A/N:
This is written for reminiscent-afterthought's 'So you think you know your character?' competition. The competition consists of 11 questions about a character of the writers choice. I chose Mundungus Fletcher, and all 11 questions will be answered in the chapters of this fic. Though aspects of his personality are slightly different to fit into the AU of my story 'Harry Potter: Scourge of Knockturn Alley,' most of the base character is the same, so I would imagine that these short stories can be read with or without reading that first.

So, without further ado, on to the challenge!

Question 1: What is your Hogwarts house and how well do you fit into it?
(An alternative question was 'What is your current work position and how well do you think you fit into it?,' but I decided this question would be more interesting to answer for good ol' Mundungus.)

If you were to ask a random person on the street what their impression is of Mundungus Fletcher, assuming they even knew who he was, they will tell you about a man enslaved to his vices, always to be found at some grotty bar or grottier whorehouse. To some extent these accusations are true, and yet, as any of those who have done business with him will tell you, Mundungus Fletcher is, arguably the quintessential Slytherin.

To say something like this in certain circles would give certain high-flying members of society fits. Lucius Malfoy, for example, considers none more than Lord Voldemort to embody the essence of Slytherin, closely followed by himself, and firmly believes that people such as Mundungus Fletcher unworthy of even the slightest association with the noble name of Slytherin.

Yet is is indeed true that Mundungus, in his own seedy way possesses every one of the traits that are so prized by members of the noble house of Slytherin.

Resourceful – certainly. Mundungus has managed to build up a certain useful reputation in Knockturn Alley for being able to get hold of almost anything – for the right price, of course. And his ruthlessness in being sure he does get the right price, at least for himself, takes care of any concerns that he may not have the ambition needed to be a true Slytherin. No, his niche is not a lofty one, but he is somewhere near the top of it.

And should something go wrong in one of his deals, the speed and efficiency with which he is able to extract himself is quite phenomenal, and provides plentiful proof of his intelligence – at least of a certain variety, his cunning, and above all his highly developed sense of self preservation. He will always have an alibi, and one or two to spare. His status as a regular at various bars and brothels means they are always willing to testify that he couldn't possibly have been involved in this jewel heist, or that cauldron theft, as he spent most of the evening passed out drunk on their bar/bed/ hooker.

Despite his questionable background, he is almost certainly a pureblood. His mother was from a pureblood family distantly related to the Weasleys, and so poor they made the Weasleys look extravagant. The exact identity of his father is entirely unknown, but he was conceived in a brothel catering exclusively to purebloods willing to pay through the nose for their lay to be pure in at least one sense of the word. However, his mother was thrown out of that particular whorehouse after the birth of her child, and now works in one of the considerably less upscale establishments which is populated with people from any and all blood backgrounds. Mundungus grew up in this mixed society, and as a result lacks, and even scorns the fanaticism for blood purity that is currently rife in his old house.

It seems a shame that due to such petty bias, Mundungus was barely recognised in his house as a real member, never included and never assisted, just left to fend for himself. Whilst this arguably honed a number of his more Slytherin characteristics, one cannot help but wonder if he might one day have been a true force to be reckoned with, if only given the chance.

A/N:

(This piece has been edited to correct a mistake I made about Mundungus' blood status. I recently rediscovered some old notes in which I had him as a pureblood rather than a (probable) second generation half-blood as I had previously written, and therefore changed the story to fit these, as I felt it worked better. A non-pureblood would likely have had an even harder time in Slytherin than Mundungus did.)

Bonus points to anyone who spots the CATS quote/lyrics hidden in here - it wasn't really intentional, it just fit so well at the time of writing I couldn't resist!