New Drop Chapter Two

[morriswalters]

Nuff said.

[Bad Alias]

Favorite part:

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That sounded like the makings of a huge mess to me. Mouse gave me what I swear was a smug look and licked his chops.

It made me smile.

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That ending:

A few seconds later, a heavy hand rapped hard on the door to the apartment.

I checked to make absolutely sure that the door to the room with my daughter inside was firmly shut. And then, gripping my staff much like a rifle, I paced silently forward to answer the door, my brother falling  into step beside me.

Well, it's only 35 days.

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What's with Maggie addressing everyone so formally?

[morriswalters]

Think about the pot.

[KurtinStGeorge]

Reminded me of an old Paul McCartney song, "Someone's knockin' at the door.  Somebody's wringin' the bell."  Except there wasn't a bell.

[KurtinStGeorge]

(As a public service announcement for those readers who don't want to read the preview chapters.  That's cool and all, but I suggest you skip this thread so those of us who don't mind reading and discussing it, can do so and not worry that we're screwing up anyone else's reading experience.)

So, what does

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Harry's body ache mean?  What's going on with his sinuses?  I thought the Winter Knight wasn't supposed to get sick.

There's no explanation, but it must be important. 

Guess who is

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knockin' on the door.  My is guess is that it's Ebenezer McCoy.  It's just a feeling.  If I'm right we're going to going to see Thomas and Eb meet for the first time real soon.  That doesn't mean Harry will properly introduce them to each other, as in "Senior Council McCoy, this is your other grandson..." but you never know. 

[Yuillegan]

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Think about the pot.

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The only thing that comes to mind is the Big Bad Wolf.

Other than the obvious, a lovely chapter. A return to the peaceful Harry Dresden. So of course, that's going to stay that way.

Also

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Isn't Evanna the one who accuses Thomas of murder in the trailer?

[morriswalters]

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The only thing that comes to mind is the Big Bad Wolf.

Other than the obvious, a lovely chapter. A return to the peaceful Harry Dresden. So of course, that's going to stay that way.

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He thinks about the pot while petting Mister and then it manifests.

[Bad Alias]

Also

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Isn't Evanna the one who accuses Thomas of murder in the trailer?

Yes.

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At first I was thinking that all the mantle stuff had to do with Harry having a whole lot of familial feelings, and that was suppressing the mantle. Still might be, but the arrival of whoever would seem awfully coincidental.

I too feel that it's Eb knocking on the door, but I don't think that's right. It could be Ivy. She's had a similar entrance in the past, as long as Harry's sneezing etc. is a coincidence.

I don't know of a fairy tale/fantasy creature that would warp reality to the point and in the manner we're seeing.

Did Harry summon the pot of boiling water? That kind of makes sense. He was thinking about it. After/as it showed up a wave of exhaustion swept him as we've seen a few times when he's done a big spell.

It only kind of makes sense because we've never seen Harry lose control like that. The closest I can think of is his anger making the fire in his fireplace bigger in Changes. That's not very close.

[Yuillegan]

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Pretty significant for Harry to summon a pot, from the Nevernever I suppose, with a thought. What immediately comes to mind is the rain of toads in Summer Knight i.e. major magical imbalance. Curiously, he sneezed as it happened. I have no idea what to make of the sneeze. And the sneeze came first. Before he thinks of the pot. I hazard a guess it is related to whoever just showed up.

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So who could Thomas kill that would make Evanna mad at him and encourage the emnity of the svartalves? Another svartalf?

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Can't be Ebenezar. Whoever is knocking just pushed through major magical wards to talk to him. Doesn't seem like Vadderung. He isn't so abrupt or impolite. And Mab could just come in if she needed to. Same I think with the Mothers. It doesn't feel like the Erlking.

The real question is it friend or foe?

[g33k]

@Yuillegan -- you put your text in ordinary cleartext-Quote, rather than Spoiler'ing; dunno if that was intentional?

Dunno if we need to bother with spoiler blocks... this IS the "DF Spoilers" subforum, and the thread is clearly labled...

But I'll continue the practice...

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... What immediately comes to mind is the rain of toads in Summer Knight i.e. major magical imbalance ...

But those were REAL toads, not nevernever summonings/constructs.  That's part of what signaled that is was a major issue.

... Curiously, he sneezed as it happened. I have no idea what to make of the sneeze. And the sneeze came first. Before he thinks of the pot ...

He sneezed, and felt achy, but nothing happenend.

Then Mister cuddled him, purring "like a pot of boiling water," and then Harry sneezed again; this time, both achy AND a wave of exhaustion, and the pot arrived.

... Did Harry summon the pot of boiling water? That kind of makes sense. He was thinking about it. After/as it showed up a wave of exhaustion swept him as we've seen a few times when he's done a big spell ...

I think this is it, honestly; now the question is how/why...

I will go ahead and WAG that Harry has caught a wizardly variant of a "cold."  Recall the never-never mites on Kirby & Andi, in Day Off... based on that short, and this event, my WAG is that there are a whole panoply of nevernever/magical pests/vermin/parasites/etc which are mostly just minor annoyances, like colds and allergies and mites and etc...  With the occasional magico-Ebola, etc.

Harry has just never heard of this stuff previously, because Justin felt no need to teach it, and Eb had other issues to address than delving into whether Harry had the fully-approved White Council curriculum...

[Yuillegan]

Thanks for the heads up G33k, hit the wrong button.

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It would be hilarious if Dresden had just caught the magical equivalent of a child's flu. Although it is weird to only introduce it now.
Also, there is one being in the place who could do something like that. Bonea. Half Wizard/Starborn, half Fallen Angel shadow.
The really weird thing is it used a lot of Harry's magic. Enough that even his mantle struggled. Seems pretty dangerous.

[Dina]

First, a comment about this forum protocol- Even when this IS the spoiler section, traditionally we spoiler-tag all new info, specially in this case, as many people won't want to read this until they have the full book. But there was also a generally accepted convention: if we plan to use many spoilers in a thread, we clearly indicate it in the name of the thread. Like: [SPOILERS] New Drop chapter two. So, if the name of the thread says something like that, it is kosher to speak normally in every post. Instead, if the name of the thread has not marked as containing spoilers it is a very bad form to post anything spoilerific at all.

So, I will spoiler-tag 

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I was  touch sad about the comment about Mister's age but I was glad to see him so soon in the book.

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I feel so bad for Harry about Marcone buying his home. I really hope Harry has a chance to make him regret that.

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I am worried for the "receptionist", because of the heavy foreshadowing about how lack of protocol can be the dead of him.

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All of my base are belong to me

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The sneeze is something very out of place for a WINTER knight, so the mantle abandoned Harry for a while? But not so much that he is crippled? Perhaps it's something Summer related, as if that could negate the winter effect? If not for the sneeze I would have thought Harry summoning things from the NN is a dangerous sign of him becoming a faerie himself, but the sneeze makes me think all the contrary, that the mantle is leaving him. Perhaps...the mantle is reacting to something that happened to any of the Queens? Like they are the source of its power so if something happens to them, the mantle weakens?

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I wish Harry thought of Bonea as her daughter too. I was disappointed that is not the case.

[cleoslemonade]

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I think we're seeing more than just the beginnings of a wizard flu. Harry probably would have been able to sense of there were some kind of never-never mites feeding on him? This could be some other infestation that's harder to sense, but I feel like it's more like Harry unlocking a new ability.
Maybe it's connected to his pregnancy with Bonnie. He does have practice there making spiritual constructs. Perhaps this is like his postpartum recovery. His spiritual muscles are spasming.
I remember in Storm front he made a tracking spell with his nose and that made him sneeze too. Not the same situation here, but it is a precedent for magical energy moving through your head region making you sneeze.
Maybe with time he'll be able to control it better and create constructs out of ectoplasm.

[Dina]

I loved it, Cleo!

[g33k]

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Who's knocking at the door?  I too went with Eb as my default guess, but I kind of think that's too predictable... how about Arthur Langtry?
What if Harry's cold/flu/whatever isn't any "ordinary" Nevernever "infection," but came specifically from standing in the footsteps of a Titan?

Also:  just imagine the potential for ruffled feathers at a high-protocol event like these Peace Talks.  "Something-something-something-else-something," said the Merlin to the Fomor Cantrev-Lord.  What a complete pile of stinking bullcrap, I thoug*KERCHOO!*SPLAT*