HP Weekly Discussion: Favoritism
17. Is Irma Pince Eileen Snape nee Prince?
I don't think Irma Pince is Eileen. I am sure, Severus would have recognized his own mother. Even if she was using some glamour to alter her appearance. Unless, I am missing something. Though I have come across a fanfic where she is indeed Eileen Prince. I can't exactly remember the name of the story.
Quote from Sam on September 25, 2023, 5:02 amI don't think Irma Pince is Eileen. I am sure, Severus would have recognized his own mother. Even if she was using some glamour to alter her appearance. Unless, I am missing something. Though I have come across a fanfic where she is indeed Eileen Prince. I can't exactly remember the name of the story.
Nothing indicates that he doesn't recognise her, though. I too don't believe Irma is Eileen in canon, but it's a cool concept and I'd like to see it explored more.
But if it is her, this raises some questions like "Why is she hiding?" and "What is she hiding from?". And "Why wasn't she at Spinner's End?" Admittedly, those are all easily answered by the Death Eaters, but it'd be interesting to see how authors (and not only) go about it.
Indeed. It might be cool to see that idea being explored further. Maybe, she gets tired of being abused by Tobias and is working under that alias to keep some semblance of privacy. Though, there would have to be given some explanation why didn't she do it sooner. And how does that affects Severus's life? Since he wouldn't be returning to Spinner's End for holidays and would rather stay at Hogwarts with his mum.
I agree with @fictionlover96lol and @salvyus. I don't think Irma was Eileen, but I like reading fics with that trope.
I don't think it's canon either although it is a fun theory.
But it could work out. In "The Poison Garden," Eileen tells Severus that Tobias fell down the stairs and that's how he died. Severus finds it amusing because that's the excuse Tobias would give the police to explain Eileen's bruises and Severus later arranges for her to work at Hogwarts as Irma Pince.
In canon, I would assume that Tobias has died, whatever the reason, and with Voldemort gaining power and Eileen practically being a blood traitor, I can definitely see Severus ask the headmaster for protection for his mother as well. We don't see them interact in canon but Harry generally doesn't show us many interactions among the staff in the first place due to the story being mostly limited to his POV. Snape and Eileen don't seem to have a very loving relationship anyway if one looks at the glimpse we get of Eileen at the train station. A loving mother would be fussing over her only child leaving home, she'd embarrass him with her affection and her worried questions. Iirc, Snape even has his shoulders hunched in her presence which implies that he's expecting to be hit or scolded. She definitely is the favored parent but that doesn't automatically make her a good one. I, nevertheless, doubt that Severus would want her to come to harm so he'd find her a safe place at Hogwarts where no one knows or recognizes her.
And Filch and Pince supposedly like each other. Thay explains why Filch and Snape get along, Filch is his stepfather 😂
Fun fact, Eileen's Wiki page also features a picture of Pince.
I have seen a few fics with that premise, well not quite exactly. But Eileen being with either Filch or his brother. It's an interesting idea, though I imagine she died somewhere around Severus graduating from Hogwarts since when he owns the house at Spinner's End. There's not a trace of her and it's highly unlikely that she went elsewhere. Same for Tobias as well.
Quote from Dark Angel on September 26, 2023, 3:50 pmI don't think it's canon either although it is a fun theory.
But it could work out. In "The Poison Garden," Eileen tells Severus that Tobias fell down the stairs and that's how he died. Severus finds it amusing because that's the excuse Tobias would give the police to explain Eileen's bruises and Severus later arranges for her to work at Hogwarts as Irma Pince.
In canon, I would assume that Tobias has died, whatever the reason, and with Voldemort gaining power and Eileen practically being a blood traitor, I can definitely see Severus ask the headmaster for protection for his mother as well. We don't see them interact in canon but Harry generally doesn't show us many interactions among the staff in the first place due to the story being mostly limited to his POV. Snape and Eileen don't seem to have a very loving relationship anyway if one looks at the glimpse we get of Eileen at the train station. A loving mother would be fussing over her only child leaving home, she'd embarrass him with her affection and her worried questions. Iirc, Snape even has his shoulders hunched in her presence which implies that he's expecting to be hit or scolded. She definitely is the favored parent but that doesn't automatically make her a good one. I, nevertheless, doubt that Severus would want her to come to harm so he'd find her a safe place at Hogwarts where no one knows or recognizes her.
And Filch and Pince supposedly like each other. Thay explains why Filch and Snape get along, Filch is his stepfather 😂
Fun fact, Eileen's Wiki page also features a picture of Pince.
Damn, now I crave Filch as Snape's stepfather fics. 😹😹
Yeah, I agree with everyone's opinion that there is no evidence to suggest Eileen being Madam Pince, but still an interesting theory, could've been one of the reasons for Snape's closeness with Filch in the canon.
18. What do you think of marauders' dynamic related to Peter Pettigrew?
It may just be my memory, but I don't recall any interactions between Peter and the others of a traditional friendship.
We're told that he was one of four friends, but the only representation I can remember of the Marauders interacting with each other is SWM which portray Peter as less of their friend, and more like a James groupie.
By the time we see them all together again, barring James of course, it's years later after Peter has sold James and Lily out and framed Sirius for murder. Obviously all interactions are going to be hostile.
Lily's letter that Harry finds indicates that Peter was down and acting off at the time of her writing, though she didn't know why, I'm not sure if I take that as remorse for the loss of a genuine friendship on his side or fear.
I think the easy answer is that Peter saw James and Sirius as protection, and being on their side was better than being bullied — like Severus. But people are complicated, and he must have had some form of redeeming quality for the other three to allow him to tag along.
Unless James was really that pig-headed and liked the permanent ego boost that followed them around. But I'd hope that's not the case.
