Harry Dresden



Harry Blackstone Copperfield Dresden is a male human wizard, with a talent for thaumaturgy and alchemy working as a private investigator out of Chicago, USA. He is the protagonist and first person narrator of The Dresden Files series. As of Changes, he is 37 years old.

Biography
Harry was born on Halloween, to Margaret LeFay and Malcolm Dresden. His mother died in childbirth, so Malcolm took care of him while travelling across the country trying to make a career as a stage magician. When Harry was six, Malcolm died of a brain aneurysm. Harry, orphaned, became a ward of the state.

Harry first manifested his powers at age ten, during a running long jump at school Olympics in the spring. Desperate to win, he magically pushed himself about about ten feet farther than he would have jumped on his own. Though he landed badly and sprained his wrist, he won a blue ribbon that he keeps to this day.

About two weeks after first manifesting, he was adopted by Justin DuMorne, a wizard and former Warden of the White Council, who took him as his apprentice.

At thirteen, Harry was given his first shielding lesson by DuMorne, who used baseballs as projectiles.

At sixteen, DuMorne tried to enthrall both Harry and his girlfriend, fellow adoptee Elaine Mallory. He succeeded in enthralling Elaine, but Harry escaped. He faced and beat He Who Walks Behind, an Outsider summoned by DuMorne to kill Harry; afterwards, he decided to go back and rescue Elaine. Harry made a bargain with the Leanansidhe in which he received power enough to defeat Justin DuMorne, a debt he would owe his godmother for years to come. Harry faced DuMorne in a duel to the death and won. He stole Bob, the air spirit of knowledge, and left, thinking Elaine died in the fire.

Harry was then found by the White Council (to his surprise - as far as he knew, there were no other wizards besides himself, DuMorne, and Elaine) and was put on trial for breaking the First Law of Magic. He was let off the death penalty due to the killing being ruled as self defence, and instead was put under the Doom of Damocles. This was due to some of the Council members, notably Ebenezar McCoy. Harry was taken in as apprentice by McCoy; though this would later be found out to be because McCoy was the Council's wet-works man, and was under orders to kill Harry if he showed any signs of rebelliousness -- which happened fairly often, apparently. Harry lived with McCoy on his farm in Hog Hollow, Missouri; his days were spent with hard work on the farm during the day, and studying in the evening. Although McCoy taught him about magic, his teaching of general values and providing a stable and peaceful life and home were even more important, and crucial for shaping his life. It is revealed in Changes that McCoy is Harry's grandfather.

After spending some years "getting his head together" under McCoy's tutelage, Harry attained membership to the Council, though he didn't, and still doesn't, trust them. (This is improving, albeit slowly.) He spent some years travelling across America, much like he did with his father, before settling down in Chicago.

After he first came to Chicago, he worked at a bunch of different jobs, among them being a dance partner with a senior-citizen organization, where he learned ballroom dancing. He then joined Nicholas Christian at Ragged Angel Investigations, where he spent three years gaining his licence as a private investigator. After this, he opened his own business, which had been open for two years as Storm Front opens.

When needed, he wears a blue unembroidered stole over his formal black robe.

"Restoration of Faith"
In "Restoration of Faith",

Storm Front


In Storm Front, Harry comes up against a two-bit sorcerer mixing sex, drugs, magic and murder, the Shadowman. Also introduced, among others, are the White Council, the Warden Morgan, Lieutenant Karrin Murphy of the Chicago Police Department's Special Investigations division, who hires Harry on a "per case" basis as a consultant, and Susan Rodriguez, a reporter for the Midwestern Arcane, a newspaper that reports on the supernatural occurances in the area.

By the end of the book the Doom of Damocles is lifted from him in a Council meeting due to "valorous action above and beyond the call of duty", although he himself cannot attend due to still being hospitalized.

Fool Moon
In Fool Moon, Harry faces off against several different kinds of werewolves, and gains a new ally in Billy and his gang of werewolves, known as the Alphas. Harry also concludes at the end of the novel that someone is trying to kill him, having put together certain facts from the novels. He also begins dating Susan Rodriguez at the end of the book.

Harry's other side appears in a dream. He counsels Harry to tell Murphy everything: the White Council, Nevernever, all of it, she may get eaten by a monster if he doesn't tell her and Murphy's a big girl; and Harry should ask Murphy out. Not trusting Susan Rodriguez might have something to do with Elaine Mallory. It isn't over as long as he holds himself responsible for Justin DuMorne's death and Elaine's fall. And, that Harry knows she's still alive. Until he faces reality, he won't be able to heal. Then they talk about MacFinn, the case and Johnny Marcone, Streetwolves.

Grave Peril
In Grave Peril, Harry is manipulated into a conflict with the Red Court of Vampires, led by Bianca. Another friend of his is also introduced, Michael Carpenter, a Knight of the Holy Cross. And Harry also meets Thomas Raith, of the White Court of Vampires, for the first time. Unfortunately for Harry, Susan is kidnapped by Bianca, and half-turned into a Red Court vampire. Harry gets her back, but only by killing his host while a representative of the White Council, thereby starting a Wizards vs. Vampires war.

It is also revealed that Harry has a faerie Godmother, Leanansidhe, who helped him escape DuMorne in exchange for his loyalty.

Summer Knight
Summer Knight begins with Harry living rough, spending all his time trying to find a cure for Susan. He is quickly ensnared into averting a war between the Faery Courts, Summer and Winter, as not doing so would send the world into one of two climates. Harry also learns that the current Queen of the Winter Court, Mab, has bought his debt from his Godmother. They haggle a deal whereby Harry will do three favours for Mab, which he chooses, and he'll be free from Fae influence. The events of Summer Knight make one favour, so Harry owes Mab two more.

It is mentioned that Elaine survived the fire with which Harry took down Justin DuMorne, and hid in the Summer Court, building up a debt to the current Summer Lady, Aurora, to protect her from those who would want to find and use her.

Death Masks
In Death Masks, Harry meets the other two Knights of the Cross, and has to find the Shroud of Turin before Nicodemus Archleone, the head of the Order of the Blackened Denarius (Denarians being Fallen Angels who inhabit the 30 pieces of silver used to pay off Judas Iscariot for his betrayal of Christ) uses it to set off an apocalyptic plague. He also has to contend with a duel with Paolo Ortega, a Duke of the Red Court, and meets Susan again for the first time since her half-transformation in Grave Peril. At the end of the novel, Harry picks up the coin of the Fallen Angel Lasciel to protect Michael's youngest son.

Harry meets Thomas Raith again, Jared Kincaid, a mercenary, and The Archive (who Harry names Ivy), a seven-year-old child who is the living repository for all human knowledge.

"Publicity and Advertising"
In "Publicity and Advertising", he and Bob argue on how better to write an announcement on the Yellow Pages.

Blood Rites
In Blood Rites, Harry picks up a stowaway from a job, a Temple Dog, whom he eventually names Mouse and decides to keep. Harry also has to contend with a ritual curse being sent to kill the women around Arturo Genosa, a pornographic movie director. He also finds out that Thomas Raith is his half-brother, on his mother's side. Eventually, he's pulled into a power struggle in the White Court.

Harry decides to stamp on the Black Court subversion that is happening also. While taking out Mavra, he severely burns his hand after she exploits a gap in his defensive capabilities.

Harry learns that Ebenezar McCoy is the White Council's Blackstaff, the wet-works man who can break the Laws of Magic at will, if he thinks that the Council is being manipulated by them. Harry also learns that Kincaid is a Scion, or part demon.

Dead Beat
In Dead Beat, Harry being forced by Mavra (who didn't die in Blood Rites) to take a job looking for "The Word of Kemmler", the last in a series of magical texts by the (deceased) necromancer, Heinrich Kemmler‎, in order to protect Murphy, who is on holiday in Hawaii with Kincaid. While trying to deal with the group of "Kemmlerites", the Red Court launch their first major offensive on the Council, killing most of the Wardens in the process. Captain Luccio therefore makes Harry a Warden - the White Council needs every available wizard, and Harry becoming a Warden raises morale among the younger members of the Council.

Harry also becomes aware of Lasciel's presence in his head, and has to walk a fine line between using her gifts (such as Hellfire, which supercharges his spells, and her photographic memory) and resisting her, or else he will fall under her power.

His double is part of a three-way internal dialogue with Lasciel's shadow right after Harry was tortured by Quintus Cassius. The discussion centers around how much use to make of her ability to enhance Harry's abilities, how much to trust her, and around the contents of the Word of Kemmler.

"Something Borrowed"
In "Something Borrowed", he and Karrin Murphy are on the hunt for Georgia who has disappeared just before she is to be married to Billy Borden. They discover that Jenny Greenteeth has cast a sleeping spell on her in order to take her place at the wedding and get some serious supernatural influence on Billy.

Proven Guilty
Proven Guilty sees Harry investigate black magic in Chicago, at the behest of the Gatekeeper. He also finds himself up against faerie constructs based around horror films, and leads a charge on the Winter Fae capital, Arctis Tor, in order to retrieve Molly Carpenter, Michael’s oldest daughter, who is later revealed to be the warlock behind the black magic. At Molly's trial, Harry "becomes a politician", in his own words, cutting off the Merlin’s choices until the Merlin is forced to allow Harry to take Molly under the Doom of Damocles.

White Night
Women with the ability to use magic (too weak to be full wizards) have been disappearing. It looks like the White Court may be taking a more active role in the war between vampires and wizards and it looks like Thomas Raith is connected. To make things worse, Thomas isn't answering Harry's calls. Several rival interests among the White vampires are interwoven into a thicker, yet well-coordinated plot full of surprises and tag-team dueling action.

"It's My Birthday, Too"
In "It's My Birthday, Too", Harry Dresden intends to give his brother a birthday present. Thomas is enjoying a game of "Evernight" at the Woodfield Mall, when Harry reaches him, but a Black Court vampire gets in the way.

"Heorot"
In "Heorot", Harry and Ms. Gard collaborate in finding Elizabeth Braddock, kidnapped from the "NIGHT OF THE LIVING BREWS" for breeding purposes by the Grendelkin.

Small Favor
In Small Favor, Harry loses his ability to charge his spells with Hellfire and has to make do without it for his favor to Queen Mab and the recent resurgence of the Denarians. Towards the middle of this book, he gains the ability to use Soulfire, the divine equivalent of Hellfire. It is fueled by his own soul, which will regenerate from the usage given enough time, and acts which are "good for the soul."

"Day Off"
In "Day Off", Harry tries to enjoy a well earned day off. A group of non-talented youngsters, his apprentice, and two of the Alphas interfere, and the day off turns out as busy as his regular days.

Backup
In Backup, Thomas Raith chases a Stygian who is bent on tricking Harry Dresden to discover and release a book that would wreck the century old Oblivion War.

The Warrior
In The Warrior, Harry Dresden and Michael Carpenter team up to stop a a priest from getting the Swords of the Cross.

"Last Call"
In "Last Call", discovers that maenad Meditrina Bassarid has magicked McAnally's beer and that he is running against time to prevent a disaster at Chicago's United Center.

"Curses"
In "Curses", Harry Dresden is tasked with ending the Billy Goat Curse. After a meeting with Gwynn ap Nudd, he refuses to do it, having discovered the true meaning of the course.

"AAAA Wizardry"
In "AAAA Wizardry",

Turn Coat
Donald Morgan arrives on Harry's door, injured and on the run; he's accused of the murder of a Senior Council member, though it's a setup. Harry assists the White Court, which has also been set up by the Black Council, in proving Morgan's innocence. During his investigation, he claims a Sanctum, has to fight a Skinwalker and is finally able to pinpoint a traitor in the White Council. Meanwhile, Harry's brother is kidnapped and darkened by the Skinwalker. Harry throws down a challenge of violence to the remaining Senior Council members.

"Love Hurts"
In Love Hurts, Harry Dresden and Karrin Murphy are investigating a series of double suicides and link it to the State Fair in Springfield, discovering that the Baroness Leblanc of the Red Court was behind it all since the beginning.

Changes
Harry is informed by Susan that they have a daughter, Margaret Angelica, who has been kidnapped. Surrendering to Queen Mab's wishes and becoming the new Winter Knight, Harry is - with the help of his friends and the Grey Council - able to obliterate the Red Court and rescue his daughter. The novel ends with Harry drowning, having been shot by an unknown assailant. As he drowns, he hears two voices; one male (Quintus Cassius) and one female.

Ghost Story
Harry is sent back to Chicago as a ghost to solve his own murder. Mortimer Lindquist is kidnapped by a cult worshiping Corpsetaker's ghost and Harry rallies his friends to take her down. In the end, he learns that he had arranged his own murder, to renege on his Winter Knight deal with Mab, then had Molly Carpenter erase his memory of the arrangement. Uriel gives Harry a second chance since his suicide was influenced by a Fallen Angel. When Harry chooses to "move on", however, it turns out that Queen Mab and Demonreach have kept his body alive all the time. The Queen then takes the resuscitated Knight to her domain.

Bombshells
In Bombshells, as a token of gratitude toward Molly Carpenter, the Leanansidhe mentions that Harry is in fact not yet dead.

Cold Days
Harry wakes at Arctis Tor and spends three months in a combination of physiotherapy (under Sarissa) and naked combat training (under Mab) before accepting his first assignment as the Winter Knight -- to kill Mab's daughter Maeve, who is immortal, and already apparently dead-set on killing Harry. In Chicago, Molly helps him gather resources and allies, while warning him that Demonreach is soon to explode, taking most of the Midwest with it. Harry learns of Nemesis, a secret way that Outsiders gain influence in the world. Nemesis, aka The Adversary, is likely behind the Black Council. With the help of the Wild Hunt, Mab, and his allies, Harry prevents the Outsiders and their thrall Maeve from staging an apocalyptic prison break on Demonreach. Maeve and Lily are killed, Sarissa becomes Summer Lady, and Molly becomes Winter Lady. Harry is left alone on Demonreach.

Skin Game
Harry is stuck on Demonreach because of the "parasite" giving him increasing headaches, until Mab sends him off with three days to live, to join her creditor Nicodemus Archleone in a bank vault heist. The mark turns out to be Hades, Lord of the Underworld. Harry, having no choice at all, insists on bringing Murphy to watch his back, and a meeting with Donar Vadderung to prepare a strategy. Within a short time, the conspirators make enemies of Waldo Butters, Karrin Murphy, the Carpenters, and the Archangel Uriel, and find Nicodemus' wife Tessa hot on their trail, determined to stop their project at all costs.

Harry, ostensibly working for the bad guys, is both hampered and conflicted at all times, and needs help keeping his white hat on straight - he gets this eventually from Michael Carpenter and from Hades himself.

"Jury Duty"
In "Jury Duty", Dresden is drafted as a juror in the murder trial of Hamilton Luther; he manages to get judge to declare it a mistrial, by finding a key witness and by consistently disagreeing with fellow jurors about Luther's guilt.

"Day One"
In "Day One", Harry encourages Waldo Butters fighting the baku by pointing out that God would not assign someone a task greater than he can carry out.

Magic
As one of the most powerful younger wizards of the White Council, Harry has a large repertoire of magical powers. His skills at evocation, or ‘quick and dirty’ magic, aka "kaboom magic", aka "battle magic", lean toward large blasts of fire and force, sometimes using wind, and also has some skill with earth (usually manipulating gravity) and lightning magic. He has considerable magical brute strength, though his control is initially somewhat lacking - for example, while he could easily shatter a pair of handcuffs, he may also break the wrists of the person wearing them. For this reason, Harry is ofttimes referred to as a magical 'thug'. Later in the series, Harry is also shown to have tremendous power in ritual form battle magic, when he uses the energy of a ley line to concentrate gravity for several miles around into a small zone, and flattens hundreds of enemy combatants at once.

Harry's skill with battle magic has increased steadily and quickly. His shields are the most striking example, initially unable to deal with sufficiently strong attacks, and not warding away heat, such that his hand was almost burned off. Now, thanks to practice and improved foci, they can deal with significant attacks without a problem. While the head of the Wardens has sufficient focus to wield fire magic with a pinpoint laser-like effect that can cut a person in two, Harry has the power to take out a building, fry an I-beam, and has 'upgraded' to a blue-white shot of fire magic powered by his soul, strong enough to bore through a Denarian. Harry is also using physics more, using his shields to turn enemies attacks back upon themselves or their allies, and ripping heat away from areas to create ice as well as power fire attacks simultaneously, and transforming himself (and a White Court vampire) into an explosion-powered cannonball.

Harry was frequently accused of a lack of subtlety in his magic until he began training Molly as his apprentice. Through teaching to her particular talents (especially for veiling, illusion and subtle mind magic) and weaknesses (lacking brute force, emotional oversensitivity), Harry gained a greater understanding and finer control over his talents and began using subtler versions of his own spells, such as tightly controlled wind gusts.

Changes
In Changes Harry develops a much better control of magic, starting to cast illusions, veils, and Luccio's cutting fire beam, raising and lowering shields with great speed, and fine uses of soulfire, affecting huge areas with spells, mentally summoning of extremely powerful entities without a circle, and using the fire and ice exchange trick in combat multiple times.

He also takes up the Winter Knight's Mantle. It is a position of incredible power, giving Harry access to the abilities of the Winter Sidhe, though ironically, he still complains of his aversion to cold, something the position failed to take away. This gives him substantially more stamina, speed, and strength in both the physical and magical sense, improved ability with "ice magic" which he either lacked or was reluctant to use prior to his appointment, and give him greater protection from physical attacks. It is presumed that Harry will hold the mantle of Winter Knight until he dies, as only with the death of the old knight can a new one be named (though Jim Butcher has stated that Harry is still the Winter Knight in the novel Ghost Story). However, in Cold Days, Kringle mentions that Mantles can at times be removed.

Harry was able to employ Hellfire while possessed by the Shadow of the Denarian Lasciel, a power that especially aided destructive spells and fire effects. He first experienced this power during the events of Blood Rites, noticing that his staff had begun to generate heat and smoke when he used it, and he realized that his brief exposure to Lasciel's coin had allowed him to tap into it involuntarily. After Harry lost that power, the Archangel Uriel awarded him the Angelic power of soulfire, which is used to make a sort of magical framework for the magic being used, turning, for instance, a straight force attack into an enduring silvery construct hand able to bash and batter repeatedly. The portion of the soul used in the soulfire returns over a period of days, enabling the wielder to get back to full strength; using all of one's soul is still fatal, however. Soulfire excels when used in creation magic, a notable example of which is illusions.

Magic itself has an innate power to disrupt technology in the Dresdenverse. A strong wizard's aura interferes with devices such as computers, airplane engines, and car motors, severely limiting his use of any modern/electronic gadgets. ("I can kill a copier at fifty paces," Harry remarks in Storm Front.) As a result, Harry becomes a potential safety risk whenever he visits places containing sophisticated equipment, such as hospitals in which patients are on life support. He prefers older, less refined technology when he has to deal with it; he drives a 1960s Volkswagen Beetle, knows a mechanic who can keep it running eight or nine days out of every ten, and favors revolvers over semiautomatic pistols when he needs to carry a firearm. Harry uses candles, a fireplace, a kerosene heater, and an icebox in his apartment and lab, and he keeps dozens of spare light bulbs in his office in case one burns out when he walks past it. He can deliberately cause widespread havoc around high-tech items just by drawing in his magic, a practice he refers to as "hexing."

Because of this technological stricture, many wizards employ the Nevernever to travel long distances. If a wizard knows the path, they can step into the Nevernever, walk a short distance, and emerge somewhere else far away, as distance and time function differently inside. Due to their difficulty in using advanced means of transportation, control of paths and locations in the Nevernever is of critical importance to wizards for getting around rapidly. Knowledge of access points to the Nevernever is among the more useful secrets in the Dresdenverse...and an important bargaining chip for the Faerie Courts, who control most of the Paths through them. Dresden's mother was one of the most knowledgeable of such travelers. According to Luccio she would breakfast in Prague, lunch in Rome, and be in Tibet by sundown, with a couple of stops for coffee along the way. Harry obtained a red crystal belonging to his mother in Changes, which contains his mother's knowledge of these paths. He has become slowly better, faster, and neater about opening portals to the Nevernever…he even uses one as a shield in combat to absorb falling stalactites from a collapsing ceiling.

Harry also possesses great skill at thaumaturgy including tracking and sympathy spells - he prefers it, since it gives him more structure and precision for his power. According to Harry in White Night, his skills lie in "redirecting energy, sending energy out into the world to resonate...". Harry has summoned spirits across multiple mythos in his time, including faeries big and small, Voodoo loa spirits of knowledge, and actual demons, using this skill and thaumaturgic rituals. His first use of a ritual in battle is in Changes.

A power that all true wizards have is The Sight, or the Third Eye. Using this power is one of the earmarks of wizardry. It allows a wizard to see the world as it truly is, on a magical and spiritual level, bypassing all veils and illusions and showing people and things as they truly are. Anything that is witnessed under the Third Eye is remembered perfectly, forever, which leads to reluctance to employ it, as it is often called on in situations to reveal evil, horrible supernatural harm, and the like, and the weight of such memories can cause significant mental stress over time. Harry's first use of the Sight was on a tree, and he can perfectly picture the gnome-like spirit within it to this day. His use of Sight on the Skinwalker (in Turn Coat) nearly drove him mad with fear and terror at the depth of the evil, cruelty and anathema he witnessed within the creature. It is noteworthy he has never used True Sight on a true Denarian, although he has witnessed the conflict of the Fey Courts using this ability... which completely turned his estimation of the power of Mab on its ear in his awe (and fear). (In Book One of the Dresden Files, the 'drug' being manufactured by the antagonist is actually an alchemical potion allowing normal mortals to use True Sight, an experience few are ready for.)

Yet another power that all wizards have is the soulgaze, a meeting of the eyes that transforms into a highly personalized and revealing look at the other person's psyche and soul, and one of the reasons why people instinctively don't look deep into another's eyes. It is an immediate way to identify someone or something flawlessly. It is notably something he has never shared with Murphy, although he has with Susan. Harry has no idea how people perceive him, although those who have Gazed him tend to have their opinion and respect for him taken up several notches after it happens, as they realize the true nature of who they are dealing with. The crime lord Marcone, for instance, evidences a remarkable amount of respect for Harry after sharing a soulgaze, and a young wizard who shared a soulgaze with him said that Harry was gentle, kind, and alone. However, in the few instances when Harry has Gazed an enemy during a confrontation, they generally have had a horrified reaction (one even gasped that he "[didn't] believe in hell").

On a more mundane level, wizards like Harry are also capable of slowly 'healing perfectly' from injuries, leaving no scars or breaks. For example, his broken bones will seal and leave no mark behind, and he is slowly regaining use of his flame-seared left hand, damaged so severely the normal doctors recommended it be amputated. This characteristic is tied to the exceptionally long lifespan of wizards. It has limits...a wizard might take 40–50 years to heal the broken back Harry suffers in Changes. Luckily for him, his back problem was fixed instantly when he became the Winter Knight. This is conditional; when he once considered defying Winter's Law, he momentarily lost control of his legs, giving him a moment to reconsider.

Harry's 'final' ability possessed by all wizards is that of the death curse. While it is typically targeted at the being that kills them, it may be employed upon anyone within line of sight (such as when Harry was readying to send the Death Curse at one of the Necromancers in Dead Beat when he anticipated Morgan's attack), and the wizard must have time to use it (a few seconds). Death curses can be incredibly powerful. Harry believes that the force of his curse could wipe every living thing off the island of Demonreach, and others agree. His mother's Curse completely blocked the ability of the King of the White Court of Vampires to feed, though he was otherwise immune to magic. Harry himself has been the target of a Death Curse, although the lesser power of the caster left it open-ended and of vague purpose.

Starting with his first exposure to the island of Demonreach, it also appears that Harry is starting to develop foresight, a characteristic seemingly common to all wizards as they get older (and are not warned about ahead of time to stop them from wondering if this or that event was foreseen).

Additionally, after bonding with the native spirit of Demonreach in Turn Coat, Harry is able to link in with the spirit's intellectus ability concerning itself and all upon the island, enabling him perfect knowledge of Demonreach and its denizens, and natural harmony with the creatures dwelling there, giving Harry an incredible tactical advantage while he is present.

It seems that by the timing of Harry's conception and birth, he (and his ex-lover, Elaine) have some form of power over Outsiders, such as He Who Walks Behind, resulting in his astonishing ability to overcome a major Outsider while still a teenager after his master had sent it after him, and actually surviving an Entropy Curse (a lethally malevolent form of bad luck). He and Elaine are known as 'Starborn' for this innate ability.

Harry has a fairly uncommon magical power he has developed with time and experience, the ability to Listen. This is more akin to a clairaudience effect of limited range then merely enhanced hearing, but the sensitivity of it has risen with time, to the point where Harry can even filter out and discern different heartbeats around corners and in rooms close by. Although it can be stopped by a Veil, it provides an excellent tactical edge against many opponents for him.

Unlike some of the other magic users in the series, Harry shouts foreign languages and faux Latin commands to perform spells. For example, Harry lights candles in his apartment by muttering "Fliccum Biccus," an allusion to the "Flick your Bic" lighter advertising campaign. When Harry utters this phrase and infuses the spell with a minor effort of his will, his candles light up or the fire in his fireplace comes to life. He often uses "Fuego!" (Spanish for fire) when using fire magic and "Forzare!" (Italian for 'to force') with kinetic magic. He explained that most magic users use some language they're not familiar with for their incantations, to provide a bit of magical insulation to the user's mind from the forces they are channeling and to avoid accidentally casting a spell by uttering a common phrase in a language they're used to. Elaine uses Egyptian.

Ghost Story
In Ghost Story, Harry finds itself being a spirit/ghost, with a whole new set of magic. We learn that ghosts can 'vanish', like a short-range teleport, they hurt one another with strong memories, can consume other ghosts for their memories, are destroyed if caught outside a sanctum by the morning light, and can wield magic once again by calling up memories of having used magic before. However, casting magic is fueled by the essence of the spirit itself, much like soulfire, and can consume them entirely if not watched for. Ghosts can manifest physically by use of extreme willpower, as well.

Ghost Story also introduces us to the mechanics of mental assault and defense in the Dresdenverse, the uses of advanced illusions via Molly Carpenter's burgeoning ability, and the rather spookily powerful abilities of ectomancers, the people who can speak with and control ghosts (a very separate line of study from necromancy). Harry's mental ability is noted as being incredibly obdurate on defense, and blundering tough on offense. Molly is noted as being swarmingly effective on offense and elusive and hard to find on defense.

Cold Days
In Cold Days, we get a much better idea of Harry's abilities as a Winter Knight. Losing all of his equipment at the end of Changes, Harry is forced to learn to fight without using foci or charms; this means his barriers are now only forward facing and his attacks are less focused. In return, the boost from his new station gives him access to much more mental power to cast from, and he can perform ice spells with ease, including freezing a virtual iceberg to save him and his friends from drowning in the cold waters. He is immune to cold, won't slip on icy surfaces, can manifest icy claws from his hands, and when fully drawing on the Knight's power, displays the strength to jump fifty feet through the air and bench-press almost nine hundred pounds, coupled with incredible endurance and the ability to ignore pain and heal more quickly then a normal man. The power of the Winter Knight is also incredibly savage, even predatory, and Harry has to constantly be on guard against its influences (and comes to know how his brother Thomas sees the world). Finally, the mantle has raised his threshold to pain; he has several wounds stitched up without any anesthesia, remarking that he was aware of the sensation and it was not pleasant, but it did not hurt. This last is almost as much curse as boon, as he can become critically injured and not even realize it is happening.

This latest set of abilities does come at a cost. As a thrall of Winter, he is now bound by the codes of Queen Mab's Winter Court; any attempt to violate them deactivates his Winter Knight abilities, including his "healed" spinal injury. Also, any contact with iron or steel weakens him greatly, as he discovers after being shot with a nail gun and stabbed with fish hooks.

He also temporarily becomes a member of the Wild Hunt. This effect cloaks him in shadowy power, turns mundane weapons into powerful magical killing tools, lets a motorcycle ride across Lake Michigan, and hides the identity of those under its influence behind masks of ancient hunters, even supplying mounts for those without them (Karrin's motorcycle becomes a huge shadowy cat). By defeating the leaders of the Hunt, he takes command of the entire pack to lead the defense against an Outsider assault on Demonreach Island.

Skin Game
In Skin Game, Harry's magical abilities are not on as much display. It's alluded that he has managed to find out much more about the powers the Warden of Demonreach possesses, but they are not described. The force energy that used to be stored in his rings he has instead moved into his staff, as he has not had time to make rings, and he has a new trick for getting around things immune to magic: condensing a steel hard ball of ice into existence and propelling it with force magic like a cannonball, to great effect. He is also shown redirecting a blast of Hellfire with a cyclone of air. In addition, Harry discovers that his Mantle of the Winter Knight has allowed him to push and train his body to its peak ability, and now has strength, speed, agility, and endurance as good as the world's top athletes, even without the aid of magic. It is also revealed that Harry's spinal injury has been healing, and he can move freely even if stripped of his Winter powers.

Items

 * Staff — A long staff used for channeling magic. Also works well as a bludgeoning weapon. It's proper to wield the staff in the left hand . Harry's original staff, made from a part of an old oak tree that was struck by lightning on Ebenezar McCoy's farm, was destroyed as of Changes. As of Skin Game Harry has replaced it with a staff carved from the oldest tree on the island of Demonreach. This version of his staff has been inscribed with the same sigils formerly used on his now lost kinetic energy rings. While the staff can only cast the spell once, it has the energy storage sigil carved into it 77 times.
 * Enchanted duster — One of his signature pieces of gear, originally a black canvas duster, it is now a long leather coat enchanted to work as armor against various attacks. The first leather duster was given to him by Susan Rodriguez in Fool Moon. First appears with the armored enchantments at the beginning of Blood Rites: fighting Demon  and later when a Black Court vampire. In Cold Days, Molly Carpenter buys Harry an inverness coat to replace the ruined duster.
 * Blasting rod — A rod used for channeling fire spells.
 * Shield bracelet — A bracelet with tiny medieval shield charms on it. Used for creating force fields. The bracelet began as a simple silver construction, but has evolved to feature a chain of multiple metals woven together and shields of different metals. The evolved bracelet was destroyed as of Changes. As of Jury Duty Harry has replaced it with a single band of copper inscribed with sigils which occasionally throws out sparks.
 * Energy-storing rings — Rings which are enchanted to store a small fraction of kinetic energy into them at all times. Harry first owned only one copper ring, and and later had rings made of silver for each of his fingers. They are described as simple bands with a number of runes inscribed on the interior. As of Small Favor, he had upgraded these rings from single bands to three bands stacked on top of each other, with each band capable of holding the same amount of energy as one of the previous rings. As of Changes, these rings were lost.
 * Silver pentacle pendant — A pendant Harry inherited from his mother. Used for various spells, including tracking Thomas's identical pendant and as a focus for calling up wizardly light. Once used to kill a loup-garou.
 * Margaret's jewel—Also, in Changes, Harry gained a red jewel that he has joined to the center of the pentacle. This jewel contains Harry’s mother, Margaret LeFay's vast knowledge of the Ways.
 * A cane sword, able to channel earth-based magic ~ victorian, has a slender thirty-inch steel blade inside.
 * Dead Man's Talisman — used to protect him from spirits. In Grave Peril, he gives it to Lydia who had asked him for protection from a hostile spirit.
 * Enchanted rope — The rope is Faerie make, it has hair from a Unicorn woven through it. Holds where handcuffs won't. The spell Harry put on it that operates it with his will is set to his apartment and won't work elsewhere.
 * Speaking stone (aka sending stone) — a smooth piece of fire-rounded obsidian that Harry uses it to communicate with Ebenezar McCoy. Harry keeps it in a cigar box amid other miscellaneous stones as camouflage.

Non magical possessions

 * Blue Beetle — Harry Dreden's VW bug car
 * Mickey Mouse alarm clock
 * Original Star Wars poster
 * Book: The Hobbit
 * Book: The Two Towers, given to Harry by Uriel. Twice, it gave Harry messages from Uriel.
 * Mundane weapon backup: Harry started off with a Smith and Wesson .38 Chief's Special revolver, upgraded to a unknown .357 revolver, medium barreled, and his most recent firearm is a Smith and Wesson Model 29 .44 Magnum revolver. In Changes: acquired two guns from bad guys: Security Guard's .40 caliber + Gunman’s nine millimeter,  though it's uncertain what happened to the last 3 pistols. As of Cold Days he has a Winchester rifle chambered in .45 Colt.  and in Skin Game is given a Smith and Wesson 500 500.jpg: The Smith and Wesson .500]]

Titles and positions
As of Jury Duty Harry Dresden holds the following titles/positions which carry with them certain special abilities:

Warden of the White Council: As of Dead Beat Harry has been recruited to be a member of the Wardens, the Law-Enforcement/Military arm of the White Council. Traditionally Wardens are given a Grey Cloak which is enchanted to not stain with blood; Harry was given such a cloak. Wardens were also given enchanted silver swords which could dispell any magical enchantment; these swords were made by Captain Luccio until the events of Dead Beat in which the Corpsetaker switched bodies with her which caused Luccio to be unable to make them anymore, therefore Harry does not have a silver Warden's blade. The position also pays a salary that was established in the 1950's. As of Cold Days Senior Council member Rashid, The Gatekeeper, has confirmed that Harry is still a Warden, despite his other titles, conditions, and obligations.

Warden of Demonreach: As of Turn Coat Harry has become the Warden of Demonreach. This position was claimed by Harry when he used the Sanctum Invocation to claim the island and bind himself to it. This position grants Harry Intellectus of the island, meaning that Harry simply knows all information about the island by simply thinking about it. Additionally, since Demonreach is a super-natural prison Harry can, at-will, release any of the monsters, Naagloshii, Dark-Gods, and nightmares imprisoned on the island. Harry can also command the Genius loci, that is the spirit of the island, whom Harry has named Alfred Demonreach, to follow his orders when he is on the island. The island is imbued with numerous defenses which Harry can activate at will. None of these abilities can be used when Harry is not physically on the island. Alfred Demonreach, the physical manifestation of the spirit of the island, has indicated there have been other Wardens of the island before Harry took up the job.

Winter Knight: As of Changes Harry has agreed to become the Winter Knight; Mab's personal hitman in the mortal world. The Winter Knight's Mantle pushes Harry to give into his primal thoughts and urges such as teritoriality, posession, lust, and violence. The more Harry gives into the nature of Winter, the more he can access the mantle's powers and abilities. In Cold Days Harry displays the ability to do reps on a weight lifting machine of 800 kilograms (1760 Pounds), lift the rear end of a hearse off of the ground, freeze an opponent and shatter them, cover his fists with ice when throwing a punch, and maintain sure footing on any icy surface. Additionally Harry, when fully giving into the mantle's nature, can grow claws of ice on his fingertips, and can leap distances over thirty feet.

Member of the Grey Council: Harry is a member of the Grey Council, an underground covert group within the White Council which serves to investigate and combat the hypothetical Black Council; thought to be a group of practicioners of Black Magic trying to destroy the White Counsil from without and from within. As of Cold Days it has been discovered that what were thought to be the actions of a Black Council have actually been the actions of an entity called Nemesis who controls the Outsiders, include the Walkers He Who Walks Behind and He Who Walks Before. Harry, Ebenezar McCoy, and Donar Vadderung are the only confirmed members, but there are at least ten more.

Za-Lord: Short for Pizza-Lord, this title was given to harry by Toot-Toot and the other dew-drop Faeries that harry buys pizza for in exchange for information. While many consider the title laughable, Toot and the other Faeries, while under Harry's command, are formidable and have even killed Aurora, the Summer Lady, in Summer Knight. The Za-Lord's Guard have successfully defended Harry, and defeated his opponents on many occasions such as when Captain Hook and her entourage attacked Harry in the events of Cold Days.

Unconscious self
He is Harry's internal self that sometimes leans a little to the dark side of choices. He shows up occasionally in dreams, or when Harry is unconscious or with Lasciel's Shadow. His commentary isn't always dark, though, and is strongly rooted in Harry's instincts and urges; telling Dresden to get laid, or pointing out what Dresden should do on the few instances he appears. Being Dresden's unconscious self, he knows things Harry is not aware of, such as the identity of the Parasite, and Dresden's real thoughts and worries, such as telling Karrin Murphy about the White Council.

He looks like a handsomer, better-groomed version of Harry, wearing a black leather duster instead of a canvas one. His pants, shirt and boots are all-black and tailor-made, and, once Harry accepts the Mantle of the winter Knight, he wears a single lapel pin in the shape of an intricate snowflake. His hair is neatly cut and his bad-guy goatee is well-trimmed. He has more confidence, raw knowledge and strength, lacking the self-doubt and heroic conflict that Harry endures. The Double says he's partly Harry's intuition.

Inspiration
"Who did you base Harry Dresden, the urban wizard who lives in Chicago, on?"

"'The Bruce Willis character in the 'Die Hard film' series. I wanted a very different type of hero. I wanted my hero to be more like a blue-collar-type guy like him, not a Superman. He’s the kind of character I wanted to set up and now I get to dream up bad things that can happen to him.'"

Files are told in a very pulp-crime manner - the protagonist, Harry, even has an archetypal trench coat - do you think this is a necessary counterbalance to the supernatural nature of the plot or do you just enjoy writing a character with such an endearing wiseguy attitude?

"Yes. The whole concept of the Dresden Files, for me, was about taking the archetypical, classic PI and blending him with the archetypical, classical wizard. I think the two archetypes are really much more similar than one would at first suspect. Both tend to operate alone. Both, in general, tend to face forces and powers far beyond their own. Both operate to protect and guide those weaker than themselves. Both draw their true strengths from having and seeking knowledge. Both spend their time confronting some of the darkest aspects of their worlds. Harry is intended to be as much Sherlock Holmes as Gandalf, as much Columbo as Merlin. That attitude of defiance of greater powers is a hallmark of both archetypes, and for Harry to be what I wanted him to be, he has to be willing to confront those who clearly outclass him - whether they be towering, flame-wrapped demons or cynical agents of the F.B.I. His wiseguy attitude is a part of that. Plus, it's really fun to write."

"When you were first doing this in the class, how did you decide it was going to be Harry? That he was going to be the character you were going to be with for the whole series?"

"'Well, remember the only reason I wrote my first book was to prove to my writing teacher how wrong she was about writing stuff. That said, the way I put it together is I scrapped all my favorite wizards and private eyes and made a Frankenstein out of their parts, and that’s where it came from. I said, okay I’m going to Gandalf’s temper, Merlin’s meddling, Sherlock’s chassis and three-quarters of his brain. I'll take Travis McGee’s testicles just for the pure fortitude, and Spencer’s mouth, although I never really out-Spencer’ed Parker, or at least I haven’t so far. And that’s how I put him together. It was a very artificial process.'"

"Where do you find the inspiration for Harry to always manage to do the right thing and never do anything out of spite despite how bad things get for him?"

"'From my Father probably. My dad was a very unique individual. Very quiet. At his Eulogy I wrote 'My dad was a great man. He wasn't a great man that shook the world, he was a great man who managed to calm it down.' He was the sorta guy you always turned to when things went bad. And I think he was probably a lot of the influence that I had for Harry Dresden.'"

How Jim came up with the name "Harry Dresden"

"'Harry Dresden, the name itself, I had just watched a videotape of one of my favorite movies at the time, which was Cast a Deadly Spell, and the tape would stop, and I would rewind it and try to play past it and it wouldn't go past, but at this part in that movie where the main character, Fred Ward’s character, H. Philip Lovecraft shows up at the gangster bar, and the gangster’s henchman comes walking up to him and says, '(sneering voice) Harry wants to see you.’ And Fred Ward goes, ‘Oh. Harry wants to see me.’ ‘Harry wants to see you now.’ And what I got to hear about six times as I tried to fast forward past the stuck part of the tape was ‘Harry wants to see me. Harry wants to see me. Harry wants to see’ like that. And then I said, ‘Okay, the heck with that, I’m going to try and find something on normal television, which I hate, because there’s commercials. And, so I’m skipping through channels, it’s like eleven thirty on a Friday night in Kansas City, and I actually find a channel that’s showing reruns of Babylon 5. So it’s like, ‘Okay, acceptable.’ And I’m watching the episode of Amazon 5 (sic), with this ‘Harry wants to see…’ stuck in my head, and then Boxleitner is on there playing his character with (deep voice) the gravelly Boxleitner voice, and he’s there talking about various military attacks that have happened throughout history, and one of the attacks that he mentions is (deep voice) 'Dresden'. ‘Harry wants to’ Dresden, it’s just stuck in my head. ‘Harry wants’ Dresden, okay fine, Harry Dresden, character name, get out of my head. And that’s where the name came from.'"