Apparently, the fees either don't exist or aren't always required. Enembee is right in thinking that the supplies cost a lot of money.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hogwarts

 

They have funds for poor children; Dumbledore gives Tom Riddle money when he goes to find him at the orphanage. I, too, think it's mainly the books/robes/wand/Potion stuff that cost money. Hogwarts... I don't think Hogwarts has fees, either, but then how do the teachers get paid? State money?


EDIT: what yak said.

 

Who paid for Remus and Hagrid? Or Tom Riddle?

 

Remus is a half-blood, I think, just like Hagrid. Remus' parents weren't necessarily poor, he grew poor later when he failed to find himself a long-term job; nor was Hagrid's father, for that matter, the only problem is that he died -- and two years later Hagrid got expelled anyway.

For those two years, and for Tom Riddle, I imagine the money came from those funds I mentioned; my guess is the governors of the school, of which Lucius Malfoy was a part until the end of CoS, are also the donators who create the funds destined for poor kids.

 

Hogwarts could either be state funded or privately funded (mostly by pureblood alumnus I would think). It really doesn't matter. Either way the parents have to pay for supplies, and there might be a tuition. For kids who can't pay tuition there might be a scholarship or student loan program in place, in which they can get through the 7 years of Hogwarts and pay off the debt when they enter the wizarding work force.

Perhaps I'm thinking about this too much in real life (aka Muggle) terms, but it makes things simple if they work in relatively the same fashion. The Wizarding World is already screwed up enough as it is with it's crazy monetary system not based on '10', and the economy, which if someone seriously studied and put together all canonical evidence, probably wouldn't work.

 

A school as old as Hogwarts could very well have accrued a massive cash reserve. If I remember correctly, Princeton University doesn't even charge tuition anymore - it's entirely supported by alumni, inheritances, and excellent business acumen.

 

Holy Christ, you guys must be experienced in the art of Divination; I was also going to address the state funded/fee funded issues of an education system at Hogwarts.

Not to give too much away, I was planning on starting with a Ministry funded education, but with their fall only the elite or rich would be able to enter Hogwarts due to fund restrictions.

On that note however; tax. It isn't mentioned in canon, but surely a government needs to be funded in some other way then the back-pockets of certain Death Eaters, otherwise there shouldn't be any surprise at such clear corruption.

Cheers, you scarily clairvoyant people...

Dark Stallion.

 

That would seem to suggest that a potion is involved. If that were the case, it would seem to me that it wouldn't be that hard to take another potion to cancel it. That's something that I doubt the Ministry wants.

Seems overly complicated to make it a multi-stage process. Does every child even go to the infirmary? Given how little some of the characters seemed to know about the Trace, one would think that whatever places the spell on them goes unnoticed. Pomfrey waving her wand at the kid or shoving unidentified potions into them would be pretty conspicuous.

The lack of character knowledge in canon seems to indicate that the process is non-invasive, automatic, and not readily apparent.

I'm not sure why the spell maintaining itself by using the host's magic would make a multi-stage casting more or less likely.

 

I've pretty much decided that the Trace makes no sense at all.

 

I'm not sure about this. I think Hagrid in PS mentioned as an argument for Harry to got to Hogwarts that his name has been put down since his birth. If that was done automatically, why would that be of note?

Also, what about squibs? If their names are recorded automatically, it would be known beforehand wether one would go to Hogwarts or not.

 

I'm starting to regard things before PoA in Canon to be very suspicious. Things like his name being down since birth, Hagrid claiming to have flown to the shack, Hagrid 'disappearing' - Apparating, presumably - from the Underground, when Apparating there probably would've attracted attention...

If I ever do an HP fic, it'll be a bitch trying to sort all these inconsistencies out.

 

What is suspicious about that? The Potters were an old pureblood family

Where? It is stated clearly that they used a boat to get off the island, and I don't remember anything about flying... Quote from the scene please? (Sirius' Flying Motorcycle is a viable option too, if I remember correctly)

What Book, and what scene was this? :?:

A HP fic...
It is actually all too easy, depending on your improvisation skills. You can just pull something from your ass... (No offence)