Thoughts on the Pensieve
 

By SeverineSnape
"Pensieve"

Derived from "pensive" and possibly "sieve". "Pensive" 1362 From Old French pensive, from penser "to think", from Latin pensare "weigh, consider", frequentative of pendere "weigh".1

"Sieve" Origin unknown, but related to sift, which has the metaphoric meaning of ˜to carefully look through', first recorded in 1535.2

Introduction

In Chapter 30 of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, we find Harry alone in Professor Dumbledore's office, waiting for the Headmaster to return from an inspection of the school grounds. When he looks around the office, he sees a "sliver of silver-white shining brightly from within a black cabinet." 3 Harry, the curious person that he is, hesitates only briefly, and then opens the cabinet doors, only to find

¦a shallow stone basin [¦] with odd carvings around the edge; runes and symbols that Harry did not recognise. The silvery light was coming from the basin's contents, which were like nothing Harry had ever seen before. He could not tell whether the substance was liquid or gas. It was a bright, whitish silver, and it was moving ceaselessly; the surface of it became ruffled like water beneath wind, and then, like clouds, separated and swirled smoothly. It looked like light made liquid ’ or wind made solid ’ Harry couldn't make up his mind.4

We quickly learn that this interesting device with its swirling contents is a Pensieve: a container that can hold thoughts and memories and allows one to examine them in an objective and detailed way. This is a seemingly simple concept ’ a person extracts thoughts from their head, and puts them in the Pensieve for further observation ’ but how does it work exactly? How much detail does the Pensieve show? What happens inside someone's head when a memory is extracted?

In this essay I will try and answer those questions. I will also analyse the different uses of the Pensieve, the rarity of it, and touch upon its possible use in Book 7.

Misty, Water-Coloured Memories

˜You mean, that stuff is your thoughts?' Harry said, staring at the swirling white substance in the basin.5

In the Potterverse, memories are a useful commodity which can be extracted from the head with the tip of a wand in a "thick gossamer strand",6 and deposited into a Pensieve for observation. This way, a wizard can relive his own memories on a later occasion; it is also possible to experience someone else's memory of an event at which the viewer was not actually present!

There are three ways in which a Pensieve can be used, and we are immediately introduced to all three of them during Harry's first encounter with the Pensieve in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire.

The first way is to look down into the Pensieve and observe its content "as if through a circular window in the ceiling." 7 When memories are first placed into the Pensieve, they are opaque in appearance, but, when prodded with the tip of a wand, they begin to swirl faster and become transparent, like glass. One can then look down upon the events remembered. We have seen this happen twice: once in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, when Harry looks down into Dumbledore's memory of the courtroom at the Ministry of Magic,8 and once in Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, when Harry looks down into the Great Hall, where a young Severus Snape and the Marauders are sitting their O.W.L.s.9 This ˜window method' is of limited use, as the observer is in a fixed position and therefore has a limited view of the scene. Harry describes this himself in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, when he cannot see the corners of the courtroom from where he is standing.10

The second way is to make a single, revolving figure rise up out of the swirling, silvery substance. We have seen three occurrences of this to date: a young Bertha Jorkins shows early signs of her curious nature when she recounts how she caught people kissing behind the greenhouse,11 Caractacus Burke gloats over having bought Slytherin's locket from a heavily pregnant Merope Riddle for only ten galleons12 and, more poignantly, we witness Sibyll Trelawney make the prophecy on that fateful night in the Hog's Head Inn.13 There appear to be two ways of activating the Pensieve in this way: the memories of Bertha Jorkins and Sibyll Trelawney were summoned by a simple touch of the wand to the surface of the memory, while the memory of Mr. Burke was induced by swilling the Pensieve "much as a gold prospector sifts for gold".14 As we have seen that simply touching the surface with your wand can also open up the circular window, it is most likely that there is some kind of nonverbal incantation involved. The advantage of this method of examining a memory is that your focus is completely on the object of the memory, without distractions coming from the surroundings. However, this also makes it limited in its usefulness, as circumstantial details are lost. If only Dumbledore had taken Harry inside the memory of the prophecy being made, rather than simply watch the figure of Professor Trelawney speak, we might have gotten a glimpse of the eavesdropper, and found out how much he really heard!

However, it is the third and final way of using the Pensieve that makes it into a powerful and highly useful device; when the observer touches the ethereal substance with their face, they are "pitched headfirst into the substance inside the basin",15 giving the sensation of "falling through something icy cold and black; [¦] like being sucked into a dark whirlpool".16 This way, one physically enters the memory and sees things from a third person perspective, as if present at the original event. However, interaction with the memory is impossible. Harry quickly realises this when he is desperately trying to catch the ˜memory Dumbledore's' attention in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire; he feels that Dumbledore "wouldn't ignore him like that".17 This is similar to the experience of Ebenezer Scrooge, when he was taken back in time by the Ghost of Christmas Past in Charles Dickens' famous A Christmas Carol. The ghost explains that the people they encounter inside the memory "are but shadows of the things that have been, [¦]. They have no consciousness of us".18

What does one see exactly when entering a Pensieve memory? Until recently, there were two schools of thought: one believed that the memory was literally ˜what the owner remembered', in other words, a subjective recollection of an event, like the memories we all have; the other, that the recollection was objective, an impartial recollection of the event.19 In her interview with Melissa Anelli and Emerson Spartz in 2005, J.K. Rowling put an end to this dilemma, and told us that "the Pensieve recreates a moment for you, so you could go into your own memory and relive things that you didn't notice at the time".20 Thus, the original ˜recorder' of the memory appears to absorb all the information around them in great detail, even the things that were not consciously noticed at the time. These details are then later observable when the memory is being deposited into a Pensieve. The information absorbed, however, does seem to be limited to visual and auditory; J.K. Rowling often refers to smells and air temperatures throughout her books, but does not do this in any of the Pensieve scenes we have been privileged to see.

A Pensieve memory can also show the observer things that could not sensibly have been remembered by the original ˜recorder'. The observer in the Pensieve can investigate the entire area that surrounds the recorder, including things that were some distance away from them at the time. We see this in Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, when Harry enters Professor Snape's memory of the day he sat his O.W.L.s as a teenager; Harry sees the Marauders sitting in the Great Hall, even though they were sitting several aisles away from the young Snape,21 who was bent so deeply over the table that his nose almost touched the parchment; therefore, he could not possibly have seen James and Sirius.22 Thus, there seems to be a possibility for extrasensory information to be recorded, and with quite a wide range. However, Harry does seem to sense that there are limits to how far he can stray from the recorder:

[¦] this was Snape's memory and Harry was sure that if Snape chose to wander off in a different direction once outside in the grounds, he, Harry, would not be able to follow James any further.23

An even more extreme example of the recording of extrasensory input for a Pensieve memory is seen in Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, when Harry and Dumbledore visit the witch, Hepzibah Smith, in a memory obtained from her house-elf Hokey. The memory begins with Hokey and Hepzibah in the witch's sitting room, preparing for a visit with the young and handsome employee of Borgin and Burkes, Tom Riddle. When the doorbell rings, Hepzibah urges Hokey to go and answer it, upon which the elf leaves the room. Harry and Dumbledore however, remain in the sitting room. After the visitor has been shown into the room, Hokey leaves again to fetch a tea-tray. During this time, Harry watches Tom make his way across the room and produce a bunch of roses for the flattered witch.24 Somehow, the tiny house-elf has been able to absorb and record information from the sitting room she has just left. This may be due partially to a lingering recollection that Hokey still had of the sitting room: even though she has just left it, she still knows it is there and will remember what state it was in when she left. However, this cannot explain how she has been able to record new information about things that happened in her absence. Possibly, she may have overheard part or all of the conversations, allowing her subconsciously to ˜fill in the blanks', and forming visual information to accompany the auditory information. However, if this was the case, ˜Pensieve memories' would lose their objective nature. I think we need to let go of our Muggle way of thinking and accept that the kind of information that is recorded for later review in a Pensieve goes beyond the limits of sensory input. This way, the Pensieve would retain its objective nature.

Still, is it possible that there is some subjectivity involved in recording memories? Can one person absorb more detail than another? Professor Dumbledore does boast in Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince that his memory of meeting Tom Riddle for the first time at the orphanage is "rich in detail and satisfyingly accurate",25 but this may be put down to the quirkiness of his character. We certainly have no direct evidence that any one of the memories Harry enters is more detailed than others.

The Corners of My Mind

We do not know, exactly, how memories are extracted; we do not know how the correct memory is selected, or if an incantation is used to extract it. If there is an incantation, which is likely, it must be a nonverbal one, as we have witnessed several memories being extracted without an incantation spoken. However, when finished with the memory, one can deposit it back into the mind, again by using the tip of a wand. We have witnessed Professor Snape do this in Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, as he "was scooping his own thoughts out of the Pensieve with the tip of his wand and replacing them carefully inside his own head".26

There has been some discussion on whether a memory disappears from one's head if it is extracted for use in a Pensieve, or for storage in a bottle. In other words, do you extract the whole memory or simply a copy of it? We have canon evidence that could support both scenarios. In Chapter 17 of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, Dumbledore shows Harry a memory obtained from Horace Slughorn, which has been crudely altered.27 Dumbledore then sets Harry the task to retrieve the original, unaltered memory from Slughorn, in which Harry succeeds in Chapter 22.28 This clearly means that copies can be made of memories, while the owner keeps the original.

In contrast to this, at the start of each Occlumency lesson that Snape gives Harry in Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, Snape extracts several memories from his head and puts them into the Pensieve, which suggests that these are memories that Snape does not want Harry to see, should Harry break into Snape's mind. Therefore, for this to work, memories must somehow become inaccessible for Legilimency after extraction, suggesting that they leave the mind. Furthermore, if only a copy is extracted, there would be no need to put the memories back in one's head, which we have seen Snape do as described above.

Even Dumbledore, in this case, doesn't give us a conclusive answer when he explains the uses of a Pensieve to Harry in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire:

I sometimes find [¦] that I simply have too many thoughts and memories crammed into my head. [¦] At these times [¦] I use the Pensieve. One simply siphons the thoughts and emotions from one's mind, pours them into the basin and examines them at one's leisure. It becomes easier to spot patterns and links, you understand, when they are in this form.29

One interpretation of his words is that memories can be examined in greater detail when they're in the Pensieve, rather than in one's head. However, Dumbledore's comment can also be interpreted to mean that the mind becomes clearer when some thoughts are taken out. It gives the viewer more ˜thinking space', if you like. Dumbledore also keeps adding new thoughts to the Pensieve during his conversation with Harry, after Harry's first experience with the Pensieve,30 which also suggests that the mind becomes somehow emptier when memories are extracted. At that time, though, Dumbledore had a lot on his mind, so it could be that he was simply taking out memories that he wanted to review later. It is likely that both scenarios are possible. It is certain that both scenarios are useful.

So, how does it work? Well, the truth is that we don't know. We are never given an incantation or spell, and we have only witnessed memory extractions ˜through the Harry-filter'. However, with the indirect information we do have, we can make some speculations and most likely scenarios.

To summarise what we know: when a memory is extracted it is most likely inaccessible to a Legilimens, but it is possible to store a copy in a bottle, while the memory's owner keeps the original. We can come up with several different theories to accommodate these two facts. It is possible that there are two different mechanisms: one for extracting the memory completely, making it disappear from one's head and therefore inaccessible for Legilimency, and a second mechanism for extracting a copy. It could be that there are two different nonverbal incantations to achieve the respective results. Perhaps, it simply relies on intent, as with many things in the world of magic; if you only intend to extract a copy, you will only extract a copy.

A second possibility is that there is only one way of extracting a memory which removes it from the brain completely, after which a copy can be made. However, we have witnessed only one occasion where a memory is extracted and then given away: Professor Slughorn extracts his memory, places it in a bottle, and gives it to Harry to take to Dumbledore. On this occasion, no copy was made after the memory was extracted, which would mean that Slughorn gave Harry his original memory; therefore, he was left with no copy of it himself.

These two options are both based on the presumption that it is possible to completely clear a memory from the mind. However, this is a concept that is very hard to visualise. What does it mean? Does it mean a person would ˜forget' about the incident they had just extracted? But then, why would anyone want to analyse something in the Pensieve if they had forgotten about it completely? Would it be possible to clear all a person's memories? What would happen if someone drank Veritaserum, and were questioned subsequently about the forgotten incident? Would they honestly not remember? It is questions like these that make it unlikely that it is possible to clear a memory from one's mind completely. I am not saying that it is impossible, just that it is unlikely. However, there may be other, more easily explainable ways of making memories inaccessible to Legilimency by extraction.

Like most neurological processes, memories are made possible by the availability of the correct neural structure in the brain, and electrical and chemical impulses between the cells.31 An interesting theory posted in the Leaky Lounge is that the neural structure that encodes the memory remains intact, but it becomes inactive after the memory is extracted.32 The ˜gossamer strands' and the swirling gaseous substance in the Pensieve would thus be the visual form of neural impulses. This means that the actual memory does not leave a person's head, but Legilimens still won't be able to ˜read' it. It is possible that when a memory is not replaced after extraction, the neural structure gradually re-activates and the memory returns.

This theory may also resolve other possible issues. For example, this could mean that extracted memories cannot be placed inconspicuously in someone else's head, as no one else has the specific neural structure to support these impulses. We know from Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, that it is possible to make people remember doing things they didn't do. Both Morfin Gaunt33 and Hokey the house-elf34 remembered committing murders they had not actually committed. Although new memories had been implanted in their minds, Dumbledore, a skilled Legilimens, had been able to retrieve the real memory from underneath the false one. The false memory must therefore have been distinguishable from the real one, because it didn't match up with the neural structure of the brain: like a jigsaw piece put in the wrong spot.

Scattered Pictures

We have seen that the Pensieve is a powerful magical device that allows a person to review their own or someone else's memories objectively, and in great detail. Dumbledore uses the Pensieve predominantly as a ˜memory player' in Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, when he passes on to Harry the knowledge of the boy, Tom Riddle: Riddle's background, and his transformation into the evil Lord Voldemort.

However, the Pensieve is more than just a memory player; it is also an analytical tool. Dumbledore needs to keep track of what is happening in these uncertain times in the Wizarding World. People behave erratically or switch loyalties, and many mysterious things are happening; thus, he needs to analyse past incidents and ˜put two and two together', in order to try and understand what is really going on. Simply replaying the memory may help to refresh his active memory of things that have slipped ˜to the back of his mind', but is that all there is to it?

In his brief explanation of the uses of the Pensieve, Dumbledore talks about spotting "patterns and links' 35 something that is not always easy to do when the mind is actively engaged in trying to re-absorb information. In the Muggle world, a good way to organise one's thoughts would be to write them down by drawing "mind maps": "diagram[s] used to represent words and ideas linked to and arranged radially around a central key word or idea." 36 These are not only used to organise thoughts, but also help to bring new thoughts to the surface; it allows a person to spot patterns that they may not have seen before. The use of a Pensieve may be an advanced and magical form of making a mind map, in which more detailed visual images can be included.

We have seen in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire that more than one memory can be placed into the Pensieve at the same time. Because of mysterious goings on at Hogwarts and in the rest of the Wizarding World, Dumbledore decides to review memories of Death Eater trials at the end of the first Wizarding war. When Harry takes his first ever peek inside the Pensieve, he has the chance to consecutively watch three different memories from three different trials.37 We don't know whether they are ˜played' chronologically or in another pre-set order, but it is possible that part of the magic of the Pensieve is that it functions as an extension of the brain; the Pensieve organises the memories for the viewer, so as to help bring out patterns and promote lateral thinking.

We do not have a lot of factual information about how exactly the Pensieve works, and what makes it magical. However, a very strong hint about the magical power that drives the Pensieve is provided by the mysterious runes and symbols carved around the edge. Runes are generally thought to be powerful symbols used for divination and magic;38 carving them into a simple stone basin could change it into a magical item. Which runes they are, we don't know, but there are several runes that represent wisdom and knowledge (such as Ansuz, Munnaz, and Kenaz), or signify knowledge of destiny, insight, revelation and imagination (Perthro, Ansuz, Kenaz, and Laguz).39 The runes could not only make sure that the memories can be ˜played' and reviewed, they could also help with creating the ˜mind map' of memories.

The Chance to Do It All Again

We can all agree that the Pensieve is a highly useful tool for educational and analytical purposes. For what other purposes could it be used?

Its objective nature would make it an excellent tool for presenting real, unbiased evidence in a court of law. We have seen several occasions where the Wizengamot convicted people for crimes they didn't commit; in fact, the Wizengamot quite often gets things wrong.

Hagrid was expelled from Hogwarts in his third year, after being framed by the real perpetrator of the crime of which he had been accused, Tom Riddle.40 Sirius was sentenced to life in Azkaban for the murder of twelve Muggles, and the wizard who really killed them, Peter Pettigrew;41 Sirius died as a fugitive without ever having the chance to clear his name. Both Morfin Gaunt42 and Hokey the house-elf43 were convicted of murders committed by Tom Riddle, after giving boastful confessions derived from implanted memories. Finally, who could forget about Harry's near expulsion from Hogwarts at the start of his fifth year for "breach of the Decree for the Reasonable Restriction of Underage Sorcery",44 even though his use of magic was justified?

Why doesn't the Wizengamot simply review the memory of an event in a Pensieve? There could be several reasons for this. First of all, it might not be as easy to use or as unbiased as it appears to be. Although the Pensieve only shows fact, and not interpretation, the selection of the memory has the potential of being highly subjective. Not everyone would happily supply the correct memory, although someone convinced of their innocence (and with nothing to hide) would surely jump to the occasion. Even if a defendant does supply a memory, be it voluntarily or by court order, how would we know it showed the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth? The defendant may have decided to extract only a partial memory, or cut off a few essential minutes on either side. We know that memories can be altered, as has been demonstrated to us by Professor Slughorn in Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince.45 Although Slughorn was unsuccessful in his attempt to fabricate an altered memory that would escape detection, it may still be possible to construct a memory that will pass muster with the authorities. The memories in the Pensieve are observed from a third person perspective, meaning that the actual ˜recorder' of the memory can be seen by the observer. If Voldemort has placed his own memories of the murders he committed inside the minds of Morfin Gaunt and Hokey the house-elf, he would be visible inside the memory as the real perpetrator. Therefore, Voldemort must have altered the memory so that Morfin and Hokey are seen to be committing the murders.

Rather than asking a defendant to voluntarily supply a memory, maybe a better option would be to have the memory selected and extracted by a Ministry-appointed Legilimens. We know, from the tales of Morfin and Hokey, that memories can be extracted by a Legilimens. In Dumbledore's words "it took a great deal of skilled Legilimency to coax [the real memory] out of him".46 However, the defendant may have placed an altered or fabricated memory inside their head or, as was the case with Morfin and Hokey, someone else may have done that for them. Dumbledore was interested only in the actual truth, so he was willing to dig as deep as necessary in order to find out what had really happened. Likely, this was not an easy task. However, though these ˜superimposed' memories may be distinguishable from original ones by a careful observer, why would the Wizengamot be motivated to keep searching when they have already been supplied with an answer?

Another reason the Wizengamot does not make use of Pensieves is that, simply, there may not be that many of them. Although we do not have any direct information on the number of Pensieves in existence, we can speculate:

Albus Dumbledore lived to be a respectable 150 years of age. He must have been to many interesting places and met many important people, and he has become the most powerful wizard of our age. It is therefore not hard to imagine that he may have obtained a Pensieve sometime in the course of his life. Severus Snape, also one of the more powerful wizards of the age, does not own a Pensieve; he borrows Dumbledore's for the Occlumency lessons: "Harry recognised [the stone bowl on Snape's desk] at once ’ it was Dumbledore's Pensieve".47

Even the greatest dark wizard of recent times, Lord Voldemort, does not appear to realise anything like a Pensieve even exists. Neither does Lucius Malfoy, an influential, rich wizard. When Malfoy talks to Harry in the Hall of Prophecies, in Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, he appears genuinely surprised when Harry tells him he has never heard of the prophecy made about him and Voldemort.

"Dumbledore never told you?" Malfoy repeated. "Well, this explains why you didn't come earlier, Potter, the Dark Lord wondered why [¦] you didn't come running when he showed you the place where it was hidden in your dreams. He thought natural curiosity would make you want to hear the exact wording." 48

Surely the person who told Voldemort about the prophecy, Severus Snape, would have also told him to whom the prophecy was made? Although Lucius Malfoy did think Dumbledore was close enough to Harry to tell the boy about the prophecy, he does not seem to have considered the fact that the Headmaster had the ˜exact wording' carefully preserved in his mind, ready to be viewed by Harry.49

Therefore, it seems likely that there are not many Pensieves in existence. There may be as few as two or three in the entire world; it may even be Dumbledore's own invention, in which case he may have the only one! Thus, although a Pensieve could be of great use to the Wizengamot, they may simply not be able to obtain one.

Finally, we have been shown repeatedly that the Wizengamot is not always interested in the actual truth; having a simple means to find out the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth, may not appeal to all members of the Magical law enforcement.

We Will Remember

The Pensieve has already been of great importance to Harry in his quest to defeat the Dark Lord. Now that Dumbledore appears to be departed, his possessions will be passed on to others. We do not know yet what will happen to the Pensieve. Dumbledore has no offspring of whom we know; perhaps they will go to his next of kin, his brother Aberforth. Maybe Dumbledore's possessions will stay in possession of the Hogwarts Headmaster or mistress. Dumbledore may even have specifically bequeathed the Pensieve to Harry. In any of these situations the Pensieve may be accessible to Harry.

Although Harry has never used the Pensieve by himself, and does not know how to leave a memory once inside, the runes on the edge may be of help. Hermione, who takes Ancient Runes classes and probably knows every book in the library, will no doubt be able to translate them for him.

There are a million and one things that we could imagine Harry discovering through the Pensieve. Dumbledore, who seemed well prepared for death, may have left him more bottled memories about Tom Riddle, or clues on the locations of the remaining Horcruxes. Harry may personally be able to retrieve memories from people who knew Tom Riddle. Dumbledore himself had trouble procuring memories from people who knew Riddle, as "few who knew him then are prepared to talk about him; they are too terrified".50 Harry, however, has already shown aptitude in persuading people to talk when others could not, when he managed to retrieve Slughorn's unaltered memory of Riddle at Hogwarts.51

Another memory that could provide invaluable information for Harry's quest would be the exact events of that fateful night at Godric's Hollow, when Harry's parents were killed. Although speculation runs wild about whether someone else was there that night,52 other than Voldemort and the Potter family, we know of only one person who witnessed the goings on: Harry himself. He may have been only a baby, but he was present and conscious. Even though J.K. Rowling has mentioned that Harry was in a cot, and did not see his parents die,53 we have already established that extrasensory information can also be stored as a memory. Even if a Memory Charm had been placed on him since, the memory would still be preserved in Harry's mind. We already know he remembers fragments of what happened: voices, and light.54 It is possible that Harry will learn to delve through his memories and extract the one about Godric's Hollow. Maybe he will find clues that are key to vanquishing the Dark Lord.

Conclusion

The Pensieve: an obscure magical device with amazing potential. Ever since it was introduced to us in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, the Pensieve has returned in every book, with increasing importance to the storyline. Will Ms. Rowling keep that pattern, and make it instrumental in Harry's quest to defeat Voldemort? Only time will tell.
Works Cited
1. Etymonline. "Pensive." Online Etymology Dictionary. November 2005. 26 May 2006. http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?search=pensive&searchmode=none.

2. Etymonline. "Sieve." Online Etymology Dictionary. November 2005. 26 May 2006. http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?search=pensive&searchmode=none.

3. Rowling, J.K. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. London: Bloomsbury, 2000. p. 506.

4. Ibid. p. 506-507.

5. Ibid. p. 519.

6. Ibid. Chapter 24.

7. Ibid. p. 507.

8. Ibid. pp. 507-508.

9. Rowling, J.K., Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. London: Bloomsbury, 2003. p. 564.

10. Rowling, J.K. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. London: Bloomsbury, 2000. p. 508.

11. Ibid. p. 520.

12. Rowling, J.K. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. London: Bloomsbury, 2005. p. 245.

13. Rowling, J.K. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. London: Bloomsbury, 2003. p. 471.

14. Rowling, J.K. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. London: Bloomsbury, 2005. p. 245.

15. Rowling, J.K. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. London: Bloomsbury, 2000. p. 508.

16. Ibid. p. 508.

17. Ibid. p. 509.

18. Dickens, Charles. "A Christmas Carol." December 1843. Litrix Reading Room, 2001. A Christmas Carol, Stave 2, The first of the three spirits. 24 May 2006. http://www.litrix.com/ccarol/ccaro002.htm.

19. Anelli, Melissa and Spartz, Emerson. "The Leaky Cauldron and MuggleNet Interview Joanne
Kathleen Rowling: Part Three." The Leaky Cauldron. 16 July 2005. Quick Quotes Quill. 24 April 2006. http://www.quick-quote-quill.org/articles/2005/0705-tlc_mugglenet-anelli-3.htm.

20. Ibid.

21. Rowling, J.K. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. London: Bloomsbury, 2003. p. 567.

22. Ibid. p. 564.

23. Ibid. p. 567.

24. Rowling, J.K. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. London: Bloomsbury, 2005. p. 406.

25. Ibid. p. 246.

26. Rowling, J.K. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. London: Bloomsbury, 2003. p. 475.

27. Rowling, J.K. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. London: Bloomsbury, 2005. Chapter 17.

28. Ibid. Chapter 22.

29. Rowling, J.K. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. London: Bloomsbury, 2000. pp. 518-519.

30. Ibid. pp. 521-523.

31. Wikipedia. "Memory". Wikipedia Encyclopedia 2006. Wikimedia. 10 May 2006. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Memory.

32. Valkerie. Post #46. "The Pensieve, how exactly do memories work?". Magical Theory.
20 January 2006. The Leaky Lounge. 24 April 2006. http://www.leakylounge.com/index.php?showtopic=18732&st=45.

33. Rowling, J.K. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. London: Bloomsbury, 2005. pp. 342-344.

34. Ibid. p. 410.

35. Rowling, J.K. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. London: Bloomsbury, 2003. p. 475.

36. Wikipedia. "Mind Map". Wikipedia Encyclopedia 2006. Wikimedia. 10 May 2006. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mind_Map.

37. Rowling, J.K. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. London: Bloomsbury, 2000. Chapter 30.

38. Halvorsen, I. "Introduction to Runes" 1998-2004. Runes, Alphabet of Mystery. 26 May 2006. http://www.sunnyway.com/runes/intro.html.

39. Halvorsen, I. "Meanings of the Rune Symbols" 1998-2004. Runes, Alphabet of Mystery. 26 May 2006. http://www.sunnyway.com/runes/meanings.html.

40. Rowling, J.K. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets. London: Bloomsbury, 1998.

41. Rowling, J.K. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. London: Bloomsbury, 1999.

42. Rowling, J.K. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. London: Bloomsbury, 2005. pp. 342-344.

43. Ibid. p. 410.

44. Rowling, J.K. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. London: Bloomsbury, 2003. p. 29.

45. Rowling, J.K. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. London: Bloomsbury, 2005. Chapter 17.

46. Ibid. p. 344.

47. Rowling, J.K. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. London: Bloomsbury, 2003. p. 467.

48. Ibid. p. 693.

49. Professor_Nigellus, personal communication.

50. Rowling, J.K. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. London: Bloomsbury, 2005. p. 339.

51. Ibid. Chapter 22.

52. Amadis. "The Night the Potters Died". A History of Magic. 12 September 2005. The Leaky Lounge. 26 April 2006. http://www.leakylounge.com/index.php?showtopic=17058&pid=814263&st=320&#entry814263.

53. Rowling J.K. "J.K. Rowling at the Edinburgh Book Festival." News. 15 September 2004.
J.K. Rowling Official site. 23 May 2006. http://www.jkrowling.com/textonly/en/news_view.cfm.id=80.

54. The Harry Potter Lexicon. "What really happened on the night James and Lily were killed?"
Timelines. 8 May 2006. The Harry Potter Lexicon. 26 May 2006. http://www.hp-lexicon.org/timelines/essays/timeline_potters.html#time.

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