[HPforGrownups] Governors and endowments

[manawydan]

No: HPFGUIDX 50525

>    Date: Fri, 24 Jan 2003 03:27:00 -0000
>    From: "Steve <bboy_mn at yahoo.com>" <bboy_mn at yahoo.com>
> Subject: Re: Harry's Fan; Dumbledore, Snape and Fudge
>
> bboy_mn:
> Who appoints the Board of Governors? This is my theory; and I do have
> a lot of them. We don't know where Hogwarts gets it's money. There has
> been no indication that there is tuition to Hogwarts. So what are
> possible sources of money? A grant from the Founding Fathers and
> Mothers which has been carefully managed over the course of 1,000
> years and has compounded into a tidy sum. Next donations from Alumni,
> Philanthropist, businesses, and other benefactors. (and possibly taxes)

We haven't at any point heard Cornelius Fudge talking about money though he
seems like the sort of person who in the event of a disagreement would
remind Dumbledore who pays his wages (I'm trying to remember any passing
references to taxes but can't bring any to mind offhand) so I think this is
probably a sound theory. Another possibility. We can infer that no one can
Transform things into money. We can also be sure that the wizard population
has grown over the years in line with the muggle one. So where has the extra
money come from? I wonder if opening a vault at Gringotts involves the vault
itself having a spell literally to make your money grow, at a small rate of
interest. Why (for example) otherwise would the Weasleys have a vault, given
that they don't have much money to throw around?

So that if Hogarts had a sizeable endowment in the bank, then conceivably
the interest on that gold would be sufficient to make the School independent
for its normal running costs without needing to do large amounts of
fundraising.


{snippage)

> As far as Fudge, even if he doesn't have direct authority over the
> school, his position as Minister gives him a great deal of weight
> should he ever petition the Governors over an issue like Dumbledore's
> competency. Also, the Governor's are really on the outside of the
> school. They probably get more information about how the school is run

Hogwarts also seems to be at least partially autonomous of the Ministry -
for example, Dumbledore has the power to exclude the Dementors. It also
seems to be him who is responsible for appointing the new Professors. Fudge
may not even have a place on the Board himself - Ministers seem to be
appointed from within the bureaucracy rather than from within what we in
Wales call the crachach...

Perhaps at some future date we will hear more about the other 11 Governors
and what their powers are (a suggestion perhaps for what would be
interesting in the forthcoming volume...) Consistent with the story, given
the various bits of mayhem that have occurred over the previous academic
years.

Cheers

Ffred

O Benryn wleth hyd Luch Reon
Cymru yn unfryd gerhyd Wrion
Gwret dy Cymry yghymeiri