OOP - Veritaserum

[jsmithqwert]

No: HPFGUIDX 66875

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "Andrea" <crawford1270 at y...> 
wrote:
> S
> P
> O
> I
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> R
> S
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> Does anyone else wonder why Harry was not just given Veritaserum by 
> the ministry in lieu of his sham of a hearing?  Aside from the 
> obviously ploy by the ministry to find him guilty and get him out 
of 
> the way regardless of of the rules?  I find it odd that Dumbledore 
> would parade a dubious witness (At least in the MOM's eyes) that 
they 
> could easily find fault with instead of offering the path of least 
> resistance...aka let Harry drink the serum and satisfy the members 
of 
> the jury.  For that matter, why did they not administer the serum 
to 
> Harry at the end of GoF, to verify his version of events to the 
> ministry, thus ensuring them that LV had returned to power??
> 
> Just Wondering,
> Andrea ( who doesn't really care WHAT JKR decides to write...as 
long 
> as she continues to do so...:)

I think that there is something of an ongoing and relatively widely 
accepted theory that veritaserum makes one state the truth has he or 
she perceives it.  As with lie detectors, someone could convince 
themselves that something is true or simply be mistaken and deliver 
it as truth.  In short, veritaserum doesn't force you to tell the 
truth, it forces you not to lie.  If your understanding of events is 
incorrect, you can still say report it as the truth.  Eyewitnesses in 
muggle courts do it all the time.  Mistaken truth is one of the great 
troubles of our judicial system.

Additionally, Snape has told us that there are strict ministry 
guidelines surrounding the use of veritaserum.  IMHO, the ministry 
has mandated that it violates a person's rights to forcibly 
administer veritaserum.  Certainly, in the muggle judicial system of 
any free democracy, veritaserum would be prohibited as a means of 
self-incrimination.

Finally, there may be some doubt surrounding the effectiveness of 
veritaserum.  Magic in the WW often works in strange ways.  There is 
no way for the MoM to ensure that veritaserum always works.  Perhaps 
its effect diminishes at the blue moon?  Maybe a superb occlumens can 
block it?  Over the course of a lifetime, someone might develop a 
resistance to it?  Perhaps some potions-master (Snape, anyone) has 
secretly developped an anti-serum?  There are just too many 
intangibles for it to be used in a court situation.  Afterall, if 
Hogwarts staircases can lead somewhere different on Fridays, then 
there can be lots of exceptions with veritaserum.

jsmithqwert