Who will return to Hogwarts?

[Evil Wizard Petting Zoo]

I always thought that Hogwarts chose the student, not the student chooses to go to Hogwarts.

[Dumbledores Master]

That would rely on a concious building and a telekinetic one at that. Does anyone know whether Hogwarts is a private or public school?

[Ferrus]

Good point EWPZ, I seem to remember that in some intervue (sp?) that JKR mantioned that theres a magic book at hogwarts that registers the births of magical children, and that these are then sent the letter etc...

[Alice I]

Good point EWPZ, I seem to remember that in some intervue (sp?) that JKR mantioned that theres a magic book at hogwarts that registers the births of magical children, and that these are then sent the letter etc...

Here's my problem with this theory:

If that were where the magic book is (Yes JKR did state that every magical kid has his name put down in a book)
Then why would there be any other Magic schools?
If all the kids born in Great Brittan, Irland, and so forth are sent Hogwarts letters then how do kids end up going to the other schools in Europe?

[Athena Appleton]

This does get confusing to me...

Yes, y'all are right, J.K. Rowling does say that there's a book and everytime a wizarding child is born, their name is recorded and they're sent their invitations on their eleventh birthday. However, there are some contradictory things here...

Hermione, according to the timeline at the HP lexicon, would have gotton her admission to Hogwarts before her eleventh birthday, since, according to that timeline, she turns eleven a few weeks after school starts. I promise. Go look for yourselves. There's a whole thing about is she older or younger than Harry.

Then, what if you don't want to go to Hogwarts? Does the school of your choice send your invitation? I mean, Lucius and Narcissa Malfoy apparently had differences of opinion of where to send Draco, so the possibility of them being able to choose must have been there. According to Draco, his dad wanted him to go to Durmstrang, but his mother felt like it was too far away so he wound up at Hogwarts.

Does anyone know whether Hogwarts is a private or public school?

Well, Hogwarts doesn't really fall into one of the two catagories. Strictly speaking, it's private. Not everyone can go there. Muggle kids don't have a chance of being Hogwarts students. But all wizarding schools are private in that respect. Since Hogwarts was around before England, Ireland, etc. was really around, I think it's safe to say that some of the standard school administrative rules fly out the window here.

[Evil Wizard Petting Zoo]

Well, I guess if you wanted to go one way or the other about Hogwarts being public or private, I would say private. Don't you have to pay to go there? That's been my definition of private school.

[Athena Appleton]

here's my thinking on the paying thing...

Hogwarts is unlike a regular school as we know it because it teaches not the three r's, but life skills, with a little bit of history and stuff mixed in. It would be incredibly dangerous to have uneducated wizarding folk around because they couldn't afford to go to school to learn how to channel that magic, so Hogwarts is available to anyone with wizarding blood (and, as Lupin says, the talent) without them having to worry about payment. I mean, the Weasleys, with no money, have sent seven children there, five at a time in for some years.

But what we must understand is that Hogwarts was set up for a different purpose and in a different time than our modern schools, so the standard rules don't apply, in most cases. Yes, in the day-to-day life of the students, it's very similar to our schools, but the similarities end there.

[Evil Wizard Petting Zoo]

Maybe that's why the Weasleys only have 1 galleon in their account--They've saved up all their money for their kids to go to Hogwarts. My parents had to save a lot so I could go to the private school I went tool.

[Ferrus]

I don´t think so, In my opinion Hogwarts is a public school. The only reason that only magic students go there is because ONLY magic students know about the place, and if a Muggle somehow got to know about Hogwarts he would his/her memory erased by the ministry.

[Athena Appleton]

well, I do agree with Ferrus on that point... something still bamboozles me, though... Where do Hermione's parents tell their friends she's going to school? I mean, the Dursleys tell everyone that they are sending Harry to St. Brutus's, but I wonder if the Grangers are telling their Muggle friends that Hermione is going to a different school, and if she has to pretend to be going somewhere other than Hogwarts when she arrives back in Muggleville.

Anyway, back to the public-or-private school debate... I still think Hogwarts is really neither, if you're trying to align it to other schools we are used to. It was made up before Britain was, really, or at least before other schools and school regulations existed. So to try to figure out the how-much-does-Hogwarts-cost or how-do-they-do-admissions kinda things are pointless, because it's in an imaginary world that doesn't align with our way of thinking.

[carsten]

Howdy!

Where do Hermione's parents tell their friends she's going to school? I mean, the Dursleys tell everyone that they are sending Harry to St. Brutus's, but I wonder if the Grangers are telling their Muggle friends that Hermione is going to a different school, and if she has to pretend to be going somewhere other than Hogwarts when she arrives back in Muggleville.

People don't really listen. Since we are all experts in Muggle affairs, we know that there is no such institution as St. Brutus's school. But people don't listen or think for themselves. So Hermione's parents could simply say the truth: "She goes to Hogwarts school." And everybody would be fine, especially if they hear, that it is a very old one.

Anyway, back to the public-or-private school debate... I still think Hogwarts is really neither, if you're trying to align it to other schools we are used to. It was made up before Britain was, really, or at least before other schools and school regulations existed. So to try to figure out the how-much-does-Hogwarts-cost or how-do-they-do-admissions kinda things are pointless, because it's in an imaginary world that doesn't align with our way of thinking.

I still consider it interesting to guess how it could work. For the fundraising part, my favorite ideas are donations and public services, that the school offers. Hogwarts - like other schools that we know of - has problems with authorities (the ministry in book 5) and parents (e.g. Malfoy being a member in the parents committee). It is quite an interesting discussion how they solve all of this.

Carsten

[Groo]

if i had to choose between public and private well, Hogwarts is kindoff a public school since the ministry can make decrees and enforce rules about selection of candidates for jobs and stuff.
the ministry has no such control in case of public schools.

as for hermione's parents, they would be faking a foreign school. i am not sure just saying "Hogwarts" would help, since there would be some inquistive people out there.

[Ferrus]

As, I´ve said, I don´t think you have to pay to get to Hogwarts (wich makes it kind of public), but, (as Groo said) the ministry has a very minimal level of control over the school (wich makes it kind of private).

As for what Hermione´s tell their friends where she is going, I think they (like all the other Muggle-born kids) just invent a school´s name and say "somewhere in Scotland" when asked were it is.

[Evil Wizard Petting Zoo]

As, I´ve said, I don´t think you have to pay to get to Hogwarts (wich makes it kind of public), but, (as Groo said) the ministry has a very minimal level of control over the school (wich makes it kind of private).

But you do have to pay to go to Hogwarts. In SS/PS Vernon says that he isn't going to pay for Harry to go to Hogwarts, and in PoA when Harry wants to get the Firebolt, he doesn't because he remembers he still has 4 more years of school left. Although he could have just been talking about buying school supplies, I think he meant tuition.
As for Ministry involvment in Hogwarts, we all know about the Ministry meddling in OoTP, but that may be just because of DD saying Voldemort was back. I think the Ministry was allowed to do all the things they did in OoTP, its just that Fudge had respect for DD and let him do his own thing proir to the Voldy-returning thing.

[Ferrus]

[quote=Evil Wizard Petting Zoo"]But you do have to pay to go to Hogwarts. [...] and in PoA when Harry wants to get the Firebolt, he doesn't because he remembers he still has 4 more years of school left.[/quote]

I don´t think so, because the exact quote goes:

He had to heep reminding himslef that he still had five years to at Hogwarts, and how it would feel to ask the Dursleys for money for spellbooks(my italics), [...].

As for Ministry involvment in Hogwarts, we all know about the Ministry meddling in OoTP, but that may be just because of DD saying Voldemort was back. I think the Ministry was allowed to do all the things they did in OoTP, its just that Fudge had respect for DD and let him do his own thing proir to the Voldy-returning thing.

You are probably right on that point, but Hogwarts still has a lot more indipendence that public schools, such as employing its own professors, instead of the professors being ministry-employed (with the notable exception of Umbridge).