(Anonymous)
We don't know how much of the Daily Prophet Hermione checked, but it seems Eileen was the only Prince she came across during those years. So even if Eileen wasn't the last one there weren't many noteworthy ones. But I do think she had some relatives somewhere (and if they were maternal relatives then we don't even know their names) because of those announcements of her marriage and her son's birth - someone was the intended audience of those.
From the date of the Potions book (1946-1948?) she was born in the early 1930s and thus was in her late 20s or maybe even 30 when she had Severus. I think Rowling meant that to indicate she married late for women of her days - and the reason she wants us to attribute to that is that she had trouble finding a wizard to marry because she wasn't pretty, wasn't nice or inviting (cross and sullen), wasn't a cool Quidditch player nor particularly outstanding in any other way (Hermione started her search by looking for winners of Potions awards, but apparently found none under Eileen's name, all she found was the article about her gobstones captainship). IOW the story is supposed to be that Eileen married Tobias because she despaired of ever marrying a wizard.
I think she initially hid her magic from Tobias, until Severus had magical outbreaks Eileen couldn't hide from her husband. Neither of the 3 other magical people who married Muggles in canon were forthcoming about their magic. That would be a reason for Tobias to be unhappy (being lied to over something central to his wife's identity). But he might have been disappointed that magic couldn't solve their economical hardships - so what good was it? Anyway, after that point she did practice magic in front of Severus - he saw it as something special, and something to look forward to learning. She must have been the one who gave him the idea that Slytherin was the house for him, so I think that it was her House and there was enough in her conduct or the magic she did in front of him at home to make him want to identify with his mother. (Had she kept avoiding doing magic or had she lost much of her ability Merope-style I can't see her son identifying with her, eager to go to Hogwarts, looking out to befriend another magical child, believing that magical people were worthy of attention but Muggles were not.)
Had Eileen been a Ravenclaw Severus would have seen that as the brainy House. I wonder which House he would have chosen had his mother been Gryffindor or Hufflepuff? The war only started shortly before he went to Hogwarts and I don't know if early on it was even broadly known that Voldemort was from Slytherin, let alone that most of the Death Eaters were from their. We know James Potter arrived at Hogwarts with an anti-Slytherin prejudice, but we don't know how widespread it was in those years.
If she had relatives that were still alive when Severus met Lily, I don't think he saw them much. He told Lily that he was a wizard and his mother was a witch, he didn't say 'all my mum's family are too'. Someone gave Severus the idea that at least to some people it mattered whether a child had a magical parent or not. Was that Eileen or her family? Both are possible. Marrying a Muggle still leaves her son one magical parent, so whether one believed it was blood or upbringing that were 'wrong' about Muggle-borns, her son was OK.
What about the books? There were lots of them, with shelves covering the walls and even the sitting room door. Is it possible Severus bought them all himself? If not then I think only a small number of the magical ones were there in Severus' childhood, the bulk of them arrived after whatever maternal relatives he had passed away. I doubt the spells that allowed a book-bearing door to open without crushing the books were cast while Tobias still lived in the house.
- Oryx
From the date of the Potions book (1946-1948?) she was born in the early 1930s and thus was in her late 20s or maybe even 30 when she had Severus. I think Rowling meant that to indicate she married late for women of her days - and the reason she wants us to attribute to that is that she had trouble finding a wizard to marry because she wasn't pretty, wasn't nice or inviting (cross and sullen), wasn't a cool Quidditch player nor particularly outstanding in any other way (Hermione started her search by looking for winners of Potions awards, but apparently found none under Eileen's name, all she found was the article about her gobstones captainship). IOW the story is supposed to be that Eileen married Tobias because she despaired of ever marrying a wizard.
I think she initially hid her magic from Tobias, until Severus had magical outbreaks Eileen couldn't hide from her husband. Neither of the 3 other magical people who married Muggles in canon were forthcoming about their magic. That would be a reason for Tobias to be unhappy (being lied to over something central to his wife's identity). But he might have been disappointed that magic couldn't solve their economical hardships - so what good was it? Anyway, after that point she did practice magic in front of Severus - he saw it as something special, and something to look forward to learning. She must have been the one who gave him the idea that Slytherin was the house for him, so I think that it was her House and there was enough in her conduct or the magic she did in front of him at home to make him want to identify with his mother. (Had she kept avoiding doing magic or had she lost much of her ability Merope-style I can't see her son identifying with her, eager to go to Hogwarts, looking out to befriend another magical child, believing that magical people were worthy of attention but Muggles were not.)
Had Eileen been a Ravenclaw Severus would have seen that as the brainy House. I wonder which House he would have chosen had his mother been Gryffindor or Hufflepuff? The war only started shortly before he went to Hogwarts and I don't know if early on it was even broadly known that Voldemort was from Slytherin, let alone that most of the Death Eaters were from their. We know James Potter arrived at Hogwarts with an anti-Slytherin prejudice, but we don't know how widespread it was in those years.
If she had relatives that were still alive when Severus met Lily, I don't think he saw them much. He told Lily that he was a wizard and his mother was a witch, he didn't say 'all my mum's family are too'. Someone gave Severus the idea that at least to some people it mattered whether a child had a magical parent or not. Was that Eileen or her family? Both are possible. Marrying a Muggle still leaves her son one magical parent, so whether one believed it was blood or upbringing that were 'wrong' about Muggle-borns, her son was OK.
What about the books? There were lots of them, with shelves covering the walls and even the sitting room door. Is it possible Severus bought them all himself? If not then I think only a small number of the magical ones were there in Severus' childhood, the bulk of them arrived after whatever maternal relatives he had passed away. I doubt the spells that allowed a book-bearing door to open without crushing the books were cast while Tobias still lived in the house.
- Oryx