Chapter 1,178

"This is a bit hard to accept, isn't it." Fan Lin looked at Voldemort timidly.

He originally thought that he already knew enough about Voldemort, overestimated and respected him, but Voldemort still broke Fanlin's inherent impression of him very well.

Voldemort is powerful, cold, and a collection of almost all negative aspects. As you can imagine, the young Tom Riddle was polite, had excellent grades, and had a high enough emotional intelligence. But now, he needs to be blinded and hypocritical.

Oh, yes, Voldemort has always been hypocritical. This is just a white lie to make old Hepzibah happy.

"You naughty little boy, you don't have to do this!" Old Hepziba protested with a thin voice, but her expression was very helpful, but Fanlin saw that she had already placed an empty vase on the nearest table. .

It must be admitted that this is a good method, not defined by beauty or ugliness. Voldemort was very successful in doing this without adding personal emotions at all.

"You spoil this old lady like me, Tom - please sit down - where is Hao Qi? Ah -" Old Hepzibah shouted loudly, and the house elf had jumped back into the room, holding the Taking a small dish of cake, she placed it at the hostess's elbow.

"Please, Tom," Hepzibah said, "I know how much you like my cakes. So, now, how are you doing? You look paler than before. They let you in that damn shop There's too much work here, I've said it a hundred times—"

Tom Riddle smiled in a patterned manner, but this did not affect Hepzibah's mood at all, and Hepzibah laughed foolishly.

"Okay, what excuse do you have for coming this time?" she asked, fluttering her eyelashes.

"Mr. Burke would like to offer a more reasonable price for goblin-made armor," Voldemort said. "500 galleons, he thinks this price is more fair——"

"Hey, well, don't be so fast, I'll think you're here just for my little collection!" Hepziba pouted.

To be honest, this is a bit scary. Fanlin feels that he still needs some time to adapt to such changes...

"That is why I have been sent here," Voldemort said quietly. "I'm just an assistant, and I have to behave myself. Mr. Bock asked me to ask—"

"Oh, Mr. Bock, bah!" Hepzibah waved his short hand. "That damn guy, leave him alone. I have something to show you, Tom. I never revealed it to that Mr. Bock! Can you keep it a secret, Tom? Can you swear you won't tell Mr. Bock?" I have this thing? If he knew I showed it to you, he would never let me live in peace. I wouldn't sell it, not to Mr. Bock, not to anyone else! , you will have the opportunity to appreciate it and marvel at its history instead of just thinking about how much money you can make from it."

"I'll be happy to see anything Miss Hepzibah shows me," Tom Riddle said quietly, and Hepzibah let out another girlish laugh.

For a moment, Harry shuddered, but after a long period of recall, Harry quickly grasped the key points.

"I asked Hao Qi to get it - Hao Qi, where are you? I want to show Mr. Riddle our best treasure - by the way, bring both of them, since you are there -"

"Here you go, madam," the house elf said sharply. Fanlin saw two leather boxes stacked one on top across the room, as if they had legs. Of course, he knew that the thin elf was holding them above his head. The box moved on, carefully passing through tables, lounge chairs and footstools.

"Now," Hepzibah said happily, taking the box from the house elf and placing it on his lap, preparing to open the top one. "I think you'll like it, Tom...oh, if my family knew I showed it to you...they'd be covering it right up!"

She opened the lid. Harry moved forward a little to get a better look, and he saw something that looked like a small gold cup with two delicate handles on it.

Fan Lin paused. He knew what it was. If it was correct, this thing should be lying quietly in Bellatrix's Gringotts safe.

"I wonder if you recognize this thing, Tom? Pick it up and take a good look at it!" Hepzibah whispered, looking very proud.

Tom Riddle stretched out his slender hand to grasp one of the handles of the golden cup and lifted it out of its silk lining.

Harry thought he saw a flash of red in Voldemort's dark eyes. His greedy expression should have been fully visible to Hypozibah, but it was a pity that her little eyes were only focused on Voldemort's handsome face.

Oh, Tom is very handsome. He perfectly inherited all the appearance advantages of his father and mother.

Charming thousands of girls, at least Tom could do it when he was young, when he didn't turn into the ghost like Voldemort.

"A badger," murmured Tom Riddle, examining the carving on the cup. "So, this is...?"

"It's Helga Hufflepuff's. You guessed it right. He's such a smart boy!" Hepzibah came over and said, her tights creaking, and she felt like he was so thin. on the face.

"I didn't tell you much. I got it from an ancestor? This thing has been passed down from generation to generation in the family. It's cute, isn't it? It is said to have various powers, but I haven't checked it thoroughly. I just keep them carefully and keep them safe here..."

She took the cup off Tom's slender index finger and placed it gently and carefully into the box. She concentrated on placing the cup so that it was fully embedded in its original position, and did not notice that Voldemort's face darkened when the cup was taken back.

"Now," said Hepzibah cheerfully, "well, where's Hao Qi? Oh, there you are - take it away, Hao Qi."

The house elf obeyed and took the box with the cup away. Hepzibah focused his attention on the flatter box on his knees.

And Fan Lin noticed that Tom's eyes were very reluctant. If possible, Fan Lin doubted whether Tom would suddenly become violent and deal with everyone.

Fanlin has never doubted that Tom has this ability. He has done this several times.

However, obviously, it is impossible now. At least Bock knew that he was here. This was different from Morfin's time. There were too many people involved.

Hepzibah was so obsessed with Tom's beauty that she was completely unaware of it all.

"I'm sure you'll like this better, Tom," Hepzibah whispered. "Come closer, dear little boy, and you'll see... Of course, Bock knows I have this thing, I bought it from him, and I'm sure he'd love to have it back once I'm dead. ..."

She pulled away the smooth gold and silver ribbon and opened the lid. Lying quietly on the purple velvet is a heavy gold locket. Voldemort reached out his hand, picked it up without waiting for an invitation, held it up to a bright spot and stared at it.

"The mark of Slytherin," he said quietly, it was a glittering S. To be precise, the silver snake made Voldemort feel extremely familiar.

The locket spent a lot of time around his mother's neck.

"That's right!" Hepzibaugh was particularly happy, because Voldemort was staring at her baby, looking stunned. "I paid a huge price to buy it, but I don't regret it. I will not let a real treasure slip away from me. I must keep it. Bock bought it from a woman who was wearing rags. Yes, it looks like a stolen item, but she doesn’t know its true value————”

This time there was no doubt that Voldemort's eyes turned blood red when he heard these words, and Harry saw his knuckles turning white as he held the pendant.

It can be seen that Voldemort still cares about his mother...

"--I dare say Burke only paid her a little bit of money, but look, it's pretty, isn't it? Again, there's all kinds of power gathered in it, but I'm just careful to keep it safe. .." She reached over and took the pendant back.

For a moment, Fanlin felt that Voldemort didn't want to let go, and even Voldemort was about to pull out his wand, but he still let it slide through his fingertips and be placed back on the velvet padding.

"That's it, Tom, it's all here. I hope you enjoyed watching it just now." She looked at his face carefully, and for the first time, Fan Lin hesitated when he saw her silly smile.

"Are you okay, dear?" Hepzibah said worriedly, with confusion on his face.

"Oh, yes," Tom remembers saying quietly. "Yes, I'm very-"

"I think - maybe it's just the light, I guess -" Hepzibah said. For a moment, she lost interest. Fanlin thought she might also see Voldemort's eyes flashing dangerously for a moment.

An old wizard still has a very keen sense of danger. No matter how good Voldemort is, he cannot perfectly hide all his emotions.

Therefore, it is natural that Voldemort made Horcruxes to separate out all human emotions, or to be precise, the parts that might become his weaknesses.

"Here, Hao Qi, take them and lock them up - use the usual spell -"

Fan Lin looked at the house elf walking over, and Voldemort's tightly locked gaze.

"Oh, we should go." Dumbledore said quietly. When the house elf tied the box with straps again, Dumbledore took Harry's elbow again. Fanlin hesitated for a moment, and the three of them Together they soared upwards and disappeared, returning to Dumbledore's office.

"Two days after this short scene, Hepzibah Smith died." Dumbledore said. He returned to his seat and motioned for Harry to sit down as well.

"Howie was convicted by the Ministry of Magic for accidentally putting poison in her mistress's bedtime cocoa milk."

"No!" Harry shouted angrily. "This is impossible, how could a house elf..."

"I guess we're thinking the same thing," said Dumbledore. "Of course, you can see a lot of similarities between the two murders of Riddle. Again, someone was scapegoated, and they both witnessed the murder. Relevant events——"

"So, Hao Qi admitted it?" Fan Lin hesitated, "Controlled by Voldemort, or... deceived by Voldemort? It can't be memory modification or the Imperius Curse."

"Oh, no one will care about this. Voldemort knows this very well, Fanlin." Dumbledore shook his head, "Besides, Tom at the time could not do this."

Verlin paused, and Dumbledore continued.

"She remembered putting something in her mistress's hot cocoa, which was later found to be not sugar, but a deadly rare poison," said Dumbledore. "It was concluded that she had not done so intentionally. , I'm just stupid, who cares about the life of a house elf? "

"Voldemort modified her memory, just like he did to Morfin!" Harry said enthusiastically, feeling something stirring in his chest.

"Yes, that's my opinion too," said Dumbledore. "And, like the Morfin case, the Ministry of Magic is also inclined to suspect Hao Qi——"

"—Just because she's a house elf," Harry said. For the first time, he had a strong sense of identification with the house-elf welfare society established by Hermione.

"Yes," said Dumbledore. "She was old and she admitted to having tampered with the drink, so the Ministry didn't bother to investigate further. Just like in the Morfin case, when I found her and tried to extract the memory, she had already She was dying - but her memory clearly proved that Voldemort knew about the existence of the cup and the pendant. "

"On the day Hao Qi was found guilty, Hepziba's family discovered that two of her most precious treasures were missing. It took them some time to confirm this fact, because she had many places to hide treasures and was always very Her collection was guarded vigilantly. When they were absolutely sure that the cup and the pendant had been taken, the young man who had been Borgin Burke's assistant and who had gained Hepziba's favor quit his job and disappeared. His bosses had no idea he had gone there, and they were as surprised as everyone else that he disappeared without a trace. No one saw or heard from him again for a long time. "

"Now," said Dumbledore, "if you don't mind, I'd like to stop again and direct your attention to a point in our story. Voldemort has committed another crime, whether this is the first since the murder of Riddle. One time, I don't know, but I think it was. This time, he didn't kill for revenge, but for greed, just like before in the orphanage. As he had done with other children; just as he had stolen his uncle Morfin's ring, this time he had taken away Hepzibah's cup and pendant."

"But," Harry frowned, "this is crazy...taking such a big risk, losing your job, just for these..."

"Maybe to you, Harry, this kind of thing is crazy, but Voldemort doesn't think so," said Dumbledore. "I hope next lesson you will understand what these things mean to him, Harry, but you Admittedly, it is at least not difficult to imagine how he looked at the pendant. He rightly believed that it belonged to him. "

"Maybe the pendant," Harry said hesitantly. For Voldemort's mother, Harry had no other emotions at all except sympathy. "But why are there still cups?"

"It once belonged to another founder of Hogwarts," Dumbledore said. "I think Tom Riddle is still so attracted to Hogwarts that he simply can't resist something steeped in the history of Hogwarts. There's another reason, I think, that I hope will show in the next lesson. for you."

"The memory you're about to see below is the last of our collection, at least until you manage to get your hands on Professor Slughorn's memory. It's ten years removed from Hao Qi's memory, so we can only rely on guesswork. Come to think of what Voldemort has done in the past ten years—"

Harry stood up again, and Dumbledore poured the last memory into the Pensieve.

"Whose memory is it?" he asked.

"Mine," said Dumbledore. (To be continued)