Irma Pince

History
Irma Pince is the librarian at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. As all Hogwarts professors are highly skilled and professional, Madam Pince is no exception as she is highly posessive and protective of the Library's valuable books.

She is a severe and strict woman, who is described as looking like an "underfed vulture."

She will not allow food in the library, for fear the books will be damaged. Once, she caught Ginny Weasley eating chocolate in the library, and jinxed Ginny's and Harry Potter's belongings to chase them out.

Nor will Irma Pince allow talking, laughing, whispering, sneezing, scurrying, or any other behaviour that might seem at all suspicious in any way. She is rather like Argus Filch in some respects.

Madam Pince is an obstacle to students who are in the library to do anything other than honest studying. When Harry, Ron, and Hermione were trying to uncover the identity of Nicolas Flamel, Madam Pince presented barriers to their goal. Harry had to sneak in after dark under his Invisibility Cloak, and even then the books whispered and even screamed at him. Either the book was jinxed by Madam Pince, or it was just an evil book to begin with. What's more, Hermione had to get a note from Professor Gilderoy Lockhart to check Moste Potente Potions out of the library for an experiment in Polyjuice Potion, and Madam Pince was rightfully suspicious.

Irma Pince has only allowed a library book to leave the confines of Hogwarts on one documented occasion. In Quidditch Through the Ages, which is supposedly published for Muggles using the Hogwarts Library's copy, Madam Pince is referred to in Albus Dumbledore's foreword. She is described as extremely reluctant to let the book be available to Muggles, to the point of Dumbledore having to "prise each of her fingers individually from the spine" to take it. She also gives a written warning, threatening the readers that the consequences of mistreating the book would be "as horrible as it is in [her] power to make them".

Etymology
The last name Pince seems to be in reference to the French word, which means "to pinch." The style of folding eyeglass, pince-nez, literally means "to pinch the nose." Irma could be a play on firma, which can mean both solid and frail. This makes her name mean something along the lines of "a frail woman with a pinched nose", or one who has a "firm pinch."

Behind the scenes

 * Irma Pince was played by Sally Mortemore in Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets.
 * Madam Pince's role in the second film amounted to several appearances with no speaking parts. However it seems a speaking part was filmed and subsequently cut from the final film.

External link

 * Lexicon page on Madam Pince