+146 Why are there ever wrongful convictions in the harry potter universe if they have veritiserum? amirite?

by Anonymous 12 years ago

Because a skilled Occlumens can completely nullify the effects of the potion within himself. Not only that, but the one given the potion would say what he BELIEVES to be true. This includes what he or she may believe if they were insane, such as there being a secret force of bunny rabbits out to capture the cheese on the moon. This creates an extremely unreliable form of testimony that could very easily be no more helpful and even more harmful than just putting a person on the stand without having been given the potion at all.

by Anonymous 12 years ago

I've come to expect your comments explaining everything in detail on any Harry Potter post.

by Anonymous 12 years ago

Whether it was meant to be or not, I actually take that as a compliment!

by Anonymous 12 years ago

Just an observation haha. I enjoy reading them though.

by Anonymous 12 years ago

Well, first of all, we have polygraphs and people still get wrongfully convicted. Secondly, you have to remember that after the D.A. was caught, in Order of the Phoenix, Umbridge wanted to use it to interrogate the students, but when she asked Snape to bring her some, he told her she had used the last of it by trying to question Harry on an earlier occasion. From this we can learn that a) veritaserum takes some time to produce and b) only skilled potion masters can make it. And then there's also cases such as Morfin Gaunt's, where a dark wizard changes another's memory in order to frame him. They're obviously not gonna use a truth potion on someone who accepts that they're guilty.

by Anonymous 12 years ago

Snape's potion was a fake :/

by Anonymous 12 years ago

And to all the idiots who voted down; "Dolores Umbridge asks for Veritaserum from Severus Snape to interrogate Harry Potter. Snape provides fake Veritaserum on behalf of the Order of the Phoenix, however Harry suspected Umbridge and only pretended to drink it.[6] Umbridge used an entire bottle on Harry, ignoring Snape's advice on how to use it." http://www.the-leaky-cauldron.org/wiki/index.php?title=Veritaserum

by Anonymous 12 years ago