History Literature / TurnCoat

** [[spoiler:When Morgan thrice caused Harry trouble in his home, Harry shames him by calling his behavior deplorable, and saying he would expect better of a literal monster who was a guest in his home.]]

** Morgan has one pressed at the thought of Black Magic being used in any way to help show his innocence. As it is, though, [[SugarWiki/FunnyMoments he has entirely the wrong idea about how Molly intends to 'change' someone's mind.]]

* BlackmailIsSuchAnUglyWord: In a variant, Vince remarks that ''"accomplice"'' is an ugly word. As is "penitentiary".

** When Harry's worried that the White Council is going to swoop down on them at any moment thanks to [[spoiler:Madeline's]] tip about where Morgan is hiding, Murphy points out that he has bureaucracy on his side. The tip would necessarily have to be anonymous, and the White Council likely has to deal with ''thousands'' of anonymous tips all the time; it'll probably be several hours before they even begin to establish that the information might be genuine.

* UndyingLoyalty: Toot-toot has this towards Harry. [[spoiler:It is why he takes on a {{Skinwalker}} with only a box cutter.]]

* NeverMessWithGranny: Ancient Mai is ''old'' even by wizarding standards. She scares the daylights out of Harry because not only is she powerful but smart as she quickly deduced [[[spoiler:the reason Harry called the meeting so quickly and wanted to meet was the counter-measures Morgan has blocking him from being tracked are going to fail soon]]. One of the strike team of veteran Wardens who had survived the horrors of the war with the vampires and meant to take down Morgan when he was found held her umbrella in a rain storm.

* MakeTheDogTestify: It helps that Mouse is a sentient magic dog. [[spoiler:To expand, Mouse doesn't speak but identifies Peabody by scent. His credentials as a temple dog are affirmed by Ancient Mai and several other Council Wizards when Peabody objects.]]

** [[spoiler:The Skinwalker did not expect to face Harry whipping out Soulfire against him, being connected to Demonreach so his veils were useless (when he was on the ground), Toot-toot slicing up his back with a box knife, and lastly Listens-to-Winds being able to fight it into retreating]].

** Ancient Mai didn't see [[spoiler:[=McCoy=] keeping out of trying to forcibly arrest Dresden]], or Harry having [[spoiler:an honest-to-Buddha Foo dog]] vouch for his evidence.

* CycleOfRevenge[=/=]FeudingFamilies: Luccio notes that one of the things the White Council does is nip these disasters in the bud. But if not for the strict adherence to the Laws of Magic, both could cause massive devastation to the world, and that isn't factoring in the fact wizards can live for centuries and have magic. Muggle versions of these are dangerous and destructive enough.

* CrouchingMoronHiddenBadass: Harry realizes [[spoiler:the group from the Senior Council thinks he is this with all the big name forces he has taken down or survived fighting against. Few others would have survived just one of these and Harry came out on top on each one, such as killing a Fae Queen, ''twice'' fought Nicodemus and lived, and the whole matter of riding a zombie dinosaur to beat up some necromancers. Hence the multiple Wardens as back up to the Senior Council as they don't want to take any chances when dealing with ''Harry Blackstone Copperfield Dresden'']].

* ConsummateLiar[=/=]TheFool: [[spoiler:Wizard Rashid, the Gatekeeper]] takes a few moments to consider which of these Harry is when noting not only all the dangerous and crazy things that have happened in the past ten years, like the Shadowman, FBI with werewolf belts, an unbalanced Aurora, but in some of the most serious ones, Harry was directly involved, like Aurora, working closely with White Court vampires to stop coups, the rumor that two of the world's most powerful religious artifacts are in the custody of a wizard who doesn't have much in the way of faith. So either Harry was behind them and is lying about his good intentions now or he really is that unlucky. Harry, being Harry, just points to his heavily bandaged head and says, "Dude." This invokes some hearty laughter, as Rashid recalls [[Literature/SummerKnight finding Harry hanging upside-down in a tree]], and he comes to the conclusion that yes, Harry really ''is'' that unlucky.

* AndThisIsFor: During the final confrontation with [[spoiler:the skinwalker]], Harry punctuates each spell by yelling the name of a friend or family member that the villain has hurt, and uses the emotion from that name to fuel his spells.

* ShipTease: A Harry/Murphy one.

* WhoWouldBeStupidEnough: The bad guys are suspecting Harry is helping Morgan. [[spoiler:When the topic of him hiding Morgan in his own home comes up, Madeline calls that a stupid idea because Hit is so obvious a move. Binder deconstructs her view by pointing out how dirt poor Harry is and wouldn't have the luxury of multiple safehouses]].

** Every time Harry comes back to his apartment, he finds Morgan and Molly (and occasionally another participant) in the middle of some sort of standoff, with Mouse keeping the peace, usually by sitting on someone. [[spoiler:It's less funny the third time it happens because Mouse got hurt when Morgan tried to shoot Molly when tried to read Luccio's mind]]

[[TheOneWith The one with]] [[KnightInSourArmor Morgan]] and the [[EldritchAbomination Naagloshi]].

* NotSoDifferent: When discussing the idea of Wizards helping in mortal affairs, like World War II and the fact they didn't, one of Luccio's counters is by Harry's argument, that there was a clear evil side and thus the Council should have helped, then the Council should attack the United States for their crimes against the Native Americans.

* RealityEnsues: When Harry's worried that the White Council is going to swoop down on them at any moment thanks to [[spoiler:Madeline's]] tip about where Morgan is hiding, Murphy points out that he has bureaucracy on his side. The tip would necessarily have to be anonymous, and the White Council likely has to deal with ''thousands'' of anonymous tips all the time; it'll probably be several hours before they even begin to establish that the information might be genuine.

* AcquiredPoisonImmunity: Harry takes this route in order to try to desensitize himself to [[spoiler:Shagnasty's]] appearance to his Sight - he isolates himself and bombards his brain with the memories of every horrible, nasty thing he's ever Seen. By the end of it, he's feeling mentally drained and stained, but he's managed to keep his sanity.
* AdvantageBall: Harry is smart at the climax and actually sought a place to give him a better chance of winning. [[spoiler:He chooses the mysterious island from ''Small Favor'' and invokes Sanctum with it]]. While it [[spoiler: doesn't let him win the fight, it lets him get very, very close.]]

** Harry [[spoiler:loves Luccio but she doesn't love him, not for the reasons with Morgan, but her mind was twisted and was forced to "love" him - as is noted at the end, there was a basis to build on, meaning that something ''could'' have naturally happened between them, in time, but...]]

** Morgan quickly and effectively finds these for Molly, insulting Harry being a big one, for the purpose of seeing how she would react when pressed. Harry later calls her out for falling for such prodding and not ignoring the taunts - which, as Morgan points out when Harry turns on ''him'', is what she should have done, because there are plenty out there who'll be much harder on her than he was (and all the evidence suggests that he isn't wrong).

** Madeline does not take Harry's comment - that Lara does more to arouse him just sitting in a chair than Madeline did in her whole entrance and influence she pushed on Harry - well. It nearly drives her to physically attack him for the insult.

** [[spoiler:Anastasia's much younger physical body (courtesy of [[GrandTheftMe the Corpsetaker]]) allowed Peabody to control her, as well as most of the wardens--younger wizards recruited after the events of ''Literature/DeadBeat'').]] See ManchurianAgent below.

** [=McCoy=] mentions early in the book, as part of the reason why they believe Morgan has to be guilty, that Mind control magic would not work on someone Morgan's age to any strong degree as it'd cause his mind to break, because at that age the brain is too set in its ways to accept orders that go against one's beliefs. [[spoiler:This sets up Luccio as the real killer - since her body swap would've made her vulnerable. It also sets up that Morgan's earlier account of the events - that he woke up standing with the weapon over the dead [=LaFortier=], is false. No one could've made him walk in there by magic.]]

* IHaveBoobsYouMustObey: Molly uses this to great effect to get information out of the PI shadowing Harry. Morgan jumps to the conclusion that she's going to use mind-control magic. All Molly has to do is take off her bra and go talk to the guy in his very air-conditioned car. As Harry observes, "[He] was doomed." Morgan agrees and hints it would certainly get a rise out of him - or at least, that he's appreciating the view. Harry is disturbed.

* PinnedToTheWall: Thomas pins his cousin Madeline to a table with a pair of chopsticks through her wrists, because she was threatening his lover. While she's immobilized, said lover brushes Madeline with her hair--which, since the vampires are Allergic to Love, gives Madeline horrible burns.

** When Harry first fights the Skinwalker, it ambushed Harry and company. When the ambush failed and it had a momententary disadvantage because it underestimated the prey, the skinwalker ran. Not in fear, just to reevaluate the attack plan.

* WhatTheHellHero: Morgan is less than pleased with Harry when Harry tells him [[spoiler:the Alphas tried fighting the skinwalker with Harry and it cost then one life and possibly another. They are the people Harry should be protecting not encouraging to become superheroes]].

* YouHaveGOTToBeKiddingMe: In the opening page of the book, after Morgan tells Harry he needs his help to hide from the Wardens, he collapses on Dresden's front door.

[[TheOneWith The one with]] the Naagloshi.

--->'''Harry:''' I punched it in the nose. Now we're friends.

** [=McCoy=] mentions early in the book, as part of the reason why they believe Morgan has to be guilty, that Mind control magic would not work on someone Morgan's age to any strong degree as it'd cause his mind to break, because at that age the brain is too set in its ways to accept orders that go against one's beliefs. [[spoiler:This sets up Luccio as the real killer - since her body swap would've made her vulnerable. It also sets that Morgan's earlier account of the events - that he woke up standing with the weapon over the dead Lafortier, is false. No one could've made him walk in there by magic.]]

* GeniusBonus: Nature-savvy readers will appreciate that [[spoiler:all the animal-forms assumed by the naagloshii and Listens-To-Winds are indigenous to North America. Some like the bear or coyote are obvious, but the black-footed ferret, flying squirrel, and alligator are nice touches.]]

* HarsherInHindsight: Harry's comments about how wizards hate to feel helpless and Molly's joking about what she should do if anything were to happen to him become much more painful after the events of ''Changes'' and ''Ghost Story.''

* CouldSayItBut: Vince Graver [[spoiler:refuses to tell Harry about his clients]]. When Molly goes at him with [[IHaveBoobsYouMustObey a tight shirt with no bra on]], Vince is "kind enough" to offer her some job-hunting advice, specifically [[spoiler:the suggestion of being a paralegal at the firm who hired him and gives her the card his boss gave him]].

* OutWithABang: [[spoiler:Madeline dies from a combination of this and Lara eating her innards]].