Then the White Sea is in the way...

Yeah, I know, I'm just being a pedant. Sorry.

 

Just went and looked at a globe, and tt does look like there's a small area between Bodo and Tromso that you can travel in a straight line in from Norway to the China/Tajikistan border, though those pass through the Russian Lakes region (which I don't actually know the name of). My bad.

Though, it occurs to me that unless there is something special about salt water, that any type of running water (in sufficient quantities) should be a problem, which would mesh with the folklore. So I guess my question is if we count large rivers and lakes like the Mississippi, the Rhine and the Volga as bodies of water as far as the problems with apparating over water? It would certainly add some balance if we did, and would probably stop you apparating directly from Norway to China

 

What's the obsession with straight lines? I believe the suggested rule was that you can apparate from anywhere on a land mass to anywhere else on that same land mass.

 

I was going to make a response about how that makes no sense because they've still got to travel in a direction and then I realised that we're talking about magic.

 

Found it:

/10char apparantly?

 

Which is an interesting contrast to the recent Pottermore stuff on wizarding America, because in that JKR says that wizards discovered America long before the Muggles did. But QTTA says they use ships.

Only way I can see to reconcile the two is wizarding sailors exploring the world before the Muggles did.

 

Viking wizards?

 

Someone could flesh out a pretty interesting history for Durmstrang's ship. The school is supposedly in the far north of Europe after all.

 

The limiting factor is the wizard. Which is just me saying I think it is more difficult than perhaps is generally credited. See general magic: Harry practicing, Hermione reading, Moody AK being ineffective quote. Apparition isn't opened up until seventeen, or a year after getting their O.W.L.s. Obviously we associate that with a drivers license, but given this is magic I think there must be more to it.

After five years of magical theory and understanding (and questioning Harry) not a single witch or wizard succeeds on their first try. Or the second. Or the third. On the fourth Susan Bones manages to leave her left leg behind. Magic or not she was sobbing and horrified. An hour later that was "still the most interesting thing that had happened". I read that as no one else managed anything like it. Certainly Ron and Harry got nothing but maybe their toes tingling. Compare broom and floo on first try, or even Hermione doing the needle in their first transfiguration class. And they have twelve of these Apparition lessons. That doesn't sound all that much different to the Patronus, which clearly is more than "just think happy thoughts".

Apparitions limitations to me then are its difficulty. Simple Destination, Determination, Deliberation doesn't mean it's easy. "fix your mind firmly", "Let your yearning to enter it flood from your mind to every particle of your body!", "feeling your way into nothingness, moving with deliberation!" sound difficult to me. That is in addition to the real danger of losing body parts and the unpleasant feeling of being sucked into a rubber tube. Add the longer distances being more difficult, and possibly other factors we don't know.

Anecdotal evidence shows wizards treat it with a healthy dose of respect. Ron's excited with the idea that "everyone would know I COULD apparate if I wanted to". Seamus says 'Whoa!' when he learns Harry has Side-Along Apparated. Then Seamus, Dean, Neville and other sixth years all pestered him for hours asking sensation and other questions. Their reactions are far more interested than many other instances of magic. In fact it bears a pretty strong resemblance to Harry's top of the line brooms. Unlikely to be caused by cost as it is 12 Galleons. All this to suggest that Apparition isn't actually very common.

As an aside of why it isn't abused is because it becomes something of a unneeded risk. Think real life grind. Just as most of us aren't combat trained or able to fly despite them being theoretically useful and cool. Wizard goes shopping, it's probably in Diagon Alley or Hogsmeade so just floo. Need to get to work in a hurry but you're tired and don't want to risk Apparating. Got a day trip planned but it's across the whole country and you haven't visited in three years etc. I have to imagine a large majority of witches and wizards either work at the Ministry or work from (or very near) home and so there is no true need.

True limitations I don't know, but given the evidence I have to assume Voldemort is incapable of traveling over water rather than unskilled or stupid. So bodies of water or international patchworks of anti-apparition charms (yuck) are the only large scale issues I can think of. Given the rarity of Dumbledore level wizards though I don't see why the distance would be a problem to limit even highly competent aurors. Lastly I can't recall other circumstances so I will argue that Hermione probably read all about Godrics Hollow and that Destination still might be trickier than sorta kinda know where you're headed. We know that magic can be based on ideas of contracts/love/sacrifice, to school positions, to concepts like 'I Protect". I suppose with Transfiguration you don't need to know the specific parts of a beetle or the science of silver, but I'm not sure you can transfigure a button into anything resembling a Millenium Falcon without knowing anything about what that means. So I still favour a limiting factor on knowing the location, by whatever means. I know of New York, I know of Time Square, but I don't know anything about them really. Is that enough? Maybe, maybe not. But given the relative close knit wizarding community there really aren't all that many places a wizard may know. But that does allow bunny hopping provided you are capable, completely OP for those who can then, yes. During war time I would think it is a matter of traps and entrapping, that it is even more difficult on the spot under stress, and that following someone who did get away might be more like magical combat in that you are reading (knowing) the other person rather than reacting after they are done ie. catching their wormhole or tracking their trail or whatever else.

 

In short: Apparition is hard. It gets harder the further you go, and the less sure you are about the destination. And the less talented you are, I guess.

Voldemort doesn't apparate over the Channel, but I doubt it's because he is being flashy. The quote from Quidditch through the Ages implies that apparating from Europe to America is indeed possible, in spite of all that water.

Given the historic relation between England and France, I'd be surprised if there wasn't some sort of ancient magical barrier with the express purpose of isolating the continent. Cast by, uh, let's say the Arch-Wizard of Canterbury.

Am I to understand that you're saying some top of the line racing broom costs 12 Galleons? That's pretty darn cheap, even in the face of it being nearly twice the cost of a wand which, in spite of being the most importing thing in a wizard's life, sometimes gets handed down for financial reasons.

 

12 Galleons is the price to pass the Apparition test, IIRC.

As to the matter subject, I think it's quite reasonable to imagine some sort of Anti-Apparition jinx between countries. Or at the very least, having continental Europe try to isolate England a bit more, since there is a mad terrorist there.

 

Something to keep in mind is that some people like to impose other limitations. Examples: you need to keep in mind of the curvature of the Earth, readjusting the way you stand so you don't land on your head; keep in mind the latitude, so that you aren't dashed against a wall by the faster rotation closer to the equator; keep in mind the difference in air pressure between different altitudes, etc. This path always makes Apparation a science, not a magic. Likewise, something that came up in Wand and Shield discussion was how Harry wouldn't be able to apparate to Fury's office despite having been there because the Helicarrier moves around, and wouldn't be in the same place--implying that Apparation is teleporting to a series of coordinates rather than a destination (39'20"N/27'39"E/1782ft above sea level vs 'Nick Fury's office aboard the Helicarrier').

Also, I call bullshit on the fanon theory that you need a wand to apparate. It's not a spell, it's an ability like an Animagus transformation or potion making. A wizard is more than a wand, he is a collection of magical abilities that include spell-casting.

EDIT: I am saying these are bad things.

 

This.

There is a precedent for what I like to call "internalised magic" not needing a wand.

 

In canon apparition without a wand is possible but not normal.

Harry wasn't sure you could even be taken by side-along apparition if you didn't have a wand on you.

Ron's trying to disapparate without a wand was noteworthy.

So it's not normal.

However, we know from JKR's recent writings on Pottermore that wandless magic is in general possible. Furthermore, the fact that Ron was trying implies that it's not impossible, just difficult/unusual.

Incidentally, from the same passage:

 

While true, it could also be taken that Harry is an unreliable narrator. This wasn't coming from Hermione or Dumbledore, JKR's mouthpieces but Harry who has been proven wrong before. Plus, double checking the actual lesson in HBP, neither the instructor nor the narration says anything about a wand.

It's just that I see so many authors that treat wand magic as the end-all be-all, where without one a wizard can't do anything. As in, remember when Harry shocked Uncle Vernon into letting him go? Or when Neville was dropped from a second story window? Why does a wizard lose this ability to keep himself safe after gaining a wand for a couple years? (Well this is another topic, getting off track)

 

I get the impression that wandless Apparation is possible but limited- only being able to go someplace within sight or to travel between two well-known locations for which you know the whole path between, and those only for experts at Apparating.

The wand enables the targeting options- apparating in a direction for a distance, apparating to a named or pictured location, apparating to coordinates. Whether side-along apparation requires a wand is vague, but it certainly would be more successful with the wand. It could be that you can side-along the unresisting (muggles, unconscious people) but need a wand to force the side-along on a wizard, even if they are merely reluctant.

That the twins found apparating into Harry and Ron's bedroom difficult because the room was dark almosts suggests that the wispy cloud-form apparation in the films isn't far off from canon. If so, being mist would be limited in passing through sealed barriers and perhaps crossing water imperils the mist-form, leading to much higher instance of splinching.

Separate to that is the working of the anti-disapparation jinx/anti-apparation charm, which seems to function in several forms. One is cast on a person to aid in restraint/imprisonment, one operates as a sphere of negation like at Hogwarts, and the third might be a barrier that cannot be crossed- common in fanfiction but I'm still trying to think of a canon example. Ministry pre-HBP and in the Department of Mysteries might apply. The kids were able to keep their pursuers out with a colloportus, yet later the Order arrives in the Veil room via Apparating.

 

I far prefer the idea that Ron couldn't apparate out of the basement because most wizards put a charm on their homes to stop people apparating into them. That JKR wrote it was because of the lack of a wand really bugs me.