Chapter Thirty Five

The moment Harry entered the memory he could feel there was something different about it. Nothing huge, like the alterations, nothing he could even really put his finger on, it was just different.

"Sir… who did you say this memory came from?" Harry asked, looking around the cluttered but tidy and spotlessly clean room.

"I didn't." Dumbledore said blankly, "But it came from a house elf by the name of Hokey; she worked for Hepzibah Smith for many years, including the times when young Voldemort came to visit. The owners of Borgin and Burkes were very pleased with having him on the payroll, he was very good at getting clients to part with objects they had refused to sell before."

Harry rolled his eyes, "I bet he was. Sir, why is the memory from Hokey and not her mistress?"

"You will see, Harry." Dumbledore told him.

Harry turned back to the memory unfolding before him, studying the room and the people in it. Hepzibah was a rather large, old witch who was wearing a large ginger wig that looked rather ridiculous on such an aged face. She was wealthy, the robes flowing around her in brilliant pink were of a good quality and made from fine silk.

Hepzibah was busy powdering her bight red face, looking into a small, heavily jewelled hand mirror while the oldest, and smallest, house elf Harry had ever seen laced Hepzibah's feet into matching pink slippers that were easily two sizes too small.

"Hurry up Hokey!" said Hepzibah importantly, "He said he'd come at four, it's only a couple of minutes to and he's never been late yet!"

The elf was clearly well kept, although she barely came up to the seat of her mistress's chair and while her skin hung from her like paper, she was not underweight, with a healthy amount of flesh on her arms. She was wearing a clean and crisp white sheet, draped around her like a toga.

Kreacher had once explained that the fashions often changed for what you dressed your house elves in and when he was young sheet togas were very much in style, the way pillowcases were now.

Harry also knew that many house elves loved to work, choosing to work until they died. It was only after Danica found the heads of previous Black house elves who had been executed was they were too old to work and cried her eyes out they'd managed to persuade Kreacher to stop the horrid practice.

"How do I look?" Hepzibah asked, turning her head to look at herself in the mirror from all angles.

"Lovely, madam." Hokey squeaked.

Another fashion, or possibly an ethics change, was forcing house elves to use proper English. Lily had never held with it and stopped Sirius from making fun of the strange way Kreacher spoke in the early days of her living there. Harry remembered one or two of the house elves trained by Lucius's father still speaking proper English when he was younger, though.

House elves were naturally telepathic, it was what allowed them to work with one another so efficiently but it made it difficult for them to learn to speak more than basic noises.

No sooner had the house elf stopped speaking there was a tinkling doorbell, causing both of them to jump.

"Quick, quick, he's here, Hokey!" Hepzibah beamed, trying to arrange herself gracefully in the seat.

Hokey hurried from the room, which was so full even she was struggling to make her way through to an almost as filled hallway. She opened the heavy wooden door to see young Tom Riddle, fresh from school beaming on the door step.

"Hokey!" he said with a charming smile, "I do hope I'm not late."

"Not at all, Master Riddle, this way please." Hokey said with a small bow.

Tom was dressed in a plain black suit, his hair a little longer than it had been at school and his cheeks slightly more hollow. It suited him well, though and there was no question that he was more handsome than ever.

Harry understood why Hepzibah had been making such an effort to look nice, although she was easily sixty or seventy years older than him which he thought was a little strange. Maybe she didn't get a lot of company.

Tom picked his way through the room with ease, he had clearly been here many times before. He bowed low once he reached the witch and brushed her outstretched hand with his lips before straighten up and beaming at her.

The colour grew in Hepzibah's cheeks as she fluttered her eyelashes at him.

"I brought you flowers." Tom said charmingly, producing a large bunch of red and white roses from nowhere.

"You naughty boy, you shouldn't have!" Hepzibah gasped, smelling them deeply.

For all her words Harry noticed she had an empty vase already placed just to her side, waiting for said flowers.

"You do spoil the old lady Tom… sit down, sit down… where's Hokey… ah…" Hepzibah smiled, spotting Hokey to her side.

Hokey waved her hand and her arms were filled with a silver tray, heaped with little cakes which she placed between Hepzibah and Tom.

"Help yourself, Tom." Hepzibah smiled, "I know how you love my cakes. Now, how are you? You look pale, they overwork you at that shop, I've said it a hundred times…"

Tom flashed her another charming smile, causing Hepzibah to simper like a school girl. To Harry though, the smile looked slightly dead and mechanical.

"Well, what's your excuse for visiting this time?" she asked, fluttering her eye lashes again and moving her arm so the front of her robes was a little more open at the front.

"Mr Burke would like to make an improved offer for the goblin made armour." Tom said, "Five hundred galleons, he feels it is a more than fair…"

Hepzibah put on an exaggerated pout, "Now, now, not so fast. Or I'll think you're only here for my trinkets!"

Tom gave her a rather awkward smile, "I am ordered here because of them. I am only a poor assistant, madam, who must do as he is told. Mr Burke wishes me to enquire…"

Hepzibah waved her hand dismissively, "Oh, Mr Burke, phooey! I've something to show you that I've never shown Mr Burke! Can you keep a secret Tom? Will you promise you won't tell Mr Burke I've got it? He'd never let me rest if he knew I'd shown it to you, and I'm not selling, not to Burke, not to anyone! But you, Tom, you'll appreciate it for its history, not how many galleons you can get for it…"

Tom flashed her another smile, "I'd be glad to see anything Miss Hepzibah shows me."

Hepzibah let out another loud giggle and blushed again, "I had Hokey bring it out for me… Hokey, where are you?"

Once again the tiny house elf hadn't moved from her mistress's side and was still standing at her elbow.

"I want to show Mr Riddle our finest treasure… in fact, bring both, while you're at it…" Hepzibah continued.

Hokey waved her arms once again, two leather boxes appearing in them. Hepzibah took the boxes without casting Hokey a second glance, not removing her eyes from Tom, although Harry was trying to ignore the fact her eyes are roaming all over Tom's slim and toned figure.

"Now." Hepzibah said happily, opening the top box, "I think you'll like this Tom… oh, if my family knew I was showing you… they can't wait to get their hands on this!"

Harry moved forward slightly to look closer at the small, golden cup with two small but fine handles. Tom was looking at it with glee.

"I wonder whether you know what it is, Tom? Pick it up, have a good look!" Hepzibah whispered, using the excuse to lean closer to him.

Tom slowly reached out a long fingered hand and picked up the cup from it's silk bed. Harry saw a red gleam flash across Tom's normally dark eyes. He looked to Dumbledore but he either hadn't spotted it, or more likely just wasn't showing a reaction.

"A badger…" Tom murmured, running a long finger over the engraving on the cups shiny surface, "Then this was…?"

"Helga Hufflepuff's," Hepzibah beamed, reaching forward and pinching Tom's cheek and sending a shiver up Harry's spin, "As you very well know, you clever boy! Didn't I tell you I was distantly descended? This has been handed down in the family for years and years. Lovely, isn't it? And all sorts of powers it's supposed to possess, too, but I haven't tested them thoroughly. I just keep it nice and safe in here…"

She gently took the cup from Tom and turned to put it carefully back in its box and missing the shadow of annoyance that crossed Tom's face as the gold left his finger tips.

"He never did like things being taken away from him." Harry muttered, not liking where this meeting was going one bit. He also had a horrible feeling he knew what was in the other, slightly flatter box.

"Now then," said the happy old witch, Tom's face had returned to happy and excited to see such a rare find, "where's Hokey? Oh yes, there you are… put that away now, Hokey."

Hokey took the box and clicked her fingers, the box vanishing from her hands. Hepzibah turned her attention back to her lap, and the flatter box.

"I think you'll like this even more Tom." she whispered, so close to him now Harry was surprised she wasn't sitting on his knee, "Lean in a little, dear boy, so you can see… of course, Burke knows I've got this one, I bought it from him, and I dare say he'd love to get it back when I'm gone…"

With one fluid motion she opened the fine, filigree clasp and flipped open the box. Harry could see there, exactly what he had feared, Slytherin's locket laying on a bed of velvet crimson.

Tom didn't wait for an invitation, but reached forward and picked up the heavy golden locket; holding it up to the light and staring at it.

"Slytherin's mark…" Tom said quietly, more to himself than to the current owner of the locket, Harry followed Tom's eyes as they ran over the snake shape that so closely looked like a modern S.

"That's right!" Hepzibah said, clearly delighted as Tom gazed so transfixed at the locket, at her locket, "I had to pay an arm and a leg for it, but I couldn't let it pass, not a real treasure like that, had to have it for my collection. Burke bought it, apparently, from a ragged looking woman who seemed to have stolen it, but had no idea of its true value."

Harry saw Tom's eyes flash red again, his knuckles whitening on both the chain and the chair arm as he tried to keep his breathing steady. Harry felt sorry for him, he was clearly more Voldemort than Tom Riddle even now but it can't have been easy for him to sit there and listen to what she was saying about his mother, holding something that should really of been his.

Harry knew that Hepzibah had made a grave mistake in showing To the locket.

"I dare say Burke paid her a pittance, but there you are… pretty, isn't it?" Hepzibah twittered on, "And again, all kinda of powers attributed to it, though I just keep it nice and safe…"

She reached out to take back the locket and for a moment Harry wondered if Tom was going to let it go at all but the chain slid through his fingers and she nestled it back onto it's velvet cushion.

"So there you are, Tom dear, and I hope you enjoyed that!" she looked keenly at him and for the first time her stupid school girl smile faltered, "Are you all right dear?"

"Oh, yes." Tom said quietly, "Yes, I'm very well…"

"I thought… but a trick of the light… I suppose…" Hepzibah said, with a forced smile and playing with her fingers, "Here Hokey. Put this away and lock it up again as well… the usual enchantments."

Once again the house elf took the box and clicked her fingers, the box vanishing from her hands. She however seemed to not be as easily fooled as her mistress and was looking transfixed at Tom, her old eyes wide with fear.

"Time to leave Harry…" Dumbledore said, pulling him from the memory.

Harry landed back in Dumbledore's office and found his heart was racing. He took several deep breaths, lowering himself back into his seat.

Dumbledore settled himself on the other side of the desk, seemingly unaffected by the memory.

"When did she die?" Harry asked quietly.

Dumbledore raised an eyebrow. Harry thought for a moment he was going to play it stupid but Dumbledore thought better of it and answered the question.

"Hepzibah Smith died two days after this memory took place." Dumbledore told him, "Can you also deduce who was blamed for her death?"

"Hokey." Harry said quickly, exhaustion washing over him, "How did he kill her?"

"Hokey was a female Harry…"

"Tom, Voldemort whatever you want to call him." Harry hissed through gritted teeth, "We both know it wasn't little Hokey!"

Dumbledore smiled, "Yes, I think we can say that almost for certain. She was poisoned. Hokey was convicted of accidentally poisoning her mistresses evening cocoa."

"I assume that Hokey also confessed?" Harry said glumly.

"Once again, very astute." Dumbledore nodded, "She remembered putting something into the steaming cup of cocoa that her mistress enjoyed each evening. It turned not to be sugar, but a very nasty, deadly and little known poison. It was at least concluded that she hadn't meant to, she was confused in her old age."

"Gods…" Harry shook his head, the list of bodies was already higher than most of the murders in Azkaban.

"And of course, as they were with Morfin, the Ministry was somewhat predisposed to suspect Hokey." Dumbledore sighed.

"Because she was a house elf." Harry said.

"Exactly." Dumbledore nodded, "She was old, she admitted to having put something in the drink and-"

"And nobody bothered to look any further." Harry spat, "What happened to her? After she was convicted?"

Dumbledore paused, looking thoughtfully at Harry, "She was property of Hepzibah's next of kin, a young man named Thorfin, who had no interest in a house elf, especially one so old and 'dangerous'. He was told that if he freed her, as he planned to she would have to serve sometime in prison for her actions so he gave her the choice. Needless to say Hokey did not want to be freed so he had her killed."

"Just like that…" Harry said, shaking his head.

"It was common practice for a while, for house elves too old to serve." Dumbledore pointed out.

"I know that." Harry said, snapping a little more than he'd meant to, "Doesn't mean it doesn't suck."

"How very true Harry." Dumbledore smiled, "It took Hepzibah's family a while to realise that her two greatest treasures were missing. She had many hiding places and fierce enchantments guarding them, which were most difficult to break, ironically without a house elf. As you know, I am sure, their magic works very differently to ours."

"Did they even look at Tom for it?" Harry asked, "I mean the theft at least? They must have known how often he had visited!"

Dumbledore nodded, "Yes they did but he had left his position at Borgin and Burkes by this point and vanished. That visit to Hepzibah was the last record anyone has of Tom Riddle for a great many years. Now, I want to pause once more and draw your attention to certain points of this tragic tale. Firstly, Voldemort committed another murder, we do not know, nor have anyway of knowing, if this was his first since his murder of his family but this time it held little feeling for him."

"It was just for gain, for the objects." Harry said, following the logical, "But they'd be basically worthless. He couldn't sell them, everyone would know where they had come from."

"Ah, but you forget Harry." Dumbledore smiled, "Voldemort was something of a magpie, first the seemingly worthless things he stole from the other children at the orphanage, then his uncle's ring…"

Harry nodded, "It makes sense, I guess. The locket he probably thought of as his anyway, rightfully and then… well as you said, he loved Hogwarts and the cup was like a part of the school."

"Very good Harry." Dumbledore said, "There are other reasons as well, which I hope to demonstrate to you in due course."

Harry wanted to argue, to get Dumbledore to show him now, but he knew it wouldn't do any good so stayed silent.

"And now to move on." Dumbledore said quickly, "Ten years separate Hokey's memory with this one. Ten years with almost no idea or information on what Voldemort was doing…"

"Who's memory is it?" Harry asked, as he got to his feet.

Dumbledore smiled, "Mine."