Apparate or Die Trying (WAS TBAY: MACHINGARMCHAIR)

[ssk7882]

No: HPFGUIDX 39466

Why don't wizards ever seem to disapparate themselves out of 
trouble?

Grey Wolf suggested:

> The easiest reason is that it takes a little time to apparate, 
> during which time you're half-here/half-there. . . . During those
> precious seconds, a wizard cannot do a simgle blessed thing, and 
> he's fully in the aim of his enemy, so apparating cannot be used 
> for a quick escape, or you would be blasted into smitherins when 
> you started to fade (and became a sitting duck).

I like this suggestion, but I'm afraid that apparition does seem
to be fairly instantaneous.  We see Ludo Bagman do it in Chapter Nine 
of _GoF:_

"Bagman swore loudly.

'Damn them!' he said, looking quite distracted, and without another
word, he Disapparated with a small *pop*!"

(Thus answering Eloise's question.  Apparently when wizards 
disapparate, they "pop," just like House Elves do.)

Now admittedly, Bagman does look "distracted."  But it doesn't seem 
to take him more than a second or so, if that, to Disapparate, nor 
does he "fade" or have any apparant transitional period at all.

I suppose, though, that a good magical duellist could probably whip 
off a spell at an opponent in even that split-second, and I am 
perfectly willing to entertain the notion that being the target of 
*any* spell while in the middle of disapparating might interfere with 
the process sufficiently to cause a splinch.  That fact alone might 
cause wizards to think twice about trying to disapparate out of 
trouble in the middle of a magical confrontation.  This might explain 
why Rosier, for example, who was unwilling to be taken alive by the 
Aurors, didn't just flee them rather than fighting to the death.  
Once you're already locked in combat, I imagine that it's really just 
a bit too late for that option.

I also find Grey Wolf's suggestion that using any form of magical 
shield (if such do in fact exist) would prevent one from apparating
to be perfectly sensible and plausible.

Really, it seems to me that there are perfectly reasonable 
explanations for wizards failing to consider apparating as an option 
in all of the examples that Cindy originally cited.  

We never see anyone save Dobby (who as an Elf has special magical 
powers and therefore is not bothered by shields and such) apparate in 
or out of a house.  (Percy does so *inside* the Burrow, but 
apparating down the stairs does not involve crossing the boundaries 
of the house itself.)  I imagine that this is because all wizarding 
houses are protected, as Hogwarts is, against this form of intrusion 
as a matter of basic security.  If you can't apparate in, then you 
can't disapparate out.  This covers the Potters, the Longbottoms, and 
Peter in the Shrieking Shack.  

Apparating does not help you if you are ambushed or otherwise taken 
by surprise because, um, well, isn't that the whole point of being 
taken by *surprise?*  So Bertha Jorkins didn't disapparate out of 
trouble because from her point of view, one minute she was out for a 
nice walk with Peter Pettigrew (had that memory charm problem of hers 
led her to forget that he was supposed to be dead, perhaps?), and the 
next minute she was unconscious or under Imperius or stunned or 
otherwise rendered incapable.  Same with Moody.  He went out to 
confront whatever was troubling his trash bins, and he got jumped.
Crouch Sr. opened his front door and was immediately hit with the 
Imperius.  None of these people really ever had the opportunity to 
disapparate themselves out of trouble.

You need to be in good mental and physical condition to apparate.
We know that it is very difficult, and that if done improperly, it 
can lead you into trouble.  I think it reasonable to assume that you 
have to be in pretty good form to pull it off.  So Lupin takes the 
train, rather than apparating to Hogsmeade, because he is *ill.*  
Sirius doesn't apparate anywhere because he's a weakened and 
emaciated wreck.  Crouch Jr. has just spent over a decade under the 
Imperius Curse in that Top Box, so even if Winky weren't binding him, 
he probably wouldn't have been in any condition to apparate anywhere 
anyway.  And Pettigrew at the end of _PoA_ isn't in good condition 
either: he's sick and weak; he's been scrounging around for food in 
Hagrid's cupboards; and on top of all of that, he's just spent over a 
decade in his animagus form, which has just *got* to mess with your 
magical abilities.  

Nah.  It doesn't bother me at all.

You know what does sometimes trouble my sleep though?  Wondering how 
all of those Death Eaters actually got *home* from the graveyard.  I
do worry about that sometimes.  After all, how well can you apparate 
if you don't even know where you *are?*  And it's hard to imagine a 
more awkward circumstance under which one could get oneself 
splinched, isn't it?   


-- Elkins (who thinks that Avery probably took the train)