Chapter 14: The Silver Galleon.
The treatment of the boy's injury took only 2 days, which surprised Dante. The healing and regenerative abilities linked to lycanthropy went far beyond what Dante had calculated, as did the boy's metabolism. During the treatment, Dusk ate enough for 2 adults alone, which pleased the house elf very much. Dusk behaved like an adult, at least until the night of the third day when Dante intended to discharge the boy.
During that night, Dante had removed the boy's bandage and was evaluating the scar: "Good, very good to tell the truth, apart from the scar and the hypochromia everything is in place". Dante said this while moving Dusk's arm as if it were some kind of articulated doll. At first, the boy did not tolerate being touched, but soon began to accept, albeit reluctantly, and always with Dante in his true form, still a child.
"Okay, I believe that tomorrow I can take you back to the orphanage in Knockturn Alley" Dante pretended not to notice the strange expression that these words caused in the boy, and continued to speak "do you feel any pain? Any discomfort?" Dusk shook his head in denial and thanked Dante for the help "thank you very much for the help, I will pay for the herbs, potions and treatment as soon as I can".
Dante stood still for a moment, he found himself rethinking the last few days trying to understand why an 8-year-old street boy thought he would show up with a medical bill worthy of United States hospitals, "look, I didn't help you expecting payment, so rest assured about that", for some reason this made Dusk have a face that Dante could only describe as a strange mix of shame and disgust, which was not far from reality, the feeling in the air was embarrassment.
Dante trying to break the silence spoke to Dusk "if you allow me I will talk to the orphanage about your howling condition, there are hideouts away from Knockturn Alley where I created padded cabins for people with your condition" Dante took a silver Galleon out of his pocket, where there should be an image of a dragon or the face of Merlin was the face of a wolf, and where there should be the serial number there was a count of days, hours and minutes.
Dante held the coin with two fingers showing it to Dusk "me and some friends created these coins a while ago, they are in summary slightly illegal portal keys, their function is to take those affected by lycanthropy to these padded rooms during moonlit nights and in the morning take them back to the last place they were, of course the trip is extremely uncomfortable, and the room is not a 5-star hotel, but it is a safe and isolated place with adequate restriction and protection enchantments."
Dusk took the coin in his hands and the guilt he felt for again receiving something without paying or judging he did not deserve was consuming him, realizing the boy's discomfort Dante quickly spoke "no, you don't need to be embarrassed boy, you are not the only one who received this for free, I made the delivery of these coins a standard protocol in old St. Mungus"
The boy still looked at the coin with reluctance, analyzing it then asked "and if I lose or spend it?, or if it is stolen from me?" numerous werewolves have already asked these exact questions to Dante which led him to create solutions for these occurrences "well first of all it is a very obvious forgery, I don't know any witch coin that has a wolf stamped on it, but even so I created a countermeasure for this, although painful…"
Dante was hesitant to show this method to a child, he copied the idea of Voldemort's Dark Mark, the remnants of the Death Eaters pursued him for months after the publication of his book: "A Divided World: How the Isolation of the Magical World Will Be Our Ruin", which led Dante to dissect and study several dozen of this mark, it was a truly fascinating magic, the tattoos were engraved very close to the vital forces of individuals, removing them even for Dante would be dangerous they were not so much tattoos as magical contracts a distorted and evil form of perpetual vow, very similar to the contracts of house elves by the way.
Coming out of his daydreams Dante decided that given Dusk's lifestyle and the maturity demonstrated letting the boy decide was the right choice: "look, if you are really afraid of losing, there is another method, it is very painful, and honestly borders on dark magic, but it is your choice", Dusk, nodded and said: "don't worry I am used to pain" Dante took another coin equal to the one he had delivered a little while ago, then he pressed it against his arm with visible force while explaining "just like much in magic what matters is the intention have and imagine the intention of engraving the coin on your skin, of making it part of you" without realizing when the coin turned red as a coal for a moment an unpleasant smell of burnt hair and flesh filled the room, and gradually the coin merged with Dante's arm who had sweated a little from the pain.
He showed his arm to Dusk, where now a light silver mark in the shape of a moon with a wolf's face counted the time until the next full moon, shortly after letting the boy look and touch his arm Dante took his hand to the tattoo and as if he wanted to apparently tear off a piece of skin he removed the coin intact and perfect as it was before and in equal pain. Dusk with a movement did as Dante had shown him and with notable resistance to pain he engraved the coin on his forearm with indifference.
Dante got up from the side of Dusk's bed: "well sleep well, tomorrow morning I will take you to the orphanage in Knockturn Alley, I'm sure they will take good care of you", Dusk caught like a deer by the headlights of a car and clearly reluctant nodded as if he agreed, Dante pretended not to notice as he left the guest room.
The phoenix Salaark was perched on the stair railing, as if waiting or foreseeing a request from its master, Dante petted the phoenix and gave it medicinal herbs as a treat that would make a potions master cry for the blatant waste, then asked "keep an eye on our guest, I think he might try something stupid like jumping out the window".
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Dusk was lying in the most comfortable bed he had ever had in his life, he was lost in thoughts, in the last 3 days he did not go hungry or cold, during these 3 days he was not afraid of being robbed or killed, during this time he was trusting someone other than himself and this scared him much more than hunger, cold and violence, could ever he was making himself vulnerable… so Dusk decided that he would run away that night, he hated being in debt so he would return when he had enough money to pay for his treatment, Dusk got up from the bed and opened the window, it was a dark and moonless night which pleased him very much, on those moonless nights the stars and the animals of the night were his only company, at least that's what Dusk thought while gathering his things and preparing to jump out the window towards the street when he spotted Dante's phoenix he had liked the magical animal very much, it seemed to emanate an aura of tranquility and security, which calmed Dusk he petted the phoenix and said goodbye: "Salaark, I'm leaving I don't want to bother more than I already bothered thank you very much and, thank Dante and Al for the help for me, as soon as I can I will come back to pay for the treatment"
The moment Dusk was going to jump out the window the white phoenix disappeared in a beam of silver moonlight and in its place appeared Dante with Salaark on his right shoulder: "You know, the door is much safer, if you fall and break your leg I would feel guilty".