Mundungus Fletcher

Mundungus Fletcher was a wizard and one of the original members of the Order of the Phoenix, a group dedicated to fighting Lord Voldemort and his Death Eaters. He was something of a con artist, if not an outright criminal. Mundungus fought in some battles of the Second Wizarding War, including the Battle over Little Whinging and possibly the Battle of Hogwarts. After the war, he possibly continued his life as a con artist.

First Wizarding War
Mundungus became a member of the Order of the Phoenix during the First Wizarding War. He was not well-liked by the other members of the Order and struck many as seeming untrustworthy. However, he was fiercely loyal to Dumbledore after Dumbledore helped him out of a "tight spot". His links to the wizarding underworld are extremely useful in gaining information for the Order. Sometime between 1975 to 1976, Mundungus offended Aberforth Dumbledore, and Aberforth banned him from Hog's Head for life. To this day, Aberforth kept a good memory of this ban.

Between the wars
His loyalty to the Order did not prevent him from pursuing his criminal ways during the period before Voldemort's return, however. In 1992 he tried to place a hex on Arthur Weasley during a law enforcement raid, and in 1994, following the Death Eater attack on the Quidditch World Cup, he put in a compensation claim for a 12-bedroomed tent with an built-in jacuzzi (actually, according to Percy Weasley, he was sleeping under a cloak propped up on sticks).

Second Wizarding War
With the return of Lord Voldemort in 1995, Dumbledore called upon Sirius Black to alert the "old crowd," which included Mundungus Fletcher. However, Fletcher found it impossible to place the demands of the Order completely ahead of his own interests.

His main tasks for the Order during the of 1995–1996 school year were those which involved keeping a close eye on Harry Potter. The consequences of failing in this mission were made known at the beginning of that year, when Fletcher abandoned his post to smuggle stolen cauldrons. In his absence, Harry and his cousin Dudley Dursley were attacked in Little Whinging by Dementors ordered to Little Whinging by Dolores Umbridge. He got a reprimand from Arabella Figg for this. He slightly redeemed himself in Mrs. Weasley's eyes while cleaning out Grimmauld Place, when he saved her son from a set of purple cloaks hell bent on strangling him. He later redeemed himself by keeping a close watch on Harry, during his times in Hogsmeade Village, and reporting back to the Order. Specifically, he disguised himself as a witch under a black balaclava in the Hog's Head, as he had been banned from the pub.

Imprisonment and escape
The good intentions behind this gesture were disregarded by Harry when, following the death of Sirius Black in 1996, Harry caught Fletcher red-handed in Hogsmeade selling items which had been stolen from Sirius's house. These items and the entire residence at 12 Grimmauld Place were left to Harry following Sirius' death. Harry confronted him using physical force before Mundungus Disapparated. His exact whereabouts were a mystery, but it was later noted in the Daily Prophet that he had been arrested and sent to Azkaban for impersonating an Inferius. He likely escaped during the mass breakout described by Kingsley Shacklebolt in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.

In July of 1997, Severus Snape placed the Confundus Charm on Mundungus in order to have him propose a plan to the Order for removing Harry Potter from his relatives' home — to have six Order members disguise themselves as Harry with Polyjuice Potion accompanied by protectors. Mundungus was reluctant to participate himself, however, but was pushed into becoming one of the "seven Potters", partnering with Alastor Moody. As the Order began to fly away from Little Whinging, however, they were ambushed and a battle ensued. Voldemort targeted Mundungus and Moody first, causing Mundungus to Disapparate immediately in terror. Voldemort's Killing Curse struck Moody in the face.

Later that summer, Harry and his friends Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger were hiding out in 12 Grimmauld Place and learned from Kreacher that Mundungus had stolen a locket from the house, which they realised was one of Voldemort's Horcruxes. Harry sent Kreacher to fetch Mundungus for questioning. Although Fletcher managed to avoid capture for three days, he was eventually captured by Kreacher and brought to Grimmauld Place. While there, Mundungus confessed to giving the locket up to Dolores Umbridge.

Following this, Fletcher presumably went into hiding. He is not known to have taken part in the Battle of Hogwarts, but it is possible that he did, without being mentioned by Harry Potter.

Later life
Mundungus most likely survived the Second Wizarding War and possibly resumed his life as a criminal afterwards.

Physical appearance
Squat, with bandy legs and long, straggly ginger hair, Fletcher often sported an unshaven face and bloodshot, baggy eyes. He had a habit of smoking a smelly pipe and carried a strong bodily odor of tobacco and stale alcohol. He was once even mistaken for a pile of rags.

Personality and traits
Mundungus was an outright criminal. He always took valuable things from wherever he went, such as 12 Grimmauld Place. After Sirius Black's death, Mundungus stole his possessions, including Salazar Slytherin's Locket. He was also very cowardly, as he abandoned Alastor Moody during the Battle over Little Whinging; Moody was killed by Lord Voldemort. It is possible that Mundungus did not fight in the Battle of Hogwarts, but, if he did, he most likely survived the war and continued his job as an irreputable artifact dealer.

Order of the Phoenix members
Mundungus did not have a very good relationship with the most of the Order of the Phoenix members. They did not like him, as he was a criminal, but put up with him as his criminal contacts could give him intelligence about Lord Voldemort. Mrs. Weasley seemed to dislike him, as she thought he would be a bad influence on Fred and George by telling them about his "jobs" (probably because she was afraid of her children following his example). She also told him not to smoke in the kitchen of 12 Grimmauld Place. However, she stopped disliking him so much when Mundungus saved Ron from a magic cloak that attempted to strangle him. Arabella Figg disliked him too, when he abandoned his mission to watch Harry Potter, who was attacked by Dementors. Mundungus was regarded by many as a coward.

In 1998, Harry Potter, Ron Weasley, and Hermione Granger kidnapped Mundungus in order to learn about Salazar Slytherin's Locket. Mundungus told them that he had given the locket to Dolores Umbridge. This led to Harry, Ron, and Hermione infiltrating the Ministry in order to find the locket and destroy it.

The members of the Order learned about Mundungus's cowardice when he abandoned Alastor Moody during the Battle over Little Whinging; Moody was killed by Lord Voldemort. It is unknown if Mundungus fought along with other members during the Battle of Hogwarts.

Mundungus also has a mixed relationship with the bartender of Hog's Head, Aberforth Dumbledore. While Aberforth banned Mundungus for life from the bar for offending him 20 years ago, the two remained in touch, with Mundungus selling stolen goods to Aberforth. It was also mentioned that Mundungus was loyal to Albus Dumbledore who had helped him at some point in the past. Albus scared Mundungus a bit but nevertheless, Mundungus never betrayed him.

Behind the scenes

 * Mundungus never appears in the films. It is unknown why J.K. Rowling never told the makers of the film adaptation of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix to do so when she told them to include Kreacher, as Mundungus has as big a part to play in the adventure with the locket as Kreacher does, giving it to Umbridge. Nonetheless, his character will be in the seventh film.
 * In the movie while Kreacher is expressing his anger on the house being used by the order, he says "Mudblood, werewolves, traitors, thieves," thieves in reference to Mundungus.
 * It has been confirmed that he will be played by Andy Linden in the film adaptation of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.
 * Mundungus shares many descriptive traits with Hermione's cat, Crookshanks. Specifically, they both have ginger hair and are bandy legged. It is unknown if this has any significance or is merely a coincidence on the author's part.

Etymology

 * Mundungus means "garbage" or "rubbish". From the Spanish mondongo, or tripe, the linings of cattle stomachs used in cooking. The English considered these stomach linings to be garbage, and "tripe" in English means something is rubbish. Mundungus also is an obsolete term for a very stinky tobacco.
 * A fletcher is an arrow-maker.

Appearances

 * Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
 * Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
 * Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
 * Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (film)
 * Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
 * Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows
 * Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part I

Notes and references
Mondingus Fletcher Наземникус Флэтчер Mundungus Fletcher