How long were Voldemort and Quirrell "together"?

[Erin]

No: HPFGUIDX 109986

Here's something that's been bugging me lately.  The timeline of 
Quirrell.  In PS/SS, after Harry meets Quirrell while buying his 
school supplies and asks if he is always that nervous, Hagrid says:

"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 first-
hand experience... 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--"

Okay.  Now, if I was judging purely from that statement alone, I'd 
guess that the year of PS/SS was *at least* Quirrell's fourth year at 
Hogwarts.  Here is my reasoning for that.

1.)  Quirrell was fine when studying out of books.  That would be 
year one, though there might have been more than one year of Quirrell 
being "fine", there's no way of telling.

2.)  Quirrell took a year off.  That would be year two, when he 
picked up Voldemort.

3.)  Hagrid says he hasn't been the same since-- scared of the 
students, scared of his own subject.  That would be year three, the 
year before Harry came to Hogwarts. This also might have been a 
period of more than one year, we can't know.

4.)  And PS/SS would be Quirrell's fourth year.

Evidence throughout PS/SS would also seem to support this 
conclusion.  There's no "Welcome Back, Professor Quirrell," speech 
from Dumbledore at the start-of-term feast, for instance, as you 
would expect had he been absent the previous year.  When Percy tells 
Harry about Snape, he says Snape is after "Quirrell's job", not "The 
Defense Against the Dark Arts job," which to me would seem more 
natural had someone else been in the job last year.

During his speech at the end of the book, Quirrell says, "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....Since then, I have served him faithfully, 
although I have let him down many times."

No mention of "last year".  Indeed, Quirrell's speech sounds to me as 
though he is talking about a period of time much greater than a 
year. "A foolish young man I was then..."?  Granted, he's still a 
young man, but he has almost this air of reminiscing that shouts out 
to me, "A long period of time has passed since these events occured!"

Hagrid's speech remains the most telling to me.  In it he says 
Quirrell is scared of the students and of his own subject.  BUT, if 
it had truly been the previous year Quirrell had taken off, then 
Quirrell must have just gotten back that summer!  When would he have 
had time to see any students, or teach his subject??

Also, if Quirrell had just returned from the trip around the world, 
I'd expect Hagrid to not be so...lighthearted... about Quirrell's 
fears.  Read Hagrid's speech again.  He doesn't say anything 
like, "Poor bloke.  He just came back from his trip a month ago and 
he's been trembling ever since.  Hopefully he'll snap out of it in 
time to teach this year."

No, for Hagrid the fearfulness and stuttering seem an accepted part 
of Quirrell's personality, not a recent change in it.  When Harry 
asks if Quirrell is always that way, Hagrid replies without 
hesitation, "Oh yeah."

And then there's the gossip factor. "They say he met 
vampires...".  "They say" usually means "everyone says", but put in 
such a way so as to give it the status of legend.  Think your 
favorite old scary ghost story: "They say no one's ever spent the 
night in that house and come out alive...".   But if Quirrell's just 
returned from Albania, when has the gossip on him ever had time to 
reach legendary status?  

Back at Hogwarts, "everyone" says the smell of garlic in Quirrell's 
classroom is to ward off vampires, but only the twins are commenting 
on the turban, which would be the new factor if this timeline is 
correct.  My guess is that had Quirrellmort lasted another 
year, "everyone" would have then accepted the twins' explanation and 
would also be saying that the turban was stuffed with garlic.

In short, nothing in PS/SS rules out the conclusion that Quirrell's 
world trip did not happen the year before Harry came to Hogwarts.  So 
where do we get the idea that in did?  From one place and one place 
only: Voldemort's speech at the end of Goblet of Fire.

"Then... four years ago... the means for my return seemed assured."

But what "means" is Voldemort really talking about here?  Is he 
talking of finding Quirrell, or of stealing the 
Philosopher's/Sorcerer's Stone?  Later he says, "But my plan failed.  
I did not manage to steal the Sorcerer's Stone.  I was not to be 
assured immortal life."  To me this indicates that the means for his 
return was the Stone, not Quirrell.

Also in the speech he says  "...and after a while, I took possession 
of his body, to supervise him more closely as he carried out my 
orders."  How long is "after a while" for Voldemort?  Would it be a 
matter of mere weeks as it would have had to have been had Quirrell 
picked up Voldemort the year before PS/SS?   Wouldn't Quirrell and 
Voldemort also have needed time to locate the stone and plan how to 
break into Gringotts, or locate and contact someone who could show 
them how to break into Gringotts?

The Lexicon timeline for PS/SS definitely say's Quirrell's trip took 
place in the 1990-1991 school year.  Are there other clues I've 
missed, or should we be petitioning Lexicon Steve for a change?

--Erin


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