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After re-watching The Philosopher's Stone, I began to wonder how Professor Quirrell managed to catch the correct winged key. For starter, Harry was only able to spot it thanks to the broken wing. When it was Quirrell's turn, however, there was no such clue (He was faced with hundreds of choices). Then, even when Quirrell realized which key he needed, he did not strike me as athletic enough to catch it.

Would anyone explain how he passed this protection? Thanks!

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  • 9
    Presumably, he used his hand.
    – Mithical
    Commented May 28, 2017 at 8:31
  • 7
    A wizard did it.
    – Kreiri
    Commented May 28, 2017 at 9:30
  • @Mithrandir Before his hands could be of any use, however, I wonder how he picked out which key he wanted. I’m curious how you think he solved this problem.
    – ramund
    Commented May 28, 2017 at 18:04
  • 1
    Remember Harry, Hermione and Ron are still students. There are hundreds of spells that they don't know yet (even if Hermione has read the entire library), especially with Voldemort in Quirrell's head. Also, there might be a trick that Quirrell got out of Flitwick that the others didn't know.
    – marcellothearcane
    Commented May 28, 2017 at 21:37
  • 1
    How did Quirrell catch the correct winged key? Very well, thank you.
    – ibid
    Commented Jun 7, 2017 at 6:54

3 Answers 3

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Quirrell presumably identified it the same way that Harry & Co originally identified it:

"They're not birds!" Harry said suddenly. "They're keys! Winged keys — look carefully. So that must mean..." he looked around the chamber while the other two squinted up at the flock of keys. "... yes — look! Broomsticks! We've got to catch the key to the door!"
"But there are hundreds of them!"
Ron examined the lock on the door.
"We're looking for a big, old-fashioned one — probably silver, like the handle."
They each seized a broomstick and kicked off into the air, soaring into the midst of the cloud of keys.
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, chapter 16: "Through the Trapdoor" (emphasis mine)

So just because Harry, Ron, and Hermione had a short cut (the damaged wing), doesn't mean that Quirrel couldn't have identified it the hard way.

As for how he got it, I assume he used the broomsticks, same as Harry & Co — that is what they were there for, after all.

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  • 2
    But Harry was gifted seeker - Quirrell was just Quirrell.
    – Gallifreyan
    Commented May 28, 2017 at 19:05
  • 5
    So? You don't have to be an awesome Quidditch player to catch something, especially with Voldemort on the back of your head. I said nothing about him catching it very easily or something like that - for all we know, it took him an hour. But, you know, patience pays off :)
    – Mithical
    Commented May 28, 2017 at 19:07
  • @Mithrandir I see, thanks! I didn't realize before that these features (i.e. big, old-fashioned) Hermione pointed out were already sufficient for them to discover the key :)
    – ramund
    Commented May 28, 2017 at 21:53
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    @Gallifreyan - Quirrel was Quirrel plus Voldie
    – HorusKol
    Commented May 29, 2017 at 1:57
  • @YuanMeng - if you found this answer satisfactory, please consider clicking the checkmark under the answer so that this question is marked as solved. Thanks!
    – Mithical
    Commented Jun 7, 2017 at 9:55
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Foremost, all that underground chambers would have existed earlier as well. Only the traps were set a new. Hence, It was an old key!

Secondly, Quirrell was one of the teachers who would have known about all this. When he tricked Hagrid to speak about Fluffy, I am sure he could have somehow asked Flitwick about how to identify the correct key!

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-3

Presumably, Quirrel used the Immobulus spell to freeze the keys, and then, like Harry did, used a broom to catch them.

"They're not birds!" Harry said suddenly. "They're keys! Winged keys -- look carefully. So that must mean..." he looked around the chamber while the other two squinted up at the flock of keys. "... yes -- look! Broomsticks! We've got to catch the key to the door!"
"But there are hundreds of them!"
Ron examined the lock on the door.
"We're looking for a big, old-fashioned one -- probably silver, like the handle."
They each seized a broomstick and kicked off into the air, soaring into the midst of the cloud of keys.
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, chapter 16

He would most likely use the Freezing Charm, since Accio was not really going to do much good.

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    Do you have any evidence that he used this charm (as opposed to the potentially dozens of others that might work)?
    – Valorum
    Commented May 28, 2017 at 9:17
  • 1
    Thanks for your answer. Accio could explain how Quirrell caught the key once he knew which one it was. I wonder how he would know that before the correct key had a broken wing.
    – ramund
    Commented May 28, 2017 at 18:12
  • I don't ,but it is easily a safe bet. It is powerful enough to stop the Wamping Willow, and can catch a group ; such as in COS where Hermione uses it to stop the room filled with pixies in DADA.
    – Blueivan166
    Commented May 29, 2017 at 8:16

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