Harry Potter and the Secret Treasures

“Whether it was his first since he killed the Riddles, I do not know, but I think it was. This time, as you will have seen, he killed not for revenge, but for gain,” said Dumbledore. “He wanted the two fabulous trophies that poor, besotted, old woman showed him. Just as he had once robbed the other children at his orphanage, just as he had stolen his Uncle Morfin’s ring, so he ran off now with Hepzibah’s cup and locket.”

Murdering for profit showed that Voldemort’s motives were rational; he wouldn’t act impulsively based on emotion.

Of course, by now, how much of that rationality remained was highly questionable.

His growing power and fragmented soul no longer left him with much patience to plan elaborate murders.

Now, anyone who stood in his way, or simply displeased him, would be killed by Voldemort.

“I hope you will understand in due course exactly what those objects meant to him. He did not choose the items to make Horcruxes randomly. Each of his Horcruxes is extremely special to him. These things are more or less related to Hogwarts. He could not resist something so steeped in Hogwarts history. You must remember this.” said Dumbledore, looking at the clock next to him. “It’s getting late. Our lesson on Voldemort tonight ends here. Now, let’s talk about that Golden Cup and the homeland of the house-elves.”

Evan noticed that Dumbledore was looking at him with a smile. He gathered his thoughts and said, “I once saw Hufflepuff use that Golden Cup. It was her favorite possession. Of course, by now, it has likely been turned into a Horcrux by Voldemort. Sir, are you sure there is information about the homeland of the house-elves on it?”

“I believe so. If we trace the history of the Golden Cup, we will know that it is not a wizard’s product, but was made by a house-elf. It was originally a vessel to assist the house-elf in magical transportation of food,” said Dumbledore. “The first house-elf who came to work at Hogwarts gave it to Helga Hufflepuff, and that house-elf is the Dodo we are looking for, and the maker of the Golden Cup…”

This was the history of Hufflepuff’s Cup, a magical vessel made by a house-elf.

It sounded somewhat similar to Gryffindor’s Sword, which was forged by goblins. But while goblins had made many weapons, Evan had never heard of House-Elves crafting anything.

Undoubtedly, the cup was connected to Hufflepuff and her House-Elf companion; but what did that have to do with House-Elves as a whole?

“House-Elf-made magical objects are rare. If you’ve encountered other such items, you’ll know that House-Elves have a habit of leaving a unique mark on what they create…” he paused before continuing, “I assume you saw the pattern on the bottom of the cup?”

“I saw it, but I couldn’t understand it!” said Evan uncertainly. “It looked like some kind of script.”

He had noticed the strange pattern on the bottom of the cup when Voldemort turned it upside down.

“It is indeed a script, the language of ancient elves, a kind of extinct magic code. Few people can read it now, but it is not impossible to decipher. For example, my old friend Nicolas Flamel knows this kind of text,” said Dumbledore with a smile. “From him, I was fortunate enough to learn the information contained in the mark left by the house-elf, mainly the name of the house-elf who made this tool and the place where it was made. If I’m not mistaken, that place is what we are looking for.”

In other words, the strange pattern on the bottom of Hufflepuff’s Cup contained information about where it was made. This Golden Cup was made by the house-elf Dodo, so the place of its creation must be his homeland, the place where he ultimately returned with the key to Hufflepuff’s treasure: the House-Elf sanctuary!

This was a very direct and effective clue, much more reliable than using the process of elimination or simple guessing.

“So, sir, where is the cup now?” Harry couldn’t help asking.

“I don’t know. Voldemort would undoubtedly have hidden it somewhere he considered secure. That place can be traced — it is much easier to find than the House-Elf sanctuary. As I have always told you, he does not choose his Horcruxes randomly, nor does he select their hiding places without reason…”

Yes, of course, that cup was currently in the most heavily guarded vault in Gringotts.

Although he had said it before, Evan had to emphasize it again. This was a very troublesome location. He had broken into Gringotts in Egypt once before, but that time, he had the assistance of a goblin, and the defenses of Gringotts Egypt could not compare to those of the British headquarters.

For Evan to break in with his current abilities, like Quirrell and Voldemort had done years ago, it wasn’t impossible, but it was just as dangerous. Moreover, Quirrell had only entered a relatively unprotected vault. The vault Evan needed to reach belonged to the Lestrange family, located in the most secure part of Gringotts.

The difficulty of these two break-ins was incomparable!

If he wanted to break into Gringotts, Evan would need to prepare … thoroughly.

Perhaps he could tell Dumbledore about this, even at the risk of exposing himself.

Anyway, he had always had good luck in finding Horcruxes, so the headmaster might have gotten used to it. But even Dumbledore couldn’t make the goblins hand over the contents of the vault, so they still had to break in, but if Dumbledore led them into Gringotts…

Evan glanced at Dumbledore again and decided to abandon that thought for now.

………………………………………………………………………………………………….

Dumbledore’s lesson had crammed an overwhelming amount of information into Evan and Harry’s heads. Evan was better off, as he could remember more or less about Voldemort’s past, and now he needed to think about how to get the Golden Cup from Gringotts. Compared to him, Harry had more things to think about and digest, and he didn’t sleep well the whole night.

The next day, as usual, they shared everything with Hermione, Elaine, and Ron.

After some discussion, it was determined that the goal in front of them was to complete the assignment left by Dumbledore and obtain Slughorn’s memory. However, this was not Evan’s main concern, so Harry should work hard on it. That memory no longer meant much to Evan, and Slughorn had always been wary of him.

He was already alert enough, and if Evan made too many moves, it would lead to bad consequences.

Dumbledore had said as much, so Harry would take the lead on this mission, with Evan supporting from the sidelines.

Harry’s first attempt was in the first Potions class after Dumbledore’s lesson.

That lesson was nearly identical to the others, and he once again stole the spotlight using the knowledge from Advanced Potion-Making…

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