Chapter Text
Today was Quirinus Quirrell’s fourteenth day in this godforsaken Albanian forest. He had searched high low for any lead on the dark arts (or rather the cause of them) he had been called to investigate here. He spun this way and that and cast a number of location spells all to be met with disappointment.
“Drat! I’ll never find what I’m looking for in this damned forest!” Quirrell said stomping his foot in the soft soil.
Then he heard it. CcCRrRoOOoaAKkk, Quirrell sprinted in the direction of this unearthly sound. When he got to the source he saw a frog and snake face to face in a clearing. The way the two animals stared at each other was unnatural. It was as if one was controlling the other’s movements. Slowly a wisp of grey smoke started pouring out of the frog’s mouth and entered the snakes. This was dark magic indeed, but what and whose magic was it indeed?
Quirrell stepped forward urged on by an unknown force unable to stop himself. His foot landed on a brittle stick which snapped in half under his weight and that’s all it took to knock himself and the animals out of their trance. The snake’s head whipped to the side staring Quirrell in the eyes as it began slithering forwards. Quirrell stepped back and tripped falling on his back. By the time he was able to get over his shock, the snake was upon him slithering up his body before sitting on Quirrell’s chest and staring him in the eyes.
“Hello Quirinussss you are far from home aren’t you?” the snake asked.
“H-how do you know my my name?” Quirrell asked his tell-tale fear stutter betraying his calm voice.
“Oh don’t be frightened I can just see into your mind, It’s nothing special.” the snake replied
“WhoOo are you you really?” Quirell asked. His pulse was pounding in his head and he felt paralyzed. Even if he was in immediate danger he couldn’t move.
“Oh my dear Quirinusss Im not going to harm you. You sssee I have been wandering this earth for a while without a body after an unfortunate accident. But I think you could help me with my... predicament. Pleasssse call me Tom.” the snake said.
If Quirrell hadn’t known any better he might have thought he saw the snake, or rather Tom, smirk but that couldn’t be right. Nevertheless, Quirrell instantly felt himself calm down he couldn’t help but think he should trust Tom after all maybe he hadn’t meant to dabble in the dark arts and only did so because he no longer had a human body? Against the suspicious nagging in the back of Quirrell’s mind, he wanted to help Tom and that would also solve the issue that had originally brought him to this forest in the first place.
“Alright Tom, I guess I can help you. But you have to stop messing with the dark arts and leave this forest. What do we have to do to get you your body back? I do have to return to England soon though as I have been away much longer than intended.” Quirrell said.
“Exccccellent, take me to England what I need is there. The thing I need lies in Gringotts vault 713. I need you to retrieve it for me before it is gone!” Tom said.
With that Quirrell stood up holding the snake in his hands before putting him carefully placing him in his satchel. Quirrell and Tom left the forest and took the next possible train to France and then to England.
Quirrell was able to spend two days at home preparing for the new semester at Hogwarts when Tom started to push for him to go to Gringotts before it was too late.
“Alright, I’ll go today, I have to go to Diagon alley anyways for class materials anyways, You should stay here don’t want to catch any unwanted attention,” Quirrell said gathering his things.
“Yesss, I will remain here, do not fail me,” Tom hissed.
Quirrell made his way over to his fireplace and with a shout of “The Leaky Cauldron” and throw of floo powder he was out and in London before he knew it.
Quirrell stepped out of The Leaky Cauldron’s fire place and walked up to the bar. It had been a while since he had time to himself since picking up Tom and promising to help him. Quirrell needed a small break and so before he could figure out how to get into the vault of Gringotts and do everything else he needed he decided to at least get some liquid courage and ordered himself some fire whiskey and sat down.
It wasn’t long before his peace was interrupted by a commotion in the pub. When Quirrell turned to look he saw Hagrid and a young boy wadding through the patrons of the Leaky Cauldron. This wasn’t just any boy though with a closer look Quirrell could just make out the telltale lightning scar on his forehead. This was Harry Potter. It wasn’t long before they were closer to his seat at the bar and Quirrell couldn’t help himself he had to say hello.
“Harry P-Potter, c-can’t t-tell you how p-pleased I am to meet you,” Quirrell said cursing his stutter silently. It had followed him around whenever he got nervous ever since his run-in with the vampires.
“Hello, Professor. I didn't see you there. Harry, this is Professor Quirrell. He'll be your Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher at Hogwarts.” Hagrid said turning around to face Quirrell.
“Oh, nice to meet you,” Harry said, offering his hand. Quirrell didn’t know why but the thought of touching Harry’s hand made him afraid as if something terrible might happen if he were to even touch a hair on his head. So he declined the handshake.
“F-fearfully fascinating subject. N-not that you need it, e-eh, Potter?” Quirrell chuckled hoping to rid himself of the fear he had suddenly experienced.
“Yes, well, must be going now. Lots to buy.” Hagrid said ushering Harry towards the back of the pub and on to Diagon Alley.
Quirrell couldn’t help the feeling of unease that was nestling in his stomach. He sat awhile wondering where it had come from. He wasn’t doing anything wrong, at least not yet. The professor shook his head in an effort to clear his thoughts and took a long thoughtful sip of the Fire whiskey.
After paying for his drink Quirrell made his way to Diagon Alley and decided he should finish his supplies shopping before attempting to get whatever it is he had to retrieve from Gringotts. While Quirrell was sifting through books and parchment at Flourish and Blotts he racked his mind thinking of how to get to a vault that didn't belong to him.
Quirrell finally decided that he would go under the guise of attending to his own vault and then take it from there. Crime wasn’t what Quirrell had thought his life would turn to but he desperately wanted to help Tom in a way that he hadn’t originally felt. This would have normally frightened him but for an unknown reason, he felt okay.
The professor walked into the lobby of Gringotts, went to the smallest looking goblin he could see, and presented his key requesting to be taken to his vault. The short goblin wobbled off his stool and took Quirrell to the carts to be taken down to his vault. His vault was number 659 so if Quirrell could manage it the vault he really needed would be just a row or two below his. Without much warning, Quirrell and the goblin shot down into the dark of the vault rooms. They stopped abruptly in front of vault 659. Quirrell’s hands were shaking and he could feel clammy sweat on his palms as his breath quickened in his throat. It seemed the goblin had noticed the changes in Quirrell’s composure and went to bring them back up with suspicious eyes, but Quirrell acted first and with a quick bolt, he squeaked out “Petrificus Totalus” and the goblin was still. Quirrell lept to the front of the cart and not really understanding the controls pulled the lever downwards. They shot down quicker than expected forcing Quirrell to shove the lever back up for another abrupt stop. He found himself in front of vault 720. He looked to the right. Vault 721. He looked to the left. vault 719. Quirrell looked at the controls and saw a slightly smaller lever and slowly pushed it forward. They moved left at a snail’s pace and Quirrell kept his eyes on the vault numbers. Finally, he saw it, Vault 713. Quirrell climbed out.
Quirrell examined the door and found that it had no keyhole. Quirrell wracked his brain for what could possibly work for opening the door.
‘It must have something to do with the Goblins surely!’ he thought to himself. He cast a backward glance at the cart to look over the Goblin and decided he would just have to bring him over to test various methods. Quirrell hooked his arms through the Goblin’s and for a brief moment struggled to remove him from the cart. By the time Quirrell got him over to the door, he was out of breath and ended up leaning the goblin against the door. However, the goblin was in such a precarious position he ended up falling over. Miraculously the goblin’s hand had swiped across the door in the fall and the door opened to reveal an empty vault.
Quirrell’s stomach sank and all at once the gravity of the situation hit him. He could hear his blood rushing in his ears and he frantically picked up the Goblin and hurried to the cart. He knew he had to get out of there. He maneuvered the cart back up to his vault. Once there he positioned the Goblin back at the front of the cart and sitting behind him cast Obliviate on the poor fellow. Then carefully he undid Petrificus Totalus.
The Goblin gave a start, looked around, and finally landed his gaze on Quirrell. Right before the Goblin could say anything Quirrell decided to act dazed too.
“I-im f-frightfully sSsorry sir, b-but what am I doing hHhere?” Quirrell asked faining ignorance.
“It appears something quite dubious has occurred here sir,” the Goblin responded.
“O-oh d-dear,” Quirrell said. His natural fear of being caught was definitely adding to his act of innocence.
The Goblin turned around and hauled the cart back up to the surface of the bank and the two stepped back into the lobby.
“Please follow me, sir, we must speak to the bank manager about what has occurred here today.