Why can't he say that?

Why can't Harry tell them that the only reason he touched the coin was to selflessly protect an innocent child of only few years? Something that he can prove with an eyewitness account from Michael, a trustworthy knight of the cross and someone that has done great service to the Council before.

Why can't Harry tell them that he buried the coin as soon as he got it and that he has never used it, something that can once again be verified by simply checking his person and confirming that he does not have the coin. Or checking that the coin is in his lab.

As for his use of Hellfire&other abilities from Lash. He has used them primarily in the service of the White Council, to fight vampires and to protect the Council's members. I mean the whole reason he was captured because he tried to use Lash to save two young Wardens.

The point I am trying to make that Harry can make his actions seem good and noble. He might not be able to convince Merlin, but he damn well would be able to convince Ebenezar and probably Morgan and the others too. We know from book 8 that in cases that involve the death penalty, the senior council members present must all vote. Ebenezar was there, and for him to be in character, he should have demanded that Harry get a chance to defend himself.

This is whats bugging me. I would have no trouble with Merlin demanding Harry's death even after hearing his full story. The Merlin has been shown to be rather evil afterall. But Morgan,Ramirez,Luccio and Ebenezar should have all been on Harry's side after learning the truth(And before too since he has earned their trust).

There must have been other wizards in history who have had only the shadow in them and who have resisted it or abandoned their magic to get rid of it. Just having the shadow in your head is no proof of use of dark magic. Again, the Merlin might not have seen the distinction but others in the council such as Morgan and Ebenezar should have.

 

I will never underestimate the White councils ability to disregard human life in the hopes of crushing all Dark Magic.

I think the White council would kill Harry Dresden, even if they knew the truth because it would be safer than having a potentially strong Denarian.

Great chapter.

By the way.. is For Want Of A Wand abandoned?

 

Datakim seems to have the most counterpoints, so I'll respond primarily to him, and pick up other points along the way.'

I assure you things are not all they seem within the White Council. What is clear however, is that Harry is under the Doom, which is like going to bat with two strikes anyway. The wardens have been all but wiped out - everyone recognizes a traitor is in their midsts. Enter Harry, who has a very shady past, is currently under the Doom, and has the sigil of a fallen angel on his hand.

He might very well try and explain it, but if he was truly 'innocent', I expect the council would have expected him to speak up long before the sword was quite literally at his neck. Also, both the Denarians and Knights later say that noone has ever destroyed the shadow, even if they haven't picked up a coin. And nobody has ever resisted Lasciel. Granted, this is in SF, and so Harry hasn't been told this yet, but it's safe to assume that those in the know on the council will think this. Also, bringing Michael to testify...he's kinda a biased witness, ain't he, given it's his daughter and best friend on trial.

Your points about Morgan, and even my eagerness to move forward, I'll accept without debate and just say that while I still think what I've got works, I'll make a conscious effort in the future to slow things down when necessary, and to work on Mogan's character development, to prevent him from becoming a characature. Danke.

Philly, Harry knows he isn't the best wizard. He has however, suddenly thrown Morgan across a factory, has hellfire running through his veins, and suddenly he feels that his reflexes have just been boosted times a thousand. It's kinda like when he took the energy potion in Fool Moon - what he may actually be is very different that how he suddenly feels. Unless...I suppose I could make him the Roger Clemens of Wizards? The setting seems appropriate...

 

Dresden did steroids to develop his magic? No wonder he has so much power at his disposal. I wonder if the Council would have a problem with that. After all, they are illegal performance enchancing drugs.

At least you have the part where they like girls just a bit younger than them right..

 

The trouble with that is that Ebenezar was there. Ebenezar not only knows that Harry could not have been the traitor, but Harry is also his apprentice and as such they have a close relationship. Ebenezar is also the "leader" of the 3 senior council members who generally oppose Merlin. There is absolutely no way the Ebenezar as he is shown in the books would just sit there quietly, watching Merlin sentence Harry to death with no trial. Even someone under the Doom would have a chance to defend himself according to the books.

Except that this is easily explained by Harry's distrust of the council and the wardens. Ebenezar atleast would understand that Harry would have trouble approaching the council after the way he has been treated by them. Ramirez and Luccio would too. How did the council learn about Dresdens denarianness anyway?

Well the shadow can be destroyed by giving up magic. Apparently magic somehow sustains the shadow and giving it up would "starve" it to death. And while Harry has obviously not given up magic, the fact that there is one way means that there might be others. Also, Harry is not struggling against Lasciel, he is struggling against the shadow who is far weaker. Harry himself admits that he could not resist temptation by the real Lasciel.

Michael is also the one that saved all those council wardens from outsiders in book 8. That has gained him some respect at the very least. Knights also seem to have this trustworthy thing going for them, in book 10 the archive accepted Michaels word about Harry's worthiness for instance, implying that the word of the knights is worth much.

Yeh. Morgan should be far less insane here. Remember that in book 10 for instance, Morgan was one of the few wardens who volunteered to help Harry. I think Harrys struggle against the Kemmlerites, the way he has worked as a warden and his defence of Molly have shown Morgan that Harry is a good person. It was also implied that Morgan lost a bit of faith in Merlin when he sentenced Molly to death simply to spite Dresden. The way he behaves here is simply out of character for him the way he is in book 9.

 

How can Ebenezar know that Harry is not a Denarian? There is absolutely no way he could tell that Harry is not possessed by the actual Fallen, but her mere Shadow.

Besides, Dresden went rather psycho in front of witnesses, and he has also displayed uncharacteristic linguistic prowess.

And of course, people must have smelled the brimstone that always accompanies Hellfire.

They could have killed Harry when they captured him, but instead they gave him a trial. Oh, and he had a chance to speak, even if they were already pretty determined to execute him.

Are you seriously saying that the Council would believe that someone would actually condemn his own daughter and one of his friends to death by speaking against them, even if they were guilty?

While Morgan has become less rabid as the series progressed, I doubt his character has changed any. He has suddenly seen irrevocable (to him) proof that Dresden is a Dark wizard, meaning that he had been right from the start. Even worse, the Denarian had actually convinced him for a moment that he wasn't black magic wielding scum. It makes sense that he is pretty pissed out.


Anyway, nice work Vlad! I hope this is going to be Harry/Molly (no, not HP/MW, you sickos).

 

No way, other than to ask Harry to explain ofcourse, to give him a chance to defend himself. Which he did not. Which is what bugs me. Instead he just sat there quietly which was totally unlike the Ebenezar in the books. Personally, I think it would have been better if Merlin had been the only council member present. That way he would possess all the other 6 votes and could act the way he did here with impunity.

That was no trial, no one asked him to explain or justify himself or to give him a real chance say anything in his defense. Sure he could have started screaming "I am innocent". But it was clear that he had already been convicted before he even arrived.

I could see Merlin being that way but not Ebenezar. I mean they have a sort of mentor/student relationship, he might even see Harry as a sort of surrogate son, and for him to not even give Harry a proper chance is just utterly bizarre.

Hmm. Good point, for a moment there I forgot that Molly was in danger aswell. Though even then Harry can still prove that he does not actually have the coin, which would certainly suggest that he did not touch it deliberately in hopes of power.

Maybe. It was not said how the council knew Harry was a denarian, they just seemed to know. Hopefully Vlad has a proper explanation for that. They did want to see the sigil though, which implies that they were not 100% clear. Which means Morgan should have been less certain of Harrys guilt before he saw solid proof. I mean he had been convinced of Harrys evil and guilt several times before and always been wrong before. Boy who cried wolf and all that.

 

The problem with being the author of course, is that you know where you want things to go, long before your readership gets an idea.

Datakim, you bring up a number of good points, and I won't counter them with 'well, zomg you don't know what's going to happen!' What I will say though, is there are a number of hints in the text - some obvious, some not so much, that should, when the time comes, show that I did have some idea of how things are going to go, and the story will (it damn well better) connect up logically.

I always have believed the fundamental flaw with this way of writing is that the reader is unable to continue the story - they are forced to wait and sit until the next installment comes out. While this allows for a level of feedback that is most certainly appreciated, it's not without its flaws.

One thing I'm learning as I go along is the difficulty of writing with only the first person perspective. Everything I write and you read, has to come solely from Harry's point of view. Thus, even when he is wrong, mislead, or simply confused - the reader must share these feelings. It's a challenge, I tell ya.

Anyway, I appreciate the lengthy reviews and debate - without stroking my own ego, it's nice to see.

Danke.

 

Heheh. Very well, I shall take your word for it and believe that you will eventually explain Ebenezars odd behaviour and everything else.

 

-__-

You've ignored all of my advice.

Stay out of my #Dresden. <_<

 

Oz, you have to remember this is Vash we're dealing with. Unless every possible thing that he ponders becomes canon, you might as well do nothing. Ungrateful jerk.

Seriously though, I suppose this is where I do owe thanks to Vash for assistance on keeping Lash in character, as well as challenging a number of past and future plotholes, and Oz for...whatever it was he suggested .

Thanks.

 

... What, precisely, is that supposed to mean?! D:

But you are welcome for the help. /Vash HATES character assassination. :|

 

Good shit. A few typo's, which I'm far too lazy to correct, and a couple minor grammar issues, but nothing all that frustrating. The characterization in this chapter was great; Bob acted like the smut-addicted air spirit I know and love, Molly was timid, but when necessary could do what she needed to. Dresden was badass. It seems like he's slowly developing into a slightly more ruthless person, which makes sense considering he has the shadow of a fallen angel inside him, and... hmm... odd, I really don't have anything more to say. Anyway, great chapter, great overall fic.

5/5

 

Shouldn't he have taken the coin with him. Not to have taken it up as a Knight of the Order, but just...not left it behind...

Otherwise, very good so far. 5/5

 

Nice chapter.

I wonder why Molly shows no concern about Harry? I mean she was there right? So she knows that Harry has a sigil of a fallen angel on his hand, and she knows how dangerous and manipulative fallen/Denarians are. Maybe you should have her show some concern/fear of Harry. I mean Molly does not know at this point that Harry does not have the coin, nor that his exposure happened the way it did. For all she knows, the Council might be right and Harry might be just a pawn of the fallen at this point. We know thats not the case but she does not.

I also have few problems about Fix. He seemed slightly off-character here. I mean he was far too shy and insecure for book9 Fix. There are several places in the books where its made clear that after becoming a Summer Knight, Fix gains a lot of confidence and courage. Like when Harry calls him when he is in bed with some woman and has no shame/embarassment about that. Or when he talks to Harry as equal with no fear of the "wizard". Something that even Harry notices. Yet here you have him be all blushing at one remark. Not to mention all the "uh-ing". It all just felt off.

Also, I do wonder what happened to Mouse btw? We know that Harry cares deeply for his dog so the fact that there was no mention of Mouse was a bit odd. Surely Harry should be worried about what happened to him?

And finally, what about Thomas? Why is it that Harry has no thoughts about warning his brother about what happened. I mean Harry vanished just when he was supposed to meet Thomas's sister. It would make sense for Thomas to learn about it and go to Harry's apartment to find out whats what. Meeting with the wardens there could be very bad for Thomas, something that Harry should know.

 

I've just finished reading the third chapter. Wow.

Dresden's urgency in packing up his few belingings and getting the hell out of there came across well. I was even reading the text hurriedly in some kind of sympathy with Dresden's flight.

 

I like it!

Molly was blindfolded and she's probably still in shock. Besides, she likes/loves/whatever Dresden and probably wouldn't believe that he is a Denarian without seeing the coin.

 

It may be a small thing, but what happened to Mouse?