Mortal Government Knowledge of Magic

[Kindler]

But yes, assuming Harry had an appropriate spell, he could walk in, play some slots, cast his spell to win a multi-million dollar jackpot, and walk away rich. It is his moral code that stops him from doing that. Even if the casino caught him on tape chanting a spell, they would just think he is some crazy person that coincidentally got lucky.

He could probably even go do it at a couple more casinos. They report large winnings, so that would probably trigger an investigation by the gaming commission and an IRS audit, but again, if all they found was a crazy guy who thinks he cast a magic spell, he would get away with it.

I don't know about you guys, but I smell a short story here. A young Harry, shortly after trying to rob a convenience store and before the Council hunted him down, tries to beat a casino's odds so he can use the money to go into hiding. Casino security catches on, and one of the higher ups, who knows about the supernatural, reaches out to the White Council, which is how they tracked him down for his trial.

I'd read it.

[Zaphodess]

There are too many witnesses for the level of deception you guys want to pull off here. The government cant wave a magic wand and turn off people brains. Too many people know for certain this wasnt a cartel. Not to mention its going to take all of about 5 seconds for someone to put together the problem that is: where is the evidence of the cartels arrival? Where are the bodies? Where are all the cartel weapons? I mean we can sit here an list these problems all day.

The problem you have here is that given how many data points there are that would be impossible to hide, no cover story about a cartel is going to last more than 90 seconds. You are never going to convince all, or even a majority, of the agents involved to keep their mouths shut. And the cover story is going to fall apart under media scrutiny.

And again, Im not saying that this means suddenly everyone believes in Vampires. Just that at the very least they know some new violent species of animal was on the loose.

It's possible imo that the FBI incident was so huge, that the Blackstaff was actually allowed to use his power to make people forget certain things. Or the Fae intervened, who don't bother about the Laws at all. What the Reds did there, was described several times as the equivalent of starting an atomic war in the supernatural world. Nobody wants the normals to really take note of them (again).

[kazimmoinuddin]

We know Marcone and the raiths have high level mortal connections, it makes me wonder if those in the know might have similar connections. It would make sense that if supernatural factions have links to the mortal power structure, that the mortal faction aware of the supernatural would have their own connections to the supernatural, even if they have obscured them and themselves.

[LordDresden2]

It's possible imo that the FBI incident was so huge, that the Blackstaff was actually allowed to use his power to make people forget certain things.

It's the sort of thing the Blackstaff can do...but I don't know that he could do it on a scale of hundreds at once.  But why bother?  Things are already confused enough that they probably don't need to do anything at all.

[LordDresden2]

And again, Im not saying that this means suddenly everyone believes in Vampires. Just that at the very least they know some new violent species of animal was on the loose.

No, they know that somebody said they saw some kind of new creature on the loose.  They also hear somebody explaining why the previous witness was mistaken.  How do they know who to believe?  Did any Rampires actually appear on live TV?  If so, how many?  How clear were the images?  And of course TV images are notoriously falsifiable...

All people really know after the incident is that something happened.

[LordDresden2]

We know Marcone and the raiths have high level mortal connections, it makes me wonder if those in the know might have similar connections. It would make sense that if supernatural factions have links to the mortal power structure, that the mortal faction aware of the supernatural would have their own connections to the supernatural, even if they have obscured them and themselves.

Oh, that's a good bet.  The Council and the Librarians, for ex (if that's what the Librarians are) might not be officially aware of each other, but that doesn't mean that individual Librarians and individual Wizards don't interact.

[Rasins]

I don't know about you guys, but I smell a short story here. A young Harry, shortly after trying to rob a convenience store and before the Council hunted him down, tries to beat a casino's odds so he can use the money to go into hiding. Casino security catches on, and one of the higher ups, who knows about the supernatural, reaches out to the White Council, which is how they tracked him down for his trial.

I'd read it.

I like it, with one objection.

The Merphyonic field.

[Quantus]

I like it, with one objection.

The Merphyonic field.

If he found his way to an older casino it's possible there might be mechanical slots around?

[LordDresden2]

If he found his way to an older casino it's possible there might be mechanical slots around?

Well, Harry was 16, which means it would have been happening circa ~1986 or so, give or take.  When did the electronic slots start displacing the traditional ones in a big way?

(I can remember as a kid that if you saw slot machines on TV, it was always the mechanical ones, back in the 70s.)

[Quantus]

Well, Harry was 16, which means it would have been happening circa ~1986 or so, give or take.  When did the electronic slots start displacing the traditional ones in a big way?

(I can remember as a kid that if you saw slot machines on TV, it was always the mechanical ones, back in the 70s.)

I remembered seeing mechanical ones on TV throughout the 90's.  Never went to casinos in those days (or these days, really) so I dont know when they actually started getting phased out, but I'd think the mechanical ones would have been the more trusted than digital for a good while after the tech was available. 

[Rasins]

I could see him doing the Roulette thing or the craps thing sooner than a slot machine.  Maybe even a Lotto/bingo.