HBP Theories: Snape's Parents

[juli17 at aol.com]

No: HPFGUIDX 133496

 

On Jul 19, 2005, at 3:38 PM, Kathryn Jones wrote:
>
>  If any of you have lasted through this, what really bothers me is
>  Snape's family. His mother was a witch and his father a muggle.  How 
> do
>  we reconcile this with Snape's pride in his family.  <snip> The 
> similarities between
>  Harry, Voldemort and Snape have been increasing throughout the books.
>


Julie: 
I'm sure those similarities will be explored in Book 7. Snape's parents are 
particularly interesting. From the pensieve scene with his mother cowering and 
father threatening, I expected Snape's father to be the wizard, and his mother 
the muggle. Instead it's the other way around. Which begs the question, just 
how did Snape come to Hogwarts knowing so many curses? If Dad the muggle ran 
all over Mom the cowering witch, it seems like Snape might have grown up in a 
"Bewitched" situation, i.e. "You will not practice witchcraft in this house, 
Samantha--er, Eileen!" roars Tobias. Again, how did Snape know all that Dark 
magic when he came to Hogwarts? Did his cowering mother teach him so he could 
protect himself, or did he secretly learn it behind his father's back in defiance?
 
Katherine wrote:
I usually dislike the "Luke, I am your father" theories that swirl 
around the HP series, but after this book I've increasingly wondered if 
Tom Riddle Jr. and Eileen Prince didn't have some type of ongoing 
relationship.  I'm currently of the mind that perhaps it is possible 
that Snape knew Voldemort  when Snape was a young boy.

I can't think of any other reason, other than a red-herring for HBP 
that JKR would have pointed out the time period in which Eileen Prince 
attended Hogwarts.  She was obviously there at the same time as TRJr.  
Perhaps she was either used by him to further his own aims, or was one 
of his early friends.


Julie:
I've always assumed there must be some connection between Snape 
and Voldemort that would explain Voldemort's apparent leniency when
it comes to Snape. If I recall correctly, Tom attended Hogwarts 50
years previous to COS, and the Half Blood Prince's potion book is 
around 50 years old in HBP. If the numbers quoted were rounded, as
most people tend to do, then they are close enough, give or take a
few years, that Tom and Eileen surely crossed paths at Hogwarts.
Probably more than crossed paths. Maybe Tom taught her all those
curses, and she in turn taught them to young Severus.
 
Julie






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