8 Pensieve Memories NEVER Shown in the Movies - Harry Potter Explained

Welcome to Harry Potter Theory. Today, we’re discussing ALL of the memories that we see through the Pensieve in Harry Potter-8 of which were NOT SHOWN in the movies.

Rare and powerful, the majority of Pensieves are typically quite small devices that, due to their incredibly personal nature, are often kept on one’s person. Of course, one very notable exception of this is the large Pensieve located in the Headmaster's office at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. This Pensieve is used to store all of the school’s Headmasters memories so that their predecessors may watch and learn from them. It’s described as large, ornate, ancient, and made entirely out of stone, with engravings of modified Saxon runes etched all over it. It is also said to be so old that some witches and wizards believe that the Hogwarts’ Pensieve predates even the school’s castle.

To use a Pensieve one needs only to extract a memory, deposit it into the Pensieve’s basin, give it a stir, and immerse oneself into the memory. Often described as wispy or gossamer in appearance, memories in this form are believed to be neither liquid nor solid, and are used as described by Albus Dumbledore in the following passage: 

"One simply syphons the excess thoughts 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."

As readers of the books will recall, the Pensieve was used quite frequently throughout the series after its introduction in the fourth novel, The Goblet of Fire. In the films, however, it shows up substantially less.

So, in honour of the new HBO Max reboot of the series that was recently announced, I’ve decided to share with you ALL of the Pensieve memories from the original novels. 

Let’s dive right in.

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