How to Catch an Apparator?

[Doriane]

No: HPFGUIDX 74088

Ravenclaw Black wrote:

> They fell silent.  Footsteps were coming up the stairs again.
> "Mum," said George, and without further ado there was a loud crack 
> and Harry felt the weight vanish from the end of his bed.

I guess it's already been discussed to death before, but I was just 
amazed when I learned in OoP that Fred and George had already learned 
to Apparate. It's always been described as hard and dangerous, and 
here they are, freshly out of their 6th year at Hogwarts, barely a 
month into the summer holidays, proudly Apparating all over the 
place ! Now I know they are smart and they can pretty much do 
anything they decide to do, but still I find it hard to believe that 
they could already Apparate. Here's why :
1. When did they learn ? We know they can't have learned more than 
the theory at Hogwarts. Is one month of practice enough to get it ?
2. Who taught them ? Seems to me like their parents were quite busy. 
For that matter, how does *anyone* learn to Apparate ? Are there 
training sessions organized at the MoM or something ?
3. From the previous books, I had got the distinct impression that 
learning to Apparate was something one did after leaving school. Even 
Percy waited until he left school to do it.
4. What was the POINT ??? Why spend so much time and energy learning 
something they can't use except for fun ? They can't Apparate while 
at Hogwarts, and I'll bet they can't Apparate in and out of Grimmauld 
Place either (nobody ever does, people keep coming in through the 
door). So did they really go through all that pain just for the fun 
of cracking all over the place during one single short month ? I know 
they are Gred and Forge, but still...

Oh well...

> It seems like wizards can apparate without having to say a 'magic 
> word' like other spells.

It seems that there's no need for a magic word where automorphic 
spells are concerned. Sirius doesn't use one when turning into a dog 
(good thing too, otherwise he couldn't turn back into a human :-), 
and Tonks doesn't use one to change her appearance.

> This leads me to believe that apparating can be done without the 
> use of a wand, which brings me to my question: how do you catch a 
> wizard who can apparate?

Ask Molly :-) I'm sure she'd love an answer to that one sometimes.

> Like when Black was first cornered by the ministry, why didn't he 
> just apparate away?

I remember a discussion long ago, where someone said that he probably 
never bothered/had time to learn to Apparate. He was an Animagus, 
maybe he thought that was enough protection.

> Or when Death Eaters are in a fight going badly, why not just 
> apparate out of there?

As far as the battle at the MoM is concerned, what bothers me is not 
that they didn't Apparate away, but that they *could* do it at all ! 
I can't believe that the MoM wouldn't be protected with a general 
anti-Apparation spell, which could be lifted in the Apparition boxes 
only. Morevoer, if they could Apparate straight into the DoM, what 
was all that bother with people being forced to go through doors, and 
people guarding doors ???

> I keep thinking of the opening scene in X2 with nightcrawler 
> teleporting all other the place to get past secret service men and 
> into the oval office. 

Completely OT, but boy, did I LOVE this scene...

> Anyway, the more I think about apparating, the less of a good idea 
> it seems to be something from a writers point of view.  Especially 
> if words/wands are not required.

Not necessarily. But what bothers me is that Apparating doesn't seem 
to be very well defined. So sometimes it's hard and sometimes 
teenagers can do it. Sometimes you need a license and sometimes it 
feels like everyone who'd like to have fun can do it. Not terribly 
consistent.

Del