The Locket of Slytherin and the Cup of Hufflepuff

These two artifacts were priceless heirlooms belonging to two of the four founders of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. They were later stolen by Tom Riddle and transformed into two of his seven Horcruxes.

• Slytherin's Locket
  • Type: Horcrux, Founder's Item
  • Owners: Salazar Slytherin, The Gaunt family, Merope Gaunt, Caractacus Burke, Hepzibah Smith, Lord Voldemort, Regulus Black, Kreacher, Mundungus Fletcher, Dolores Umbridge, Harry Potter, Ron Weasley
  • Maker: Salazar Slytherin (presumed)
• Hufflepuff's Cup
  • Type: Horcrux, Founder's Item
  • Owners: Helga Hufflepuff, Hepzibah Smith, Lord Voldemort, Bellatrix Lestrange, Harry Potter, Hermione Granger
  • Maker: Helga Hufflepuff (presumed)

Slytherin's Locket The locket is described as a heavy, oval-shaped container made of gold. It is large enough to contain a folded piece of parchment. Its most distinguishing feature is an ornate, serpentine 'S' mark inlaid with small green stones, likely emeralds to match the colors of Slytherin house. When opened, it reveals two glass windows, behind which the fragment of Lord Voldemort's soul resides. Hufflepuff's Cup The cup is a small, golden chalice with two finely-wrought handles. It features an engraved badger, the symbol of Hufflepuff house. It is described as being a beautiful and valuable piece, though its magical properties prior to becoming a Horcrux are unknown.

As Horcruxes, the primary function of both the locket and the cup was to anchor Lord Voldemort's soul to the mortal plane, granting him a form of immortality. Each object was imbued with powerful Dark Magic and possessed its own unique and formidable defenses. Slytherin's Locket The locket's primary defense was its ability to influence the emotions and thoughts of those in close proximity, particularly the person wearing it.

• It amplified negative feelings such as suspicion, anger, and despair. This influence was strong enough to cause Ron Weasley to abandon his friends and prevent Harry Potter from casting a Patronus Charm.
• It could not be opened by any conventional magical means and would only open when addressed in Parseltongue.
• When opened for destruction, the soul fragment within could project horrific visions and taunts to defend itself, preying on the deepest fears of its attacker.
• The locket itself could not be destroyed by conventional means; it required an object or substance of immense destructive power, such as the Sword of Gryffindor imbued with Basilisk venom.

Hufflepuff's Cup The specific magical defenses of the cup itself are less documented, as it was primarily protected by its location.

• Lord Voldemort entrusted the cup to Bellatrix Lestrange, who secured it within her family vault at Gringotts Wizarding Bank.
• The Lestrange Vault was protected by numerous powerful enchantments, including the Gemino Curse, which caused any object touched to multiply endlessly, and the Flagrante Curse, which made the duplicated items red-hot to the touch.
• Like the locket, the cup could only be destroyed by a substance that inflicted irreparable magical damage, such as a Basilisk fang.

The locket was a treasured heirloom of Salazar Slytherin's last known descendants, the Gaunt family. It was sold to Caractacus Burke of Borgin and Burkes by a desperate Merope Gaunt and was later purchased by the wealthy collector, Hepzibah Smith. Hufflepuff's cup was passed down through Helga Hufflepuff's line and also eventually came into the possession of Hepzibah Smith. In the 1940s, a young Tom Riddle visited Hepzibah Smith under the guise of working for Borgin and Burkes. Learning that she possessed two priceless Founders' items, he murdered her, magically altered her house-elf's memory to take the blame, and stole both the locket and the cup. He transformed the locket into a Horcrux using the murder of a Muggle tramp and hid it in a secret sea cave he had visited as a child, protecting it with numerous enchantments. Years later, a disillusioned Regulus Black discovered Lord Voldemort's secret and resolved to destroy the Horcrux. Accompanied by his house-elf Kreacher, he braved the cave's defenses, swapped the real locket with a fake, and ordered Kreacher to take the real one and destroy it. Regulus Black perished in the cave, and Kreacher failed in his task, keeping the locket hidden at 12 Grimmauld Place for years. During the Order of the Phoenix's occupation of the house, the locket was stolen by Mundungus Fletcher. It was later extorted from him by Dolores Umbridge. In 1997, Harry Potter, Ron Weasley, and Hermione Granger infiltrated the Ministry of Magic and retrieved the locket from Umbridge. After months of carrying the locket and suffering its malevolent influence, Ron Weasley destroyed it with the Sword of Gryffindor in the Forest of Dean. Meanwhile, Lord Voldemort had entrusted Hufflepuff's cup to Bellatrix Lestrange. The trio learned of its location after their escape from Malfloy Manor and, with the help of the goblin Griphook, successfully broke into the Lestrange Vault at Gringotts to retrieve it. During the Battle of Hogwarts, Hermione Granger and Ron Weasley went to the Chamber of Secrets, where Hermione used a Basilisk fang from the serpent's skeleton to destroy the cup.

The two objects are central to the plot of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. The hunt for them drives much of the narrative and leads to several key events, including the infiltration of the Ministry of Magic and the heist at Gringotts. Slytherin's locket serves as a significant antagonist in its own right, testing the friendship and resolve of the main trio to their absolute limits. Its destruction is a major turning point for Ron Weasley, representing his conquest over his insecurities and his solidifying his role as a hero. Hufflepuff's cup represents a different kind of challenge, one of logistics and immense danger. The mission to retrieve it highlights the group's ingenuity, courage, and reliance on others. Its destruction by Hermione Granger marks her first direct elimination of a Horcrux and is a critical victory during the climactic Battle of Hogwarts.

• J.K. Rowling confirmed that Tom Riddle used the murder of Hepzibah Smith herself to turn Hufflepuff's cup into a Horcrux. (J.K. Rowling interview)
• In the film adaptation of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 1, the destruction of the locket is visually depicted with a large, shadowy, Voldemort-like entity emerging from it to taunt Ron, a more literal interpretation of the book's psychological torment.
• In the film adaptation of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – Part 2, the destruction of the cup is also visually dramatic, with a wave of dark water and a spectral image of Lord Voldemort erupting from it before it is stabbed.