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Why was the Ministry just questioning Harry in part 5 about the Dementors instead of trying Legilimens, as the Dementors were also shown in the movie when Snape performed the same on Harry?

TheLethalCarrot
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2 Answers2

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I can think of two different theories to answer this question :-

Theory 1 : There are probably rules against it.

There is probably a Law that prevents the Ministry from doing this as it seems like a breach of privacy. However, I could find no mention of a Law like this anywhere in the books.

Theory 2 : It would take a powerful wizard to be able to get a satisfying evidence.

It was very clear, from the 5th book, that it would take a very powerful witch/wizard to be able to get a complete and clear memory of what happened from an accused person.

In book 5, when Snape tries to read Harry's mind, all he can get is short glimpses of random events. Nowhere near a clear and concise memory.

Even if the Ministry did find such a witch/wizard, there would undoubtedly be questions over their honesty.

Infinity Milestone
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The Ministry certainly could have used Legilimency, or even a Pensieve, but they didn't want to.

“Okay, you know she wrote that you were collapsing all over the place and saying your scar was hurting and all that?”

“Yeah,” said Harry, who was not likely to forget Rita Skeeter’s stories about him in a hurry.

“Well, they’re writing about you as though you’re this deluded, attention-seeking person who thinks he’s a great tragic hero or something,” said Hermione, very fast, as though it would be less unpleasant for Harry to hear these facts quickly. “They keep slipping in snide comments about you. If some far-fetched story appears they say something like ‘a tale worthy of Harry Potter’ and if anyone has a funny accident or anything it’s ‘let’s hope he hasn’t got a scar on his forehead or we’ll be asked to worship him next —’ ”

“I don’t want anyone to worship —” Harry began hotly. “I know you don’t,” said Hermione quickly, looking frightened. “I know, Harry. But you see what they’re doing? They want to turn you into someone nobody will believe. Fudge is behind it, I’ll bet anything. They want wizards on the street to think you’re just some stupid boy who’s a bit of a joke, who tells ridiculous tall stories because he loves being famous and wants to keep it going.”

(The Order of the Phoenix, Chapter 4)

Righter
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    Please don't answer a question if you're already flagging to close it. Do one or the other... preferably the former always if the question should be closed. – TheLethalCarrot Mar 17 '21 at 11:56