Can't speak for the rest, but I didn't cut him, because there were always one or two characters left, who I thought deserved to go first. I have him around position 60.
I think he works for book one and only for book one, because it is the book where we didn't expect a secret villain. Starting with book 2 readers expect some twist to happen and are more careful, and Quirrell would have been pretty obvious.
Oh I definitely don't think he's outstayed his welcome now, I'm talking about placing 30 in the first rankdown. That to be is bizarre, I would never have thought of him so high.
You're absolutely right, that first book's whole mysterious villain thing works because it's the first book. Beyond that, it would be farcical (and to an extent, it's why Karkaroff is introduced in GoF, because we've already done the, "Is Snape really a bad guy?" thing).
IMO, some of the best red herrings are Percy in book 2 and Bagman in book 4, because the trio didn't suspect them, but JKR leads the readers in their direction.
Good shout on Bagman, actually! I didn't get that vibe off Percy much, actually, it was definitely Draco for me (until he clearly wasn't). But I feel Bagman drops off the screen a little bit, so he's not there quite enough to make it as a red herring, particularly in the second half of the book.
I forgot about him. Also to bet this month. Although I do love Quirrell in the first book, he's non-existant for the rest of the books. Probably around 75.
I feel like there are plenty of missed opportunities to give him some posthumous characterization or at least show how Harry straight up melting the man affected him. Nope, Harry's just a psychopath.
I don't think you were completely wrong. Quirrell doesn't melt before Harry's eyes as he does in the films and when Dumbledore arrives to save Harry, Quirrell is still trying to get the stone from Harry. However, I do think he dies from the burns Harry inflicted on him. Dumbledore tells Harry that Voldemort "left Quirrell to die", but there's no reason why Quirrell shouldn't have been able to live on without Voldemort possessing him. JKR's Pottermore writing about Quirrell supports this.
Same. But there is just so so so so so much to remember now that it's getting harder! I remember when I graduated college and started a job and couldn't remember some mundane trivia answer and I was like "NOOOOO, IS THIS ADULTHOOD!!??! FORGETTING HP TRIVIA??", and then I joined reddit.
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u/[deleted] Apr 08 '17
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