The professor might instead abscond with valuable school property and adopt a new identity.
The curse is basically an outcome pump with the specification “Defense Against the Dark Arts professorship vacated by end of year.” It’s difficult to exploit something with a possibility space that large (discounting obvious tricks like “bet against the professor lasting the year,” which by now nobody would fall for anyway.)
discounting obvious tricks like “bet against the professor lasting the year,” which by now nobody would fall for anyway.
Well, you can bet with the professor. Specifically, you offer him a bet that functions as insurance or a hedge for him: bet he doesn’t last the year, and if he does (very good) then he loses a smaller bet (a little bad), but if he fails (very bad) then he wins a bet (a little good).
This, unfortunately, can’t insure against anthropic risks (the professor dying due to the curse). But it does work in general, and it increases in effectiveness with the effectiveness of the curse. You could probably structure it in such a way that even your absconding scenario works: something like have him sign a loan due in a year, hand over a Gringotts vault filled with your end of the bet, and then if he leaves he can stop by Gringotts on the way out.
The professor might instead abscond with valuable school property and adopt a new identity.
The curse is basically an outcome pump with the specification “Defense Against the Dark Arts professorship vacated by end of year.” It’s difficult to exploit something with a possibility space that large (discounting obvious tricks like “bet against the professor lasting the year,” which by now nobody would fall for anyway.)
Well, you can bet with the professor. Specifically, you offer him a bet that functions as insurance or a hedge for him: bet he doesn’t last the year, and if he does (very good) then he loses a smaller bet (a little bad), but if he fails (very bad) then he wins a bet (a little good).
This, unfortunately, can’t insure against anthropic risks (the professor dying due to the curse). But it does work in general, and it increases in effectiveness with the effectiveness of the curse. You could probably structure it in such a way that even your absconding scenario works: something like have him sign a loan due in a year, hand over a Gringotts vault filled with your end of the bet, and then if he leaves he can stop by Gringotts on the way out.