Helga Hufflepuff's Cup

• Type: Horcrux, Founder's Artefact
• Owners: Helga Hufflepuff, Hepzibah Smith, Lord Voldemort, Bellatrix Lestrange, Harry Potter
• Maker: Belonged to Helga Hufflepuff

Helga Hufflepuff's Cup is described as a small, golden cup with two finely-wrought handles. Its most prominent feature is a badger, the symbol of Hufflepuff House, engraved on its surface. When Harry Potter first saw the cup in a Pensieve memory, he noted its simple elegance and historical significance, a stark contrast to the ornate gaudiness of Salazar Slytherin's Locket with which it was presented.

Before its transformation into a Horcrux, its owner Hepzibah Smith claimed the cup possessed “all sorts of powers,” though she never specified what they were, and this claim was never verified. Its primary magical significance in the series comes from the enchantments placed upon it by Lord Voldemort.

• Horcrux: Voldemort transformed the cup into one of his seven Horcruxes, imbuing it with a fragment of his soul. This granted the object immense magical protection, rendering it nearly indestructible. To destroy it, one needed to use a substance so powerful it left no means of magical repair, such as Basilisk venom or Fiendfyre.
• Defensive Curses: To protect the cup within the Lestrange Vault at Gringotts Wizarding Bank, it was placed under powerful protective enchantments. These included the Gemino Curse, which caused any object touched to multiply endlessly, and the Flagrante Curse, which made the duplicated objects scorching hot to the touch.

The cup was the personal possession of Helga Hufflepuff, one of the four founders of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. It was passed down through her lineage and eventually came into the hands of Hepzibah Smith, a wealthy, elderly witch who was a distant descendant. In the mid-1940s, a young Tom Riddle, then working for Borgin and Burkes, visited Hepzibah Smith under the pretence of negotiating a purchase of goblin-made armour. Smith, infatuated with Riddle, showed him two of her greatest treasures: Slytherin's Locket and Hufflepuff's Cup. Two days later, Riddle murdered Hepzibah, magically altered the memory of her house-elf, Hokey, to make her confess to the crime, and stole both artefacts. Lord Voldemort used the murder of Hepzibah Smith to turn the cup into a Horcrux. He later entrusted this priceless object to one of his most fervent followers, Bellatrix Lestrange. She secured it in her family vault at Gringotts, believing it to be the safest possible location. In 1998, Harry Potter deduced the cup was a Horcrux and was hidden in the Lestrange Vault after observing Bellatrix's terrified reaction when she believed Harry and his friends had been inside. With the reluctant help of the goblin Griphook, Harry, Ron Weasley, and Hermione Granger successfully broke into Gringotts. They retrieved the cup after battling the vault's enchantments and a blind dragon, which they then used to escape. During the Battle of Hogwarts, Ron Weasley realised they could use Basilisk fangs from the Chamber of Secrets to destroy the remaining Horcruxes. Hermione Granger stabbed the cup with a fang, and the dark magic binding the soul fragment was destroyed in a wave of black smoke, cleansing the artefact.

Hufflepuff's Cup is a critical plot device in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. It is one of the seven Horcruxes that must be destroyed for Lord Voldemort to be made mortal and defeated. The quest for the cup leads directly to the Gringotts heist, one of the most dangerous and daring feats undertaken by the trio. This event showcases their increased maturity, planning abilities, and reliance on each other. The destruction of the cup is a significant turning point during the Battle of Hogwarts, marking the elimination of another piece of Voldemort's soul and leading to a pivotal moment in the relationship between Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger, who share their first kiss immediately after.

• In the film adaptation of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, the Pensieve memory of Tom Riddle meeting Hepzibah Smith is omitted. The cup's appearance and backstory are instead explained by Hermione Granger in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 1, based on information from her books. (film)