Hogwarts Upkeep

[alhewison]

No: HPFGUIDX 36437

--- In HPforGrownups at y..., "Felicia Rickmann" <felicia.rickmann at d...> 
wrote:
> >> Where does Hogwarts get its
> >> funds to continue running at all, let alone at the level of 
decadence that it apparently does?
> 
> I always, for reasons I can't explain but perhaps being English 
helps, assumed that Hogwarts was a fee-paying school probably because 
it was a boarding school.  I know I nearly went to one once, but fled 
to Holland instead... It would have involved, according to my Mum, 
large amounts of cash changing hands.
> 
> It all costs money and, as the wizarding world is NOT huge, I doubt 
if public wizard money could fund it.  Assistance with places would, 
as it is in various forms with muggles, be available, but the 
necessity for fee-payments would account in no small part for the 
Weasley's impoverished situation.  (Very, very proud to have the 
family at Hogwarts, but forever counting the sickles & knuts to keep 
them there....)
> 
> Felicia

I'm English, and I've always assumed that Hogwarts is not a fee-
paying school!

I think that Hogwarts has to be "state" funded as it seems to be the 
only wizarding school in the UK. I can't believe that it would be in 
the interest of either the wizarding community - or the Muggle 
community - to have untrained wizards going about blowing up aunts 
etc. The community needs a school to ensure that the wizarding powers 
that these children possess are trained and directed. There is no 
canon evidence to support the theory that fees change hands (ok, so 
there's nothing to contradict it either).

I think that the Weasleys are poor because Mr Weasley is not very 
senior in the MOM. He may run a department, but as it only has 2 
employees, it's not very big and presumably doesn't attract the same 
sort of salary that a larger department might have. The Weasleys also 
have loads of children -which is very expensive. We've only got 2 and 
we're broke!

Why would Muggle parents led their children go to a strange wizarding 
school (I suppose that's a question in itself) and pay for the 
privilege? The father of the little Creevey brothers is a milkman and 
not likely to have the money to send his sons to boarding school. I 
know the argument that some children might be given scholarships or 
bursarys of some kind, but again there is no mention of this.

I believe that the children of Hogwarts are there on merit, and merit 
alone. All children in the UK have a right to free education, and 
perhaps by extension, all wizarding children in Britain have a right 
to a free wizarding education. The fact that it is in a boarding 
school is simply for practical reasons: there are not sufficent 
children with wizarding abilities to have loads of schools dotted 
around the country. Therefore, a boarding school is the only option. 
Despite the smallness of the wizarding community, the community would 
pay for the costs of funding the school, as the costs of not funding 
such an education could be greater. ie wizarding children running 
amok and risking exposure to the Muggle population.

I'm happy to have my theory picked at, as canon doesn't really help 
here.

Ali