[HPforGrownups] Veritaserum

[Becky]

No: HPFGUIDX 29881


--- Hollydaze <hollydaze at btinternet.com> wrote:

> 9. Veritaserum 
> 
> Why hasn't this potion been used in trials before
> (couldn't it have 
> cleared Sirius Black and validated testimony against
> certain Death 
> Eaters)? Couldn't it have been used to validate the
> accounts of Harry 
> and Dumbledore at the end of GoF? 
> <snip>

<snip> it would also explain why no
> one has thought 
> to use it on Harry to see if what he says he saw is
> true (which we 
> know it is but most of the characters in the books
> -especially fudge- 
> probably have some doubt about) as anything he did
> say could not then 
> be used to prosecute people.
> 
> HOLLYDAZE!!!
> 

My impression on Veritaserum is that it forces you to
tell the truth *as you see it!* So if someone deluded
themselves into thinking they were helping LV, despite
the fact that they were doing no such thing, it's what
they would say. Also, if someone did the wizarding
equivalent of hypnosis on someone, they could be made
to think that they did something they didn't.

That seems to be what Fudge was thinking. Crouch Jr.
had deluded himself into thinking LV was asking his
assistance in regaining his body. Harry had been
either so traumatized by the experience, or just
wanted more attention, that he told a fictional story
(even if it was one he himself believed). Dumbledore
really has only second-hand information and so he
can't really offer anything except that he believes
them.

Despite the fact that everything said was true, it
could be construed as a fictional story. (Though IMO
you'd have to really not want to see the evidence.)

It could explain why they didn't use it in court.
Besides the fact that wizards don't seem to have a
very advanced court system, if Veritaserum was rare
and hard to get, the benefits of using it wouldn't
outweigh the difficulty of obtaining it.

Becky

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