sacrilege / Animagic again / magical education system / entertainment

[pamscotland]

No: HPFGUIDX 40628

--- In HPforGrownups at y..., "catlady_de_los_angeles" <catlady at w...> 
wrote:

> The grave markers were still in that graveyard: Harry was tied to 
> one, hid from curses behind another. I thought that the graves and 
> markers were always removed when they deconsecrate a graveyard? 

Not always in Britain, I'm afraid.  Now it is more likely that this 
will happen when the ground is deconsecrated, but there are churches 
that fell into disuse or were damaged during the 1939-45 War that 
were never renovated and nothing much was done with the grounds.  The 
further out into the wilds of the countryside, the more likely it was 
to happen.  Now it tends to be the deep countryside churches where 
people take the greatest care to look after them.  I seem to remember 
one graveyard that was deconsecrated but they could do very little 
with the ground because it contained anthrax victims and it was 
considered too dangerous to move anything!  

Btw, 
> according to a nitpicker I met, the difference between 'graveyard' 
> and 'cemetary' is that a 'graveyard' must be attached to a church. 
I 
> think he got it confused with 'churchyard'.

<snip> 
I believe that most burials - Catholic, Protestant etc. etc. - in 
Britain are now in unconsecrated ground.  The public municipal 
cemeteries are NOT generally consecrated grounds and are owned by the 
local council (administered usually by the Parks Department).  Modern 
churches are not usually built with adjoining burial grounds and the 
grounds of old churches are mostly fairly full - so unless you 
already have a family plot in one you have only a small chance of 
being buried in one.   

> << It assumes that Voldemort had the Christian sacraments somewher
> e in his head - there's no evidence for that. >>
> 
> Hmm. I thought it only assumes that JKR had the Christian 
sacraments 
> somewhere in *her* head. 

Which she surely does have - but she may well have lots of other 
things in her head also - cannibal feasts, black pudding, Roman 
rituals, Greek rituals - she's seems to be a very well educated and 
widely read lady.  

<snip>
> 
> Even tho' JKR's depiction of Hogwarts is based on expensive private 
> schools, we don't know that Hogwarts IS an expensive private 
school. 

There is absolutely no mention of fees at all - the only costs 
mentioned are those involved in getting kitted out for school

> So it is possible that Hogwarts is a public school in the USA 
sense, 
> funded and commanded by the government, with the Board of Governors 
> as an elected or appointed School Board. It is also possible that 
> Hogwarts is NOT funded by the government, but charges no tuition, 
not 
> even room & board, because it has such a large endowment that has 
had 
> 1000 years to grow since the Founders.

I'm pretty sure that Hogwarts is funded by a trust fund growing and 
growing from the original endowment with subsequent gifts in money or 
kind from grateful former pupils and their parents.  I would imagine 
the MoM might well oversee the appointment of the head teacher and it 
certainly seems to listen to the protests of the parents.  I don't 
think there can be a Board of Governors or a School Board - they 
would surely have made themselves prominent to everyone with all the 
goings-on if they existed. (As a former member of a School Board I 
know that we are the first people after the head teacher to whom 
reporters turn when Something Happens.) 

It is interesting to remember that some of Britain's most famous 
private schools (the ones we call Public Schools - just to confuse 
everyone else) were set up primarily as FREE schools for paupers or 
for the children of 'impoverished gentlefolk'.

Pam