Use of Veritaserum

[ellecain]

No: HPFGUIDX 138644

strawberryshaunie wrote:
<snip>
Why are there any 
> innocent people in Azkaban at all, ever, when the Ministry has 
> Veritaserum at its disposal? <snip>

Elyse:
This is probably because there is an antidote to Veritaserum.
And I (unbelievably) can provide the canon for this:


>"Professor Slughorn is an extremely able wizard who will be 
>expecting 
>both," said Dumbledore. "He is much more accomplished at Occlumency 
>than poor Morfin Gaunt, and I would be astonished if he has not 
>carried an 
>*antidote to Veritaserum* with him ever since I coerced him into 
>giving me 
>this travesty of a recollection. 	

Now I have heard many  RL stories in which spies
 have put a tiny pill of cyanide in a tooth cavity,
and if they are ever caught by the enemy, they simply ingest
the poison rather than let themselves be captured and tortured for 
information.

So I guess anybody really dangerous could do the same thing.

Perhaps ESG!Snape already has done so.
I wonder what kind of contingency plan he had in case
he was ever caught? 
I mean he knew too much about the Order
and he could have been tortured for information in the same way that 
the Longbottoms were...

Elyse