Life Debt

[lealess]

No: HPFGUIDX 138053

>From the latest Mugglenet/TLC interviews, which have been making my
life miserable:

"MA: Does she [Ginny] have a life debt to Harry from book two?
JKR: No, not really. Wormtail is different.  You know, part of me
would just love to explain the whole thing to you, plot of book seven,
you know, I honestly would."

There is an essay on LiveJournal about this (user: safakus), but the
essay is more about the proper path to redemption than the nature of a
life debt.  I thought it was interesting that Wormtail owes a life
debt, but Ginny does not.  The author of the LJ essay speculates that
Harry had the right to retribution for the death of his parents, but
he decided instead to let Wormtail live, and that created the life
debt.  There was no such claim on Ginny's life, hence, no life debt.

Which has me thinking about Severus' life debt to James.  Even though
Severus disavows it somewhat, Dumbledore and probably Voldemort
recognize it, and it still seems to be operative and, moreover, to
transfer to Harry.

I wonder if a similar dynamic to Wormtail's occurred when Severus'
debt was incurred.  I wonder if James somehow had a right to make a
claim against Severus for something, but decided instead to save his
life, i.e., saving his life alone was not enough to create a life
debt.  It sounds far-fetched; I can't think of any clues that would
suggest what Snape might have owed James.  (There are clues, right?) 
Or maybe the life debt is created through a totally different dynamic.
 Or maybe Snape never really had a life debt; it was all a smokescreen.

Anyway, I thought I'd throw it out for speculation.  These questions
intrigue me, but then my brain starts hurting.

lealess