Marcone and the Castle

[Mira]

Lea moves her garden to wherever Harry sleeps. The Garden is probably a weakness if it stays because Harry can get there and there would be no escape into the Never Never for Marcone.

I thought the castle was able to draw the ley line in, not that it was there.

I imagine that's a Jim question, or maybe there is a WOJ on it, but I don't think you can draw ley lines to you or an area.  My opinion is they exist where they exist and powerful wizards and other supernatural folk make use of them if they can.  It is also possible I suppose that the exception is Merlin, if a wizard was able to draw a ley line in for his use it would be Merlin. However that doesn't quite work in the case of the castle does it?  By that I mean it's unlikely that the ley lines were transported over the ocean and to Chicago from England or where ever the castle originated.  So in my opinion the ley lines were already there, that may have made Harry's congering circle a bit more powerful or strong.  Though one has to ask, was Harry aware that they were there when he moved into the place years ago?  All I remember in Storm Front was him saying he liked his basement apartment because the basement had a basement for his lab.

[Bad Alias]

“You got those ley lines called up?” Merlin’s fortress, they had called it, this castle. And it had been built not only to shelter and protect, but to channel magical energy as well. Its layered enchantments gave it a metaphysical mass far beyond the weight of mere stone. Magically speaking, it was made of a superdense substance, like the material of a collapsed star. And like that material, it had its own kind of gravity. “It’s ready to bring them together,” Bob said.

As Bob began activating the castle’s enchantments, that gravity spread out, drawing toward it flowing rivers of natural magical energy in the earth—ley lines—drawing them toward it like a star being drawn into a black hole, like rivers caught in a massive earthquake suddenly forced to a new course.

I closed my fist, cutting off the energy, sent it back into the conjunction of the river of ley lines beneath me. The vast projection of my head went with it.

I'm fairly certain Harry would have noticed that his home was at a conjunction of ley lines. He'd seen Listen to Wind's map and Harry and Molly knew them from memory in Cold Days.

[Mira]

I'm fairly certain Harry would have noticed that his home was at a conjunction of ley lines. He'd seen Listen to Wind's map and Harry and Molly knew them from memory in Cold Day

Ley lines or Ways? Harry could very well have noticed, that's why he made his home at that address.  However I can't remember Harry making use of Ley lines until 12 Months.  I remember Rashid warning him about trying to make use of the power of the crossing Ley lines under Demonreach, trying to use them may have been what corrupted the Warden before Harry. 

[Bad Alias]

Ley lines. In Small Favor Luccio has a map of ley lines from Listens to Wind. In Cold Days, Harry starts marking conjunctions of ley lines, Molly finishes. The castle isn't mentioned.

Harry uses a ley line in Changes, but it wasn't a ley line of dark energy. It was the dark energy that would change Harry, not just energy. Harry considers using the ley line in Cold Days right before the Water Beetle shows up.

If you go back Turn Coat and see Harry's reaction to the ley lines in Edinburgh, it makes it hard to imagine he lived on one, let alone a conjunction of ley lines.

Bob says the castle "is ready to bring them together" and Harry narrates that the ley lines are drawn toward the castle like rivers suddenly forced to a new course.

The text isn't vague. The ley lines were not there before the battle in 12 Months. I'm fairly certain they aren't there after the battle either. They were relatively near. Near enough to be drawn to the castle. Maybe deep below the surface where they couldn't otherwise be accessed.

[Mira]

Bob says the castle "is ready to bring them together" and Harry narrates that the ley lines are drawn toward the castle like rivers suddenly forced to a new course.

The text isn't vague. The ley lines were not there before the battle in 12 Months. I'm fairly certain they aren't there after the battle either. They were relatively near. Near enough to be drawn to the castle. Maybe deep below the surface where they couldn't otherwise be accessed.
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Or Harry didn't know how to bring it to him yet when he lived in that basement.. In Twelve Months Harry talks about the energy, of the ley lines, in other words they were always there, but before the castle was there, Merlin's castle, the energy from them couldn't be called up.  Not easily, not under control, Bob even asks Harry if he was ready to channel that energy.

[Bad Alias]

Ley lines are energy.

The text clearly says they are moved.

The text clearly describes Harry coming into contact with ley lines and reacting in Turn Coat.

Bob seems concerned the Castle wasn't reconstructed correctly based on Harry's response.

[Mira]

  Ley Lines are like rivers, the course of them can be diverted some, and do divert because of various reasons, however to make use of the water in them, action of some sort has to be taken.  The castle as Merlin constructed it and the wards he put into place, enabled Harry to make use of the energy of the Ley Lines already there.  However if an error in reconstruction had been made, there would be a problem in accessing that energy.  Also there is more to it than simply accessing the energy, one has to be able to control that energy.  When Harry was living in the basement, the Ley Lines under it were there, but Harry didn't have the skills to use the energy in them yet.  Maybe he had hope of it in the future, but he didn't have the skills, though just being close or over them helped with his magic circle.  It's like the Ley Lines that cross Demonreach, apparently they contain extra powerful energy, maybe has a lot to do with why the prison is able to contain the monsters that it does.  There is a temptation for the Warden to make use of that energy, Rashid warned Harry that he wasn't ready to handle that kind of energy yet.  Harry agrees though with the "Oz" thing he has shown that he may be getting close.  This is the temptation or one of them that Mab was talking about when she said to Mother Winter that so far Harry has resisted the temptations of the island.  This is the trap I think that corrupted Kemmler, he tried to make use of those Ley Lines for necromancy.

[Bad Alias]

The text disagrees.

[g33k]

... It was the surprise at that point that gave Harry the advantage against Thorny at the Shedd ...

I'm reminded of story I heard about a very-senior jiu-jitsu sensei who was having a Very Bad Day, he was angry about I-don't-remember-what.

Somebody unaware of his mental state managed to walk up behind him, clap their hands over his eyes meaning to say "guess who" but before the first syllable was out of their mouth they were airborne in a the kind of throw that ends in a full-body slam onto the floor with both hands tangled & unable to slap a breakfall at all.

Also reminded of Harry triggering one of Eb's defense-contingencies.

When you "get surprise" on someone, best make sure they aren't much, much better than you.

I absolutely do not believe utterly-new-to-Soulfire Harry could have so utterly manhandled any Angelic being... it is beyond "implausible."

(fwiw:  the sensei mentioned above (once their "foe" was in front of them instead of behind, i.e. could *see* them) was able to alter the throw to be setting-them-down-upon-their-feet)

... It's logical that Namshiel would want a fortress like Merlin's Castle to work out of, he may have wanted it for a long time. He finally has a host, i.e. Marcone, who actually had the financial backing and means of making it happen.  Reread the bit in Twelve Months where Harry does the "Wizard of Oz" trick using the leylines under the castle as a power source, when he warns the vanilla demonstrators.  That's why Namshiel wanted that particular location, the leylines that just happen to cross where Harry's basement lab was located.  Oh another reason, remember Lea's garden is also located at that particular location.  Result there is no reason to conclude that Namshiel is working or attempting to work on the same side as Harry based on the evidence presented.

Consider your accounting of Thorned Namshiel's motivations and desires here.  He "finally has a host" who can get him the castle/base/HQ/lair/whatever that he has long dreamed of.

Consider the scene where Harry demands the castle.  Does Namshiel just allow Marcone to give up that long-sought prize??!?  Once again, this bursts the bonds of credulity.

This was all maneuvering to get the castle into the Well-Warden's possession.

[Bad Alias]

Also reminded of Harry triggering one of Eb's defense-contingencies.
...
I absolutely do not believe utterly-new-to-Soulfire Harry could have so utterly manhandled any Angelic being... it is beyond "implausible."

Eb wasn't in the middle of a complicated enough working that it required a circle. Harry didn't use soul fire. Uriel did. The Fallen are formerly angelic. Formerly angelic vs arch angel working through mortal is what we are looking at in this fight.

Not all of the Denarians are that impressive. The one's with cooperating hosts seem to be. And Harry has taken in several of those one on one or maybe under worse odds and done well.

[g33k]

... Harry didn't use soul fire. Uriel did ...

I think you are entirely mistaken about that.  Harry was casting; Uriel "jostled" his casting, but did not take it over:  that was Uriel showing Harry the key element of using Soulfire.  That was Harry's first time using Soulfire.

I'm pretty sure the key "tell" that this was nerdy-Harry's own Soulfire-fueled spell is that it took the form of a high-level D&D spell:  https://dnd5e.wikidot.com/spell:bigbys-hand

[Bad Alias]

I did overstate my position in favor of brevity. Uriel is definitely not controlling Harry, but Uriel is acting with intellectus. He knows exactly what a nudge will do at that moment and chose that moment particularly. It wasn't the first time Harry used magic in Small Favor.

And note that Harry hasn't used soul fire in anything nearly that advanced since. The closest is his noose on the skin walker. If it has been as advanced, Harry would have lifted the skin walker high enough that it couldn't have made a circle. Harry would have killed it.

There was a lot more of Uriel's skill in that specific use than Harry's, in my opinion.

I also think Namshiel is a bit of a light weight as far as Denarians go. He's very fortunate to have gotten Marcone as a host. Marcone would be scarier to me than Namshiel as an adversary if I was Harry. (I'd rather face Marcone because he has no interest in me going to Hell or suffering. He'd just kill me clean, if possible).

[Mira]

Consider the scene where Harry demands the castle.  Does Namshiel just allow Marcone to give up that long-sought prize??!?  Once again, this bursts the bonds of credulity.

No, it doesn't at all, consider the circumstances under which Harry demanded the Castle, it was under the rules of the Accords.  Marcone couldn't refuse, he wasn't happy about it, but he couldn't refuse.  Namshiel cannot control Marcone, if Marcone didn't know or apricate the capabilities of the castle, it was because Namshiel failed to make that clear to him.  Marcone still has free will, still can say no or yes, still give up the coin and try for redemption.  Namshiel can influence, but he cannot control, the host still has free will unless he or she becomes a slave to the denarian.  Which has also happened, what Harry saw in that first soul gaze which helped him to resist Lasciel, because he didn't want to become her servant.