History Heartwarming / TheDresdenFiles

The fire was every bit as beautiful as I remembered.\\

** Glimpses of Marcone's inner good nature always end up being [=CMoHs=] for this troper. The best is in ''White Night'', when [[spoiler:Marcone is providing an extraction route for Harry and the battle gets heated. Marcone tells Harry he didn't sign on for a war.]] Harry responds by going up to him and saying:

** Later on, when Harry is having his mental breakdown when he learns that [[spoiler: Mab had taken his blasting rod and {{Mindrape}}ed him into not remembering it]], Michael leans down over him and prays to break the enchantment....and the power of either God or simple faith in that prayer is enough to utterly shatter the [[spoiler: geas on Harry's mind]]. Really shows both the power of Michael's friendship toward Harry and the strength of his faith, as well as the raw power of ''good'' in a setting overrun by evil.

* ''Turn Coat'' has a bunch, but this troper's particular favorite is [[spoiler: Harry and Murphy,]] in Chapter 35.

** It really hits home when [[spoiler:Uriel points out that these are just some of the most recent and insignificant examples, pointing out that all of this doesn't even begin to cover the lives that Harry's saved, the pain he's averted and the darkness he's banished in all his countless battles beforehand.]] Given Harry's frequent musings on how often it seems that in spite of his best efforts he can't make the world a better place, he has a tremendous impact all the same.

* In the short story ''The Warrior'', [[spoiler:Uriel tells Harry exactly how he's doing good by pointing out how seemingly insignificant actions throughout the story would ultimately have life-changingly positive impacts: noticing a bruise on a little girl's cheek helped her mother realize that her husband was abusing the child, stopping an electrician from working while drunk lead to his getting off the sauce and saving his marriage, and cheering up a teenager who felt useless on her softball team would lead to her becoming a counselor who would help hundreds of children herself.]]

* A small one from ''Dead Beat'', after Marcone send Gard to rescue Harry from the ghoul Li Xian:
-->'''Gard:''' Hubris. Mortals never understand.
-->'''Harry:''' Tell me about it. [[HypocriticalHumor Everyone makes that mistake but me.]]
** [[TheStoic Marcone]] actually [[ActuallyPrettyFunny comes close to smiling.]] Looks like Harry is more appreciated than he thinks.

--> "No greater love hath any man than this. [[spoiler: She's my daughter Harry.]] Nothing I could say would be enough. Thank you."

* Michael's reaction after learning that Harry was [[spoiler: Willing to take on essentially the entire White Council to protect Molly.]]

-->The aching, lonely old hurt was overflowing me. But I suddenly found myself laughing.I had seen my mother with my Sight. I had seen her smile, heard her voice, and it was something I could never lose. Something no one could ever take away from me. It couldn't wholly make up for a lifetime of loneliness and silent grief, but it was more than I ever thought I would have.

* Butters helping Harry rehabilitate his badly burned hand [[hottip:*:Harry burned it severely in a previous adventure using a fire spell, and has spent most of ''Dead Beat'' too traumatized to use his fire spells.]] by buying him a guitar and a copy of ''Guitar for Total Idiots''. Harry settles back to read it, and casually lights some candles using magic.

* Michael gets these all the time but one that really stands out doubles as a moment of awesome as well. [[spoiler: After he was shot and had some of his organs shreaded by a fallen angel shooting him and spending hours if not days in the hospital under constant watch of dying. The first thing he does after waking up is ask if Harry was okay.]]

* Yes, we know -- and Harry finds out later -- that he's an utter bastard, but there's something genuinely touching about Justin Du Morne giving young Harry a baseball glove and going outside to play catch. It's all in how Harry describes it. He grew up an orphan, the only gifts he'd ever gotten were given anonymously and randomly. Seeing little Harry's joy at being given a gift that's really meant for ''him'' is enough to bring tears to your eyes.

** And then in ''Small Favor'', when she's an eleven-year-old, she, Harry and company are meeting the big Nasties at the local aquarium when she goes missing for a few minutes. Harry quickly figures out where she is, though: watching the otters at play.
** Also in ''Small Favor'', when [[spoiler:the Archive is kidnapped]] and Dresden [[spoiler: writes her a note]].
*** ''"....I got your letter. Thank you."''
* [[MagnificentBastard Gentleman]] Johnny Marcone gets one when, after having been tortured by the Denarians for a week straight, he silently demands that Harry and the Knights save [[spoiler: Ivy]] first. [[PetTheDog Then he turns around and ''shelters'' her and makes sure she is the first one to get on the rescue helicopter.]]
** Glimpses of Marcone's inner good nature always end up being [=CMoHs=] for this troper. The best is in ''White Night'', when [[spoiler:Marcone is providing an extraction route for Harry and the battle gets heated. Marcone tells Harry he didn't sign on for a war.]] Harry responds by going up to him and saying:
-->"People are dying, John. Help me save them. God, ''please'', help me."
-->"Who do you think I am, wizard?"
-->"Someone who can help them. Maybe the only one."
-->He stared at me with empty, opaque eyes. Then he said very quietly, "Yes."
* At the end of ''Grave Peril'', Susan has been [[spoiler:[[VampireRefugee half-vamped]] by the Red Court and has to constantly resist the urge to drink blood, so she leaves town]]. She sends Harry a card. Awwww...

* In ''Death Masks'', the very last lines. "I took Susan's picture down. I put the postcards in a brown envelope. I picked up the jewel box that held the dinky engagement ring I'd offered her, and that she'd turned down. Then I put them all in my closet. I laid the old man's cane on my fireplace mantle. Maybe some things just aren't made to go together. Things like oil and water. Orange juice and toothpaste. Me and Susan. But tomorrow was another day."
* ''Turn Coat'' has a bunch, but this troper's particular favorite is [[spoiler: Harry and Murphy,]] in Chapter 35.
--> She reached up with both hands, put them on the sides of my head, and pulled me down a little. Then she kissed my forehead and my mouth, neither quickly nor with passion. Then she let me go and looked up at me, her eyes worried and calm. "You know that I love you, Harry. You're a good man. A good friend."... "My world would be a scarier place without you in it."
--> Then I bent down and kissed her forehead and her mouth, gently, [[HeadbuttOfLove and leaned my forehead against hers.]] "Love you, too," I whispered.
* Michael gets these all the time but one that really stands out doubles as a moment of awesome as well. [[spoiler: After he was shot and had some of his organs shreaded by a fallen angel shooting him and spending hours if not days in the hospital under constant watch of dying. the first thing he does after waking up is ask if Harry was okay.]]

* In ''Death Masks'', Marcones' visit to the hospital where [[spoiler: "Persephone"]] is being cared for. He [[spoiler: brings her a teddy bear, reads to her from a book for an hour, and then lays the Shroud of Turin over her.]] The clincher is at the end, as Harry is watching.
-->''I hadn't ever pictured John Marcone praying. But I saw him forming the word ''please,'' over and over.''
* In ''Blood Rites'', after Harry and Thomas share the soulgaze where [[spoiler: they both get to see their mother]], Harry has a brief but powerful moment:
-->The aching, lonely old hurt was overflowing me. But I suddenly found myself laughing.I had seen my mother with my Sight. I had seen her smile, heard her voice, and it was something I could never lose. Something no one could ever take away from me. It couldn't wholly make up for a lifetime of loneliness and silent grief, but it was more than I ever thought I would have.
* In ''Dead Beat'', the conversation between Harry and the spirit of his father.
-->'''Malcolm Dresden''': Yes. I'm dead. But that doesn't mean that I'm not here. It doesn't mean that I don't love you, boy.
** This great line, from the same conversation:
-->'''Malcolm Dresden''': Son. Everyone dies alone. That's what it is. It's a door. It's one person wide. When you go through it, you do it alone. But it doesn't mean you've got to be alone before you go through the door. And believe me, ''[[YouAreNotAlone you aren't alone on the other side]]''.
** Also from ''Dead Beat'', when Harry is trying to convince an EMT to talk to him, the man is initially worried that Harry will think he's crazy for reporting it, and doesn't trust him...at least until he remembers where he'd seen Harry before, when he and Michael had been arrested for breaking into the maternity ward a few years back. He says the hospital they're in, Cook County, was suffering the highest rate of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome in the country, up until that night. Ever since then, they haven't lost a single baby - and he realizes that it was Harry and Michael who "did something" to stop it. It's a small but powerful scene that shows how what Harry has been doing has really been helping people and that his struggles aren't going unrecognized.
** Butters helping Harry rehabilitate his badly burned hand [[hottip:*:Harry burned it severely in a previous adventure using a fire spell, and has spent most of ''Dead Beat'' too traumatized to use his fire spells.]] by buying him a guitar and a copy of ''Guitar for Total Idiots''. Harry settles back to read it, and casually lights some candles using magic.
-->I stopped and blinked-first at the candles and then at my burned hand.
-->"What?" Butters asked.
-->"Nothing," I said, and opened the book to look over it. "You know, Butters, for a mortician you're a pretty good healer."
-->"You think so?"
-->I glanced at the warm, steady flame of the candles and smiled. "Yeah."
* In Changes when we get to hear [[spoiler: Mouse talk]] thanks to Lea, and he tells her that Harry didn't [[spoiler: 'win him' it was the other way around, Mouse won Harry]].

* A small one from ''Dead Beat'', after Marcone send Gard to rescue Harry from the ghoul Li Xian:
-->'''Gard:''' Hubris. Mortals never understand.
-->'''Harry:''' Tell me about it. [[HypocriticalHumor Everyone makes that mistake but me.]]
** [[TheStoic Marcone]] actually [[ActuallyPrettyFunny comes close to smiling.]] Looks like Harry is more appreciated than he thinks.
* ''Ghost Story'' has Harry learning that Mouse is now protecting Maggie. Just the mental image is enough to make one want to sob happy tears--especially when Harry speculates that he's "probably spending half his time pretending to be a pony." And this is before we learn that the "home" that Forthill found for Maggie is [[spoiler: the Carpenters' residence, ringed with Guardian Angels.]]
** The most touching part is Harry watching Maggie sleeping peacefully; it shows that all of the hardship that Harry endured, all of the choices he made, ''did'' have a positive outcome.
** And even more touching when you realize that this is the way Father Forthill and Michael chose to repay Harry for all the things he's done for them. Harry asked Forthill to find her a good family. He did.
* Uriel offering Sir Stuart's shade the opportunity to [[spoiler: work for him protecting free will.]] Made even more poignant by the fact that Stuart turns and looks to his descendant, Mortimer, who has steadily been [[TookALevelInBadass becoming more and more badass throughout the book]], and deciding that the once-cowardly ectomancer can stand on his own, and agrees.
* The seven words Uriel says to Harry in order to balance what was done to him form a CrowningMomentOfHeartwarming crossed with CrowningMomentOfAwesome.
-->'''Uriel''': [[spoiler:Lies. Mab cannot change who you are.]]
* Yes, we know -- and Harry finds out later -- that he's an utter bastard, but there's something genuinely touching about Justin Du Morne giving young Harry a baseball glove and going outside to play catch. It's all in how Harry describes it. He grew up an orphan, the only gifts he'd ever gotten were given anonymously and randomly. Seeing little Harry's joy at being given a gift that's really meant for ''him'' is enough to bring tears to your eyes.
* Minor in comparison to some of the others, but in ''Ghost Story'', when Harry is trying to prove to Murphy and company that, yes, [[spoiler:he really is a ghost, and yes, he really is there]], Mister wanders into the room. The cat stares at him and looks shocked for a second, then ''barrels into him and starts purring''.
* Doubles as a TearJerker, but Murphy's utter denial that Harry is dead. She refuses to believe it, despite all accounts to the opposite, and when she finally accepts it, she holds her emotions in until after everything has simmered down.
** And ''while'' she's breaking down in tears, ''Mortimer Lindquist'', cowardly ectomancer who took [[TookALevelInBadass 50 bajillion levels in badass]] shields her grief and attempts to hide her so her pride is not damaged.
* Harry barely even thinks before possessing Molly to help her fight off the turtlenecks.
* A quiet one for Marcone. In the six months since Harry's death, he essentially built a functional monument to everything Harry stood for and fought for on the ruins of his house.
* It's a small one, but the scene in Ghost Story where [[spoiler: we get a flashback to when Harry arranged for Kincaid to kill him. Before Harry's told him what the call is about,Kincaid actually seems pretty darn happy that it was Harry calling.]]
----

* While it's the type of thing that goes under the radar, there is a very moving moment in ''Proven Guilty'' when Harry is using his Sight on one of the victims of the phobophages and he turns to look at Murphy. He sees Murphy with the stains of her life as the head of SI and then: "She smiled at me, a sunny light in it, though her body's face remained a neutral mask." I missed it the first time I read through and it made me do a double take when I reread it because it conveyed faster then almost any scene in the series that Murphy is Harry's friend and loves him.

** Until you remember exactly how Justin trained Harry in shield usage. He threw baseballs at him.

--> Until you remember exactly how Justin trained Harry in shield usage. He threw baseballs at him.

* It's a small one and [[YourMileageMayVary YMMV]], but the scene in Ghost Story where [[spoiler: we get a flashback to when Harry arranged for Kincaid to kill him. Before Harry's told him what the call is about,Kincaid actually seems pretty darn happy that it was Harry calling.]]

** The most touching part is Harry watching Maggie sleeping peacefully; it shows that all of the hardship that Harry endured the choices he made did have a positive outcome,

* The seven words Uriel says to Harry in order to balance what was done to him is a CrowningMomentOfHeartwarming crossed with CrowningMomentOfAwesome
-->'''Uriel''':[[spoiler:Lies. Mab cannot change who you are.]]
* Yes, we know--and Harry finds out later--that he's an utter bastard, but there's something genuinely touching about Justin Du Morne giving young Harry a baseball glove and going outside to play catch. It's all in how Harry describes it. He grew up an orphan, the only gifts he'd ever gotten were given anonymously and randomly. Seeing little Harry's joy at being given a gift that's really meant for ''him'' is enough to bring tears to your eyes.

* ''Ghost Story'' has Harry learning that Mouse is now protecting Maggie. Just the mental image is enough to make one want to sob happy tears. And this is before we learn that the "home" that Forthill found for Maggie is [[spoiler: the Carpenters' residence, ringed with Guardian Angels.]]

* ''Ghost Story'' has Harry learning that Mouse is now protecting Maggie. Just the mental image is enough to make one want to sob happy tears. And this is before we learn that the "home" that Forthill found for Maggie is [[spoiler: the Carpenters' residence.]]

-->'''Harry:''' Tell me about it. [[BlatantLies Everyone makes that mistake but me.]]

--> '''Gard:''' Hubris. Mortals never understand.