Quirrell and the dungeon - long (was: Slytherins and Werewolves)

[Constance Vigilance]

No: HPFGUIDX 170531

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "Josef Djugashvili" 

(Josef Djugashvili? You are Stalin? I never noticed that before!)

> 
> Goddlefrood, who claims no expertise at all:
> 
> The argument, although a good one, is rather flawed unfortunately. 
> It failed to consider certain matters to which we are all privy 
> through numerous archives, including JKR's own site, around this 
> great cyber realm in which we dwell.
> 
> This:
> 
> FAQ: "Why could Harry see the Thestrals 'Order of the Phoenix'? 
> Shouldn't he have been able to see them much earlier, because 
> he saw his parents/Quirrell/Cedric die?"
> 
> JKR: "I've been asked this a lot. Harry didn't see his parents 
> die. He was in his cot at the time (he was just over a year old) 
> and, as I say in `Philosopher's Stone', all he saw was a flash 
> of green light. He didn't see Quirrell's death, either. Harry 
> had passed out before Quirrell died and was only told about it 
> by Dumbledore in the last chapter."
> 
> Available from:
> 
> http://www.jkrowling.com/textonly/en/faq_view.cfm?id=21

Yes, I am quite familiar with the FAQ and that particular quote.

It does not really counter my argument. First of all, Dumbledore is 
not being truthful about Quirrell in general. He claims that he has 
never been able to keep a DADA teacher for more than a year because 
of the curese, but Quirrell must have been a teacher - and a teacher 
of DADA - for more than one year, and more likely for three or four. 
This has been discussed before, so I won't repeat the argument here. 
The fact that we readers have a problem with this statement from 
Dumbledore only proves that he is not good at not being truthful, 
especially since he just got done saying "I will of course, never 
lie." One can only assume he had his fingers crossed at the time.

There is something that he is doing that is so secret, that he tells 
Harry a whopper, and JKR - in order not to spoil - must repeat the 
error on her website. She is known to throw us curveballs that are 
perilously close to lies before:

"You told me all this had nothing to do with He-Who-Must-Not-Be-
Named, remember? Well --'

"It was a clue, sir," said Dobby, his eyes widening as though this 
was obvious. "Was giving you a clue. The Dark Lord, before he changed 
his name could be freely named."

Now let's reread the FAQ quote, annotating it in the manner that 
Dobby (and JKR) believe to be fair:

"He didn't see Quirrell's death, either. (Because Quirrell didn't die 
there) Harry had passed out before Quirrell died (in Book 7) and was 
only told about it by Dumbledore in the last chapter (when Dumbly was 
fibbing)."

The only other possibility is that Dumbledore finished a helpless 
Quirrell off himself. I can't believe that of Dumbledore.

As I said, Quirrell may be dead. He may not appear in Book 7. But 
there is no canonical or FAQ evidence (that can't be refuted) that 
Quirrell perished in the dungeon, or anywhere in the first book.

~ CV