"Well, yeah, but..." Suddenly, Rowan can see what Harry's saying. The scythedom is exactly that; Goddard is exactly that. He wants power and there's nothing that will stop him, and he will hurt people to do it. He will kill.

"I think it has more to do with if you've ever had a taste of that power," he says. "The Thunderhead has complete control, so if someone does try to do something like that, they're quickly taken care of." He doesn't mean anything sinister by that, and would be surprised if Harry read that in his words. "We have power over our lives, to an extent, but over others? No.

"And no, it wasn't the easiest change over. There were holdouts for a while. But it's been centuries. Resistance fades in the face of reason."