Hello Everyone!

No idea where to put this so I put it under the heading of the book that inspired my question. Here goes:

How do Voldemort's death eaters know where to apparate to to get to Voldemort? Hermione's coins had the date... and they had preset the location... but Voldemort's dark marks simply burn and they know to join him instantly which solves the problem of time... but how do they know where to go? And if it's possible to tell where someone is through the magic, how come they all haven't been apprehended? If it was possible to tell where he is before apparating, Dumbeldore would have known and demanded that Snape tell him where they all are so they could be caught. So... we're back at the start where it's all very confusing as to how the Death Eaters find him.

Also... Bella follows Narcissa and is able to apparate to the same location after Narcissa disapparates... and she obviously had no idea where to apparate to on a whim because Bella seemed surprised that Snape lives where he does. So it would appear as though she was able to follow.

Yet... on other occasions we see that people are unable to follow. The Order knew it was important to keep the death eaters within Hogwarts so they couldn't apparate and, therefore, escape. Also, Dumbeldore does not persue Voldemort and Bella from the MoM in OotP... though admittedly it may have been that he did not want to leave Harry... but still... you'd think he'd have continued his attempt to beat Voldemort and then worried about Harry after. Never can tell.

Anyone else have thoughts to add to it?

Perhaps the Dark Marks link the Death Eaters to Voldemort in more powerful ways than we thought. When they burn, maybe the Death Eaters instinctively know the place where they are supposed to go. In HBP it says that the person Apparating must concentrate on where they are going, so obviously they must know the location. But the Dark Mark would not work for Bellatrix and Narcissa. This could be another of those things JKR did not expect people to stop and think about, that she may not have thought about herself. I did not until you pointed it out. But it is a really good question.

If it was this link with Voldemort, than the Ministry of Magic could not use it, because only Voldemort could make it work. The Marks grew blacker as Voldemort grew stronger, so it makes sense.

*scratches long ears*

Maybe the Dark Mark works a bit like a portkey--it brings people to Voldemort. And perhaps it's also a bit like the Order's Patronus messengers--it seems Voldemort can't catch them, because of their magic. It could be the same with the Dark Marks, their magic prevents Dumbledore and the Order from interfering with the 'pull' somehow. Considering that the Ministry didn't know for all those years, until Snape actually showed his to Fudge in GoF that Dark Marks existed--and they caught so many Death Eaters, I presume it's not traceable or detectable easily. It might even be partly invisible.

Good point Winky. Also, there could be some type of protection similar to a secret keeper where Voldemort can call his deatheaters, but some magic prevents them from revealing the information to anyone else.

Winky has a good point--the marks are probably a lot like Portkeys, because there's no other way the Death Eaters would know how to get to their master. Unless, maybe, they arranged places? Maybe they always met in that graveyard. I know it's really unlikely, but it's just my thoughts.

hmm... maybe. I suppose the port key-like function is possible but I got the impression that Hermione used the same charm... only she used coins instead of skin (she's such a sweetheart).

Also... I doubt very much that the dark marks are normally invisible because I'm with Harry in thinking that he showed his to Burke in the shop when he warned him of who he was dealing with.

... it's a tough one, that's for sure!

Well well well. Surely The mark is a sort of port key. When Voldie calls, it brings the detheater immediately by Voldie's side. good idea. I should use it with my boyfriend...

And it is not always invisible, it cannot be invisible. Simply the more powerful Voldie gets, the darker it gets. As Lupinsangel said, Draco used it to scare Burke.

The Dark Mark being a Portkey is a good idea, but it does not work. If the moment Voldemort touched Peter's Dark Mark the other Death Eaters were transported to him, then Snape, Karkaroff and Crouch Jr. would have been brought there also. But they did not, and portkeys do work inside Hogwarts- Dumbledore used them to get the Weasleys to Grimmauld Place and to get back from the Ministry in OOTP. Apparently the Death Eaters have a choice when the Mark burns whether to go to their master or not.

Is it possible that as well as focusing on a location and being brought there, you can also apparate to a person by focusing on them, thus making it possible for the DEs to apparate to Voldemort AND Bella to Narcissia without knowing where they are actually going?

This of course raises the question of "Why didn't DD just focus on Voldemort?" but that could be explained relatively simply in terms of magic. In the same way they can protect the location of a house from those they don't want to know it, so too could they with themself, that sort of thing. So, while it would be possible to apparate to, say, Frad and George, less so for people like Dumbledore (like anyone would dare surprise him!), Voldemort and I'm guessing most definately Moody. The dark mark would give the signal of WHEN and possibly even some sort of pass to let only those intended through and safeguard against a bunch of apparating aurors in hoods.

It seems though that any explanations throw up a million more questions and create more holes than the first. *sigh* it's too late for this, it all makes sense in my head!!!

I guess I should have been more clear about the Ministry of Magic jumping on the chance to get Voldemort through Snape's dark mark. It's true that they did not know until GoF but then... why not use that knowledge then? If there was a secret keeping charm, Snape wouldn't have to tell them and could just do side along apparition with someone who was disillusioned or wearing an invisibility cloack to show them the place.

The idea that they could focus on a person seems okay at first... but then... wouldn't you think that all those associated with Voldemort would have the protection you proposed? He wouldn't want people able to get at his death eaters or at people who could be potential weaknesses for those same death eaters. Also... if you're focusing on the person... wouldn't you apparate on them? Or... *shudders* IN them? I mean... that's your destination, right? Ew.

I don't know... I'm still lost on this one.

Ok, let's say this:
Voldie touches one DE's mark----- means COME!
The DEs feel the mark burning------ means VOLDIE WANTS ME TO BE BY HIS SIDE
Snape or Karkaroff can't go (they are busy at the moment)----- they do nothing
the other DEs must appear by Voldie's side.

there could be a link between all the marks of all the DEs. If Voldie touches Peter's mark, the other DEs know it was Peter's and that they have to follow the trace left by the "spell" to find Voldie.

Mark burning----- Peter's mark----- find Peter----- find Voldie

It is not a real portkey, just a signal and you have to follow the evidences to find Voldie. like hide and seek...

I know this is short sorry. But in response to a post just a few above this that said portkeys didnt work inside Hogwarts. Didnt Dumbledore send Harry back to his office after the battle at the ministry in OOTP.I have to go now sorry for the short post

I'd have to say this smells of an overlooked bit of magic on JKR's part. I'm certain you could come up with some explaination, but I have the felling that it wasn't thought up. If you can apparate to a person, all sorts of problems result: You can find anybody you want, including Sirius, Harry, Buckbeak, Dumbledore (when the ministers were looking for him), etc. Even if you can block it, some of the characters, that we know of, didn't block it, including Harry. For instance, when Harry disappeared in GoF, you'd have thought that Dumbledore would apparate to him, or at least use Fawkes to find him. It is clear that you can summon somebody (and send them away to a location), but being able to find somebody through apparation seems unlikely. One possible explaination is that when Voldemort touched Peter's dark mark, he used legalmancy (sp? I'm impartial to "legal" since I'm a law student :P) to give each of the death eaters a vision of the location that they were at. But, as I said, I believe that JKR just didn't think about it.

hhmmm.....good question. Voldie is one of the most powerful wizards so I'm sure he thought up a way to let the DEs know where he is to apparate by his side. Maybe when Voldie touches a Dark Mark, DEs have a sight of where he is. Apparition can be dangerous if you don't know exactly where you want to go, not for nothing the first D is Destination and Twycross says:"step one: fix your mind firmly upon the desired destination"! If you don't you might Splinch or get lost. So I don't think that focusing on a person is enough to apparate if you don't know where he/she is, if this was possible MoM would find every wanted person, like Sirius or Voldie himself!