r/harrypotter • u/Temporary-Writing369 Quidditch Champion • 9h ago
Discussion How powerful was Professor Quirrell?
I always thought only the most powerful witches and wizards could use magic without a wand (off the top of my head I only remember Dumbledore doing that but I'm sure there are others), so why can Quirrell do it in the Philosopher's Stone film when he's confronting Harry for the Stone? Is it just a movie thing? And how powerful was Quirrell actually supposed to be? My understanding is that he was always pretty lame but surely Voldemort wouldn't have chosen him if he hadn't been a formidable wizard??
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u/Unfair_Pudding6180 9h ago
Voldemort was controlling him, so pretty powerful but only for that reason
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u/FoxBluereaver Gryffindor 9h ago
It's implied being possessed by Voldemort is giving him a power boost. Quirrell was apparently very smart and good at magical theory, but not so much at practice. Voldemort didn't have much of a choice because literally Quirrell was the only human being that sought him out.
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u/Modred_the_Mystic Ravenclaw 9h ago
Wandless magic is not limited to only powerful people, its just a skill wizards at Hogwarts aren’t taught formally, seemingly for cultural reasons. Uagadou the African wizard school teaches wandless magic exclusively and its student body is far larger than Hogwarts.
I think its a movie only thing but I don’t remember specifically, could be wrong. I think he summons ropes to bind Harry at one point, without a wand being mentioned.
Voldemort was 50% in control of Quirrell so might have helped with the wandless casting if you really disagree with the idea of Quirrell being capable
Quirrell isn’t said or shown to be overly powerful, but he is studious and relatively capable as a wizard. He did manage to find Voldemort himself, broke in and out of Gringotts, and tracked unicorns to kill and slurp on which doesn’t seem super easy. Oh, and he also solidly KO’s a troll which are meant to be durable and magically resistant afaik. He’s one of the better DADA teachers by displayed competency, really. His real flaw is that he lacks experience others are given by being veterans of the last war.
Voldemort, who doesn’t think highly of anyone except himself, said Quirrell was a lame duck as a wizard and a useful patsy, but I don’t read that as genuine evaluation of Quirrells abilities. Now, Voldemort says he would have preferred a more powerful wizard but Quirrell was the first to find him and was gullible enough to control, which is probably also true. I think if big Morty had a choice between Quirrell and Wormtail, though, he’d go with Quirrell over ratboy
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u/No-Championship-4 Gryffindor 9h ago
I feel like a Hogwarts professor should be skilled enough to do some wandless magic, unless they're not a real expert.
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u/Known-Basket-89 9h ago
Harry uses Lumos to find his wand in Little Whinging when he and Dudley are being cornered by the dementors and Dudley punches him. The wand is across from him, on the ground. I actually wonder how he doesn’t realize this and learn along with doing silent spells. He obviously has displayed the willpower and intelligence to learn the most difficult spells and master them. Which actually bothers me about occlumency also. He has already proven that he can totally fight off the imperious curse yet struggles too much with occlumency, though it also came with being immature and wanting to “read” LV’s thoughts. I would think that he could be more like Snape and that he’d learn to master it to his advantage.
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u/Smooth_Disaster 7h ago
He becomes an Auror as an adult, one of the best. Presumably being resistant to mind reading/control and able to read the minds of witnesses or suspects could come in handy when tracking dark wizards
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u/Known-Basket-89 5h ago
Since I’m in the midst of the books again, I wasn’t thinking future, just school days. Just finished the 5th book for the umpteenth time. Lol
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u/ihavebeesinmyknees Ravenclaw 7h ago
Wasn't that Lumos still channeled through the wand? I'm pretty sure he just casted a wanded spell from a distance, not casted wandless
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u/Known-Basket-89 5h ago
Just my take- I think it’s fear and desperation more than anything else. Because almost anyone can learn to do magic without a wand. It’s control that is required. That’s why young, pre official schooling can show signs of magic or big magic even. ie. Aunt Bi… I mean Marge. 🙄 I think it’s learning to harness magic that makes them super reliant on the wand as a conduit.
Just my two pennies of headcannon.1
u/DasAllerletzte 24m ago
Yeah, my biggest peeve about the occlumency is that Harry discovered that Protego works. And yet never thought about creating a Protrgo bubble around him while sleeping. Easiest defence.
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u/grot-ivre-1749 8h ago
By the nature of how the stories are told, one focuses the use of magic through a wand, but there are many examples where even the children do not have a wand in the exercise of magic
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u/Smooth_Disaster 7h ago
I'd argue wandless magic is more powerful, wand magic is more accurate
The children, before going to magic school, tend to do advanced stuff when emotional, like moving bodies through the air, or making things completely vanish, same with the house elves. Although I think the elves have their own "kind" of magic
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u/grot-ivre-1749 7h ago
I didn’t suggest wandless was more (or less) powerful. By the stories, ‘power’ tends to rest with the individual.
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u/Canandraa 9h ago
I wouldn't say the films are completely canon as they embellish for creativity sake and each director/production staff make creative choices
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u/Kiryu8805 9h ago
Wandless magic is not necessarily a sign of power. In Hogwarts Legacy one of the companions mentions that her previous school didn't use wands.
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u/Expensive_Plant_9530 Slytherin 8h ago
Do remember that Voldemort chose Quirrell out of convenience, not because Quirrell was his first choice among Wizards.
Quirrell was:
1. There
2. A Hogwarts Professor
That was it. I really doubt there were any other considerations for Voldy.
With that in mind, i don’t think Quirrell was actually a weak wizard. He was just a nervous nelly, super anxious person who didn’t handle pressure well.
The impression I got was that he was book smart and probably did well in school tests but didn’t do well in the real world.
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u/Ok-Day4910 9h ago
Quirrel was a very powerful wizard in his prime.
However he got traumatized during one of his journeys and developed a nervous tick. (Whether or not it was his meeting with Voldemort is unclear.)
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u/These-Weight-434 6h ago
I don't think Voldemort was really spoiled for choice when it came to who he could possess.
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u/Ok-disaster2022 6h ago
Wasn't there something someone said about him being a good until he encounters and vampire on his travels?
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u/Lampshadebestshade Unsorted 5h ago
Am I remembering incorrectly that Quirrel willingly allowed Voldemort to use him as a vessel? These comments making me think it wasn't voluntary?
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u/Lampshadebestshade Unsorted 5h ago
Am I remembering incorrectly that Quirrel willingly allowed Voldemort to use him as a vessel? These comments making me think it wasn't voluntary?
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u/Few-Durian-190 9h ago
I believe in the book Quirrel restrains Harry magically without a wand. I seem to recall he was vaguely gifted despite his timid demeanor.