Veritaserum RANT

[Steve]

No: HPFGUIDX 123764


--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, Bee Chase <luckdragon64 at y...> wrote:
>
> Tonks_op
> 
> Luckdragon:
> 
> I just find it hard to believe Dumbledore would take such a risk. If
they were desperate enough to make Harry stand before the whole
Wizengamot, they could have just as easily ordered Figg to take
Veritaserum and if her lie was detected it would have been all over
for Harry. 
> 


bboyminn:

First, nothing personal LuckDragon, this rant relates to an ever
on-going belief of too many people. 

...and with apologies, for my somewhat snarky attitude.

People need to get over the idea that Veritaserum flows like pumpkin
juice at a Hogwart's feast. They need to get over the idea that Truth
Serum is the answer to all problems; it's not. 

The book, via Snape, clearly states that the use of Veritas/truth
serum is STRICTLY regulated by the Ministry of Magic, so you can't
just be handing it out like party treats.

In the wizard world, and in the real world, truth /devices/ are
flawed, and that's why it is illegal to use them. They DO NOT produce
reliable evidents, and are a violation of a defendants rights. Note,
lacking as it may be, the wizard world does have the 'Wizengamont
Charter of Rights'.

Truth devices don't give absolute truth, they give the defendants
preception of truth. 

Examples-

By Fudge's own statement at the end of Goblet of Fire - 

Dumbledore: 
"As Minerva and Severus have doubtless told you, we heard Barty Crouch
(Jr) confess. Under the influence of Veritaserum...."

Fudge:
"Come now... come now... certainly, Crouch (Jr) may have /believed/
himself to be acting upon You-Know-Who'a orders -- but to take the
word of a lunatic like that...."


Using Truth Serum to clear or convict Sirius-

Even 12 years later, when Sirius and Harry finally meet, Sirius admits
that he is responsible for James and Lily's death. Harry takes that as
a confession that Sirius killed them, but that's not what Sirius means
at all.

Again, under truth serum, Sirius's testimony would be unreliable and
misleading. He is suffering under the horrible crushing guilt, that
his choices were responsible for James and Lily's death. In that
sense, yes, he did kill them, but he is not responsible for murdering
them. So, depending on the nature and form of the questions he was
asked, that could very easily lead to his conviction even though he is
innocent.


Real World example - the Lie Detector -

The problem with a Lie Detector is that it doesn't detect lies, it
detects stress. If you knew you were facing capital punishment, and
you knew you were the prime suspect in a murder, and you were then
asked, while connect to a lie detector, if you had commited the
murder, knowing the your very life depended on your answer and your
reaction, wouldn't you reasonably be expected to show a high stress
response? 

In another case, you are asked, while connected to a lie detector, if
you have ever had sex with someone who was underage. If you say Yes,
that is an implied admission of a crime. If you say, NO, as you will
see, that would be a detected lie. The problem is, you too may have
been underage when the sex occurred, in which case, under the right
circumstances, it wouldn't be a crime. That creates a damned if you
do, damned if you don't situation. You are completely at the mercy of
the nature and form of the questions you are asked. 


Back to the wizard world....

In the middle of PoA, if you gave Harry truth serum and asked him if
Sirius killed his parents, he would say Yes, and it would register as
truth. If you asked him the same question at the end of PoA, he would
answer NO, and that would register as Truth.

Truth is not absolute, if's a matter of opinion and personal
preception. Consequently, truth devices, while helpful to law
enforcement on occassion, are not a reliable means of divining the truth.

So, please, cork your Veritaserum bottles, that's not the answer to
all life's sticky problems.

It's a RANT, try not to take it personally.

Steve/bboyminn