The Prince and Filch Family Trees

[abergoat]

No: HPFGUIDX 156684

colebiancardi wrote:
> Also, since Snape knew "more hexes and curses" than most 7th years, 
> that would explain why James hated Snape at first sight - because 
> James hates anything to do with dark magic.

Abergoat writes:
But how did James KNOW that Snape knew more hexes and curses than most
7th years when they hadn't met before? You may be right but I suspect
that James hated Snape on sight for similar reasons to Harry and
Draco. Snape probably said something snobbish about Gryffindor and
that was the house James wanted to enter. Harry disliked Draco because
of his snobbery about blood. Snape may have said something about
foolish bravery being all the average Gryffindor was good for. We have
reason to believe the first years talk about houses on the train - it
would be a topic of deep interest and some passion.


Carol wrote:
> However, we don't need a complicated adoption story to explain how
> Severus *might* have known the Blacks before Hogwarts. 

Abergoat responds:
I agree we don't need a complicated adoption story to answer how Snape
'ran' with Bella, but we probably do need something complicated to
explain why Dumbledore trusts Severus 'completely'. JKR says herself
Severus Snape is a horrible man so I doubt he is on Dumbledore's side
for the benefit of humanity. I'd be surprised if there isn't a family
tie somehow - and the scene with Filch mending Snape's leg combined
with the suggestion of a relationship between Filch and Irma doesn't
make it that implausible there is a family connection between these
three people. I suppose I could even use the anagram Irma Pince/I'm a
Prince because if dog lady in St Mungo's had Prince as a maiden name
and is Irma's mother than Irma does indeed have Prince blood.

Snape seems like a man that would be highly motivated by revenge.
We've actually seen this when he 'accidentally' let slip that Lupin
was a werewolf and I'm sure there are other small examples. Exposing
Lupin was an act of revenge. Dumbledore treated Snape somewhat
cavalierly in PoA, I think Dumbledore is very sure that Snape will not
turn to Voldemort out of a sense of injustice...probably because he
knows Voldemort has done something that Snape can never forgive and
that Dumbledore could never match. Voldemort having killed Snape's
family seems like a reasonable guess and if so we know that Voldemort
cannot realize that Snape knows it. What a nice reason for Snape to
have removed three memories during Harry's occulmency lessons. Some
memories were too embarrassing (and others too dangerous?) to risk
Harry/Voldemort seeing.

Carol wrote:
> All we need is for the Princes, his mother's family, to be a pureblood 
> family with a Slytherin background, possibly but not necessarily 
> connected with Dark magic (that may be Sirius's impression rather 
> than fact) and perhaps distantly related to the Blacks since all the 
> pureblood families are interconnected. 

Abergoat responds:
Certainly possible, although I'm not sure I'd buy that that is simpler
since the Black family tapestry has no Princes. If the Princes were
'acceptable' enough to allow Severus to play with the Black children
then I imagine they were acceptable enough to marry and given how
small the pool was the should have done so at some point in the last
three (or was it four?) generations. The Potters got hooked in there.
And we have every reason to believe Snape's house is inherited - the
fact that Bella says she has never been there does not support a
family connection. But that doesn't mean one doesn't exist.

Carol wrote:
> Who do we know who would be young enough to be called a girl when 
> Severus was, say, nine or ten, and mean enough to laugh at him when 
> he's struggling to stay on a bucking broom? The answer, IMO, is 
> Bellatrix. Possibly she was his baby sitter

Abergoat adds:
The thought that Bella is the girl in the memory is fine with me, but
I think her age comes dangerously close to qualifying her as a girl -
certainly not a young girl. When Snape was 9 or 10 Bella would be at
least 16 years old (JKR's 1951 on the Black family tapestry could make
her as many as 9 years older than Snape) and wizards are considered
'adults' at 17. She would have been nearly an adult, if not already.

Since Sirius says Snape 'arrived' at Hogwarts knowing more spells than
most seventh years I would agree this severely weakens a theory that
Severus practically grew up at Hogwarts but the idea that dog lady is
Filch's mother still stands. And I cannot say I consider Sirius the
most reliable source of information at this point, what he says always
seems to be at the center of a debate. And Sirius's comment could be
just as factually accurate as his avoidance of mentioning that the
'Mrs Lestrange' was his cousin. Actually I imagine adults would think
Snape should ride the train like other first years - I think that
first train ride is an integral part of the sorting experience. 

Abergoat