Crouch Jr. and Veritaserum (WAS: On Trial)

[pippin_999]

No: HPFGUIDX 44702

Eileen asks:
> I desperately want canon to allow Veritaserum to be resisted 
under certain circumstances. Otherwise, it seems too much of a 
cure-all. Is there anything in its canon use on Crouch that might 
suggest limitations (other than that it can only extract what the 
suspect thinks to be true)?
>

Snape tells Harry that its use is "controlled by very strict Ministry 
guidelines." And, as noted, Dumbledore never actually orders 
the administration of veritaserum per se, he simply asks for "the 
strongest truth potion you have." That's plausible deniability, that 
is. Harry  only knows it's veritaserum because he was shown the 
bottle earlier.

It  may be that veritaserum testimony is  not admissible before 
the court, and if used by an agent of the Ministry would taint the 
case against the defendant.

Lots of Snape's potions have antidotes. Perhaps there's a potion 
which could be taken in advance to ward off the effects.

Also, veritaserum seems to allow only a very brief interrogation 
before the victim falls unconscious. If Dumbledore hadn't already 
known the right questions to ask, how much would he have been 
able to find out?

Repeated doses of Veritaserum  could well be very damaging.  
By the end of the  interrogation Barty is going insane.  Can 
repeated doses of veritaserum, like crucio and memory charms,  
cause a person to become so focussed on his own inner reality 
that he's no longer rational?

Pippin