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 on Lord Voldemort

Professor Quirinus Quirrell (1950s or 1960s - 4 June, 1992) was a 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 teacher during the 1991–1992 school year.

While Quirrell traveled around the world, looking for first-hand experience before teaching Defence Against the Dark Arts, he met Lord Voldemort, and then was spiraled 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, in vain, to murder Harry Potter.

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…"

- Rubeus Hagrid on Quirrell's youth.

Quirinus Quirrell was born somewhere in the British Isles, presumably in the 1950s or 1960s, and attended Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, where he was Sorted into Ravenclaw House in the 1960s or '70s. It is likely that he acquired his wand from Ollivander's Wand Shop when he was eleven.

He was remembered by Rubeus Hagrid to be a "brilliant mind", reflecting his student years. 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.

Quirrell owned 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.

Work at Hogwarts
"He was teaching at Hogwarts for more than a year, but NOT in the post of D.A.D.A. teacher. He was previously Muggle Studies professor."

- Description of Quirrell's initial occupation.



At some point, while still a young man, Quirrell took up a teaching position at Hogwarts as professor of Muggle Studies. After teaching for some time, he took a year-long sabbatical in 1990 in order to gain first-hand experience. Quirrell claimed to have received a turban from an African prince as compensation for disposing of a zombie, and it was also rumoured that he encountered vampires in the Black Forest, in Albania, and had a nasty bit of trouble with a hag.

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 went 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.

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 to Hogwarts in 1991 and taught Defence Against the Dark Arts while another wizard replaced him as Muggle Studies Professor. He acted 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 the 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 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. It was Hermione Granger who ultimately stopped Quirrell by rushing to set fire to the robes of Severus Snape (whom she believed was jinxing Harry's broom), and in the process, causing Quirrell to break the eye contact necessary for performing his spell correctly.

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 winking at him encouragingly whenever they passed him.

Later that year, in order to keep his master 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 when Firenze rescued the boy. 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. That night, 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 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
"Master, I cannot hold him — my hands — my hands!"

- Quirrell's last words.



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 Lord Voldemort's face, 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, and Voldemort fled to Albania once more. 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



Quirrell was a young man with a very pale skin tone and light blue eyes.

When Quirrell returned from his sabbatical in Albania, one of his eyes developed a twitch and he appeared quite pale and anxious and frequently stuttered. At the start of the semester, he was wearing purple turban. He was usually trembling and prone to fainting.

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
"He didn't realize that love as powerful as your mother's for you leaves its own mark . . . to have been loved so deeply, even though the person who loved us is gone, will give us some protection forever. It is in your very skin. Quirrell, full of hatred, greed, and ambition, sharing his soul with Voldemort, could not touch you for this reason. It was agony to touch a person marked by something so good."

- Albus Dumbledore explains Quirrell's demise



Quirrell was a gullible, weak-willed wizard who was easily corrupted. Not much of Quirrell's early life is known, though we can surmise that as a young man, he was very naive and impressionable. When Quirrell met Lord Voldemort, he arrived at the conclusion that "there is no good and evil, there is only power, and those too weak to seek it". Quirrell generally did his best to serve Voldemort, though he admitted that his attempts were not always successful, seeing as he was being given rather tall orders.

Throughout the school year, Quirrell appeared nervous and timid. He frequently stuttered and was mostly an incompetent teacher. Though his nervousness was probably very real due to the enormous pressure being put upon him by Voldemort, Quirrell had a chillingly sinister side that most people never saw. He was extremely adept at conniving and manipulation; at one point, he disguised himself and tricked Hagrid into revealing crucial information on how to get past one of the obstacles protecting the Philosopher's Stone. Another time he let a fully-grown Mountain Troll into the school on Halloween as a diversion while he headed off to the third-floor corridor and tried to penetrate its defenses. He even managed to deceive the great Albus Dumbledore by forging a Ministry letter to him to lure him away from school.

Magical abilities and skills
"Can't nothing interfere with a broomstick except powerful Dark magic- no kid could do that to a Nimbus Two Thousand."

- Rubeus Hagrid on Quirrell's powers.

Rubeus Hagrid once claimed that Quirrell was a brilliant mind, suggesting that he was already an intelligent and powerful wizard, though he gained a good deal more power when he was sharing his body with Lord Voldemort.




 * Charms: Whilst the true extent of Quirrel's expertise in this area is unknown, he does teach Verdimillious during one of his Defence Against the Dark Arts classes and so at least has some basic skills in charming.
 * Transfiguration: Quirrell was apparently skilled with conjuration, a difficult branch of Transfiguration. He could conjure ropes, both non-verbally and wandlessly.
 * Dark Arts: Quirrell was apparently skilled with Dark Arts. He jinxed Harry Potter's broomstick and may have even had the ability to cast a wandless Killing Curse. However since he never had a chance to actually curse Harry it is unconfirmed which spell he was attempting to use and it may not have been the Killing Curse.
 * Non-verbal magic: Quirrell was capable of performing non-verbal magic, conjuring ropes without the incantation.
 * Wandless magic: Quirrell was able to do wandless magic, conjuring ropes without a wand.
 * Creature expert: He is uncommonly gifted with trolls being able to bring one into Hogwarts on Halloween. He was somehow able to acquire a Norwegian Ridgeback dragon egg to give to Hagrid.

Lord Voldemort
Quirinus Quirrell first met Lord Voldemort in 1991, in the forests of Albania, where Voldemort manipulated Quirrell into servitude with promises of power and glory. Quirrell brought him back to England, and eventually to Hogwarts. The Dark Lord planned to obtain the Philosopher's Stone and fabricate Elixir of Life to acquire a body. Quirrel attempted to infiltrate Vault 713 of Gringotts Wizarding Bank, in order to steal the Philosopher's Stone. Quirrell managed to break in, but found the vault had been emptied by Rubeus Hagrid and Harry Potter earlier that day.

Following this failed attempt, Voldemort began a parasitic relationship with Quirrell, in which he attached himself to the back of Quirrell's head, to ensure his plans were being followed precisely. Voldemort ordered Quirrell to kill Harry Potter, though Quirrell's attempts to do so were thwarted by Severus Snape and Hermione Granger. Harry was able to penetrate the Philosopher's Stone Chambers in pursuit of Severus Snape, or so he believed, only to find it was Quirrell in front of the Mirror of Erised. Quirrell, under Voldemort's orders, demanded Harry draw the Stone from the Mirror; though Harry was successfully able to retrieve the stone, he attempted to conceal the fact by lying about what he saw in the mirror. Quirrell revealed Voldemort, who tried to manipulate Harry into handing over the Stone by offering him the chance to see his parents, and upon Harry's refusal, ordered Quirrell to take the stone by force. Quirrell, sharing his body with Voldemort, found himself unable to touch "a person marked by something so good" (referring to Lily Potter's sacrificial protection). Voldemort separated his soul from Quirrell's body to escape the pain, and left Quirrell to die, as Albus Dumbledore noted, showing him as little mercy as he did his enemies.

Three years later, after his return, Voldemort told his Death Eaters that Quirrell was a fool, and that he only allied with him for his position as a professor at Hogwarts.

Harry Potter
"What is this magic?"

- Quirrell, unable to understand the power of love.



Quirrell first met Harry Potter in 1991, at the Leaky Cauldron, in Diagon Alley. Quirrell greeted Harry in the same way most of the wizarding community did, seeming thrilled to meet "The Boy who Lived". Though Harry found Quirrell's twitchy behaviour odd, he was generally pleased to meet Quirrell, as a friend of Hagrid's and as his soon-to-be Defence Against the Dark Arts professor at Hogwarts.

Harry eventually came to believe that Severus Snape was attempting to threaten Quirrell into helping him penetrate the defences surrounding the Philosopher's Stone, for Lord Voldemort. As it seemed like the only thing standing between Snape and a means of restoring Voldemort to power was Quirrell's will, Harry did what he could to encourage Quirrell and help build his confidence.

As it turned out, Quirrell was a servant of Voldemort, and it was he, not Snape, who was aiming to steal the Philosopher's Stone for the Dark Lord, and, if possible, kill Harry along the way. When they met for the last time in the final of the Philosopher's Stone Chambers, Quirrell's connection to Lord Voldemort rendered him unable to touch Harry without experiencing unbearable pain, due to the enduring power of Lily Potter's sacrificial protection, and he died attempting to steal the stone from Harry by force.

Hogwarts staff
Quirrell generally got along well with most of the faculty at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, including Filius Flitwick, Pomona Sprout, Minerva McGonagall and Rubeus Hagrid. Hagrid seemed to think highly of Quirrell, and considered him to be a very clever and talented wizardfor his extensive world travels and experience fighting the Dark Arts. However, as Quirrell didn't show his true personality, it's possible he disliked them all.

Severus Snape, however, was the only one who saw Quirrell for what he really was. His contempt partially stemmed from the fact that Quirrell was the Defence Against the Dark Arts Professor — a position that Snape had wanted for years. Snape may have guessed that Quirrell was hiding his true intentions, as he told him to "decide where his loyalties are", though 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 described Quirrell as greedy and worthless to Bellatrix Lestrange and Narcissa Malfoy.

As Headmaster Albus Dumbledore was a highly intelligent and powerful wizard somewhat suspected Quirrell's true nature; this is further evidenced by the fact he asked Snape to keep an eye on Quirrell. After the events in the Philosopher's Stone chambers, Dumbledore expressed his opinion to Harry that Quirrell, much like Voldemort, was flawed for his inability to understand "good and evil", and his desire for 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
 * His first name is likely a reference to the fact that Quirinus is an epithet of Janus, since both Janus and Quirrell have two faces, one on either side of their heads.
 * David Thewlis, who plays Professor Lupin in the film adaptations, was considered for the role of Professor Quirrell. However Ian Hart, who also provided the voice for Voldemort, 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 Voldemort sharing Quirrell's body, because as Quirrell 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.
 * 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.
 * 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 and is seen at the end of Year 1 armless and heavily bandaged in the hospital wing.
 * 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 that can harm Harry.
 * On the student list shown by J. K. Rowling on Harry Potter and Me, a student named "Quirrell" was listed, but the name was crossed out with "Rivers" written above it.
 * Archive footage of Quirrell appears in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2.

Etymology
The name "Quirinus" is possibly derived from the Sabine word quiris meaning "spear". Quirinus was a Sabine and Roman god who was later identified with Mars. The name was also borne by several early saints.

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 (film)
 * Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (video game)
 * Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
 * Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (film)
 * Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (video game)
 * Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows
 * Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2
 * Harry Potter Trading Card Game
 * Lego Harry Potter: Years 1-4
 * Lego Creator: Harry Potter
 * Harry Potter LEGO Sets

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