 Although powerful fighters that will serve Snow loyally, the consequences of summoning them is that Snow must 'pay' the spirits with seven years of her life, with the result that she appears to be in her mid-thirties when she is really only in her early twenties.As a result, she has only summoned the dwarves twice, initially calling on their aid to help her defeat her mother before the series began, and summoning them again to help her and her allies defeat her mother's spirit in the first book in the series (she contemplated summoning them against to deal with the ruthless Wild Hunt in "Red Riding's Revenge", but was advised against it as the spiritual nature of the hunt meant that nobody could be sure if the dwarves could do anything against them).In "Snow White and the Huntsman", the Seven Dwarfs started out as eight dwarfs when they are encountered by Snow White and Eric the Huntsman while fleeing Queen Ravenna.