章 13: Chapter 12: Just a Child in Knockturn Alley Part 2
Trigger Warning: Sensitive Content
Dear reader, This chapter contains some heavy scenes. In it, we introduce the co-protagonist, a child, who has suffered physical and mental abuse throughout his life. The following descriptions may be distressing for some people. I will cite brutal acts committed against the co-protagonist, as well as the subsequent revenge he seeks against his abusers. If you are sensitive to themes of violence, abuse, or suffering, I recommend that you skip this chapter. Your mental health is important, and not everyone wishes to expose themselves to intense content. For those who continue to read, I hope you can join me on this journey.
Sincerely, a winged lion griffin.
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It was already around 9:00 in the morning, Dante was on one of the underground floors of his tower just below the house on Privet Drive, number 12 in front of him on a not at all comfortable hospital bed slept a small boy with extremely black hair, the child was pale most likely due to blood loss or infection from the huge wound to his shoulder. The night before the boy fell almost dead at Dante's feet.
Dante provided first aid on the spot stabilizing the boy, and was about to apparate the boy to the magic hospital when his eyes showed something that made him change his mind and take him to his house, in his magical gaze that revealed the true nature of things and people the figure of the boy was chained to that of an animal, the wolf bit and tore the boy while the boy in turn punched and kicked the wolf, for each claw mark inflicted on the boy an equal and often deeper one appeared on the beast which made it more irritated, the same happened with the boy's kicks and punches that inflicted cuts and bruises on the same places where he had hit the creature.
The revelation that the werewolf that frightened the residents of the famous magical neighborhoods was actually a child of approximately 8 years old made Dante stunned for a second, before making the decision to treat him himself.
Dante had not until then given much importance to the issue of werewolves, Lupin was undoubtedly one of his favorite characters from the work and perhaps that's why he had no ill will towards those who suffer from this condition, often being the only healer who volunteered to treat them, which over time made many injured or sick werewolves seek him out, in part by the description it was very easy for a healer to identify a werewolf, especially after the creation of Dante's new branch of magic (Prometheus), for scholars of life force a simple touch could identify a werewolf, their life force was scrambled and intertwined with another, very different from all other creatures and magical beings, although relatively close to that of an animagus, just more chaotic and disordered.
The issue was that that year Dolores Umbridge had proclaimed a normative that obliged werewolves to register with the Ministry of Magic, which in practice was the same as making public their condition, making the search for a job almost impossible, as well as acceptance in any wizarding society, healers were obliged by the new decree to denounce and register werewolves, a policy which Dante was strongly against, even going so far as to refuse to teach healers who did not make with him an unbreakable oath of secrecy promising never to reveal the nature of their patients, a similar spell although much weaker was placed on each of his books, almost like a Hippocratic oath, Dante planned to create his own oath more consistent with the magical world, but who has time for that, and even with all Dante's effort the information sometimes leaked.
Dante came out of his thoughts when he realized that the child began to move in the bed giving signs that he was going to wake up, little by little the child in front of Dante opened his eyes, blinked 2 or 3 times weakly and although he had just woken up his exhaustion was clear, he slowly raised the hand whose shoulder was not destroyed blocking the light for a moment before touching the side of the body where there should be a shoulder, quickly taking his hand away and moaning weakly in pain, gradually starting to cry slowly and silently.
The sight of that child full of scars thin and fragile crying silently as if he was afraid even to cry made Dante's heart ache, whether as a doctor or as an orphan he had an idea of how cruel the world could be, Dante did not move or say anything just stood there standing next to the bed until the child stopped crying and calmed down, then Dante approached and introduced himself in a soft and calm tone "hello, I am Prometheus Esposito, you are in my house so to speak, I found you injured last night, and due to your hairy condition I decided not to take you to the hospital", the child widened his eyes and shrank in the bed at the sound of Dante's last words as if the word "hairy condition" was some kind of death sentence, she looked at Dante with empty eyes eyes that no child should have, that distant look of someone who survived a war or trauma but left a part of himself behind, eyes that revealed a lesion so deep that not even magic could heal. "don't worry, I won't hurt you you have my word, I know you're a werewolf and I don't care" Dante said while putting his hand on his chest in a universal gesture of oath, the small child who looked more like a house elf because of how thin she was relaxed a little, not much but it was enough for now.
"Al, could you bring some food for our guest" at the end of speaking apparently to nothing a small eared elf appeared at Dante's feet and next to the boy, the house elf Aldar bowed to Dante and to the child before snapping his fingers and making a tray full of toast and a beautiful milky soup of vegetables and chicken appear, its smell was so pleasant that even Dante's stomach grumbled, "Al, I think I'll want one too if it's not a bother" the elf's eyes shone with the request as if instead of a request Dante was crowning him or giving him some kind of strange prize, the next second a tray of soup was on a small hospital table next to the child's bed, for a few moments the 2 humans in that room just ate, Dante ate his soup slowly, it was perfect thick and tasty, it warmed up the cold of that morning very well, the boy on the other hand ate as if at any moment someone was going to steal his plate with each bite he looked cautiously to the sides almost a paranoia, in the time it took Dante to eat 1 plate of soup and some toast the boy was already on the 3rd tray, and required spells to choke every few minutes and although Dante had constantly asked the boy to eat slowly he only started to really savor the food and taste it after the second plate.
"Well, now that we are satisfied and calmer, could you tell me your name?" Dante said while taking the pile of food trays and handing them to the house elf, the child for her part settled in the bed and a little embarrassed thanked Dante and the elf Al before starting to speak "people usually just call me boy, or worse things…" the child looked at the floor embarrassed as if her presence or her voice in some way dirtied the immaculate floor of the room, Dante approached wanting to touch the boy's shoulder to give him some kind of comfort.
The reaction of the little boy to Dante's touch would be engraved in his mind forever, almost at an inhuman speed the child slapped Dante's approaching hand and in a jump shrank screaming in the opposite corner of the room holding a spoon he had used to eat as if it were a knife "DON'T TOUCH ME!!!, GET AWAY FROM ME, DON'T TOUCH ME, DON'T TOUCH ME, OR I'LL KILL YOU".
The worst of all were the boy's eyes in front of Dante, at first sight they burned with rage and hatred, Dante had already witnessed that look, for the first time in the orphanage, and many others working in the emergency room during his graduation, he saw that look in women, in girls, in men and now he saw it in a little boy, eyes burning with rage burning to hide an abyssal fear eyes trying to burn the pain until they were empty, eyes corrupted by the worst side of humanity. Dante calmly approached the boy staying just a few steps away from him, then he sat down and took off the silver mask and with it the disguise of Prometheus Esposito, "let's start over, look my name is Dante Esposito, I am a chimeric experiment of an ancient wizard and I am approximately your age, although I have memories of my past life".
The spoon in the child's hand fell to the floor and for what seemed to the two men a long time only the sound of metal falling could be heard, "let's go sentence, I promised not to hurt you at all, and I never break a promise made to a child" Dante said now looking into the child's eyes, who not knowing whether from shock or own will sat on the floor facing Dante still in shock but with less fear and hatred.
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PS: If I manage to schedule correctly, the chapters should be released every Saturday. I initially considered releasing them every Monday, but I believe that Saturday would be more convenient for those who work during the week to read.
PS²: The trigger warning applies to the entire book and will appear in a condensed form when I deem the chapter to be quite intense, okay?
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