DID YOU KNOW? || VERITASERUM

[slytherincesss.livejournal.com]

VERITASERUM

‘Do you know what this is, Potter?’ Snape said, his eyes glittering dangerously again.

‘No,’ said Harry, completely honestly this time.

‘It is Veritaserum – a Truth Potion so powerful that three drops would have you spilling your innermost secrets for this entire class to hear,’ said Snape viciously. ‘Now, the use of this Potion is controlled by very strict Ministry guidelines. But unless you watch your step, you might just find that my hand slips –’ he shook the crystal bottle slightly ‘– right over your evening pumpkin juice. And then, Potter ... then we’ll find out whether you’ve been in my office or not.’

Goblet of Fire - page 449 - Bloomsbury - chapter 27, Padfoot Returns

---

‘Severus, please fetch me the strongest Truth Potion you possess.’

Goblet of Fire - page 591 - Bloomsbury - chapter 35, Veritaserum

Are there other truth potions aside from Veritaserum. Canon tells us that Veritaserum is the strongest truth potion -- as Veritaserum is what Snape brings to Dumbledore after Mad-Eye Moody is revealed to actually be Barty Crouch Jr -- but is it possible there are other types of truth serums in Potterverse?

---

Snape handed Dumbledore a small glass bottle of completely clear liquid; the Veritaserum with which he had threatened Harry in class. Dumbledore got up, bent over the man on the floor, and pulled him into a sitting position against the wall [...] Dumbledore forced [Barty Crouch Jr's] mouth open, and poured three drops inside it. Then he pointed hisw and at the man’s chest, and said, ‘Rennervate.’

Goblet of Fire - page 593 - Bloomsbury - chapter 35, Veritaserum

---

Here's the truth: Veritaserum is neither perfect nor infalliable. Just like its Muggle counterpart -- the polygraph, or lie detector test -- information or a confession gained under the influence of Veritaserium is not admissible as evidence in the Wizengamot.

Probably the two most common questions about Veritaserum are 1) Why didn't the Wizengamot, after Peter Pettigrew gave up the Potters and murdered thirteen Muggles to frame Sirius Black, give Sirius Veritaserum so Sirius could tell the authorities what happened, and clear his name, and 2) Why did Dumbledore use Veritaserum on Barty Crouch Jr after the third task of the Triwizard Tournament if it's not a reliable truth potion?

Let's talk about it!

Veritaserum may be the powerful truth potion in Potterverse, but it has its flaws. According to J.K. Rowling, there are a number of ways to thwart the effects Veritaserum.

Veritaserum works best on someone who is unsuspecting and not skilled enough to counteract the effects before they take hold. For example, the Hogwarts students who were given Veritaserum by Dolores Umbridge, so she could interrogate them about suspected illicit activities at Hogwarts, would likely be Umbridge's unsuspecting prey until word got around the school that Umbridge was slipping students the truth potion. Young witches and wizards would presumably be ill-prepared to, one, recognize they were being given Veritaserum, and, two, not well-versed enough in magic to protect themselves against the potion.

Regarding Barty Crouch Sr, who was head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement at the time Sirius Black was arrested -- and was also responsible for sentencing Sirius to Azkaban without a trial -- many people have asked why Sirius didn't take Veritaserum to clear his name. Sirius might have taken Veritaserum willingly and told the truth about what happened the night the Potters were killed, but still Barty Crouch Sr could have insisted Sirius was using some form of trickery to circumvent the effects of the Veritaserum. J.K. Rowling describes Crouch at that time as being "power mad and increasingly unjust in the way he was treating suspects" would not likely have considered Veritaserum evidence exonerating Sirius anyway. As well, as Dumbledore noted in Prisoner of Azkaban, Sirius "didn't act like an innocent man."

So why did Dumbledore use Veritaserum with Barty Crouch Jr after the third task of the Triwizard Tournament without mistrusting Crouch's responses? Crouch Jr was quite groggy from being stunned as the Veritaserum was given to him. J.K. Rowling says that otherwise he could have employed any number of preventative measures against the potion's effect. He could 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."

Have you always thought that Veritaserum was infallible? Guess again!

Did you know?

SOURCE: WAYBACK MACHINE to JKR's original website, where she previously provided a lot of canon information as extras, from her notes. ETA: Accessing JKR's original website through this link might occasionally be tricky -- sometimes even the Wayback Machine is tetchy :)