In Dead Beat, the ghoul was right there... it probably could have taken him out before he had time to form a circle, but even if he got it up, I think they're physical-enough to just walk right through a Circle and mess him up with claws & teeth.

Harry has *never* (that I recall) tried a Circle against ghouls (presumably because it wouldn't work).

But I think that the magic of Capiorcorpus would be blocked by a magic-circle; I just don't think DB ever offered circumstances where Harry could usefully try it.

FWIW, a circle certainly blocked the whammy from the Mind Fog in Summer Knight.

Precisely.  A circle might not offer much protection and in combat might be penetrated quickly by physical means.  However, with mind magic, as we have seen… seconds matter.

[quote author=g33k link=topic=54909.msg2359217#msg2359217 date=1689273637]
Dresden magic-rules are whatever Jim Butcher says they are, obviously.
I'm pretty sure that blood/etc provides a link that a circle doesn't break -- it's part of you; so "part of you" is outside the circle!
[/quote]

Hold on… Corpsetaker didn’t have any of Harry’s blood in Dead Beat.  Malvora didn’t have any of Harry’s blood in White Knight.  How could Harry’s blood matter?

Several times in the series Harry gets the “mind magic… mental whammy” attempted against him.  It’s magic… so… wouldn’t a quick magic circle be a nice quick block to such efforts?

I am very curious to hear from Rashid after Harry’s expulsion from the White Council.  Would he have been involved in the “emergency Senior Council” meeting?  Or was that only The Merlin, Mai, Christos, and Martha Liberty?  He had offered to get Harry “reinstated” after his recesitation from his coma.  He told Harry at the Outer Gates to “if you want to help me keep doing what you are doing”.  I’m very interested in what Rashid will have to say about all of this.  Including what the “Stars and Stones” actually are.

Several times Mab has said things like “finally a knight worth the trouble” when Harry defies her.  If his defiance and strength are so useful to her why would she want him to simply succumb to the beastial urges of the Winter Mantle as Harry keeps implying or saying in the books since he has become the Winter Knight?

I'm fairly sure that Thomas knew that Eb was his grandfather as of Changes. Harry explains the Bloodline curse to him in detail and I think it comes up. Would have to check the book to be certain though.

Just re read Changes a couple of weeks ago.  Harry never mentions Eb in the discussion of the Bloodline curse.

I have to believe Thomas knows who his mother was. And that papa Raith and Lara know too.

We know Thomas knows his Mother.  Unlike Harry he has living memories of Maggie Sr.  Does Thomas know who his Grandfather is?  That’s a different question.

I'm still WAG'ing that there's some hope Ramirez still trusts Harry, has the POV that Harry is doing a deep-cover penetration of the Bad Guys to root out the White Council corruption & traitor(s).  Carlos is just going through the motions, paying lip-service to the "Harry Dresden is an incipient warlock... or worse!" party line amongst the more narrow-minded & reactionary (or just frightened) of the White Council.

I'm going back to White Night, where (in the Raith Deeps) he says:
But then in the final chapter -- which is a series of "wrap-things-up" vignettes, of which Carlos' is the 4th -- they have their heart-to-heart, which includes:
So, we see here the deep-cover plot hatched between Harry & Carlos.  Carlos expects Harry to cut shady deals, to hang out with monsters, to alienate the White Council and get in tight with the Bad Guys(^tm).  And Carlos is doing his part, acting like he's losing faith in Harry; even taking steps to "push Harry away" and further demonstrate his "reactionary bona fides."  In short, Carlos is acting like he's becoming a Morgan-esque hardcase.  On his side, he's hoping that the "Bad Guys" will slip up, and he'll spot some clue(s) as to whose loyalties lay with the Black Council rather than the White.

And we see that Carlos knows Harry can be an idiot about these things.  So, while Carlos can't be 100% certain Harry hasn't actually gone Sith-mode, he has seen Harry go to the mat repeatedly... always in favor of humans, and the underdog... and always against the Bad Guys(tm).

Moreover, I suspect Carlos gives a fair bit of weight to the opinions of the Knights of the Cross, who are all friendly with Harry... and that speaks immensely to which side of a fight Harry's going to be on (also, I suspect, it means the Bad Guys will never really be willing to trust Harry, and he's not going to get deep into any of their councils).

I really hope you’re right.  But being brutalized by Molly… who Harry trained may really have screwed Ramirez up.