YA Life Debt Post

[Bart Lidofsky]

No: HPFGUIDX 168566

From: Dana <ida3 at planet.nl>
>I think it is very clear that James saving Snape's life created that 
>special bond in the same way it created a bond between Peter and 
>Harry, just because JKR might have muddied the water by claiming 
>Ginny did not owe Harry a debt doesn't mean it is suddenly different 
>for Snape as well. But I believe she did not meant it that way 
>because I believe what she did mean was that in case of Ginny it 
>caries no real importance because Ginny would give her life for Harry 
>any day with or without owing Harry anything. Ginny does owe Harry a 
>debt in the strictest sense of what a debt is but she will never feel 
>inclined to do anything, she would not already do for Harry, just 
>because of it and why it will not play any part in what is to come. 

Bart:
Here's my take. I can see several possibilities, but this just feels right to me:

In saving Ginny, Harry also saved his own life. Tommy the Horcrux was using Ginny to trap Harry; he may have kept Ginny alive for a long time until Harry took the bait. Whether Ginny would have actually died, or just lived on as an empty husk, we don't really know; it may very well be that Ginny's body had to remain alive to supply life energy to the Tommy the H. But James does not save Snape because he values Snape; he does it because it is the "right" thing to do. And Harry saves Peter because it's the "right" thing to do; in fact, he probably wanted to see Peter dead more than James would have liked to see Snape dead. 

So, my guess is that a life debt is created when a wizard SELFLESSLY saves another wizard's life. One reason I like it is that it means that James HAD changed; he saved Snape because his conscience would not allow him to do otherwise, and not out of fear of punishment for himself or his friends. 

Another part of my reasoning is that Hogwarts staff (Pommy) and the staff of St. Mungo's don't rack up life debts; they get salaries, which creates enough self-interest to avoid a life debt from being created. How about Harry in regard to Mr. Weasley and Ron? I suspect that the love that already exists between them overrides the life debt (maybe family is excluded, and Mr. Weasley is like an uncle, Ron is like a brother, and Ginny is more like a cousin. But they're kissing cousins, that's what makes it alright alright alright alright...)

Bart

Bart