Why no one talks of the Reds? IMHO, the most likely suspect. I'll post a most detailed answer later.Considering that the spell they were using in Changes was a fully-powered version of the same spell Sells was using, I definitely think that a Nemesis-infected Red Court vampire was behind him, at least.
I agree that other people may practice magic that is "delicate", but that's not the point. The point is that Jim uses this word specifically as a shorthand for Elaine. He does not use that tag for other people.
As for whether Harry should have recognized Luccio if he saw her in SF, he didn't recognize Martha Liberty when he saw her in SK, because he has limited contact with the WC. The first and only time before SK he was at a meeting, he had a bag over his head. The better question is why, when Harry saw Luccio again in DB, did he not remember her from SF? Harry's memory seems to have been futzed with any number of times. Whoever is responsible for these belts seems to be adept at mind magic. If they did not want Harry to remember something vital, I don't think he would.
That being said, my guesses about the suspects is weak, I know. I think the connections I've made between the various plots is really useful at eliminating certain people, but its not conclusive proof against anyone, at this point.
All of which doesn't even TOUCH on the way power is actually balanced in Faerie, because neither Mab nor the Erlking would attempt such a thing, or /consider/ attempting such a thing. It would upset the natural order. Conflicts between most of the Fae powers are very subtle, and generally involve proxies, pride, sex or all of the above
Appearance: before or after losing the glamor? An Ash quote comes to mind "You got real ugly."
...it had a bat-like face, horrid and ugly, the head too big for its body. Gaping, hungry jaws. Its shoulders were hunched, powerful, and membranous wings stretched between the joints of its almost skeletal arms. Flabby black breasts hung before it, spilled out of the black dress that no longer did anything to make it look more feminine. Its eyes were wide, black, and staring, and a kind of leathery, slimy hide covered its flesh, like an inner tube lathered with Vaseline...
Powers: unknown, but enough to scare Harry who does things like float elevators on wind at the drop of a hat with a minor charm bracelet.
Their ability to mask themselves could potentially be used to look like someone else--or /you/, for that matter. They also have narcotic saliva that renders a victim passive while the vamp feeds, and is addictive and habit-forming, to boot. They get the standard vampire package of 'stronger and faster than you,' and Harry harbors some suspicions that looking one of them in the eyes could be bad for him and way bad for someone without his
kind of mental defenses.
That's only the Red Court's vampires, though, and they're just one of the vampire factions. They just happen to be the first ones Harry makes want to kill him. ;) The White Court, Black Court, and Jade Court are way different.
/shamelessselfpromotion off
Jim
LALA
AAA
@ Ms. Duck-I can see what you mean about the timing of that WoJ you mentioned. And I have no problem reevaluating my thinking on any of this. Idid think about 'what if there are 2 layers of suspects above the players we see', but that would lead to an endless series of combinations to consider and my 2 threads are already waa-a-y too long. Which is why I tried to look at whether one suspect could work for each plot. Variation on occams. I know that doesnt make it more accurate, but I was curious if it could work. And I think it could, with some hiccups.
@ Elegast-re: the RCVs. That theory just doesnt sing for me like the others do. Bianca doesnt seem to know whats going on in SF and shes the ranking, just moved in RCV. She doesnt appear to learn magic until after her aide is killed, so its unlikely that she was teaching Sells complicated magic before SF. Also, im not convinced Marcone was the real reason the wolf belts were passed out. I think eventually he became the direction the hexenwolves were aimed, but a helluva lot of unrelated people died before that. Finally, which mortal wizard called the outsiders for the RCVs in their battle w/the WC? Simplest answer is the reds were also being helped by the same high level wizard
Cowl? or Mavra? both could fit those options nicely and both have possible motives and opportunity ;)
Ms. Duck- re Molly and her magic being labelled delicate, too. I think you are right. Sigh. Well, the evidence for Elaine isnt strong, other than that and she's a powerful female wizard and the female part isnt even necessary. In your theory, who do you think got the belts from the Erlking? How would you explain the connection to the love hurts belts? Did someone leanr how to make them based on the Erlkings design?
Q: Have we met the people who created the Hexenwolf belts yet?
A: That's another "I'm not gonna tell you" question. I will say, "kind of," "not really," and "yes." But we'll get into more of that during Cold Days as well.
I am most intrigued by the WoJ:
I don't see the second part referencing anything but Nemesis, that would fill out either "kind of" or "not really" (probably the latter). Not really sure who could be the "yes" part.
I am most intrigued by the WoJ:
I don't see the second part referencing anything but Nemesis, that would fill out either "kind of" or "not really" (probably the latter). Not really sure who could be the "yes" part.
FWIW, I personally never saw the Erlking as the origin of the wofl-belts. There is a certain "demonic" vibe going on there, something I don't get at all from the Erlking.
Other options include:
- Arianna: Strong Raith and RC connection, but maybe not powerful enough as a wizard. Also unsure of why she would take an interest in Chicago so far back, unless she was following up on Maggie's progeny.
- Tessa: Certainly has the magical capability and a "demonic" background, but the Raith connection is weaker.
----------
Personally, I'd vote for Mavra.
- Per the first two books, there's someone going around giving people magical help, and then in GP we see Mavra onscreen helping out Bianca and Kravos.
- Mavra has a grudge against the Whites, so belts ain't a bad thing.
- One of the PG theories is that Sandra Marlin (person who suggest that Molly use fear) is an agent for someone trying get Molly to use black magic (same as Victor Sells and Kravos). Molly met Sandra at a homeless shelter, giving us a definitive Mavra connection. Note that this might be the connection Jim was referencing when he mentioned that "someone figured it out".
Absolutely!!
Cenphx, can I add a poll to this thread?
Two additional things I thought of again when I was rereading everyone's posts here. 1) With regard to Rashid examining Luccio, such that she isn't likely to be infected. I think we were told Rashid's ability to find Nemesis isn't perfect specifically because it will fail at some critical point. But I concede this is a point to keep in mind indicating Luccio might not be infected. 2) With regard to the RCVs or a particular one being our suspect, from a storytelling perspective, I wouldn't think the bad guy behind all these acts would already be dead and not be a player in the BAT.
I really hoped making the connections between these events would narrow our list of suspects, but it doesn't seem like that's happening. :o
Peabody nodded. "Wizard Luciozzi."
"Sabbatical," said the blue-bearded and tattooed wizard behind me. Ebenezar frowned, and one of his cheeks twitched in a nervous tic.
Eh.... that's very, very thin.
If you are to create a poll, be sure to include an option for "None of the Above". The world is large enough that I'm sure there are players in the game that Harry has not met yet.
don't forget injun joe! i still say it was him in the dining room, with a spork lol :P
“Are we going to find out where the Hexenwolf belts came from in Fool Moon?”
Several folks have already worked it out, actually. The pieces are there if you want to put them together, though eventually I’ll state it outright.
Appearance: before or after losing the glamor? An Ash quote comes to mind "You got real ugly."
...it had a bat-like face, horrid and ugly, the head too big for its body. Gaping, hungry jaws. Its shoulders were hunched, powerful, and membranous wings stretched between the joints of its almost skeletal arms. Flabby black breasts hung before it, spilled out of the black dress that no longer did anything to make it look more feminine. Its eyes were wide, black, and staring, and a kind of leathery, slimy hide covered its flesh, like an inner tube lathered with Vaseline...
Powers: unknown, but enough to scare Harry who does things like float elevators on wind at the drop of a hat with a minor charm bracelet.
Their ability to mask themselves could potentially be used to look like someone else--or /you/, for that matter. They also have narcotic saliva that renders a victim passive while the vamp feeds, and is addictive and habit-forming, to boot. They get the standard vampire package of 'stronger and faster than you,' and Harry harbors some suspicions that looking one of them in the eyes could be bad for him and way bad for someone without his
kind of mental defenses.
That's only the Red Court's vampires, though, and they're just one of the vampire factions. They just happen to be the first ones Harry makes want to kill him. ;) The White Court, Black Court, and Jade Court are way different.
/shamelessselfpromotion off
Jim
LALA
AAA
As a former priest, Martin must have known of the bloodline curse, and its potential for destruction.
She paused and then said, “In a way, I’m grateful to you, Dresden. If I hadn’t wanted so very badly to kill you, I would never have amassed the power and the contacts that I have. I never would have been elevated to the Court.” She gestured to the crowd of vampires below, the courtyard, the darkness. “In a way, all of this is your doing.”
Q: Have we met the people who created the Hexenwolf belts yet?
A: That's another "I'm not gonna tell you" question. I will say, "kind of," "not really," and "yes." But we'll get into more of that during Cold Days as well.
my thought of 'who is behind' is a flawed calculation.. its not necc just one person.
We Know Mavra was behind BR and DB. we can suspect she was involved in GP
we know Cowl was involved in GP, DB, WN, and now likely CD
we can be almost 100% certain the erlking was involved in some way in FM and LH, but we can also assume that he wasnt the instigator- he said so. his only interest was messing with Odin. Somone paid him.
we need a secret wizard:
to teach in SF and GP
to deal with the Erlking
to summon the outsiders
either Mavra or Cowl could be involved. possibly both; they have common interests and may work together but they also have reasons for backstabbing each other.
The new WOJ says it wasn't Mavra in SF. And the Erkling created love belts? Really?
theory
Why it's not the Erlkingwell i've not read love hurts so can anyone explain how a red vamp was possessed by the belt or in the belts or whatever you mean.
The Erkling is savage, not evil. He has no motivation what so ever to attack the White court (LH). It's improbable is infected, and Nemesis seems to be part of these plots.
I think everyone is missing the connection between Storm Front and Fool Moon. The latter is just an escalation of the former. They both are reflective of something that took place about a decade earlier.
I think everyone is missing the connection between Storm Front and Fool Moon. The latter is just an escalation of the former. They both are reflective of something that took place about a decade earlier.
my only quible is i think its fairly certain Mavra knew the word would be found in chicago prior to BR.. hence the whole trap for Harry and Murphy.
GrandPanjandrum -- you just made my list of people to follow.
Well, that's where it gets convaluded alright. But, I think the relationship between Mavra and Cowl is similar to the one he had with the other Kemmerlerites. They pretend to work together, but they'll never buy each other a beer.
Plus, you have to assume that everyone knew that Grevane had the highest bid for Kemmerler's Word. And, all the Kemmerlerites decided (probably well in advance) that Chicago would be where they would pull off the Darkhallow (due to its Lae lines as well as the historical artifacts available at the time). Of course, if they knew a certain wizard would animate a dinosaur, they might have reconsidered.
Summary: Cowl is on Team Mavra, but he is also on Team Cowl...
the way I seed DB is it was a trap, set by Mavra, for the necromancers. The Word was the bait, she likely had it all along. ;D
i agree with grandpanjandrum. cowl is out for number one. maybe he's been infected, maybe he makes schemes with other shady characters and maybe he gets tooled out sometimes but ultimately cowl is doing what he thinks is best overall. :-\ yes that involves murdering countless innocents and taking out the WC, which btw if i interpreted his DB monologue correctly has been corrupted by other necromancers and dark magic users besides himself. at the end of the day he's a classic vader archetype. why it wouldn't surprise me at all if in the end he dies fighting a larger malignancy than himself ???
Oh, man...you have to explain THAT. Otherwise, you're cruel and inhuman.
Im a duck ;)
ok.. it has to do with when Harry threatens Mavra at the end of DB. he threatened her with a pile of stuff, but what worried her was the word. And WOJ is that Harry was not bluffing. there is something in the word that can scare vampires, and yet its not the darkhallow.
we also know that as the word was in german, and it was translated by Lash, the translation was not ..100%.. correct. Lash altered things, like how the darkhallow actually works.
we also know that circa 1890, there was a major war between the black court and just about everyone else. How major is being debated, but i don think its a coincidence that Eb used weapons of mass destruction around this time. Now is it coincidence that demonreach was abandonded, or there was likely a meeting between the duchess arriana, maggie sr, lord raith and eb around this time. Nor that, according to Lash, the Black Court was Maggie sr's enemy, nto the Black Council.
I think the war went very very bad ( as The Merlin noted, Harry has no ideas of how bad it can get).. and the white council went to the bench, and started breaking the laws. (thus forming the original Black Council)
there are two options, i believe:
either Kemmler created the black court, and the spell he used is in the word ( they were his servants)
or
Kemmler is a tragic figure. knowing the black court is necromatic, he used the dark powe rof demonreach to smite them hard- and save the world- but was driven mad by it. the spell he used is in the word.
so:
imagine you are Mavra. you have the word (you captured it years ago.)
you are planning to once again try and BWAHAHAHA rule the world
you know the last time your masters tried, they were stopped by an alliance of the major powers, using a combination of sheer firepower, holy weapons, and the magic of necromancers.
the fire power you can handle, youve been planning for years
but you have to mop up those pseky necromancers..
and you know the word, can be used by a necromancer, to make themselves a god .. if its used in chicago on halloween
and you know if the white council finds out they will hunt down the necromancers and kill them..
now all you need to do is:
- put the word someplace where it will be found in time
- set up a catspaw to make theu the WC finds out
-make sure you get the word back afterwards
;D
Ok...I'm definitely intrigued...but this puts Harry and Cowl (presumably) on the "don't make future plans" list because your days are numbered...since they both know what's in the book. And, I keep going back to Grave Peril (Cowl and Kumori are allegedly there...the two in the hooded cloaks when they're passing out gifts). This implies that after Dead Beat, Mavra is going to be gunning for Cowl (even though he was a cohort until that point). What I have trouble with is that Mavra's plans would be all for naught if Harry had been a tiny bit slower or less ingenious during the Darkhallow. Cowl would have been Godly, and Mavra wouldn't have a prayer. He's not stupid...she would have been one of his first targets. That's a huge risk for someone who seems to be a qualified behind the scenes manipulator...it's a sloppy risk.
PS: Oh, and Evil Bob's out there with the contents of the book as well...and he could make a deal with just about anyone.
assuming she wasnt there the whole time, ready to take action as needed... (like she was in BR)
or that she didnt trap the spell somehow...
heck planting a small tac nuke under the mesuem green and blowing it at the right time owuld have done the job. but letting the white council finish would have been so much better, as its deniable.
but yes, i think Cowl is very much on Mavra's 'to do' list.
hes the one that got away .
as to evil bob, I dont think mavra knows he exists. She had a chance to examine the real bob in GP, and wasnt worried. the darkhallow was in bob's head, but whatever the black court spell is shes afriad of is probably not
First of all, Kudos and applause to Cenphx for starting all this off with such a thought provoking and encompassing thread.
I've had some time to think about the possibility that Mavra set this all up to rid the world of the Kemmerlerites. And, it makes quite a bit of sense. But, first, a little side issue:
None of this works if Murphy stays in town. Harry would spill it that blackmail is going on, or she would figure it out...or more likely, she would read the lie on Harry's face. So she has to be out of town.
Either:
1. Mavra hired Kincaid to get Murphy out of town.
2. A cutout of Mavra's hired Kincaid to get Murphy out of town.
3 A cutout of Mavra's hired Kincaid to take care of a little business in Hawaii ( Kaupe the cannibal dog man was out of control) and part of the deal was a suite at the The Ritz-Carlton in Kapalua for two. Mavra witnessed the little attraction during Blood Rites and hoped he'd take her. Although, that's leaving too much to chance.
Face it...Kincaid was hired by Mavra to get Murphy out of town so she could have an unobstructed gun (Harry) to point at the Kemmerlerites. Harry should just change his name to "Tool." First, Mavra turns him into a loaded gun. In Changes, Odin turns him into a loaded gun. Both point him at their respective targets.
I need to reread and absord the great Mavra theorizing, but I wanted to drop a quick note--I dont think your off on tangents at all! I just wanted to get the connections between these events laid out and hope that everyone would jump in, riffing off where I started, building, going different directions, figuring things out. So I think what everyone's been doing in the thread is awesome and really impressive! But now youve got me reeeaallly worried about why Mavra was trying to kill Thomas in Blood Rites and what the heck he did to 'betray' her.
Luccio as a suspect …Could it explain why Mab sent the hobs to the train station in SmF-were they after Luccio, not the Archive?I have wondered about/suspected both Elaine and Luccio at various times in the Dresden series. I'm just not certain about either wizard. However, if Luccio was indeed guilty then Rashid would seem to be a accomplice and Im not willing to accept that possibility...but then that would be the ultimate treachery.
As you said Cenphx, Cowl says in DB that he wants to see why Harry makes the wardens so nervous. Wouldn't he have known if he had been involved involved in the events of SF and FM? Even if you don't think that the events of SF and FM don't demonstrate that, I think he would have chosen a different choice of words.
Cowl could have set things in motion in SF and FM and then just stepped back not monitoring the events that closely....moving on to other trouble making. The purpose was to stir things up between around the borders of the NN. He could accomplish that even if someone stopped those involved after a bit. As Cowl, he probably suspected the Wardens would eventually get involved....he didn't have to keep track that closely.
Yeah, I thought of something similar...still I think we should keep it in mind.
Whoever was involved withthe FBI agents didnt do it in a hands off fashion like they did with Sells. I have to go back and look at the notes I pulled from FM to get the precise quote, but I believe it was after Denton started killing people he was warned about the WC and Harry. There was definite interaction between he and the person who gave him the magic. I remember this specifically because it was at odds with how Sells was left on his own.you take notes ??? lmao... >:( comment on luccio being the real target or i shall smite thee!
you take notes ??? lmao... >:( comment on luccio being the real target or i shall smite thee!i can agree with you that luccio being the real target in tc , but i think the is more to the story then that she had been with harry for over a year, so the question is why get rid of a tool no one suspects unless that tools job is done? so what did she do to harry that she wasn't need any more?
oh and they were warned when getting the belts iirc. plus maybe they were warned specifically because of the events in SF?
i can agree with you that luccio being the real target in tc , but i think the is more to the story then that she had been with harry for over a year, so the question is why get rid of a tool no one suspects unless that tools job is done? so what did she do to harry that she wasn't need any more?i already explained this in my original post, its to place morgan as head warden. notice in the past few books the wardens are getting out of council control? it would have avoided this situation too. its a direct result of the failure to replace luccio.
yea i've been skimming TC recently. thought it odd nobody comments on luccio being the real target. morgan was an accident. lol one i think backfired on peabody and probably the merlin spectacularly.. it explains why the merlin is going silently insane over whats going down. ;Dwell i wonder if the idea was to take out luccio and morgin it in the same swoop morgin did havea couple mill in the bank that he didn't know about
i already explained this in my original post, its to place morgan as head warden. notice in the past few books the wardens are getting out of council control? it would have avoided this situation too. its a direct result of the failure to replace luccio.
well i wonder if the idea was to take out luccio and morgin it in the same swoop morgin did havea couple mill in the bank that he didn't know aboutthat was quickly set up after morgan became implemented in the murder instead. probably they were on standby to be used against luccio at first.
the thing about luccio that always got to me is that the voice she hears in her dreams is female..ummm what dreams?
ive thought before that there were two seperate mind messes with luccio: the stuff peabody was doing and the stuff someone else was doing, to make her love harry.
:)
ummm what dreams?ditto!
that was quickly set up after morgan became implemented in the murder instead. probably they were on standby to be used against luccio at first.seem kinda week why take out one power figure when you can take2 outfor the price of one
ditto! seem kinda week why take out one power figure when you can take2 outfor the price of oneand in what situation do you see them taking out the both? ??? thats a WEAK theory.... :P
ummm what dreams?
In WN, when Harry and luccio are flirting in the flashback. Luccio mentions she cant sleep, becuase of strange dreams and memmories that arent hers, and a womans voice..aww could be
she thinks its residual memmories of the original body, but now that we know her mind has been messed with..
the thing about luccio that always got to me is that the voice she hears in her dreams is female..i still say that there was more to luccio relationship with harry then keeping tabs on him
ive thought before that there were two seperate mind messes with luccio: the stuff peabody was doing and the stuff someone else was doing, to make her love harry.
:)
Ok, I found the reference. Its in ch 30 of FM-Denton and Harry are talking about how the belts have led the FBI agents to kill people and they sent Harry after the lycanthropes. Denton says 'After the deaths (the people the FBI agents killed the month before), I was warned about a governing body. A sort of magic police. The White Council. That you worked for them.'. So Denton was given the belts and killed people. Then someone warned him about the WC. Assuming he wasnt being helped by 2 unrelated people, whoever helped him was not hands off. Therefore, if it was Cowl, he shouldve known more then he did in DB.
Perhaps. But Harry wasn't all that powerful in Fool Moon or in Storm Front for that matter. In Storm Front...he didn't even use magic to take down Victor Sells. As for Fool Moon, sure he knew about Harry...but not why the WC was so worried about Harry...he just didn't see Harry's strengths.... even in SK... Harry was just lucky and a little bit smart. He didn't really take on the Summer Lady...he just bribed alot of dewdrop fae to do it.knowledge is power lol harrys no more stong in changes as he was in storm front he just better at using his magic
harrys no more stong in changes as he was in storm front he just better at using his magicI disagree with that. Harry has had several power ups since SF. He has worked out more physically and with his magic...he also now has Soul Fire and is a fare hand at magic he never could use before...thanks to training an apprentice. He is a much stronger man and wizard...and now he also has the mantle of WK...which happened in Changes.
there is a woj that say harry just better at using his magic more efficiently now than at the begging exculiding soulfireRefining his abilities makes him stronger. There are the books themselves that show Harry working out to be more physically stronger....jogging...training in martial arts with Murphy...etc....
in storm front he had to put way more magic to cover his mistakes so to speek training molly made him better a the refining his abiltys
Refining his abilities makes him stronger. There are the books themselves that show Harry working out to be more physically stronger....jogging...training in martial arts with Murphy...etc....sorry i don't know howto do a link
Since you don't include the link to the woj...it could be outdated, you know.
Still...I think what is actually shown in the story should supercede woj...since writers sometimes forget what they've written. :o
sorry i don't know howto do a link
but he is a copy and pasteQuote2011 Bitten by Books Q&A
Now that Harry has used magic in this book without and tailismans, will he be a stronger/more adept wizard with his magic in the next book?”
Harry really hasn’t gotten all that much stronger since the series started. He’s gotten more efficient, more skilled, and smarter, and inasmuch as that makes him more powerful, that will continue. I mean, what doesn’t kill you only makes you stronger…
Oh wait.
and your right physicaly he has imporved
well Jims being half serious and half snarky there. after all, he did get killed, and it did make him stronger :)
there is another woj in which he compars Harry to Tavi, and notes that even as Harry gets better, he is moving into a much deeper sectionn of the pond.. the bad guys are so much stronger in the later books Harry is still outclassed and will have to outthink them.
The character progression of Tavi seems to parallel that of Harry, where he starts off low, gets a little more power, and then at the end, he gets a massive power boost between the 5th and 6th books. I was just wondering if something similar to that is going to happen to Harry, maybe before the Apocalyptic Trilogy?
I never want Dresden to be the big fish in the pond. I want Dresden to be the smart, fast, medium sized fish, who is constantly outclassed by all the actual big fish. And I don’t see how we’re going to get out of that. I’m not planning on skyrocketing Dresden anytime soon, although the next book should be pretty interesting to see how that turns out. I think Dresden is in the process of finding out that the pond is whole lot bigger than he thought it was, and there’s going to be a whole lot of new doors opening after this book. Or, as I told my shocked editor after she read the end of Changes, I think she said something along the lines of “What were you thinking?” And my response was [enthusiastic] “That now we can do the good stuff!”
You mean this one?
http://www.jimbutcheronline.com/bb/index.php/topic,21772.msg1324827.html#msg1324827
Ok, I found the reference. Its in ch 30 of FM-Denton and Harry are talking about how the belts have led the FBI agents to kill people and they sent Harry after the lycanthropes. Denton says 'After the deaths (the people the FBI agents killed the month before), I was warned about a governing body. A sort of magic police. The White Council. That you worked for them.'. So Denton was given the belts and killed people. Then someone warned him about the WC. Assuming he wasnt being helped by 2 unrelated people, whoever helped him was not hands off. Therefore, if it was Cowl, he shouldve known more then he did in DB.Well ... somebody was either (badly) misinformed and/or lying outright. As of Fool Moon, Dresden is most definitely not working for the White Council - and while the White Council has the Wardens for policing magic users, that's far from all that the Council does or its primary function.
Well ... somebody was either (badly) misinformed and/or lying outright. As of Fool Moon, Dresden is most definitely not working for the White Council - and while the White Council has the Wardens for policing magic users, that's far from all that the Council does or its primary function.thats the warden primary fuction
thats the warden primary fuctionThe Wardens are not the entirety of the White Council ... but they probably are the most visible portion.
The Wardens are not the entirety of the White Council ... but they probably are the most visible portion.sorry my bad skim reading missed part of it
The Wardens are not the entirety of the White Council ... but they probably are the most visible portion.
Well ... somebody was either (badly) misinformed and/or lying outright. As of Fool Moon, Dresden is most definitely not working for the White Council - and while the White Council has the Wardens for policing magic users, that's far from all that the Council does or its primary function.
Well, the reason I found that particular quote was only to point out that whoever was helping Denton, it wasn't a situation where they handed him the belts and then left him to his own devices. If Cowl was the one who helped Denton and he did not just abandon him, and given the quote, he did not, then in DB, Cowl should've had more first hand knowledge about Harry's capabilities than his statement would suggest.Fair point - it does indicate that Denton's source for the belts didn't just leave him to his own devices.
Re: how bad the info is about Harry working for the WC--I agree, its terrible. Harry even bursts out laughing when Denton tells him about it. There are so many different reasons that statement could've been made that way, I think its impossible to know the specifics. Did Denton just conflate the Wardens and the WC when whoever it was told him about them? Did the person lie on purpose to get Harry killed in a preemptive strike by Denton? Did the person just not know that Harry wasn't working for the WC, let alone the Wardens? I don't think we have any evidence to point us any particular direction.