Hogwarts Upkeep (or Hogwarts, a Financial History)

[abigailnus]

No: HPFGUIDX 36460

--- In HPforGrownups at y..., "alhewison" <Ali at z...> wrote:

> I understood that Dumbledore was allowed so much freedom at Hogwarts 
> was not due to the fact that Hogwarts wasn't closely related or 
> dictated to by the MOM, but simply because Dumbledore was Dumbledore. 
> In other words it was his personality rather than the school itself 
> which warranted the independence.

Personality is all well and good, but even a powerhouse like Dumbledore 
is only one man.  Dumbledore doesn't run Hogwarts so much like a school 
as like a bastion of hope.  He was the one with spies in Voldemort's 
organization during LV's first reign.  He was the one the Potters turned 
to, the one who helped them hide and suggested the Fidelius charm as 
a means of protection.  Canon is unclear about this point, but I think it's 
safe to assume that Dumbledore was headmaster of Hogwarts while 
he was leading the good guys (he was certainly at the school both before 
- Riddle's memory of him in CoS - and after).  At the end of GoF we 
see that he is turning back to his old ways - he begins reassembling his old 
team, sending diplomatic missions to the giants, possibly he resurrects 
his old spy network, and finally, in essence he recruits his entire student 
body as soldiers on the side of light.  

This goes well beyond the scope of a headmaster's job description.  Now, 
Dumbledore and Fudge have been on good terms until they part ways in 
GoF, so it is entirely possible that Fudge has given Dumbledore a great 
deal of freedom out of respect and awe.  But now Fudge views Dumbledore 
as an enemy, a man likely to spread panic and undermine his station.  
If Fudge does indeed control Hogwarts' purse-strings, he now has a very 
powerful weapon to use against Dumbledore.  

Now that I think about it, this might be an interesting twist to look forward 
to in OotP.  We've all been wondering what Fudge would do to undermine 
Dumbledore's fight, is it possible he would try to hurt Hogwarts itself, to 
hold the school as a hostage against Dumbledore's compliant behaviour?  
This is actually an interesting possibility, which can only take place if 
Hogwarts is indeed state-run.  The only problem I have with it is that 
Dumbledore, who has obviously been expecting LV's rise since his first 
fall, would be very unhappy to be under anybody's control if he expected 
to take up the fight again.  He would be wise, therefore, to have set 
aside some money against the day when Hogwarts returns to its 
independant roots - and once again we come back to my "Hogwarts is 
self-sufficient" theory.

Abigail