What does the Pensive do and how does it work?

[Hero of Time]

::Points to topic::

[xxbattosaixx]

It stores your memories and allows you and other people to view them later.

[Dark Malik]

It's like in the 5th book, Order of the Phoenix, when Harry saw Snape's Pensive

[Hero of Time]

How does it store your memories? And what do you use to extract your memories. I read all five books yet I didn't understand it.

[Village Dag]

You remove white stuff(which is your memories)and it goes into the pensevie.

[Ace of Spades]

You see Snape doing that during Occlumency lessons, as well as Dumbledore on occassion.

[xxbattosaixx]

How does it store your memories? And what do you use to extract your memories. I read all five books yet I didn't understand it.

1)We don't know how it does it exactly.That's like saying "how does a wand work".We just don't know.It's magic.
2)You touch your wand tip to your temple,then slowly pull the wand away.As you pull the wand away,there will be a small wisp of what looks like white smoke following it.Then,you lead the smoke into the Penseive.

[Lahar]

It's like in the 5th book, Order of the Phoenix, when Harry saw Snape's Pensive

Was that Snape's own Pensieve? I thought it was Dumbledore's, lent to him.

[BerserkerAzn]

Here (If a Penseive existed):

Have the penseive in front of you right? Now concentrate on a memory. Once you have a good lock on the events of that memory you tap your wand to your temple and pull it away, thus extracting the memory(maybe with some incantation). Place your wand tip into the Penseive and it will hold that memory for easy er "access" (going INTO the memory), or just so that it's not cluttering your mind any longer.

Dumbledore used it to clear his mind of excess thoughts and so he could better organize certain theories of his while he pondered Voldemort's actions in Albania.

Snape used it to store memories that he didn't want Harry to accidently view while doing Occlumency.

[Ace of Spades]

I would guess that each teacher has a pensieve somewhere. In the wizarding world it could even be a normal household item.

And here's the Lexicon's definition (http://www.hp-lexicon.org/magic/devices_n-r.html#Pensieve).

[Hero of Time]

You you ever make the memories in the Pensive vanish?

[Ace of Spades]

You you ever make the memories in the Pensive vanish?

I'm sure it's possible. Just put the bad memories inside it and throw it in the microwave for a minute or three. They'd either be gone or really distorted.