Usage of Veritaserum during Legal Hearings in the MoM?

[justcarol67]

No: HPFGUIDX 188307

Joey wrote:
>
> Was just wondering about this: Both in GoF and OoTP we get to learn about legal hearings / trials (sometimes via the Pensieve). 
> 
> However, we don't get to see *anybody* deciding to use Veritaserum to know if the person being questioned is saying the truth. Whether it is Crouch Jr. or Bagman or Harry or Mrs Figg, they are interrogated the Muggle way.
> 
> Any thoughts on this topic? Sorry if this has been discussed already.

Carol responds:

In the case of Mrs. Figg, I think that it was clear to Amelia Bones, at least, that Mrs. Figg had indeed been present and felt the effects of the Dementors. Whether she could see them was immaterial; she told the Wizengamot "what happened" and they believed her. Of course, they might have been impressed by Harry's Patronus or intimidated by the presence of Dumbledore, but the main thing is, she convinced them that the Dementors were there and had indeed threatened both Harry and Dudley, making Harry's Patronus justifiable as self-defense and protection of a Muggle.

DD offered to let them re-examine Mrs. Figg, and, of course, once they'd heard "what happened" from a grown-up, they could actually have cross-examined Harry in a way that allowed him to speak in his own defense (Amelia Bones was clearly not under Umbridge's influence as Fudge apparently was).

So Veritaserum wasn't necessary in this instance, even if anyone had dared to suggest it in front of Dumbledore, who, stripped of his honors or not, was still the most powerful person in the room.

But I agree that WW court procedures leave a great deal to be desired, even in comparison with (British or American) Muggle methods, which would have allowed Harry to speak in his own defense.

To return to Veritaserum, it's probably used only in cases of murder in which there are no witnesses (which is why it wasn't used for Sirius Black--plenty of witnesses, all, unfortunately, memory-wiped afterward) and no confession (which is why it wasn't used on Morfin, who confessed in detail to the murders of the Riddles despite not having actually killed them). I can see using it (or a Pensieve memory) on Harry in his testimony against Snape, but things didn't work out that way--and Snape could have requested the same procedures in his own defense if they had.

Oh, well. I suppose we would all have written the books slightly differently had we invented these characters and events. As it is, we have to live with inconsistencies by the author and breaches in logic or common sense by the characters.

With regard to Crouch Jr., I assume that you're talking about his sentencing, not DD and Snape's use of Veritaserum on him in "Moody's" office, and assuming that Barty Jr., Bellatrix, and the Lestrange brothers were interrogated the Muggle way. However, it's clear from her behavior at the sentencing that Bellatrix, at least, has already gleefully and proudly confessed that "we" (she and her male followers) did indeed Crucio the Longbottoms into insanity in the hope of finding out information on the Dark Lord. No need for Veritaserum in such circumstances.

As for Bagman, he confessed to giving information to Rookwood, but his statement that he didn't know Rookwood was a DE spy seems credible given his character and intelligence level. It's only Crouch Sr. who seems to think that he knew what he was doing. Again, I see no reason for Veritaserum here.

BTW, the inconsistency I see is the reaction to Karkaroff's testimony. He flees the wrath of LV and the DEs, who end up killing him, as if half of them were in prison because of him when in fact, it's only Rookwood who is discovered through him. The others (Snape aside) were already in prison. Maybe it's the principle of the thing--the idea that he would rat on the others to save his own skin--rather than their actually being arrested because of him. Dolohov, Mulciber et al. could hardly have known that he mentioned their names. They were already in prison. And it's interesting that Karkaroff didn't know that. The prisoners must be isolated, so Sirius Black's seeing Bellatrix et al. come in and "Barty Jr." being carried out for burial must be unusual. Then, again, he kept his senses through knowing that he was innocent and through transforming into a dog. But even he probably didn't know everything that was going on.

Carol, who suspects that there aren't many topics that haven't already been discussed, including this one