i am lord voldemort ? Tom Riddle

Alternative Timeline: XXXI

"That's quite the assumption you've made," she noted sharply. "A wrong one. Do better next time."

So they hoped to bring Dumbledore down with her, perhaps even threaten him with prison time to coerce him into taking a stand against Grindelwald? What a bunch of desperate, depraved—

"We know it was him, all you need to tell me is how, out of your own will, before I resort to less pleasant methods."

Just as his words faded into the air, he darted one hand across the table, taking tight purchase of her face. Thumb and forefinger dug into the apples of her cheeks, holding her stationary. Although his abrupt actions no doubt intended to surprise her, she anticipated their next move from the moment she accepted her capture. Lae let it happen without struggle, though the pressure from his grip continued to build to a near painful extent.

Then, when he leaned in close, his eyes burning holes into hers as he hissed, "Legilimens!" she struck. Two could play at that game, and she didn't require a wand to do it. She kept her Occlumency shields tantalizing low while he poked and prodded experimentally at her mind, easy bait, until he delved too deep, and she raised them to their fullest strength, causing him to crash headlong. While he was disoriented, she used the opportunity to launch her own assault, poking her own perforations into his defenses. Sweat beaded at her temple as she fought their battle of minds, her pulse pounding in her ears at the effort to maintain the connection with neither her uncle's skill nor a wand.

"You aren't nearly as good at this as my uncle," she murmured, low enough for his ears only. "I may not be the best, but if I learned to keep him out of my head, what chance do you have?"

Although Lae lacked skill in the invasive art of Legilimency, his momentary floundering provided enough opportunity to give her an edge. Incoherent flashes of his memories wove in and out of view: a long, dark corridor, Hogwarts Castle, Dumbledore's office, her own unconscious face—

Focus, Lae!

Her own surprise at referring to herself by that name snapped her back to her senses better than anything else ever could. The other man's memories still fluttered across her mind's eye, but more a steady stream as opposed to an overwhelming torrent, and growing weaker the longer he had to scramble up some semblance of a shield. Before he could hope to fully recover, however, Lae lunged across the table using her whole body. She pried his clammy fingers from around his willow-wood wand, stealing it into her own grasp after an unexpectedly brief scuffle.

It was almost cold to the touch, so unlike her own wand. If she had the luxury to worry, she might have wondered where it had gone.

Using the full force of her weight, she tackled the man to the ground, feeling only minimal remorse when his head cracked hard against the white tile. With any luck, that would keep him incapacitated. Or unconscious.

Or dead. She surprised herself with the grisly thought, no matter how small.

A door burst open, rattling its hinges as it crashed against the wall, three Aurors spilling forth from the adjoining room with their wands aimed squarely at her. Her eyes widened.

"Let him go, girl. The wand, too," a wavy-haired brunet instructed. "You are too deep within the Ministry to escape all of us. Don't make things any worse for yourself than it already is."

Glancing down, Lae realized she had landed on all fours, her limbs caging her unconscious interrogator in close. Of most significance, though, was the fact that her left hand, her wand hand, hit the floor beside his face, giving the illusion that she purposefully angled the tip of her wand to brush his temple. Well... she didn't ask for a hostage, but when life gives you lemons...