Hokey

Hokey was a house-elf that belonged to Hepzibah Smith. She was framed in the murder of her mistress by Tom Riddle.

Serving Hepzibah Smith
Hokey was an old house-elf that served Hepzibah Smith. She used to flatter her mistress, and it was speculated (albeit sarcastically) that this was among her tasks as a house-elf.

Hepzibah Smith's death


During the 1940s, Hokey met Tom Riddle, a handsome boy who appeared to be friendly with Hokey's mistress. Hepzibah ordered Hokey to bring out her two most valuable magical antiques: Helga Hufflepuff's Cup and Salazar Slytherin's Locket, to show to Tom as a treat. This proved to be a fatal mistake on Hepzibah's behalf, as Riddle could barely hide his true nature when seeing such rare artefacts, especially the locket which once belonged to his family.

After Hepzibah's death, Hokey was accused of poisoning her mistress's evening cocoa. Hokey later remembered putting something into the cocoa that turned out not to be sugar, but a little-known lethal poison. The Ministry put it off to an accident given the fact that Hokey was old and probably confused. However, in fact, Tom Marvolo Riddle poisoned Mrs. Smith (in order to steal Helga Hufflepuff's Cup and Salazar Slytherin's Locket) and then magically changed Hokey's memory, with a False Memory Charm, to make her look like the guilty party.

Death
The Ministry convicted Hokey of poisoning her mistress's evening cocoa by accident. It was concluded that she had not meant to do it, but she did due to being old and confused. What happened to her career as a house-elf after that incident is unknown, but before she died, Albus Dumbledore found her and took a memory from her, in which Tom Riddle showed his interest towards Hepzibah's magical antiques. This memory was not sufficient enough to show Hokey's innocence, as it only proved that Riddle was aware of the artefacts' existence.

Physical appearance
In a memory seen through the Pensieve, Harry Potter describes Hokey as "the tiniest and oldest house-elf [he] had ever seen." Her head did not reach the seat of Mrs. Smith's chair and when she carried Hepzibah's most precious heirlooms the boxes went over her head. She had papery-skin and wore a linen sheet as a toga.

Behind the scenes

 * Hokey's memory was cut from the film adaptation of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. Therefore, Hokey and Hepzibah Smith were also cut.

Appearances

 * Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince