No, it’s the last seconds ticking away for a successful escape attempt- if Harry had put up his Patronus, there might have been time for Quirrell to recover, use a Memory Charm on the Auror, and abscond with BB without raising the alarm.
I now see that as more plausible than originally (having learned that my interpretation is not obvious to others), but remain uncertain and favoring the hypothesis of Quirrell having died. We’ll see what was actually intended.
...and if I replace my previous assumption that Quirrell collapsed as a direct result of Dementor influence that was opened by disappearance of Potter’s Patronus, with the much more plausible assumption that he collapsed because of magic incompatibility with Potter’s Patronus of the same nature as what killed him the first time, and only additionally suffered from Dementors, then it doesn’t follow that Dementors cause overwhelming harm, and so that prolonged exposure leads to death. This also explains throwing away the wand: make own magic weaker to reduce the effect of magical incompatibility.
Thus, now the hypothesis that Quirrell died seems less plausible than the alternative.
No, it’s the last seconds ticking away for a successful escape attempt- if Harry had put up his Patronus, there might have been time for Quirrell to recover, use a Memory Charm on the Auror, and abscond with BB without raising the alarm.
I now see that as more plausible than originally (having learned that my interpretation is not obvious to others), but remain uncertain and favoring the hypothesis of Quirrell having died. We’ll see what was actually intended.
...and if I replace my previous assumption that Quirrell collapsed as a direct result of Dementor influence that was opened by disappearance of Potter’s Patronus, with the much more plausible assumption that he collapsed because of magic incompatibility with Potter’s Patronus of the same nature as what killed him the first time, and only additionally suffered from Dementors, then it doesn’t follow that Dementors cause overwhelming harm, and so that prolonged exposure leads to death. This also explains throwing away the wand: make own magic weaker to reduce the effect of magical incompatibility.
Thus, now the hypothesis that Quirrell died seems less plausible than the alternative.