Why the Knight Bus?

[Grey Wolf]

No: HPFGUIDX 45801

--- In HPforGrownups at y..., sugarkadi at a... wrote:
> Constant Viligance wrote:
> 
> Presumably, all adult wizards can apparate. Or is this something that 
> is only available to those who can prove skill and qualify for a 
> license? 
> 
> 
> Me:
> I have a thought that I haven't seen posted (forgive me if I missed 
> it!). I guess my thoughts are that wizards can make themselves 
> apparate, but they can't make objects apparate with them.  Of course, 
> they don't end up naked after the apparate, but maybe it excludes 
> clothing, or there's a limit to how much materila you can apparate 
> with you. Like a really strong wizard(like Dumbledore) could apparate 
> with a kid on his shoulders, while regular wizards manage with their  
> clothing and whatever's in the pockets. The main thing that backs 
> this up is the fact that Harry and the Weasleys had to take a portkey 
> to the QWC.  Why would they do this if the kids could just grab a
> hold of Arthur and be apparated?
> 
> Does anyone else have thoughts on this?
> 
> ~Katey, who's hugely sad that Richard Harris died, and spent the 
> better part of an hour crying, but is okay now.  *sniff*

The general consensus tends to be that apparition cannot be used to 
carry other live beings with you (for example, maybe because the chance 
of splinching is way too high, so high that in fact it always happens). 
This comes out from indirect evidence. By all acounts, Lily Potter was 
a very powerful witch, and yet she *did not apparate away from 
Voldemort with Harry*. She had enough time, since James bought her time 
enough to apparate, but even he tells her to "run away", not "aparate 
away".

Other such circunstance is Hagrid's rescue of Harry during that fateful 
night: Hagrid is sent in the flying motorbike. If apparating with a 
baby was possible, Dumbledore would probably have found time to use 
three minutes of his time to apparate at Cedric's Hollow, grab Harry 
and apparate again to the Dursleys or to some other safe place if 
things had to be put into motion before leaving Harry with his family.

And of course, during the fourth book we see several ocasions in which 
apparition is used and in every occasion it is a person alone (and 
never carrying too much baggage, although there is no definite canon 
one way or the other).

Finally, since I'm throwing myself into the fray, I would like to point 
out that apparition is not something "evey grown wizard knows how to 
do". In fact, the very first time *we* hear about it we are told (GoF, 
ch. 6, Sp. Ed., liberal translation)

"Apparition isn't easy, and when it is not done properly it can bring 
very horrible complications [...]There are many adult wizards that 
don't want to use it. They prefer the broom: is slower, but safer".

It seems that a respectable percentage of the WW population don't, in 
fact, use apparition, simply because it's too dificult. Some of those 
would prefer taking the knight bus to any other method, since it gives 
you a warm bed and optional chocolate (I know I'd prefer that to flying 
a broom during a rainy English night!).

Hope that helps,

Grey Wolf