How does a Pensieve work?

[Scott]

No: HPFGUIDX 74763

I've been thinking about the Pensieve for a while, but, after 
reading the fabulous chatscript w/ Heidi from yesterday, I decided 
to hunker down and flesh out my thoughts. Of course I apoligize if 
this this elicts cries of "Another post on *that*..." please e-mail 
me offlist and direct me to the discussion. (I can't keep up on this 
list, but I did a quick search and I didn't see anything exactly 
like this.)

What Heidi said was (can I quote her answer? I hope so-) "I think he 
actually removes the memory. Otherwise, Harry would still be able 
to "access" it - I've wondered, though, if someone could choose to 
just create a copy, and share that memory with a third party, and if 
so, wouldn't that be a better tool than even Veritaserum for court 
proceedings and the like."

Forgive me, but this...doesn't make sense. Firstly, I know that 
people have speculated as to whether the Pensieve in the Occlumency 
lessons is Dumbledore's or a separate one (and Harry just assumes), 
but it's not really clear is it? So I sort of think that it *is* 
Dumbledore's and perhaps there isn't another one, because otherwise, 
if a memory is erased, and anyone can use one, it would be easy to 
store any incriminating evidence and thus make a person unable to 
testify in court, no? Surely the Wizengamot would have restrictions 
about such things.

or the ministry.

But what if the Pensieve is something that Dumbledore made for 
himself, or received from Nicolas Flamel (could its manufacture have 
something to do with Dragon's blood?).  After all, if you were that 
old you'd need to clear your mind too...clear your mind but not 
*forget* things by doing it. In GoF Harry witnesses several 
important trials of Death Eaters etc., and I find it hard to believe 
that because these memories are in the Pensieve DD has *no* 
recollection of them. They just seem too important. I wouldn't want 
to be Dumbledore and not know who's a deatheater and who's not. 
Besides, how could you remember to put those memories back *in* your 
mind if you don't remember what the memories were taken *out* to 
begin with.

So perhaps the Pensieve doesn't remove the memories but just acts as 
an extension of Dumbledore's mind...stretching the memories out and 
letting him view them more clearly and objectively, but still very 
much a part of his consciousness. 

If that is possible, then the question (when looking at OOP) isn't 
how the pensieve works-- but how it works for *Snape*. I think that 
when Snape puts memories into the Pensieve before the Occlumency 
lesson he does remove them; he puts them into Dumbledore's Pensieve 
and thus Dumbledore's mind.  That surely shows MUCH more trust 
between them than meets the reader's eye (and Harry's). 

Also how can one leave the Pensieve? Or, at least, how does a third 
party get out of a memory. Harry has been removed by the person 
whose memory it is both times that he's ventured into the Pensieve, 
but if he hadn't how exactly could he get out.

Hmmm...

Scott!