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Professor Quirrell

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Professor Quirrell Empty Professor Quirrell

Post  Elanor Sat May 07, 2011 11:00 am

Professor Quirrell

This topic serves as an archive of a thread from the Harry Potter Lexicon Forum as hosted on World Crossing which ceased operation on April 15, 2011. Elanor

Vulture - Sep 3, 2006 8:47 pm
Edited by Kip Carter Sep 10, 2006 5:46 am
Just noticed that he has no thread of his own _ maybe it's all been said and finished, back when Book 1 came out ? Anyway, he's the first villain of the series, and his testimony happens to provide the main starting-point for those who believe Snape is a good guy. Any thoughts on the Two-Headed One ?
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Professor Quirrell Empty Professor Quirrell (Post 1 to 38)

Post  Elanor Sat May 07, 2011 11:01 am

darien - Sep 5, 2006 4:50 am (#1 of 38)
Doctor in the many arts of wasting one's time
I think maybe he can give us a general view of Death Eater character- that its not simply purity of blood but power what they really seek.

Or give us an insight of what Voldemort does- he gives each person what they want, or induces them to believe he will give it to them to be able to get what he wants himself. For example the promise of a Muggle-free world to Lucius and the promise of power to Quirrel. ("there is no good or evil. Only power and those too weak to seek it")

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painting sheila - Sep 5, 2006 10:23 am (#2 of 38)

Doing one of the things I love best . . .
Which Quirrell was the real one? The one that was nervous and stuttered or the confident one in the end - or is this movie contamination?

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Choices - Sep 5, 2006 10:31 am (#3 of 38)

*Completely Obsessed With Harry Potter*
I really don't think Quirrell was evil - I tend to see him as weak and easily manipulated and I don't really think he was a Death Eater. He ran into Voldemort by accident and was charmed, Imperio'd or whatever into becoming a dupe for Voldemort. When he failed to steal the stone for him, Voldemort moved into Quirrell's body and took over. After that, Quirrell never had a chance and then Voldemort left him - dead. I don't think the association lasted that long and I just don't see Quirrell as truly being a Death Eater, just as someone used by Voldemort and then tossed aside.

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haymoni - Sep 5, 2006 10:41 am (#4 of 38)

I could see Quirrell starting out as a Percy - someone with lots of book knowledge, but no real experience.

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Steve Newton - Sep 5, 2006 11:11 am (#5 of 38)

Librarian
Choices, 'weak and easily manipulated' is often a good definition of evil.

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Choices - Sep 5, 2006 11:29 am (#6 of 38)

*Completely Obsessed With Harry Potter*
Nope, I looked it up and it says nothing about "weak and easily manipulated". It basically says "morally reprehensible". I don't see Quirrell as being morally reprehesible until after Voldemort gets hold of him. Up until then, he was just a teacher.

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Madame Pomfrey - Sep 5, 2006 7:36 pm (#7 of 38)

Voldemort described him as young,foolish and gullible which I think he was. Quirrell came upon Voldemort in Albania forrest.Where did Quirrell say he met up with a vampire?I often wondered about his fear of Vampires.He wore garlic.Did he think that Voldemort was a vampire? Maybe he was trying to ward him off.

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Vulture - Sep 5, 2006 8:48 pm (#8 of 38)

It's just my opinion, but I like it !!
Which Quirrell was the real one? The one that was nervous and stuttered or the confident one in the end - or is this movie contamination? (painting sheila - Sep 5, 2006 10:23 am (#2))

The confident one at the end. Can't remember the movie, but that's how it is in the book.

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haymoni - Sep 6, 2006 6:46 am (#9 of 38)

Makes me think of that movie with Richard Gere and Ed Norton (is that his name?).

Shivers!!!

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Madam Pince - Sep 6, 2006 12:10 pm (#10 of 38)

The eyes are the windows to the soul...
Oooo, yes, Primal Fear. That was one creepy character Edward Norton played!

I always think of the "real" Quirrell as being the man he was before Voldemort took over his body, so I think the "real" Quirrell was the stuttering, weak, easily manipulated character who was probably scared of his own shadow. He had been at Hogwarts several years apparently, and had earned this reputation for himself, so nobody would think it unlikely that he was gullible enough to try "old-wives'-tale"-ish things like putting garlic around his neck to ward off vampires. (I thought, Madame Pomfrey, that he was really wearing the garlic to mask the odd odor that Voldemort gave off? Or am I imagining that? I thought I read that somewhere...)

Anyway, I got the impression that Quirrell was not confident at all until Voldemort got ahold of him. He was someone who was weak and therefore easy for a weakened Voldemort to conquer and put to use. It's another example of Voldemort's pure evil and ruthlessness, that he would use another human being like we would use a paper towel and think nothing of its use and subsequent disposal.

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Vulture - Sep 6, 2006 1:35 pm (#11 of 38)

It's just my opinion, but I like it !!
I always think of the "real" Quirrell as being the man he was before Voldemort took over his body, so I think the "real" Quirrell was the stuttering, weak, easily manipulated character who was probably scared of his own shadow. (Madam Pince - Sep 6, 2006 12:10 pm (#10))

I thought the stuttering was an act _ in "The Man With Two Faces" he briefly gives Harry a display of it before going back to his cold and sharp voice. After all, most people thought he got the stutter after travelling in The Black Forest, etc. _ which is when we know he met Voldemort. So he met Voldemort and came back with a fake stutter and nervous act.

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Madame Pomfrey - Sep 6, 2006 7:16 pm (#12 of 38)

I was under the assumption that Quirrell had been working at Hogwarts before he met Voldemort.Wouldn't the kids have noticed if he started stuttering all of a sudden?

Solitaire,I think you are right.Fred and George mentioned the smell coming from Quirrell's turban, if I remember corectly.

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Madam Pince - Sep 6, 2006 9:16 pm (#13 of 38)

The eyes are the windows to the soul...
You may be right, Vulture, I don't know. I don't recall people thinking that he acquired the stutter after the Black Forest. I assumed that the stutter was real before he met Voldemort, then it became an act after Voldemort took over, but that he had to continue stuttering because, as Madame Pomfrey says, the kids had gotten used to his stutter and would've wondered about it if it had suddenly disappeared.

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Madame Pomfrey - Sep 7, 2006 6:51 am (#14 of 38)

Also, young,foolish and gullible as described by Voldemort doesn't seem to describe the Quirrell we saw at the end of book 1.

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Soul Search - Sep 7, 2006 8:00 am (#15 of 38)

I have had a few puzzling thoughts about Quirrell but there is so little canon that its hard to nail anything down. Let me suggest a few dirt tracks to explore, however.

After Harry meets Quirrell (SS, "Diagon Alley,") Hagrid says "he was fine when he was studyin' out of books ..." His choice of "fine" led me to believe Quirrell developed the stutter, etc. after returning to Hogwarts. That would mean it was all an act.

Hagrid also says "but then he took a year off ter get some first hand experience." He mentions the Black Forest (Germany.)

In CoS, "What interests me most," said Dumbledore gently, "is how Lord Voldemort managed to enchant Ginny, when my sources tell me he is currently in hiding in the forests of Albania."

We also have a few other references to Voldemort being in Albania which suggests the "Albania" idea may have been (somewhat) common knowledge, or at least that someone with an interest in DADA might have heard it, and believed Voldemort to be in Albania.
So, the question is, did Quirrell just travel around and happen to run into Voldemort in an Albanian forest, or did he set out specifically looking for Voldemort?

Why travel in an Albanian forest, if not to find Voldemort? Way too much coincidence, otherwise. My conclusion:

Quirrell went looking for Voldemort.

Next question: Did Quirrell go looking for Voldemort to "defeat" him, or to "join" him?

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Choices - Sep 7, 2006 10:46 am (#16 of 38)

*Completely Obsessed With Harry Potter*
I just can't buy that Quirrell went looking for Voldemort. He took time off to do some studying - a sabbatical to learn more about the Dark Arts, the subject he teaches. He went to Albania to learn about vampires (he mentions to Harry that he needs to buy a new book about vampires) and while there, he ran into Voldemort. We have no hint that Quirrell was anything other than a teacher prior to being possessed by Voldemort. That happened in book one and we have had five books since then and only one to go - if there was anymore to learn about Quirrell, I think Dumbledore (or someone) would have told Harry.

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zelmia - Sep 7, 2006 7:55 pm (#17 of 38)

Oh! And that's a bad miss!
I have to agree with Choices. I don't think the character of Quirrell can offer us any more insight into Voldemort or the overall saga. Quirrell was indeed easily manipulated, but apparently this was partly due to the fact that he had had little hands-on experience with Defence Against the Dark Arts. Hence the sabbatical.
We also know that Tom Riddle / Voldemort "was always able to charm the people I needed" (CS). I don't think it's much of a stretch to believe that Quirrell had once been an ordinary, albeit naive, junior professor at Hogwarts before running into Voldemort. Voldemort explains all of this during his resurrection speech in GF. He describes Quirrell as "weak" which I always took to mean "weak minded". In other words, easily manipulated and even easily possessed. ("These aren't the droids you're looking for. These aren't the droids we're looking for").

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Soul Search - Sep 8, 2006 7:06 am (#18 of 38)

I have to agree that it is unlikely that Quirrell is even mentioned in book seven. Even more, it is unlikely in the extreme that more detail relating to Quirrell and Voldemort will be revealed. Of course, that also means that any speculation is not likely to be refuted in canon, so we can have some fun.

I have thought that all this fasination with Albania was a bit curious. Why did Voldemort choose to hide in Albania? Why did Quirrell travel there? Bertha Jorkins? How did Wormtail manage to find Voldemort's spirit? Rats told him is a bit of a stretch.

It is just too much coincidence that Quirrell would just decide to travel to Albania and roam around the very forest that Voldemort is hiding in. It fits better that Quirrell decided to round out his DADA field trip by trying to find Voldemort.

"Weak minded" could also mean "receptive" to Voldemort's concept of good, evil ... and power.

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valuereflection - Sep 8, 2006 5:54 pm (#19 of 38)

I appreciated this thread. Quirrel was confusing for me and my friends, even after re-reading the books. His stuttering during the schoolyear of PS was obviously an act to help him conceal his possession by Voldemort -- but I never realized before now that he stuttered for real during the time BEFORE Voldemort took possession of him. (Thanks, Madam Pince.) Please be patient with the length of my post.

Here is how Voldemort described that time: "Four years ago...a wizard...wandered across my path in the forest I had made my home... He was easy to bend to my will..." (GF chapter 33)

In other words, Quirrel was easy prey for the Imperius curse. Anyone would be frightened by an Imperius curse from Lord Voldemort, but especially a person who knew that he himself lacked any practical experience in conflict with evil. He was forced to have frequent, sometimes extended, contact with Voldemort so as to obey the Imperius curse -- he was forced to transport Voldy to England and continue helping him with whatever he demanded. This experience terrified Quirrel into stuttering (for real) and being easily startled, even by his students in class, during at least one following schoolyear.

Already lacking practical experience, he became still more generally incompetent while obeying Voldemort's commands, due to his fright. Quirrel's behavior in the Leaky Cauldron was genuine, because he was not a willing follower of Voldemort.

But as we all know, Quirrel failed to get the stone that day as commanded, and thus Voldemort took possession of his body afterwards in order to "supervise him (more) closely." (Voldy is always impatient with failure from those who he asks to serve him.)
I think that the stuttering disappeared after the possession, because Voldemort gave to Quirrel some of his own self-confidence. He overcame Quirrel's unwillingness and all his remaining resistance, because Quirrel had always lacked mental fortitude. Then Quirrel enjoyed deceiving everyone by play-acting a continued stutter.

Quirrel went on a year-long trip around the world, which ended in Albania. Did he target Albania deliberately? (Voldemort's version made it sound like a coincidence.) Well, Quirrel had a brilliant mind, according to Hagrid, so most likely he was aware of the reports about Voldy in Albania. However, he believed Voldy was now nearly dead and powerless -- he knew nothing intimate about Voldemort's powers. He would have underestimated them. I suspect Quirrel may have been guilty of the fault which Hermione described in her fib:

"I went looking for because I thought I could deal with it on my own -- you know, because I've read...about ." (PS chapter 10, paraphrased)

If this is how it happened, then Quirrel's fault is very human. Maybe another character in Book 7 with a similar fault can learn from his experience. We know that only Harry can defeat Voldy, but no one else does (the trio excepted).

After I read everyone's posts here, I looked up the Lexicon entry about Quirrel and reviewed some facts that were easy for me to overlook. The Lexicon referenced an essay, "Quirrel's Leave of Absence." Both the entry and essay helped me a lot.

But questions remain unanswered about Quirrel. (For example, what did he teach prior to his leave of absence?) Our best information about him is generalized gossip repeated by Hagrid during the time in which he was the school's gamekeeper and did not know the teachers closely. Hagrid's information is not always reliable, despite his personal trustworthiness, so it is possible that there might be more to Quirrel's story than we know now. "There is no such thing as a coincidence in Rowling's writing." (That is a postulate in Ultimate Unoffical Guide to the Mysteries of Harry Potter, by Galadriel Waters, which Round Pink Spider recommended to me.) Perhaps an unanswered question about Quirrel MIGHT turn out to be a thread of the plot in Book 7.

I can't wait to read it, regardless.

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Soul Search - Sep 9, 2006 7:17 am (#20 of 38)

Good post, valuereflection.

My only comment would be that Spirit-Voldemort did not have a wand, so couldn't do an Imperius Curse. He could, of course, occupy another's mind, which would serve the same purpose.

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Miss Amanda - Sep 9, 2006 3:56 pm (#21 of 38)

One more thing - Quirrel couldn't have been taking a sabbatical to learn more about Dark Arts as the subject he teaches because he could not have been the DADA teacher before Harry's year. Quirrel had been a teacher at Hogwarts, yes, but not DADA. Dumbledore told Harry that he'd been unable to keep any DADA teacher for more than a year.

Do we know that the Imperius Curse cannot be done wandlessly by a very powerful wizard? How is Voldemort able to "bend him to his will" if not by the Imperius? Quirrel is very specific about when Voldemort began inhabiting him.

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Choices - Sep 9, 2006 5:02 pm (#22 of 38)

*Completely Obsessed With Harry Potter*
Perhaps Quirrell got around the one year thing by teaching DADA one year, taking a year off and coming back for another year?

I think Voldemort controlled Quirrell pretty much the way he controls Wormtail and his DE's - through fear and intimidation.

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valuereflection - Sep 9, 2006 6:07 pm (#23 of 38)

EDIT: Looks like I crossed posts with Choices :-)

Thanks, Soul Search.

When Quirrel returned from his sabbatical, he resumed his post as the Hogwarts teacher of his original subject -- instead of taking the post of DADA teacher. I don't know why he would do so, if he had such a strong ambition to teach DADA that he took leave in order to learn more about DADA. But the Lexicon is certain that he did. (Maybe the DADA position was already filled for that upcoming schoolyear by another candidate, at the moment he returned to England. Or maybe Quirrel exhibited such nervous demeanor when he reported to the headmaster, due to his recent frightening experience with Voldemort, that Dumbledore determined he would not be ready for the DADA post until after a time in which to calm down from the trip abroad.)

Miss Amanda, thanks for bringing up Voldemort's jinx -- I have a question I've been wondering about, which I didn't have courage to ask before now...

Lord Voldemort's jinx on the DADA position intrigues me, relating to Professor Quirrel. I wonder whether JKR worded the jinx in HBP "very carefully," as she did for the prophecy in OP. (I'm sorry I don't remember the source for her quote.) Here is Dumbledore's exact wording, from HBP chapter 20:

"...we have never been able to KEEP a Defense a Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher FOR LONGER THAN A YEAR since I refused the post to Lord Voldemort."

Does anyone think it's possible that wording might allow someone to teach DADA at Hogwarts for more than one year IF he did not ever teach it during consecutive years? (Please don't throw tomatoes -- I recognize this idea is far-fetched.)

So is it possible that the timeline of Quirrel's career might have contained something like the following list of events? Consecutively they would be:

1. Hogwarts teacher of another subject than DADA, for an unspecified number of years. Quirrel then decided he might like to try a switch in his teaching subject.

2. Hogwarts teacher of DADA for one year.

3. Quirrel resumed his post as teacher of his original subject, during the successive year, because he felt inadequate as a DADA teacher. (Again for an unspecified number of years.)

4. Quirrel took a sabbatical from Hogwarts, in order to gain more DADA experience because he wanted to try again to teach DADA. He was gone for approximately one year.

5. When Quirrel returned from his sabbatical, he yet again resumed his post as Hogwarts teacher of his original subject.

6. Hogwarts teacher of DADA during the PS schoolyear.

Thanks in advance for telling me what you think.

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Solitaire - Sep 9, 2006 8:57 pm (#24 of 38)

Solitaire,I think you are right.Fred and George mentioned the smell coming from Quirrell's turban, if I remember corectly.

Madame Pomfrey, it is in Chapter 8 ... "... they had noticed that a funny smell hung around the turban, and the Weasley twins insisted that it was stuffed full of garlic, as well, so that Quirrell was protected wherever he went."

Harry noticed the smell again when he was with Quirrell down before the Mirror of Erised. I think the smell was Voldemort. JM2K, however ...

Edit: I did a search using my name, Voldemort, and "smell"--I remember posting a lot on this topic--and I got quite an interesting array of posts. This was apparently a favorite theme of mine a couple of years ago, on more than one thread. I mentioned that Trolls, which are also pretty evil, emit a stench. Nathan pointed out that Dementors also seem to smell of rot and decay. Voldemort, Trolls, and Dementors ... three things connected with evil, cruelty, death ... and they all stink. Coincidence?

One of my queries, back on the DE thread, I think: If Voldemort did, indeed, emit a stench, wouldn't Snape--as a former DE--have been aware of this? And if he was, wouldn't he have recognized the smell when he got near Quirrell? Could this have been what put him onto Quirrell from the beginning?

Solitaire

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valuereflection - Sep 9, 2006 11:02 pm (#25 of 38)

That is interesting, Solitaire.

Maybe Snape had become inured to the smell of evil through his long association with the Dark Arts and Voldy early in life?

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valuereflection - Sep 10, 2006 1:24 am (#26 of 38)

Edited Sep 10, 2006 2:18 am
Sorry, Solitaire, I just read your post again more slowly. I misinterpreted your idea -- that Snape recognized the scent of Voldemort -- when I read your post for the first time. I like your explanation for Snape's instinctive feelings toward Quirrel which we saw in PS.

Long ago when I first read PS, I wondered why Snape never commented to Quirrel about his body odor when they had close interactions. My impression was that Snape was dense -- in other words, I thought he didn't comment because he didn't smell! Was this part of JKR's smokescreen to lead the trio and we readers to suspect Snape instead of Quirrel?

I like Solitaire's explanation better, that Snape did recognize the smell of Voldemort in Quirrel's turban. Perhaps Snape felt uncomfortable making comments about body odor; his personality is stilted after all. I guess it's probable that Snape felt there were more pressing issues when he talked to Quirrel.

However, there have been several times in the series when a student created a foul-smelling potion in class. Snape didn't hesitate to make cutting insults on these occasions, yet he did not mention the smell. I cannot remember one time when he verbally acknowledged an obvious odor or even wrinkled his nose. I have truly believed that the man can't smell as other people do because he is so accustomed to bad odors. Can anyone remember an occasion when Snape sniffed at a scent?

Should I ask this on the Snape thread?

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Soul Search - Sep 10, 2006 9:16 am (#27 of 38)

I don't think Snape had any hint that Quirrell wanted the Stone for Voldemort. He thought Quirrell wanted the Stone to use for himself. Snape's and Dumbledore's actions would have been different if they thought Voldemort was involved with Quirrell.

This makes we wonder, though, of what Dumbledore and Snape thought of the incident in the forest. Firense knew that it was Voldemort that was killing the unicorns and suggested to Harry that he was after the Stone. Did Hagrid not tell Dumbledore about the incident? I would have expected Dumbledore to initiate stronger protections for the Stone and, perhaps, go looking for Voldemort; his school was "under attack."

Regarding Voldemort's comment "... He was easy to bend to my will." It has been suggested that Voldemort used the Imperius Curse or occupied Quirrell's mind. Neither of these quite fits "bend to my will;" both imply a "forcing" more than persuasion. However, there might be a better alternative.

We have seen considerable support for Voldemort's devious nature and that he was expert at "charming" and persuading others to get what he wanted. Examples include Dumbledore's statements of how Dippet and other Hogwart's staff thought highly of Tom Riddle. Harry even expressed admiration for Riddle's handling of Slughorn. We saw how Tom Riddle killed the Riddle's and Hepzibah Smith and blamed someone else and got Hagrid blamed for Myrtle's death.

Voldemort merely "charmed" Quirrell and persuaded him that "There is no good or evil, just power." Indeed, Quirrell may have even been receptive to acquiring a little "power."

It wasn't until Quirrell's failure to get the Stone out of Gringotts that he "occupied" Quirrell.

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Solitaire - Sep 10, 2006 7:23 pm (#28 of 38)

I think Quirrell was just gullible. He probably believed Voldemort's empty promises of power and greatness, just as Peter seemed to do. The stammering, insecure business seems to have been an act--or maybe that is how he was before he met Voldemort, so he had to keep it up. He certainly didn't seem insecure when Harry met him at the mirror ... but perhaps having Voldy residing in the back of his head gave him a bold impudence he wouldn't normally have had.

Solitaire

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Soul Search - Sep 11, 2006 6:02 am (#29 of 38)

gullible -- Good choice of words, Solitaire. I think that fits quite well.

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valuereflection - Sep 11, 2006 11:00 am (#30 of 38)

Thanks, everyone who gave your better explanations of Voldemort's phrase, "...He was easy to bend to my will."

Snape's and Dumbledore's actions would have been different if they thought Voldemort was involved with Quirrel... I would have expected Dumbledore to initiate stronger protections for the Stone and, perhaps, go looking for Voldemort; his school was "under attack." (from Soul Search) I agree Dumbledore would have behaved quite differently if he had a suspicion that Voldemort was so close by.

In PS chap. 15, Hagrid did not know what was killing the unicorns; he knew only that there was something in the forest which should not be in there. He acknowledged the job of discovering the problem would be dangerous, but believed that he (and Fang) could handle any danger encountered within this particular forest because of his long experience working there. He was so confident the job's risk had been adequately prepared for, that he planned to involve the students, by submitting the job to be a student detention. Despite his propensity to underestimate danger from monsters, Hagrid would not have risked any exposure to a student by a creature -- IF Dumbledore had received even a hint that a creature was serving Voldemort.

I believe Dumbledore didn't get the message from Hagrid, or that the message was incomplete, after the incident with Voldemort in the forest. Here's why I think this.

That night, Hagrid tried to ask the centaurs Ronan and Bane for help with his problem, but they are determined not to give humans specific information because they believe that action would be "setting themselves against the heavens." Only the much younger Firenze, whom the other centaurs tended to patronize and boss around, was willing to speak to humans about what was happening (which difference of opinion will eventually lead to Firenze's attempted execution and his exile, later in Book 5.) But Firenze wasn't present. After Harry saw Voldemort, Firenze spoke only with Harry. When Hagrid arrived, Firenze left the scene without speaking to Hagrid. I doubt if Hagrid followed Firenze in order to get more information about the unicorn, after his experience asking the other centaurs. I think all Hagrid knew was what Harry murmured to him, "I'm fine. The unicorn's dead, Hagrid, it's in that clearing back there." PS described Harry as being in shock during this time, shivering and not speaking any more until he felt safe in the Gryffindor common room. Thus the end of chapter 15 sounded to me, when the forest incident concluded, as though Hagrid believed still that the dead unicorns were a problem mostly for his gamekeeper job, and Hagrid didn't know much more than he did before about the importance of the issue of a newly discovered creature roaming through the forest.

As for what Snape knew... When Harry overheard Snape confronting Quirrel in the forest (after the quidditch match when Snape refereed), Harry heard only the end of their conversation. If Harry had heard an earlier excerpt of the conversation, we readers would know both more of what Snape knew about Quirrel, and why Snape believed that there was yet more evil in Quirrel for him to discover. JKR is sneaky in how she has withheld information about Snape's motives from us readers.

I am attracted to the idea that Snape's suspicions about Quirrel were initially instinctive, due to an odor which seemed somehow familiar to him but which he couldn't articulate why. I think he would have been reluctant to tell Dumbledore suspicions about smell, because he is reluctant to speak about smell generally. Now that I've put my embarrassing question out here in public, please would someone give me an answer to whether Snape is able to smell.

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Soul Search - Sep 11, 2006 11:13 am (#31 of 38)

valuereflection, good analysis, with canon, for how Dumbledore may not have realized he was dealing with Voldemort. I think that has to be the explanation: Dumbledore didn't know!

I am not sure about the "smell" part, even though "smell" was mentioned a couple of times related to Quirrell. I don't think Snape realized that Voldemort was involved, either.

How many knew that Voldemort had tried for the Stone, even after SS? I don't think it became common knowledge.

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rambkowalczyk - Sep 11, 2006 5:36 pm (#32 of 38)

Snape's and Dumbledore's actions would have been different if they thought Voldemort was involved with Quirrel... I would have expected Dumbledore to initiate stronger protections for the Stone and, perhaps, go looking for Voldemort; his school was "under attack." (from Soul Search)

Although Dumbledore may not have suspected Quirrel he did suspect that Voldemort was in the area. Why else would he remove the stone from Gringotts? Why was Harry's broom hexed during his first Quidditch match? And why was Snape continually following Harry around?

Snape may have suspected Quirrel but he had no proof. In fact it may have looked worse for Snape since he was injured by Fluffy not Quirrel.

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Choices - Sep 11, 2006 6:07 pm (#33 of 38)

*Completely Obsessed With Harry Potter*
Valuereflection - "Only the much younger Firenze"

Do we have canon evidence that Firenze is "much younger"? I do not remember reading anything about age in connection to the centaurs.

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valuereflection - Sep 11, 2006 6:52 pm (#34 of 38)

From PS chap. 15 (page 256 in the U.S. edition):

"...When he looked up...a centaur was standing over him, not Ronan or Bane; this one looked younger; he had white-blond hair and a palomino body."

I assumed that Harry, who is sometimes inobservant, would not have noticed an age difference unless it was large. And when Ronan and Bane spoke to Firenze when he carried Harry on his back, they sounded to me like mature adults chastising someone younger and less experienced.

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Choices - Sep 12, 2006 10:24 am (#35 of 38)

*Completely Obsessed With Harry Potter*
I do remember that line now. Thanks for refreshing my memory.

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Nate Davis - Sep 16, 2006 5:43 pm (#36 of 38)

BYU student
Something just popped into my head: what if while Voldemort was possessing Quirrell, he somehow used him to look for Horcruxes in the school, as we assume he wanted to when he asked for the DADA post? Quirrell wouldn't have necessarily had to know what he was looking for, or why.

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legolas returns - Sep 17, 2006 3:46 am (#37 of 38)

I think Vodemort has split his soul 7 times already or is it six. Anyway there are 7 sep parts. By doing more horcruxes he no longer has the magic number. I think he will arogantly think that nobody knows about them and he thinks that they will all be very well protected. You are not likely to stumble on them by accident.

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Meoshimo - Sep 17, 2006 9:14 am (#38 of 38)

Yes, spliting his soul six times would leave him with seven soul fregments.
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Elanor
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