Mundungus and the Locket

[exodusts]

No: HPFGUIDX 147837

Jen wrote:
> While Harry never caught Mundungus with the locket and that 
remains  
> open to speculation, he did see a goblet that fell out of his 
sack.   
> Could that be Hufflepuff's Cup?
> 
>


Unlikely.

A) The goblet in Mundungus' suitcase was silver, with the Black 
family crest on it:

QUOTE, HBP Ch12
Ron had stooped down and picked up something silver.
"Hang on," Ron said slowly. "This looks familiar —"
SNIP
"You took that from Sirius's house," said Harry, who was almost nose 
to nose with Mundungus and was breathing in an unpleasant smell of 
old tobacco and spirits. "That had the Black family crest on it."
END QUOTE

B) It sounds like part of the set that Mundungus admired in OotP:

QUOTE, OotP Ch 5
"Sirius," said Mundungus, who did not appear to have paid any 
attention to the conversation, but had been closely examining an 
empty goblet. "This solid silver, mate?"
"Yes," said Sirius, surveying it with distaste. "Finest fifteenth-
century goblin-wrought silver, embossed with the Black family crest."
"That'd come orf, though," muttered Mundungus, polishing it with his 
cuff.
END QUOTE

C) Hufflepuff's Cup is golden, with a badger on it:

QUOTE, HBP Ch20
Harry edged forward a little to get a better view and saw what looked 
like a small golden cup with two finely wrought handles.
SNIP
"A badger," murmured Voldemort, examining the engraving upon the 
cup. "Then this was... ?"
"Helga Hufflepuff's, as you very well know, you clever boy!" 
END QUOTE

D) The goblet in the suitcase MIGHT still be Hufflepuff's Cup, IF 
Regulus Black had stolen that Cup from Voldemort's hiding place, 
brought it back to 12 GOP, and Transfigured it to look like one of 
the Black set. BUT this is improbable for four reasons. One, we have 
seen that just getting to any Horcrux is hard enough - Regulus being 
able to steal two is pushing the envelope of "realism" (within the 
internal logic of JKR's world). Two, it is impractical. Would Regulus 
really want himself and his family to enjoy meals where the drinks 
were served in a Horcrux? What if Ma Black decided to throw out the 
old dinner-set one day? Would Regulus be able to instantly tell the 
Horcrux apart from the ordinary goblets if he needed to do something 
with it? Three, it seems unlikely that a Horcrux item would be 
susceptible to ordinary Transfiguration, due to the risk this could 
represent to Voldemort, and the fact that, if possible, it ought to 
make Harry's hunt impossible (if Voldemort has already thought to 
disguise them as radically different objects). Four, it is very 
likely that Slytherin's Locket was in 12 GOP (JKR has tacitly 
acknowledged this, in quotes), and it makes for a better story if the 
Cup is somewhere else entirely, forcing Harry to explore further 
afield.

Exodusts.