Hey everyone,
Welcome to another installment of Harry Potter Theory. In today’s video, we’re going
to be discussing a theory of mine involving Quirinus Quirrell, Voldemort, and none other
than Gilderoy Lockhart. More specifically- I’m going to be explaining to you guys how
Lockhart RUINED Quirrell’s life.
Now, the first thing you may be wondering is- what’s the relevance of Quirrell and
Lockhart’s relationship? Do we ever even see them interact? Do they even appear in
the same book or film? Well, the answer to that is of course NO- but this particular
theory scratches quite a bit more beneath the surface.
The only LOOSE connection in Canon that connects these two gentlemen is that they both, at
one stage, assumed the role of Defence Against the Dark Arts professor at Hogwarts. Quirrell
was the Defence Against the Dark Art’s professor in Harry’s first year- in the Philosopher’s
Stone, and Lockhart was Defence Against the Dark Art’s professor in Harry’s second
year - in the Chamber of Secrets.
By the time Lockhart rolls around in the second film, Quirrell is no more- defeated at the
hands of Harry Potter- so, again- how are these two characters related in ANY way? Well,
my theory is that these men actually met each other at one stage in the past, 1 year before
Harry started at Hogwarts in the year 1990. To begin to gain an understanding of my theory
here, we need to look at a few aspects of the backstories of these two gentlemen, so
that I can better rationalize how they crossed paths in the Harry Potter timeline.
Let’s start with Quirrell.
Quirinus Quirrell was an english half-blood wizard born sometime in the 1960s. When he
was of age he began attending Hogwarts, at which point he was sorted in to Ravenclaw
house. Quirrell was a highly unusual and delicate, but talented student, and was teased profusely
at school- making the anxious Quirrell even more anxious. His feelings of inadequacy led
to him taking a particular interest in the dark arts- a highly complicated and dangerous
field of magic that could perhaps garner Quirrell the attention and respect that he always longed
for. For the duration of his studies he showed a particular affinity for the dark arts, and
he ended up graduating from Hogwarts with impressive grades across the board.
It wasn’t very long after he himself had graduated that he was able to secure a job
as muggle studies professor at Hogwarts. Unfortunately, the bullying that Quirrell endured in childhood
would have a profound effect on the actions that he would take as a grown man.
The brief intro above is intended to give you a glimpse of the type of person that Quirrell
was- a sort of character analysis- revealing him to be a neurotic man that sought recognition.
This is an important aspect of the theory.
Now, Lockhart.
Just like Quirrell, Gilderoy Lockhart was a half-blood wizard born in the 1960s- 1964
to be exact. Lockhart had two sisters- but he ended up being the only one that was magical-
making him (unofficially) his mothers favourite child.
Lockhart was a clever, good-looking boy, and when he realized quite early on that he was
magical it only went to his head, and inflated his already massive ego. In 1975, Lockhart
first stepped foot in to the halls of Hogwarts. However, he was met with a certain degree
of disappointment- as here, he was just another ‘magical’ child- not a ‘special’,
unique magical child like he was in the muggle world. From the moment he began his studies,
he no longer stood out, and despite his best efforts merely possessed slightly above-average
magical abilities. Nothing special. I should also mention here that Lockhart was, just
like Quirrell, sorted in to Ravenclaw house.
We know that later in life Lockhart becomes a massive fraud- blatantly lying and taking
credit for the work of others in order to fuel his own ego and reputation. But, what
you may not have known- is that this pattern of behaviour began very early on, in his childhood.
Though his backstory differed from Quirrell’s, there are certainly a lot of parallels here-
and one thing that they both had in common was that they felt inadequate.
Now that we’ve established their individual stories according to canon, here’s how I’ve
theorized that their stories are interconnected, and how Lockhart inadvertently ruined Quirrell’s
life.
In 1990, after teaching for several years as the Muggle Studies professor at Hogwarts,
Quirrell became, shall we say, fed up? This led to him taking a year-long sabbatical in
order to gain ‘first-hand experience’ in the field. However, Quirrell’s REAL objective
was to find Lord Voldemort. Fuelled by his intense need to be recognized and acknowledged,
Quirrell set off with the belief that if HE was the one to find Voldemort, he would be
praised by all of the wizarding world. And find Voldemort he did, however, things didn’t
go exactly according to plan- as he was easily manipulated and controlled by Voldemort. This
is what led to his eventual POSSESSION by the dark lord. Voldemort recounts just how
easy Quirrell was to manipulate:
"A wizard – young, foolish and gullible – wandered across my path in the forest
I had made my home. Oh, he seemed the very chance I had been dreaming of ... for he was
a teacher at Dumbledore’s school ... he was easy to bend to my will ... he brought
me back to this country, and after a while, I took possession of his body, to supervise
him closely as he carried out my orders."
Now, when it comes to strength of character Quirrell was quite weak, however he did possess
above average magical ability, and he was also extremely intelligent. So- it’s hard
to imagine how an extremely weakened Voldemort was able to bend Quirrell to his will quite
so easily. Enter Lockhart.
After Lockhart graduated from Hogwarts, he began travelling the world in search of a
way to fill his void of inadequacy. Lockhart wanted to be a man of legend. This eventually
led to his illustrious career as an author, where he informed the wizarding world of his
tales of heroism. He tamed dragons and captured dark wizards- but the catch was that he was
the only one ever there to witness it. Through his stories he became famous, and he left
a genuinely positive impression on most of the wizarding population. However, we of course
know that there is quite a sinister component to Lockhart’s character.
You see, Lockhart was a memory charm master, and this was one of the reasons that he had
been able to falsify his..well..existence. Lockhart wasn’t a troll conqueror or dragon
tamer, he was a phony, and all he did when he travelled around the world was hear the
stories of genuinely accomplished wizards, wipe their memories, then claim the accomplishment
as his own.
I think that when Quirrell travelled to Albania in 1990, Lockhart was there at that very same
moment. Quirell was there to find Voldemort, and Lockhart was there to find an unsuspecting
wizard to steal an accomplishment from. Here’s how I think it played out.
Quirrell and Lockhart bump in to each other in the forest of Albania. Provided that they
were both Ravenclaw students and just a few years apart at Hogwarts, they were savvy to
each other’s existence. They greet and exchange formalities, and it’s at this stage that
Quirrell reveals to Lockhart that he’s tracked down Voldemort- informing him that he’s
in the same forest where they’re having that very discussion.
At that stage no one knew much about Voldemort’s whereabouts, so when Lockhart heard from Quirrell
that Voldemort was nearby, he saw dollar signs. Lockhart, who wanted to be a man of legend,
immediately envisioned himself on the front cover of the daily prophet: Gilderoy Lockhart:
the man who found Lord Voldemort. This then prompted Lockhart, a man of dubious character,
to wipe the memory of his old school-mate. Lockhart wouldn’t have wanted to have risked
Quirrell finding Voldemort and getting away, so in order to ensure that he was the only
possible person to be credited with finding the dark lord, he immediately leveraged one
of his famous memory charms.
Unfortunately, however, Lockhart used a little too much mustard when casting the spell on
Quirrell- overdoing it, just a tad. This meant that Quirrell, after being struck with Lockhart’s
spell, was left in a very disorientated, impressionable state. With the deed done, Lockhart left Quirrell
to his own devices, and it was just after this happened that Voldemort came upon Quirrell,
easier to manipulate than ever.
Given that Lockhart was a coward and would have never actually faced Voldemort himself,
it’s unlikely that he would have actually searched for him. He would have just returned
to England and CLAIMED that he had engaged with Voldemort.
But, just before heading home,, Lockhart saw Quirrell’s interaction with Voldemort from
afar- and- fearing that he would be held responsible for Quirrell’s uncertain fate, and fearing
that Voldemort may target him, made the decision that he would never disclose any information
about that one curious trip to Albania.
What do you guys think of this theory? Did I miss something? Let me know in the comment
section below
Until next time, remember
I didn't get rid of the Bandon Banshee by smiling at her!