirrell

Quirinus Quirrell first met Lord Voldemort in 1991, at a forest of Albania, when he travelled around the world. Voldemort managed to find his weaknesses and turned him into a faithful servant, by offering him power (and possibly immortality). After Quirrell left the forest, Voldemort ordered him to rob Gringotts bank, in order to steal the Philosopher's Stone. Quirrell did so, but the vault they robbed was empty.

Some time after that, Quirrell started to share his body with Voldemort, in order for the Dark Lord to be sure that Quirrell would not do any mistakes, while following Voldemort's orders. Then Voldemort ordered Quirrell to kill Harry Potter; Quirrell's attempts, however, failed, but Harry himself went at the Philosopher's Stone Chamber, only to see Quirrell in front of the Mirror of Erised. Quirrell, under Voldemort's orders, wanted the boy to give him the stone, but Harry refused. Quirrell and Voldemort then tried to convince him that power was more important than his beliefs about good and evil, and more important than love. Quirrell then attemped to kill Harry, but when he touched him, his body started to burn and he was killed, since neither he nor Voldemort were able to understand love, while Harry's mother had died to protect him. Although Voldemort possibly thought Quirrell was a loyal servant, didn't try to save him, but let him die, while he fleed away from his body.

Three years later, after his return, Voldemort told his Death Eaters that Quirrell was a foolish person, and that he only allied with him because he was a professor at Hogwarts.



Harry Potter
"What is this magic?"

- Quirrelll, unable to understand the power of love.

Quirrell first met Harry Potter in 1991, at Diagon Alley. Then, Harry's opinion of Quirrell was that he was a friend of Rubeus Hagrid who was very glad to meet Harry, the “Boy who lived”. Harry learned by Hagrid that Quirrell was a professor at Hogwarts. He thought it was funny that Quirrell was trembling and seemed to quite like him. During his years at Hogwarts, Harry thought that Severus Snape threatened Quirrell in order to learn information about how to get into the Philosopher's Stone chamber. That made the boy try to encourage Quirrell not to give Snape the information.

In fact, Quirrell disliked Harry; as he was a servant of Voldemort, he wanted to kill the boy. When they were met for the last time at the Philosopher's Stone chamber, in front of the Mirror of Erised, Quirrell tried to make Harry give him the stone. Harry then refused to do so. Quirrell was possibly surprised, as Harry (unlike Quirrell) preffered to side with the “good”, instead of siding with Voldemort and getting much power. When Quirrell attacked the boy in order to kill him, his hands started to burn as he was touching Harry; as Harry's mother, Lily Evans, had died in order to protect him, people like Voldemort and Quirrell, who could not understand love, were unable to harm him. This led to Quirrell's death.

Hogwarts staff
Quirrell had a good relationship with the most professors at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Some of them were Filius Flitwick, Pomona Sprout, Minerva McGonagall and Rubeus Hagrid. Hagrid often thought highly of Quirrell and considered him to be a very clever and talented wizard. However, Quirrell didn't show his true personality and possibly disliked them all.

Quirrell, however, had a bad relationship with Severus Snape, the Potions professor. Snape appeared to dislike Quirrell, mainly becuase he was Defence Against the Dark Arts professor, a position that Snape wanted. Then, Snape possibly guessed that Quirrell served Tom Riddle, as he told him to "decide where his loyalties are". Harry Potter and his friends believed that Snape was threatening Quirrell in order to get information about how to get into the Philosopher's Stone chamber. Years later, Snape called Quirrell greedy and worthless, in front of Bellatrix Lestrange and Narcissa Malfoy.

Although Albus Dumbledore was a highly intelligent and powerful wizard, he didn't appear to know that Quirrell served Voldemort. When Quirrell was fighting with Harry Potter, Dumbledore helped Harry defeat Voldemort and Quirrell. Then he expressed his opinion to Harry, that Quirrell, much like Tom Riddle, did not understand about "good and evil", and only wanted power.

Behind the scenes

 * Like Madam Hooch, Quirrell's first name is different according to the source. The trading cards list his name as Quirinus, whereas the Internet Movie database and Famous Wizard Cards say that it is Slatero.Quirin.jpg
 * David Thewlis, who plays Professor Lupin in the film adaptations, was considered for the role of Professor Quirrell, however Ian Hart was eventually cast.
 * In the novels, Quirrell doesn't appear to have his turban until after his failed attempt to steal the Philosopher's Stone from Gringotts. In the film however, Quirrell has his turban before the robbery. This change is indicated by the fact that he shakes Harry's hand at the Leaky Cauldron in the novel, but doesn't wish to in the film. However, not wanting to shake Harry's hand cannot be due to Voldemort's posession of him, because as he dies, he does not understand what is happening to him (He yells, "What is this magic?!")
 * Quirrell is notable as being one of few wizards capable of performing intricate magic, like Dumbledore, without a wand; he can fly without a wand, conjure ropes by snapping his fingers, etc. It is possible that he had this ability because of Voldemort's possession of him, although Hagrid's high opinion of Quirrell suggests that Quirrell was a talented wizard.
 * In a list of students in Harry Potter's year displayed by J. K. Rowling in Harry Potter and Me, a student named Quirrell is listed, possibly meant to be a relative of Professor Quirrell. The existence of this student is unlikely to be actual canon.
 * It should be noted that Quirrell is unique among Voldemort's followers as one of the few who use Voldemort's name. While the Death Eaters call Voldemort "The Dark Lord" when referring to him, Quirrell openly uses Voldemort's name when talking to Harry. This could be explained by the fact Quirrell was not a Death Eater and that he was also possessed by Voldemort at the time and Voldemort could be influencing Quirrell's speech as Quirrell was complimenting Voldemort.
 * Quirrell is a playable character in Lego Harry Potter: Years 1-4. Despite dying in the first year, he can still be played in the other years.
 * In Lego Harry Potter: Years 1-4 and the PC version of Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, Voldemort spins Quirrell's head 180 degrees to face Harry. Quirrell can also shoot fireballs and create a ghostly green head.

Appearances

 * Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone
 * Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (film)
 * Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (video game)
 * Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
 * Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
 * Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
 * Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (video game)
 * Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
 * Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (video game)
 * Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows
 * Lego Harry Potter: Years 1-4

Notes and references
Professor Quirrell Quirinus Quirrell Slatero Quirrell Квиреус Квиррелл Quirinus Quirrell