Last time:

His thoughts were interrupted as he tripped on the beginning of a chute that he hadn't noticed. He fell face first into it, and began sliding the rest of the way down on his stomach. He covered his head with his arms, praying that he would make it to the bottom safely. This little adventure had turned more dangerous then he cared, and he resolved to be a bit more cautious from then on. If he survived this, that is.

Harry was very lucky, however, for the Regina's head and long tail appeared before him at the end of the chute. He managed to slide from the chute onto her head and down to her tail-tip, where he sat shuddering for many minutes. That had been startling, to say the least. When his hear stopped thundering in his head, he closed his eyes and turned to the Basilisk. He said softly in Parseltongue ~Thank you, my friend.~ She hissed softly in what could only be perceived as a 'your welcome.' Nudging him with her head, she told him to follow her to her main chambers.

When they reached the large hall, Harry asked how she knew to be there just then. She responded by saying ~I am connected to you as a familiar. Does your owl not come to you when you need her? It is the same with a Basilisk.~ Harry blinked, and nodded softly. He then noticed that it was much warmer down here then it was in the dungeons. When he pointed that out to her, she let off a series of hisses. Harry started, before realizing that she was laughing! It took a bit before she was composed enough to answer ~Hississ. Sso you noticed that? Yes, it is warmer down here then up in the castle. Sssalazar made sssure that there wasss a warming charm on my chamberssss before he left the ssschool. His successors improved it over time, until the very stones reacted to what my body temperature isss. It will never get too cold for me here.~

Harry smiled softly, and responded ~That'ss wonderful. By the way, I was thinking of what to call you. I can't keep thinking of you as 'the Basilisk' or 'the Regina'. Did Sssalazar give you a name? And if ssso, do you remember it?~ She answered that she did not remember the name she had been given upon hatching. So Harry bounced names off her, none of them being accepted by the Basilisk. They finally settled on the name Tiamat, or Tia for short. This proved to be quite humorous to Tia, who hissed her laughing hiss quite a bit. When Harry asked what was up, she responded by telling him that it was a bit presumptuous of her to take that name. He asked her why.

~Because, little mage, Tiamat wassss Queen of the Universe. For any living creature to take her name, especially a reptile, isss very impudent. It would be like you humansss naming a child after one of your Deities.~ Harry responded with an 'oh', and thought on that. However, he couldn't think of any name that suited her better. Tia seemed to agree, as she made no more of the matter. They talked well into the day, until she said ~Oh dear. We've been talking for ssso long, that I nearly lossst track of the time. It'sss time for you to return to the cassstle my friend. Get on.~ Harry climbed on her back, and she slithered to another entrance that Harry hadn't known about.

It only took a few minutes for them to reach it, and when they did Harry bid Tia good-bye. He then climbed the stairs to a hidden doorway above. When he got out, he found that he was near the Defense classroom. His stomach rumbled just then, and he decided to ignore his misgivings about Quirrel in favor of finding some dinner. He was too incautious, however, and his only warning was a squeak of a shoe behind him. Then pain exploded at the back of his head, and he fell to the floor unconscious. He awoke to voices talking, and being freezing cold. He ignored the cold, however, in an attempt to hear what the voices were saying. They soon became clear, and what they were saying made his blood run cold.

"Thank goodness you came in time, Master. May I go back to the castle now?" said a whiny voice that cause Harry's neck-hairs to prickle. The answering voice, however, raised them all the way. It was a cold voice, and dangerous enough to send fear into the hearts of many the brave wizard. What he said, however, was even more frightening, especially as it was Harry the voice was talking about.

"Yessss. Go. I wish to hunt alone." said the voice. Harry heard the crunch of snow, and then silence for a few minutes. All the while Harry was getting colder and colder. Finally the voice spoke, though he wished it wouldn't "Ah. My little guest isss awake. Now, I want a good hunt. So I'm going to give you five minutes head start. Run as fast as you want, or whichever direction you want. It makesss no difference to me, as I will catch you. I just want a bit of sport before I do." Harry got up, and looked at the voice. It was a cloaked and hooded figure, and reeked of darkness and thunder. He started when the figure shouted "GET GOING, FOOL!" Harry ran then, like never before.

He didn't know which way was the castle, but he realized that he was deep in the Forbidden Forest. He didn't stop to shudder though, and just kept running. He was sure he resembled a fawn fleeing from a wolf, but he didn't much care. Though he got fairly far, he was still able to tell when the evil creature started after him. Harry cursed mentally, knowing that there was no way he could reach safety before being overtaken and killed. He was so distracted, that he didn't notice he had passed a territory border. His feet only stopped when he tripped over a tree root, and fell to the forest floor. He tried to get back up, but found that his foot was stuck in the root he had tripped over.

No matter how much Harry struggled, he couldn't free himself. Eventually he heard the creature approaching slowly, not out of breath, though it was emitting a deranged and dangerous laugh. Like the prey he was, he stared fearfully at the predator. Suddenly he heard the sound of hoof-falls, and something leaped over his head. It landed in front of the dark creature, and reared, for-hooves flashing dangerously close to it's head. The evil thing fled, and not just from the hooves. Harry soon realized that the creature that had saved him was glowing! A brilliant pure white light, and Harry would have though it an angel if it didn't have a definite equine hint to it's body.

As the white light faded, and his savior turned towards him, Harry looked at it in awe. It was a winged unicorn! Only, it's hide wasn't the pure white that unicorns were described as being, but a mixture of natural horse colors. If a horse could be a calico, it would resemble this creature. There were patches of brown, white and black all over it's body. It's wings, however, were the most glorious ebony imaginable. And the hooves appeared to be made of silver, though Harry could barely see them for the feathers that covered them. Though it was stocky, it was rather short, and resembled a Muggle Shire horse. But far more graceful, and fine boned then the mighty work-horses of the Muggle world.

The creature approached him slowly, surprising Harry to no end. It lowered it's horn to touch Harry gently on the forehead. He then heard in his mind ~Do not be afraid, little mage. I will not hurt you. I am called Kyphus. What is your name?~ Completely stunned not just with the mental abilities of this creature, but that it..he was so friendly. How he knew that the equine was most definitely a stallion he couldn't fathom, but he knew. He told the creature his name, then asked what kind of creature it was. The creature laughed softly in his head, and said ~Ah the curiosity of the young. I am an alicorn, dear child. Now, it's getting very late, so I suggest you follow me. I will get you back to your castle safely.~

Harry nodded, and followed the alicorn when he got up. This broke the horn connection, but it seemed that Kyphus had no need of it once he had connected mentally with him. He asked "What, exactly, is an alicorn?" Kyphus responded by saying it was indeed a winged unicorn. When probed further, he told of how one of Pegasus' descendants realized that there were far more unicorns then the pegasi. So he made a pact with a female unicorn, and other such matings followed. After several generations, the alicorn bred true. This, naturally, happened after Merlin's day. Thus very few wizards realized that there were creatures out there that were a mix of the most wondrous equines alive.

This posed questions of Kyphus' age, etc. The alicorn good naturedly answered all the questions he could. It turned out he was about one-hundred years old, which was just reaching maturity in alicorns. Which was quite a staggering fact, and suggested that alicorns had a very hard time retaining any good numbers. When Harry pointed that out to Kyphus, the alicorn replied by saying that on occasion an alicorn might dally with one of their cousins, the unicorn or the pegasus. Harry then asked why Kyphus traveled with him. He had always heard that unicorns didn't trust human males. This caused the alicorn to laugh softly, before responding that it was only true of non-innocent males. The way he said non-innocent made Harry blush, and think Yuck to himself. He was still too young to be interested in females, and couldn't imagine wanting to lose his innocence to one.

That hadn't answered his question, however, and when he pointed this out, Kyphus said ~We alicorn's are a bit different from our unicorn cousins. We trust a bit more easily, but are more able to defend ourselves when alone. Indeed, most alicorns prefer to be solitary, as too many wings in one space causes a flight hazard. The only thing we cannot stand being near is an evil creature. But instead of running, like a unicorn would, we fight it away. Not that unicorns are cowardly, but they do prefer non-aggression to battle. It's just their way. We alicorns have too much pegasus in us, they say. I disagree, but that is just my opinion.~ By the time Kyphus had finished telling Harry this, they had reached the end of the trail, and were approaching the Forest's border. Kyphus bid him farewell when the trees thinned enough for Harry to spot the castle.

Harry watched the alicorn leave, before turning to make the trek up to the castle. His head was starting to become fuzzy. How had he not realized just how cold he was? He pondered, and finally came up with the answer. He had been too distracted by the alicorn to notice the frigidness of the air. And he was only in his school clothes, without his winter cloak. He nearly stopped once or twice, as the cold was making him sleepy. It would have been so easy to lay down and not get up again. But he knew better then to do that. It had nearly been his death a few years back. If Mrs. Figg hadn't found him sleeping in the snow, he would have frozen solid. He smiled slightly at the memory. That had been one of his better Christmases, as he hadn't had to spend it locked up in his cupboard. Naturally he hadn't mention this to Mrs. Figg. His thoughts were interrupted as he reached the main doors. He fumbled for the door knob for a bit, before finally managing it. Entering the Entrance Hall, he closed the door behind him, then stood there shivering in a corner for several minutes. So cold was he, that he didn't hear the rush of footsteps until too late.

***

Some hours previous

Severus cursed as he felt the spells he had place on Quirinus go off. The man had left his office, and Harry was nowhere to be found. He rushed towards the Defense office, but by the time he reached it the man was gone. There followed several fruitless hours of searching. Then, an hour before midnight, Quirinus reappeared in the castle, innocently sipping tea in the staff room. Harry was still nowhere to be found. This caused Severus' heart to beat faster, and he began to search more frantically, before deciding to go outside. He had just started down the last staircase before the Entrance Hall, when he heard the door open and close. He didn't hear any footsteps, but when he padded swiftly down the stairs he saw the boy shivering violently in a corner. The child's lips were blue, and he appeared half frozen.

Severus approached him faster then he meant, and soon realized it as Harry started, and stared at him with wide frightened eyes. Severus stopped, and waited until the child had calmed down. He, meanwhile, cursed mentally. What had those Muggle's done to the boy? He was determined to find out, and distribute justice if need be. Best to do it at some later date, however, as it was too important to make sure the child was safe and warm. After all, it wouldn't do for the boy to die of hypothermia or frostbite when he could do something to prevent it.