In a pensieve, we see the young Tom Riddle in another scene from book six of the Harry Potter series, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince.
There would many many ways in which a pensieve would be beneficial in the muggle world. Just being able to go back and recall what you said to someone as compared to what they claimed you said is a prime example of the common uses that a pensieve can give.
But in the wizard world, it is used only by the most professional of wizards and witches that can read through a Pensieve.
Solve this riddle first to get to the new information regarding pensieves:
In an orphanage in London where Tom Riddle resides,
a suited wizard visits him, it’s quite a surprise,
after showing the boy magical tricks of all sorts,
which future headmaster offers him a place at Hogwarts?
It shouldn’t be that hard to answer now that you’ve gotten the hang of it with the first few riddles. And since this was before he was headmaster, then you can be safe in assuming that you’d have to include his former title.
Double-click on the image, and you’ll see young Tom Riddle empty the contents in his little jewelry box. Sadly, you are unable to collect any items from there.
However, click on the Read More button hovering somewhere near Harry’s head to read about the Pensieve from Rowling:
“The perceived dangers of the Pensieve relate to its power over memory or thought. The Pensieve is enchanted to recreate memories so that they become re-lieveable, taking every detail stored in the subconscious and recreating it faithfully, so that either the owner, or (and herein lies the danger) a second party, it able to enter the memories and move around within them.”
She goes on to explain that examining and sorting through thoughts and ideas is a very difficult task that only “very few wizards have the ability to do so.”
Rowling does note that the Pensieve that Dumbledore used was not personally his, but the property of Hogwarts:
“It has been used by a long line of headmasters and headmistresses, who have also left behind their life experience in the form of memories. This forms an invaluable library of reference for the headmaster or headmistress of the day.”
Come back soon each day for the next bit of information from J.K. Rowling and the Harry Potter universe!