Why Conjouritis, Why??

[Bad Alias]

My one question about the pan is, did Harry experience a drain of power when the pan showed up. If not, at least to me, the Maggie has it is basically confirmed.

[Mira]

Yeah, the Maggie thing works.  She's got talent, and got conjouritis at the right age and talent level.  She made the pan.

And Harry got it too, just like a parent getting chickenpox as an adult when they didn't get it as a kid, because their kid brought it home.

And chicken pox is always worse for adults..  So in the shaft when Harry is thinking he doesn't want to see giant spiders in there with him, that is exactly what his brain conjured.  Giant spiders on steroids because the more powerful the young wizard the more exaggerated the conjuring until control is gained. 

[Conspiracy Theorist]

Does he sneeze Sue into existence because he is reminded of Cowl’s blackout in Dead Beat and that would be a handy way to get around with no cars?

[Grifter]

Does he sneeze Sue into existence because he is reminded of Cowl’s blackout in Dead Beat and that would be a handy way to get around with no cars?

Would all the ectoplasm have to come out of his nose??

[KurtinStGeorge]

Reading the posts made here so far, I realized I wasn't the only person who found the humor of this illness just fell flat and came across as silly rather than funny.  I also can see Maggie as the vector for this infection, but I wonder if the illness represents something more serious.  Perhaps it's the first sign that carrying the Winter Knight's mantel is taking a toll on Harry, in this case by weakening his immune system.  Remember, the first time it occurred Harry felt a deep ache in his limbs that didn't fade for several seconds.  The mantle should have kept Harry from feeling any pain, even a dull achy one.  It's a sign that Harry is starting to run up against his limits.

[The_Sibelis]

I figure it was the clue for what he does later with Molly's illusion. It's basically the same thing with extra steps...

[pcpoet]

I think the Conjouritis is a set up for mirror  mirror....harry sneezes and he somens a duplicate of himself from a mirror universe.

[Conspiracy Theorist]

I don’t Think so, what we know of Mirror Mirror it is Harry who is pulled into a parallel world,

As regards Grifter, that would be absolutely horrible for Harry, so yes, that is probably what Jim would go with

[Mira]

Reading the posts made here so far, I realized I wasn't the only person who found the humor of this illness just fell flat and came across as silly rather than funny.  I also can see Maggie as the vector for this infection, but I wonder if the illness represents something more serious.  Perhaps it's the first sign that carrying the Winter Knight's mantel is taking a toll on Harry, in this case by weakening his immune system.  Remember, the first time it occurred Harry felt a deep ache in his limbs that didn't fade for several seconds.  The mantle should have kept Harry from feeling any pain, even a dull achy one.  It's a sign that Harry is starting to run up against his limits.

  Possible, but as a parent, and now a grand parent discovering "the daycare plague" when I visit after not being around young children for any amount of time, I am not overly concerned that Harry is experiencing some immune response breakdown.  Aside from limited exposure to the Carpenter kids, and then the contact wasn't the hugging etc that goes along with having kids, Harry just
hasn't been around young kids very much.  They are walking petri dishes, and as parents we are
fated to catch whatever, I think that is what is going on, I hope that is what's going on.

[Second Aristh]

  Possible, but as a parent, and now a grand parent discovering "the daycare plague" when I visit after not being around young children for any amount of time, I am not overly concerned that Harry is experiencing some immune response breakdown.  Aside from limited exposure to the Carpenter kids, and then the contact wasn't the hugging etc that goes along with having kids, Harry just
hasn't been around young kids very much.  They are walking petri dishes, and as parents we are
fated to catch whatever, I think that is what is going on, I hope that is what's going on.

Yeah, I'm of the opinion that the conjuritis is Jim showing Harry growing into his role as a parent, with the bumps along the way.  That kind of theme was strong in this book.  It's too silly a premise to be a major cluebat.

[Conspiracy Theorist]

But what if the Conjouritis gets worse, and Harry starts snarting, conjouring at both ends simultaneously?

Seriously it smacks of being a deus ex machina.

[Snark Knight]

Perhaps it's the first sign that carrying the Winter Knight's mantel is taking a toll on Harry, in this case by weakening his immune system.  Remember, the first time it occurred Harry felt a deep ache in his limbs that didn't fade for several seconds.  The mantle should have kept Harry from feeling any pain, even a dull achy one.  It's a sign that Harry is starting to run up against his limits.

Or a warning sign that suppressing the mantle's dark urges with extreme exercise is doing underlying damage.

If Butters is right that the mantle is primarily a 'magic feather' for pain suppression rather than a free buff to physical strength, a deep ache sounds just about right for habitually pushing all your muscles and joints past their limits. Perhaps the illness isn't so much causing the pain as temporarily interfering with the mantle masking the pain of what he's been causing himself.

I'm thinking he'd better take LtW or River Shoulders up on that offer of anger management lessons sooner rather than later.

[vultur]

Or a warning sign that suppressing the mantle's dark urges with extreme exercise is doing underlying damage.

I'd think wizard healing would mean that slow accumulation of damage wouldn't really be an issue, though.

In PT Butters seems more concerned that Harry will outright break bones by using super-strength, which the wizard healing wouldn't prevent.

(And I think Butters kind of underestimates what the Mantle does for Harry; he's several times used it to do things that are just flatly beyond human capability, and I think the running endurance/speed he talks about late in PT is also probably beyond human capacity - overriding your limits won't actually give you more energy.)

[Mira]

I'd think wizard healing would mean that slow accumulation of damage wouldn't really be an issue, though.

In PT Butters seems more concerned that Harry will outright break bones by using super-strength, which the wizard healing wouldn't prevent.

(And I think Butters kind of underestimates what the Mantle does for Harry; he's several times used it to do things that are just flatly beyond human capability, and I think the running endurance/speed he talks about late in PT is also probably beyond human capacity - overriding your limits won't actually give you more energy.)

If anything the conjouritis is a distraction, whether Jim meant for it to be or not.  The whole thing could have been cleared up if Butters had asked Harry if little Maggie had had the sniffles lately?

[TheCuriousFan]

I'd think wizard healing would mean that slow accumulation of damage wouldn't really be an issue, though.

In PT Butters seems more concerned that Harry will outright break bones by using super-strength, which the wizard healing wouldn't prevent.

(And I think Butters kind of underestimates what the Mantle does for Harry; he's several times used it to do things that are just flatly beyond human capability, and I think the running endurance/speed he talks about late in PT is also probably beyond human capacity - overriding your limits won't actually give you more energy.)

Not to mention the boosted healing factor the WK mantle gives, after he fights Andi he writes off some gashes as things that'll be gone in a day or two.

“Several weeks,” Molly said. “There are so many cuts here, I don’t think I have enough Band-Aids. We’ll have to wrap it, I guess.”

“I’ll just put a clean shirt over them,” I said. “Look, it isn’t a big deal. Little marks like that are going to be gone in a day or two.”

Speaking from experience, even dog scratches that don't draw blood will still be there in a day or two, let alone ones that tear through a suit.