Disclaimer: Harry Potter and all other known characters and places in the Harry Potter world belong to J.K. Rowling, Scholastic, Warner Bros, and Bloomsbury. The story and original characters belong to me and the panicparables yahoogroup.

Written by: Stephalopolis

Chapter 5- The Pensieve

As soon as Harry and Snape left the room, the professor slammed the door shut and turned snarling to Harry.

"Just what the hell were you thinking Potter?"

"I-I heard a noise. I just wanted to check it out."

"Ah yes, the ever gallant Gryffindor. Hears a noise and instantly runs off to help the poor distressed individual, in case they might be so injured as to have a stubbed toe."

"I was just checking it out. The house is supposed to be safe; I didn't think anything too bad would happen."

"Ah yes, the house was safe. And tell me Mr. Potter, how safe do you believe Hogwarts to be? After all these years, Voldemort, Basilisk, murdering mutt, disguised Death Eater...places that normally are safe are rendered perilous with your foolish Gryffindor curiosity!"

"What else was I supposed to do? I'm locked in this house all day like a prisoner! I can't go to the other side of a room without a group of people getting worried that I may get hurt! I'm bored professor. There's only so much reading a teenage boy can do. I'm sorry that the noise sparked my curiosity, but in an environment like this, I can't promise it won't happen again."

"What else are you supposed to do?!? Well you could listen to me and do as I say. I believe I remember telling you to go to your room and study hexes. But oh no, Perfect Potter doesn't need to study to become great. He has the Wonder-Scar that magically inserts knowledge into his head. Working hard is a job for common people- not for him. He just-"

Harry had had enough. At this point, Snape was moving around, gesturing wildly as he made his points. Not caring that he was interrupting Snape mid-rant, Harry snapped.

"-Or maybe it's the fact that I've been so bored that I've read all of the books in there! I am tired of looking through the same things! I'm a teenage boy! I need stimulation!"

The hallway instantly became silent. The atmosphere was so tense it could be cut with a dull spoon. Snape slowly turned towards Harry, who took a step back at the look on his face.

"Stimulation Mr. Potter? You would do well to learn some people would welcome the quiet, spoiled life that you lead." With that said, Snape took off down the hall. Harry just stood there staring after him.

"Well? Why aren't you following me?" Harry quickly caught up with him and followed behind him.

Harry and Snape traveled for about 5 minutes. Harry had never been down this part of the house before. It was creepy looking, with cobwebs hanging everywhere and old portraits leering down at him. A layer of dust covered everything, only being broken with an old set of house-elf tracks, undoubtedly made by Kreacher trying to sneak items out before this area of the house was cleaned. When they finally stopped in front of a nearly hidden door, Harry almost ran into Snape, stopping just in time before colliding with the towering man.

"Potter, since you are such a naïve little Gryffindor and can't seem to do one simple task without being distracted by inane little noises, drastic measures must be taken. You will stay in this room and study. I want you to find 10 hexes and write a 14 inch essay about each of them incorporating history, application, and hypothetical uses in a duel. You will not leave this room until they are finished. Meals will be sent up to you three times a day. When you are finished, leave your reports on the meal tray. That, hopefully, should quench your foolishly perpetual Gryffindor curiosity." With that, Snape opened the door and pushed Harry into the room, slamming the door shut after him.

Harry looked around the room he had been shoved into. It was small, made even smaller with rows of bookshelves surrounding the walls. There was a desk against one wall underneath a window placed too high for outside viewing. The room looked as though someone had once tried to make it into a study, but with the room being so undersized, the effort had been abandoned. Turning around in a circle, Harry noticed a small couch at one end, next to a second door. Upon inspection of this new room, it showed to be a bathroom big enough only for him to do his business and wash his hands. The rooms were bare, no decorations hung, not even a mirror. About the only thing worthwhile it held were books, parchment, and writing utensils.

Sighing, Harry turned back to the first door, ignoring the small thread of panic starting to rise up in the back of his mind. When he discovered that the door was locked though and Snape really meant to follow through in his threat, that small thread exploded full-force.

'He wouldn't really follow through on his threat. I mean, we're in a house with others, I'm sure they'll notice I'm missing at some point. But then again, this is Snape we're talking about. He could tell them any sort of story and they'd believe it. At least he's pureblood... he wouldn't result to such muggle techniques as cat-flaps. Or would he? I mean... he's a Slytherin. I can't really put it past him."

Harry quickly tuned out his wandering thoughts once they reached the point of having him climb on the desk and jumping out the window. To help him, he turned to the books around him.

"Well, might as well get started."

As hard as he tried, Harry had only finished one essay by the time lunch rolled around. He was startled when a plate of food suddenly appeared on the desk. 'Looks like no human contact that way' Although he knew that Snape wasn't like his relatives, Harry still saved some of his food and hid it in a desk drawer. 'Just in case.'

Harry tried to go back to writing his essay, but after only getting two more words written down, he slammed the book shut and stood up, running his hand through his hair. Try as he might, he just couldn't get the terror of being locked in a small room out of his mind. Hoping that another book might help him, he wandered over to one of the book shelves and started examining it. Grabbing a light pink book, he made his way over to the couch.

'Hmmm... Magical Memories... This might prove interesting'

Harry opened the book to a random page. Unfortunately, that page happened to be on one of his least favorite topics...Occlumency.

'Great. I try and get my mind off of Snape, and what do I get? Occlumency.' As much as Harry disliked the subject, however, he decided to read the section anyway. Professor Dumbledore was sure to make Harry resume his training, and the way that Snape was teaching him sure wasn't making a difference. He settled down into the couch, preparing for a long and boring read.

Harry looked up from the book, finished with the section. It had actually turned out to be an interesting read. While Snape's way of teaching was legitimate, it was the harder and more rare way to learn. Most commonly used method was called image placement. All Harry had to do was think of something broad, such as the sky, water, or even a color such as green, then focus on that one thing, in his mind forcing that image to be a solid block, forcing everything else out but that one thing. It was much easier than thinking of nothing. If only Snape had given him a chance and taught him... and if he had tried harder... last year wouldn't have happened.

In order to stop his wandering thoughts from going in that direction, Harry quickly flipped the pages until another one caught his eye. It was a section all about pensieves. Despite his bad luck with them, Harry had always wanted his own pensieve. He had too thoughts in his head- too many bad memories. He would love to be able to get them out. He quickly started reading the section, hoping it would mention something that would help him.

Pensieves

A pensieve is a small bowl, filled with a liquid that is often described as melted silver. Very rare, wizards and witches can fill these bowls with memories of their past. One common misconception of the device is that the pensieve completely erases knowledge of the memory from the mind. This, however, is not so. It merely softens the memory. It no longer will be focused on over and over in the mind, however if the user needs to recall it for something important, they can easily remember the instance.

Pensieves are quite easy to use. All one has to do is think about a memory, place a wand tip slightly inside their ear, and "pull" the memory out. Although the method is more effective if the memory is more recent, all memories will work. However, to get recollections from childhood, it is best to think about the timeframe that the instant happened in, preferably a date, although any time frame (such as holidays) will work.

Perhaps because of their wonderful nature, pensieves are hard to obtain. Most can only be obtained by the richest of families, or people that have inherited them in some way. The material to make pensieves is hard to find, and even families that have the money to get one sometimes can't due to a lack of supplier. Most pensieves get around through sharing and family inheritances. Pensieves can be used by multiple users- there is no limit to how many memories a pensieve can hold. In fact, often times, pensieves are used to store family histories. However, in cases where new pensieve owners would like to store only their own memoirs, there is a simple spell that can be used, restaurare, to eliminate all old memories. (Diagram of wand movement shown on page 625)

Harry looked up from reading. Looked like his chances of getting a pensieve for his birthday were slim to none. Tired of reading, Harry tried to put the book back on the shelf. However, the book got caught on something upon entry. Looking carefully, Harry noticed a hidden latch. Ignoring Snape's comments about Gryffindor curiosity, Harry pulled on the latch.

The latch pulled out to reveal a hidden drawer. Sitting inside the drawer, taking up all the room, was a pensieve. Harry pulled it out and carried it over to the desk. It was smaller than Professor Dumbledore's, but it still contained a lot of memories. It was very outlandishly decorated, obviously once belonging to a rich family who had the money to spend on such frivolous designs such as gems and ruins.

Harry considered his options. On one hand, this pensieve may have once been used by Sirius, and may contain memories that were private and not meant to be viewed by him. On the other hand, Harry knew that a pensieve would really come in handy to him. Especially when Occlumency lessons started up again. His mind made up, Harry sat down in front of it and pulled out his wand.

First thing he considered was which memories he wanted to put in. The first thing that popped into his mind was to put all his experiences with Voldemort in there. However, he quickly discarded that idea. No matter what the book said, he would still prefer not to take the chance of forgetting those times. Although they weren't pleasant, they gave him experience in fighting, and he wanted to remember so he wouldn't make the same mistakes.

Harry sat and contemplated on what he wouldn't want Snape to see. Instantly, one word popped into his mind- Dursleys. Decided, Harry started thinking of every bad incident that occurred in his childhood- locked in the cupboard, doing chores, ignored on holidays, being neglected, insulted, the random swats he would get for "acting up"- memory after memory went into the pensieve.

Finally, after much time, Harry sat back feeling exhausted, but also a little less burdened than before. Harry got back up and closed the drawer, leaving the pensieve on the desk. He was planning on taking it back to his room with him once he got out of the room- which wouldn't happen unless he resumed his homework. With a new burst of energy, Harry sat back down at the desk and continued writing his essays.