I notice that Quirrell no longer needs to transform into a snake to speak Parseltongue, which is suddenly very plot convenient (he doesn’t need to stop pointing a gun at Harry). I reasoned that he needed to do that before in order to keep a cover of Quirrell not being a descendant of Slytherin (which would increase the likelihood Harry would connect the dots that he is Voldemort), therefore he pretended to always need to turn into a snake in order to speak Parseltongue (pretended he wasn’t a natural Parselmouth). But then there is this bit from Chapter 49:
Quirrell in snake form: “This iss mosst ssecure way to sspeak. You ssee? No otherss undersstand uss.”
Harry: “Even if they are ssnake Animagi?”
Quirrell: “Not unlesss heir of Sslytherin willss.” The snake gave a series of short hisses which Harry’s brain translated as sardonic laughter. “Sslytherin not sstupid. Ssnake Animaguss not ssame as Parsselmouth. Would be huge flaw in sscheme.”
Therefore, Quirrell just confessed to Harry that he is, in fact, a Parselmouth on top of being a snake Animagus, since he just said (in other words) that being a snake Animagus does not automatically grant the user Parseltongue even when in the snake form; one has to be a true descendant of Slytherin. This invalidates my reasoning. Is there a satisfactory explanation for this contradiction?
Edit: turns out that with “Not unlesss heir of Sslytherin willss”, Quirrell meant to say that Harry himself grants any snake the capacity to speak because Harry is an heir of Slytherin. The ambiguity threw me off.
It still could imply that Quirrell/Voldie was an Heir of Slytherin—Harry hadn’t actually “willed” the Animagus Voldie to speak yet, so him talking in Parseltongue could still be a clue. Or I am just mistaken and Harry had “consented” snake to speak in some way before
I notice that Quirrell no longer needs to transform into a snake to speak Parseltongue, which is suddenly very plot convenient (he doesn’t need to stop pointing a gun at Harry). I reasoned that he needed to do that before in order to keep a cover of Quirrell not being a descendant of Slytherin (which would increase the likelihood Harry would connect the dots that he is Voldemort), therefore he pretended to always need to turn into a snake in order to speak Parseltongue (pretended he wasn’t a natural Parselmouth). But then there is this bit from Chapter 49:
Quirrell in snake form: “This iss mosst ssecure way to sspeak. You ssee? No otherss undersstand uss.”
Harry: “Even if they are ssnake Animagi?”
Quirrell: “Not unlesss heir of Sslytherin willss.” The snake gave a series of short hisses which Harry’s brain translated as sardonic laughter. “Sslytherin not sstupid. Ssnake Animaguss not ssame as Parsselmouth. Would be huge flaw in sscheme.”
Therefore, Quirrell just confessed to Harry that he is, in fact, a Parselmouth on top of being a snake Animagus, since he just said (in other words) that being a snake Animagus does not automatically grant the user Parseltongue even when in the snake form; one has to be a true descendant of Slytherin. This invalidates my reasoning. Is there a satisfactory explanation for this contradiction?
Edit: turns out that with “Not unlesss heir of Sslytherin willss”, Quirrell meant to say that Harry himself grants any snake the capacity to speak because Harry is an heir of Slytherin. The ambiguity threw me off.
It still could imply that Quirrell/Voldie was an Heir of Slytherin—Harry hadn’t actually “willed” the Animagus Voldie to speak yet, so him talking in Parseltongue could still be a clue. Or I am just mistaken and Harry had “consented” snake to speak in some way before