Pensieve thoughts

[sculver_27]

No: HPFGUIDX 124265



Hey all,
Been lurking for a while, and there's something that's been puzzling
me but I haven't seen addressed specifically. Apologies if this has
been covered before, but there really isn't a search-function to speak
of around here.

How exactly does the pensieve work? Or, more specifically, is the item
placed in the pensieve a copy of the original memory, or is it the
original memory itself? 

Here's what we're shown in the books:
DD tells Harry that he uses the pensieve for two reasons (sorry for
the lack of quotes):
1. When there are too many thoughts in his head, implying that
removing some of them frees up more space for the others to wiggle
around comfortably.
2. When he wants to examine a memory at his leisure.

Reason number two could mean that the item that is pulled from the
head and placed in the pensieve is a /copy/ of the memory, and DD then
witnesses it from the third-person perspective via the pensieve. But
reason number one suggests that the memory is not a copy, but actually
the singular memory itself. 
Further, when Snape puts some memories in the pensieve the reader is
led to believe that he is doing this so that Harry will not
potentially have access to them during the occlumency lessons, which
supports the singular memory theory.

Of course, we're never told why Snape is using the pensieve. And if we
think that sneaky Snape put the memories in the pensieve so that Harry
/could/ view them, then we can't really use the evidence we have to
determine copy vs. singular. I don't buy the sneaky-Snape theories, so
I'm interpreting Snape's use of the pensieve as support for the
singular memory theory.

So how would a singular memory theory play out?
Once the user puts a memory in the pensieve, that memory is then gone
from the user's mind. Viewing it in the pensieve would be a revelation
to the original owner of the memory, at least the first time it was
viewed. After that, the user would have a third-person perspective of
that memory, but presumably without the knowledge of emotions,
physical senses, etc. that were contained in the first-person
experience of the event being reflected upon.

Were Snape to view the bullied-by-James memory through the pensieve,
he would have no way of knowing how he felt during the experience. Was
he scared? Surprised? Contemptuous? Mentally exhausted from exams? The
reader can make a pretty good guess at these things, but it would seem
that Snape could make no better guess were he to view the scene
through the pensieve. 
And what happens when the memory is put back into the head? Are the
two memories (the original, and the memory of viewing the original)
somehow connected, so that Snape could pull the memory of being
bullied by the lake back out of his head? Are they threaded like forum
posts? 

I could go on and on, but this post is probably a bit long already.
Perhaps I'm overthinking this, but it just doesn't seem to make
logical sense.

Thanks for letting me ramble.
scott