Again, I am not sure Raith knew about Margaret having another child. I am not even sure he knew about Malcolm.
I always wondered in what context a stage magician met the wife of a vampire, who is a witch.

I think that depends on how targeted his killing spell had to be.  I mean if he had to know where she was, then he should have known at least that she was in labor..  Was Margaret really married to Lord Raith? Or did he just call her that because she had one of his children?  Wonder what happened to his other wives?  I also wonder in what context Margaret could have met Malcolm, I mean if she was just on the run from Lord Raith, I hardly think she'd attend a magic show.. Like a lot in the novels, stuff sounds great on the surface, but if you dig too deeply they begin not to make sense... Especially over a long series, stuff begins to contradict, happens in television series as well, I guess the author and writers think we fans forget details, and that's a real mistake.

What better way to protect Thomas than to curse Lord Raith's Hunger Demon -- "leave Thomas alone, or you'll never be free to Feed again!"  And then she runs away, so Raith can't bring overwhelming force to bear on her...

Except that isn't what happened, Margaret left Thomas in Lara's care and left..  If her aim was to protect Thomas from the Hunger demon she could have taken him with her and then threatened Lord Raith... That didn't happen.

I suspect Lash was hinting at much larger-scale issues, at the "reason" including much larger players, possibly up to and including the Angelic powers, much more than hinting at just Margaret's reasoning.

But I don't think we have much info either way; Lash's info is very short:  every moment of that accelerated-time was risking brain-damage to Harry, and brought uber-trolls and Outsider-possessed Raith a bit closer...

Survive now.

Convey secrets later!
(and give an ambiguous one-liner for the rabid fans to gnaw upon like starving dogs with a bone, for years ... )

Perhaps if it were merely an ambiguous one liner.  However given in context, it isn't an ambiguous one liner at all...  The context of what Chauncy told Harry about how they were ready to receive his mother, then things changed and she was lost to them.  The constant repeating through out the series of Harry inheriting his father's good nature.. Malcolm's good heart, this is what sets Harry apart from the other star born we've met.  Margaret wasn't going to leave Lord Raith, she was bad news, she had done plenty of evil, we have Luccio's word on that,  then she changed, she redeemed herself..  What is the one thing that check mates the White Court?  Love.. Margaret met and fell in love with Malcolm, true love.. It gave her the courage to leave Lord Raith, and I bet when it is all sorted out, love is the magic ingredient that Margaret put into her death curse that thwarts Lord Raith's Hunger Demon, and that his Outsider protection cannot combat, so Lord Raith lives on even as he starves..

Malcolm seems to warm & loving.  Winterfae aren't.

But Eb met him, and iirc testifies as to both his goodness and his being pure-Mundane.

I agree, I don't think that Malcolm had anything to do with the Winter Court.  It is my belief that Margaret met Malcolm, fell in love and left Lord Raith.  Not clear if she decided to conceive a star born with Malcolm and was pregnant before she left Lord Raith or after she left them.  One thing for sure, just the act of leaving him was a death sentence sooner or later.  I do believe however she was with child when she made a bargain with Mab and Lea for the protection of her child.  I don't think she would have done so otherwise.

If Mab is a "master-manipulator," Uriel has the strands of fate at his fingertips.
 

The interesting bit is what Chauncy told Harry way back in Full Moon, that his boss and company were ready to receive Margaret with open arms.. She was one of theirs, bad news, then something changed and she escaped their grasp.  That something was Malcolm, does a thing like meeting the right man at exactly the right time just happen by accident?

I haven't been following the ins and outs, the nuances, of this conversation but has anyone made the point that Maggie Sr. may have made a Rumpelstiltskin-like bargain with Lea/Mab?  Maybe Maggie Sr., knowing of the WC's involvement with the Outsiders and what their end-game was, bargained for help escaping and being protect from the White Court in exchange for help becoming impregnated and birthing Harry as a Starborn?  And maybe Maggie Sr.'s seemingly quick and short marriage to Harry's dad was all part of the bargain/plan?  And maybe the mother's death - and maybe the father's - is part and parcel of birthing a Starborn?  So maybe Harry has to come with grips with though loved by his parents, their union was more mercenary and wasn't 'just a girl standing in front of a boy, asking him to love her,' that he was intentionally created for a pre-planned purpose via a Maggie Sr./Mab scheme?  A lot of maybes but I think Jim wants something potentially soul crushing that Harry has to deal with and find some measure of peace with.

Somehow I don't think so if Malcolm was as good a man as everyone says he was.  I think I remember Harry talking about a photo that he had and lost in the fire of his mother pregnant with him and his father and how happy they looked.  If there were a lot of twists and turns I think it would all be on Winter's part.

Woah  .... um . Lea as the godmother is the to ensure that Harry isn't a dud. Harry has to grow up able to defend himself from anything and Lea will make sure that he is able to hang with anyone.

Did she?  Giving young Harry a Dumbo feather so he'd have confidence to go against Justin isn't exactly making sure he could hang with anyone.  Actually we don't have that scene on page when Harry actually finds out he has a fairy godmother.  Lea took no hand in his training like she did in Molly's case.  Did she just pop up after Harry managed to kill HWWB?  From the flashback in Ghost Story this happens after he escapes from Justin and HWWB turns up when he is at a gas station.. Seems to me that the Winter Court stayed pretty much hands off until they were sure young Harry had some skills.. Which goes back to the theory that it was Lea or Mab who had Malcolm murdered, because they wanted to limit his influence on Harry..  Further made sure that Eb wouldn't be able to track him down once he went into the foster system at the age of six.. This last makes no sense to me, and Eb has yet to answer those questions..  We also have no idea what Justin had in mind when he adopted Harry and Elaine.

So as we have learned over and over again,  bargaining with the Fae can be tricky..  If Mab though Lea promised to watch over Harry, Lea did... Lea checked in when he was in the orphanage as this nice lady who was interested.. That isn't preparing Harry for anything, Lea didn't do anything when Justin adopted him, guess trusting that Justin would give him a good basic wizard education, but no clue of or what Justin's agenda was... The long and the short?  From Mab's point of view, and thus Lea as well, Harry was watched over, so they kept up their end of the bargain, nothing was said about training, saving, guiding... If Harry turned out to be a dud, they still kept up their end of the bargain, they watched over him..  Since Harry wasn't, Lea steps in with a Dumbo feather after he defeats HWWB..  The Dumbo feather helped Harry with his confidence, but more importantly Lea made young inexperienced Harry commit to a bargain for that feather.  That bargain would chain him to the Winter Court until such a time when Mab would be ready take the bargain over from Lea and begin to pressure Harry into being her Winter Knight... Long term plan?? You bet, Harry had been roped into eventually becoming Mab's Knight since before he was born.. That's why I think he really gets pissed when he finds out the real details of the bargain his mother made with Lea and thus Mab.

[quoteThe only problem I see with some of these theories is that according to the author (see WOJ below), Maggie Sr was in a rush when she made her deal with Lea. I agree that she had to know that as soon as she left Lord Raith that she was on a ticking clock. Her deal with Lea being a rush deal is at odds with taking the time to plan everything out like intentionally having a Starborn child and seeing to his welfare after her death.
WOJ:quote]

White Night page 363 Lash to Harry

"It isrelevant," Lasciel said, "because of the circumstances of your birth--because of whyyou were born, Harry.  Your mother found the strength to escape Lord Raith for a reason.

Then further down on the page Lash goes deeper into the complexities on conceiving a star child... So based on this Harry's birth was planned.

Additionally, I don't think Maggie Sr could have made a bargain with Mab for Harry to be her knight. Number 1, being the knight is a choice. Mab could not guarantee that Harry would become knight because Harry may not have chosen to be the white knight. If he resists her by saying no than that would be a bargain unfulfilled which may have repercussions for Mab.

If you read the interaction between Harry and Mab from Summer Knight until Changes, it becomes obvious that Mab has a huge thumb on the scale and is fairly confident that Harry would end up as her Knight.  Mab always plays the long game, she is also good at moving the goal posts when she needs to..  She did this often in Harry's case, he'd think he fulfilled on of the conditions for the bargain that he had made, only to find not so much..

A star born Winter Knight who was also a wizard more than balances out any deal Margaret made with Mab.. You are forgetting Margaret knew exactly why she conceived Harry, as did Mab.. Keeping her child alive and safe from Lord Raith would have been enough for a mother, getting a future Knight worth having would be enough for Mab.. Making Lea godmother was a bit of a deception.. Yes, Mab knew exactly what she wanted in a Knight, and was willing to wait until the child grew up.. If Harry was a dud, since Lea was the godmother,  Mab loses nothing, she wasn't involved.. Once Harry began to show promise, and Mab needs to test him herself, she decides to take over his contract with Lea?  Really?  Or was it always planned thus?  I think this is why when he finds out the details Harry is pissed, because he really never had a choice.

I have a crazy theory that Margie Sr knew she was going to die, sooner or later. So the theory that the spell was hanging over her makes sense to me. So her deal to protect harry could have included her surviving to raise her.Considering the la fey nickname she could have made a better deal than the one she made. But i think for some reason she knew she wasn't the right person to raise Harry. Or she knew that Her enemies not just lord raith would not rest until she was dead. So she decided her death was best for Harry.

On the other hand, its selfish of her to give birth to harry at all

Actually I think you are pretty close to the truth.  I think Margaret knew she was a dead woman walking the moment she left Lord Raith.  I think she did plan on birthing a star baby after she met Malcolm, and planned out how to keep it safe with Mab and Lea.. I think what is going to really piss Harry off is the bargain Margaret made with Mab, i.e. that the child would grow up to be Mab's knight among other things.

No, I don't think it was selfish for Margaret to give birth to Harry, she didn't do it for herself.