Mundungus Fletcher
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| Harry Potter character | |
|---|---|
| Mundungus Fletcher | |
| Gender | Male |
| Hair colour | Ginger |
| Parentage | Half-blood |
| Allegiance | Order of the Phoenix |
| First appearance | Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets (mentioned), Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (appears in person) |
Mundungus "Dung" Fletcher is a fictional character in the Harry Potter books.
In the first half of the Harry Potter series, Mundungus Fletcher was mentioned several times in passing: in Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, Professor McGonagall says she thinks Mundungus is using magic in front of Muggles. In Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, Arthur Weasley reports that Mundungus tried to hex him when his back was turned. In Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, his petty-criminal nature is again revealed when Percy Weasley reports that Mundungus demanded compensation for an alleged twelve-bedroomed tent with en-suite jacuzzi that was ruined during the Quidditch World Cup final, while in actuality he slept inside a cloak propped on sticks. At the end of Goblet of Fire, Dumbledore mentions him as a part of the "old crowd", obviously referring to the first assembly of the Order of the Phoenix, which needs to be assembled again.
Fletcher remained unseen, however, until the second chapter of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. He was assigned guard duty to make sure Harry Potter is not attacked, but Fletcher abandoned his position to conduct shady cauldron-trading business, leaving a critical opening through which the Dementors sent by Dolores Umbridge managed to attack Harry and force Potter to use a Patronus, which was exactly Umbridge's plan. This dereliction of duty earned Fletcher the wrath of Arabella Figg.
Though Mundungus is a criminal, he is very loyal to Dumbledore, who apparently once got him out of serious trouble. Dumbledore trusts him enough to include him in the Order of The Phoenix. Fletcher is described as a "squat, unshaven man" with "short, bandy legs", "long, straggly ginger hair", and "bloodshot, baggy eyes that gave him the doleful look of a basset hound". He also smokes a pipe which emits clouds of green smoke that smell distinctly like burnt socks. (His name comes from the Spanish mondongo, meaning "old, smelly tobacco".)
Members of the Order have mixed feelings about Mundungus—most notably Molly Weasley, who strongly disapproves of the constant dubious activity he conducts parallel to his membership in the Order, and of the general idea of a part-criminal being included in the group; yet nobody denies his usefulness. Aside from selling Fred and George otherwise unattainable supplies necessary for the development of Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes, his connections enable him to hear things that others do not—rumours and information rolling around the shadier sects of the wizarding population which could potentially prove instrumental in the fight against Voldemort.
He also has a lifetime ban from the Hog's Head, enforced mostly thanks to the barman (Aberforth Dumbledore) having a long memory. Mundungus has been known to disguise himself in order to gain access to the Hog's Head, circumventing the ban. Though little is known of his background, Phineas Nigellus refers to him as a half-blood.
In Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, Harry catches Mundungus outside of the Three Broomsticks trying to sell Sirius Black's property (which now belongs to Harry after Sirius' death) to Aberforth. Mundungus goes into hiding but is later jailed in Azkaban for impersonating an Inferius during a botched robbery, a fact which fellow Order-member Severus Snape jeers at.
