Eileen Prince

## Eileen Snape (née Prince)

**Hermione Granger**: "[...] *there was a tiny announcement about Eileen Prince marrying a Muggle called Tobias Snape and then later an announcement saying that she'd given birth to a —*"
**Harry Potter**: "*— murderer.*"
— Hermione revealing Severus Snape's parentage[src]

**Eileen Snape** (née **Prince**) (born c. 1930) was a British witch, wife to the Muggle Tobias Snape and mother to Severus Snape.

## Biography

### Early life

Eileen was born into the wizarding Prince family in Great Britain, likely around 1930.

She likely began attending Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry around 1941. Presumably, she was Sorted into Slytherin. While at school, Eileen was captain of the school Gobstones team during her fifth year. She was concurrently the President of the Hogwarts Gobstone Club.

### Adulthood

After graduating, Eileen met the Muggle Tobias Snape and married him. They moved into a terraced house in Cokeworth on a street called Spinner's End. It was close to the mill and near a nasty-smelling, polluted river.

On 9 January, 1960, she gave birth to a son, Severus Snape. Severus' childhood was plagued by the tumultuous, explosive atmosphere in the home, with his parents often fighting. Tobias would shout at Eileen and may have been physically abusive as well.

The couple either neglected Severus, were too poor to care for him well, or both. His clothes were mismatched and did not fit properly. When he began his first year of school at Hogwarts, he changed into his uniform quickly after getting onto the Hogwarts Express, apparently glad to be rid of his Muggle clothes. Despite this, Severus was already talented with magic before he received his Hogwarts letter in 1971.

On 1 September, 1971, Eileen accompanied Severus to Platform Nine-and-Three-Quarters at King's Cross Station and watched him leave on the Hogwarts Express. Whatever Eileen's thoughts on the matter were, Severus was exhilarated to leave for Hogwarts.

## Physical appearance

At age fifteen, Eileen was skinny and unattractive, looking simultaneously cross and sullen. She had heavy brows and a long, pallid face. By 1971, not much had changed: Eileen was thin, hunched, sour-faced and sallow.

## Etymology

*"Eileen"* is from Celtic, English and Irish roots and has a long-standing history in each culture. In Irish, it is known as a variation of "*Helen*". It became a more popular name in the 19th century. It is rumoured to have roots in Latin, American, French and Greek cultures, however, such claims are not backed up with much evidence. Another variation of this name is Eileene which is most commonly used in Ireland.

Other versions of *Eileen*; "*Aileen"* (Scottish), "*Eibhlin"* (the original source for the name), "*Eila"* (Celtic variant of both "*Eileen"* and "*Aileen"*), "*Eireen"* (Norwegian variant of "*Irene*" or "*Eileen*"), "*Eleanor*" (a similarly-rooted name to "*Eileen*" in Irish).

Eileen's maiden name was *Prince. Prince* is a general term for a monarch or a member of a monarch's family, and is a hereditary title of some European royalty, likely alluding to the aristocratic status of pure-blood families in the wizarding world. The word is derived from the Latin *princeps*, meaning "a prime", which was one of the titles of the Roman Emperor, in which case it was generally translated as "First Citizen". *The Prince* is also the title of a famous political treatise by Niccolò Machiavelli; an interesting point considering that the adjective derived from the author's surname, *Machiavellian*, is defined as "attempting to achieve goals by cunning, scheming and unscrupulous methods", which may allude to the ideal traits of Slytherin house.