Draco's alleged dark mark

[quigonginger]

No: HPFGUIDX 162600

MQ wrote:
(snip)
> In HBP Ch. 24, we all know how badly Draco is injured.  We also 
know 
> that Snape (perhaps spying on Narcissa's behest) is there- like 
magic-
>  to heal him.  However, we also know that Draco gets taken to the 
> hospital wing to be further cared for by Madam Pomfrey (I take this 
> to be like post-op care... he's all sewn up, but it was still 
trauma 
> to his body and then there's the 'might scar' scenario).
> 
> If Draco has the dark mark on his left arm as Harry suspects...
> 
> would Madam Pomfrey not have seen it when ministering to his 
wounds?  
> He would have had to have had his shirt and undershirt removed for 
> her to properly examine all of the places where Harry slashed him 
> open.  That would certainly have exposed his left arm.  And even if 
> Snape had healed the wounds enough that she didn't need to remove 
his 
> shirts, would she not insist on changing his bloody clothing?
> 
> would Snape have though of that and found a way to mask the dark 
mark 
> before taking Draco to Madam Pomfrey?  
> 
> Or does Draco not have the mark yet?  I wonder if Voldemort's order 
> is like other magical orders of lore, and if Draco has not yet been 
> through the proper initiation to earn the Dark Mark. This is a big 
> bone of contention in my house at the moment.  


Ginger responds:

I have wondered about the Dark Mark for some time.  My opinion is 
that the DEs can choose whether or not they want someone to see it.

I started wondering about it when Snape showed his to Fudge at the 
end of GoF.  Why (I wondered) didn't the Azkaban officials just check 
the arms of anyone accused of Death Eating?  Why was Sirius sent 
there as a DE- and a high ranking one at that- if he didn't have the 
Mark?  

Which led me to wonder- why didn't the Aurors just do an arm check on 
any suspects?  Why didn't the ministry just pass a law stating that 
robe sleeves could be no longer than 3/4 length?  

Sure, LV could have just moved the brand to the buttocks, but they 
could have at least spotted those whose arms had been branded already.

In GoF (right before Snape shows his) Fudge is quick to assert that 
Harry is just reiterating the names of people who were accused in 
VWI.  He especially excuses Lucius.  We know Lucius had the brand 
back then, because he answered its call to the Graveyard to greet his 
returned master.  

Lucius and the others who claimed Imperious could have claimed to 
have been branded whilst under the Curse, but not everyone could have 
used that defense.  

The clincher for me was that Snape had to explain to Fudge what the 
Dark Mark brand was.  Of course Fudge was familiar with the Dark Mark 
in the sky, but he didn't seem to know about the brand.  

So I have come to the conclusion that the DEs can hide their Mark if 
they choose.  It may be the easy way, and perhaps a bit of a cop-out, 
but I don't think LV would have been stupid enough to make a mark 
that would have been so easy to find by his enemies.  It was for his 
purposes.  (See Snape's speech to Fudge in the hospital wing.)

With regards to Draco- perhaps it was still new when he was at 
Malkin's shop, and that it was either not yet set fully and was still 
tender, or that he was still focused on it, like when you get a tooth 
pulled and you can't help but stick your tongue in the empty socket 
until you get used to it.

So that's my answer.  Plain, simple and boring that it may be.

Ginger, noting (in reference to another thread) that the s'mores on 
this list are calorie-free.