Harry's reaction was perfectly normal, somewhere between WTF is this about?  And pissed that his friend went along with doing this to him..

I agree, Harry's reaction was perfectly normal. But what constitutes "perfectly normal" human behavior is a range and different person's behavior typically fall within different areas of that range.

Some people, who prefer to avoid confrontation, would have told Ramirez they had sex with Murphy. That is perfectly normal human behavior, but it isn't Harry.

Some people, who are good diplomats and good at controlling their emotions, would have made an effort to push back against the bullying while inviting Carlos Ramirez to make a social call later, when he isn't acting as a warden, to discuss any personal concerns he might have about his friend. Again, that is perfectly normal human behavior, but it isn't Harry.

Harry is confrontational, he has trust issues, and issues with bullies. Thus, he pushed back as hard as he could without forcing a violent confrontation. While that is perfectly normal human behavior and the only reasonable expectation of what Harry would do, it probably wasn't the best approach.

Notably, Carlos Ramirez should know Harry well enough to understand that a confrontation like that would only push Harry away. If Carlos had truly been concerned with helping Harry, he would have approached alone. The fact that Carlos brought the team is pretty indicative that he had already decided that Harry was in bed with the White Court.

My personal theory is actually that the Whamp females are infertile.  We've never seen any mention of any children of a White Vampire Woman.  Vittorio is described once as Cheserea's son, but in several other places as his aunt. 

That makes some sense, if an unborn wampire feeds on the mother, its quite possible a pregnant wampire would subconsciously feed on a fetus, killing it before the wampire even knows she's pregnant.

I recently read Peace Talks/Battle Ground and it really struck me how interested in and involved Mab appears to be with Marcone.

After just a moment of wondering why an idea struck me - I think Mab sees Marcone as a candidate to be the next protector of the Outer Gates. Not a Fairy Queen or the Gatekeeper, but rather the monarch of the new order that will replace the Faerie Courts after the BAT. Marcone is ruthless but he doesn't take sadistic pleasure in being cruel and it can't be disputed that he uses his power to protect innocents. Mab may very well see Marcone as a mortal embodiment of herself and is guiding him to create his own Mantel and displace the Faeries when their time as the significant power ends.

Tragically, Harry could become the counterbalance to Marcone and be forced to deal with him for the next 666 years. (Although it isn't clear whether the protector always has a counterbalance or whether that is just a feature of the Faerie Courts, and the White God/Lucifer).

edit: In fact, Marcone and Harry already have names picked out for their potential Mantles - Baron of Chicago v. Wizard of Chicago.

Harry didn’t want to drag him into his woes like he did Molly, and like he tried to avoid with Butters.

Harry really isn’t very good for other people.

The decision this time wasn't for Ramirez' benefit. Telling Ramirez was a huge personal risk because it would have jeopardized the chance of saving Thomas. Also, failing to save Thomas would have been a failure in his obligations to honor Winter's promise to Lara.

We are likely to see a sphinx even if you are wrong.

Not true. She offered him magical instruction as part of the Winter Knight package in Small Favor.

And Harry rejected that offer. Did he request instruction in his counter-offer in Changes? If not, it isn't part of the deal.

She's going to say: "Just because you dislike me doesn't mean that we don't have common enemies. Just as I was willing to allow the White Council to use my Ways against the Red Court, I am willing to allow you to go about causing general havoc to the Fomor in your own way, because it suits my purpose. Are you really willing to abandon your friends and allies to attack because of your distrust for me? I thought not."

A motivational speech is going to get Harry back into shape quicker? I don't think Harry was being a couch-potato. And if you motivate Harry to push himself too hard, that would delay his recovery.

Recovering, and that's why I said she should work on getting him to recover faster. I don't believe that she had no control over the speed of his recovery, because he was recovered just in time to kill Maeve--the timing's just too precise to be coincidence.

You are right. Uriel put Harry back into his body with just enough time for him to recover to stop Maeve, and Mab pushed Harry to the limits to make sure he recovered in time by trying to kill him daily. A motivational speech was not going make Harry recover weeks sooner.

Maybe, but given that Maeve had a 150-year backlog, I feel like Molly probably had plenty of training opportunities, and saving a bunch of innocent kids is just perfect for getting Harry to work with you. And it only took place a few days after Cold Days, so I'm pretty sure Harry could still leave the island, even if there was some risk.

Mab also wanted Molly to run into Ramirez. That was a double training opportunity.

I am not assuming that Mab wants Harry to like her at all. I am, in fact, assuming that Mab wants to kill herself to prevent Nemesis from taking over, and that having a starborn on hand to help with that would be really useful. What I am claiming is that if Mab did not have reason to kill herself (ie was Nemesis infected) then she is being sloppy (because she is Nemesis infected). It's a Morton's fork argument--whatever path you chose, you end up at the same place.

Oh. It appears we are in agreement that Mab wants Harry to dislike her. I probably should have picked up on that since that is exactly what you said in the last sentence of your prior post. Sorry.

1) I would never punish Harry for the way he spoke to me in private. It's not going to stop him being insulting, and it will make him hate me/Mab more. Also, it seems stupid to hurt him for being himself.

Probably, but Mab is confined by her nature and can only withstand so much insult before her pride compels her to act. If Harry, with free will, can't stop himself from being insulting most of the time, why would Mab, who lacks free will, be able to stop herself from taking revenge for insults?

2) When I was helping him recover from being dead, in addition to trying to kill him every day, I would offer him some level of magical instruction to bring him up to the level he was at in Changes, only without needing his equipment.

She can't. She can't give him instruction without also demanding something in turn (and even if she could, she knows Harry would never accept). Trying to kill him is a loophole, she isn't giving him anything but if he survives, he gets stronger.

3) I would work on getting him in shape quicker, so that he could be deployed against the Fomor ASAP. This would serve two purposes: it would damage and disrupt my/Mab's enemies, and it would be something that Harry would want to do anyway.

How is she going to do that? Again, there are limits on what she can do to help him and any attempt to help him would be met by resistance and suspicion that would likely slow Harry's progress, not hasten it.

4) When the Fomor/Svaralf treaty problem came up, I would send Harry to fix the problem, telling him that his brother was being held there.

Wasn't this storyline while Harry was a ghost or at least still recovering?

5) When dealing with the problem of Cold Case, I'd send Harry to rescue the kids, and just have someone else come by to take them away next week.

And miss a perfectly good training opportunity for Molly? Also, Harry was stuck on Demonreach because of Bonnie at this time.

But there are things, as I've pointed out above, that she can do, and isn't. That's a problem if we're supposed to see her as a master manipulator, as we clearly are. When it comes to Harry, she's just not acting like one.

Maybe she has reason. But I haven't seen any in the books, so Nfection seems as good a reason as any other.

1. I think you overstate what Mab can do. She can't just help Harry for free. She couldn't even just help Lea for free, and Lea is full fairy.
2. You are assuming Mab wants Harry to like her. Mab wants Harry to kill her eventually. She isn't trying to manipulate him into a long-term ally, she is trying to manipulate him into a short-term tool that will kill her in the long-term.
3. She seems like a pretty good manipulator to me. Summer Knight, Small Favor, Changes, Cold Days, Skin Game, she hasn't once failed to get what she really wants from Harry. Take a look at the end of Cold Days, after telling Harry he wouldn't survive long enough to pull the trigger (because her nature compelled her to do so) she explained to Harry reasons that he would accept to persuade him not to try. She knows exactly how to get what she wants from Harry, so if she isn't using optimum-manipulation strategy at all times, it is either because she is literally incapable of doing certain things, or she has a long-term agenda that wouldn't be served by strategies that appear at first glance to be superior.