Founders as Wizarding Government

[lupinlore]

No: HPFGUIDX 117918



In a recent post Steve (bboymin) brought up the issue of whether 
Hogwarts is a Private or Public School (American sense of those 
terms).  This got me to thinking about the Founders and their role in 
their society.

Hogwarts seems to me to be a Public School (American sense).  The 
Ministry clearly has ultimate control over the place, to the point of 
appointing faculty and determining curriculum.  In addition, we have 
never heard anyone talk about paying tuition at Hogwarts, and at 
seems unlikely that many families, for instance the Weasleys, would 
be able to do so.  Given all this, it seems likely that Hogwarts is 
supported in whole or at least in the great majority by government 
funds.

Now, how could this come about?  Perhaps the Founders were the 
closest thing Wizarding Britain had to a government circa 1000 A.D.  
Given that they are described as the four greatest wizards of their 
age, that would make sense.  Perhaps they functioned as a sort of 
combined executive, with Hogwarts being their primary governmental 
project.

One interesting corollary to this would be to give further weight to 
the idea that the Half-Blood Prince is in fact Godric Gryffindor.  It 
may be that the founders were considered the royalty of the Wizarding 
World of their era, and were referred to as Princes and Princesses 
(with no single one of them being a King or Queen).  Pure 
speculation, of course, but it does make a kind of sense.  

This could also explain why the Sorting Hat is going to be 
important.  We know it was Godric's hat, and many people have 
speculated that Godric's mind or memories, and perhaps those of the 
other Founders, still reside in it.  Maybe part of the plot in Book 
VI will be Harry meeting Godric through the medium of the Hat.

Lupinlore