Learning Still Had to Be Done

Veritaserum could be said to be one of the least popular Potions, making people even warier than poisons.

Even Love Potion could be bought in legitimate shops in Diagon Alley, available from both Potions shops and joke shops.

Veritaserum, however, was prohibited from being sold or used freely—though the main reason was that most Veritaserum had severe irreversible side effects, it was hard to say how much of that was merely an excuse.

No matter who it was, once they knew Severus possessed Veritaserum, they could not help feeling uneasy around him, even if they knew Severus had no reason to use it on them...

But what if he did?

At the same time, Veritaserum had always been coveted. From love to interrogations, countless people went to great lengths just to obtain one truthful sentence from another person, while Veritaserum only required a few drops to achieve that goal.

The temptation was enormous for certain groups of people, especially since wizards generally tended to think emotionally.

"I know. I plan to leave it in Professor Slughorn's custody and study it when I need it."

Like Manus had done before, Severus applied for a Potions room at school, one that had to be supervised by Hogwarts.

If he handed the Veritaserum to Slughorn, he could simply pick it up on the way whenever he went to the Potions room to study it. He did not need to worry that the Potions master would pocket the Veritaserum, it would be protected from theft, and Slughorn's reputation could prove that he would not use it. It killed several birds with one stone.

"Mm, that's a good idea."

Manus nodded. Mainly because Slughorn's guarantee carried enough weight that the students at Hogwarts would have little motivation to fabricate or spread rumors. Even if rumors