Eileen Prince was the mother of Severus Snape. She is mentioned towards the end of the Harry Potter series when the golden trio is searching for the origins of the Half-Blood Prince, an elusive figure to whom a Potions textbook with great insights belongs. Harry Potter uses this textbook, which its previous users had scribbled all over with better instructions for making potions. Harry wins a lot of accolades from the new professor of Potions, Horace Slughorn. Hermione brings up coming across a newspaper announcement from the wizarding world about a Pure-blooded witch named Eileen Prince marrying a Muggle, Tobias Snape.
Etymology
Eileen’s first name has Celtic origins along with Irish and English roots. It became a popular name around the 19th century and is a version of “Helen.” It also has roots in French, American, Latin, and Greek traditions.
Her surname, Prince, could be adopted from the word Prince as it refers to a male member of a royal family who is not the king but is in line to become one.
Early Life
Eileen Snape was born Eileen Prince into the wizarding Prince family in 1930 in Great Britain. She may have been an only child or had siblings who may have lost contact with her after she married Tobias Snape, a Muggle. Eileen joined Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry when she was 11. She was sorted into Slytherin. However, she may not have been as active as her family and friends in their blood purity fanaticism, as is evident from her marriage to a Muggle.
Hogwarts
Eileen Prince was a student of Hogwarts from 1941-1948, around the same time Lord Voldemort, known as Tom Riddle, went to Hogwarts. Eileen may have been there at Hogwarts during the Chamber of Secrets opening and Myrtle Warren’s death. However, since Eileen was Pure-blooded, she was in no danger of getting attacked by a Basilisk. It is also possible that she was a blood purist in her early days, and something changed after she decided to marry Tobias Snape. Since she was in Slytherin’s house at Hogwarts, it is possible that she held the opinions of Blood purity in her early days.
Eileen was a captain of the Hogwarts Gobstones Team in her fifth year at Hogwarts. After serving her time as the captain of the School Gobstones team, she eventually became the President of the Hogwarts Gobstones Club. By the time she graduated from Hogwarts, Tom Riddle had already graduated from Hogwarts and started building his army of Death Eaters, and Albus Dumbledore had recently defeated the dark wizard Gellert Grindelwald in a duel and imprisoned him in Nurmengard Prison.
Later Life
After graduating from Hogwarts, Eileen met a Muggle man named Tobias Snape. The two eventually got married and stayed at Cokeworth in Spinner’s End, close to where the Evans family stayed. Eileen and Tobias had a son named Severus. The Snape household was likely habited by unhappiness and constant quarrels. Severus Snape seemed to like spending most of his time outside his house. One day, he met Lily Evans and Petunia Evans, and despite Petunia’s constant disapproval, Lily and Severus became friends.
Severus had learned magic very early and was a prodigy of sorts. He may have learned magic from his mother or from the books that she possessed. He was bullied a lot at an early age, which may have contributed to his reserved nature and interest in magic and learning and mastering magical abilities beyond the scope of his age. Severus showed Lily several of his magic tricks when he met her and told her they would both get to go to Hogwarts after receiving the letter after he realized she had magical abilities, too.
In September of 1971, both Severus Snape and Lily Evans boarded the Hogwarts Express. Eileen Prince may have accompanied Severus Snape to the King’s Cross station to drop him off at Hogwarts. However, after reaching Hogwarts, Lily was sorted into Gryffindor house along with James Potter, Sirius Black, and Remus Lupin. Severus was sorted into Slytherin.
In Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, after Harry collects Snape’s memories, he sees how Snape had always had a crush on Lily Potter, Harry’s mother. However, since Snape was born into a very dysfunctional family, he had a lot of emotional problems when he grew up. This influenced him to join Lord Voldemort’s ranks and become a practitioner of Dark Arts.
Appearance
Eileen Prince was said to have a pallid face and heavy brows. It is possible that Severus inherited some of her facial features. He also inherited her magical powers, as his father was a Muggle. Eileen was described as not so good-looking even as a young girl, which may have been an exaggeration. However, Eileen was known to have lived in a house at Cokeworth at Spinner’s End after her wedding to Tobias Snape.
It is believed that Eileen Snape kept to herself and rarely spoke to her neighbors. Severus Snape would eventually inherit the house at Spinner’s End. At the end of the book Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, Snape reveals to Harry that he is the Half-Blood Prince and got this name from Eileen’s maiden name.
Irma Pince is Not Eileen Prince – Debunking a Fan Theory
While some fan theories are pretty exciting and spot on with how well they blend into the canon, the fan theory about Irma Pince, the librarian at Hogwarts, being Eileen Prince, Snape’s mother, is not one of them. The likelihood of Irma Pince being Eileen Prince is very low. Even from the standpoint of the narrative, it is entirely unnecessary. The only real connection between these two ladies is their similar surnames. However, if Irma Pince was born into a long-standing family with the surname Pince and has a long ancestry, there is no reason for this theory to be true.
Despite the possibility that this may turn out to be true in later iterations or adaptations of the novel, and Madam Pince is revealed to be Eileen Prince in disguise, it is still going to be a new development and not something true in the Harry Potter books or movies.
FAQs
Why did Eileen Prince marry Tobias Snape?
Exactly how Eileen Prince met Tobias Snape or how they got married is unknown. It is likely that the two fell in love and decided to get married to each other. However, after getting married, Tobias Snape was supposedly a ruthless husband and would constantly abuse Eileen. This was one of the significant reasons that Severus Snape wanted to leave his house often and looked forward to being at Hogwarts more than going home.
Was Eileen Prince Snape’s mother?
Yes, Eileen Prince was revealed to be Snape’s mother. Severus Snape used her maiden name, “Prince,” for his pseudonym, “The Half-Blood Prince.” Eileen was a witch and Snape’s only connection to magic in his early days since his father, Tobias Snape, was a Muggle.
Who were Snape’s parents?
Severus Snape was born into the Snape family. His father’s name was Tobias Snape, and his mother’s name was Eileen Prince, but since she adopted her husband’s surname after getting married, she was known as Eileen Snape to the wizarding world. Tobias Snape was a Muggle who lived in Spinner’s End, and Eileen Prince was born into the wizarding Prince family.
What Hogwarts house was Eileen Prince?
Eileen Prince was sorted into Slytherin house. Likely, her family members were mostly sorted into Slytherin house as she had minimal contact with anyone after she married Tobias Snape, a Muggle, which may have been because they disapproved of their union. This implies that they may have been blood purists, who almost always got sorted into Slytherin house.
