Why Veritaserum was ot used at Sirius' trial?.

[huntergreen_3]

No: HPFGUIDX 128897

dumbledore11214 wrote:
> To tell you the truth, now I am wondering even more whether non-use
> of Veritaserum was a plot hole.

Eggplant replied:
>>I know a plot hole when I see one,and in no way is that a plot hole!
I am not the slightest bit surprised that Veritaserum was not used at
Sirius' trial. In the first place Sirius never had a trial, in the
second place finding the truth was never an important consideration by
the cowardly, corrupt and moribund Ministry Of Magic. A dozen people
were murdered and the public demanded somebody to blame and the
Ministry supplied the villain, Sirius Black; everybody was happy and
they could all now continue with their pointless dull life.<<

Rebecca:
I agree with Eggplant, its not surprising at all that Veritaserum 
wasn't used when he was arrested. In addition to above, you also need 
to consider Sirius' frame-of-mind when he was arrested. Even if they 
did use it, its likely that he would have said he *was* responsible 
since his guilt made him feel like that was true (he claims to be 
responsible in the Shrieking Shack). Also, he was near-insane (as far 
as the laughter indicates) when he was arrested, and I'd guess, from 
the fact that his best friend was just murdered, that after he calmed 
down he became depressed and apathetic. It might be that he wasn't 
trying that hard to claim his innocence. 

Veritaserum, like Legimency, becomes too much of an "easy way out" 
for much of the plot. I don't think people in the WW would jump to 
either one for anything that seems out of order (like Dumbledore 
using it on *every* member of the original Order to find out who the 
traitor was). There's just too many variables, and its in violation 
of personal privacy (as corrupt as the MoM is). If they used it on 
any person who was suspected of a crime, I can just imagine how it 
could be abused. If they suspected someone of a crime they couldn't 
prove, they could just arrest them for someone else's crime, and then 
when the person proclaims their innocence, just pull out the 
Veritaserum and ask whatever they want (rough example, I know). 
And, of course, there are people like Umbridge who would just use it 
without telling the person. 
If it was universally believed, no secret would be safe, whether it 
was illegal activity or not. This could have caused quite a bit of 
problems during OotP, imagine if the Ministry had the power to give 
every worker Veritaserum and ask them all if they are working with 
Dumbledore? Thank God their corruption can't reach *that* far.


-Rebecca