Chapter 359: The Life of Ego
With the threat of the Dark Mark removed and after seeing Schelling's amazing strength in the Pensieve, Karkaroff's mind began to become active--
He knew that Schelling would not recruit him on a whim, and he had finally followed the right boss. If he wanted to gain his attention, or to gain a higher position in his circle and organization, he must prove his worth to him.
Karkaroff's background was quite complicated. He was born and raised in a middle-class pure-blood extremist family in Bulgaria. At the age of 11, he chose to enroll in Durmstrang, which was generally regarded as an "elite education" by European wizards. However, in a conflict with a classmate, he attacked a classmate of Muggle descent with black magic, and was directly expelled by the then principal without even giving him a chance to defend or appeal.
Obviously, both sides were wrong in this conflict, but at that time, Durmstrang had just produced a dark demon named Grindelwald who caused unrest in the global wizarding world. Under pressure from public opinion, the school management began to lean towards the wizard faction that supported peaceful coexistence with Muggles in order to quell the public's dissatisfaction with Durmstrang's educational philosophy and to avoid suspicion.
In this context of public opinion, if the news of attacking wizards of Muggle descent with black magic spread, it would definitely become a perfect reason for the mass media to attack Durmstrang, making all the efforts made by the school to quell public opinion become empty talk, which is undoubtedly a consequence that the school cannot accept.
The principal's partiality for Muggle descent made him resentful from then on, and he planted a vow in his heart - he must reform Durmstrang's admission rules in his lifetime and only accept students of pure descent!
Later, he transferred to Hogwarts under the management of Armando Dippet, and met a group of like-minded partners here. He thought he had found his soulmate in life - Lucius Malfoy, Troven Selwyn, Coban Yaxley, Thorfinn Rowle... and joined the Death Eater family under the influence of these people.
After graduation, he obtained legal residency in Great Britain with the help of his partners, and began to engage in Death Eater-related careers, recruiting followers for Voldemort and expanding his power.
But what he always remembered in his heart was the shame of his student days - he wanted to gain power here, and then return to Durmstrang to regain his lost dignity!
After Voldemort and the Death Eaters fell, his life did not become miserable or unbearable. Although he was despised by other Death Eaters for betraying his Death Eater companions, several of them - such as Lucius Malfoy - still kept in touch with him secretly.
He had seen through Lucius. There was a famous saying about the Malfoy family: "You will never see a Malfoy at a crime scene, even if their fingerprints are all over the wand used to commit the crime." This saying couldn't be more appropriate to describe Lucius.
Lucius liked to make friends and support the younger generation. On the surface, he was an enthusiastic senior, but in fact, he just regarded these people as his knife and a tool.
Karkaroff left Great Britain and chose to go to the Nordic border to seek new development. He never forgot his oath that he would return to Durmstrang one day.
Through Lucius's secret matchmaking and bribery, coupled with his own almost crazy efforts, he began to accumulate his own party members in Germany. He had his own connections in Germany, Denmark, and Norway, and they were all powerful local pure-blood family forces.
These forces had participated in Grindelwald's Alliance to some extent, and were purged and suppressed by the Ministry of Magic after Grindelwald's fall, which greatly reduced their power.
Karkaroff was clear-headed. He knew very well that these forces would not give up. They were just lying dormant for the time being, waiting for an opportunity to return to glory. To do this, they needed a figure in the facade to represent them to bear the pressure and blame of the masses, and become the knife in their hands to clear obstacles for them.
Karkaroff, who wanted to fulfill his childhood wish, seized the opportunity this time. He willingly became that person. He obtained huge resources that he could not imagine. Finally, after ten years of hard struggle, he successfully returned to Durmstrang and became the headmaster.
After winning the position of headmaster, the first thing he did was to tighten the admission policy greatly, and even set up a strict screening mechanism for this purpose, so that Durmstrang would only recruit students with pure blood and ancient blood certificates.
The scene returns to Schelling.
Karkaroff instantly understood where his greatest value lies.
He is the headmaster of Durmstrang. He has the final say over Durmstrang's educational philosophy and policy. In other words, one of his reforms is enough to influence thousands of young wizards.
At the same time, he has a lot of connections in Germany, Denmark, and Norway. As far as he knows, this is what Schelling lacks.
Although Schelling is good friends with the Hohenheim family, the latter is an alchemy family that is immersed in the study of alchemy and is not very good at politics and business.
In Germany and Switzerland, they are indeed the most powerful family, but that is based on their strong alchemy. Wizards are generally full of respect and fear for the mysterious and profound alchemists, because alchemy can create miracles and rewrite many rules that limit spells and transfiguration.
Karkaroff's connections are more inclined to those families that do not have strong magical power but have amazing wealth and strong heritage, a bit like the Ollivander family in Great Britain.
Thinking of this, he said with a shrewd look: "Master Malfoy, please believe my determination to swear allegiance to you."
He took out a black iron plate with a double-headed eagle and a deer head engraved on it. Sherin recognized it as the school emblem of Durmstrang.
"Please accept this iron plate," Karkaroff held it in both hands and presented it to Sherin, saying respectfully, "This is a certificate that allows you to enter Durmstrang, and it is for the headmaster only. Even as the headmaster, I only have three."
"With this iron plate, you can enter and exit Durmstrang freely. After you master the Apparition, you can even Apparate freely inside without any restrictions." Karkaroff said.
"I heard that the location of Durmstrang is considered the highest level of confidentiality by the school. All visitors must accept the memory manipulation spell to erase their memories of this afterwards. Is this true?" Sherin asked.
"This is true." Karkaroff added hastily, "But you, the young master holding this iron plate, are naturally an exception. Don't worry, I guarantee with my life and character that the entire Durmstrang will only be full of respect for your visit and will never offend you."
"Okay," Xie Lin showed a satisfied smile, "I will accept this iron plate first."
["Drmstrang School Badge Iron Plate" obtained! 】
"There is one more thing, Master Malfoy," Karkaroff said, "Count the days. The semester is about to end. If you plan to visit Durmstrang during the summer vacation, you might as well allow more time and stay a little longer-"
"There are several well-known professors in Durmstrang who are my confidants. I want to introduce them to you," Karkaroff continued, "I also have several loyal allies in Germany, Denmark, and Norway. I think they will definitely want to meet you, a young talent."
"Okay, I will." Sherin said, "Let's make it this way. I will send the house elf to contact you to confirm the date and time."
"Yes, Master Malfoy," Karkaroff said, "Then I will look forward to your arrival."
Although Karkaroff's life was fabricated by the author, it is very likely to be the real official setting in Rowling's mind. Karkaroff's first words when he arrived at Hogwarts were "good old "Hogwarts", which means he had stayed here and even studied there; but it is undoubtedly unrealistic for a Hogwarts student to become the headmaster of Durmstrang, so there must be another allusion. The author's setting should be able to make up for the contradictions in the original work.