The text in church today was John 3:1-15, in which Pharisee and member of the Sanhedrin (the ruling body of Jews) Nicodemus visits Jesus by night and asks him about the kingdom of Heaven. This guy later provided a bunch of expensive spices for Jesus's burial. So...probably not "our" Nicodemus...but it'd be kind of intriguing (and awfully sad) if he were. Thoughts on Nicky's identity? We know he may have been around when Jesus walked the earth, and he knows how to drive a chariot.

Bianca was doing a lot of kissing up at that party, unaware that she was merely a cat's paw for a greater power.  My guess is Ferrovax was rubbing elbows with other guests at the party, the likes of Mavra, Cowl, even Lea, for the future, and if he got a little gold as a gift from Bianca, that was just the icing as they say..

I think you've got it. I doubt Bianca had any idea just how important her party would be--sort of a fulcrum for all kinds of powers.

Yeah I'd imagine that most everyone at that meeting picked up on that.

Subtlety is not an art form that Harry has put much effort into mastering.

Harry has more than once modified Tolkien on wizards.

Many would argue the Angels are trustworthy....

Not me. Uriel is tricksy.

Yes. I don't think Maggie's angry now, but I think she could become so as a teen.

  Little Maggie before she was kidnapped appeared to be living in a loving supportive home unless Susan was totally deceived.  After the horrors she experienced, she was in another supportive loving home. So yes, she was severely traumatized, but she has also had a lot of loving support.  She isn't totally unscathed, that is why she needs her therapy dog, Mouse.  It is amazing what a therapy dog can do for someone suffering from severe PTSD, as any number of veterans who owe their lives and sanity to these wonderful animals can tell you.  Most likely she has also blocked out the trauma she experienced, it all fit into a small time frame of a few days, she may have even been drugged or under a spell so she wouldn't fight what was about to happen to her.  We also do not know if the Carpenters sought therapy for her.. That isn't to say it won't rear it's ugly head later on, she might even end up with multiple personalities.

Yeah, we're told she needs Mouse, but never shown it, in my opinion.

And fine, say she's a very resilient child--which I could buy! She should then act like, well, a child, which is to say she should pester people at inappropriate times, complain sometimes, be loud and annoying sometimes, etc. I am not a fiction writer (I wish I were), but she just doesn't feel right, and she's more of a plot point than a character.

I mentioned this in another thread, but it's bugging me. She's too angelic and obedient, and we're told rather than shown that she's traumatized from her experiences. "Zoo Day" didn't ring true--she isn't like any of the kids I've known, including those with bad histories or who are in foster care. Granted, I'm no expert, but I am a parent (albeit to nontraumatized kids), I've volunteered with children in tough situations, and my sister-in-law fostered kids for a couple of years. Maggie just doesn't feel real to me.

Harry-as-child is a lot more convincing--especially as an angry, scared, defensive, impulsive teen. Maggie doesn't appear to have the slightest difficulty fitting in with multiple caregivers. She falls asleep in Harry's arms when he's a relative stranger, and I just about threw up when she asks him if he wants to be her daddy. She doesn't act out, EVER.

OT, but I enjoyed seeing the Huntsmen; I remember them from The High King. I am sure Jim is an Alexander reader, though of course he'll be familiar with the actual legends Alexander used.