He paid the entire Hogwarts debt. He paid for it. This was information that shocked Albus Dumbledore and most of the people in the room. This explains now why the man jumped right ahead to the head of the board of governors and why, Albus shifted on the papers presented to him, the man was given ownership of those assets in Hogwarts (approximately 25% of it). Even though Hogwarts itself is magically tethered, ownership is not fixed. This is why in the former Hogwarts charter, headmasters were considered the owners of the school until someone abused it which resulted in the lack of funds the school has suffered that is felt by today. The new charter is why the board of governors was created, to ensure that the headmaster does not have that much financial power and to avoid the same mistake as the previous headmaster.
Nobody expected that a man would pay off such debt, especially for 40 million galleons (approximately 200 million pounds in muggle money). That is a lot of money for the people in the wizarding world and who has that amount of money lying around just to pay off a school debt? Even the current liquid assets of Lucius Malfoy are at 60 million (300 million by muggle standards) and he is considered among the richest wizards in Great Britain (the top 5 to be exact).
This removed the debt and interest Hogwarts has been paying. Why it was very expensive was because the assets of Hogwarts have historical significance in value so they are very high during the time a certain headmaster used them as collateral for his gambling addiction. In order not to lose the school, the school agreed to pay the debt off (the personal assets of that former headmaster could not cover the debt and that man died before he could work off to pay it). Still though, because of this, the man has some level of power and control over Albus regarding how he runs the school.
It didn't help that Mr. Peverell already has a claim as the Ravenclaw heir, which validates his ownership of those assets in Hogwarts. The problem Albus is facing is that there is very little to know about Ignatius Peverell and his interest in the school for example in the case of Lucius Malfoy, Albus is sure that the man will either be out to get him or push for subjects that were too dark to be taught in the school. So, nobody on the board is sure what direction the school is going.
However, for the board, this also means that they can now have more money for the school's budget since they don't have to pay most of the school's earnings to the debt anymore except possibly pay a certain share of the profits to Peverell. Debt is different because it is fixed – meaning it has to be paid regardless if the school is profiting or not but profits are based on the actual income returned and because Peverell roughly has a 25% share, that means 25% of the profits whether it is high or low is owed to him. He will receive nothing if the school is at a loss so this is why it is less of a burden for them. It is such a shame that the 40 million galleons paid are not paid to the school but the creditors. They could use that amount of money to start up the school.
Luckily the selling of the school assets for ownership is not allowed by the new charter. Peverell is only the exemption due to the paying off of the debt so outside of him, nobody in the wizarding world has the right to buy Hogwarts, or else Lucius Malfoy would have done that by now.
Even though it was considered an emergency meeting, this was mostly a miscommunication on Benjamin Smith's part to introduce the new head of the board of governors. He seems very proud in the room while Lucius Malfoy is scowling at him, mostly because he sees Peverell as a potential network and Benjamin Smith beat him to it. The man may be a Hufflepuff but Hufflepuff trait he does not. Most people in the room did not expect to meet the new Peverell lord, not since the paper about him was just published this morning. Mr. Peverell introduced himself to the members and Albus as well. He was all smiles and even shook hands with him enthusiastically but Albus just feel like it isn't right. He senses some hostility from the man but Mr. Peverell doesn't seem like it. He couldn't shake that about it. Did he somehow hurt him or any of his family? He does not recall anything.
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The Domino Effect (A Harry Potter Fanfiction)
FanfictionHarry Potter is the eldest of triplets but when Voldemort is attacked and defeated, his brother Godric was hailed as the savior, while Harry and his sister, Iris, were cast aside and forgotten in the Muggle World. Despite Dumbledore's attempt to man...
