Snape’s mother was mentioned briefly in Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix during an Occlumency lesson. When Hermione investigates the Half-Blood Prince, she discovers that Eileen Prince married a Muggle by the name of Tobias Snape and they then had a child, Severus. Eileen was also very good at potions, and Hermione originally believed that she was the Half-Blood Prince.
J.K. Rowling has said that Snape was loved by someone. Was she referring to his mother or was it romantic love? Is Snape’s mother still living? Is Eileen Prince or Tobias Snape going to play any kind of part in Book 7?
July 7, 2007 at 3:02 pm
There is a theory running around the net that Madame Pince the librarian is Snape’s mother in disguise and hideen by Dumbledore. The reason for this theory is that in “Quidditich Through the Ages” there is a lengthy letter from Dumbledore and we learn her full name (in all other books she is Madame Pince), Irma Pince. When you switch around the letters of her name it becomes:
I’m a Prince. Food for thought.
July 7, 2007 at 4:12 pm
That is a really interesting theory. I hadn’t heard it before. Thanks!
July 7, 2007 at 6:16 pm
Since, this is a librarian blog, and I myself am also librarian, I wonder how do you feel about Madam Pince and her character? I find it a bit offending that she is so obnoxious fitting exactly to that “librarian image” of old grumpy ladies saying shhhhhhhhh all the time…
Having said that, and coming back to Harry Potter, JK Rowling doesn’t mention anything just to mention it, so I am sure Madam Pince will have some kind of a role in book 7, if it’s going to be according to this theory, I don’t know, but we’ll probably see her some more, in my opinion.
July 8, 2007 at 1:59 am
I forgot to mention something else…In the sixth book, Madame Pince is seen for the first and only time out of the library and she is wearing a veil from head to foot…is it a sign or mourning or something more?
July 8, 2007 at 8:36 pm
Sasha, I never got a chance to respond to your comment. I also find Madam Pince to be a little irritating. It’s a shame that so many librarians found in literature are shown in this kind of light. On the other hand, maybe there is more to her character than was revealed before.
Also, J.K.R. was asked about this in an interview once before and she said that if she made the librarian nice and helpful (like many librarians she knows), then the students would always have the answers and never have to go in search of them themselves.
July 19, 2007 at 6:13 pm
I feel that you’re overreacting.
Myself and many friends worked in libraries where of course there were none of the stereotypical “Madame Pince” types. However, it’s just a stereotype – and to take it personally would be absurd. You work in a library – If you read books as well as shelved them, you would know about how necessary it is to have a literary archetype to fall back on when fleshing out minor characters.
September 20, 2007 at 6:02 am
I like this book because it is very exiting. I thought half-blood prince is Voledemort. You are very terrible,Madam. I so hate you.