The fourth Horcrux

Anyone who enters the Hufflepuff House common room will see the portrait facing the common room door, with Hufflepuff himself holding a golden cup and greeting the Hufflepuff students.

As is widely known, about half of all Wizard in Britain are Hufflepuff.

Therefore, strictly speaking, in the Britain Wizarding World, Hufflepuff's golden cup is more widely known than Jesus's.

Although most Wizard mention Merlin frequently, it's mostly just a habitual interjection; many don't even know which Hogwarts house Merlin graduated from.

Not to mention the Holy Grail, which, although it plays a significant role in Arthur's legends, has almost no connection to Merlin.

The legend of Merlin passed down by Wizard is an adventure story told from Merlin's perspective, with Arthur only occupying a small part of it. Wizard are not interested in the legend of Muggle having a different king.

Of the two cups, Manus believed that the Hufflepuff cup was more likely to be the one.

It's not just because of the cup's widespread availability—a famous but largely useless cup wouldn't attract this level of fighting. Besides, given Hufflepuff's personality, even if the cup has magic, it wouldn't be some kind of magical effect that would cause such a fuss.

Manus suspected it was the Hufflepuff's Cup because of Voldemort's behavior.

Why did Voldemort act so strangely regarding the Golden Cup? He seemed so anxious when it was lost, yet after it was found, even Rodolphus, who caused the incident, wasn't severely punished, and the Cup was even given to Bellatrix retrieved it?

Let's ask a different question: How would Voldemort's actions make those who know about it think? Or rather, in which direction did Voldemort want those who know about it to think?

Others might think that Voldemort wasn't really interested in the golden cup; he was just angry that something of his had been stolen. So, after Voldemort men got it back, he wasn't so angry anymore.

Specifically, he not only awarded the golden cup to Bellatrix for his meritorious service, but also ensured that Rodolphus was not punished.

The problem lies precisely here: Voldemort overdid it, which surprised those who truly understood him. Voldemort wasn't the type to refrain from punishing his subordinates just because he wasn't that angry.

Voldemort's deliberate actions pointed the way to the truth, which was the opposite of what he wanted people to believe.

Voldemort wasn't indifferent to the Golden Cup; on the contrary, he cared about it too much, to the point that he had to go to great lengths to make others think he didn't.

So, what could possibly make Voldemort, who was so afraid of death and desperate to survive, care so much?

With Manus already possessing two Horcrux, one of which is Ravenclaw's Diadem, it's hard for Manus not to suspect that a golden cup, which Voldemort is so interested in, is a Horcrux.

Remember what Tom said: if he were to create a new Horcrux, he would choose something extraordinary and meaningful...

Come to think of it, it seems like he hasn't seen Tom in a long time.

Once upon a time, Tom and his companion were imprisoned in a deep dungeon where the flow of time was almost stopped, simply because Manus, for safety reasons, did not want to leave these two obviously unruly fellows free to roam.

But now it seems unnecessary. With Manus's own strength growing, there's a different approach to dealing with the two Tom.

"Haven't seen you for a long time."

The gathering outside continued, and Manus diverted some of his attention to Condensation a Mental World clone that entered the deepest prison.

He didn't try to change back to how he looked a few years ago, nor did he act as if they had only just met. Given that they had already had a similar experience before, Big Tom's expression was rather unpleasant.

"... How much time has passed outside? How's that guy doing now?"

Without trying to figure out how the other party did it, nor making pointless accusations, Big Tom only cared about Voldemort.

"Don't worry, only three years have passed, and I'm currently a fourth-year student at Hogwarts. As for Voldemort, although he hasn't yet gained dominance in the Britain Wizarding World, he's certainly making great strides."

Voldemort had cast a spell on his name, but given Manus's level of self-protection, he had no need to worry about such detection magic. He only referred to himself as the You-Know-Who to avoid frightening others.

Hearing this, Big Tom looked at Manus, his eyes blatantly disbelief—you're saying you're a fourth-year student at Hogwarts? Do you think I've never been to Hogwarts?

"It's true, I have no reason to lie to you."

Big Tom's lips twitched, and he thought the other party had lied to him about time, but upon closer inspection... it seemed that the other party hadn't actually lied to him, and hadn't even pretended that time hadn't passed.

The other party simply used some kind of magic without informing him, making him unable to perceive the passage of time.

"So what brings you here this time?"

Big Tom was somewhat helpless, but he quickly accepted reality.

"That's how it is..."

Manus told Big Tom about the golden cup:

What do you think?

"That's Hufflepuff's Cup! A new Horcrux."

Big Tom spoke with great certainty:

"I actually already had the idea of branding the relics left by the four Wizards who founded Hogwarts with my own mark and turning them into Horcrux. At that time, I already knew the whereabouts of Hufflepuff's Cup, and I was determined to find a way to get my hands on it later."

As for how he got his hands on it... well, Tom can only say that although his Muggle father was a good-for-nothing, this face was undeniably powerful. He disliked having the same appearance as Riddle Sr., but he didn't mind using that advantage to achieve his goal more easily.

Manus glanced at Big Tom. Although he had asked about the past of Big and Little Tom in great detail, he hadn't asked about things that were still in the planning stages and hadn't actually happened yet, and Big Tom naturally wouldn't tell him either.

Without dwelling on this, Manus continued:

"The relics of the Four Founders? Besides Ravenclaw's Diadem and Hufflepuff's Cup, what are the other two?"

Although the Four Founders are legendary figures in establishing the school, this claim is not prevalent at Hogwarts. Ravenclaw's Diadem is inherently iconic and legendary, while Hufflepuff's Cup is widely known because of the portrait depicted on it.

Gryffindor and Slytherin left neither portraits nor anything of this legendary quality at Hogwarts...

Wait, something seems to be there?

"Is it the Sword of Gryffindor and the Basilisk of Slytherin?"