"Conjure by it at your own risk."

[Kindler]

I've been trawling through the collected Words of Jim for the past couple of days instead of doing the work I should be doing, and came across one that I don't see discussed often:

When Harry is battling Sharkface in the end, is that all in his head, or did everybody there hear?
And the answer to that is yes. It’s all going on in his head, and everybody there heard. Which, if you’ll remember the closing to book 1, because book 1 was written from the perspective of a guy who has already finished his story, um, all the books are really, they're him looking back, you get to the end book 1, and Harry says “My name is Harry Blackstone Copperfield Dresden, but conjure by it at your own risk” which, you know, there’s a reason for that. Figured I’d just throw that in there. Really, Harry’s one of those guys whose name is more dangerous to other people than it is to him, in a lot of ways, a lot of people would be vulnerable by doing that, he’s not. We’ll get to see that in the future.

Emphasis added.

Why would Harry's Name be more dangerous to someone else than it is to him? How would Harry's name make them vulnerable, but not him? Consider that, while the entity itself is dangerous, conjuring the Erlking (as far as I can tell, the most dangerous thing Harry has summoned thus far by Name; he guessed some of Mother Winter's names, but didn't have all of them) doesn't make Harry especially vulnerable.

I invite everyone to speculate wildly about what kind of powerup Harry is going to get by the end of the Big Apocalyptic Trilogy. Is he going to become a modern day god? Merge his consciousness with the cosmos? Become the personification of magic? Keep in mind that his name doesn't change.

[raidem]

Oh, if mother winter wanted to, Harry would have been quite vulnerable when he summoned her.  The text already showed some vulnerability because he unintentionally hurt her in doing so.

[Kindler]

Oh, if mother winter wanted to, Harry would have been quite vulnerable when he summoned her.  The text already showed some vulnerability because he unintentionally hurt her in doing so.

Granted, but did the use of her name make her vulnerable as well? Because Jim indicates that Harry's name doesn't make him vulnerable, but whoever uses it.

Still, I'll take it as true and assume that Mother Winter is the upper limit of Harry's powerup.

Could he become... Old Man Winter? 

[Mr. Death]

The way I figure it, any connection goes both ways.

Making yourself a link to Harry connects you to him, but it also connects him to you. Think back to when the Shadowman is watching him and Susan -- Harry's able to strike him through the spell, something the Shadowman didn't even know was possible.

Harry -- at least at the point where he's writing the books and looking back -- is too hot of a potato for most people to conjure by and summon safely.

Yes, Harry summoned the Erlking safely -- but that was with a specialized circle, and even then it took a significant act of will for him to survive the experience. Imagine if Harry's containment hadn't been perfect, or if he hadn't been able to resist the Erlking's temptation.

[jonas]

Look at what is actually contained within MW on a hindu level, what she is an amalgamation of in identities, all contained in the mask of MW. Now imagine Harry, as Harry, containing countless... Say from the popular theory of Dark Hallow on DR. You are what you eat but what you eat becomes a part of you, So all that energy, all those beings are identified under the original. They became Harry Blackstone Copperfield Dresden in truth. Now imagine calling directly upon such an amalgamous unstable being with literally thousands of forms ad the combined might and willpower of all of them while keeping that Mortal spark of choice....
You CAN'T contain it, you can't stop it. Conjure by it at your own risk...

[Rasins]

I always took that as, if you conjure Harry, you'll have to deal with him.  Probably an unhappy Harry at that.

[Mira]

  I think it is a hint at how powerful Harry will ultimately become..   Another hint was in Cold Days, the image Harry showed of himself in his head when he fought Sharkface on Demonreach..  He was not afraid to say who he was loudly and clearly, he was quite terrifying...

[DonBugen]

I always took that as, if you conjure Harry, you'll have to deal with him.  Probably an unhappy Harry at that.

I'll make sure to have a cold can of Coca-Cola and some Burger King ready as an offering next time.

[Con]

I think part of it is when you someone someone by their true name, you have to have the will to dominate them in order to require them to be summoned. That's why Mother Winter was offended and needed to test Harry to see if he had the will to fight against her will. Similarly Vadderung had to demoonstrate to Harry in Changes he didn't have the Will necessary to challenge the Lords of the Outer Night as was. Yet he was able to with the full power of Winter Behind him.

Harry has gotten to the point where he is able to defy his will against just about anybody and anything. Except possible Uriel and even thats coming close by his fear during Ghost Story at the nickname.

Naming someone requires power over them. Harry has will power a plenty. Starborn, Soulfire, Winter Knight, Warden. Shark Face had to repsond to Harry's challenge of will power and reveal his own name demonstrating that Harry won that battle of Wills.

[groinkick]

You know I wonder if it has to do with Harry being Warden, and you ending up on DR if you conjure his name.  Perhaps he shares a connection with Alfred that grants a layer of protection.

[Con]

You know I wonder if it has to do with Harry being Warden, and you ending up on DR if you conjure his name.  Perhaps he shares a connection with Alfred that grants a layer of protection.

I wouldn't doubt it's something similar to that effect. Certainly the Warden would need some sort of protection from evil primordial beings. Otherwise how would he be capable of capturing them and bringing them to Demonreach.

Plus Mab as the Queen Bee fighter of Outsiders, might give her key champion some protection against them.

Plus Soulfire from Uriel who is himself damn near close to a Primordial being.

Plus.. you know... STarborn. Definition of a magic user who can fight against Outsiders.

[Drikonn]

It also might be as simple as the danger of mentioning him. If you aggressively say you’re looking for him, there are a whole lot of people that will jump up to slap you around and if you mention you know him personally, you’re painting a huge target on your back. I also like the idea that eventually we’ll see someone claiming to be him because they haven’t heard he’s back from the dead, so someone will show up calling themselves Harry Dresden...to intimidate Dresden.

[Dina]

I don't think we will see that, but it would have been awesome 

I always took that as, if you conjure Harry, you'll have to deal with him.  Probably an unhappy Harry at that.

Me too, I tend to seek simple explanations.

[Con]

Me too, I tend to seek simple explanations.

But then we don't get to WAG!

[Dina]

  Ah yes, when the first year or so without a Dresden book has gone, my mind decided to play. It forgets simple explanations and begins WAGging. But mostly over what is in the books themselves and not the WoJ. I never liked to read much in the WoJ because JB could change his mind, or just mess with us