I know it is made by the Portus spell, the object will glow with a faint, blue hue and start vibrating slightly then fall to rest. I suppose that the specifics, as in, whether it is meant to transport someone on contact or only after a given time has passed depends on the intent of the person turning an object into a portkey (without saying that for certain), kind of how like the Memory Charm only removes certain, specific memories from the minds of Muggles relating to the magic they saw when used by trained Obliviators enforcing wizarding secrecy.

I'd like to know how anyone could possibly visualize a location without any knowledge of its terrain...

 

During an interview, when Rowling was asked why Newt didn't simply apparate to USA, Rowling's reply was as follows:

"Apparition becomes increasingly risky over long distances. As with most magic, much depends on the skill of the spell-caster: Apparition requires knowledge of the terrain to which one is moving, or the ability to visualise it clearly. Cross-continental Apparition would almost certainly result in severe injury or death. Moreover, the beasts in Newt's case had varying magical natures. Some could have Apparated with him, but others could not."

Source: Here.

 

It makes sense. On an average day, you tend to go to the same couple of places, and thus, apparation is safe and easy. And with the majority of the wizarding world shops being located in the same villages, the average wizard rarely needs to go somewhere they have never been before.

Pottermore does have an article stating that modified cars are popular as well, and the Ministry owns a fleet of them, showing that there is a use for them.

Floo travel is also incredibly common and cheap. Almost every magical household is hooked up to the floo network. It seems to be the most common way of traveling with families. I wouldn't be surprised if the Ministry does a lot of its business by being able to look up the floo address of someone and getting around that way.

 

I like how you kind of overlooked that Rowling herself contradicted that interpretation...

 

The United Kingdom is a single nation, and you're equating across oceans and continents with apparating across relatively trivial distances. There's an old joke that goes something like "Americans think a hundred years is a long time, Europeans think a hundred miles is a long way."

Where I am in Texas to New York City is over 2800 km. That's still within the same country, and those locations aren't even the furthest apart. We see people apparating fairly large distances in canon, with one instance of international apparition with Voldemort.

In addition, simply being able to visualize the location is sufficient. You mentioned the Snatchers and the Dark Mark as being exceptions, but that doesn't apply to Harry and Hermione going to Godric's Hollow.

 

Or we think we do. How do we know they don't have to apparate several short distances and just appear to have apparated one long?

Also - Godric's Hallow is a well-known wizarding village. The chances of Hermione not being able to pinpoint the location on a map prior to traveling, and/or read a book detailing the terrain or showing pictures from the place Hermione could use to visualize the place is pretty slim.

 

Occam's razor is a thing. If they didn't show multiple jumps, it is likely a single jump. We only see sequential jumps once, and that was while trying to escape the Snatchers in DH iirc.

 

Why would multiple jumps be required to evade the snatchers? In another topic of mine, I think the consensus was that apparition can’t be tracked. So wouldn’t one jump have been enough?

 

The distance which any individual witch or wizard is capable of traveling by means of apparition is restricted to the individual magical talent of that person. We know that for a fact because Rowling told us as much. How exactly is it a "fanon sentiment" to assume not everyone is capable of going the same distance in "one jump"?

Oh, no, I think you misunderstood me: In the books, when someone appear to have apparated long distances, maybe they have apparated let's say four kilometers, then maybe disapparated and apparated to four more kilometers, etc, until they reached their destination without us knowing about it, causing the illusion that you would be able to apparate vast distances. Apparition is pretty quick, so either way, one would be pretty swift in moving from point A to E even if one had to stop by point B and

Dedalus Diggle, for example, kept an eye on Harry during his childhood for the Order, but Harry lived in Surrey, and Dedalus lived in Kent. That's about an hour long drive by car, I believe. If he journeyed to Surrey by apparating, how are we to know if he was able to travel that distance in one go or had to apparate and disapparate two or three times to get all the way there?

 

Of course magic isn't limitless, otherwise there would be no cause for the Department of Mysteries to exist. Or the Committee for Experimental Charms. Magic is simply a form of energy that is inaccessible to Muggles, and as with all energy, it follows certain laws and are certainly not limitless. For specific examples, please check out:

• Adalbert Waffling's Fundamental Laws of Magic.
• Gamp's Law of Elemental Transfiguration.
  
• The Principle of Artificianimate Quasi-Dominance.

Because apparition is magic, and people's ability to use it is limited to each individual's personal aptitude for magic.

In a vast majority of instances - yes. It has. Hermione, Ron and Harry apparated from the Burrow in Devon to London, which is a three hour and nineteen minutes ride, according to google. An impressive distance, but apparating from London to the Scottish Highland is considerably longer.

It's a logical sentiment. "As with most magic, much depends on the skill of the spell-caster", or, in this case, the traveling witch or wizard.

Assumption, logic, same difference. Seriously, though, I have never even heard of a fanfiction using apparition like I mentioned above with multiple stops. Then again - I have read relatively few.

"Off-scene action"? Are we still talking apparition?

Ah, got you. Yes, I agree: The more familiar you are with far-flung destinations, the more vividly you can picture it in your mind and the more likely it is for the witch or wizard to make the trip in one piece even if it's far. What I meant was that I think every individual witch or wizard almost definitively have a "max range" determine how far they can travel "in one jump" determined by their magical talent.

 

From the other thread because it had strayed into apparation territory:

You have not proven that is too far a distance. Yes, we know the UK to the US is too far, but that is a distance of 5000km at its shortest. London to the Scottish Highlands is a tenth of that.

Prove it.

By apparating? Harry, without his apparation licence, managed to apparate from the South of England to Hogwarts dragging Dumbledore along with him. Harry isn't exactly exceptional at magic.

Hermione apparated to Godrics Hollow with no evidence she had ever been there before.

 

I don't recall saying you'd have to have been somewhere to apparate to it. As a matter of fact, I am reasonably certain I actually suggested Hermione might have learned of the terrain of Godric's Hallow by a map and/or book.

I agree.

What I meant was that I think every individual witch or wizard almost definitively have a "max range" determine how far they can travel "in one jump" without splinching and risking death or injury determined by their magical talent.

Also... No. Being able picture a place and being able to apparate the necessary distance is not the same thing. That's like saying everyone with a wand can conjure a fully-fledged Patronus because they know the incantation and can think of a happy memory. Which isn't the case, it requires a certain aptitude for defensive magic as well as the principle of "practice makes perfect". Apparition would be no different.

I don't see what's so difficult by pointing out the given fact that different wizards differ in the degree of magical competence, just like how we in the real world can see some being better at some things than others, and that these differing competences in magic would factor in on how far you can apparate without risking injury. To me, that seems obvious.

And we can say with 100% that Dumbledore, weakened though he might have been, didn't help him at all?

And your point would be? I said the Dark Mark/Taboo helping out with pinpointing location meant Death Eaters and Snatchers might not need a detailed knowledge on the terrain of the relevant area due to the magic guiding them to the right place, not that you cannot get knowledge on the terrain without having physically been there previously.

 

No - see, now you're just spinning a strawman... I asked what would be the easiest/mist logical route for the Death Eaters to take to Hogsmeade. I mean - they weren't only actual Death Eaters under those masks, also imperiused Ministry personnel like Pius Thicknesse, so obviously - Floo Network. The Ministry controlled the Floo Network, and had dozens and dozens of fireplaces in the Atrium just standing there, ready to be used. I didn't exclude apparition, I simply stated fireplaces would be quicker because it's not given ALL DEs would make the jump in one go, depending on their individual skill at apparition.

That just because there are people who can apparate hundreds of miles easily enough don't mean all people can apparate the same distance because they're not skilled enough?

Obviously Dumbledore being Dumbledore, he is capable of apparating farther than almost anyone else. What's odd about that?

 

Name one, just one, instance of a wizard or witch helping another wizard or witch with a piece of magic that they were in the process of casting. There is zero indication that a hallucinating, incoherent Dumbledore used some kind of heretofore unseen and unexplained piece of magic to help Harry do something he'd already learned.

 

Where does distance=skill in canon? The problem isn't distance, it's whether you can visualize the place well enough and then actually do it without splinching. Distance does not play into it in canon unless I'm obviously forgetting something.

Again, based on what? The rules of travel in JKR's universe are rules based on dramatic telling of a narrative, not on any kind of systematic understanding of travel. Why take a Portkey rather than Apparate? Or, Apparate rather than take a Portkey? Why travel by the Floo Network rather than either of the others? Why is the making of Portkeys illegal except through the ministry? Because it's all based on what is needed in the narrative. Not what makes logical sense. So, there's no reason to think there's any limit to Apparition, and no reason to think Dumbledore can travel any farther than anyone else. All you need is (1) the ability to visualize (2) the skill to actually Apparate without splinching, regardless of distance*

____________
*Unless, again, I'm missing an obvious passage where someone says it's too far to Apparate. But I don't remember anything like that.