Madam Pince (was: Was Snape ever loved?)

[zeldaricdeau]

No: HPFGUIDX 136559

Hello with my first post to the group :).

*First Cheryl*: ("Maybe she is in hiding as the Hogwarts librarian, 
Irma Pince (i.e. Im a Prince :)"

*Then Samantha*: I think this is an excellent theory, with only one 
complication. When Harry is in the library with his copy of Advance 
Potions, Irma Pince sees it and goes ballistic, thinking he had 
defaced the book. If, as some theories suggest, Snape's mother wrote 
the potion revisions in the book, she surely would have recognized 
the book and/or her handwriting (if she was Snape's mother) now, on 
the other hand, she could be Snape's mother and HE (maybe with some 
Lily help?) wrote the revisions (in which case she would have been 
oblivious and still thought Harry had defaced it)

I think Irma Prince (I'm a prince)is just the type of play on words 
that JKR likes, so it is a really, really good theory!

*Now zeldaricdeau*: Firstly, out of curiosity, do we know for sure 
that Irma is Madam Pince's first name? Sorry, but I can't seem to 
remember where it was mentioned. I really hope it is though, just 
for this theory! Secondly, this topic came up on another HP group 
recently and I have to say it sounds highly plausible. Even Madam 
Pince's response to the HBP's potion book seems to support it in my 
mind. What purpose did her outburst at that particular point serve? 
Simply to tell us that she is rather obsessive about her library 
books? Personally, I suspect it must have more meaning:

We know that the book is a 50 some year old edition. That means it 
may well have first come to the school about 50 years ago when 
Eileen Prince was in school. I'd say that there is extremely strong 
evidence to support the belief that Snape comes from a poor family 
and would probably have had to use second hand books at school. If 
his mother married a muggle, even lived in a muggle area, and may 
have had an abusive husband who may have reacted threateningly 
against her using magic, perhaps she kept her books as a kind of 
memento and allowed Severus as a child (as has been suggested 
several times now) to read through them. He therefore would have 
brought them to school instead of buying new ones or other second 
hand editions.

Now, maybe Eileen was never proud of her son's foray deep into the 
Dark Arts. Maybe she didn't realize, until it was too late, how deep 
he had fallen in. Perhaps she discovered the book at some point and 
was shocked at some of the Dark Magic he was creating. If strained 
enough emotionally, I can imagine her seeing the defacing of her old 
book in such a way as a kind of desecration or befouling. Seeing it 
again 15-16 years later might bring back some horrid memories.
Also, if she has a new name (Irma Pince), why? Is she one of those 
individuals that Dumbledore suggests may be "hidden completely" and 
are presumed to be dead? How come?

Lastly, this Snape>Pince connection might shed more light on why it 
is that Snape seems a little more trusting of Filch than some 
others. After all, he even goes to Filch to get his leg bandaged in 
SS/PS and not Madam Pomfrey. On the one hand, this might be an 
effort to keep the injury secret, but why Filch? If there is 
something romantic going on between Pince and Filch currently, and 
Pince is Eileen Prince, it might help explain Snape's interactions 
with Filch.

If any of this is true, it leaves me wondering what Pince is 
thinking now!

Hope that makes more sense to you than it does to me at 5 am!

-ZR