Title: Veritas Oracle
Author: BajaB
Rating: T
Genre: General/Humor
DLP Category: Humor/Parody
Pairing: None
Status: WIP
Summary: A series of Vignettes involving possibly the second most powerful but underused magic in the HP universe, Veritaserum. AU after GOF.

Link: FF.net

I just had to post it here after reading chapter 2, Definitely one of the best Ginny bashing I have ever read.

 

This hadn't been posted already? I thought it had.

Anyway, 3/5. I liked it, but the premise is a little far-fetched.

 

Writing is good enough, but the deus ex machina was extremely annoying to me. 2/5

 

Hehe, liked that quite a lot. Does seem rather good to me and not as far-fetched as DarthBill says.

OK, it's a deus ex machina, but it does the job good.

4/5

 

I read to the second chapter and the supposed Ginny bashing, but I don't think I'll continue. I will say that I liked the thought of Amos Diggory dosing Harry with Veritaserum to find out the truth, but he learned entirely too much from someone who didn't know much at all. The story would be much easier to believe if it started after OoTP, when Harry actually did know the prophecy.

It also bothered me that we never see Amos taking the Ministry by storm. You mean to tell me he got to become Minister of Magic just because his son was killed by Voldemort? I can see it being a springboard for him making a difference, but becoming the leader of the wizarding world is pretty unbelievable.

And the Ginny-bashing scene was just awful. Do you really think she has a plan at 14 years old to marry Harry and then sleep around on him? I think not. The rest of her aspirations are even more ridiculous.

I won't rate this with a number since I didn't read past the second chapter, but it's certainly not library-worthy. Instead, I'll just rate it unbelievable.

 

I read this instead of paying attention to my income tax prof.

I didn't like it at all, but I eventually warmed up to the idea. For starters, why would Harry even keep on a somewhat friendly basis with Ginny after the first interrogation? Then he goes as far as to admitting he'd want to kiss her after the second interrogation, which wasn't much better than the first. I did however wish we could have seen more of Hermione's interrogation, I wanted to hear her response to Harry's question.

I like the idea but I'm not quite a fan of the way it is being executed. Though I am interested to see what Luna's interrogation will be like.


2.5/5

 

I like this one more than I dislike it - overall it's the classic BajaB combination of great ideas, backed by somewhat inconsistent execution. I was particularly amused by the Ron interrogation in chapter 3, and amused to a lesser degree by Snape in chapter 4. Luna could be very good, but this story has been on hold for a long while now.

Voted 4/5, actual 3.5/5.

 

I'm surprised this wasn't already up. I'm a big fan of this one, although they're not all great, some chapters really are damn good.

3.5/5 (rounded up)

 

I remember reading this months ago and really liking it. Looking back on it, I like it a little less.

The idea behind veritaserum here is absolute genius. Imagine if a drug could tell you things about yourself that you only know at an unconscious level. It would be the ultimate form of pyschoanalysis.

The story, though, fails to take advantage of the idea as much as it could. This premise is made for comedy, and there just aren't many laughs. (Though the upcoming Luna chapter could provide some). The revelations aren't as earth-shattering as one might expect either, especially since we don't get to see Hermione's interrogation.

tl; dr: It's a great premise handled imperfectly, which is the exception to the rule for BajaB. He's written some fantastic stories. This one isn't his best, but I'm still interested in seeing what happens next.

3.5/5

 

I think the basic premise behind the story is brilliant with heaps of potential for further chapters ('genius', as darklordmike says); I just hope BajaB will return to the fanfic writing one day.

I disagree. Well, maybe it's built for comedy, but not exclusively; I dare say some drama and other (deep) emotion could be mined as well. For example I was *really* looking forward to the 'Luna' chapter; it could be an instalment full of whacky lunatic laughs or, perhaps, the Veritaserum could force Luna to see her 'Loony' personification as the shield that it is, say, cause her to admit to herself that her weird magical creatures *don't* exist, break down her self-delusions. Which could make for a very moving chapter.

(Maybe BajaB will write a chapter with both comedy and drama, hopefully pleasing us all.)

Same here!! BajaB was an evil tease for holding back on us with that one.

 

Fair enough. I'd agree with that. I just meant that, if I were writing this story, my gut instinct would be to go for laughs. Imagine the silly and embarrassing revelations that would result if you gave most of the characters this kind of veritaserum.

I'm looking forward to the Luna chapter too, but I really, really hope he doesn't make it serious and dramatic. That leaves us with only two likely outcomes. She would either be (a) the Luna of jbern's TML, hiding behind a carefully-constructed facade for her own amusement, or (b) a Luna whose beliefs are the result of some unbearable pain or trauma. Option (a) leaves us with an ordinary Luna, which is against the rules. Period. Option (b) is not something I want to read. It would leave her a shambling wreck of a girl, forced to accept the false world she has built around herself.

Why is option (a) against the rules? Because Luna is essentially a Dickensian character. She's not three-dimensional, and that's not a bad thing. She's defined by her quirks and eccentricities, and any attempt to explain them away results in the creation of an OC. In short, she believes that stuff is real, and that's the only way to play it.

I hope to God he goes for comedy or strangeness with Luna.

 

I found the first chapter to be annoying as hell and couldn't go any further. The way Harry spews out every secret and tactic essential to win the war just does not work without a parody environment. And the story was far too serious to be a parody.

2/5

 

It started out semi-OK in the first 2 chapters, but after that it took a huge nosedive. The rants by Ron about how he's the perfect man for Hermione are both ridiculous and nauseating and make me seriously question the author's mental health. After that basically nothing interesting happens. Blah blah blah.


2/5

 

The same BajaB who wrote The Substitute wrote this piece of shit?

1/5. The good writing doesn't help at all.

 

I read it while stoned, and enjoyed it. I honestly think that was the reason I enjoyed it.

3/5 from me. Worth reading in an impaired state of mind.

 

Sorry for bump but there is new and last chapter of story on ff.net so I thought it could be opportunity to rate or discuss fic in its entirety because it is completed.

 

Absolutely terrible.

A ridiculous premise, horribly executed, with ludicrous characterizations.

1/5

 

Actually, I find the bits with Ginny to be one of the better parts of the story. It is afterall supposed to be a humorous little tale about the nature of truth. Several folks have dismissed "Ginny's Plan" to marry and cockold Harry but this is an erroneous interpretation. What she said under the drug wasn't her plan at all; if you will recall after Harry questions Ginny to see if she is still possessed by Tom he apologizes for drugging her and asks how he can make it up to her. It is at that point that she reels off the idea of his worshipping her, marrying her and turning a blind eye on her cheating. It wasn't her long term plan just a spur of the moment rant at what he could do after tricking her. Ginny then takes the time to truly analyze her feelings towards Harry, realizes that they are unrealistic and basically unfair to the both of them and tries to grow up. In her latter questioning we all see the progress she is making and in the end Harry decides that they all have growing up to do and they might as well enjoy their teenage years while they can instead of angsting about it all.

Regardless of the weaknesses of the plot (and how many supposedly funny stories don't have weak premises?) it is an amusing and light hearted story.

BJH

 

I don't know - to me, this story became less and less light-hearted as it went on. Especially with this new final chapter, which was at least somewhat creepy. Would've been more creepy, in fact, except it ran up against the limitations of BajaB's writing style. As he said at the a/n of the last chapter, he was aiming for a...

Spoiler

nasty, "bitchy" Luna,

...and couldn't quite do it as well as he wished. I sometimes wonder what sort of masterpieces you'd end up with if you could combine BajaB's ability to churn out interesting ideas with someone who really excels at putting ideas to the page - a top tier wordsmith, or whatever.

But even so, the chapter was still pretty good. The overall story was a nice exploration of both the light side and the dark side of his concept for Veritaserum. My overall grade for the fic is the same as it was before: 3.5/5.

 

3.5/5? Sounds about right.