i am lord voldemort • Tom Riddle

Alternative Timeline: XXXV

She barely had time to marvel over what a tyrant her dear uncle was before having to hastily deflect the oncoming spell. The wand felt light enough as to be weightless, yet lacked the warmth of her own wand, which she likely would never see again. The thought didn't trouble her as much as she thought it would. In the end, it was just a fancy branch, utterly replaceable. She would find another that suited her, one day.

"Expelliarmus!"

She stretched out an arm and caught the twirling wand with her free hand as it threatened to fly past, fumbling only slightly. When it at last donned on her opponent that he was now defenseless, facing Gellert Grindelwald in the flesh, and surrounded by more than just a couple of Grindelwald's followers, all colour fled his cheeks.

"Run along," Grindelwald coaxed him. "It's poor form to attack the unarmed. I won't kill you, if you are quick enough."

If possible, the man went even paler, and positively sprinted through a dozen different duels, somehow avoiding being hit, against all odds, and escaping out the adjacent door from which all the judges had entered earlier. If they didn't leave soon, that door would likely become a problem. Well, all the doors would be a problem, when reinforcements arrived, but it's not like she could just barricade them all in there until the Ministry decided they weren't worth the trouble.

As Lae handed her uncle back the Elder Wand, glad to be rid of it, a frown pinched at her brow. "Wait a second... Why couldn't I just borrow your old wand? It's not like you need it anymore." Her tone held an accusatory edge.

"I taught you better than that. You need to earn the wand you wield. Always."

That sure sounded like an excuse.

"Uh, if you say so." Against her better judgement, before leaping down to help Tom and the others, she asked, "What did you do to the real Minister? I'm sure he wouldn't have missed this fiasco willingly."

"How sweet. Are you worried about the actual Minister of Magic?" Now, Grindelwald's smile was anything but kind. "You should be."

Uh huh. Not at all concerning. And that, she decided, was her cue to leave.

Lae took a running leap over the lowermost level of chairs, using one of them to springboard her into a brief free fall down, down, down to the auditorium floor roughly eight feet below. Her landing was softened by a last minute cushioning charm that slowed her to an easy stop, not to say her descent was simple by any means. Well aware that even with the most wanted man across several continents to her back she still made for a rather tempting target, Lae kept an alert eye on her surroundings.

Although Tom briefly disappeared amidst the fire and fray, she spotted Rabastan managing, if only barely, to hold his own against a female Auror a small distance away, her teeth bared with fierce determination. It was all he could do hold her off, deflecting spell after spell in quick succession, let alone begin an offensive. Despite his general natural ability when it finally came time for him to be serious, she had at least two decades of fighting experience over him, and used it to full effect. He was losing ground fast, his feet swiftly dancing over one another as she pressed him closer to the wall of flames Tom had created to divide the room from any attackers long enough for them to all make an escape. That, of course, was before he knew Grindelwald would involve himself.

Rabastan needed help, desperately. Lae aimed for the witch from afar, but couldn't get a clean shot due to the number of combative pairs weaving through her line of fire. Without time to press closer through the tempestuous throng, she needed to get creative, or risk him getting more slightly crispy than either would reasonably appreciate.

This time when she aimed she intentionally kept her direction vague, focusing instead on what the witch was wearing. She pictured her outfit in her mind's eye. Would it be better to go for after robes?