Igor Karkaroff

**Professor Igor Karkaroff** (d. 24 June – 31 July, 1996) was a wizard and Headmaster of Durmstrang Institute. During the First Wizarding War, he was a Death Eater who served Lord Voldemort. After being captured and briefly imprisoned in Azkaban following his master's defeat, Karkaroff turned in several of his fellow Death Eaters to the Wizengamot in exchange for his crimes being pardoned.

Karkaroff later went on to become Durmstrang's headmaster, leading the school's delegation to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry for the 1994 Triwizard Tournament. There, Karkaroff did everything he could to get his school's champion (Viktor Krum) in the lead, and flew into a panic when his Dark Mark began to burn. When Voldemort returned, he fled. For his treachery, Karkaroff was hunted down and murdered by his former comrades in the summer of 1996.

## Biography

### Early Life

Virtually nothing is known about Igor's early life. He did, however, refer Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry as "Dear old Hogwarts", suggesting he at least visited it in the past.

### First Wizarding War

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In his younger days, Karkaroff was a Death Eater and acquaintance of Severus Snape. It was reported that Karkaroff helped Antonin Dolohov torture Muggles and non-supporters of Lord Voldemort during the First Wizarding War. He was eventually captured by Auror Alastor Moody and spent a short period of time in Azkaban.

Shortly after Voldemort's first downfall, Karkaroff appeared before the Council of Magical Law, offering information in exchange for leniency. He claimed to to have felt great remorse for his crimes as a Death Eater, however Moody was sceptical. Among the names he gave were Dolohov, Evan Rosier, Travers, Mulciber, and Snape. He became increasingly desperate as it was revealed that these names were worthless; the Death Eaters he mentioned had already been captured, killed, or, in Snape’s case, had switched sides.

However, Karkaroff was able to satisfy the Council when he submitted the name Augustus Rookwood, an Unspeakable who was spying on the Ministry of Magic for Voldemort. This information was new to the Ministry, and he was sent back to Azkaban for a review of his case. From Sirius Black's comment that Karkaroff "put a load of other people into Azkaban in his place", it can be assumed that he named other Death Eaters in addition to Rookwood after his initial hearing.

### Between the Wars

#### Headmaster of Durmstrang

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At some point after his release from Azkaban, Karkaroff became Headmaster of Durmstrang Institute. During his time as head of the school, Professor Karkaroff was seen by both students and parents alike as unprincipled and egotistical, leading many parents to withdraw their children from Durmstrang during his administration since he encouraged a environment dominated by fear and intimidation from his students. The school also became notorious for its detailed teaching of the Dark Arts; however, it is possible that this reputation existed to some extent even before his headmastership.

In the 1994–1995 school year, the Triwizard Tournament was held for the first time in many years at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Karkaroff ventured to Hogwarts to supervise his students and to prepare Durmstrang’s champion for the Tournament, as well as to serve as one of the five judges. From the moment of his arrival at Hogwarts, it was obvious that Karkaroff was biassed towards the champion from his own school, Viktor Krum.

During Karkaroff's first evening at Hogwarts, he encountered former Auror Mad-Eye Moody (who was actually Barty Crouch Jr in disguise), who was Hogwarts’ new Defence Against the Dark Arts professor. It was apparent that Karkaroff and Moody not only knew each other, but had an unpleasant history. Karkaroff unsuccessfully tried to avoid Moody after that first evening. It is possible that Barty Crouch Jr despised Karkaroff himself because of his betrayal of Lord Voldemort.

Like Madame Maxime, the Headmistress of the Beauxbatons Academy of Magic, Karkaroff was outraged when Harry Potter’s name was chosen from the Goblet of Fire, giving Hogwarts two champions instead of one. While he had to accept Harry’s presence in the competition, he consistently gave Harry lower scores on the tasks and blatantly favoured Krum over the other champions. He also sneaked around to gather information on the tasks in hopes of giving Krum an advantage. He also ruthlessly insulted Dumbledore when Crouch attacked Krum in the shadows and accused him of foul-play, going as far as spitting on the ground at Dumbledore's feet. However, this nearly earned him significant physical injury at the hands of Rubeus Hagrid; Hagrid, fervently loyal to Dumbledore, lifted Karkaroff by the throat, smashed him against a tree and yelled at him to apologise for this disgusting display. Dumbledore, however, ordered Hagrid to let him go, to which he complied reluctantly.

About halfway through the school year, Karkaroff's actions became increasingly suspicious. At the Yule Ball, which he attended with Professor Aurora Sinistra, and again after a Potions lesson, he confronted Professor Snape about a secret matter. His agitated and increasingly apprehensive state aroused the suspicions of Harry Potter, Ron Weasley, and Hermione Granger. Sirius Black, Harry’s godfather, told him to be wary of Karkaroff because he was a former Death Eater.

### Return of the Dark Lord and death

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Karkaroff fled for his life on 24 June, 1995, the night of the Third Task of the Tournament, and the night of Lord Voldemort’s restoration to his body and power. Snape admitted that Karkaroff had come to him, concerned about the Dark Mark on his left forearm, a mark Snape also bore as a former Death Eater. The Mark had been growing darker throughout the school year, signalling Voldemort’s growing strength. Karkaroff feared Voldemort’s return because he had betrayed too many of the Dark Lord's servants to be allowed back into the fold. Barty Crouch Jr doubted he would get far, as the Dark Lord had "ways of tracking his enemies" and no one who had ever betrayed the Dark Lord ever got far.

Contrary to Crouch's belief, Karkaroff was able to stay alive for a whole year, fleeing to parts unknown, though a possible contribution is that Voldemort was trying to keep a low profile due to the Ministry's denial at the time. Inevitably, however, Karkaroff was finally tracked down to a shack in the north and killed by Death Eaters, the Dark Mark cast into the sky, shortly after Voldemort's revival was finally accepted by the Ministry, which further enforced that his year-long survival was due to the Death Eaters keeping under the radar at the time. This was revealed to the assembled guests of Harry Potter's sixteenth birthday party by Remus Lupin, who, among others, were surprised Karkaroff had survived for so long.

## Physical appearance

Karkaroff is described to be tall and thin like Albus Dumbledore, but with an unctuously cheerful demeanour, while his smile "didn't reach his eyes", which were blue and remained cold and unmoving. This made him slightly unnerving. His weak chin was not completely covered by his goatee, which ended with a small curl. His teeth were yellow and he liked to dress in sleek, silver furs. As a Death Eater, he bears the Dark Mark on his left inner forearm.

## Personality and traits

Karkaroff was ruthless, having been a Death Eater in his youth and a turncoat when it suited him, as well as showing blatant favouritism as a judge of the Triwizard Tournament to increase the chances that his school's champion, Viktor Krum, would win. Karkaroff’s betrayal of his Death Eater comrades to avoid Azkaban, as well as his going into hiding following Lord Voldemort's return, indicate that he was not at all a brave nor loyal man, somewhat similar to Peter Pettigrew, who betrayed the Order of the Phoenix out of fear as well. During his trial, Igor feigned regret and flattery to the judges. Despite his position as headmaster of Durmstrang, he showed neither responsibility nor care for his students, as he encouraged an atmosphere of fear and intimidation at Durmstrang while it was under his stewardship, forcing his students to steer the ship while he stayed in the cabin, scolded Poliakoff in contrast to doting to the famous Krum, and then ultimately abandoned all of them to protect his own life.

His membership in the Death Eater organisation and — implementation — or, at least, continuation — of a policy of refusing to admit Muggle-borns to Durmstrang , indicate that Karkaroff was prejudiced against those of different blood status (though if so he had did not seem to have the level of sadistic, genocidal hatred possessed by other Death Eaters such as Bellatrix Lestrange and Yaxley). Nevertheless, Karkaroff was (at least during his time with the Death Eaters), something of a sadist, as he was noted to have assisted Dolohov in torturing Muggles, and even after he "reformed" during his headship of Durmstrang, he encouraged an environment where intimidation and fear rule over the school, leading parents to see him as unprincipled and egotistical. Even his warm greeting to Albus Dumbledore when he came to Hogwarts was less proof of a civil nature, and more proof of his ability to play at civility when it suited him. This is supported by his later yelling at Dumbledore after Harry Potter's name came out of the Goblet of Fire, and even spitting at his feet.

Karkaroff seems to have been a reasonably skilled wizard, as it is mentioned that it was impressive he remained hidden from Voldemort for so long after the latter's rebirth, although Voldemort was keeping a low profile during the Ministry's denial, and that Karkaroff's death occurred shortly after the Ministry finally saw and accepted Voldemort's return further enforces this as a reason for his year-long survival. He was able to gain knowledge of a good number of Death Eaters' identities, despite Voldemort's tight secretive operations, including the otherwise undiscovered spy Augustus Rookwood, showing that he is at least skilled in intelligence gathering.

## Etymology

* *Igor* is a Slavic name derived from the Scandinavian name *Ingvar*, meaning "protected by Ing"; Ing the name of the norse goddess of fertility. Igor is also a stock character of horror literature and films, usually acting as a servant to the villain.
* *Karkar* is a name which was common among Kipchaks , a Turkic tribe which inhabited today's Kazakhstan during ca. 10-12c.; *"-off"* is a possessive suffix meaning *"[son] of"* in Slavic languages turning a given name into a surname which was also attached to non-Slavic names as part of Russification policies in the former USSR.
* "*Kark*" also means "*the unsettled*" in Turkish.
* Also, in several Slavic languages such as Russian *"kar*" is an onomatopoeia word, which represents the sound crows make (an equivalent to English "*caw*").
* Karkaroff is also an alternate name for Carcharoth the Werewolf from J.R.R Tolkien's *The Silmarillion*. It translates as "The Red Maw."