The Sneakoscope given to Harry by Ron in PoA seems to work. Though it goes off sometimes when nothing apparently untrustworthy is happening. For instance on page 72 US version of PoA it goes off on the Hogwarts express. Ron, Harry, Hermione and a sleeping Lupin are the only ones in the compartment. Harry just told them that Black was after them. That doesn’t seem very untrustworthy. The only thing that I can think of is that Lupin was evesdropping on the conversation and only pretending to be asleep. Or it was just wrong. But what do you think?

Why does Dumbledore not rescue Harry himself from the ashes of his house? Why does he instead send Hagrid? So little is known about that Hallloween night. If Harry is the only one who can kill You Know Who why doesn’t Dumbledore personally make sure Harry’s safe? It could be only to introduce Hagrid as a character, but I doubt it.

For those really into Harry Potter go to

http://www.redhen-publications.com/potterverse.html

They feature long in depth and philosophical theories on what may happen. For some far out and strange theories read the changeling hypothesis.

After doing some Harry Potter related research it seems that the noise produced by apparating has to do with how good a witch or wizard one is. Maybe this is obvious but If you haven’t thought about it, it just might show up in the next books. For example in SS-US version on page 8 it says Dumbledore “appeared on the corner the cat had been watching, appeared so suddenly and silently you’d have thought he’d just popped out of the ground.” Dumbledore obviously an excellent wizard, can apparate without a sound. And so can Voldemort as seen in the OotP MoM fight scene. Death Eaters can also apparate with just the sound of a swishing cloak.

I find it interesting that it does seem to follow this pattern. For example on GoF-US version page 52 “there was a faint popping noise, and Mr. Weasley appeared out of thin air”

And in Ootp again page 68 “With two loud cracks, Fred and George, Ron’s elder twin brothers, had materialized” Fred and George are good wizards but still don’t have that much experience.

In Ootp page 4 Mundungus disapparates when “A loud, echoing crack broke the sleepy silence like a gunshot” Mundungus who I cant imagine being very good at magic makes a loud crack.

It probably has to do with how good a wizard you are because for sure Mr. Weasley has had plenty of practice apparating to work everyday. Though it could also just be a slight variation on the spell though I don’t think so. Apparition is quite interesting because its expert magic but it is done without a wand. Very little of the magic in the books is used without wands.

In the HBP we shall see if Hermione takes the test during Christmas break. If she does then we might learn a bit more about apparation. I wonder how loud of a noise her spell would make.