Life Debt MagictravisprinziSeptember 6 2006, 11:34:20 UTC
I'll address this briefly here, and then I'll actually add to the essay some points based on the helpful comments along these lines.
"Life debt" magic only sounds awful if we think of "debts" like we think of our financial loans, etc. Sure, if "life debts" work like paying back a loan, that sounds pretty bad, especially in the context in which we're talking.
But I don't think it works like that. When Dumbledore talks about it being "magic at is deepest, its most impenetrable," he's speaking very similarly to the way he talks about love, isn't he? I don't think he's saying, "This deep magic causes you to be in the debt of your saver, until you pay him back by saving his life." Rather, he's saying that when one saves another's life, it magically creates a bond between them which cannot be ignored (though I believe ultimately it can be disregarded if one so chooses).
So, in practice, Pettigrew could choose to entirely disregard Harry's saving his life...but it's a lot harder now, and I don't think he will. It's sort of like if someone saved your life. Sure, you could brush it off and treat the person like an idiot. But would you want to?
It's very similar to the "love" magic, because it treats another's life with high regard, perhaps even higher than one's own, and creates a bond of love/mercy between the two.
"Life debt" magic only sounds awful if we think of "debts" like we think of our financial loans, etc. Sure, if "life debts" work like paying back a loan, that sounds pretty bad, especially in the context in which we're talking.
But I don't think it works like that. When Dumbledore talks about it being "magic at is deepest, its most impenetrable," he's speaking very similarly to the way he talks about love, isn't he? I don't think he's saying, "This deep magic causes you to be in the debt of your saver, until you pay him back by saving his life." Rather, he's saying that when one saves another's life, it magically creates a bond between them which cannot be ignored (though I believe ultimately it can be disregarded if one so chooses).
So, in practice, Pettigrew could choose to entirely disregard Harry's saving his life...but it's a lot harder now, and I don't think he will. It's sort of like if someone saved your life. Sure, you could brush it off and treat the person like an idiot. But would you want to?
It's very similar to the "love" magic, because it treats another's life with high regard, perhaps even higher than one's own, and creates a bond of love/mercy between the two.
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