History Literature / SmallFavor

''Small Favor'' is book #10 in ''Literature/TheDresdenFiles''.

** Harry's anti-hero status confuses Michael, at times. Michael is used to the idea that ''he'' as a Knight would bear and suffer burdens so others do not. However, Harry lies by omission to the White Council in order to gain their support against the Denarians, just to give Michael and Sanya an edge against these ancient enemies, knowing that Michael would never and could never lie to get help. According to Sanya, Michael considers the fact that Harry would risk his life--as, if the Council found out he lied, it could be called treason--for Michael's principles and goal a messianic act.

** The Archive. [[spoiler:Using only the magic she could draw in before all magic was cut off at the Shedd Aquarium, she holds her own against half a dozen Denarians effortlessly. Harry watches her use two different spells at the same time in each hand. If not for the limits of her child-size body, she would have outlasted all of them and left more dead on the floor.]]

** Sanya, in his flashback. He was in madly love with Rosanna, accepted a Denarian coin to be with her and committed many atrocities for years alongside her. ''However, the moment he learns she doesn’t love him, he walks out on her, tossed the coin away like garbage and never looked back'''. This is despite the fact the FallenAngel had years to subvert him.

** Nicodemus again, asking Harry for a private talk in which [[spoiler: he indirectly reveals their plan to kidnap Ivy, knowing that Harry's PapaWolf tendencies would nake him lash out first, allowing Nic to have PlausibleDeniability since he never said anything concrete while pinning the blame of breaking SacredHospitality on Harry who has a history of doing so]].

* WeakenedByTheLight: The dark creatures Hobs shun all forms of light. They will attack any source to destroy it. [[spoiler:So they’re not too pleased when Michael's blade shines through their myrk that blocks all other light.]]

* XanatosSpeedChess: The Denarians play a mean game. Harry and Michael note on several occasions that the Denarians seem to plan things out so that no matter what happens they can still come away with some advantage. Fortunately, in ''Small Favor'' Harry proves that he is also becoming quite an adept player of XanatosSpeedChess [[spoiler:and manages to play the Denarians to a draw at the end of the book]].

* YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness: Harry knows, and Michael confirms, that Nicodemus would have no trouble [[spoiler:killing one of the six remaining Denarians to secure a coin for Ivy or Marcone]]. Later Nicodemus proves them both correct, [[spoiler:planning on killing Namshiel's host, who is paralyzed from the waist down after Harry hits him with a soulfire-infused attack]].

* YouWillKnowWhatToDo: Five years ago in ''Literature/DeathMasks'', Shiro gave Harry ''Fidelacchius'' and told him he would know who he should offer it to when the time is right. Harry realizes he is meant to offer it to [[spoiler:''Nicodemus''. Harry realizes that with this sword, one of the banes to Nicodemus's plots, as a bargaining chip, he could get the edge in the negotiations and save Ivy.]]
* ZergRush: A single hob is only a few feet tall and lacks super strength. While it is quick, it can be dispatched easily. For this reason, hobs hunt in hordes and from the cover of darkness.

** A little before this, the Denarians attempt to turn Harry's UnstoppableRage against him by [[spoiler:showing him the tortured body of Ivy, which they know would push him to an unthinking fury and break his promise, which in turn would unmake the Sword he has promised in exchange for her]]. Fortunately, [[spoiler:Harry figures out the plan just before his rage gets the better of him, mostly because he has already been manipulated into almost getting a Sword destroyed and is not dumb enough to make that mistake twice]].

* WeakenedByTheLight: The dark creatures Hobs shun all forms of light. They will attack any source to destroy it. [[spoiler:So they are not too pleased when Michael's blade shines through their myrk that blocks all other light.]]

** Harry underestimates [[spoiler:Ivy's true power, and is amazed and terrified when he sees her use only a fraction of her power to hold her own easily against the Denarians. According to Luccio, the White Council estimates her to be on par with the like of the youngest Sidhe Queens, Lily and Maeve. Harry guesses she is stronger than that.]]

* VillainsNeverLie: Harry notes that Marcone usually plays this straight with him, rarely lying and instead just refusing to tell him, knowing Harry would suspect a ruse. [[spoiler:So when Marcone tells him he doesn't know where Thorned Namshiel's coin is, Harry has a hard time knowing if it is true or not, simply because this is one time when he could choose to lie and lie well.]]

* ToBeLawfulOrGood: Murphy suffers this dilemma through much of the book. On the one hand, [[spoiler:she knows what is at stake not just for Chicago but the world if Harry gets found at a scene when some mob hitters just tried to take them out]]. That said, [[spoiler:the harm Harry did them was in self-defense and he could be cleared, in time. But by that time the world would be destroyed and Harry likely dead and whatever the Denarians had planned would have been done. Begrudgingly, she picks Good. She doesn't like it as she still has a deep faith in right and wrong and following the law]].

* TrapIsTheOnlyOption: Because the Denarians [[spoiler:have Ivy and Marcone]], Michael, Sanya, and Harry must make a deal and meet on Nicodemus's terms, knowing it is most certainly a trap. True to that, [[spoiler:Nick hopes to enrage Harry enough to [[TheOathBreaker break his oath]]. Harry, however, sees through it and is able to turn the tides on the Denarians]].

* TemptingFate: An extremely delayed one. In ''Death Masks'', Nicodemus introduces himself with the words ""Cannot hurt me any more". No matter how much I hear that, [[{{Sadist}} there's always a fresh challenge]]". Here, [[spoiler: Nicodemus finds himself being brutally garroted by an [[{{Determinator}} enemy whom he is unable to hurt enough to save his rotten life]]]].

** When Nicodemus and Harry are speaking of [[spoiler:the assault on Arctis Tor, Nicodemus says the only question remaining is whether the "contamination" is in his group or the Church. Not "mole" or any other term, but "contamination." In ''Literature/ColdDays'' it is learned there is a force for which "contamination" is an appropriate description.]]

* SomethingOnlyTheyWouldSay: When Harry first meets Mab in the story, he finds the fact she is speaking with a malk as an interpreter strange and doubts who she is. Mab replies that Harry doubted who she was the first time they met, in ''Literature/SummerKnight'', then winks at him as she did in ''Literature/ProvenGuilty,'' both scenes only Harry and Mab were witness to. This convinces him.

** Harry promises Molly he will get her dad home. [[spoiler:When he sees Gard, a Chooser of the Slain, in her helo, watching Michael with an intense look, Harry gets Michael to go up first, to get him out of the battlefield first. Though he ends up injured by an ambush, Michael does live to see another day.]]

* RightForTheWrongReasons: Michael and company fear [[spoiler:Harry's mind has been altered]]. Michael suspects it is [[spoiler:the Shadow of Lasciel that has made Harry not use fire magic and leave his blasting rod somewhere. A covert exam by Molly confirms his mind was altered and his panicked reaction to the ArmorPiercingQuestion affirms it. However, it wasn't a Fallen who altered Harry's mind. It was Queen Mab aiming to help Harry survive, as the Summer Court could detect his use of fire magic.]]

* RememberWhenYouBlewUpASun: Used by Harry when he is trying to get Luccio to bring the White Council in [[spoiler:on the meeting between Marcone's side and the Denarians]]. When Luccio noted some of the trouble he has caused, Harry points out the good things he has done which have helped the White Council in the war against the Red Court and groups of Warlocks.

* RefusalOfTheCall: [[spoiler:When Murphy takes up ''Fidelacchius'' to protect the sword and Harry from Deirdre, Murphy]] unsheathes the blade just a few inches--a bright light shines from it, scaring Deirdre away. Harry calls it a job offer. [[spoiler:Murphy refuses, citing her oath as a cop; she is still responsible for the people of Chicago and can't take up a calling as a Knight.]]

* PillarOfLight: When Harry finishes smashing apart [[spoiler:the greater circle holding Ivy prisoner]], the energies of the construct erupt into a brief pillar of purple light.

* MyGodWhatHaveIDone: Harry postulates to Michael that [[spoiler:the reason the {{Fallen Angel}}s avoid churches isn't because GoodHurtsEvil and just standing there is uncomfortable, as Michael suspects, but because it makes them ''feel'' Him and remember their time loving Him and serving Him, and this makes them feel doubt. They question their choices and their existence, and after 1,000,000 years or more of steadfast belief you were in the right, and it turns out you were wrong and everything you did was for nothing, it is not an easy revelation for one's conscience.]]
* MyMasterRightOrWrong: The Gruffs and Fix really do not want to kill Harry, but are loyal to Court and Queen. [[spoiler:Fortunately, the former serve in that order.]]

* ManchurianAgent: Michael and the others suspect [[spoiler:Harry to be one because Lasciel's shadow may be manipulating him to help the Denarians. This is not the case, but Harry is the victim of a MemoryGambit.]]
* MaybeMagicMaybeMundane: It is never fully explained just how Harry has the speed or dexterity to [[spoiler:capture a Denarian coin in midair, with his gloved and still-injured left hand, when he is getting his bearings and before it can touch his open skin]].
* MemoryGambit: [[spoiler:Harry]] is the victim of one because of [[spoiler:Queen Mab. She strips Harry of any and every memory about his fire magic and his blasting rod. He doesn't even notice the missing memories. Only when the occasional reference to the memories come about does his mind his something akin to a static wall and causes him to "short circuit", for lack of a better word. It is only when he is just waking up does his subconscious have enough power to say something is wrong.]]

** Harry's encounter with [[spoiler:Eldest Gruff]] has this displayed by both sides, neither of whom really want to fight. [[spoiler:Eldest Gruff serves the Summer Court and the Queen, in that order. Harry abuses this by calling in a favor he is owed from the Court (by having Gruff [[RefugeInAudacity bring him a doughnut]]) and Eldest Gruff abuses it by gravely claiming it will take time to fulfill such a request ([[SugarWiki/FunnyMoments wandering around Chicago waiting for doughnut shops to open and looking for the 'best' doughnut]]), leaving Harry plenty of time to finish Mab's request and thus no longer be targeted by Summer's forces.]]

* LivingMacguffin: Marcone is one for the book, being [[spoiler:kidnapped at the start and making no plot-altering decisions when he is finally found]].

* LightningBruiser: Several of the Denarians are much faster than they look. Tiny Gruff is also extremely fast for his huge size, but his massive momentum prevents him from stopping or changing direction very easily once he has built up any speed.
* LittleMissSnarker: Ivy tries for some guff but doesn't quite get it right. Harry is touched nonetheless, as he realizes she is emulating him.

* {{Irony}}: Nicodemus finds it amusing that the only person he can talk to about his family issues is ''Harry'' because he is the one person he knows for certain [[spoiler:isn't part of the Black Council]]. Harry asks how can he be so sure about it and Nicodemus says that Harry is ''way'' too stubborn to be [[spoiler:corrupted by anything but his own stubbornness]].

** After Murphy has the stones to stand up to an enormous Gruff, ''Mac'' needs a drink and gives a free one to Harry and Murphy. It is implied by Harry's reaction that the ale is the best of Mac's stock.

* HopeSpot: An instance occurs for [[spoiler:Michael of all people]]. After the battle [[spoiler:in the aquarium that results in the deaths of several Denarians, with their coins being subsequently collected, Michael realizes that combined with the other Denarians that they know are in the area, along with the coins already in the Church's posession, Harry and the others are within a hair's breadth of defeating the entire order of Denarians and putting an end to their war with the Church once and for all]]. Unfortunately, [[spoiler:Harry is forced to use the coins they captured to barter for a meeting so that they can have a chance rescue Marcone and Ivy, during which the coins are stolen by Thorned Namshiel, setting the good guys almost all the way back to square one]]. And that's not even counting [[spoiler:what [[GameBreakingInjury happens to]] Michael himself]].

* IdiotBall: Harry is quick to realize [[spoiler:that if the Denarians cannot grab Ivy herself, they will draw her out by holding Kincaid hostage and threatening him]]. So Harry moves to fight them to stop them from looking, [[spoiler:but gets captured. Then Ivy reveals herself to protect him and he realizes there is one other person whom she cares for: Harry himself]].

** Sanya, in his flashback. He was in madly love with Rosanna, accepted a Denarian coin to be with her and committed many atrocities for years alongside her. ''However, the moment he learns she does not love him, he walks out on her, tossed the coin away like garbage and never looked back'''. This is despite the fact the FallenAngel had years to subvert him.
** Harry too. As Nicodemus notes, he's too stubborn to be corrupt. [[spoiler:Only he is far more than Nicodemus thought. He got rid of Lasciel's influence. While having barely any magical energy left, he risks his life to take out the Denarians in the aquarium by blasting the water tanks there. Though the crowning moment comes when he is strangling Nicodemus. Nicodemus, his magic being disabled by ''Fidellachius'', strikes at every one of Harry's injuries with enough force to to feel pain beyond Lasciel's pain numbing technique, but he presses on, and keeps going after Nicodemus loses consciousness. And when Deirdre shows up, despite knowing the only reason they haven't shot him is because Nick is right next to him, he tosses him into the water, because he ''needs to die''. Then Harry does not attack the mooks despite in a precarious position because they would drown and still holds his breath underwater and escapes.]]

* HopelessBossFight: When Harry sees the Eldest Gruff [[spoiler:kill a Denarian in one shot, then notices that he is wearing three purple stoles worn by members of the Senior Council (which he could only have as trophies from victories)]], Harry knows that he doesn't stand a chance. [[spoiler:Thankfully, he is owed a favor from the Summer Court.]]

** Titania has played one since ''Literature/ProvenGuilty.'' [[spoiler:That silver oak leaf that grants Harry a boon from Summer was something she knew he would keep on him, in the event that he needed it in the war, and which is valuable enough to not waste frivolously. So it would provide her and her people an ideal tracking method when Mab eventually comes to Harry with another favor to ask of him. Even with the strongest blizzard going around Harry, the leaf's signal still gets through.]]

* HeHadAName: A variation, as the one who died was Harry's enemy. Weak-willed Denarians who are possessed by their Fallen, instead of being in a partnership with them, don't tend to be called by their own names anymore; the Fallen is addressed directly. During a conversation with Nicodemus, Harry refers back to Rasmussen, the host for Ursiel, whom Harry soulgazed back in ''Literature/DeathMasks''. Because of that, he cannot forget the man and will always remember him being a prisoner in his own body. It takes Nicodemus a minute to even recall the man, only noting whose host he was.
* HellIsThatNoise: In-universe. When the Eldest Gruff is closing in on Harry, he hears a heavy ''Thump'' getting closer and closer. Considering this Gruff's first younger sibling was about twenty feet tall, Harry is seriously worried about these ''Thumps''. [[spoiler:Turns out the Eldest Gruff is five feet, five-two tops. The noise is his MagicStaff as he puts it down on the ground.]]

* GoodHurtsEvil: When Harry inadvertently uses [[spoiler:Soulfire, the fire of Creation, against a Denarian]], it adds a boost to Harry's attack and does more damage. [[spoiler:When Harry sees the guy later on the island, he is still suffering the injuries as the attack isn't one the Fallen can heal the host from easily.]]

** Harry works out that [[spoiler:the Prince of Darkness was involved in the plot by pumping extra power to the Fallen twice. First to test out the greater circle they used on Marcone and later to bind Ivy at the Shedd.]]

* GetItOverWith: When Harry defeats the gruff at Union Station, it tells him to finish it. Twice. Whereupon Harry says he does not kill unless necessary, much to the shock of the gruff, who had assumed he was actually in the Winter Court.

** Given the concerns [[spoiler:Michael, Luccio, and Molly have about Harry being controlled by something, Molly scans him when he sleeps. When she reports that ''something'' is wrong, just as Harry is waking up, Murphy is dismissive. But in a groggy state, Harry says to trust Molly.]] Later, it is revealed this statement was the person's subconscious fighting the control in this brief moment.