Hepzibah Smith

"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!"

- Hepzibah Smith to Tom Riddle on Helga Hufflepuff's Cup Madam Hepzibah Smith (died c. 1946) was a pure-blood or half-blood witch who claimed to be descended from Helga Hufflepuff. Being very rich, Hepzibah was an avid collector of magical antiquities, including objects that belonged to the founders of Hogwarts; her two most prized possessions were Helga Hufflepuff's cup and Salazar Slytherin's locket.

Not much is known of Hepzibah's early life, but as an older woman, she befriended the young wizard Tom Riddle during one of her visits to Borgin and Burkes. After Hepzibah revealed her two greatest treasures during one of Tom's visits to her home, Tom killed her, and used her death to make the cup into a Horcrux. Because her house-elf Hokey, who was very old and forgetful, claimed she had accidentally mistaken the poison for sugar when preparing Hepzibah's cocoa, Riddle was never suspected of the murder.

Early life
Very little is known of Hepzibah's early life, but it is likely she attended Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry as a child. It is not clear whether she is a pure-blood or half-blood witch; given her claimed relation to Helga Hufflepuff, she cannot have been a Muggle-born.

Later life
Hepzibah claimed to be descended from Helga Hufflepuff, one of the founders of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. She was a very old and wealthy witch who collected magical antiques. Two of her most prized possessions were a cup that belonged to her (claimed) ancestor, Helga Hufflepuff, and a locket that belonged to Salazar Slytherin, the latter of which she bought at great expense from Caractacus Burke.

Meeting Tom Riddle and death
While working at Borgin and Burkes, Tom Riddle befriended Hepzibah, who doted upon him. While Riddle was visiting her on behalf of Mr. Burke, ostensibly to negotiate the sale of a suit of goblin-made armour in her possession, she imprudently showed him two of her greatest treasures: Hufflepuff's cup and Slytherin's locket.

When she took the locket from Tom's hands, she caught a glimpse of the greedy red gleam in his eyes, which caused her "foolish smile" and obsessive admiration of the boy to momentarily falter.

Two days later, she was found dead; a lethal and little known poison was found mixed with her cocoa. Riddle was never suspected; Hepzibah's house-elf, Hokey, confessed to having mistaken the poison for sugar and mixing it in, for which her fate is not revealed.

Post-mortem
However, Albus Dumbledore tracked Hokey down several years later and extracted a memory from her that cast doubt on her guilt. The cup and the locket had also gone missing; they became two of Lord Voldemort's Horcruxes, with Hepzibah's death as the murder used to turn the cup into a Horcrux. This would be another step in his rise to power.

Physical appearance
"...An immensely fat old lady wearing an elaborate ginger wig and a brilliant pink set of robes that flowed all around her, giving her the look of a melting iced cake. She was looking into a small jeweled mirror and dabbing rouge onto her already scarlet cheeks with a large powder puff, while the tiniest and oldest house-elf Harry had ever seen laced her fleshy feet into tight satin slippers"

- Description of Hepzibah Smith

In 1996, Dumbledore and Harry viewed Hokey's memory of Hepzibah's meeting with Tom Riddle where she revealed the cup and locket. In the Pensieve, Harry's assessment of Hepzibah was that she was an enormously fat, wealthy woman with an ornate ginger wig. She was wearing a set of lustrous, flashy pink robes that flowed all around her and made her look like a melting iced cake. She wore satin slippers that were too small for her pudgy feet, laced by her house-elf Hokey. Hepzibah appeared to be quite vain and excessive, as when Harry saw her she was looking at herself in a jewel-encrusted mirror while putting rouge on her cheeks. She was very interested in valuable objects and antiques, as demonstrated by her possession of Slytherin's locket and Hufflepuff's cup. Hepzibah Smith appeared to go to great lengths to appear attractive and much younger than she really was, and to try and impress Riddle during his visits to her home.

Hearing Hokey praise her mistress's appearance as "lovely", Harry Potter concluded that Hokey's contract said that she must "lie through her teeth" when asked this question, as she was a long way from lovely in Harry's opinion. She was described to have a "foolish smile" in Tom Riddle's presence, which faltered when she caught a momentary glimpse of his true nature.

Personality and traits
Hepzibah was a hoarder of antiques, as her house was so full of objects that Harry wondered how she could move around. She was also very proud, to the point that she did not tell anybody where she had hidden her antiques. However, she was unintelligent, as she foolishly showed off her two most valuable treasures to Tom Riddle, not realising at the very least that he would harm her to take them for himself. Highly infatuated with Riddle's façade of a polite and handsome young man, Hepzibah was completely oblivious to the dark, greedy look on his face, until the last moment she saw him, at which even she could not ignore the red gleam in his eyes. She was also very conceited, and believed that she was a beautiful woman, something Harry Potter found that she was far from. Due to her naivete and conceit, Dumbledore described her as a "poor and besotted old woman".

Tom Riddle
Hepzibah first met Tom Riddle when the latter worked at Borgin and Burkes. Tom was a very handsome and clever young man. At first, he appeared to be friendly with Hepzibah, flattering her and making her feel pretty. However, it was obvious that he was kind to her only because he wanted to take from her Salazar Slytherin's Locket and Helga Hufflepuff's Cup, in order to make them into horcruxes. When Hepzibah showed those treasures to Tom, she saw a red greedy gleam in his eyes; she initially thought it was just the light, but then she realised it and was frightened, but by then it was too late. Two days later, Tom Riddle killed Hepzibah in order to take the two valuable objects by spilling poison into her cocoa.

Hokey
Hokey was Hepzibah's house-elf, who was tiny and very elderly. Hokey most likely performed tasks typical of a house-elf. Harry Potter observed that one of her tasks was to flatter her mistress; he suggested that she must have been lying "through her teeth" when she called Hepzibah "lovely". Their relationship was one typical between a witch and her servant. After Hepzibah's death, Hokey claimed responsibility, and as she was "old and confused", the Ministry labeled Hepzibah's death an accident. It was through Hokey's memory that Harry Potter observed the events which took place involving Hepzibah and Tom Riddle. It was Dumbledore who was able to secure the memories before Hokey passed away.

Smith family
Hepzibah may also be related to Zacharias Smith and his father, and thus the entire Smith family, although this is unconfirmed.

Hepzibah's pride over her treasured antiques had led her to hide them in little spots even away from her family. After her death, it took them a while to discover that her two greatest treasures were gone.

Etymology
The name "Hepzibah" is a variant of Heftsi-Vah or Heftsi-Bah, a Hebrew female name meaning "my delight is in her". Heftsi-Vah was the wife of Hezekiah and the mother of Manasseh, kings of Judah, according to 2 Kings 21:1. This name may allude to the nature of Hepzibah Smith, regarding her interest in ancient valuable artefact collections. It can also allude to the will of Lord Voldemort in killing her to split his soul and steal Hufflepuff's cup and Slytherin's locket.

Appearances

 * Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
 * Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows
 * Pottermore

Notes and references
Hepzibah Smith Hepzibah Smith Хепзиба Смит Chefsiba Smith