Dresden Files Reread - Grave Peril Chapter 6

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Lea says the burning city reminds her of old times, and asks Harry if it reminds him as well. This is an allusion to the final confrontation with DuMorne, although I don't think a first-time reader would have the context on that. It might have come up in the brief discussion of Elaine with Inner Harry in the previous book, but I'd have to check. She tries to make it like she just stopped by to say hello and catch up, all the while having her hellhounds spread our to better bar their way. 

Michael asks her, very politely, to get out of their way, and she refuses sharply, although she's respectful enough, addressing him as "sir knight" while she explains that Harry belongs to her, by the terms of an agreement he made, meaning that Michael has no right, and little ability, to intervene on Harry's behalf. They don't really get into the mechanics of the whole "free will" thing until Small Favor, but this establishes the basic shape of it - the Swords, and the Knights who wield them, can't really help you out of something that's your own stupid fault. 

Lea tells Michael to leave, and sets about glamouring Harry to make him come away with her to the woods and waters wild. It's working pretty well, initially (although the astute reader might accurately assess that his stated inability to resist her "for more than a few seconds" means he's waiting for his moment), and once he's within touching distance, things get...distressingly erotic, given that she opened the conversation by asserting a familial relationship. I mean, consenting adults can do what they want, and it's not like their blood relatives, but she's literally mind-controlling him right now, so there's absolutely no consent happening here, and within that context, the whole "my son" thing just adds an extra layer of creepy. Occurs to me that this is foreshadowing for what happens to Harry later in this book, and further evidence of the influence of Robert Jordan's writing upon Jim Butcher's. 

Michael refuses to leave, asks Harry what he thinks he's doing, all that. Not leaving his friend behind. Lea asks if Harry will go with her, and he's all "I will go with you...when hell freezes over" and dumps the sack of ghost dust into her cleavage. Solid foreshadowing on this one, since we were told at the beginning of the previous chapter that it contains cold iron. We are also reminded of it in narration here, which I'm not at all sure was necessary, but I suppose it's better than giving inattentive readers the impression that fae in this setting react to depleted uranium. And react she does, breaking out in a painful-sounding red rash everywhere the dust touches her skin. This breaks her concentration, and the glamour along with it, giving Harry and Michael the chance to flee. Unsurprisingly, it also posses her off, and she starts gathering fire from the nearby burning buildings, preparing to blast them with it, yelling about how Harry belongs to her, about the promises he made, and the ones his mother made. I think this is our confirmation that Maggie is the one who made her Harry's godmother, although it wasn't like, a big mystery before. Godparents are generally chosen by ones parents, and since it's already been established that Maggie was a wizard and Malcolm was a vanilla mortal, there isn't really anyone else who could have arranged it. 

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Michael kills a couple of hellhounds who attack them on their way out which is a little awkward since they used to be, and might in some sense still be, people. This is, so far as I can recall, never addressed, even after it's established later in this same book that Lea is going to turn Harry into one of those things if she ever gets ahold of him. They get to the rift, and Harry pushes Michael through, but not in time to get through himself before Lea launches her attack, so he puts up his shield again and lets the force of her spell propel him back into the mortal world. This is sort of a very soft foreshadow of his trick with the shield bubble in White Knight, in much the same way that his hand injury in the previous chapter is for the one in Blood Rites. Those, interestingly, being the other two that are really focuses on vampires. I think there's similar foreshadowing for Changes later in this book too, but we can talk bout that more when we get there. 

The rest of the fire from Lea's attack turns back into ectoplasm as soon as the rift closes, leaving Harry temporarily slimy but basically intact. The babies are all awake and crying. Michael, while they're trying to clean up their injuries from splinters and hellhounds, expresses his surprise and disappointment that Harry lied to Lea, because they're "supposed to be the good guys". This is the only book where we get Judgey Michael, and I will not be at all sad to see him go. I feel like I might have said that in the discussion of a previous chapter? Also, does taking a while to finish a sentence really count as lying? Also also, like, I get that the Knights can't interfere with the exercise of free will, but is there really no flexibility there for minor children who had to way of comprehending what they were getting into? The books kinda dodge this with Molly by having Michael absent for so much of Proven Guilty. 

Naturally, someone called the cops, and they arrive after not too much of this most unpleasant conversation. Michael tells Harry that it will be okay, just let him do the talking...

Yeah we've really hit that school year slowdown now. I'll do what I can to keep posting regularly this month, and of course, you'll get the post about how we did with this year's goals, and what the coming year's are going to look like, sometime in very early October. (Preview: I probably am spreading myself to thin, but there's definitely more going on than that). Until next time, be gay, do crimes, and read All The Things!