Skip to main content

harry potter - Why didn't the Ministry use Veritaserum to question criminals?



The truth potion (Veritaserum) is one of the most powerful potions that forces the drinker to speak truth. Then why didn't Ministry used it in any criminal cases instead of long discussions and proceedings? I know there are antidotes to the potion (Dumbledore tells Harry in the 6th book , "Slughorn might have been carrying antidote to veritaserum ever since I asked him about the memory"), but why don't keep criminals in custody until the effect of the antidote wears out and then make them drink veritaserum. Won't that result in perfect judgement?




Answer



For reasons not dissimilar to why we don't use lie detectors in criminal trials.


Jo Rowling has answered this directly:



Veritaserum works best upon the unsuspecting, the vulnerable and those insufficiently skilled (in one way or another) to protect themselves against it. Barty Crouch had been attacked before the potion was given to him and was still very groggy, otherwise he could have employed a range of measures against the Potion - he might have sealed his own throat and faked a declaration of innocence, transformed the Potion into something else before it touched his lips, or employed Occlumency against its effects. In other words, just like every other kind of magic within the books, Veritaserum is not infallible. As some wizards can prevent themselves being affected, and others cannot, it is an unfair and unreliable tool to use at a trial.


Sirius might have volunteered to take the potion had he been given the chance, but he was never offered it. Mr. Crouch senior, power mad and increasingly unjust in the way he was treating suspects, threw him into Azkaban on the (admittedly rather convincing) testimony of many eyewitnesses. The sad fact is that even if Sirius had told the truth under the influence of the Potion, Mr. Crouch could still have insisted that he was using trickery to render himself immune to it.



Source: http://web.archive.org/web/20060316221637/http://www.jkrowling.com/textonly/en/faq_view.cfm?id=105


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

futurama - How much time is lost in 'Time Keeps on Slippin''

In time Keeps on Slippin' , Farnsworth creates a basketball team which he matures by abusing Chronitons. This leads to time skipping forward by random, but ever increasing amounts. How much time was skipped in this way? Answer Unfortunately, I don't think a good estimate can be made for this, for two reasons: Many of the time skips move forward by an indeterminate amount of time. At one point, the Professor mentions localized regions of space skipping forward much more than others. We then see two young boys on the street below complaining about having to pay social security, only to suddenly become senior citizens and start complaining about wanting their money. Thus, each individual could have experienced a different amount of time skippage.
Post a Comment
Read more

aliens - Interstellar Zoo story

I vaguely remember this story from my childhood: it was about an interstellar zoo that came to Earth with lots of bizarre and unusual species, and humans would file through and gape at all the crazy looking creatures from other planets. The twist came at the end when the perspective shifted to the other side of the bars and we discovered that the "creatures" were traveling through space on a kind of safari. They thought they were the visitors and we were the animals. Neither side knew that the other side thought they were the zoo creatures. Answer Got it. Zoo, by Edward D. Hoch. Published in 1958. Link to Publication History Link to PDF
Post a Comment
Read more

harry potter - Did Dolores Umbridge Have Any Association with Voldemort (or Death Eaters) before His Return?

I noticed that Dolores Umbridge was born during the first Wizarding War, so it's very likely she wasn't a Death Eater then (but she is pretty evil -- who knows?). After that Voldemort was not around in a way that could affect many people, and most wouldn't know he was planning to rise again. During that time, and up through Voldemort's return (in Goblet of Fire ), did Umbridge have any connection with the Death Eaters or with Voldemort? Was she doing what she did on her own, or was it because of an association with Voldemort or his allies? Answer Dolores Umbridge was definitely not a good person. However, as Sirius points out, "the world isn't split into good people and Death Eaters". Remember that he also says that he doesn't believe Umbridge to be a Death Eater, but that she's evil enough (or something like that). I think there are two strong reasons to believe that: Umbridge was proud to do everything according to the law, except when she trie...
Post a Comment
Read more

game of thrones - What is a Hedge Knight?

Reading the Ice and Fire books, I keep on coming across the term Hedge Knight (and, also, the apparently pejorative, Hedge Wizard). What specifically does the prefix Hedge refer to? Answer A Hedge Knight is an individual who has been dubbed as a knight, but does not owe his allegiance to any master. I guess Hedge Wizard is about the same. George R. R. Martin actually uses the term The Hedge Knight for the title of one of his short stories. Update: I'm not too up on medieval history, but the idea of a roving knight doesn't crop up too much from what I remember - so I think it is something in-world. I certainly haven't seen Hedge Knight used outside of Martin's works.
Post a Comment
Read more