The Strength in the Wild

She had been running for her life for so long, there didn't seem any other way of living. Her whole being had been reverted to that of basic survival, not allowing her to appreciate the beauty of what had once come with being a witch.

Lord Voldemort reigned.

He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named had defeated the young man who had been prophesized to bring forth peace and salvation from a modern day evil. Harry Potter was dead along with many of his followers. Voldemort had been promoted to He-Who-Lords-Over-Us-All, and even to utter those words were dangerous. Dumbledore's name was never spoken and was punishable by Crucio. Other important wizards from what was once known as The Order of the Phoenix was also prohibited from speech or books. A mass burning of books was held, but surprisingly, it was the burning of books full of Dark Magic. Many hypothesized that Voldemort did not want anyone but his most trusted minions learning the Dark Arts in the event that the public decided to overthrow him. Others hypothesized that the book burning was just to deceive the public and that the most vile of the Dark Magic books still remained in Voldemort's possession. But Dark Arts were the least of the general public's problem.

The assortment of dark creatures and Death Eaters that patrolled the streets, asking for passports and other identification, killing at random especially if you are not of pure blood, was astounding. Britain was completely taken over and all its half-blood and muggleborn wizards had their wands destroyed. Those that survived the random killings by the Dementors and werewolves had fled to neighboring countries and as far as China. Voldemort, however, was stretching his power as well and had begun to invade other neighboring countries. Powerless, hunted, and suddenly of a dying minority, many half-blood and muggleborn wizards and witches fled to the mountain, hiding as the Giants still did from the Dark wizards taking over their world.

This is where we meet Angelina and her band of followers.

Angelina's genealogy was not certain, but the Lords of the time saw her to be of dirtied blood. The Malfoy Family tree, along with other old and powerful pureblood family trees were sought after and a massive scanning of all wizards done. If your name was not on a family tree (even if it once was but then had been blasted off), you were not considered pure blood. Many people tried to pretend they possessed nothing but the purest of bloods, but in the end, Voldemort constructed a massive tree that showed nearly all the people of Britain. And those not on the Tree was subject to torture and shame.

Angelina's mother had died around the same time when Harry Potter and the Order had fallen. The epic battle had torn through the country and even bordering ones were affected as well. Angelina, however, had been thousands of miles and an ocean away in America where she was playing on the Chudley Cannons Professional Quidditch team. She had come back to a country in ruins, run by an insane and evil conqueror, and now she was suddenly considered in the lowest order of society. Her only choice had been to run. And she has been doing so with a band of people she had met along the way.

Along the harsh woodlands and the mighty mountains of the eastern border of Britain they traveled. Many "packs", as they had come to affectionately call themselves, littered the area, but one was never to meet up with another one. Everyone operated by stealth, because Voldemort tolerated no one to disobey him and flee his wrath. Some of the most gruesome stories were of captured fugitives, and these stories were what kept Angelina and her crew moving.

They traveled slow and nomadic. They knew not where they were headed except southeast, far away from the war. They would set up camp, keep watch, stay alert, and within a few weeks, even sometimes days or hours, they were moving again. Sometimes they shared a cave with animals. Wandless and distressed, many fugitives had died from the harshness of nature or from one of her animals while trying to live the life of mountain dwellers. Thankfully, no one from Angelina's pack had suffered such a fate.

But they were undeniably lost, walking in perpetual circles. No one possessed a map or compass and none could use magic. This was perhaps the most crippling hardship that these former wizards had to endure. Once raised on the luxuries of magic, the people of the mountains felt they were less than defenseless, more than simply vulnerable without their powers. Like prehistoric humans, they relied on tools and weapons from nature and the little clothes and food they had scraped from their houses before they left.

But after years and years of living along-side the creatures of the mountain, the little food and clothing from home were ultimately exhausted. The wrath of Lord Voldemort had spread along the bordering countries and entering an unknown town was just as dangerous as showing up at the Lord's doorstep back in London. The fugitive people often wondered about (and hoped for) muggle intervention. After the first couple years had passed, they figured the muggles either still didn't know, or didn't care.

Eight years Angelina and her crew roamed the mountains, surrendering all thought of ever returning to normal wizarding activities, or eating normal food again, or taking normal showers, seeing loved ones and friends, or believing in the possibility of Good conquering Evil. It took eight years, as Voldemort's power grew stronger and the muggleborn and half-blood public of the wizarding world grew weaker, before a step was finally taken in the right direction and, from then, a new beginning could be reborn.