1 ) Harry usually has a few supporting characters in each book.  Who do you think will be the main sidekick in Cold Days and in what way will they help?  Who else will have a significant contribution to the plot?

Toot Toot will be the main sidekick at least at first.  Since Harry will be on-mission when he comes back I think he is going to try and avoid contact with his friends until he has time to talk to them so he uses Toot to gather information more discreetly than he could on his own.  This obviously will not work out for too long.  Molly will be his second main sidekick once she finds out.

2 ) At the end of Ghost Story, Harry has said goodbye to all his friends in Chicago.

a. Who will be the first friend to find out Harry isn't dead?

 

Though not a friend I think Ancient Mai will be the first non-fae to find out.  In SK it was her responsibility to contact the Queens at the beginning to see if the WC could get access to the Ways.  Because of that I believe she is in charge of WC-Fae relations and if the WC sends any representatives to the Celebration of Birth, Mai will be among them. 

But among his actual friends, Molly will be the first when Lea turns her over to Harry to continue training.

b. What shenanigans/snark will Harry use when he "re-appears"?

To Mai - "Gimme a hug, I know how much you've missed me"  Then he forcibly hugs her as she is both dumbstruck and trying to maintain absolute formality.

To Molly - Quotes Gandalf the Grey/White "I am Harry the White" etc.

To JLoC - Harry goes for a pithy one-liner like "miss me?" then they all proceed to assault him.

c. Who will have the coolest reaction?

Carlos, something along the lines of how he liked being the only commander of the U.S. and doesn't want to share all the ladies with Harry. "That whole tortured soul, back from the dead, tragic knight routine might get a lot of play back in Fairy but you can't compete with me in the real world."

d. Who will have the most touching reaction?

Michael, Mouse and Maggie.  I predict big hugs and tears with Michael and Mouse but a very delicate moment with Maggie where it is touching but could break at any moment due to what happened in CI and his part in it.

3 ) In nearly every book, Harry usually comes up with a new powerup/tool/way of making things go boom.  Given that he just became the new WK, what new abilities will he rely on and which new ability will be the most useful to him during the story (and how)?

I think the Winchester on the cover will be just a regular gun he picks up along the way if it shows up at all.  Since he will not have a blasting rod and I'm guessing Mab didn't think to grab the staff Harry borrowed from Eb, I think he is going to get a staff and sword made from the black ice of Arctis Tor.  Possibly it will be an all-in-one where it is either like the cane-sword or it simply transforms between the two as he requires it.

4 ) Harry generally has a "Big Bad" to worry about.  In fact, according to the blurb, Harry is going after someone very specific.  Who will that enemy be, and how will Harry take him/her/it down?

My first instinct is Kincaid but I can't see a whole book with just him as the enemy.  So instead I'll just go with a Formor lord or godling.  It will try and take over or destroy Demonreach so Harry will tap the leyline and kill it with an awe inspiring display of soulfire laced fire, ice, earth and lighting.

5 ) Harry usually faces some sort of "Choice" in every book.  A point where the easy way out will cost his soul/humanity in some way. According to the blurb, this book will be no different.  What will be the most crucial "choice" Harry makes?

Does he try to separate himself from everyone he knew so that they don't get caught up in his thug-work for Mab or does he lean on his friends for support.

6 ) As the new Winter Knight, Harry is pretty much guaranteed to encounter his Summer counterpart -- Fix.  What will their interactions be?  Will Fix survive?

Fix will be ordered to attack Harry by Titania.  They will fight once or twice with Fix losing since he was holding back and Harry let him live.  But Titania will give Fix an ultimatum of Kill Harry or I kill you for being worthless etc.  So Fix and Harry will fight one last time with Fix fighting hard enough that Harry has to deal a mortal blow and it is a sad scene for Fix as he apologizes to Harry but gets to have a good death rather than get tortured like Lloyd.

7 ) Jim has mentioned that it's about time now to start revealing some of the motivations/dealings of the shadowy figures working behind the scenes (i.e. what Harry calls the "Black Council").  What Black Council secrets/actions will be revealed in this book?

Mab will reveal more motivation for the attack on Arctis Tor.  Lea had tried to help Harry by killing an Outsider with the Athame but got possessed instead thus Mab locked her up, the BC came to attack and get their outsider back, Harry helped heal her with his outsiderbaneness which is why Mab used the fetches to lure him in. 

Now the BC has set their sights on Demonreach(which I believe the loci is an outsider) to control it.(over Harry's Dead Body).

8 ) There are many WAG ("Wild A$$ Guess") theories on the boards.  Write up to three WAG theories you believe are correct that will be confirmed (or at least have evidence in favor of) in Cold Days.

Jim said Harry's grandmother on his mother's side was mortal.  That's all we know about her.  I believe that she was a changeling daughter of Lea's which would help explain her readiness to protect Harry/her bloodline from trouble.  And it would explain why Maggie Sr. was tight with the fae as well.

At the end of Changes Eb referred to Odin as one of "our elders" which I believe is a subtle hint that Eb is a distant decendant of Merlin and Odin was Merlin's dad.  This means Harry is Odin's distant descendant. 

Thus both of these help explain why Lea and Odin helped as much as they did in CI since they needed to save their own asses from the bloodline curse.  Booya!

One of the reasons why the ways from Demonreach are so dangerous is because one leads to the Moon where the BC has been hiding in their evil-overlord-moon-base-death-star.  Harry needs to take it over and then protect the way by living on Demonreach.  (I wish there was a smiley face for laughing maniacally.) 

9 ) Extra credit:  Write down any prediction about that you think might improve your final score.  Only issues alluded to within Cold Days will be counted.

Butters and Murphy will have become an item in the wake of Harry's Death. Harry gets pissed, "First you took my skull and now you took my girl, WTF man?" She is definitely the dominant person in that relationship.

Harry will finally get laid, ALOT.  Before he leaves Arctis Tor he gets jumped by Maeve and possibly Mab as well. Once out he goes to Lara for info who then seduces him in exchange for info.  Afterwards he meets up with Molly who uses her mind mojo to take advantage of him.  Finally at the end after all the fighting has settled out, he gets with Murph.  Then they all get pregnant and he has a ton of explaining to do by the next book.  So he hides on Demonreach to avoid the fallout.

Harry's changeling nurse at the beginning of CD was actually Lloyd Slate's daughter which leads to some major league awkwardness.  "Sorry I killed your dad but he was kind of a jerk.  No hard feelings?"

Mortal women aren't awesome enough? Are too bland?

Murphy and Charity might have something to say about that.

True enough, but for storytelling purposes, it isn't likely that Harry's grandma on his Mom's side was a White Council wizard since it would probably make his lineage well known among other wizards who knew her.  So if that grandma was a mortal, it would most likely make her a vanilla mortal that EB never told anyone about.  Because of this and Margarete's age when she died(I beleive over a century but I don't remember for certain) it would mean that this grandma would be dead and would at most get a brief description from EB if Harry could ever get him to talk about it.  For storyline purposes this would be boring and a one-off that would never get brought up again.  But if Harry's grandma on that side was immortal, it would bring in alot of color especially if it was someone he already knows.  And it could influence him on certain factors going into the future.  As an example if lets say Lea was his grandma, I could see them growing closer with him being the winter knight which could then lead him into risking his life to save her or to even usurp Queen Mab.  Neither of which I could currently see him doing or at least not willingly.