OOP: Problems and questions about veritaserum

[aaabrigadier]

No: HPFGUIDX 65630

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "mr_misnoid" <mr_misnoid at y...> 
wrote:
> Does anyone else think about 80% of the plot would be meaningless 
> with a little application of veritaserum?
> 
> Just one exmaple, what is the point of witnesses and doubting 
people 
> at a trial, Harry's in the beginning for example, when they could 
> have just given him a little veritaserum and realized everything he 
> said was true. What about Black when he was first arrested? What 
> about anyone ever who disbelieves someone about anything major and 
> imortant? Why did Umbridge even try and pretend to sneak the serum 
to 
> Harry, why not just order him to take it?
> 
> There are about a million things in the book that would be made 
> immediately pointless and meaningless if someone just took a little 
> veritaserum.

I kind of imagine veritaserum being about as acceptable in an 
official capacity as our own lie detector tests. In other words, you 
can give them and maybe find out if someone is telling the truth, but 
they're not infallible and they don't hold up in court. Yeah, I know, 
veritaserum worked very effectively in Goblet of Fire with Crouch. 
But perhaps he was weak-willed after Azkaban, or maybe he was just 
particularly susceptible to the potion. It also wouldn't surprise me 
if Death Eaters (and maybe aurors) worked at building up an immunity 
to the potion. Again, that doesn't quite jibe with the Crouch scene, 
but wasn't he young when he got caught as a Death Eater? He might not 
have had a chance to develop an immunity.