Those are all definite possibilities and good points--I was really trying to figure that out in the above post as well. It would be *very* interesting to know just what heroic measures James went to, considering Snape just needed to be prevented from doing something he himself did all the time.
Although you're right that James may not have even known about the Prank until he moved to stop it (was it a surprise present for him? I mean, eventually he was in on it, obviously, so did he make a split decision to go after him? It seems like if he had to go after him he must have gone along with the prank for at least a bit--unless James came running up late because he was out with Lily or something, heard what Sirius was doing and then ran right in after Snape) I think from Snape might find it very hard to separate James from Sirius. James can't be responsible for a Prank he didn't know about until he decided to stop it. But at the same from the pov of Snape owing a life debt to this guy for it, it still seems rather unfair because while James wasn't involved in this Prank he was a leader in the general attacking of Snape.
Perhaps a better hypothetical example would be a nearer one: Harry is tricked into going down a tunnel, at the end of which is a werewolf that will kill him or turn him into a werewolf. At the last minute Malfoy appears and calls'drags Harry out of the tunnel. He's just now found out that Crabbe has put together this prank--presumably with the idea that it will please Draco because he hates Harry. But Draco stops the Prank because he has reasons to think this will cause them trouble--they'll get expelled, Snape will get fired, he thinks it will make things worse for his father, he just gets scared. Whatever selfish or unselfish reason, it's Malfoy who calls Harry out and saves him. Malfoy wouldn't be responsible for the prank, but Harry's owing a debt to him would be particularly galling because, among other things, Malfoy is as responsible as one can get without actually doing the Prank. I mean, he started the pattern of teasing Harry and encouraged his friends to do stuff to Harry. That, perhaps, is a better example and I can't imagine Harry taking kindly to *that* being his life debt.
It would be interesting to think of Dumbledore as simply trying to manipulate people by calling certain things life debts while letting others slide. It would certainly be IC for him!
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Although you're right that James may not have even known about the Prank until he moved to stop it (was it a surprise present for him? I mean, eventually he was in on it, obviously, so did he make a split decision to go after him? It seems like if he had to go after him he must have gone along with the prank for at least a bit--unless James came running up late because he was out with Lily or something, heard what Sirius was doing and then ran right in after Snape) I think from Snape might find it very hard to separate James from Sirius. James can't be responsible for a Prank he didn't know about until he decided to stop it. But at the same from the pov of Snape owing a life debt to this guy for it, it still seems rather unfair because while James wasn't involved in this Prank he was a leader in the general attacking of Snape.
Perhaps a better hypothetical example would be a nearer one: Harry is tricked into going down a tunnel, at the end of which is a werewolf that will kill him or turn him into a werewolf. At the last minute Malfoy appears and calls'drags Harry out of the tunnel. He's just now found out that Crabbe has put together this prank--presumably with the idea that it will please Draco because he hates Harry. But Draco stops the Prank because he has reasons to think this will cause them trouble--they'll get expelled, Snape will get fired, he thinks it will make things worse for his father, he just gets scared. Whatever selfish or unselfish reason, it's Malfoy who calls Harry out and saves him. Malfoy wouldn't be responsible for the prank, but Harry's owing a debt to him would be particularly galling because, among other things, Malfoy is as responsible as one can get without actually doing the Prank. I mean, he started the pattern of teasing Harry and encouraged his friends to do stuff to Harry. That, perhaps, is a better example and I can't imagine Harry taking kindly to *that* being his life debt.
It would be interesting to think of Dumbledore as simply trying to manipulate people by calling certain things life debts while letting others slide. It would certainly be IC for him!