Item from Harry Potter by J.K. Rowling
A small golden cup with two finely wrought handles and a badger engraving — a relic of Helga Hufflepuff turned into a Horcrux by Voldemort and hidden in the Lestrange vault at Gringotts.
Hufflepuff's Cup was one of the founders' relics that Voldemort collected as trophies for his soul. He murdered Hepzibah Smith to obtain it — along with Slytherin's locket — and hid it in Bellatrix Lestrange's vault at Gringotts, trusting the goblins' legendary security and Bellatrix's fanaticism to protect it. The vault's defenses were formidable: a dragon guarding the deepest vaults, the Gemino and Flagrante curses turning the treasure into a trap, and the goblins' own hostility to thieves. Harry, Ron, and Hermione broke in anyway — one of the most audacious heists in wizarding history — escaping on the back of a half-blind dragon that burst through the marble floor of the bank and flew over London. Hermione destroyed the cup in the Chamber of Secrets using a Basilisk fang, with Ron opening the chamber by mimicking the Parseltongue he'd heard Harry use.
A small golden cup with two delicate handles, finely wrought with a badger engraved on the side. It has no special visual effect but radiates a subtle wrongness to those sensitive to dark magic. When stored in the Lestrange vault at Gringotts, it was protected by a Gemino Curse (objects multiply when touched) and a Flagrante Curse (objects burn when touched), turning any attempt to grab it into an escalating catastrophe of burning, multiplying treasure.
Also known as: Hufflepuff's Cup, the Cup, Helga Hufflepuff's cup