Karkaroff's face went from livid to pale.
He was not a man who took insults well. After being humiliated by Will, he wanted nothing more than to pull out his wand and knock him flat. But he forced himself to swallow his anger. Will had the upper hand, and Karkaroff had no choice.
Even setting aside the fact that the boy was the Dark Lord's disciple, Dumbledore would hardly let Karkaroff get away with attacking a student at Hogwarts.
Fine. I'll leave! Karkaroff thought viciously.
He needed to go back and pack. At the first sign of trouble, he would grab his things and run. Then he would see how the boy dealt with this mess!
Once Will was sure Karkaroff had gone back, he turned toward the Castle. Fifteen minutes later, he entered the Headmaster's Office.
The fire crackled in the fireplace, filling the Headmaster's Office with warmth and light.
Fawkes gave a soft cry when he saw Will. He flew over, rubbed against Will's shoulder, then returned to his perch.
Dumbledore sat behind his desk, his blue eyes watching Will calmly through his Half-moon Spectacles.
"Sit down, my boy." He gestured to the chair opposite him. "Would you like something to drink? Lemon tea? Honey water? Hot cocoa?"
"Anything's fine, Professor." Will sat down and accepted the hot cocoa Dumbledore handed him. "Karkaroff wants me to kill Crouch."
Dumbledore showed no surprise. He merely sighed. "I suspected as much. That's the sort of man Karkaroff is. At the trials, he betrayed many people to save himself. Now he's afraid the same thing will happen again. There's no telling what he might do."
"He suggested I do the killing while he kept watch outside," Will said, a mocking smile touching his lips. "He thinks I've got a troll's brains."