Question:
i have a really important question about the Harry Potter series?
madi.
2011-05-18 18:59:05 UTC
Why doesn't the Ministry of Magic check accused death eaters for the dark mark? For example: In the book, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, Harry sees Barty Crouch's son's trial in the penseive. Barty Crouch Jr was being accused of being a death eater, why couldn't they just check him for the dark mark? Also, in Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, at the beginning when Harry is suspecting Malfoy of being a death eater, why doesn't he just check his arm?
Also, why don't they just use veritaserum (truth potion) in situations like that? Also, in Harry Potter and the Order of Phoenix when Harry is at his hearing about the dementors, why don't they give him veritaserum?
And why is Harry considered a half-blood if it's clear that both his parents went to Hogwarts and were both witches and wizards? Is it because his mother was muggle-born, or... ?
Six answers:
nora
2011-05-19 06:46:22 UTC
1. Dark Mark

The accused Death Eaters could claim they were under the imperius curse when the Dark Mark was given to them. It is also possible to be a reformed Death Eater; you strongly regret ever turning to Voldemort, and now only help the good side. If determining if someone was a Death Eater was as easy as just checking their arm, then these good people (think Sirius' brother) would be grouped together with all current Death Eaters.



Harry could have tried rolling up Draco's sleeve, but getting close to Draco and then tricking him to roll up his sleeve is no easy task. Even if Harry manages to check his arm, Draco would inevitably be aware of this, and Harry probably wouldn't want Draco to know about his suspicions.



2. Veritaserum

Harry Potter Wiki on resistance and limitations of veritaserum:



'Despite being the most powerful truth serum in existence, it can still be resisted through different methods, including the taking its antidote and through Occlumency. For the same reasons Muggles use polygraph tests, Veritaserum is no more reliable than its Muggle counterpart. Since some wizards and witches can resist its effects while others cannot, Veritaserum is "unfair and unreliable to use at a trial" and cannot be used as definite proof of guilt or innocence.

Another weakness is that the victim only states what they believe to be true, so the victim's sanity and perception of reality also factors in during interrogations. This is the main reason why Barty Crouch Jr.'s testimony was not credible, as he was clearly insane.'

http://harrypotter.wikia.com/wiki/Veritaserum



3. Blood status

Blood status doesn't just depend on your parents, but also on your grandparents. In order to be a pureblood, you need two sets of magical grandparents. As we know, Harry's maternal grandparents were both muggles, and so Harry is not a pureblood. Because his paternal grandparents were witch and wizard, Harry is a half-blood.
Anonymous
2011-05-19 19:26:12 UTC
I'm pretty sure the Ministry of Magic didn't know about the whole Dark mark on the arm thing. And as for Harry checking Malfoy's arm, he wouldn't really be able to. I mean, they're enemies, he can hardly run up to him and pull up his sleeve to check his arm.

They don't use Veritaserum because, like Legilimency and the Imperius Curse, it can be fought, so if a witch or wizard was able to fight it, they'd still be able to lie.

A Half-blood is anything other than Muggle, Muggle-born, or Pureblood, not just one magic one Muggle parent.
Christina Watts
2011-05-18 19:33:34 UTC
Hello! I dont know all the answers to ur questions but i do know some.. First Harry is not the half blood prince.. The half blood prince is professor snape.. His mother was a pure blooded witch and her maiden name was prince and his father was a muggle... In book six harry gets an old potions book that belonged to the half blooded prince.. Second, i believe the dark mark can be or is magically concealled... Its been awhile since i read the books so i'm not positive.. Third, i do know there is a reason to the truth serum.. Snape explains to it to harry in the goblet of fire when threating to use it on him.. Plus i think they didnt use it on bartys son because they already had enough evidence on him they didnt need to

.. Hopefully that helped!
anonymous
2011-05-18 19:23:28 UTC
Harrys mother is a muffle born and father is a wizard



Also for the part about rolling up sleeves the people woulnt let you roll it up



And somepeople would reject the truth potion and such
Hedgi Hufflepuff
2011-05-18 19:26:39 UTC
rule of cool.also, i figure that death eaters could just use magic to cover the mark if they wanted, like makeup. *shrugs.*

and the truth serum is expensive, and could be easily faked- ' oh, yeah, i gave it to him!' when it was really just water or something. with all the mistrust in the ministry, they'd try to rig it anyway.
hitsukarin
2011-05-18 19:11:59 UTC
harrys a halfblood? hmm... who knew...

:O well ya see... :) that would make for no story. It'd be like... "EVERYONE, ROLL UP YOUR SLEEVES!" "kay, youre good, youre good, youre good, oh... youre evil." *kill* then like, none of that plot stuff and what not could happen :O

realize... harry potter may be the awesomest thing ever, but its still just a book

Or ya know... O.o other reasons that I didn't know about


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