A Short Hollow Life

That was how the following months were. He wasn't in control of his body anymore and it was all his fault. The only thing he could do was float around in his own consciousness. Around him were memories of his entire life, he now realized that very little actually happened.

He grew up with his dear squib mother, Queenie, and one squib older brother, Quentin. Being the youngest child AND the only magical one, he was doted on by everyone. His grandparents died of dragon pox rather early in his life, leaving him to carry on the name since magical houses couldn't be inherited by squibs. His brother was never pleased with this of course, since this meant that his mother's money all went into Quirinus' education.

His years at Hogwarts were special to him. He valued the theory more than the rest so was obviously placed with the other intellectuals in Ravenclaw. He quickly became friends with a blonde ponce called Gilderoy Lockhart. He was in a very similar situation and the two bonded over their plans to only learn what could make them seem better in the eyes of others for the least amount of effort. Gilderoy focused on the outer appearance and Quirinus focused on the shortcuts to O:s in his classes.

When Gilderoy became a seeker for the quidditch team, Quirinus was on his way to becoming the prefect. This was when he realized some mistakes though. Nobody would remember him. Everyone saw and remembered his friend because he was the people person and the boisterous one, Quirinus was always in the background and before his fifth year he saw his own mistakes. Taking muggle studies and divination with Gilderoy were easy O:s indeed, since he grew up in the muggle world, but no jobs out there looked for someone with those electives.

This was when Quirinus had started doubting himself. He had no contacts, like his friend did, he had no recognition, like his friend did, and he had no truly impressive grades...his friend didn't have that either but he'd make it anyway. He had nothing going for him after four years except for a worthless prefect badge. It was useless when he wore it since nobody listened to him anyway. It didn't give him the respect he thought it would and certainly didn't make him popular with the ladies.

Looking back at this point, he recognized it as the turning point. From that point on, he wasn't as happy with what he had done anymore. He wasn't carefree, but didn't do anything to fix it either. He finished school as the "most insignificant and weakest prefect in Hogwarts history" as some would yell at him. He went on to become a teacher in muggle studies as that was about the only thing he was properly qualified for and for years he just felt sorry for himself. Outwardly he was a meek and kind professor, pleased with his life. When he was alone in his quarters he drank until he passed out about four days a week.

The guilt he felt was massive. His mother had spent all of her money and savings on him. Just so that he could get educated. He wasted every knut of that. Now his dear sweet Mother was in debt and his brother was working low paying jobs six days a week due to not having the money to get educated. He hadn't spoken to his family in a long time at this point. He couldn't look them in the eyes and tell them he failed.

Quirinus felt worse and worse for every month that went by but eventually he decided to at least get a better paying teaching job. Most of them paid roughly the same at an entry level, but there was one that stuck out. Defence Against the Dark Arts! He studied until he got himself a mastery, but before he could apply for the job, he heard whispers about the wraith in Albania. That brought him to his current situation where he wasn't in control of his body as it failed to rob a bank.

Suddenly everything around him changed. New memories popped up, and plenty more of them. These memories weren't his own though, they were of some poor kid called Tom Riddle. He COULD start questioning why those memories were there, but didn't bother. What was the point really? Since he didn't have anything better to do, he decided to watch Tom's life instead of his own. Maybe it'd be more entertaining, Quirinus thought. Oh it was interesting all right.

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A/N: I'll be posting all of the prologue today. There is just one, a bit larger, part left after all.