Walking Dead Wizard

Chapter 53

Nobody was in truth surprised when Harry appeared with the dog, which had been four days ago, they all knew he had one of the biggest hearts around but refused to show it. Harry would do absolutely anything for anyone - well the obvious except being if they were a danger to the group understandably. The only people he seemed to show just how much heart he had, was to Andre, Luke and Sophia, he was openly protective of them and actually showed he cared.

"We really need to name her," Carol said, absolutely smitten with the husky, the dog absolutely refused to leave Sophia's side. It was her she had taken to, while she had remained wary of everyone else. It made sense when Harry had revealed the potential answer, that the family she'd been with had a little girl roughly between the ages of eight to ten years old; he had admitted it was difficult to tell with the way the bodies decomposed.

"Too bad it's not a boy, Osiris would have been a good name," Harry said wryly.

"Osiris, another name from Egyptian mythology?" Dale enquired, his lips twitching, Harry definitely seemed to have quite a sense of humour.

"Yes, god of the underworld and afterlife," Harry confirmed, where he sat cleaning out his guns, Anubis was right next to him, as always.

"I thought that was what Anubis did?" Andrea asked blankly, staring up at him, her own gun cleaning forgotten momentarily.

"No, Anubis is the god of the dead, embalming, funerals and mourning ceremonies," Harry corrected her with a shrug, as he clipped his gun back together with practised ease. "Osiris was the brother and husband of Isis and father to Horus and Anubis." he'd had to do something to pass the time in Grimmauld Place, and reading had been one of the primarily things he'd done. Both Muggle and Wizarding literature.

"Such a lovely name, unfortunately those who have it wouldn't agree…at least before this all happened," Dale sighed solemnly, being bullied because you happened to share a name with a terrorist organization was just awful, or rather they had taken something beautiful and turned it wretched for their cause. In truth they were named after the goddess Isis, and the fact people insisted on bullying them was awful, it just amounted to another win for those people. Not something they would need to worry about anymore, no it was just walkers and people.

"I best get going, I have a class to teach," Carol said as she stood, wrapping her shawl around her, they wouldn't be able to sit outside the prison for much longer, not like this it was getting much too cold, even in the daytime. Her daughter wasn't in her little class; it was just Luke, Chloe and Patrick. Andre was still too young to be given anything sharp let alone a dagger and would remain so for a good long while.

"Good point, come on then, Sophia, Mira, time to get to it," Harry said standing himself, stretching languidly, he rolled up his little gun cleaning kit (a gift from Daryl), but left it where it was, there was just no point to going into the prison just to put it inside then come back out, it was a waste of time, added to the fact he wasn't going that far, just a mere five feet to get away from everyone who wasn't fighting. Wandering down to the fence, Sophia and Mira following, he turned and enquired.

"Daggers or swords?" Harry asked.

"Daggers today," Sophia said decisively, she'd been practising the swords for weeks now.

"Alright, and one thing, turn around," Harry ordered, and Sophia did a little confused at first. "Your hair is getting long, a bit too long and its getting in your way, it's best to wear it up. I'll try and find you some bands or something. For now you can have my spare one." with that Harry put Sophia's hair up. In truth he had just copied his; he didn't know how many he had lost over the course of the apocalypse. "There." he stated in satisfaction. Now it definitely wouldn't get in her way, when he'd first seen her it had been just a bob not even touching her chin, now it was passed her chin but not quite reaching her shoulders yet. She was growing up, but at least she was getting the chance. He shuddered to think what could have happened to her if he hadn't been there.

"Alright, now you know what to do with walkers, so I'll show you what you're best to do if anyone tries to hurt you," Harry said seriously, handing over the daggers. While they all had 'obvious' daggers strapped to their clothes, quite a few of them had concealed ones, that weren't quite so easily found just to be on the safe side. "Now if they grab you like this, you go for either the neck," Harry grasped Sophia around the middle, quickly demonstrating, "You'll need to be quick since its reflex to move when you see something coming at you, or hit them here, where it will incapacitate them and stop them from being able to come after you." he demonstrated again by using her hand to thrust downwards into his knee or leg depending on how tall you were - obviously not using the blade.

"If they've trapped your hands like this," Harry said, adjusting his hold, "You obviously can't aim for the neck, but the legs will be fair play. Can you reach your hidden dagger like this?" he asked her, actually curious. Only to grunt when he was elbowed in the stomach, by the time he'd gotten his breath back, he felt the tip of a small blade pressed against his leg, well that certainly answered his question he thought wryly. "Good,"

"Now there's no guarantee that the blade will not be found," Harry said, "So, put them down and fight me the best you can and really try, I need to find your weak spots."

Mira muffled her amusement as she watched Sophia fight Harry, she was a hellcat, with Harry, the Dixons, Luna and Andrea teaching her it was no surprise really. If she did end up out there on her own, Mira knew she had what it took to keep herself alive and safe. Then again that was the whole point of these classes or exercise as she thought of them. She had thought she was good, she'd survived, but a single training session with Harry had resulted in her almost immediate defeat. She had come along way since she first came here though. Almost out of instinct she glanced over to Amy and Andre, a smile worming onto her face, they were playing pairs. Satisfied that he was alright, she turned back, paying attention to every move either Sophia or Harry made.

Harry thrust his hands out, stopping her kicks from connecting, counter attacking without using his real strength, the last thing he wanted to do was hurt her. Without saying anything though he was pointing out flaws in her fighting techniques. After the fifth kick, he turned the tables, grasping a hold of her foot and caused her to fall, "Do you yield?" but she just used her other foot to kick out at his knee causing him to let go, a punch to his solar plexus followed by a boot smashing into his foot, then a hit to the nose and groin, not at full strength but with enough force behind it so he knew she could do it.

"Nice," Harry admitted with a proud grin as he rubbed his nose, she'd used the palm of her had as he had suggested in the past, it was more likely to break it that way than throwing a punch with your first. "But what it if was a female you were battling?" Harry asked, his foot was tingling, thank Merlin he had his boots on, she hadn't half stomped hard.

"Still hit there, won't stop them long but long enough to grab my dagger or any weapon they have," Sophia stated, grinning widely despite the conversation, she absolutely loved it when Harry was proud of her. As odd as it sounded, each day that passed she forgot Ed (her father) more and more, despite the way the world was, she was happier than she could ever remember, her mum was happier and stronger than she remembered her being in her entire life.

"Good." Harry stated firmly, "Now lets go again," he handed her a dagger, gripping one tightly in his hand, he nodded and both of them began to clash with their daggers, they of course never actually tried to hurt each other, it was just their 'aim' that won them points, somewhere vital. They'd been doing it for ages now and they'd yet to slip up, but considering they had no hospitals or the like, it was for the best - but of course nobody other than a select few knew about magic or the potions.

"Um…stop!" Mira called out, looking for an opening when Sophia and Harry neither had their daggers near the other.

Immediately they both lowered their daggers, glancing at Mira in obvious confusion, Harry's had a demand for an explanation. "What's wrong?" Harry asked, wiping the sweat from his brow. He glanced at the front of the prison, but he'd already known the others weren't back yet, before he looked forward again. Truthfully it didn't stop the worry he felt, especially for Daryl, but he had his brother and Luna with him, the three of them were the best fighters, they would be fine.

Mira pointed towards Carol, who remained silent, she never interfered when anyone was fighting. Especially when it was her daughter, she didn't want to accidentally cause an accident by distracting them. Merle had loudly proclaimed what could happen if they did, scaring them witless no doubt, but unfortunately he had a point and best they realize what could happen than finding out first hand.

"What's wrong? Has someone been hurt?" Harry fired off immediately, as he stepped towards Carol concern playing across his face.

"Nothing like that," Carol hastened to explain, "He's not shown up again," her posture one of concern and a little annoyance, her defence classes were extremely important if they wanted to survive, she honestly didn't understand his refusal to participate.

Harry sighed in exasperation, "Do you know where he is?"

"I haven't seen him," Carol shook her head, not since this morning.

"Seen who?" Andrea asked coming over, curious at what was happening, and abandoning the mock fight she'd been having with her sister.

"Patrick, he hasn't come to class again," Carol revealed, he always disappeared around this time of the day and didn't reappear until lunch time.

"Haven't you spoken to him, Harry?" Amy asked hearing their conversation.

"No, not yet," Harry admitted, sighing tiredly, rubbing at his eyes, he was beyond exhausted, both magically and physically, it was why Luna had ordered him to stay here today, that they would go out and scavenge as well as go to Fort Benning and get a bit done. His days had been filled with creating spells, runes, seeing that everything was running smoothly, the classes, clearing out the Fort and worrying about making sure there was enough food for them all.

"I can do it," Andrea offered, they could all see that Harry was exhausted; they hadn't seen him like that since the last days at the farm. Not that many of them had actually slept when they found out the damn barn had been full of walkers.

"Has Chloe said anything about him? Have you asked?" Harry queried, perplexed.

"I have, she doesn't understand why he's avoiding it either," Carol explained.

"He'll be in our cell block," Sophia revealed ducking down to pick up her weapons, sheathing her daggers before straightening up. Seeing everyone looking at her, "He always goes there," it was where most of the toys were, due to the fact Andre's room was in that cell block. He always seemed so sad and lost, she'd tried to get to know him but he seemed to prefer either the boys or just playing with children younger than him.

"Thank you, Sophia," Harry said honestly, giving her a genuine smile, "Alright, lets see what I can get out of him," he added, his fingers raking through his hair in the only show of exasperation. "Will you let Axel, Big Tiny and Oscar know I won't be able to…"

"Of course, they're in the kitchen, I'll inform them," Mira explained, happy to help make things easier for Harry. She was hoping at least they would be in the kitchen; it was their turn to clean up after lunch today. With that said, she began to round up the cups that had still been in use when Axel and Big Tiny began to pile up the plates from lunch. Once she had them all, she glanced around to make sure before making her way in balancing them carefully.

It was as Sophia said, Patrick was sitting playing with the Lego's again, leaning back against the wall next to the cell which belonged to Mira and Andre. He was just absently playing with it, as if he needed something to do; his mind was just far away by the look of it. Daryl, Merle and Luna were back, he had felt the wards shift just as he entered the prison properly. Harry shook his head and sat down on the first step, honestly not sure what the hell to say.

"Hey, Kid," Harry said, he had to start somewhere.

Patrick looked up, his gaze slightly vacant, "Hey," his tone blank.

"Why do you not attend the classes with Carol?" Harry asked, getting right to it. "I did make it more than clear that you must attend."

"I know," Patrick said, "I'm sorry." he added apologetically.

"It doesn't answer my question, why haven't you attended any of the classes?" Harry demanded, using his leader voice in hopes of actually getting a response.

Patrick didn't answer; he either couldn't come up with a response he knows would satisfy Harry, or he was just unable to articulate one.

Harry sighed, "You know, I lost my parents when I was very young, I have no memories of them…except the night they died," Harry started conversationally. "I remember the last words they ever spoke, growing up I longed for them, and I used to imagine them suddenly being alive and coming to get me, that they hadn't been killed at all. Losing your parents…it feels as if you've lost yourself too, but the truth of it is we all have to learn to live without them at some point. Not that it makes it any easier, but do you believe this is what your parents want for you? To sit there playing with Lego rather than learn survival skills you'll definitely need one day?"

"They wouldn't want me to learn how to kill," Patrick whispered quietly, shaking his head vehemently.

"Kill?" Harry asked slightly surprised, "You believe the walkers should be spared?"

Patrick did not answer.

"Patrick…the walkers are…truly dead, the person they once were is gone, when they die this virus forces the body to reanimate. When you kill the brain you kill the virus nothing more," Harry told him seriously, "There may come a time when you might have to kill to defend yourself from someone… but it will be self defence. The people outside these walls…some of the people, they're dangerous, damaged, and those people know how to survive above all else…do you think I want you to kill people? Do you think I actually want you to learn how to kill walkers because it fills me with some sort of macabre amusement? NO! I do this so you survive, it's nothing worse than learning karate or fencing, learn how to defend yourself, Patrick."

"I'm only fifteen years old!" Patrick cried out, he should be in school, learning! Or skiving off to play with his friends on computers.

"Only? I saw someone die when I was eleven years old, violently, horribly, and I felt it was my fault, nobody told me otherwise. I held that burden in my heart for a very long time until I came to the conclusion myself that I couldn't have prevented it. Hell I fought my parents killer when I was eleven years old…I somehow won, against all the odds, you cannot use your age to protest against this. By the time I was fifteen I had lost my godfather and watched a friend die in front of me too, the last chance I had of a family, I felt so lost for the longest time, and deeply, deeply angry I couldn't control it. That bitterness never fully faded."

Patrick was staring at Harry as if he had never seen him before.

"Do you honestly think your parents would want to see you killed by a walker than be trained?" Harry asked him, knowing the answer. Patrick had killed a walker, almost being bitten in the process, it had been quite a shock to him, and he was still working through it. He hadn't seen his parents outright killed, just told to run and he had. "Don't be stupid, Patrick, if you are not in the class tomorrow…you won't like what happens next."

"What do you mean?" Patrick asked aghast.

"Merle offered to take you on a hunt," Harry relied nonchalantly, as he stood up, hating that he was scaring the kid, but he'd rather have him go to the class and curse his name until he was blue in the face than end up walker chow. Which he would guaranteed after that threat, the only one who wasn't completely terrified of Merle was Sophia. Although Andre was beginning to see he was all bark no bite, he was a bit too loud for the toddler. "I wouldn't want that, but if it's the only way I can make you understand how important these survival classes are then so be it."

With that Harry walked towards the door, his sensitive hearing not even picking up the footsteps receding as Daryl snuck away.

Hearing shuffling brought Harry out of his turbulent thoughts; he abruptly sat up, dagger in hand from where it had been placed under his pillow. He was actually ready to throw it, he was positive it couldn't be anyone alive, since nobody had ever just wandered into his room, ever. Not that there was actually all that much room to move around either since the double bed took up all the room. What stopped him was Anubis' wagging tail and the warm fingers that wrapped around his wrist. He knew the feel of that hand, had memorized ever callus, scar and general roughness.

"Are you alright?" Harry asked, "You can talk, there's a silencing spell up," he put one up most nights, so nobody heard his nightmares. He added sighing in relief as he thrust the dagger back under his pillow and into its sheath.

And I've set up a nice time for them to have a long talk without interruption ;) the question is will they do more? Do you think Harry and Daryl are even ready for the next step or will they only go as far as both of them are comfortable with? what do you guys think? :D R&R please