Hepzibah Smith

Hepzibah Smith was a very old and very rich witch who collected magical antiques. Two of her most prized possessions were a cup belonging to Helga Hufflepuff and a locket belonging to Salazar Slytherin.

While working at Borgin and Burkes, Tom Riddle befriended Hepzibah, who doted upon him. While Riddle was visiting her on behalf of Mr Burke, she imprudently showed him Hufflepuff's cup and Slytherin's locket. Two days later, she was found dead; poison was found mixed with her cocoa. Riddle was never suspected; Hepzibah's house-elf, Hokey, confessed to the crime. 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 Riddle/Lord Voldemort's Horcruxes, and Hepzibah's murder was the murder used on the Horcrux cup as she was a descendent of Helga Hufflepuff herself. Hepzibah Smith may be related to Zacharias Smith.

In a memory that Harry Potter saw in the Pensieve she was "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" and Hokey the house elf was lacing "her fleshy feet into tight satin slippers". Hepzibah was looking into a mirror and putting rouge on her "already scarlet" cheeks.