Life-debt

[Blaise]

No: HPFGUIDX 27551

--- In HPforGrownups at y..., s_luhtanen at h... wrote:
> And - is life-debt automatical among wizards, regardless of whether 
> the wizards (witches) know of it? Is sense of honor/gratitude of 
any 
> kind required? Would Harry be able to - sign a legal form in stead 
of 
> Pettigrew because of that or something?
> 
> Anyone have any ideas how life-debt effects? Pettigrew didn't have 
> trouble in cutting Harry's blood to raise Voldemort...

I wouldn't have thought there were any rules for a life-debt.  That 
doesn't seem (IMO) to be how Jo's universe works.  Interactions 
between people seem to be human rather than magical (the centaurs may 
be an exception to this but they're not human).  So I think that the 
life-debt is not some sort of arcane ritual whereby the person who 
bears the debt is bound in some magical manner.  Rather, I think that 
it is an emotional bond, like Snape's to James Potter and later 
Harry.  

Therefore, I think that Pettigrew owing his life to Harry will matter 
because it will touch some part of Pettigrew, or it will prick his 
conscience and force him to behave in a way he doesn't want to.  He 
will feel that he has to do something for Harry, or he will find 
himself more sympathetic to Harry than he might have otherwise been.  
I think this would make for a better, more interesting and moral 
story than one in which Pettigrew had to obey certain rules because 
he owes his life to Harry.  

Opinions from
Blaise.