Veritaserum thoughts

[Eric Oppen]

No: HPFGUIDX 44691

I've always kind of thought that Veritaserum might be a post-Voldemort
invention.  I can't see the WW staying totally static, with so many
intelligent men and women having long lives to noodle around with whatever
sorts of magic they fancy---and we do have canon that potions _have_ been
invented very recently, what with the Wolfsbane Potion that is supposed to
make poor Lupin safe to have around.  (Me, I'd have gone for the good old
Muggle methods---a cage, or a cell that are werewolf-proof---but that's just
me).

During the Voldemort years, I would bet that some of the WW's sharpest minds
were working overtime on Ways and Means to deal with the problem, and one of
those means could well be the invention of Veritaserum.  Veritaserum would
be an excellent way to "separate the sheep from the goats," at least once it
was known to work and its properties were known.

However, _any_ truth potion has drawbacks.  In the "Miles Vorkosigan" books,
a person under the influence of fast-penta is quite liable to wander off on
tangents, or answer comments made in the room not addressed to
him---fast-penta interrogation is an art taught in military schools.  Also,
there are those with natural or artificially induced allergies to the stuff,
upon whom it is unwise to use it.   Another drawback is that it does not
confer knowledge that tue subject does not have, which it shares with
Veritaserum---in other words, if I were pumped full of Veritaserum or
fast-penta, I would not suddenly know things I didn't know before.

_We don't know_ right now why they didn't just pump everybody they thought
was guilty full of Veritaserum during the Voldemort Wars.  Come to it, we
don't know that the good guys invented the stuff---there are a few hints
that Professor Snape himself invented it, and if so, he could have been
working for the Big V when he did so, and just brought the knowledge along
when he swapped sides.  I notice that Dumbledore, when they are about to
question Fake-Moody/Barty Crouch Jr., merely asks Professor Snape to bring
"the strongest truth potion you have," not Veritaserum _eo nomine._

So, when they were dealing with the (alleged) traitor Sirius Black, as well
as Barty Crouch Jr. and his alleged confederates in the torture of the
Longbottoms, they may not have had a lot of the resources that the Wizard
World has by the time of GoF.  If they didn't have Veritaserum, or weren't
sure just how good or reliable the stuff was, they rather obviously couldn't
use it.