Memory extraction spell

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"Snape pulled out his wand from an inside pocket of his robes and Harry tensed in his chair, but Snape merely raised the wand to his temple and placed its tip into the greasy roots of his hair. When he withdrew it, some silvery substance came away, stretching from temple to wand like a thick gossamer strand, which broke as he pulled the wand away from it and fell gracefully into the Pensieve, where it swirled silvery-white, neither gas nor liquid."

— Severus Snape casting this spell^[src]

This spell (incantation unknown) was used to remove single, specific memories from one's own mind and place them in a pensieve or a flask for storage or if they wish to see the memory again.^[3]^[1]

Usage

When witches and wizards who have memories that they either wish to see more than once or memories that they cannot stand to think about again they remove it by placing the tip of their wand to their temple, then they slowly pull the tip away and bringing a long, silver strand with it. The witch or wizard would then take the removed memory and store it in a flask for storage (or for easy reach to put into a pensieve) or they would store it in a pensieve to revisit the memory.^[3]^[1]

In the 1920s, MACUSA executioners would use the spell and cast the condemned prisoner's happiest memories in the Death potion in the Death Cell to keep the inmate docile as they were lowered into the potion.^[4]

Known practitioners

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Behind the scenes

As seen in the film adaptions, the extraction of memories can be painful at times as this was shown by Professors Dumbledore and Slughorn who both at least once had facial expressions as if they were having head pain when they extracted a memory.
In Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, the use of the spell on Tina caused her to become catatonic and entranced until her memories were cast into the Death potion, which causes her to become gleefully mesmerised and susceptible to suggestion, allowing the executioner to handle her without any struggle or resistance.
In Order of the Phoenix, Dumbledore loaned his pensieve to Professor Snape, who used it to store some sensitive memories while he was attempting to teach Occlumency to Harry Potter.

Appearances

Notes and references

↑ ^1.0 ^1.1 ^1.2 ^1.3 ^1.4 Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, Chapter 24 (Occlumency)
↑ Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (film)
↑ ^3.0 ^3.1 ^3.2 ^3.3 Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, Chapter 30 (The Pensieve)
↑ ^4.0 ^4.1 Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them: The Original Screenplay, Scene 67
↑ Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, Chapter 22 (After the Burial)

[OOTP24-1] 1.0 ^1.1 ^1.2 ^1.3 ^1.4 Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, Chapter 24 (Occlumency)

[HBPF-2] Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (film)

[GOF30-3] 3.0 ^3.1 ^3.2 ^3.3 Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, Chapter 30 (The Pensieve)

[FB67-4] 4.0 ^4.1 Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them: The Original Screenplay, Scene 67

[HBP22-5] Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, Chapter 22 (After the Burial)

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