Roots used in Draught of Living Death.
"veritas" L. truth
The most powerful Truth Serum available, this colourless, odourless potion (which looks like plain water) forces the drinker to tell the truth (HBP9)
A Truth Potion so powerful that three drops would have the drinker spilling his or her innermost secrets (GF27, OP32).
Use of this potion is controlled by very strict Ministry guidelines (GF27).
Dumbledore had Snape use it on Barty Crouch Jr. (GF35).
According to Snape, Veritaserum takes a full moon-cycle to mature when it is being made (OP32). The trustworthiness of this statement may be questioned, since Snape was speaking to Umbridge at the time and may have wished to avoid giving her the potion, but Snape's subtlety is such that even under those circumstances he may have been speaking the truth.
Discussed during the first class of sixth-year Potions; students who have achieved an N.E.W.T. in Potions should be able to make Veritaserum (HBP9)
An alert wizard who's good at Potions can protect himself against the use of Veritaserum by keeping some antidote handy (HBP17)
ingredients (see individual potions)
In his unnatural quest to achieve immortality, Voldemort has used three different potions:
potion that kept Voldemort alive from the time Wormtail returned to him until he could be reborn; it consisted of unicorn blood and snake venom milked from Nagini (GF1), (GF33).
potion to restore Voldemort to his body - June 24, 1995 [Y15]: bone of his father, blood of his enemy, flesh of his servant (GF32).
