I would contend that Lara sees Harry as a trusted enemy not ally. Someone you know can turn on you, but you also can trust them to act a certain way. In Harry's case, he is a know white knight that has a strong moral compass. Lara knows what strings she can pull to get a certain response out of Harry. It will be interesting to see how this might change in Twelve Months.

Yes.  I like the 'pet tiger' analogy, it really fits in many ways.  Every now and then you hear about a tragedy where somebody who thought they had tamed a wild predator finds out the hard way that it's still what it is.  As the late Rush Limbaugh was fond of saying, "A snake is always a snake, a tiger is always a tiger."  Even when the wild animal is safe enough around its owner, it can be dangerous to others, such as that case a few years ago where a pet chimp tore a visitor's face apart.  Plus those incidents where a pet python gets out of its container...

Now since Thomas is also a human being, his sapient mind can restrain the animalistic predator...as long as it doesn't get too hungry.  But once it crosses that line, it can override the human and go hunting, and any human available is prey.

En and Bob have both warned Harry about this, but it's not a message he wants to hear.

Uriel can't mess with free will..  He can perhaps bring two people to the dance floor, but he cannot make them dance with one another..

I don't think he knew where she was; if he had, he'd likely have killed her more-directly, and sooner.

I've got a theory that the curse that killed her had been lurking for a while:

Margaret made a deal (with the Leanansidhe) for the protection of her baby.  She died the moment Harry was born... "just like magic."

Harry inside Margaret, before birth, means Margaret herself was also protected; but the instant his life was no longer tied to her (I presume cutting the umbilicus) Lea's protections upon Harry no longer protected Margaret, and the entropy-curse killed her.

Which, in turn, implies that the curse was just lurking, waiting until the protective Veil was lifted (not cast then to kill then).

Though of course it's also possible that Lea had previously let Raith know that Margaret had an impenetrable protection, but that it would be ending "soon," and that she explicitly tattled to Raith when it did; far better for her twisted Faerie Godmother Complex to get rid of the parent(s)!

I'm pretty certain Lea was involved in either Margaret's death, or Malcolm's, or both.

I kind of remember that also from the book, however I find it odd that he wasn't aware that Margaret was about to give birth or had just given birth when he killed her.  Also it is strange that he wouldn't have kept track of that baby for fear of revenge someday.  Also since he managed to murder the male siblings of Thomas and it seems no secret that he did, why would Raith worry if he got blamed or not?  After all if he got his power to feed back it would all have been worth it.

I kind of remember that also from the book, however I find it odd that he wasn't aware that Margaret was about to give birth or had just given birth when he killed her.  Also it is strange that he wouldn't have kept track of that baby for fear of revenge someday.  Also since he managed to murder the male siblings of Thomas and it seems no secret that he did, why would Raith worry if he got blamed or not?  After all if he got his power to feed back it would all have been worth it.

Thank you for all the quotes you provided here!And yet, none of those quotes (nor anything else I recall Ebenezer ever addressing directly) actually states that the bodyswap made Luccio more susceptible to the influence of the inks, and to Peabody's magic.

We infer it, from the 1-2-punch of Morgan telling us of Luccio's guilt and from Ebenezer says.

So, here's some other thoughts; alternative hypotheses.

#1 - Ebenezer is just wrong.  We know that the Council has largely forbidden the exploration of mind-magic, but Peabody & his ilk clearly have not.  Corpsetaker had remarked on how out-of-date Harry's training was, and I think we should take it for granted that Eb gave the best mental-defense training that he could, to his grandson.  But what if Black Council researchers had found ways to bend even Senior-Council level minds, without breaking them?

#2 - Luccio is Black Council.  This is a dark theory, but -- what if Luccio killed LaFortier not because of Peabody's mind-control, but because she's a full-on BC agent?  What if "Peabody made me do it" is just her cover-story?  Consider this:  of all the people in Edinburgh who could have discovered her... who's the one person who would cover for her, take the fall, but also have the skills & power to escape the WC, and the initiative to loop-in Dresden?  How "convenient" for her, that that one person was the one who found her there with the bloody dagger.

#3 - An overt, brutal, full-control takeover may not be possible, or may be prohibitive.  But repeated nudges, year after year?  That exactly what sets habits and patterns in place, which can become self-sustaining:  "You are what you do."  Small incremental changes, that are let to sit and "naturalize" in place... which in turn can form a new baseline, from which you make further incremental changes, set new habits and patterns.

And it's not like the Council was a bastion of loving-kindness, trust, and openness; there were innumerable doubts and grudges and suspicions to exploit, bad inclinations that pre-existed, that didn't so much need a "nudge" to be go badly, as just gently suppressing the inhibitions that might have stopped that bad decision.

How many years was Peabody inking the Council?

To answer the question of

Quote from: Talby16 on May 25, 2025, 03:44:03 AM

To answer the question of if Thomas can be separated from the Hunger Demon we have to understand what the Demon is. To my knowledge the author has never full stated what it is or how it develops (other than it lies dormant until the first sexual encounter). Is it some form  To my knowledge the author has never full stated what it is or how it develops (other than it lies dormant until the first sexual encounter). Is it some form of spirit? Is it part of the mind? Is it some part of Thomas' actual physical form? I think its nature would determine if/how it can be removed.
Also also, the demon or parasite is part of Thomas. Im not sure you can remove it and the character that remains would still be thomas. Its part of everything he does one way or another. Does the demon have any influence on his thought proces. Or is it just constantly there in the background. Is like Lash or is it a part of Thomas's mind. Where is the line between thomas and the demln

Is he even mentioned?  A couple of points, Carlos is a team player for the most part unlike Harry, in other words he'd spend more time at headquarters, signing orders and exposed to Peabody ink. Carlos in spite of his position is one of the younger wizards, more vulnerable to it's effects.  Did anyone bother to see if Carlos was affected by the ink?  If not rehabbed is the effect of the ink long lasting, and his ill fated sexual encounter with Molly just cemented his paranoia and feelings against Harry.

Yeah.....But this is a bit different, this is the police captain banging one of her academy cadets..  A cadet with a questionable past in the middle of a murder investigation, that should pop up a few red flags here and there.. Which actually gets to the heart of what I am talking about, the effect of the Peabody's ink's nudges on the senior members of the Council.  Did those nudges blind them to those red flags?  Which actually fits nicely with why Peabody had no problem pushing Luccio towards Harry, which normally the Senior Council would notice and object to, this time was passed off under the influence as, as you say an affair between to consenting adults, makes the Captain happy so who cares?

And a good idea, and very possible.. However perhaps too simplistic on the face, but on the other hand the simplest explanation is usually the correct one.  Or if you buy that Peabody was merely someone else's cat's paw, that person or creature was on the island with him.