Life Debt - Problem

Arya dequardo at waisman.wisc.edu
Wed Oct 15 15:08:32 UTC 2003


No: HPFGUIDX 82950

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "Jen Reese" <stevejjen at e...> 
wrote:
>The only two canon incidents we know for sure inspired life debts 
are: 1)James stopping Snape from entering the tunnel and 2)Harry 
stopping Lupin/Sirius from killing Wormtail. Both are acts of mercy 
*granted* to an enemy. I wonder if there's more to the life debt than 
DD elaborated on at the time. He calls it "magic at its deepest, most 
impenetrable" later on, which indicates the debt probably doesn't 
happen everyday.
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ARYA: I don't have the books here at work, but I think in PS when 
Harry asked why Snape tried to save him, all Dumbledore said was he 
was trying to make up for sometime when JAmes saved his life.  In 
PoA, Lupin, I believe later tells the story of The Prank and how 
James saved Snape.  (Which, by the way....if Snape saw Lupin the 
Werewolf and knew the other Maurauders were able to be around him and 
James was that close, wouldn't he just possibly have seen or guessed--
especially if he saw one animal there--that they were animagi? I know 
it's rare and all , but Snape is so nosy...anyway)
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Jen Reese, again:
Perhaps it has something to do with risking your own life to save 
someone, whether they are an enemy or not. It just seems like there's 
more to it.

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ARYA: This is exactly what I think it is.  I think there's an honor 
thing--like a magically binding contract that goes into effect if 
someone knowingly puts him or herself at risk to save another from 
eminent death.  Hmm, maybe Harry owes one to Petunia....

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