"Ah-I recognize you. Igor Karkaroff, the headmaster of Durmstrang Institute who mysteriously disappeared a while ago-a former Death Eater, and a man every Death Eater keeps close to his heart. The Daily Prophet reserved its front page for you for two whole days. Some of your students even put out missing-person notices. I could take you in and collect a hundred-Galleon reward."
Brian kicked the Death Eater he had just brought down, confirmed that the man was completely unconscious, then turned and gave a France Military Salute to the bedraggled wizard who had scrambled into a corner. His steady tone conveyed that he had no intention of hurting anyone else-to avoid any unfortunate developments, he did his best to appear harmless.
Even before Brian had struck down the last Death Eater on the list, Mr. Karkaroff's trousers had already been soaked. The fresh steam indicated that it had only just happened, and there was even a fair chance of something solid making an appearance at any moment. In theory, a turncoat Death Eater who had been on the battlefield and witnessed plenty of deaths should not have had such fragile nerves. Brian strongly suspected that Snape, standing at the door, had made some peculiar remark on the spur of the moment and demolished Karkaroff's psychological defenses.
Well-perhaps it had been to maintain his current persona as a Death Eater devoted to the Dark Lord, perhaps to prevent the now-unconscious Avery from noticing anything amiss, or perhaps Snape simply couldn't stand Karkaroff.
What was obvious was that Karkaroff, whose disappearance had baffled the public, had indeed fled for safety, just as Snape had said earlier. Unfortunately, a Death Eater had found and captured him today; fortunately, he had also arrived in time for a Dark Magic Conference that was ostensibly a