Dark Mark

The Dark Mark is the symbol of Lord Voldemort and his Death Eaters. It refers both to a magically induced brand every Death Eaters bears on his or her inner left forearm, and to the same symbol conjured in the air by the spell Morsmordre.

Appearance
The Dark Mark appears as a skull with a snake protruding from its mouth. This might have been inspired by the hiding place of the basilisk in the Chamber of Secrets. When summoned, the basilisk would emerge from the mouth of Salazar Slytherin. The serpent is also the symbol of Slytherin house, and thus appropriate to be used by the Heir of Slytherin. The Dark Mark on the forearm is black, while the Dark Mark conjured by Morsmordre is green.

On the Arm
An inactive Dark Mark appears as a faint mark on the inner part of the left forearm; an active one is jet black.

Lord Voldemort placed the Dark Mark brand on his followers' inner left forearms both as a sign of their loyalty to him and as a method of summoning them to him when he desired. This was done by Voldemort pressing his wand to any Death Eater's Mark, which turns it jet black and delivers a burning sensation to any person with the Dark Mark. Feeling the burn, the Death Eaters then Apparate to Voldemort's side. Death Eaters could also use it to signal Voldemort by pressing on their Dark Marks. During the height of the Second Wizarding War, they were under orders to only signal Voldemort if they had Harry Potter.

Only Voldemort's inner circle were branded with the Dark Mark, which was considered a great honour among his followers. Thus, people like the Snatchers never got one.



In the Sky
As a signature of their work, the Death Eaters can also use a spell to create an image of the Dark Mark in the sky. The incantation of the spell to make the Dark Mark appear in the sky is Morsmordre. The appearance of the one in the sky is basically the same as the one on the forearm, but it is green in colour. Notable appearances include in the woods during the 1994 Quidditch World Cup Final and over the Astronomy Tower in the first Battle of Hogwarts. The color of it is not known,but is seen to be green and gray in two different Harry Potter movies. On the cover of Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince, it is a greenish color. .

Behind the scenes
The spells used to brand and conjure the Dark Mark were likely invented by Lord Voldemort. He may have based the spell on the Protean Charm, as Hermione Granger mentioned in 1996 that the Dark Mark inspired her to use the Protean Charm to create the method of communication used by Dumbledore's Army.

Notes and references
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