Snape's choice of memories for the pensieve

[Matt]

No: HPFGUIDX 108982

Just a quick note on the Pensieve, since both Bex (#108540) and
Potioncat (#108742) suggested it might not be Dumbledore's:

The narrator tells us in Chapter 24 that Harry recognizes the
Pensieve, not that he simply assumes it is Dumbledore's:

"The shadowy room was lined with shelves bearing hundreds of glass
jars in which slimy bits of animals and plants were suspended in
variously coloured potions.  In one corner stood the cupboard full of
ingredients that Snape had once accused Harry -- not without reason --
of robbing. Harry's attention was drawn towards the desk, however,
where a shallow stone basin engraved with runes and symbols lay in a
pool of candlelight.  Harry recognized it at once -- it was
Dumbledore's Pensieve."

The narrator also refers to the Pensieve at least once more as
"Dumbledore's," without explicit reference to Harry's perspective (ch.
 28).  Finally, when Dumbledore takes out the Pensieve to show Harry
his memory of the prophecy (ch. 37), Harry again recognizes it:

"Dumbledore got to his feet and walked past Harry to the black cabinet
that stood beside Fawkes's perch.  He bent down, slid back a catch and
took from inside it the shallow stone basin, carved with runes around
the edges, in which Harry had seen his father tormenting Snape."

While of course it is possible that Harry could be mistaken about the
identity of the Pensieve in Snape's office, those passages certainly
are not written in a way that allows for much doubt....


-- Matt