In general, I agree with the various comments in this discussion about life debts, and how they seem to be handed out randomly or horribly. However, I think you may be seriously shortchanging James here. If we believe Remus that James had no part in the planning, then it automatically separates him from the frat boy example. Because we don't know the details, he may have had to come pretty close to were!Remus himself, and since Snape apparently still does know about the animagus forms, he did so in human form (though he could have changed back at the last minute). This is, in my book, reasonably heroic, somewhat lessened by the fact that I firmly believe James was acting to save Sirius and Remus's skins, plus a vague sense that it was just what you *did.* IOW, he wasn't saving Snape at all, he was saving his friends and the Slimeball in Distress.
OTOH, James may have been snickering about it with Sirius all afternoon, suddenly realized that Remus could kill him and thus be put down and get Sirius expelled, and so jumped into the tree, trotted as a stag till he saw Snape at a distance, changed to human, and hollered, "Oy, Snape! Come back! You shouldn't go down there!" Of course, if this is the case, then Snape was presumably far enough from were!Remus that he could have figured it out himself, and James didn't save his life at all.
I'm now rather curious about what a life-debt is at all. I think Dumbledore refers to it as a bond, doesn't he? But Snape--James and Peter--Harry sure don't *seem* like they have any sort of bond, so perhaps it only manifests itself in certain circumstances. If that's the case, then perhaps what we see as the book's appalling morality regarding sparing/saving lives is purely *Dumbledore's* appaling morality. Perhaps all the noted people who've saved each others lives or actively failed to kill each other do, in fact, owe each other life debts, but don't really notice unless they're in those circumstances or Dumbledore points it out to them.
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OTOH, James may have been snickering about it with Sirius all afternoon, suddenly realized that Remus could kill him and thus be put down and get Sirius expelled, and so jumped into the tree, trotted as a stag till he saw Snape at a distance, changed to human, and hollered, "Oy, Snape! Come back! You shouldn't go down there!" Of course, if this is the case, then Snape was presumably far enough from were!Remus that he could have figured it out himself, and James didn't save his life at all.
I'm now rather curious about what a life-debt is at all. I think Dumbledore refers to it as a bond, doesn't he? But Snape--James and Peter--Harry sure don't *seem* like they have any sort of bond, so perhaps it only manifests itself in certain circumstances. If that's the case, then perhaps what we see as the book's appalling morality regarding sparing/saving lives is purely *Dumbledore's* appaling morality. Perhaps all the noted people who've saved each others lives or actively failed to kill each other do, in fact, owe each other life debts, but don't really notice unless they're in those circumstances or Dumbledore points it out to them.