Ever noticed just how hard it is to actually reach a person? Even with all these gadgets and gizmos we carry around supposedly to make ourselves more reachable. So let’s see now you can be unavialable via more ways..
E-Mail (if you’re lucky, you get a reply, maybe within a week. You could write a letter and wait just as fast)
IM (Quick, simple, and you know within 5 minutes that the person has no intention of being at their desk)
Cell Phone (Yay, if the connection doesn’t suck, they don’t have it off, or muted, you might get a low-quality call. At least, till the next passer by makes them go “look at the kitty”)
Voice Mail (Ooh, so they didn’t answer. Which is all too common with these things. Leave a message. If they ever check it. You might get a reply. The winner is when you can’t even do that. “The mailbox is full, Goodbye”)
Text Message (Yeah, so they’re going to see the phone when they didn’t bother to answer it, yeah right.)
Office/Home Phone.. (Well, you’re pretty sure they’re not at their desk, so that leaves out office. and of course, you might not be trying if its a busines call if they’re at home. That still assumes they’re not outside or ignoring the call there too. Besides, there you have family and TV and fun distractions like that.)
Wow. so, by the time you waste all of those options, you’ve spent more time that you probably had. and came back with 0. When all you really probably needed was 3 minutes to ask a question, “are you free for lunch?”, “want to come over later?” that kind of thing.
So, where did I put those smoke signals?
That’s why Voldemort used the Dark Mark. Can’t be removed, can’t be turned off, can’t be “away” from it. Can you imagine him calling each of the Death Eaters on a cell phone? Or better yet, text messaging them?