Tom Riddle kills Hepzibah Smith, framing her house-elf, Hokey

After doing so, he steals Slytherin’s locket and Hufflepuff’s cup – items he later uses to make Horcruxes.

Timeline Notes

The death of Smith happened ten years before Tom Riddle, now as Lord Voldemort, came back to Hogwarts supposedly to ask Dumbledore for a teaching post. Because Dumbledore became Headmaster some time after 1965 and before 1970, we place the murders in approximately 1956. The actual date could be a year or two later than that, but not before.