Igor Karkaroff

Karkaroff is a former Death Eater. He was captured by Auror Alastor Moody after the fall of Lord Voldemort. Moody is responsible for Karkaroff's imprisonment in Azkaban.

Later, the Ministry of Magic released him from Azkaban in exchange for the names of other Death Eaters. While some of the names he provided were useless (Death Eaters who were dead or arrested), he traded information for his freedom.

Karkaroff went on to become Headmaster at Durmstrang. During his time there, actual Dark Arts are said to have been studied by the students of Durmstrang (instead of just defence against them). Moreover, Durmstrang was only open to pure-blooded wizards and witches. It is not known how much of this was Karkaroff's direct influence to Durmstrang and how much existed before his tenure.

Karkaroff was seen to show exceptional favouritism towards his most famous student, Bulgarian Quidditch player Viktor Krum.

In book 4, Durmstrang entered the newly-revived Triwizard Tournament with Hogwarts and Beauxbatons schools. As headmaster, Karkaroff was a Triwizard judge. After the unexpected inclusion of a second Hogwarts champion, Harry Potter, Karkaroff was angry and threatened to drop out of the Tournament.

During the course of the year he met fellow ex-Death Eater Severus Snape, with whom he shared several conversations regarding past events. In June 1995, at the end of the Triwizard Tournament, Karkaroff went into hiding after sensing the summons of Lord Voldemort. According to Viktor Krum, Karkaroff did not steer the Durmstrang ship moored in the Hogwarts Lake but rather let his students do all the work. It is not known who took over Durmstrang in his place as headmaster, but in Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, Hermione Granger mentioned that the school's reputation had suffered greatly after it was learned that Karkaroff was a Death Eater.

After his return, Voldemort made a comment referring to making a certain one of his cowardly Death Eaters pay for his disloyalty. In Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince, Remus Lupin mentioned that Karkaroff had been found dead in a shack with the Dark Mark hovering over it, indicating he was killed by Death Eaters. This strongly suggests that it was he who was referenced in Voldemort's declaration. Lupin considered it impressive that he survived for a year after deserting Voldemort.

Igor Karkaroff's nationality is uncertain. He speaks without a foreign accent, but the Durmstrang winter clothing, consisting of fur capes, appears to be a reference to traditional Nordic clothing most often associated with Russian Ushanka headdress. His full name is Slavic, however it is fictional and points to him being a generic "Eastern foreigner", rather than to any specific country. The first name "Igor" is very uncommon outside Russia, Ukraine and Belarus, being a Slavic version of Scandinavian "Ingvar" and appearing in history as early as 9th century AD. "Karkaroff", on the contrary, is a variation of a surname that is most likely to be encountered in Bulgaria, and Slavic last names are usually transcribed with the last "ff" in German-speaking countries. It is unknown to what extent Death Eaters are active outside of the UK; though Rowling has defined their goals as being "European", she has never mentioned if Voldemort has plans in Continental Europe. As he was tried (and presumably caught) in the United Kingdom, he may have been active there, no matter what country he is from.

Book and Film Portrayals

In Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, Karkaroff is described as being a neat, fussy-looking man with an oily voice and manner who sports a small grey goatee. While unctously pleasant most of the time, he is capable of violent rage.

In the film version of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, Karkaroff shown as a bearded, fur-clad man with a striking resemblance to the depiction of Ivan the Terrible in Sergei Eisenstein's film. He also resembles Grigori Rasputin, a Siberian, who like Karkaroff was reputed to be a master of supernatural powers who held ambivalent or equivocal alliances. Karkaroff's accent in the film and his behaviour — particularly the affectionate bearhug he bestows upon Albus Dumbledore — indicate that he was depicted as an archetypal Russian.