As Manasseh Smith continued her story, Cho Chang and Penelope finally understood the whereabouts of the Hufflepuff Cup.
Manasseh revealed that the Hufflepuff Cup had always been a treasured heirloom of the Smith family, which was why they could claim descent from Hufflepuff.
As the inheritor of most of the Smith family's estate, Hepzibah Smith naturally inherited the Hufflepuff Cup and kept it in her home.
However, the heirloom mysteriously disappeared after Hepzibah Smith's death in 1946.
According to the Ministry's investigation at the time, Hepzibah Smith was accidentally poisoned by a senile house-elf.
When the elf was convicted, Hepzibah's family discovered that Hepzibah's most valuable possessions—the Hufflepuff Cup and a Slytherin locket—were missing.
This news thrilled Cho Chang and Penelope, as the Slytherin locket was also one of their targets.
Hepzibah Smith had purchased the locket at a high price from Borgin and Burkes, who had bought it from a destitute woman—none other than Voldemort's mother.
She had stolen the locket to be with her Muggle husband, Tom Riddle Sr., but was later abandoned by him when he discovered her witch identity.
She fell into poverty and had to sell her possessions, including the Slytherin locket.
The Smith family took some time to confirm this, as Hepzibah had many secret hiding places and was very protective of her collection.
"So, the Hufflepuff Cup just disappeared like that?" Cho Chang asked, disappointed, as it meant their lead was cut off.
However, Penelope noticed something.
"Mrs. Smith, do you think Hepzibah's death was related to the Dark Lord?" she carefully expressed her judgment.
"Yes... at least I think so—if your information is correct, because I have seen that Tom Riddle."
"You saw... the young Dark Lord?"
Cho Chang and Penelope realized they might have uncovered something significant.
"Yes, I did see him, right here in this house, with my sister.
At that time, he seemed to be an employee of Borgin and Burkes.
If the Hufflepuff Cup was indeed connected to the Dark Lord, then it is very likely he killed my sister and took the Cup."
Unfortunately, Manasseh only had a limited memory of the young Tom Riddle and was unable to provide further details on the event.
So, whether this was the true scenario or not, the two girls couldn't determine.
Until Alaric, Hermione, and Fleur returned with the Resurrection Stone.
Using the Resurrection Stone, they could temporarily revive key witnesses and understand what happened 49 years ago.
They visited Manasseh again and managed to revive Hepzibah herself.
However, Hepzibah also believed she was accidentally poisoned by her house-elf.
Yet, from her, the girls learned more precise information about what happened.
While working at Borgin and Burkes, Tom Riddle became friends with Hepzibah, and she was infatuated with the handsome young man.
Tom, in turn, flattered Hepzibah to make her happy. For a long time, Hepzibah did not notice his dark and greedy nature.
On one occasion, Riddle visited Hepzibah on Mr. Borgin's orders, ostensibly to discuss the sale of goblin-made armor.
During this visit, Hepzibah foolishly showed him her two most precious treasures: the Hufflepuff Cup and the Slytherin locket.
When Tom held the locket box, Hepzibah glimpsed a greedy gleam in his eyes, which gave her an ominous premonition.
Two days later, she died under mysterious circumstances.
The revived house-elf, Hokey, confirmed this.
Additionally, Hokey mentioned that shortly after Hepzibah's death, "the shop assistant from Borgin and Burkes, the young man who frequently visited Hepzibah and tried to please her," had resigned and disappeared.
His boss was also unaware of his whereabouts and was surprised.
Tom Riddle remained out of sight for a long time.
Given what they learned from exchanging information with Alaric about Voldemort altering his uncle Morfin Gaunt's memories to make him think he killed the Riddle family, Penelope and Cho Chang immediately concluded.
It was Voldemort who poisoned Hepzibah to steal the Hufflepuff Cup and the Slytherin locket.
He used the same method to alter Hokey's memory, making the poor house-elf take the blame.
Though it might be difficult for ordinary people to understand, this was indeed within Voldemort's capabilities.
After all, the self-important heir of Slytherin had always considered the Slytherin locket as his own.
The historically significant Hufflepuff Cup was also highly attractive to him.
To obtain these treasures, Voldemort was even willing to debase himself and charm an old, overweight woman who had an inflated sense of self-worth.
Alaric even darkly speculated that Voldemort might have had a more intimate relationship with Hepzibah to gain her trust.
Even Penelope and Cho Chang felt this was a part of Voldemort's past that he would never want to revisit.
However, the whereabouts of the Hufflepuff Cup seemed to end here.
No one knew where Voldemort had hidden the Cup afterward.
But Alaric proposed a seemingly reasonable guess:
"Gringotts?"
In Alaric's living room, Penelope stared at Alaric as if evaluating whether he was joking.
"Yes, speaking of hiding treasures, where could be more appropriate than Gringotts?" Alaric said matter-of-factly.
"But... but the Dark Lord doesn't have his own vault in Gringotts.
He came from an orphanage and obviously isn't as skilled in financial matters as you are," Hermione pointed out keenly.
"True," Alaric smiled slightly.
"But who says the Dark Lord had to hide the treasure in his own vault? Have you forgotten that diary?"
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