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Harry Potter’s Most Useful Potion Should Have Been Used More (But It Would Have Hurt The Books)

Ashleigh Durden1 day ago
4 minutes read
Harry Potter’s Most Useful Potion Should Have Been Used More (But It Would Have Hurt The Books)

The limited use of Veritaserum has long been a headscratcher in Harry Potter, but this potion could have easily broken Harry’s book story. Several features of the wizarding world don’t seem to be used nearly enough. For a magical community, Harry’s world is bound and determined to keep things as difficult as possible. While arguments can always be made about why stuff like Veritaserum isn’t used more often, it’s difficult to deny that there were circumstances in which a truth potion could have been used. However, incorporating this further would have created a troublesome obstacle.

Veritaserum—the Truth Potion—was introduced largely in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, when Severus Snape threatened to illegally use the substance to make Harry admit he had stolen from his stores. Dumbledore later used the stuff on Barty Crouch Jr to force the Death Eater to spill everything regarding his plan to help resurrect Lord Voldemort. While Veritaserum did pop up from time to time in the Harry Potter series, such as when Dolores Umbridge used it, the potion was largely ignored. This is a bit frustrating since it really could have solved a lot of problems.

Veritaserum Really Should Have Been Used More In The Harry Potter Books

The Truth Potion Was Largely Ignored

The big question of whether characters were lying was rather prominent in Harry Potter, so the fact that Veritaserum was mostly ignored is a bit baffling. Sure, the Truth Potion isn’t perfect. Like a lie detector test, wizards can be trained to resist spilling their guts after drinking the substance. Additionally, there are some ethical drawbacks to using Veritaserum, which is why its use is controlled by the Minister for Magic. Still, there were plenty of reasonable, moral, and seemingly legal instances in which Veritaserum would have been helpful, but no one seemed even to consider it.

It’s Surprising The Truth Potion Isn’t Used To Solve More Wizarding World Problems

Veritaserum May Have Limits, But It Would Still Be Useful

The Ministry of Magic in Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix

Dumbledore and Umbridge used Veritaserum during interrogations, but this was about the extent of the potion’s use in Harry Potter. The fact that it wasn’t entirely reliable meant that the Ministry of Magic didn’t even bother using Veritaserum during criminal trials, but this is quite surprising. As previously stated, Muggle lie detectors aren’t wholly reliable either, but they are still used in certain circumstances. Plenty of such instances popped up throughout the Harry Potter series, especially during the years that Lord Voldemort was at large and gaining followers.

Muggle lie detectors aren’t wholly reliable either, but they are still used in certain circumstances.

It was always difficult to tell whether a witch or wizard was a Death Eater, but Veritaserum could have thinned the herd. Sure, a wizard couldn’t necessarily be counted as trustworthy if they claimed they weren’t a Death Eater after taking the Truth Potion. Still, if Veritaserum resulted in a person admitting to being a Dark wizard, that would have been something for the Ministry to take seriously. At the very least, Veritaserum could have been used as a first step in criminal proceedings. The potion wouldn’t have been the end-all-be-all, but it would still have been a helpful tool.

Leaning Too Heavily On Veritaserum Would Have Hurt The Harry Potter Books

The Truth Potion Is Too Much Of A Cheat

Veritaserum was a handy tool for JK Rowling when writing Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. However, the author couldn’t continue to feature this potion. Harry Potter is a mystery book series, so a brew that forces the drinker to tell the truth would be a pretty significant nuisance. For this reason, Veritaserum had to be given some limitations and, at times, ignored entirely. The potion would be reintroduced when it was convenient, but if it had been too heavily featured, the big mysteries of Harry Potter would have been made redundant. Most problems would have been immediately solved.

The Truth Potion isn’t the only thing in Harry Potter that had to be used with a similar kind of flexibility. The Marauder’s Map was a significant obstacle after it was introduced in Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban since it gave Harry a bit too much knowledge about the Castle’s inhabitants. Rowling wrote the map out, temporarily, in Goblet of Fire when Mad-Eye Moody confiscated it. The same was true for the Time Turner. This useful item was such an issue that each one was written out of existence in Order of the Phoenix. Overall, it’s clear the magical items of Harry Potter made the books’ mysteries far more complicated.

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Ashleigh Durden1 day ago
4 minutes read
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