Hypothesis (not sure if it has been discussed before):
Assuming QuirrelMort wants (only) immortality, at least from now on (since Harry proved his ability to kill dementors) QuirrelMort will go to great lengths to keep Harry alive. Dementors are the only threat to Quirrel’s safety which he is unable to deal with himself (being unable to cast any form of the patronus), and which everyone else is only temporarily able to hold back.
So, my rambled thoughts go something like this: QuirrelMort’s terminal value is immortality for himself only, he is unable to love and places only instrumental value on the lives of others. (I.e. either you are an asset to him or you are an obstacle to be removed.) Which translates into the actions of: make loads of Horcruxes; make sure no-one destroys the earth using e.g. nukes; get rid of the dementors.
Yes, but he is speaking generally, to students who will (most of them) never be as deadly as he is. He has an excellent means, fully under his own control, of dealing with adult wizards: He is able to take apart a fully-trained Auror without breaking a sweat. He has no equally good means of dealing with a Dementor.
In “Humanism” it is stated that, if you don’t realise you are under attack, you can lose the ability to Apparate. (It’s a happy thought, presumably.) Quirrell is particularly vulnerable to the Dementor’s attack, same as Harry, so this might be particularly dangerous to him.
Presumably it wouldn’t even affect the Horcruxes if they’re hidden where we think they are. It would serve to make them kind of pointless, though. Eternity alone in a hellish wasteland, yay!
Well, he doesn’t seem to mind the thought of “eternity alone”. Although on reflection a canon Horcrux could be damaged by a fang and a sword, so they would probably just be atomized if exposed directly to a nuclear blast. Although if one of them is floating in magma...
Yeah, one’s floating in magma- and none of the others are in places they would be exposed to a direct nuclear blast in the event of nuclear holocaust, either.
And even if they were… the reason the fang and sword (and Fiendfyre) worked is because the criterion for destroying a Horcrux is “damaged beyond magical repair”. Basilisk venom and cursed fire both have a distinctly magical quality of “no takebacks”. Who knows of being reduced to constituent atoms by mundane means counts? (Probably it does, but it isn’t certain.)
But I assume it bothers him because if he wanted humanity eradicated, he could have accomplished it by now. And he didn’t seem to take any pleasure in his belief that
“Those fool Muggles will kill us all someday!” Professor Quirrell’s voice had grown louder. “They will end it! End all of it!”
[...]
“Yes, nuclear weapons!” Professor Quirrell was almost shouting now. “Even He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named never used those, perhaps because he didn’t want to rule over a heap of ash! They never should have been made! And it will only get worse with time! [...] The eager little fools who discovered the secret of nuclear weapons didn’t keep it to themselves, they told their fool politicians and now we must live under the constant threat of annihilation!”
Who knows of being reduced to constituent atoms by mundane means counts? (Probably it does, but it isn’t certain.)
It still doesn’t make it certain to work for such a case in particular, but Snape’s “From the rumors I have heard, Headmaster, Muggle weapons are only slightly worse than the more… recondite aspects of wizardry” seems to be evidence towards counting.
Oh, I know they aren’t exxactly exosed in any case; but floating in magma implies some pretty hefty protective charms.
The thing about that quote that bothers me is that he seems the be referring to himself as “one of us”, genuinely worried that his world is in danger—not just cooly amused at their folly, or even irritated by their incompetence. Maybe I’m just reading too much into it.
… or maybe he’s worried that without followers, there’s no-one to bring him back? Spending time as “less than the meanest ghost” is implied to be unpleasant in canon IIRC.
Hypothesis (not sure if it has been discussed before): Assuming QuirrelMort wants (only) immortality, at least from now on (since Harry proved his ability to kill dementors) QuirrelMort will go to great lengths to keep Harry alive. Dementors are the only threat to Quirrel’s safety which he is unable to deal with himself (being unable to cast any form of the patronus), and which everyone else is only temporarily able to hold back.
So, my rambled thoughts go something like this: QuirrelMort’s terminal value is immortality for himself only, he is unable to love and places only instrumental value on the lives of others. (I.e. either you are an asset to him or you are an obstacle to be removed.) Which translates into the actions of: make loads of Horcruxes; make sure no-one destroys the earth using e.g. nukes; get rid of the dementors.
Quirrell says that dementors are the second most dangerous things, after adult wizards.
Yes, but he is speaking generally, to students who will (most of them) never be as deadly as he is. He has an excellent means, fully under his own control, of dealing with adult wizards: He is able to take apart a fully-trained Auror without breaking a sweat. He has no equally good means of dealing with a Dementor.
Just Apparate away!
In “Humanism” it is stated that, if you don’t realise you are under attack, you can lose the ability to Apparate. (It’s a happy thought, presumably.) Quirrell is particularly vulnerable to the Dementor’s attack, same as Harry, so this might be particularly dangerous to him.
Would that destroy a Horcrux?
Presumably it wouldn’t even affect the Horcruxes if they’re hidden where we think they are. It would serve to make them kind of pointless, though. Eternity alone in a hellish wasteland, yay!
Well, he doesn’t seem to mind the thought of “eternity alone”. Although on reflection a canon Horcrux could be damaged by a fang and a sword, so they would probably just be atomized if exposed directly to a nuclear blast. Although if one of them is floating in magma...
Yeah, one’s floating in magma- and none of the others are in places they would be exposed to a direct nuclear blast in the event of nuclear holocaust, either.
And even if they were… the reason the fang and sword (and Fiendfyre) worked is because the criterion for destroying a Horcrux is “damaged beyond magical repair”. Basilisk venom and cursed fire both have a distinctly magical quality of “no takebacks”. Who knows of being reduced to constituent atoms by mundane means counts? (Probably it does, but it isn’t certain.)
But I assume it bothers him because if he wanted humanity eradicated, he could have accomplished it by now. And he didn’t seem to take any pleasure in his belief that
It still doesn’t make it certain to work for such a case in particular, but Snape’s “From the rumors I have heard, Headmaster, Muggle weapons are only slightly worse than the more… recondite aspects of wizardry” seems to be evidence towards counting.
I had taken that to refer to the scale of mass destruction possible, but good point.
Oh, I know they aren’t exxactly exosed in any case; but floating in magma implies some pretty hefty protective charms.
The thing about that quote that bothers me is that he seems the be referring to himself as “one of us”, genuinely worried that his world is in danger—not just cooly amused at their folly, or even irritated by their incompetence. Maybe I’m just reading too much into it.
… or maybe he’s worried that without followers, there’s no-one to bring him back? Spending time as “less than the meanest ghost” is implied to be unpleasant in canon IIRC.