On Punching Gods and Absentee Dads

Enigmaris

Chapter 30: Training with Tyr

Summary:

The Golden Trio is in Asgard for a day of training and Harry tries to learn asgardian offense.

Notes:

Hey! Thank you so much for the brilliant comments last week! I loved each and everyone I'm glad you all enjoyed it!

Chapter Text

"Excellent form Haraldr. For the defense." Tyr said as he walked up to where Harry was dueling against Hemrod. "What have I told you about that?"

"Uhm…The best defense is a great offense?" He hazarded, Tyr paused as he always did whenever Harry used a common human phrase. The man's face took on a stupefied and delighted look.

"The best defense…Ha! Brilliant Lokison! Now why don't you take your own advice and get a bit more aggressive! I'll make you duel against me for the next hour if you don't!"

Harry grimaced at the implied threat and he saw a sympathetic smile from his dueling partner.

"Of course, Master Tyr." Harry said. "I'll do my best."

Harry still didn't enjoy using his sword offensively. He preferred blocking and disarming over slashing/stabbing motions. Still did even after weeks of being trained. It was the thing that annoyed Tyr the most about him. He was used to having to beat in the importance of defense into young aesir skulls and Harry was the exact opposite. Harry wondered if the man, in all his millennia of teaching, had ever had a student like him before. Tyr nodded and continued on his journey between the dueling students.

"Alright Haraldr." Hemrod said. "Let's try again?"

"Yeah." Harry said hefting up the sword his dad had given him. "On three?"

"You're actually going to swing at me this time?"

"Yes."

"On three then."

They counted down to three and then they began. Hemrod stared at Harry when the two of them began to circle each other and Harry didn't immediately move to attack.

"I'm getting to it!"

"It's not like you're asking for my hand. You're just trying to cut me in half."

"How is that better?"

"Just do it unless you want Tyr to beat you into the dirt."

Harry sighed and then lunged forward with a swing. Hemrod immediately parried and the fight began in earnest. He tried throughout the rest of the duel to be more offensive but the longer the fight went on the more Harry slid into what he was more comfortable with. And his failed attempts garnered Tyr's attention. When the training session ended, most of the trainees were allowed to sit down, drink copious amounts of water, and rest. Harry, however, had a large hand placed on his shoulder.

"I don't believe you're done yet, Lokison."

"Figured."

"Let's do a demonstration for your peers."

"Whatever you think is best."

"So now you're interested in what I think is best? Fascinating."

Ten minutes later Harry found himself leaning against Ron with six new bruises on his body and a head that was only slightly dizzy. All of the rest of the trainees were also lounging around, having watched Harry's rousing defeat by Tyr with various levels of sympathy and amusement, Baldur being the one who'd enjoyed it the most. Harry really didn't like that guy. He was essentially the buff version of Malfoy and Harry liked him less than he did Malfoy. It was at least slightly entertaining being Malfoy's rival. Baldur was just boring.

Ron lifted up his jug to Harry's lips and let Harry take a long sip. Hermione had her wand out and was carefully practicing her healing spells on his arm. After Harry's injuries during the attack on New York by Voldemort, Hermione had committed to learning basic magical first aid and Harry had volunteered to be her test subject. She was already much better than Lockhart ever was.

"Haraldr." Herdic said from his position of leaning against his twin brother Heimir. "Tyr's punished you like that every week for the past month."

"Yes. Yes he has."

"Well why?" The Aesir pushed. "All you have to do is fight offensively, it's not hard, that's the easiest part!"

"Harry's always been like that, defensive." Ron said before Harry could spout off something snarky. "Long as I've known him he's done that. Every time we played chess since we were little, his strategies always been more defense."

Harry hadn't even known that but Hermione nodded along like it was common knowledge.

"It's true." She said. "Even when Harry plays quidditch he prefers to fly away from conflict."

"I'm the seeker! I'm supposed to be getting the snitch, not fighting bludgers."

"Still." She said shrugging. "Your favorite spell in the entire world is the disarming spell, everyone knows that."

"It's a good spell!" Harry argued.

"I'm not saying it isn't. But you could do to be a bit more…aggressive."

"Why aren't you?" Hemrod asked. "Every time we duel, you always slide back into defense unless I remind you. Why?"

"I just like it okay! Why are all of you so focused on offense anyway?"

"Because that's what a fight is." Baldur cut in, snooty and superior. "If you're not going to actually fight you might as well just stay home with the women."

"What did you say about women?" Hermione asked turning to give her evil eye to the swordsman. Baldur hid his fear well.

"Strange mortal exceptions aside women don't fight and neither does this illustrious prince." Baldur scoffed. "It's cowardice, that's all it is."

"I'm not a coward." Harry said sitting up to glare at the blonde.

"Oh really? Said the tiny little prince who still can't swing his sword. The All-Father is ashamed of you, certainly, for your cowardice. What sort of warrior has he allowed into our realm? A pitiful kind that's for sure."

"Not wanting to hurt people isn't cowardice!" Harry shouted, finally standing up to glare down at the blonde. "I understand that this whole thing is a game to you, because you've never been in a fight and every time you've lifted your sword it's only been for practice but I'm learning how to kill people! Every time I go back to earth, I go knowing that I might have to take someone's life, that is something you've never had to do Baldur so just shut up!"

"It's not a game! I'm training to be a warrior, to fight for Asgard!" Baldur said jumping up to meet him head to head.

"In what war?" Harry demanded. "You have this idea in your head that once you grow up Odin's gonna declare war on someplace so you can go off and prove how great you are! That's not going to happen. You live in peace, all you know is peace. That's all you're ever going to know you arrogant idiot!"

"Idiot? At least I'm not the one too cowardly to swing a sword."

"So you're not going to argue the arrogant part? At least you're not a total moron."

Baldur growled and wrenched around to punch Harry in the gut. Harry reacted immediately by letting his magic burst out of him and send Baldur sprawling to the ground. The warriors all rushed away as Baldur groaned and pushed himself up. Harry felt so suddenly frustrated with the warrior in front of him.

"I have spent my entire life being pushed around by people like you." Harry said. "I have felt small and weak and useless because people more powerful than me decided that being kind was the same thing as being a coward. I'm not ever going to be like you, even if I never learn to sword fight right, I refuse to use my power and strength to hurt someone else, not when I can just stop them instead."

Baldur looked ready to try and clock Harry again.

"Haraldr." Harry winced and turned to see that Tyr had returned. "Baldur."

Baldur stepped back from Harry.

"Baldur. You attempted to attack a fellow trainee outside of a duel. That is against the rules." Tyr said. "You are aware that any attacks like this are grounds for expulsion yes?"

"Yes, Master Tyr."

"Then I suggest you go home and consider whether you wish to remain here or not." He said. "And what you will do to prove to me that you deserve to stay."

Baldur nodded and bowed, very stiffly, before rushing away. Harry didn't watch him go, instead he kept looking at Tyr. Tyr stared at him for a moment before nodding to himself.

"Hemrod. Take the rest of the trainees to the arena. Prince Loki has prepared a surprise for all of you this afternoon and I was to lead you there. Haraldr and I will be along soon."

"Yes, Master Tyr." Hemrod said. Harry looked over at his friends who seemed still unsure. Harry gave them a nod and they left him alone with Tyr. Soon the trainees had all left and Harry found himself alone with Tyr.

"Sit with me Haraldr." The man motioned to the ground right close to where Harry had left his sword. Harry settled down a little awkwardly, well aware of the bruises his friend had not been able to heal. Tyr looked at him for a while, letting the tension build around them.

"I'm not sorry for defending myself."

"I didn't expect you to be. Baldur has been…argumentative with you since you arrived." Tyr said. "I suspected you two would fight eventually."

"Oh."

"Do you know how I lost my hand?"

"Uhm…" Harry had no idea why that was relevant at all. "No?"

"It was bitten off." Tyr said. "By a giant wolf."

"I'm…sorry." Harry said.

"Ah. Was my fault at the end of the day." Tyr said. "I was young then, terribly young. Still just a warrior, no better than anyone else. Odin had been about to…banish someone, I can't say who you understand, their name is illegal to even speak."

"That's fine." Harry said.

"The person banished was second in command in Odin's army. A greater warrior you'll never find. They went rogue after a while, I have my suspicions as to why but only Odin knows for sure. Odin sent out the Valkyrie, his greatest force of warriors and they slaughtered them all." Tyr said. "Odin went himself next and he took me and a few others with him. I don't believe he wanted many witnesses for what was going to happen."

Harry shifted a little awkwardly. Thor had mentioned the Valkyrie to him, as had Sif, both of them had been very impressed with the long-fabled group of women warriors. According to them, the warriors had died in a terrible battle and their practices has died with them. It had made him a bit sad to hear about it, but Tyr's voice held true grief and pain.

"I'd volunteered to go." Tyr said. "My wife was a Valkyrie. Lucky man that I was. Most Valkyrie preferred the company of each other but I managed to gain the heart of my beloved Brenna. I wanted to gain revenge, to help stop this monster before they destroyed any more of what I loved."

"I'm sorry." Harry said. "That you lost her."

"It's an old wound." Tyr said. "Much of the grief has passed from me."

"Still." Harry said. "It's not very fair is it?"

"Death rarely is."

Harry found he couldn't argue with that. Tyr took a moment to put aside the memory of his wife and continued.

"It was our job to capture their steed and lock it away. They rode on a giant wolf, terribly intelligent it was. While Odin talked with his second in command, trying to get them to surrender, we tricked the wolf into it's chains. But I was arrogant, I was angry. I wanted to cause harm to the things that had taken so much from me. In my rage I didn't notice the wolf gaining freedom and it got my hand in its jaws. From there things descended into madness and Odin ended up having to banish his second in command."

"Why are you telling me about this?"

"All of Asgard has one fatal flaw." Tyr said. "We had it then, when we were conquerors freshly betrayed by our greatest leaders, and we have it now in times of peace. It is our aggression."

"That's not…surprising?" Harry hazarded. "I'm sorry I'm not better at that I just…"

"No. No. Don't apologize." Tyr said. "Just listen to me."

"Sorry." Harry said if only to get the man to glare at him a little.

"Asgardians are reckless, we go into a fight uncaring of what damage our battles will cause, to ourselves and to others. We love to be aggressive, offensive, to fight. What happens after is someone else's concern." Tyr said. "After I lost my hand I had to relearn how to fight. I had to recover from my grief from Brenna's death without being able to hold a blade like I used to. I could not even dress myself for her funeral."

Harry didn't dare to interrupt the man. Not now. He was beginning to suspect what was going on here. Or at least he had an inkling of an idea.

"It was incredibly humbling. I had to live with the consequences of my aggression, of my blood lust, every single day. Not to say that there were not others who lost things but I…I lost my dominate limb. There was not a moment during that time where I wasn't reminded of my own losses, my failures. I eventually learned to be cautious, to be aware of what my actions would bring. It was that caution that gave me the edge to become one of the greatest warriors Asgard has." Tyr said. "I saw that same caution in you that first day, you were careful not because you feared being hurt but because you didn't wish to fail and you didn't want to harm me."

"I…well I knew you could defend yourself."

"And yet when I gave you openings to attack me you never took them. You could have injured me, but you only disarmed me. And then immediately told me you'd done it wrong."

"Well I did."

"You disarmed me on your first attempt, something no student of mine has ever accomplished while using a sword too large for you, and you're still insisting that you did it wrong?" Tyr demanded. "You and I both know that in a real fight your form doesn't matter as much as your results. That doesn't mean you skip your practices."

"I know." Harry said smiling a little. "I promise I practice every day with my dad and uncle. Three hours at least."

"So your father's told me." Tyr said. "I've never had Loki this interested in swordsmanship you know? When he was my student, he couldn't be bothered to put his magic texts down but now that you're learning he's suddenly more obsessed with it than anyone I know."

"He can be a bit much."

"I'm aware." Tyr said. "I've known that boy since he was a tiny little thing. I was there when Odin took the boy in, helped clean him and feed him his first warm meal in norns knew how long."

"Really?"

"Oh aye. Odin likes to pretend that he kept that secret so well but there were a few of us who knew." Tyr said. "Never bothered me much, but I didn't care for Loki's less than stellar dedication to my classes."

"Weren't we talking about me?"

"Right." Tyr said giving Harry a look. "Your caution is commendable. You're careful Haraldr and you are kind. I understand the fear you have. You fear swinging too hard or too fast and doing harm that can't be undone. You seek for nonviolent options because you fear what you would do if you chose violence. That sort of caution normally takes centuries for an aesir to learn, if they ever do."

"If you understand then why are you being so hard on me?"

"Because there will come a time when you will have to choose violence. I don't know the prophecy but your uncle has told me enough. This Tom Riddle is not going to let you disarm him and put him in jail, he won't allowed himself to be put to sleep. No. He won't stop until he is dead, that is how evil works."

"I know that." Harry said before suddenly feeling quite desperate. "I just…I don't want to okay? I don't want to kill him!"

"Why?" Tyr asked. "Did he not kill your mother? Has he not killed thousands? Perhaps even millions? Does he not deserve death?"

"I have no idea!" Harry said slamming his fist onto his knee. "I know he won't stop killing people until he's dead. I know that. I know I have to be the one to do. I know that he deserves this, that everyone deserves to live in a world that he's not in, but it still feels…wrong."

"Taking a life should never feel right." Tyr told him making Harry look up and into his eyes. "I know, that's rich coming from a man with a kill count higher than his age, but I mean it. It shouldn't feel right, Haraldr Lokison."

"Then how can I possibly do it?"

"Because not doing it would feel so impossibly worse."

Tears stung his eyes and he looked back down at the ground. None of this was fair. Why couldn't it be fair?

"You are incredibly wise for your age, but you are still young." Tyr continued. "When you lift your blade, I know it will be in defense of those you love. Not for power, not for money, not for revenge. But because if you don't use your strength then those weaker than you will suffer."

"I don't know if I can do it." Harry said. "I wish it was easy, that I didn't feel so bad about this, about my fate. I shouldn't feel so conflicted, my dad isn't. Neither are my friends or the Avengers. You're not either. No one but me is."

"And yet the norns chose you to do it."

"What?"

"Has it not occurred to you that the reason the prophecy is about you, is because of who you are?"

"Well I am a demi-god." Harry began.

"Not that. Plenty of beings have power. Why did the norns not send a prophecy for Frigga to weave, telling her that Odin was to destroy Riddle? Why did they not have your father, the god of magic, intervene in when the realm of magic was in danger? Why did they require it of you? A child?"

"I have power. Something Tom doesn't have." Harry said. "They said that in the prophecy. My dad and I think it might be soul magic. We're trying to get a meeting with Eir to learn more about it."

"A powerful force indeed and if anyone could teach you it would be her." Tyr agreed. "But why not have Eir destroy Voldemort then? Eir is far more powerful than you, grown as she is, and she has been trained in many magics and martial arts. Why not call on the goddess of life to end the scourge of it? Why you?"

"I…I don't know."

"Yes, you do. You just said it stupid boy. The fact is, you are the only person who is struggling with killing him." Tyr said. "You have such a strong heart, I've never seen the like in all my millennia."

"How is my heart supposed to save the universe?"

"I don't know." Tyr said shrugging, almost as if he didn't care not knowing. "But you will figure it out. And in the meantime, I'm going to teach you how to defend yourself and others. I believe however, that we are going to have to change some things."

"What?"

"You need to learn how to fight back, how to be proactive." Tyr said. "That is non-negotiable. Defense isn't enough, not for a war. But it's clear that you aren't going to take to normal techniques either. It feels wrong to you, to your heart, and I'd be far stupider than I am to ignore that."

"What are you saying?"

"It's been a long time since this sort of thing has been practiced in Asgard. Thousands of years in fact." Tyr said. "There were some Valkyrie who specialized in non-fatal forms of combat. They fought with the intent to down an opponent and keep them down without doing permanent damage. It was taught only by the Valkyrie, something only a select few in their number knew. A method to capture enemies and those who would do harm to themselves without killing them."

"If only the Valkyrie knew it, then how can I learn it?"

"Because it was a secret my beloved Brenna shared with me." Tyr said, a bittersweet smile on his face. "I never forgot her lessons, the things she shared with me because she loved them and me, and now I'll share them with you."

"Thank you." Harry said, his voice soft and awed. "Thank you, Master Tyr."

"It is my honor." Tyr said. "But you must promise me that you'll put everything into these lessons. You mustn't hold back."

"I won't. I swear."

"Good boy." He said. "Now, I believe your father is going to have a nervous breakdown if I don't take you to the arena."

"What surprise were you even talking about?"

"Your father mentioned to me how much you love that game of yours, quidditch was it?"

"Yeah?"

"I thought the recruits could learn something from a game that has balls that intentionally try to injure them. He brought a set of brooms for a game, to teach them situational awareness."

"Really?" Harry said jumping up from the ground. "We're going to play quidditch!?"

"That was the plan. Hopefully the recruits have figured out the brooms by now. Come on, we best get over there before they start without you."

Harry gave Tyr a huge grin and held out his hand for the man to take. He pulled Tyr up and thanked him once more, both for the quidditch and for the promise of a new way to fight. Tyr slapped him on the back and told him not to worry his head about it. He was just doing his job.

Is this what teachers were supposed to be like?

Harry shook his head. Better not think about that too hard. There was quidditch to play after all.