Snape & Harry's Memory Perspective Question

[kiricat2001]

No: HPFGUIDX 83995


> Marianne: 
> 
> > What I'm curious about is the nature of perspective.  When 
breaking 
> > into another's mind, does the one breaking in see the memories 
with 
> > the same perspective that the memories' owner sees?  Or does the 
> > Legilimens see the memory as if it were like thoughts trapped in 
a 
> > Pensieve, where the perspective is that of an outside observer?  
When 
> > Snape sees Harry's memories, is he seeing all the action from the 
> > outside, or is he looking through Harry's eyes? Is he seeing the 
dog 
> > barking and snapping at his own heels (as Harry would), looking 
down 
> > from his perch into the upraised faces of the laughing Dursleys, 
or 
> > is his point of view from off to the side?
> > 
> > Since we're dealing with magic, perhaps a Legilimens does see 
> > another's memories from the position of outside observer, rather 
> > seeing these events the way the person who experienced remembers 
> > them.  But, if a Legilimens is gaining access to the memories 
exactly 
> > as their target remembers them, then they would see it from the 
> > target's perspective.  If that's the case, then the memories 
Harry 
> > got from Snape would also have been as seen through Snape's 
eyes.  
> > And, that would mean that what Harry saw were events that Snape 
> > himself had observed. Harry assumes he's seeing Snape, but maybe 
> > that's not the case.  Maybe Snape was neither the shouting man or 
the 
> > frightened child, but someone who had just walked into the room 
to 
> > see that.  Snape could have been a sibling of the child in the 
> > memory, for instance.

Cassie:
> I've never thought of that.  My next question would be:  If it 
wasn't Snape 
> Harry saw in 'Snapes memories', wouldn't he have recognized that it 
was a 
> different boy after actually seeing teenage-Snape in the 
pensieve?   
> Unless Severus and said possible sibling looked extremely alike?  

At this point, Harry had not yet invaded Snape's pensieve, so he 
hadn't seen teenaged Snape.  Which makes it all the more reasonable 
that he'd immediately assume the teen and child he saw in these 
memories was Snape. By the time Harry did wander through the 
Pensieve, the idea that the boy he saw in Snape's memories really was 
Snape was already set in stone in Harry's opinion. I accepted upon 
first and second readings that this was the case, too.  

But, now I have that problem of perception.  If one's memories are 
being accessed directly from one's mind, it still makes the most 
sense to me that those past moments would be seen exactly as the 
person who experienced them perceived the action.  We'll have to wait 
and see if anything more comes of this, or if this is simply proof I 
need to spend time thinking about other things!

Marianne