Quirinus Quirrell first appeared to be a minor character — or even comic relief — in the Harry Potter series, as his twitchy behavior gave off the impression that he was not worth paying attention to. It was only towards the end of the first installment of Harry Potter that he was revealed as an antagonist — and possibly even a Horcrux.
With Voldemort protruding from the back of his head, Quirrell was a temporary Horcrux — and, hence, not as inconsequential as he seemed.
Who Was Quirrell in Harry Potter?
Quirrell was a half-blood wizard who attended Hogwarts, where he was sorted into Ravenclaw House. He was considered quite “gifted”, as is evidenced by his ability to cast nonverbal spells or perform wandless magic later on. However, he was a “delicate” boy, who was teased by his peers due to his timid nature. This caused him to feel inadequate and, consequently, develop an interest in the Dark Arts (from a theoretical perspective at first) in hopes that he could prove himself.
Sometime after graduating, Quirrell returned to Hogwarts as the new Muggle Studies professor. In 1990, he took a year-long sabbatical to travel the world and “gain first-hand experience”. When he came back — now as the Defense Against the Dark Arts professor — he seemed even more skittish than before. As Hagrid told Harry, “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.”
No one knew, of course, that Quirrell had left to search for Voldemort (or whatever remained of him) instead, “partly out of curiosity, partly out of that unacknowledged desire for importance from his childhood”. He believed that he could either get recognition for being able to find him (which the Ministry of Magic proved unable to do), or he could learn certain skills from the dark wizard. He succeeded in his mission, but it did not turn out the way he had imagined.
Soon, Quirrell gained a reputation for being a rather incompetent teacher, who shied away from sharing any details about his supposed encounters with terrifying creatures. Not only did his lessons turn out to be “a bit of a joke”, but his classroom also smelled strongly of garlic, which everyone believed was to “ward off a vampire he'd met in Romania and was afraid would be coming back to get him one of these days”.
However, it was soon revealed that Quirrell was only putting up a front to thwart any suspicion while he carried out Voldemort’s orders. As J. K. Rowling stated, “Quirinus was a Roman God about whom there is not much information, although he is commonly associated with war — a clue that Quirrell is not quite as meek as he appears.” This goes to show that he was much more powerful than he let on. The very fact that he thought he would be in control while meeting Voldemort demonstrates how he overestimated his skills. He also resisted on occasion when Voldemort made him a living Horcrux, even though it proved to be futile.
Was Quirrell a Horcrux?
Voldemort did turn Quirrell into a Horcrux of sorts, as confirmed by Rowling:
While Quirrell did not lose his soul, he became completely subjugated by Voldemort, who caused a frightful mutation of Quirrell’s body: now Voldemort looked out of the back of Quirrell’s head and directed his movements, even forcing him to attempt murder […] Quirrell is, in effect, turned into a temporary Horcrux by Voldemort.
How Did Voldemort Possess Quirrell?
In his quest for fame and knowledge, Quirrell found a disembodied Voldemort in Albania, who was easily able to overpower the “foolish and gullible” wizard even in his weakened state. He subjugated the weak-willed Quirrell into servitude when he realized that he was teaching at Hogwarts. As Quirrell told Harry:
I met him when I traveled around the world. A foolish young man I was then, full of ridiculous ideas about good and evil. Lord Voldemort showed me how wrong I was. There is no good and evil, there is only power, and those too weak to seek it.
When Harry first met Quirrell, he shook his hand — and since there were no ill effects afterward, it is suggested that Voldemort had not possessed Quirrell at that point. It was only after Quirrell failed to procure the Philosopher’s Stone from Gringotts that he latched onto his body (making him a Horcrux) so he could “keep a closer watch”. With Voldemort’s face now sticking out of the back of his head, Quirrell donned a purple turban to hide him.
On Voldemort’s orders, he made several attempts to steal the stone and kill Harry. He jinxed Harry’s broomstick during a Quidditch match to throw him off, but Snape interfered with a counter-course. Hermione set fire to the latter’s robes to distract him, knocking over Quirrell in the process and breaking his concentration. On Halloween, he let a mountain troll into the school as a diversion, so he could try to steal the stone. He drank unicorn blood to keep himself and Voldemort’s fledgling body alive. He was about to attack Harry in the Forbidden Forest one night until the centaur Firenze rescued him.
All this time, he convinced everyone (apart from Dumbledore and Snape) that he was just an incapable “poor bloke”.
Why Did Harry’s Hands Burn Quirrell?
Disguised as a dragon dealer, Quirrell tricked Hagrid into telling him how to get past the three-headed dog guarding the stone. He forged a letter to Dumbledore from the Ministry to lure him away from the school, and overcame all the obstacles protecting the stone. He was only unable to figure out the last one — the Mirror of Erised — and it was there that Harry found him when he arrived at the Underground Chambers himself. On Quirrell’s demand, Harry retrieved the stone from the mirror but concealed the fact that it was in his pocket. Voldemort ordered Quirrell to kill him, but each time he tried to touch Harry, he suffered from horrible burns and blisters. Dumbledore later explained how Lily’s sacrificial protection saved Harry:
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.
Voldemort fled just in time and, even though Quirrell’s death was not shown, he mentioned in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire that “the servant died when I left his body” — thus, making Quirrell the first Horcrux to be destroyed.
Harry Potter
When Harry Potter learns that he is a wizard, he enters a world beyond belief. Aside from continuing his studies at Hogwarts with best friends Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger, Harry must also face Voldemort and his dark wizarding forces. The Harry Potter franchise is a worldwide phenomenon, spanning seven books, eight movies, three spinoff movies, a stage play, and numerous video games.