There are no Muggles in the Dresden-Verse

There are no Muggles in the Dresden-verse

[easyazon_image add_to_cart=”default” align=”left” asin=”B004GB1I3C” cloaking=”yes” height=”180″ localization=”default” locale=”US” nofollow=”default” new_window=”default” src=”http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51uqu2Wf3rL._SL160_.jpg” tag=”buzmag-20″ width=”166″]I know “muggles” is Harry Potter speak, but honestly, is there a better word for the folks that live in a magical world that do not have magical powers or abilities? “Woefully mundane?” “Normals?” “White bread?” “Vanilla?” “Red shirts?” In JK Rowland’s “magical world of Harry Potter” folks who are not magically inclined really are at a severe disadvantage, and quite frankly, a liability at best. They offer nothing to the world except as a symbol of ignorance, things to be rescued or saved or worked around, and that is only IF they are mentioned. The most prominent muggles in the Potter books are Vernon and Petunia Dursley, and look at them - ugly, pathetic, small-minded-self-serving cruel individuals who are raising a child to be even more hateful than them. The Dursley family represents everything that is the worst in mankind.

Now, take a moment and think about the “muggles” of the Dresden-verse, and watch yourself when you do, they bite. Harry Dresden has spent the better part of the last 11 books protecting the people of Chicago from things that go bump in the night, and you can bet your bottom dollar that in book 12 of the “Dresden Files,” “Changes,” more of the same will follow. But when we think of the other folks in the Dresden-verse we don’t tend to think of them as hapless “muggles.” And if you did, Karin Murphy would be the first person to kick your wizard ass.

Karin Murphy, a short, blond, cute woman with a ski jump nose is one of Chicago PD best cops. She clawed her way up through the force and earned her rank, in spite of her gender and politics. A black belt in Aikido and a crack shot with a gun, “Murph” has walked the journey of Harry’s thousand miles, every step of the way. Harry may be taking point and walking boldly out into the night to face the monsters that dwell there never taking pause to look over his shoulder, but I suspect that is because he knows that Murphy is at his six, covering his back. When book one, “Storm Front” opens, Murphy is already the head detective of Chicago’s Special Investigations, the part of the police department that is officially designated to unofficially deal with the literal monsters of the city’s under belly. Before we even meet her character, our gal has already seen things. As the books go on Murphy’s skills and abilities as well as her contacts expand and grow, matching on a scale par with Harry’s. True, she cannot say a single magical word and set a building ablaze like Harry can, but with a push of a button she can have a SWAT team sweep in and do worse more efficiently. Harry may have saved Murphy from a giant scorpion and a werewolf, but Murphy has saved Harry lots of times, more than our hero ever knew, as she often took the heat the cops wanted to use to burn the wizard. Before this sounds anymore like “Wind Beneath my Wings,” let me just add this-not only is that song OK, but when the books end, it is Harry with the bent nose, busted ribs, cracked jaw, and fouled knee while Ms. Murphy’s hair is typically only slightly more than windblown…most of the time.

“Gentleman” Johnny Marcone is another slice of white bread in the Dresden-verse. He’s more than the mob boss that runs the city’s organized crime , he is also a member of the Fairy Court due to a small business deal he managed to work out. See, Marcone is smart, not only does he have his finger in everybody’s pie, but once he realized that magic and Dresden were the real deal, he went on to secure not only himself but his “business ventures” as well. He used his money and influence and has a Valkyrie as a personal body guard. Marcone has had his house and business locations magically secured to ensure his privacy against spying eyes, as Bob has been able to confirm (he was sent to try and sneak in once). Gentleman Johnny is a powerful man, not just in the city of Chicago, but one would have to assume in the Nevernever as well. It would be unwise to underestimate what Mr. Marcone is capable of, and the lengths that he would go to achieve his goals.

Waldo Butters is one of the assistant medical examiners at the Cook county morgue and one of my favorite characters in the books. Butters, aside from being a rabid polka fan acts as Harry’s personal doctor. Working the night shift at the morgue in Chicago, Butters has also seen things, well; technically, he has seen the corpses and mangled remains that things have left behind. He is a guy who has always had his little suspicions that “stuff” was happening and then one day BANG! There it is, in his face, screaming, and for real. In “Dead Beat,” Butters time and again mans up and deals with the horrible monstrosities that are trying to chew his face off, standing shoulder to shoulder with Harry, making magic circles to protect themselves, and managing to maintain a bongo beat while watching Harry tear out of the Field Museum on the back of the fully fleshed out Tyrannosaurus Sue. He may be “same old” to some, but I would trust Dr. Butters to save my life any day. Polka will never die!

Everyone loves the love between Thomas and Justine, but I think we all tend to forget from time to time that she is just a wee little gal. She cannot shoot and fight hand-to-hand like Murphy can; she does not even have the bit of skill it takes to draw a circle on the floor with chalk and invest a drop of will into it making it magical like Butters can. She certainly does not have the power or influence or contacts or money that Marcone does. In fact, she is living in fear of her life on a moment to moment basis while working for Lara Wraith as some sort of assistant. Justine’s only real talent and ability is that people feel inclined to protect and rescue her. Because 99% of the world perceives her as a damsel-in-distress just waiting to happen, she makes for a wonderful spy. No one believes that she is brave enough to do anything of substance, and the few times she has been caught, she has either been rescued with extreme prejudice or written off as the half-wit she pretends to be.

From the late Ron Carmichael to dear sweet Father Forthill, every one of us “normals” can own and use a cell phone. We have the internet. We can watch TV and listen to our iPods. We can read books off of our Kindle as we eat a microwave meal on a plane. We can earn a degree on line which far surpasses the course by correspondence Latin lesson Harry took via snail mail; believe me, he has the shoddy Latin to prove it. Hot showers aside, when we get sick we don’t have to go to a police coroner for assistance. Instead we can see a real honest to goodness medical doctor who, heaven forbid could admit us into a hospital where MRIs and CAT scans and other sorts of alphabet soup machinery can be utilized to save our life. Old Ebenezer McCoy may have pulled a satellite out of orbit and dropped it on the royal heads of the Red Court, but we’ve got everything from Javelin missiles to nukes at our disposal.

If I ever had to choose which world to live in, I would pick Jim butcher‘s Dresden-verse hands down. I may not appear in it as a hot wizard chick, but even if I were just a plain old human being, that would still be a lot to contend with.

Muggles in the Dresden-verse, ZOMG! I think not.

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Theresa Bane

QrT – Theresa Bane Vampirologist and one of Jim Butcher’s Asylum Inmates.

Latest posts by Theresa Bane (see all)

• Molly Carpenter of the Dresden Files - 08/26/2013
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