AN: A story of how one man's manipulations come to bite him.
When he examined the morning Daily Prophet, Albus Dumbledore, the Headmaster of Hogwarts, smiled behind his cup of tea. The headline screamed HEIRS MUST ATTEND HOGWARTS OR FORFEIT.
This had been his brain child to get the missing Boy-Who-Lived to come back into town. If he was with his godfather, Sirius Black, then Harry would have to come to Hogwarts in order to inherit his family's estate. The law required all students to attend Hogwarts for at least one year or they would forfeit their inheritances.
"Albus," a frazzled Minerva McGonagall said.
"Yes Minerva?" Albus knew nothing could ruin his morning.
"I've gotten an application to join Hogwarts for three hundred forty-two new students."
Albus choked on his tea.
"What?"
The stern Transfiguration professor glared at her boss and then pointed at the paper in front of him.
"That law required it," Minerva said. "Three hundred forty of them already have their NEWTs from other schools."
"I only know of one person who stands to inherit who is not attending Hogwarts," Albus said, confused.
"Then you should have read your law closer, Headmaster," McGonagall said, coolly. "The law mentioned nothing about the age of the student. It only mentioned that they must attend Hogwarts for one year before they inherit.
"Over the past fifty years, over four hundred persons who are now heirs attended other schools. Therefore, we are now required to allow them to attend Hogwarts for one year."
"They can't attend Hogwarts. They're not young enough." Albus set his cup of tea down.
"Then you should have thought about that when you wrote that bloody law. No go fix it!"
For the next few hours, Albus dodged many angry heirs who held powerful positions within the government. By the time he got the law passed, the Ministry and the Wizengamot unanimously voted to remove him from all of his positions. The Hogwarts Board of Governors was not far behind, mainly due to his attempts to remove their right to make a choice on how to educate their heirs.
Several years later, Albus watched from the sidelines as a well-educated and -trained Harry Potter destroyed Voldemort for daring to ruin his week touring his ancestral homeland with his new bride. He would be forgotten, or, in the least, labelled as the man who tried to usurp the rights of a head of family to choose his heir.
I've read several stories where Dumbledore encourages the Ministry to make a law that requires all people to come to Hogwarts before they can inherit-all so he can force Harry to attend Hogwarts. What if he forgot to include an age limit in his haste to get the law passed and the Boy-Who-Lived back under his control?
Why would the Ministry and Wizengamot allow it to stand if it would set a precedent that they could be forced to send their own children to Hogwarts against their will? I don't see them allowing this to stand once the realize what it truly means for them.