Life debts again was Re: [HPforGrownups] Re: A theory regarding the "innocence" of Sirius Black and the Redemption of Peter

[Irene Mikhlin]

No: HPFGUIDX 50932


Tom Wall wrote:

> I reply:
> I think I have to disagree here: the first instance
> of life debt that we hear of is the life debt that
> Pettigrew owes to Harry, right?
> 
> What risk to his own life was Harry facing when
> he told Sirius to show mercy to Pettigrew? 

Um, Sirius having a fit and killing him? :-)
Seriously, maybe the definition of "putting your own life
in danger" is not the correct one, but there must be
something else.
We don't have much to go by, Peter's debt to Harry and Snape's debt to 
James. What James and Harry's decisions had in common?
They both choose the right thing over the easy one, didn't they?
It would be easier for Harry to fulfil his immediate desire for revenge. 
If we believe that James had some better reasons than just "getting cold 
feet", then he also rejected the easy choice of doing
nothing.
But the strange thing is that Snape believes both in being indebted to 
James and in James acting purely for selfish reasons, so maybe this 
theory doesn't fly either.

Irene


Aside
> from the hypothetical risk, none, really.
> 
> So, although we haven't been given specific rules
> for what constitutes a life debt, I don't think
> that risk-to-one's-own-life is necessarily a 
> qualifying factor.
> 
> -Tom
>