For me at least, even knowing the that Q=V, and seeing the clues, they don’t intrinsically point to that. Most of them can be explained simply by the idea that Quirrell is subtle, evil, and likes corrupting people.
The Law of Conservation of Detail (TV Tropes warning) implies that an important character who is subtle and evil (or even just subtle) has a substantial probability of being the villain.
I hadn’t read the original series either, and so at first I had no idea that Q=V except from the Author’s Notes; however, I suspect that by this point in the story I would have begun entertaining it seriously as a hypothesis. (And of course as long as the story is still being written, there’s always some chance Eliezer could change his mind.)
The Law of Conservation of Detail (TV Tropes warning) implies that an important character who is subtle and evil (or even just subtle) has a substantial probability of being the villain.
But there are a lot of subtle characters in HPMOR; Quirrell might be the most subtle and the most apparently evil, but he’s not the only one. That would imply that Harry, Dumbledore, and Lucius also have substantial probabilities of being the villain.
Edit: Then again… maybe that’s correct.
On the other hand, I think we’ve been told to expect most characters to be substantially smarter than their canon equivalents, and maybe this kind of subtle schemingness just comes automatically when you have a bunch of smart wizards who don’t trust each other and have potentially conflicting goals that they all take seriously as things-to-protect.
I wouldn’t mind one little bit if the story is structured like Lensmen, with several layers of villains that have to be discovered.
Admittedly, this is less likely in the wizarding world—the population is much lower than in a universe with multiple inhabited galaxies.
On the gripping hand, it would be really cool if Quirrel/Voldemort were a claw on a finger of a conspiracy of evil alien wizards. Presumably, Cthulhu is part of the middle layer.
The Law of Conservation of Detail (TV Tropes warning) implies that an important character who is subtle and evil (or even just subtle) has a substantial probability of being the villain.
However, while that gives evidence that Quirrel is the villain, it doesn’t necessarily follow that the villain (the one that is Quirrel) must be Voldemort.
Why does Quirrelmort even have to be a villain? Sure, he was terribly evil in canon, and in the back story, but he’s obviously been through some sort of magical transformative process, and that he may have made him redeemable. Killing Rita Skeeter is a pretty substantial mark against him, but we have very little idea what his real goals are.
The Law of Conservation of Detail (TV Tropes warning) implies that an important character who is subtle and evil (or even just subtle) has a substantial probability of being the villain.
I hadn’t read the original series either, and so at first I had no idea that Q=V except from the Author’s Notes; however, I suspect that by this point in the story I would have begun entertaining it seriously as a hypothesis. (And of course as long as the story is still being written, there’s always some chance Eliezer could change his mind.)
But there are a lot of subtle characters in HPMOR; Quirrell might be the most subtle and the most apparently evil, but he’s not the only one. That would imply that Harry, Dumbledore, and Lucius also have substantial probabilities of being the villain.
Edit: Then again… maybe that’s correct.
On the other hand, I think we’ve been told to expect most characters to be substantially smarter than their canon equivalents, and maybe this kind of subtle schemingness just comes automatically when you have a bunch of smart wizards who don’t trust each other and have potentially conflicting goals that they all take seriously as things-to-protect.
I wouldn’t mind one little bit if the story is structured like Lensmen, with several layers of villains that have to be discovered.
Admittedly, this is less likely in the wizarding world—the population is much lower than in a universe with multiple inhabited galaxies.
On the gripping hand, it would be really cool if Quirrel/Voldemort were a claw on a finger of a conspiracy of evil alien wizards. Presumably, Cthulhu is part of the middle layer.
However, while that gives evidence that Quirrel is the villain, it doesn’t necessarily follow that the villain (the one that is Quirrel) must be Voldemort.
Why does Quirrelmort even have to be a villain? Sure, he was terribly evil in canon, and in the back story, but he’s obviously been through some sort of magical transformative process, and that he may have made him redeemable. Killing Rita Skeeter is a pretty substantial mark against him, but we have very little idea what his real goals are.
He just tried to kill an innocent man, so that settles that.