Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Chapter One: Atlanta Burning

A lone figure stood on a rooftop surveying the scene around him, green eyes seeming to glow with a power unknown to the people in the department store two buildings away. So far, no one seemed to have noticed him, not even the man on said building's roof. This meant they were either entirely unobservant of their surrounding, or they Were preoccupied with something.

The silent observer was fairly sure it was the latter of the two options given that there was another figure that had shown up on horseback, been surrounded by a heard of the dead, and scrambled into a nearby abandoned tank.

smiling to himself, he pulled out a handheld Ham Radio he'd nicked from an electronics store a couple of days earlier and hit the auto-scan button.

It was only a couple of seconds before he heard a youngish guy's voice say, "Hey, dumbass. You in the tank. You Comfortable? "

The green-eyed observer, none-other than a newly newly deaged, seventeen year old Harry Potter, couldn't help the amused sort of laughter that escaped him at the words he heard. . He was pretty sure that, given a chance, he and whoever the guy was would be good friends.

This idea was further confirmed as he listened to the conversation . He really couldn't fathom the way this new guy in the tank could have been unaware that there would be hordes of the undead roaming a large city like Atlanta.Though he did have to give him props for choosing a horse to get around on. No need to worry about petrol that way.

As he watched, the guy managed to get away from the horde, shooting his way through to the nearby alley where an Asian looking guy stood waiting. Harry released a breath he hadn't even known he was holding, beyond relieved that the man had made it safely.

Then, just as he was about to leave, heading back to his own people, he heard the report of a high caliber rifle, and looked back at the building, only to see a man gleefully chambering another round and taking aim at a nearby walker.

Swearing loudly, the teen turned on the spot and aparated away.

-------------------------------

Inside a department store in the heart of Atlanta, Rick Grimes was trying desperately to calm the woman, who he now knew was Andrea, as she pointed a handgun at his forehead. The situation had immediately become deadly tense as soon as the door to the loading dock had been closed.

."We're all dead! You've as good as killed us."

The look on her face was one of terror and grief, not that Rick really understood the reason for it.

As if sensing the former deputy's confusion, another of the group added, "Every walker in ten miles heard those shots, man. You just rang the dinner bell. You follow me?"

Now everyone's fear made a lot more sense, and he was about to say something, but was interrupted by the sound of a rifle going off.

The woman, Andrea, glanced at the ceiling with a look of horrified disbelief. "Was that Dixon? That man's wasting bullets we don't have."

As one, the entire group turned and hurried up the stairs to the roof, just in time to hear another round go off. Cursing, Rick sped up, taking the stairs two at a time.

Preparing himself for an ugly confrontation, the former deputy burst through the door to the roof only to have his jaw drop at the situation that greeted him.

On the ground near the edge of the roof, a balding man dressed in black cargo pants and a black wife beater, lay still, silent, and hog-tied while a kid of no more than sixteen or seventeen, was leaning back against the wall of the roof, twirling a stick in his hand, and looking extremely self-satisfied.

"Hello, ladies and gents."

This flippant greeting was met by renewed disbelief by everyone present. Rick, himself, found that he really wanted to pinch himself, it was that unreal.

Finally, though, Glenn- the young man who has rescued him- said, "Who the hell are you? And, more importantly, how the hell did you get up here?"

Harry just gave an ironic chuckle, truly amused at the question. Of course he couldn't blame them for their surprise, after all, as far as they knew magic didn't exist. Of course, if he were honest he would have to admit that he had absolutely no idea how he was going to explain the situation, to say nothing of how they were going to react. But, as a wise person once said, in for a penny in for a pound.

"What I'm about to tell you is going to sound absolutely ridiculous. Impossible even. But it will be finished with a demonstration."

At this pronouncement, everyone around him exchanged apprehensive glances. So, taking a deep breath, he began to explain,"First, my name is Harry. Just Harry. As to the rest, it gets rather complicated. Have any of you ever seen or read The Lord of the Rings?"

Most everyone gave reluctant nods, obviously completely thrown by the question and unsure of where this was going, but it was the best he had to start with, so he continued, "As to what I am, I am a wizard. And yes that means magic, as in Merlin, Gandalf, and other such magical characters. And yes, I do use a wand, and I know how to do potions. Though potions isn't exactly my strong suit.

"I know what you're thinking, this is absolutely impossible magic doesn't exist. Believe me I thought the same thing when I first found out when I was 11 years old. As to how old I am, even though you never asked, chronologically I am 38 but someone somewhere thought it would be funny to cast a deaging spell, making me around 17 years old.

"As to how that's possible, I have absolutely no idea. On another note, I was listening in to your conversation while deputy here was in the tank. Then I noticed gunshots coming from this rooftop, and figured I should probably stop this dumbass from continuing a rampage that would probably get a bunch of people killed. He can be transported like this for safety if you prefer. And no he's not dead, he's just stunned. Better for everybody that way."

To say the party in front of him was flabbergasted was an understatement, which was made clear by the blank expressions on their faces and the fact that no one seemed to have an immediate reply to his monologue. Something he was very familiar with, and given that they've been through prior to the last couple of months. On a positive note, he was somewhat relieved that no one was simply shouting at him, which never helped anything it only made matters tense.

Finally, apparently being the most reasonable group, deputy said, "For the time being, I think I'm going to leave the whole magic thing and the aging thing alone, and ask the obvious question first. How in the hell were you listening in to our conversation?"

Harry was impressed, not many people would have started there, being pragmatic, but then that had been a big part of this man's life before all this happened and the dead started rising again. So, to aid in his explanation, he pulled his handheld out of one of his pockets and replied, "From one of my own supply runs a couple of months ago, I found this handy little device. It's not a walkie-talkie, and it is not a CB radio. It's much more than that- it's a handheld ham radio, complete with rechargeable batteries, extendable antenna with a range of about 15 miles, and an auto scanner. It's how I found your frequency."

This time, it was the young Asian looking guy who found his voice first. "Okay, so that explains that, except that I didn't know that portable Ham radios had features like that. The fact that it has auto scan I mean."

Before Harry could reply, the blonde lady blonde observed, "You know I just realized, we haven't introduced ourselves yet. Might be a good place to start just in case."

Looking both flummoxed in a little bit sheepish, the Asian guy decided that he was going to take a point on this one, pointing to each of his comrades in turn. "I'm Glenn, that's Andrea, then we have Rick, t-dog, Morales, Jackie, the guy you hog-tied and knocked out is Merle dixon. The guy's a bona fide an asshole if ever there was one."

Snorting in derisive amusement, Harry reintroduced himself in turn, glad that, so far, the group hadn't given a negative reaction to his revelations. In fact, they all simply looked lost as to how they should respond at all.

Finally, Glenn decided he would break the silence. "So, when you say that you've been deaged, do you actually mean that literally? And how does that even work?"

Once again, Harry found that he was immensely impressed. That that was the biggest thing that he was concerned about made him feel a little better about his odds with regards to this groups reception of him, magic and all. "Not really sure, to tell you the truth. All I know is that one minute I'm going to sleep as a 22-year-old, and the next I'm waking up in a 12-year-old body. Even with all that I've learned in my life so far, I never actually read anything about something like that happening. And then of course the dead started rising again. So I went from weird to impossible overnight literally."

Rick gave a frown of confusion and distaste. For a second, Harry thought the man might be about to say something derogatory about his magic, but needn't have worried, as he said, "That's....I actually don't know how to respond to that, other than to say I have a feeling it had to be confusing and disorienting as hell. How did you manage to make the switch in your mind. Without going crazy?"

With a wry grin, seeing most of the others nodding in agreement, he quipped, "Who says I'm not crazy now?"

Rick and the others chuckled at that, Glenn saying, "That's a fair point, I guess. Though I have a feeling that most of us are probably a little crazy ourselves at this point."

After a beat, Andrea sighed and scrubbed at her face with one hand, gun held loosely in the other. "The question now is how the hell we get out of here without one or more of us winding up as walker bait?"

Harry broke into a mischievous grin, looking forward to their upcoming reactions as he slid the gun bag he'd seen Rick drop when scrambling for the tank and was rewarded by a sharp intake of breath from the former deputy. "How in the hell did you manage to get ahold of tha?"

Once more twirling the stick in his right hand, the wizard smirked, "Magic." When all he got was a bunch of confused looks from his audienc, he added, "There's a spell that can be used to summon virtually anything." Opening the bag and pulling out a hand gun, he held it up for them to see. "I also managed to make some useful modifications with rune magic while you were still stuck in the tank. Runes that improve accuracy and enable true silencing. Even on the shotguns."

To prove his point, he aimed at a can he'd set up on the nearby ledge earlier and pulled the trigger. Everyone around him gasped in surprise when a bullet hit the can dead on with no noise from the discharge.

After a couple of minutes, he grinned again, tossing the gun to Glenn and handing the bag to Rick. Then he uttered his favorit and often used line, "I really love magic."

After a few beats, Glenn asked, "What else can you do? I don't suppose you could help get us out of here with our skin intact?"

Having already given the matter a lot of thought, the wizard nodded, smiling softly. "I can, though a group effort will, ultimately be more successful. I can do a lot, but even with magic, I have limits to what I can do. Though I think the first order of business is getting in touch with your people. Letting them know that your situation has improved.

"I don't mind you telling them about me, though I ask you to be as vague as possible for me the moment. I would prefer to explain myself to everyone face to face."

With that, he handed T-dog the handheld and left the roof.

----------------------------

At the quarry, the main group puttered around doing various chores and trying desperately not to dwell on the last transmission they'd heard from their group back in the city.

The leader, another former deputy named Shane, sat at his jeep frowning intensely at what he'd heardheard, trying not to beat himself for the way things had apparently gone. That was the thing about leadership that always got to him, being responsible for all the good and all the bad that all the lives underneath your control. Before all this, before the dead started walking again, it was the reason why he always Rick lead. Much as he didn't like to admit it, Rick was good at it, shouldered it without a second thought, whereas Shane tended to be something of an asshole.

It wasn't that he didn't care, sometimes he cared a little too much. He wasn't one that really knew how to deal with stuff like that, so it generally came out wrong. And now, with Rick so long gone, and everyone here having noticed his bearing and Lori having told everyone about his former profession, that they looked to him for every major decision, sometimes even the little ones too, and it was almost enough to driving to distraction from time to time.

In the midst of these thoughts, old man Dale, who usually kept watch from atop his trusty old RV, startled him, saying, "It's important that you not be too hard on yourself, son. Yours is a job that I, quite frankly, don't envy you. Top that off with the fact that it's one you never asked for but were expected to do because you used to be a cop and it's no wonder you would be stressed something fierce."

In usual fashion, the former deputy just grunted, once again unsure as to how the old man managed to be so perceptive. When Shane didn't give a verbal reply, Dale continued, " I would like to think that there's still hope for them. After all, what are the chances a group like ours would come together in times like these and, for the most part, get along? Or that times you like these would happen at all?"

Shane nodded thoughtfully, having to concede the man's point.

He was just about to say something when the radio crackled to life again. "T-dog to home base, anyone copy?"

Shane gave Dale a startled look, then scrambled up the ladder to the roof of the RV, fumbling a bit with the mic on the CB

"T-dog, this is Shane, come back."

After a second or two, the radio came to life, T-dog's voice sounding crystal clear. "Shane, the group and I are still at the department store, still stuck at the moment but fine. No one is injured, and we're working on a plan to get out of here. Might be tomorrow before we manage, though. Over."

Dale looked both as relieved and as startled as Shane and the others felt. Then the reality of the rest of what had been said dawned on them, about the same time as Lori asked, " Did he just say they were still in the department store?"

Sharing a look, Dale observed "Sounds like they're a lot closer than the department store, as clear as that broadcast was."

Not bothering to voice his agreement, Shane keyed the mic. "T-dog, did you say you were still stuck at the department store? Over."

The response was immediate. As if reading between the lines, their friend answered, "Yeah. I did."

Then, apparently deciding that his audience would need a bit more of an explanation, he continued, "We met up with a couple of new people who seem to have had the same idea as us. One already saved us some trouble and is providing new weapons and ammo. That one's a former cop, like you."

Shane decided he could get behind that idea, especially if this guy managed to get ahold of an entire gun locker. Shane had often kicked himself for not making a run on the one at the station in King County. To be fair, though, he'd been more focused on getting Carl and Lori to safety at the time. "You said there were a couple of new people."

There seemed to be a bit of an amused tone to T-dog's next reply. "Yeah. The other one's a kid, maybe seventeen. Been on his own from the beginning. Said he lost his family, decided we looked decent enough. Surprised the hell out of us to find him on the roof with a gun, rope, a taser, and a portable Ham radio. Had Merle stunned and tied up when we found him. Guess he didn't like Merle firing off rounds like an idiot any more than we did."

All Shane could manage right off the bat was to say, "Uh, copy that. Wait one."

Everyone at the quarry minus the kids, Daryl, and Ed just stood around looking at each other with their jaws on the ground. What they'd just heard was really proving hard to get their heads around.

Finally, Dale asked, "Did he just say a 'kid' got the better of Merle?"

Shane found himself laughing for the first time in ages. "That's what I heard. With a taser and rope, no less."

Lori joined in his laughter a moment later. "I would have loved to have witnessed that."

Carol added her thoughts to the mix, "Me, too."

Amy, Andrea's sister, surprised them all when, with a mischievous grin, she said, "I would have loved to help." Which, naturally, got a good bit of surprised laughter from everyone there.

After composing himself once again, Shane said, "Noted. And you said you're all safe? How secure is the building?"

T-dog's next reply sounded bemused, and like he was now inside. Which was proof that he really was talking on a portable Ham rather than a walkie. "Oh, yeah. It's secure. Not something I would have said a few minutes ago, but it looks like the kid's good at setting up rather ingenious barricades. Front door was the only weak point, and he's got a wall of wood, racks, and counters wedged together tightly enough that I don't think a whole heard of walkers could break it. Hell, I don't think I would even know how to get it apart again if I tried."

Shane's eyebrows shot up. This kid sounded resourceful as hell. The kind of person almost guaranteed to make it in a world like this. Also one that they definitely wanted on their side.

"Copy that. I'm signing off for now. Save your batteries and check in first thing in the morning. Sooner if something changes or if you get close tonight. This is Shane, signing off."

With that, he hung up the mic and sat back. The next day was going to be interesting.

---------------------------

AfterAfter putting away the ham radio, T-Dog stepped up beside Harry and said, "you don't mess around do you?"

Glancing at him sideways, Harry replied, "don't see much point to it. Wasting time anymore could mean the difference between life and death. I mean, come on! Besides, this place is what, 15 story? The first 10 of them have goods on them. The upper five are administration, that might, but only might, have something useful. Might go take a look at it to see if there's any medical supplies but other than that. Not holding my breath.

"Down here though, I think on the uppermost floor there's an infirmary? Anyway, with the barricades in place we don't have to be in such a hurry. And with my magic, and the box truck parked out on the loading dock- which, by the way, I'm not exactly sure how you missed that one- the sheer amount of supplies will be able to take along on one run makes this amount of trouble worth it."

From the other side of Harry, Morales observed, "Kid makes a good point. And none of us are going to complain. Especially considering that we might actually get the chance to sleep in actual beds tonight." Seeing the questioning looks coming from all the others around him, he added, "There's a furniture section up on the third floor. Saw it on the building directory."

Harry nodded thoughtfully. "It's not a bad idea to grab a bunch of that stuff. Probably all of it. Although, it won't be useful for a while, at least until we find some place more permanent.

"Still, I think we should clear out the store. Everything that isn't bolted down. Never know when someone might need anything we find here."

Stunnedat the kid's audacity, the group shared an incredulous look, sure that Harry had gone round the twist. It was Rick who said what they all were thinking. "In order to take all this with us we'd need more than a few hours and a convoy of trucks I don't know about anyone else here, but I don't know how to drive a big rig."

Harry leveled them all with a sardonic grin. However, instead of answering, he simply pulled a pendant from around his neck and, tapping it once with a finger, set it on the floor and stepped back. A second later, where a sliver sized trunk had stood was a full-size steamer trunk with seven different crests on the front, prompting a round of startled gasps from everyone behind him.

Without looking backback, he stepped forward, pressed a finger to one of the crests. Almost instantly, the lid popped up and, to everyone's amazement, he climbed inside and disappeared.

For his part, Harry found the situation endlessly amusing, stifling a round of hearty belly laughs.
It was good to laugh like this again, he decided, but quickly sobered himself, setting to the business of gathering the extra trunks he had found. And, since they had all been shrunken and placed in a gunnysack, it was just a minute or two before he was climbing back into the world above.

passing out the trunks, he said, "So, one trunk per person. put anything you find inside. Don't worry about how much you put inside. They're magically expanded charmed to never get full. And take your time. There's no way the dead at the door will be able break through. I warded it to the nines."

watching everyone move off and start putting, items, h their trunks, Harry decided it would be entertaining to su their reactions when they were done.

-------------------------

About 3 hours Later, everyone gathered in the main store just inside the doors, a few marveling at the fact that the herd outside could barely be hard from here.

Merle, true to form, had the most colorful response fall. "Damn, man. You wasn't kidding. We just cleared the whole fucking building and these rings still don't weigh more 'n a feather."

In reply, Harry just chuckled. "Yeah. That's a feather light charm. No matter how heavy it gets, you'll be able to carry it around like a case of pillows."

After a brief pause, Andrea said, "Well, now that that's done, I think the next thing would be to come up with an escape plan."

When no one spoke up with any ideas, Harry sighed. "Really, people? Nothing?" Still, no one responded. Leaning up against the Sales counter, the wizard continued, "I guess no one realized that there was another loading dock at the back on the basement level? One that has an empty box truck which is very handy."

looking Sheepish, Glen admitted, "Yeah, I saw it. but I counted it out since one, I doubt the Keys are nearby and I don't know how to hotwire anything. And there's several walkers between us and the van. More than most of this group might be comfortable in dealing with."

stifling a groan, Harry found that he had to admit that the man probably had a point. "Well, I would say that things have changed a bit, yeah?"

As one the group nodded and Harry felt immensely relieved. "Good. sounds like a plan." Then, as the others turned toward the basement access stair, the Wizard leaned in so that only Merle could hear him. "Just so you know, I've already guessed the type of person you are, so let me be clear. If you ever cross this group, try to steal from them or otherwise try to hurt them in ANY way, I WILL kill you. Clear?"

Merle simply nodded, and Harry followed the others. Time to blow the joint.

-------------------------

It took them just a few minutes to clear the Walkers, and then they were on their way.

Sitting in the passenger seat, Harry caught a glimpse of the city skyline. Not only did the city belong to the dead now, it was likely there wouldn't much left before long. The Smoke made it clear, Atlanta was burning.