CHAPDISC:HBP19,Elf Tails/Life Debt

[carodave92]

No: HPFGUIDX 157599

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "zgirnius" <zgirnius at ...> 
wrote:
>
>  
> > Carodave:
> > Maybe life debts are triggered by sparing - not saving - 
someone's 
> > life.  So when Harry rescues Ginny from the memory of Tom 
Riddle, 
> > there is no life debt, but when Harry spares Wormtail from being 
> > cursed by Lupin and Sirius, a life debt is triggered.  
Similarly, 
> > Snape owes James a life debt for sparing his life, by pulling 
him 
> > back from the shrieking shack.  
> > 
> 
> zgirnius:
> Interesting idea...but I am not understanding the distinction. How 
is 
> James pulling Snape out of the Shack different than Harry pulling 
Ginny 
> out of the Chamber? (In what way is one a sparing and the other a 
> saving, of the endangered person?)
> 
> Or maybe Snape simply does not owe a magical Life Debt to 
> James...Dumbledore certainly used different language to discuss it 
than 
> the debt of Peter. ('funny how the mind works' vs. 'magic at its 
> deepest'.)
>
Carodave:
Probably you are correct in that Snape doesn't owe James 
anything...but to clarify my thoughts...I consider that Harry 
*saved* Ginny's life because he had to fight off something that 
would have destroyed her.  He didn't simply pull her out of the 
Chamber, but actually fought to save her.  

He *spared* Peter's life by his decision 
that Lupin and Sirius shouldn't kill Peter.  James *spared* 
Snape's life by not letting him go into the Shrieking Shack, where a 
werewolf was in hiding.  Both of these instances involve more of a 
conscious decision.  It's not much of a distinction when I see 
it in writing, but it's clear in my head.

Carodave