Professor Quirinus Quirrell is a fictional character in Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, the first novel in the Harry Potter series written by JK Rowling. Quirrell was the Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry during Harry's first year at the school. Professor Quirrell is played by the British actor Ian Hart in the film adaptation of the book. Life prior to his employment at Hogwarts, he is said by Hagrid to have had a "brilliant mind", and was a fine teacher "while he was studyin' outta books"; however, around a year before Harry Potter's arrival at Hogwarts, "he took a year off ter get some first-hand experience". There were rumours that he encountered vampires in the Black Forest and one in Romania, and he apparently had "a nasty bit o' trouble with a hag". After that, he was 'never the same' - he appeared perpetually nervous, had developed a stutter and nervous tics, and Hagrid was able to say even before the beginning of the autumn term that he was "scared of the students, scared of his own subject". The length of Quirrell's employment at Hogwarts is uncertain. Some older students are familiar with him: when Harry [ - ]