Dumbledore placed the silvery thread of memory into the faintly glowing Pensieve before him.
The silvery substance within began to swirl rapidly, and soon a blurry figure of a small old man slowly emerged amid the spiraling light. As the silver-white glow churned, the image grew clearer and clearer.
Caractacus Burke revolved slowly within the Pensieve, pale as a ghost, though with far more substance than one. His hair was thick and unkempt, hanging down over his forehead like a heavy curtain, completely hiding his eyes.
"Yes, we obtained it under very special and fortunate circumstances. I was in the shop at the time, and a young witch rushed in on Christmas Eve, in quite a hurry to sell it. That was... oh, many years ago now."
Burke's voice echoed hollowly around the room, emerging from the Pensieve itself.
"She said she was desperate for money, well, that much was obvious. Her robes were in tatters, her face gaunt, utterly lifeless. And she looked to be pregnant, too.
"She told me that the locket had once belonged to Slytherin. Hah! We hear that sort of nonsense all the time. 'Oh, this was Merlin's teapot, truly, his dearest treasure,' they say.
"But when I examined the locket closely, it truly bore Slytherin's mark. I tried a few simple spells and found the truth easily enough, it was unbelievable."
At this point, Burke's tone seemed, perhaps, to carry a hint of pride.
"Of course, that thing was worth a fortune. The woman clearly had no idea what she was selling. I gave her ten Galleons, and she left satisfied.
"Later, we sold it at an excellent price to Hepzibah Smith. That was the best deal we ever made!"
Dumbledore gave the Pensieve a firm swirl, and Mr. Burke's figure looped back to where he had first appeared, sinking once more into the rotating memory.
"I think," said Dumbledore calmly, "we now understand why Tom took a job at Borgin and Burkes.
"From Burke's account, we can tell that Tom's mother, Merope, was alone and destitute in London late in her pregnancy, desperate for money. In the end, she had to sell the only valuable possession she had, Slytherin's locket."
"How did Tom find out that Merope had sold the locket to Borgin and Burkes?" Snape asked.
"Oh, for that question, we can only make bold speculation," Dumbledore replied. "Perhaps Borgin or Burke couldn't resist boasting about such a profitable deal, and Tom learned of it by chance?"
"Reasonable," Snape nodded lightly. "Considering Burke only gave Merope ten Galleons, sir, I'd say keeping him in St. Mungo's is a bit too comfortable for him."
"Don't be too extreme, Severus," Dumbledore said gently. "Before we act, we must always think of the possible consequences.
"Mr. Burke's health was never seriously poor, if he were suddenly to die, do you think Borgin wouldn't become suspicious?"
Dumbledore paused briefly before continuing.
"The Death Eaters' connections with Borgin and Burkes are far from few. If Tom were to suspect that someone was investigating his past, that would be most unfortunate."
"I understand, sir." Snape nodded thoughtfully. "I heard people talking about it at the Three Broomsticks, Borgin might even have helped erase Burke's memory. So, what's your next step?"
Dumbledore did not answer directly. He gently opened a drawer of his desk and pulled out a rolled-up copy of The Daily Prophet.
"Severus, whatever you do, don't tell Madam Pince that I, like you, took a newspaper out of the library," Dumbledore said with a small smile. "If she finds out, she'll ban me from the library forever."
At that, Snape immediately pictured Madam Pince's vulture-like face, sunken cheeks, parchment-like skin, and a long hooked nose, lit starkly by the lamp she always carried.
"Following your example, I looked up some old newspapers in the library," Dumbledore said as he spread the paper out on the desk. "I must admit, though the Daily Prophet is dreadfully vulgar, one can occasionally find something of value in it, though usually by accident."
Dumbledore tapped lightly on the front page with his finger. "Look at this."
[Front-page headline] "Heir of Hufflepuff Slain by House-Elf, Accident or Conspiracy?"
Famed collector of magical antiquities and descendant of Helga Hufflepuff, Madam Hepzibah Smith, recently died after consuming a poisoned drink. Her house-elf, Hokey, collapsed at the scene and confessed to 'poisoning her mistress.'
The Ministry of Magic ruled that Hokey accidentally placed poison instead of sugar into her mistress's evening cocoa, resulting in the tragic event. The Ministry stated that the house-elf had no murderous intent, attributing it to poor eyesight and confusion, 'The house-elf has confessed, and her testimony matches the physical evidence.'
Nevertheless, Madam Smith's relatives have raised objections, noting that some of her most precious possessions are now missing. They firmly believe there was foul play involved and have demanded that the Ministry reopen the investigation.
A dimly lit room without windows, lined with torches mounted on the walls. Rows of witches and wizards sat on tiered benches, their faces grim. In the center of the room stood a chained chair with a frail, elderly house-elf curled up upon it, trembling violently as she hugged her knees.
"Sir," Snape said after reading the article, slowly raising his head toward Dumbledore, "do you believe Tom murdered Madam Hepzibah Smith and framed her house-elf, Hokey?"
"Yes," Dumbledore nodded. "I think Tom likely killed her to reclaim his mother's locket. And on that point, we may have a chance to verify it ourselves. Hokey should still be imprisoned."
"So, Severus," Dumbledore said, his tone firm, "our next stop is Azkaban."