I AM COWL!!!!!

Disincentivizing  authors, especially ones who are behind schedule, know it, hate it, and can do nothing about it... yeah, that will get books faster.

Right... punish them for having lives and being human.  That'll make them write faster and better books.   

TCF,

Perhaps.  I will be curious to see how Mr. Butcher writes that if he takes that road.

TCF,

That makes them too much like us.  It's not that they don't love, it's that love means something very different for them than it does for us.

Elegast,

Do we have the exact wording of the contract between Lea and Maggie?

And besides Mab can do anything she wants if she feels it's her interest. Only lying, taking/giving gift and breaking oath are impossible. And honestly, deciding to save Harry was an easy call: minimal effort, great probability that he would be become WK.

Maybe, but it avoids the wonderful possiblities for torturing Harry with the ability to "fix" things.  I think he's got to face his mistakes, again.  Time travel gives Mr. Butcher the ability to tempt Harry with fixing those mistakes.

This is the best thread concerning the "Time-traveling Harry fixed Little Chicago" theory. Great summary by Knnn in this answer. The [main] alternative explanation, Mab fixed it, is presented in those threads: The Answer(hopefully) to Who Fixed Little Chicago (FULL SPOILERS) and Mab, Little Chicago, and Demon Reach.
-Elegast

Ms. Duck,

Dear SerScot
   Let me make a suggestion. You cannot logically prove ‘Harry is a time traveler’ but disproving ‘Mab fixed it.’ Any more than you can prove ‘there is a silver teapot in solar orbit’ by disproving ‘the existence of invisible pink unicorns.’ The two are separate, standalone ideas, and you can only prove an idea by coming up with evidence for it and testing it.

Let me restate what I've said as my rational:

Ms. Duck.

I'm applying Occam's razor.  Harry fixing Little Chicago is the simpler explaination.  Here's why I believe that it is simpler: Mr. Butcher says Harry will break all of the laws of magic.  There is speculation (Bob, Harry, and the Gatekeeper) about time travel at the start of PG.  Harry knows about the flaw in little Chicago and has the highest motivation foe seeing it repaired (he doesn't want to die).  Further, Harry has the highest chance of getting into thw apartment and fixing the problem without being noticed by anyone because it is his apartment.  He knows the wards, he has a key, and no one would be surprised to see him enter or leave.

I sincerely believe it was Harry.  Were others (perhaps Mab) involved giving rise to the "evidence" you could cite?  Perhaps.  But as other's have pointed out faries never do favors without favors in return.  Harry was already in Mab's debt.  She, based on Harry's conversation with Lea in GS, can't help Harry withou Harry incurring greater debt.  To our knowledge that hasn't happened.

Harry fixed Little Chicago, not Mab.

I said this in response to the assertion that Mab was simply defending her property, Harry:

Elegast,

Lea's charge is to defend Harry from spiritual attack, in other words, attacks from the Never-never.  Little Chicago is a manifestation of mortal magic in the real world.  It doesn't fall under what Maggie Sr. Paid for and any new action would have incurred new debt for Harry.  Therefore, I believe my crticism of the Mab theory stands.

My response to TCF regarding his question about the information she provided that helped harry beat the Kemmlerites:

TCF,

If that's the case why didn't Mab take out the heirs of Kemmler?  Why not take direct action as the Mab theory proponents suggest she did with Little Chicago?

Here's my response to TCF and Paladino:

TCF,

Harry Could have survived Little Chicago too.  Perhaps he would have seen the flaw and refrained from using it, or seen the flaw and fixed it before using it?  There were no guarantee's with Kemmelerites either.

Paladino,

Harry already knows that someone fixed Little Chicago.  Once he gets the opportunity to time travel perhaps he puts two and two together and heads over to his place?

Regarding Ms. Duck's contention that Harry, if Time Traveling will never let the two kids die at Splattercon!!!:

Ms. Duck,

Here's the thing with the two kids.  Pre Changes, Ghost Story I'd agree that Harry would never let those two kids die if he could stop it.  What if, Harry discovers later than there was some important reason those two kids die or that if he prevents their deaths something else even worse would happen.  C and GS were Harry learning and then seeing what Blowback is.  They are forcing him to start looking longer term at the consequences of his actions, no matter how good intended they are. 

[Spoilers for Anathem ]

(click to show/hide)

At the end of the Book Erasmus asks Fraa Lodeger if there is any way Orolo could be brought back after learning of the Polycosmic time bending and world track crossing powers of the Incantors and Rhetors.  Then Erasmus answers his own question, the peace that was being signed was incompatable with his friend and Mentor being alive.  It could be done but the cost was too high despite Orolo's death.

At the end of the Book Erasmus asks Fraa Lodeger if there is any way Orolo could be brought back after learning of the Polycosmic time bending and world track crossing powers of the Incantors and Rhetors.  Then Erasmus answers his own question, the peace that was being signed was incompatable with his friend and Mentor being alive.  It could be done but the cost was too high despite Orolo's death.
  Perhaps the situation at Splattercon!!! is similar.  Harry will want those kids to be alive but recognize that, for some reason we don't know yet, if they are alive things will be much, much worse for everyone else. 

I think that is a big theme for the Dresden Files as a whole.  That you can't save everyone.  That hard choices are part of life and they cannot be avoided without great cost.

I'm not claiming to have hard evidence that this is what will happen.  I'm suggesting it makes the most sense.  The story is about Harry and his growth as a Wizard and a Human being.  It is character driven.  Having Mab show up "dues ex machina" and fix Little Chicago does very little to drive Harry's character.  Having Harry travel back in time and make very hard choices is in keeping with the overall themes of the Dresden Files.

That's my two cents.

Anywhere in South Carolina.  I'd love to meet another one of my favorite authors.