Seas of roses, fine wine, sunny beaches, traditional clothing, folk songs and dances, historic sites-Igor Karkaroff had always loved these famous features of Bulgaria. During his tenure as headmaster of Durmstrang Institute, he would often accept invitations from several friends working at the Bulgaria Ministry of Magic to enjoy himself here. Only a month ago, he had experimented with Dark Magic that extracted the life force of flowers in the Magic Constant-Temperature Rose Valley, where golden blossoms covered the ground.
Now, however, none of that had anything to do with him. The Dark Lord had returned-the moment he received the news,
he had abandoned his position as headmaster of Durmstrang Institute and taken the money and personal belongings he needed far from the crowds.
Karkaroff was certain that his decisive escape had been a wise choice. While leaving Britain, he had run into at least two groups of Death Eaters whom he had once named but the Ministry of Magic had failed to arrest. Those people should have been rotting in the shadows,
yet now they had appeared openly. The Dark Lord had truly risen again, and these damned people had been sent to kill him. The Dark Lord always killed traitors without mercy, and he was the most infamous traitor among the Death Eaters!
As night approached, Igor Karkaroff sat despondently in a wooden house in a remote Bulgarian town, muttering at an empty table:
"Calm down, calm down! Igor, this place is well hidden. It's a safe house you prepared long ago. They won't find you-as soon as things blow over, you'll keep heading east. You'll cross the strait and reach a completely safe new world-"
He heard rain outside. Its pattering added dampness to the already cold weather, making Karkaroff even more agitated. Just as he was