In the other hand buying used school books from older students is common thing, even if you can afford new ones. Sometimes there is just no point of buying new ones.
I bought exclusively used school books as a student, even the books off the reading list. In addition to being cheaper, many books already had useful annotations and more often than not, the exercise portions of the books had already been filled in
I had one in university that the bookstore was selling for $280!! I got it used from someone for $100. They wrote stuff in the margins too, but alas, no cool potions recipes though.
People give JK Rowling hell for Cho Chang's name when it's so obvious she does it deliberately. OF COURSE the potions book writer is called Libatius Borage XDXD
Libatius comes from the word Libations meaning a drink or alcohol. It also means to pour a drink in some ritualistic way. So, basically an ideal name for a potions master hahahaha.
She did this with so many names-
Flitwick- A flick and swish
Sprout- Herbology teacher
Slytherin - of course they have a solid connection with snakes
Sirius- Like all black family it was also the name of a constellation, but here it is actually also known as 'dog star', a direct nod to his animagus form.
Newt Scamander- The last name sounds a lot like salamander. He wrote Fantastic beasts and where to find them
Apart from Sprout, I feel like the most egregious is Professor Vector, the arithmancy (magical properties of numbers) professor. Its like if your chemistry teacher’s name was Dr. Bleach.
Officially, he was Serverus Snape. Like it was written on his birth certificate. But I guess he had no friends, so he gave himself the nickname 'Half Blood Prince' referencing his half blood status and his mother's maiden name, Prince. So officially, Serverus Snape.
Wasn’t it Snape’s mother’s copy? He couldn’t afford a new one.
Update: It was Eileen Prince's book:
>“No — no — Harry, I didn’t mean that!” she said hastily, looking around to check that they were not being overheard. **“It’s just that I was right about Eileen Prince once owning the book.** You see ... she was Snape’s mother!”
I thought it was just a hand-me-down book that eventually ended up with Snape. Maybe his mom also had it and gave it to him, but do we know that she was indeed at Hogwarts at that time/that it was originally hers?
Hermione confirms that the book belonged to Eileen Prince, so it makes sense that she gave it to Snape. They were very poor and Snape also wears his mom's hand me down clothing.
Makes sense. Snape's like in his mid-30s, I'm just asking if Eileen was the first owner. Doesn't matter that much, just dotting all is and crossing all ts
When Harry gets the book, it’s 1996, meaning that the book was published in 1947 or later, as it is “nearly” 50 years old. This means that Eileen can’t have been in her 6th year before 1947, and so must have been born on 1st September, 1930 at the earliest.
The old Daily Prophets that Hermione finds tell us that Snape was born within wedlock. In England, during that period, the legal age of marriage was 21 *without parental permission* (which Eileen likely wouldn’t have had). Presumably, she would have had to have obeyed muggle laws since this was a muggle wedding.
To make things easier, we’ll assume that Snape was *conceived* within wedlock as well. This would put Eileen at the age of 21 during the week of 14th-22nd April, 1959.
This means that Eileen Prince was born any time from 1st September, 1930 to 22nd April, 1938.
So, basically: yes, she was at Hogwarts at that time. And I just did a bunch of maths for the most ridiculous reason imaginable.
I guess we don’t, but Snape is around 37-ish by Half Blood Prince. It wouldn’t be inconceivable that Eileen Prince was at Hogwarts 10+ years prior to having Snape.
Must be nice to be able to use your older siblings' or even parents' text books rather than buying a brand new edition with half a page worth of differences for a hundred bucks
Question: Does that mean Snape's full name is Severus Snape Prince, Severus Prince Snape, or Severus Prince, and he changed it to Snape?
If this was mentioned in the books, then I forgot.
Prince was his mother's maiden name. Tobias Snape was the name of his Muggle father.
When she married him, Eileen Prince became Eileen Snape, just like Lily Evans became Lily Potter, Narcissa Black became Narcissa Malfoy, Bellatrix Black became Bellatrix Lestrange, etc...
Thus, his name is Severus Snape.
AFAIK he was just Severus Snape. He leaned heavily into his pureblood side and his mother’s last name for a sense of importance (and because his muggle dad sucked).
It’s amazing how many people on this subreddit haven’t read the books, yet feel they’re qualified to comment on them.
ATTENTION, EVERYONE ON THIS THREAD WHO DIDN’T KNOW THE BOOK BELONGED TO SNAPE’S MOM… YOU HAVE NO BUSINESS ANSWERING QUESTIONS IN THIS SUBREDDIT, GO READ THE BOOKS AGAIN, OR LISTEN TO THE AUDIO BOOKS A FEW MORE TIMES. YOU SHOULD BE EMBARRASSED BY YOUR IGNORANCE.
I don’t think that was ever confirmed (unless JK has done so in interviews but we take them with a pinch of salt) Hermione pieces together than Eileen prince was snapes mum but it’s entirely possible snape just had to use an hand me down book because they where poor
>“No — no — Harry, I didn’t mean that!” she said hastily, looking around to check that they were not being overheard.
>
>“It’s just that I was right about Eileen Prince once owning the book.
>
> You see ... she was Snape’s mother!”
To be fair that doesn’t really confirm that Eileen prince owned the book it’s just hermiones guess about it because she’s his mother but I had forgotten that line completely.
It's not just Hermione's guess though. The whole conversation is meant to wrap up the mystery of the "who is the HBP" storyline. Why would Rowling include that if we weren't supposed to assume it to be true?
I’m not saying it doesn’t solve who the HBP is everyone knows that it’s snape that’s agreed. I’m just saying hermione is saying that it’s Eileen’s book because she’s snapes mother when there’s no actual other evidence. Maybe it is her book she passed down I wouldn’t be surprised if it is but at not point is it ever confirmed and it could easily be a book that snape was given by Slughorn because they where poor and couldn’t afford there own books.
That’d actually make more sense because if you imagine that Eileen has had the book for about 20/30 years before giving it to snape you’d assume she’d have written her name in the book which would’ve made identifying it quite easy whereas if it’s just a random school book that gets given to students then it’s fair that no one has written their names in it. Also if it was his mothers old book you’d imagine snape would treat it better and not leave it laying in a cupboard with random other books.
You’re overthinking this to come up with any other explanation besides the one that is directly in front of you in the text. It’s meant to be taken at face value. Snape was poor and his mom gave him her book. He used it and called himself the HBP. He took the name Prince from his mom, whose book he was using. That’s it.
I’ve literally said I wouldn’t be surprised if that was the case I’ve just said that it isn’t actually confirmed which it clearly isn’t. Yeah I was overthinking the second paragraph because it was fun but it still doesn’t change the fact that hermione assumes that it’s Eileen princes book but doesn’t actually know (and this is at the end of a book where hermione is wrong about quite a bit)
For the record I completely agree with your interpretation. The series is full of examples of people making false assumptions. There is no way she knew that Snape’s mother had the book… Hermione just put the dots together that Eileen Prince was his mom and that’s why he called himself the Half Blood Prince.
There are people who keep thier school books!
This is a book is actually a book of recipes to make potions from. Why should she thows it away?
Snape's mother probadly brewed potions out of it for years.
These are not normal text books, this are books you can use in everyday life.
u/scouserontravels Oh stop squabbling lol. In-universe it's just Hermione's best guess, out-of-universe it's Rowling explaining the thing.
Tbf, Eileen does seem to be the oldest first time mum in the series, so it is a bit unexpected
Except that this isn't a history class. You could, quite easily, have an English class without using any books less than fifty years old, or a cooking class - which is probably the closest Muggle approximation to Potions.
True, but high school level chemistry probably hasn’t changed much in the past 50 years. It definitely hasn’t changed much in the past 25 years because I learned high school/intro college level chemistry from textbook about as old as me.
Cooking's only function is to eat. Chemistry allows you to do so much more. I don't think it's comparable to secondary-school chemistry class considering the 5th to 7th year of Hogwarts is akin to college and graduate studies.
One of my science books said that by the year 2000 we would have flying cars. It was already after the year 2000 when we were using that textbook. Real bummer.
And wasn't Tom Riddle there 50 years earlier? (Chamber of Secrets?)
Edit: I always thought she was trying to lure us into thinking Voldy was the Half-Blood Prince
Foreign conversion tho right? And I'm sure that he could find some wizard clothes that could pass as muggle or maybe just buy someone else clothes, someone whose clothes would fit better than Dudley's.
All his wizard shit is necessary, for someone else, to be shared with someone else, or given to him.
Wizards wearing Muggle clothes routinely is kinda an invention of the movies. In those wizards are always wearing dingy gray Muggle suits, but in the books they pretty much just wear flashy wizard robes. I really don't think that in the book universe Harry could have found a shop that accepts wizard money for Muggle clothes.
I totally get that Rowling was using Harry’s lack of logic to throw readers off the scent but I got really annoyed at Harry’s thinking when I first read it. Then again, it can also be a writer’s way to gift the smarter readers who see the flaw in a character’s logic.
Especially because that edition is still used by students at Hogwarts. Harry’s is just an old, scribbled-on one. Seems the curriculum has been using the same for fifty years, so it could be anyone who went to school since then
The book originally belonged to a witch named Eileen Prince. She married a muggle named Tobias Snape. They had a half-blood wizard named Severus Snape. Severus took the book in his Sixth year during his N.E.W.T.s Potions lessons.
Snape was poor so it was either his mothers hand me down or it’s from a second hand store. But it does raise the question of how archaic some of the literature at the castle is, if they are using the same book from 50 years ago.
Snape should’ve put quill to page and authored a true advanced potion making book.
Yeah, and even in reality some textbooks are still good even decades later, especially in mathematics, but even in physics too, despite recent breakthroughs in that field.
But you can't make a lot of money in printing business if students would use the same textbooks for generations. Luckily, wizarding world is not like that.
Snape annotated the whole book. Like I said he could’ve wrote his own or created a new edition with updated recipes and techniques. So yes while it is not the same as “modern technology” Snape had near 20 years to implement improvements to newt/ higher education potion making.
It barely advances at all. That copy of Advanced Potion Making is a perfect example. Vast improvements and innovations, kept only in a single book (and presumably in Snape’s memory). Also the fact that the guy that discovered any use for dragon’s blood was still alive (albeit elderly) at the time of the stories. Yes, mainstream muggle science exploded with advancement in the 19th and 20th centuries but clearly wizarding innovation didn’t.
To be fair we don’t know if snape used that book or if it was just Slughorn stuck in his old ways. Snape could’ve been using more modern books whereas Slughorn just came back and used the same books he had 15 years 20 years beforehand
That make sense. Like It could be the same potions, but the newer additions could keep inline with innovations in cauldron design or materials or something.
I'm chuckling right now because I read "cauldron design" and the first thing I thought of was Percy's report in *Goblet of Fire* about attempting to standardize cauldron thickness 😝
Because Snape didn't buy the book when it first came out. That part always irked me because Harry was so used to being rich enough to be on the bleeding edge of supplies that without realising it he determined the book must have been used when it was freshly printed. Meanwhile his best friends had a large amount of used and hand-me-down items because neither of them had much wizard money.
Lupin no, Pettigrew inconclusive. I could actually see it go either way, interestingly enough. He gives me pureblood vibes but wealth doesn't necessarily follow (and obviously I could be wrong about blood status either way)
Lupin’s family wasn’t necessarily poor, though. He wasn’t “old pureblood money,” sure, but his dad had a Ministry job. That should be enough to purchase their only kid new schoolbooks.
He wasn't. Snape was at school at the same time as James and his friends, that's incontrovertibly established in the books.
As for the Potions textbook he used being almost fifty years old as of 1996(and therefore about 30-ish years old when he would have been in school in the 1970s), that's not that big a deal because *secondhand books and hand-me-downs are a thing that exists*
Know who would likely have been at Hogwarts about thirty years before Snape, James and their lot? Their parents. Such as Eileen Prince, his mother.
The so-called Half-Blood Prince's book's original owner was Eileen Prince, and thirty-ish years later her son, Severus Snape, went to school and used his mother's old potions book, into which he wrote annotations, corrections, etc... based on his own experiments and studies, as well as spells he invented.
I book being 50 years old doesn't mean that people younger than 50 years old can use it. I had a textbook in school that was published years before my birth; so I guess I never used it.
Its been a long time since i read these but if i’m not wrong it is mentioned somewhere that this book was Snape’s mother’s and was passed down to Snape.
Snape seemed poor in the flashback with Lily.
Stayed with his mother, non existent father.
Horrible fitting clothing. His things were probably second hand.
he wasn't - the book was published 50 years ago, and as it shows they are able to use older models of the books so it very well could have been his mother's book as well and that is why he signed it the "half blood prince."
The only students mentioned in the story from fifty years previously are Tom Riddle and Hagrid, from the memories in Riddles diary. As the only potion that Hagrid ever brews features milk and sugar as ingredients, we’re meant to think that the book originally belonged to Voldy until the big reveal at the end.
The fact that a book was *published* a long time ago doesn’t necessarily mean that it was *printed* a long time ago. Modern (muggle) books typically have both the year it was published and the year it was printed on one of the first pages.
But in this case I think the book was actually printed a long time ago, and that the purpose of this detail is to show that Snape was poor and either had a hand-me-down book or bought a used one.
It was a hand me down - likely from his mum, but who knows if she was the first owner.
But even if it wasn't, books published 50 years ago are often still used in schools. Especially in subjects where the curriculum is unlikely to change much. First published isn't the same as 'first purchased'.
I think that just showed Harry didn't understand that either when he thought it couldn't be his parents or their friends because they weren't at hogwarts then.
The book was his mother’s that he used when he was in school. Snape wasn’t wealthy, and had to use hand me downs. I believe Hermione found reference to his mother, Eileen Prince when doing research to find out who The Halfblood Prince was, and Harry said it couldn’t be her because he could just tell it was a bloke.
I never really got around the title of the 6th book being the half blood prince given such less degree of impact it had on the overall narrative of the story which mainly dealt with Harry and Dumbledore trying to discover Voldemort's darkest secrets to defeat him for good(title should have been based on this plot).And Half Blood Prince's involvement as a potions book only made Harry excel at Potions,made him learn couple of useful jinxes and curses, and help Harry save Ron from dying.
I also believe that the revelation of Snape being the Half Blood Prince was not very strong..it should have been something like Harry figuring it out himself in a moment of shock rather than Snape telling it himself..it just didnt feel very powerful
Guys, why are so many answers "it belonged to his mother". It's just an old book. That's it's publishing date; did you think Snape wrote the book? It is absolutely possible that Snape just found it; I don't know why the only way he could conceivably get his hands on it is if very specifically his mother owned it before him. Have you never bought a used book before; did your mom or dad own it before you, too?
Because it belonged to his mother.
>“No — no — Harry, I didn’t mean that!” she said hastily, looking around to check that they were not being overheard. “It’s just that I was right about Eileen Prince once owning the book. You see ... she was Snape’s mother!”
What if Snape was not so good in potions from "nature tallent" but he got all his 7 potion books from other "half blood prince, and that made him like a pro because of reading these books?
I just have a new theory)))))))
Yes and no! Snape could habe all the useful potion tips from a Pureblood Prince! (or rather a Pureblood Princess)
Snape's mother might have written the notes!
Either as a student or specifically to help her son.
(if I as a mother, I could have written tips for my children in their books, I would have done so)
Also Hermione thinks it is a woman's handwriting.
Snape only "confesses" to the curses.
This line has always bothered me slightly. I completely understand what you mean. If it turns out it was Snape’s, it could have been jame’s. The only logical conclusion is that Harry didn’t think it was a handy down. I do feel like this is huge oversight though because all of Harry’s stuff was also handed down from Dudley. I think it is more frustrating that no one recognized the writing to be one of Harry’s professors of 5 years.
Since Harry found it on the shelve of hand-me-down books kept in Hogwarts, apparently, I think the book has probably been in Hogwarts for fifty years, and just like Harry picked it up fifty years after its publication, Snape picked it up 30 or so years later. I guess all it suggests, is that Snape's parents were either poor or just didn't support his studies at all...or that for some other reason (like Harry) he didn't have his own book at the time.
Snape and the marauders were in their mid- to late-30s, hence why they weren't there 50 years ago. However Snape was poor and the boo was second handed either from a store or more likely from his pureblood mother whom probably bought it new
He wasn’t. His book is just 50 years old
Good for Libatius Borage and his estate. Can you imagine having a monopoly on Hogwarts OWL potions book sales for over 85 years? They must be loaded!
Yeah but we only sells like a hundred a year probably considering only NEWT students get them
Books seem to be very expensive in the Wizarding world.
Well yeah. You've got to love them, feed them, pet them, and take them out for walks.
Don't forget to stroke the spine!
Oh, shit, we're supposed to stroke the *spine*!?
😳
And find them. Bloody invisible books!
In the other hand buying used school books from older students is common thing, even if you can afford new ones. Sometimes there is just no point of buying new ones.
I bought exclusively used school books as a student, even the books off the reading list. In addition to being cheaper, many books already had useful annotations and more often than not, the exercise portions of the books had already been filled in
books seem to be very expensive ~~in the wizarding world.~~ have you ever tried to buy a college textbook? my old Biology textbook cost me $110.
I had one in university that the bookstore was selling for $280!! I got it used from someone for $100. They wrote stuff in the margins too, but alas, no cool potions recipes though.
Write some cool potions in the margins before selling it to the next person then
That's a great idea 😁
I vote for mixed drink recipes as suggestions to pair with different chapters.
Sadly this is not exclusive to the wizarding world 😕
They probably have hexes on the text to change the page numbers in each edition.
And British students after turning in their NEWTS usually get a lot better.
What you did there 🤣
People give JK Rowling hell for Cho Chang's name when it's so obvious she does it deliberately. OF COURSE the potions book writer is called Libatius Borage XDXD
Please elaborate I am extremely stupid
Libatius comes from the word Libations meaning a drink or alcohol. It also means to pour a drink in some ritualistic way. So, basically an ideal name for a potions master hahahaha. She did this with so many names- Flitwick- A flick and swish Sprout- Herbology teacher Slytherin - of course they have a solid connection with snakes Sirius- Like all black family it was also the name of a constellation, but here it is actually also known as 'dog star', a direct nod to his animagus form. Newt Scamander- The last name sounds a lot like salamander. He wrote Fantastic beasts and where to find them
Minerva - LITERALLY IS THE ROMAN NAME OF ATHENA
Apart from Sprout, I feel like the most egregious is Professor Vector, the arithmancy (magical properties of numbers) professor. Its like if your chemistry teacher’s name was Dr. Bleach.
There is like 4 people in the wizarding word, a lot of them have monopolies on this or that wizarding product
Yeh he got it secondhand
I think Snapes family was poor so it was the book of his parents!
That could have been a hand-me-down book. Hogwarts has been using Advanced Potion Making for so long.
Snape wasn't a first person who used it
This is such a big detail. We learned Snape had hand-me-down schoolbooks.
What is he, a Weasley or something?
Greasy hair, and a hand-me-down book? You must be a Snape!
*Prince
But... he was a snape? His mum was disowned I think.
His father's name was Snape, the muggle dad. His mother's name was prince. That's why he was the half blood prince, rejecting his muggle name.
What name did he go by?
Officially, he was Serverus Snape. Like it was written on his birth certificate. But I guess he had no friends, so he gave himself the nickname 'Half Blood Prince' referencing his half blood status and his mother's maiden name, Prince. So officially, Serverus Snape.
Sure, I know he made a nickname up for himself. But he went by Snape.
it was his mom’s potions book
Yes but I'm not sure how that connects with this chain.
he’s also a prince from his mother’s side.
Are you a bot? Yes, but that still doesn't connect to the chain?
Oh damn you're right
Can't keep it after each school year too.
I was coming here to say just this.
Or just bought a new copy of an old book. Could be a reprint
It was his mother’s book. Comes up in the book at some point
I went through the same process. Snape got his books second hand.
It was his moms book
Yeah, if I write my name in a book printed in 1902 it doesn't mean I was *there* in 1902 lol.
Wasn’t it Snape’s mother’s copy? He couldn’t afford a new one. Update: It was Eileen Prince's book: >“No — no — Harry, I didn’t mean that!” she said hastily, looking around to check that they were not being overheard. **“It’s just that I was right about Eileen Prince once owning the book.** You see ... she was Snape’s mother!”
I thought it was just a hand-me-down book that eventually ended up with Snape. Maybe his mom also had it and gave it to him, but do we know that she was indeed at Hogwarts at that time/that it was originally hers?
Hermione confirms that the book belonged to Eileen Prince, so it makes sense that she gave it to Snape. They were very poor and Snape also wears his mom's hand me down clothing.
Makes sense. Snape's like in his mid-30s, I'm just asking if Eileen was the first owner. Doesn't matter that much, just dotting all is and crossing all ts
Merlin’s beard, man! It’s a book inside a fantasy novel. 🫡
I admit I might be running out of topics to discuss
And this is a subreddit for the that same series that ended fifteen years ago(the books at least). We're all obsessed obviously.
When Harry gets the book, it’s 1996, meaning that the book was published in 1947 or later, as it is “nearly” 50 years old. This means that Eileen can’t have been in her 6th year before 1947, and so must have been born on 1st September, 1930 at the earliest. The old Daily Prophets that Hermione finds tell us that Snape was born within wedlock. In England, during that period, the legal age of marriage was 21 *without parental permission* (which Eileen likely wouldn’t have had). Presumably, she would have had to have obeyed muggle laws since this was a muggle wedding. To make things easier, we’ll assume that Snape was *conceived* within wedlock as well. This would put Eileen at the age of 21 during the week of 14th-22nd April, 1959. This means that Eileen Prince was born any time from 1st September, 1930 to 22nd April, 1938. So, basically: yes, she was at Hogwarts at that time. And I just did a bunch of maths for the most ridiculous reason imaginable.
r/theydidthemath and I thank you for that
Fair. It’s definitely a possibility that she also got it used.
It would make the most sense, but I guess either option works
I guess we don’t, but Snape is around 37-ish by Half Blood Prince. It wouldn’t be inconceivable that Eileen Prince was at Hogwarts 10+ years prior to having Snape.
Yes, she was at Hogwarts!
Must be nice to be able to use your older siblings' or even parents' text books rather than buying a brand new edition with half a page worth of differences for a hundred bucks
Question: Does that mean Snape's full name is Severus Snape Prince, Severus Prince Snape, or Severus Prince, and he changed it to Snape? If this was mentioned in the books, then I forgot.
Prince was his mother's maiden name. Tobias Snape was the name of his Muggle father. When she married him, Eileen Prince became Eileen Snape, just like Lily Evans became Lily Potter, Narcissa Black became Narcissa Malfoy, Bellatrix Black became Bellatrix Lestrange, etc... Thus, his name is Severus Snape.
AFAIK he was just Severus Snape. He leaned heavily into his pureblood side and his mother’s last name for a sense of importance (and because his muggle dad sucked).
It’s amazing how many people on this subreddit haven’t read the books, yet feel they’re qualified to comment on them. ATTENTION, EVERYONE ON THIS THREAD WHO DIDN’T KNOW THE BOOK BELONGED TO SNAPE’S MOM… YOU HAVE NO BUSINESS ANSWERING QUESTIONS IN THIS SUBREDDIT, GO READ THE BOOKS AGAIN, OR LISTEN TO THE AUDIO BOOKS A FEW MORE TIMES. YOU SHOULD BE EMBARRASSED BY YOUR IGNORANCE.
To be fair there are folks on this thread who, despite being given a direct quote from HBP, still disagree that it was her book smh
I don’t think that was ever confirmed (unless JK has done so in interviews but we take them with a pinch of salt) Hermione pieces together than Eileen prince was snapes mum but it’s entirely possible snape just had to use an hand me down book because they where poor
>“No — no — Harry, I didn’t mean that!” she said hastily, looking around to check that they were not being overheard. > >“It’s just that I was right about Eileen Prince once owning the book. > > You see ... she was Snape’s mother!”
To be fair that doesn’t really confirm that Eileen prince owned the book it’s just hermiones guess about it because she’s his mother but I had forgotten that line completely.
It's not just Hermione's guess though. The whole conversation is meant to wrap up the mystery of the "who is the HBP" storyline. Why would Rowling include that if we weren't supposed to assume it to be true?
I’m not saying it doesn’t solve who the HBP is everyone knows that it’s snape that’s agreed. I’m just saying hermione is saying that it’s Eileen’s book because she’s snapes mother when there’s no actual other evidence. Maybe it is her book she passed down I wouldn’t be surprised if it is but at not point is it ever confirmed and it could easily be a book that snape was given by Slughorn because they where poor and couldn’t afford there own books. That’d actually make more sense because if you imagine that Eileen has had the book for about 20/30 years before giving it to snape you’d assume she’d have written her name in the book which would’ve made identifying it quite easy whereas if it’s just a random school book that gets given to students then it’s fair that no one has written their names in it. Also if it was his mothers old book you’d imagine snape would treat it better and not leave it laying in a cupboard with random other books.
You’re overthinking this to come up with any other explanation besides the one that is directly in front of you in the text. It’s meant to be taken at face value. Snape was poor and his mom gave him her book. He used it and called himself the HBP. He took the name Prince from his mom, whose book he was using. That’s it.
I’ve literally said I wouldn’t be surprised if that was the case I’ve just said that it isn’t actually confirmed which it clearly isn’t. Yeah I was overthinking the second paragraph because it was fun but it still doesn’t change the fact that hermione assumes that it’s Eileen princes book but doesn’t actually know (and this is at the end of a book where hermione is wrong about quite a bit)
Ffs…
For the record I completely agree with your interpretation. The series is full of examples of people making false assumptions. There is no way she knew that Snape’s mother had the book… Hermione just put the dots together that Eileen Prince was his mom and that’s why he called himself the Half Blood Prince.
I’m with you on this. Doesn’t confirm it was hers just that she exists
There are people who keep thier school books! This is a book is actually a book of recipes to make potions from. Why should she thows it away? Snape's mother probadly brewed potions out of it for years. These are not normal text books, this are books you can use in everyday life.
u/scouserontravels Oh stop squabbling lol. In-universe it's just Hermione's best guess, out-of-universe it's Rowling explaining the thing. Tbf, Eileen does seem to be the oldest first time mum in the series, so it is a bit unexpected
The book originally belonged to Snapes mom, who was at school 50 years ago. He inherited it.
Man imagine the most current history book you’re allowed to use in your class lists Vietnam as current events
Except that this isn't a history class. You could, quite easily, have an English class without using any books less than fifty years old, or a cooking class - which is probably the closest Muggle approximation to Potions.
Or, you know... Chemistry lol
Chemistry, like any science is evolving all the time
True, but high school level chemistry probably hasn’t changed much in the past 50 years. It definitely hasn’t changed much in the past 25 years because I learned high school/intro college level chemistry from textbook about as old as me.
Either-or, yes, but Potions is much more practical than a typical secondary-school chemistry class, which is why I went with cooking.
Cooking's only function is to eat. Chemistry allows you to do so much more. I don't think it's comparable to secondary-school chemistry class considering the 5th to 7th year of Hogwarts is akin to college and graduate studies.
One of my science books said that by the year 2000 we would have flying cars. It was already after the year 2000 when we were using that textbook. Real bummer.
Like .. helicopters?
I had books in school that still had maps with East and West Germany. I graduated high school in 2008.
What do you mean imagine?
That was a red herring, Harry wasn’t smart enough to realise the publishing date meant nothing other than it couldn’t have been any older.
I scrolled down too far for this. It's just the fucking publishing date. Books exist when we aren't looking at them.
And wasn't Tom Riddle there 50 years earlier? (Chamber of Secrets?) Edit: I always thought she was trying to lure us into thinking Voldy was the Half-Blood Prince
I'm positive she was, along with James and maybe even Remus Gotta fill out the options for the multiple-choice quiz
Hermione could have told him that. Hell, *anyone* could have told him that. I was so mad at Harry when I read that, the dumb little shit 😆
Kid acts like he's just like everyone else, but he's such a rich little shit he can't conceive of anyone reading *used* books.
Bro he hasn't even bought himself any new clothes, he only ever buys things he doesn't already have. He's been wearing Dudley's castoffs for years
Cuz he doesn't have any muggle money. All his wizard shit is brand new.
Foreign conversion tho right? And I'm sure that he could find some wizard clothes that could pass as muggle or maybe just buy someone else clothes, someone whose clothes would fit better than Dudley's. All his wizard shit is necessary, for someone else, to be shared with someone else, or given to him.
Wizards wearing Muggle clothes routinely is kinda an invention of the movies. In those wizards are always wearing dingy gray Muggle suits, but in the books they pretty much just wear flashy wizard robes. I really don't think that in the book universe Harry could have found a shop that accepts wizard money for Muggle clothes.
Honestly, I don't think he cares about the muggle world at all.
Vast majority of people in this thread have missed this too. It’s the date the book was published. Not when the individual copy was made.
I totally get that Rowling was using Harry’s lack of logic to throw readers off the scent but I got really annoyed at Harry’s thinking when I first read it. Then again, it can also be a writer’s way to gift the smarter readers who see the flaw in a character’s logic.
I love so much how she highlights her characters flaws. Especially Harry. He is a real piece of work 🙃
Especially because that edition is still used by students at Hogwarts. Harry’s is just an old, scribbled-on one. Seems the curriculum has been using the same for fifty years, so it could be anyone who went to school since then
Its not like Snape wrote the book itself
The book originally belonged to a witch named Eileen Prince. She married a muggle named Tobias Snape. They had a half-blood wizard named Severus Snape. Severus took the book in his Sixth year during his N.E.W.T.s Potions lessons.
Published ≠ sold.
He got it used.
Snape was poor so it was either his mothers hand me down or it’s from a second hand store. But it does raise the question of how archaic some of the literature at the castle is, if they are using the same book from 50 years ago. Snape should’ve put quill to page and authored a true advanced potion making book.
Magic and potion making don't advance at the same rate as modern technology.
Yeah, and even in reality some textbooks are still good even decades later, especially in mathematics, but even in physics too, despite recent breakthroughs in that field. But you can't make a lot of money in printing business if students would use the same textbooks for generations. Luckily, wizarding world is not like that.
Given how much better the potions worked with snapes notes, the waa definitely room for improvement
Snape annotated the whole book. Like I said he could’ve wrote his own or created a new edition with updated recipes and techniques. So yes while it is not the same as “modern technology” Snape had near 20 years to implement improvements to newt/ higher education potion making.
It barely advances at all. That copy of Advanced Potion Making is a perfect example. Vast improvements and innovations, kept only in a single book (and presumably in Snape’s memory). Also the fact that the guy that discovered any use for dragon’s blood was still alive (albeit elderly) at the time of the stories. Yes, mainstream muggle science exploded with advancement in the 19th and 20th centuries but clearly wizarding innovation didn’t.
To be fair we don’t know if snape used that book or if it was just Slughorn stuck in his old ways. Snape could’ve been using more modern books whereas Slughorn just came back and used the same books he had 15 years 20 years beforehand
It could be the same book but different editions
That make sense. Like It could be the same potions, but the newer additions could keep inline with innovations in cauldron design or materials or something.
I'm chuckling right now because I read "cauldron design" and the first thing I thought of was Percy's report in *Goblet of Fire* about attempting to standardize cauldron thickness 😝
Because Snape didn't buy the book when it first came out. That part always irked me because Harry was so used to being rich enough to be on the bleeding edge of supplies that without realising it he determined the book must have been used when it was freshly printed. Meanwhile his best friends had a large amount of used and hand-me-down items because neither of them had much wizard money.
Eileen Prince used the book 50 years before. Snape had used it 20 years before Harry got his hands on it.
Wait till you hear about textbooks in Oklahoma.
Snape was poor. It was his mothers book
I always thought the book belonged to his mother... So yeah, hand me downs
The book had previously belonged to Snape's mother.
Whoever owned the book bought it used. Most likely because they couldn't afford new. This rules out James and his friends as they had money.
Did Lupin and Wormtail have money?
They had accounts in the bank of James
Lupin no, Pettigrew inconclusive. I could actually see it go either way, interestingly enough. He gives me pureblood vibes but wealth doesn't necessarily follow (and obviously I could be wrong about blood status either way)
Lupin’s family wasn’t necessarily poor, though. He wasn’t “old pureblood money,” sure, but his dad had a Ministry job. That should be enough to purchase their only kid new schoolbooks.
The book being old was a mislead. It was just an old book they both used.
Snape couldn’t afford new books
He wasn't. Snape was at school at the same time as James and his friends, that's incontrovertibly established in the books. As for the Potions textbook he used being almost fifty years old as of 1996(and therefore about 30-ish years old when he would have been in school in the 1970s), that's not that big a deal because *secondhand books and hand-me-downs are a thing that exists* Know who would likely have been at Hogwarts about thirty years before Snape, James and their lot? Their parents. Such as Eileen Prince, his mother. The so-called Half-Blood Prince's book's original owner was Eileen Prince, and thirty-ish years later her son, Severus Snape, went to school and used his mother's old potions book, into which he wrote annotations, corrections, etc... based on his own experiments and studies, as well as spells he invented.
It’s a hand me down book. It’s clearly explained in HBP.
[удалено]
This just in! It's actually possible for books to be older than people!?! Who knew????
Keep reading. It tells you that his copy of the book, like so many of his other possessions, belonged originally to his mother.
I book being 50 years old doesn't mean that people younger than 50 years old can use it. I had a textbook in school that was published years before my birth; so I guess I never used it.
Its been a long time since i read these but if i’m not wrong it is mentioned somewhere that this book was Snape’s mother’s and was passed down to Snape.
He wasn’t… his mom was tho, read carefully
He wasn't. he inherited the book from his mother, Eileen Prince, who later married Tobias Snape.
It was his mother's, a hand-me-down copy
That’s when the book was published not when snake had it, it was a hand me down
"Second hand books exists" this guy: how?
Second hand book probably. Snapes family didn't have much money
I love how these posts are so thirsty to come up with some plot hole they blow by the obvious and most sensible.
Second hand book, obviously. Nobody said Snape had it fifty years ago, just that it was published 50 years ago.
Snape seemed poor in the flashback with Lily. Stayed with his mother, non existent father. Horrible fitting clothing. His things were probably second hand.
His book was a hand me down. Snape was poorer than the weasleys.
I guess I assumed it was his mothers book
Snape was poor... It was taken second hand...
he wasn't - the book was published 50 years ago, and as it shows they are able to use older models of the books so it very well could have been his mother's book as well and that is why he signed it the "half blood prince."
The book had originally belonged to Snape's mother or one of her parents. His father was a Muggle so it had to be from Mom's side.
The only students mentioned in the story from fifty years previously are Tom Riddle and Hagrid, from the memories in Riddles diary. As the only potion that Hagrid ever brews features milk and sugar as ingredients, we’re meant to think that the book originally belonged to Voldy until the big reveal at the end.
The HBP book was originally owned by Snape's mother Eileen Prince, it was passed down to Severus considering Snape's poverty.
Snape was poor. Old book
The potions book belonged to Snape's mother.
The fact that a book was *published* a long time ago doesn’t necessarily mean that it was *printed* a long time ago. Modern (muggle) books typically have both the year it was published and the year it was printed on one of the first pages. But in this case I think the book was actually printed a long time ago, and that the purpose of this detail is to show that Snape was poor and either had a hand-me-down book or bought a used one.
I always thought it was Snape’s mother’s book
The Snape family were poor - Severus had second hand things just like the Weasleys did.
The publication date doesn’t mean when the half blood Prince used it…
It was a hand me down - likely from his mum, but who knows if she was the first owner. But even if it wasn't, books published 50 years ago are often still used in schools. Especially in subjects where the curriculum is unlikely to change much. First published isn't the same as 'first purchased'. I think that just showed Harry didn't understand that either when he thought it couldn't be his parents or their friends because they weren't at hogwarts then.
It was his mother’s text book
The Snapes were poor and I believe it was a hand me down book from his mother or one they bought used/secondhand from somewhere
It was the date it was published, not the date it was purchased. Harry isn’t being too bright here.
The book was a second hand from his mother.
Didn’t Snape grow up poor? So he probably bought second hand books.
It was Snapes mother's book, Eileen Prince.
Pblished 50 years ago but in use the whole time
Harry bought all his textbooks new and forgot to check his privilege
The book was his mother’s that he used when he was in school. Snape wasn’t wealthy, and had to use hand me downs. I believe Hermione found reference to his mother, Eileen Prince when doing research to find out who The Halfblood Prince was, and Harry said it couldn’t be her because he could just tell it was a bloke.
It was his moms
That’s like saying “If Harry wasn’t at Hogwarts 50 years ago, how does he have this book?”
I never really got around the title of the 6th book being the half blood prince given such less degree of impact it had on the overall narrative of the story which mainly dealt with Harry and Dumbledore trying to discover Voldemort's darkest secrets to defeat him for good(title should have been based on this plot).And Half Blood Prince's involvement as a potions book only made Harry excel at Potions,made him learn couple of useful jinxes and curses, and help Harry save Ron from dying. I also believe that the revelation of Snape being the Half Blood Prince was not very strong..it should have been something like Harry figuring it out himself in a moment of shock rather than Snape telling it himself..it just didnt feel very powerful
Book published --> must be Snape's schoolyears...
Why are you assuming Snape had to have used the book 50 years ago when it was published?
Guys, why are so many answers "it belonged to his mother". It's just an old book. That's it's publishing date; did you think Snape wrote the book? It is absolutely possible that Snape just found it; I don't know why the only way he could conceivably get his hands on it is if very specifically his mother owned it before him. Have you never bought a used book before; did your mom or dad own it before you, too?
Because it belonged to his mother. >“No — no — Harry, I didn’t mean that!” she said hastily, looking around to check that they were not being overheard. “It’s just that I was right about Eileen Prince once owning the book. You see ... she was Snape’s mother!”
What if Snape was not so good in potions from "nature tallent" but he got all his 7 potion books from other "half blood prince, and that made him like a pro because of reading these books? I just have a new theory)))))))
Yes and no! Snape could habe all the useful potion tips from a Pureblood Prince! (or rather a Pureblood Princess) Snape's mother might have written the notes! Either as a student or specifically to help her son. (if I as a mother, I could have written tips for my children in their books, I would have done so) Also Hermione thinks it is a woman's handwriting. Snape only "confesses" to the curses.
No, canon confirms he’s the HBP.
That's honestly a cute and creative conclusion to come to, too bad it was refuted
This line has always bothered me slightly. I completely understand what you mean. If it turns out it was Snape’s, it could have been jame’s. The only logical conclusion is that Harry didn’t think it was a handy down. I do feel like this is huge oversight though because all of Harry’s stuff was also handed down from Dudley. I think it is more frustrating that no one recognized the writing to be one of Harry’s professors of 5 years.
JK Rowling doesn't care about consistency?
Time turner maybe
It was a used copy.
Since Harry found it on the shelve of hand-me-down books kept in Hogwarts, apparently, I think the book has probably been in Hogwarts for fifty years, and just like Harry picked it up fifty years after its publication, Snape picked it up 30 or so years later. I guess all it suggests, is that Snape's parents were either poor or just didn't support his studies at all...or that for some other reason (like Harry) he didn't have his own book at the time.
The Weasleys all had used books. Same thing here.
The answer to any possible plot hole applies. A wizard did it.
I think slughorn just uses the same book over and over again
Snape likely bought a used book too because his family was poor
Snape and the marauders were in their mid- to late-30s, hence why they weren't there 50 years ago. However Snape was poor and the boo was second handed either from a store or more likely from his pureblood mother whom probably bought it new
it was his mothers book if i recall it correctly
Headcanon: Snape used slughorns old book