Why did the founders retain Slytherin's house?

[Steve]

No: HPFGUIDX 117969


--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "lupinlore" <bob.oliver at c...> wrote:
> 
> 
> --- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "Steve" <bboyminn at y...> wrote:
> > 
> > 
> > Private schools of this nature are almost always created on 
> > benevolent> grants and endowments by the founders. That means that
> > one forth of the school belongs to Slytherin by virtue of the fact
> > that he paid for it. 
> > 

> lupinlore:
> 
> I am assuming you are using "private school" in the American use of 
> the term (i.e. Public School vs. Private School).  Now, the problem 
> is, given that use of the term, Hogwarts isn't a private school.  It 
> is clearly managed by the Ministry, to the point that the Ministry 
> has the right to appoint faculty and determine curriculum.  One 
> assumes that means it is also largely supported by government funds.  

bboyminn:

Yes indeed, I should have been more careful about using the term
'Private School'. Of course, from my context you can see that I meant
privately /funded/ school, meaning that private individuals fund the
school, as opposed to a publically funded school which is funded by
the public-at-large through taxes. 

As a side note, even publically funded universities, and to some more
limited extent primary and secondary schools, in the USA receive
substantial portions of the operating revenue from private endowments,
grants, and donations.

If the founders left an endowment in the form of a Trust, as well as
immediate cash, land, & buildings for short term operation, that Trust
would be managed in a way that generates substantial interest and
revenue that would keep the school operating. A very small amount of
money invested wisely and compounded over 1,000 years would yield a
large fortune by any standard.

The school may also generate revenue in other ways like doing magical
research and consulting for individuals and private companies. All
speculation, of course, but the doesn't stray very far from the real
world operation of schools.

Next, and most important, the Wizard Government doesn't run Hogwarts.
They were able to interfere with the operation of Hogwart in ways that
served their own interest. But governments in the real world can
interfere with just about anthing they choose. Note the particular
interference at Hogwarts wasn't done as a matter of normal order, it
was done by the passing of special laws and decrees. Laws which are
now rescinded. I will add that the government probably has a hand in
'qualification' standards for OWLs and NEWTs. In the real world
schools of this nature are run by the Headmaster, who has substantial
powers, and the Board of Governors.

In addition, I further speculate, once again, that they way you get
appointed to the Board of Governors is to make a substantial donation
to the school. Since you now have a substantial vested interest in the
school, you get to have some say in how the school assests, and to
some extent, how the school is managed. In a broader sense, it is the
Board of Governors job to manage the school Endowment Trust, to invest
it wisely, and make sure it isn't squandered.

The model I have outlined is very close to real world schools, and
does expain why students apparently aren't require to pay tuition.
Note most ancient wizards in general fiction took on several
apprentices, those apprentices were not require to pay the Master
wizard for their education. In ancient times this might have worked
fine, but as the wizard world grew it became impractical to pick up
new apprentices here and there as you happen to stumble across them,
as a result, Howarts School was born.

> lupinlore continues:
> 
> ...edited...
> 
> One way to explain this is that the Founders may well have been the 
> closest thing the British Wizarding World had to a government circa 
> 1000 A.D.  If they were indeed the four most powerful wizards of 
> their time, that would have been logical.  ...edited...
> 
> The idea that the Founders may have been the government of their era 
> is supported if you are one of those who suspects Godric Gryffindor 
> will turn out to be the Half-Blood Prince.  
> 
> Lupinlore


bboyminn:

I don't think the Four Great Wizards were the government exactly. One
thousand years ago was a pretty lawless and feudal time. In addition,
only the most elite were educated. Further, I suspect wizards in were
a law unto themselves which may have contributed to their persecution;
we hate what we fear. 

I will agree that at the Four Greatest Wizards were probably extremely
prominent, influential, powerful, and wealthy individuals with
reputations that spread across Europe. In that regard, they probably
had a great deal of influence and control over the wizard world in
general, but I speculate that was based on personal power, education,
and status, and not on formal government positions.

A great deal of speculation, but speculation that is reasonably
modeled after the real world.

Steve/bboyminn (was bboy_mn)