"That suit of goblin armor, Mr. Blog wants to come up with a higher price..."Tom Riddle retracted his jaw slightly, his eyes raised to look at the old lady opposite, his smile and yin and yang tone were very masculine, "Five hundred Galleons, he thinks that's fair enough--"

"Oh, don't be in such a hurry. Hepzibah picked up his teacup, shook his head and twisted his body, pouting as if Lavender were coquettish to Ron, "Or I'd think you're only here for my stuff..."

"I was sent for them... Madam. Tom Riddle whispered in a tone full of regret, the corners of his lips raised slightly to look very sincere, his gaze did not take his eyes off the other party's face, leaned forward, and put his hands on his knees, making him look a little aggrieved, "I'm just a small clerk, I can only listen to people's orders." Mr. Bock wants me to ask—"

"Oh Mr. Bock," Hepzibah looked at Tom Riddle as if she felt a little pity for him, and waved her little hand as if she thought of something that would amuse the boy in front of her, and an irrepressible smug smile appeared on her face, "I want to show you something that Mr. Bock has never seen before." Can you keep it a secret?"

Tom Riddle stared at each other, the teaspoon he held in his hand turning in the teacup, and Harry noticed that he was wearing a ring on his right index finger.

"Can you promise not to tell Mr. Bock that I have this?" Hepzibah leaned forward as the distance between him and Voldemort became shorter and more intimate, "but you, Tom—" Hepzibah's voice became more sensitized as he called out the other man's name, "you will appreciate his history, not think about how many Galleons you can make." ”

Tom Riddle shook the teaspoon in his hand rhythmically, he tilted his head as if to satisfy an obedient boy, shook his head slightly, and echoed the flattery: "I'd be glad, I'd love to see what you showed me, Miss Hepziba... Anything. ”

"So wait for me here for a while. Hepziba waved his hand like a little girl, and squirmed to his feet.

At this moment, Harry felt that Tom Riddle and Alan in front of him were very similar, they were both very good at persuasion, and there was a kind of likable power in words and actions—this discovery made Harry frightened, and he shook his head vigorously, trying to throw the thought out of his head.

Harry noticed that Tom Riddle's gentle smile had completely disappeared as Hepzibah had turned his back, and his eyebrows had been raised as if in contemplation.

Hepzibah, who reappeared, happily and proudly opened the lid, "I think you'll like Tom...... Oh, if my relatives in my family knew I let you see it...... They're going to come and snatch it right away. ”

Tom Riddle was still spinning the teaspoon, and he looked up with a playful expression of interest.

"Honey, do you know what this is? Hepzibah picked up a golden cup from the soft satin lining, swayed triumphantly, and handed it to Tom Riddle, "Take a good look." ”

Hepziba was immersed in the joy of showing off and sharing, as if she was fascinated by the handsome face of the other party, but Harry didn't miss the greedy look on Tom Riddle's face.

Tom Riddle pinched the gold cup and recognized the carving on it, and he raised his eyebrows and smiled charmingly and especially flattering at Hepziba: "Badger... Madame, that's what I thought it was..."

"Helga Hufflepuff's Gold Cup. Hepzibah smiled at Tom's answer before he could finish his question, and with some confidence he straightened his brightly clothed shawl and the red beaded chain that hung around her neck, and said with a hint of pride and cheerfulness, "You are very good, wise boy... Didn't I tell you I was a distant Hufflepuff descendant, and this thing has been in my family for years, and it's beautiful, isn't it?"

Tom Riddle kept turning the golden cup in his hand, looking at the carved patterns on it.

"It's said there's all sorts of magic, but I haven't tried it much, I'm just keeping it here. Then Hepziba turned her attention to another box, and she carefully unslid the delicate gold thread button, "I think you'll like this better, Tom... Come here... Come closer, see clearly..."

Tom Riddle couldn't take his eyes off her as Hepzibah pulled out a red bag, and he placed Hufflepuff's gold cup on the table beside him without looking. The sound of metal chains sounded, and the small octagonal metal-trimmed locket swayed in the air, and the green snakeskin gems embedded in the box glittered in the candlelight.

Tom Riddle involuntarily got up from his chair and stared at the little locket, as if everything in his world had become nothingness except the locket in front of him. Everything was blurry, except for the small locket that clearly caught his eye.

Hepziba's voice seemed to come from far behind him, and the only thing that attracted Tom Riddle at this moment was the exquisite locket in front of him, and his gaze moved with the swing of the locket.

Without Hepziba's permission, he reached out and pinched the locket.

Hepziba didn't care, and smirked: "Bock sold it to me many years ago, and I dare say that when I die, he will definitely want to take it back." ”

Hepziba was glad that the handsome young man in front of him was interested in her collection, and allowed the flattering wizard to scrutinize her collection, while she only looked at his face as if she were looking at a more valuable collection.

Tom Riddle held the hanging box in his hand almost in fascination, and after a long time muttered, "Salazar Slytherin's mark." ”

"By the way, I've paid a lot of money for this. But I can't miss it, I can't miss this treasure, I must add it to my collection..."Hepziba picked up a piece of fried meat balls beside him with his fat fingers, stuffed it into his mouth and ate it as he spoke, "I heard that Bock bought it from a shabby-looking woman, who probably stole it, and I don't know her true value... I bet she's been squeezed by this old bastard..."

Harry noticed that Tom Riddle, with his back to Hepziba, had a red glow in his eyes, and his fingers clutching the chain of the locket turned white.

Hepziba finally sensed that the atmosphere was wrong, and noticing the abnormality of his expression, she asked suspiciously, "Are you alright, dear?"

"It's okay... It's okay, I'm fine. Tom Riddle's voice was deeper, and he was filled with a dark and gloomy atmosphere.

"I thought... I guess it's the light. Hepziba couldn't hide the uneasiness in her heart, and she reluctantly explained and comforted herself, "Come, Hao Qi, take them away and lock them up again...... ...... with old magic"

Tom Riddle picked up the chain again, and just wanted to take a closer look, but was interrupted by Hepziba's commanding elf voice, he held the chain in his hand and raised his head in a rage, his eyes were full of bloodshots, his expression could no longer maintain the previous politeness, and he said loudly: "It's funny, sometimes chance and fate are tightly entangled. Do you agree, Mrs. Smith?"

He slowly approached Hepzibah with a very dangerous expression, like a great snake ready to choose someone to devour. Tom Riddle was getting closer and closer to Hepzibah, who was a little flustered by the sudden change of expression of the handsome wizard, and the smirk on her face was dull - but then, Tom Riddle just returned to his normal form and said goodbye to Mrs. Hepzibah Smith gracefully.

The picture becomes blurry, and everything seems to be nothing.

"It's time to go, Harry. Dumbledore whispered as he grabbed Harry's arm and sent the boy back to the Headmaster's office, "This house-elf's memories have been tampered with, and I can do my best to get that last bit back..."

Harry froze in his position, letting the water drip from his face and not speak.

"Tom's role as a clerk in Bockbogin, in addition to learning some powers that we wizards shouldn't control, is also clearly part of his plan, Mrs. Smith is a regular customer of Bockbogin's shop, and Voldemort takes advantage of her obsession with him and seizes the opportunity to eventually take the two family heirlooms. He creates an impeccable first-class scandal scene, he falsifies the memory of the house-elf Hao Qi, making her think that she killed her master by mistake with poison because of her old age, and then it only takes a dramatic touch for the house-elf to confess. Dumbledore sat back in his chair and held out his hand to signal Harry to sit down as well, "No one in the Ministry of Magic thought to investigate any further, not even to find the potion that could never be traced, and they ruled that Hao Qi was not murdered, but that he was blind. At the same time, Tom had resigned and disappeared, disappearing for a long time. ”

"I don't understand," Harry shook his head and frowned, "it seems crazy...... Take such a big risk, lose your job, just to ......"

"Now," said Dumbledore, "if you don't mind, Harry, I'd like to draw your attention to some of the details of the story... This is another murder committed by Voldemort, and I don't know if this is the first life of his men... You must have seen that this time he was not for revenge, but for profit. He wanted the two treasures that the poor old lady had shown him. Just as he robbed the other children in the orphanage, just as he stole his uncle's ring, this time he stole Hepziba's cup and locket. ”

At this time, Harry didn't listen much, his heart was heavy, the scene of Voldemort and Hepzibah getting along left a particularly deep impression on him, knowing that one was the Dark Lord and the other was his classmate professor, but Harry just felt that Voldemort brought him a feeling very similar to Alan at that time...

Harry glanced up at Dumbledore, hesitated, but gave up his plan to tell Dumbledore what he had just felt, he didn't want his words to make Dumbledore's impression of Alan worse, after all, Alan had never had Voldemort's dangerous expression before the memory was almost over... I've never seen him steal anything from someone else.