The only thing worse than going to Azkaban was going back to Azkaban.
He'd only spent a few hours outside its walls, and even then in the constant company of dementors, but they'd been enough to give Karkaroff hope.
Dementors loved the taste of hope.
Those last few months were the most brutal both physically and mentally. Karkaroff almost never slept, because the nightmare was always the same: Council has deliberated and found your evidence insufficient for release; you will remain in Azkaban Fortress until your death –
They got more names from him during those months. He woke screaming them.