Igor looked around the bustling dock, scanning for familiar faces. There was Basil, who waved when he saw Igor; Dmitri and Anna, already hauling their trunks up the gangplank; and Lavrik, conversing with some of his Quidditch friends.
Something was different. This would be his fifth time to board the ship for Durmstrang, but something was different, and he studied the faces around him for an answer. When his mother told him to double-check the locks on his trunk, however, he realized what it was. He was alone.
This year, he would be the only Karkaroff getting on that ship.