Mörkmarkbränningen verkar inte vara sist.
Snape beskriver hur mörkmarken brann svart och "bleknar" något. När det brände svart verkar det troligen vara när den mörka Herren kallade Death Eaters till kyrkogården.
“The Dark Mark. It is not as clear as it was, an hour or so ago, when it burnt black, but you can still see it.”
- Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, Chapter 36 (The Parting of the Ways)
Bellatrix beskriver kallelsen av Dark Mark som ett meddelande om att gå till Dark Lord samtidigt - hon nämner inte någon "automatisk" straff som orsakats av att ignorera den.
Faren att ignorera den mörka marken brinner är att den mörka herren kommer att bli arg, med vetskap om att hans kallelser ignoreras, speciellt om han trodde orsaken till misslösning eller ett försök att öken.“But you didn’t return when he came back, you didn’t fly back to him at once when you felt the Dark Mark burn –”
- Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, Chapter 2 (Spinner’s End)
“The scar on Harry’s forehead seared with a sharp pain again, and Wormtail let out a fresh howl: Voldemort removed his fingers from Wormtail’s Mark, and Harry saw that it had turned jet black.
A look of cruel satisfaction on his face, Voldemort straightened up, threw back his head, and stared around at the dark graveyard.
‘How many will be brave enough to return when they feel it?’ he whispered, his gleaming red eyes fixed upon the stars. ‘And how many will be foolish enough to stay away?”
- Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, Chapter 33 (The Death Eaters)
Snape ignorerade Dark Marks kallelser, och efter att ha övertygat den mörka herren hade han en bra anledning, var ostraffet.
“The Dark Lord’s initial displeasure at my lateness vanished entirely, I assure you, when I explained that I remained faithful, although Dumbledore thought I was his man. Yes, the Dark Lord thought that I had left him for ever, but he was wrong.”
- Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, Chapter 2 (Spinner’s End)
Dödsätare som hade övergivit den mörka herren straffades, men det hade inte någonting att göra med att mörkermärken uppmanade dem.
“And they’ve found Igor Karkaroff’s body in a shack up north. The Dark Mark had been set over it – well, frankly, I’m surprised he stayed alive for even a year after deserting the Death Eaters; Sirius’s brother Regulus only managed a few days as far as I can remember.”
- Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, Chapter 6 (Draco’s Detour)
Deras ignorering av Dark Mark-dagarna skulle inte ha direkt orsakat det - deras ödemark skulle göra det.