AN: This is written for the "If that hadn`t happened" challenge by A Sirius Crush on Moony on HPFC. I had the event "the Weasleys rescuing Harry from the Dursleys" and wrote what in my opinion would have happened if they didn`t rescue him. Now, I know this story might be a bit over-the-top and world-end-scenario, but I tried to keep it canon.
You may notice that I wrote a 250-word piece about each of several character and tried to connect the seperate stories by repetitions. Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, anything that seems familiar is from JKR and Warner Brothers. I do not make any money with this.

Beta: None, please tell me about mistakes. Thank you.

R&R? Yes, please. I am very unsure about this story as it is completly out there.

FLASH!

The cameras of the countless reporters did not stop working. Flourish and Blotts was crammed with people, every horizontal surface was taken by feet, bottoms, purses or reporter note books.

On one of them, a headline was already written and the draft of an article could be seen below written down in a fast scribble.

After teaching Defence Against the Dark Arts in Hogwarts
Lockhart returns with new book!
unheard-of Hogwarts secrets are revealed / school may be closed although Lockhart did his best

Loud voices – questions asked by the endless mass of newspaper people, cheers screamed by the fans and shouts from the store staff not to let children touch the books or disturb the order – filled the room.

"Mr. Lockhart – this is your twelfth book, written twelve month after your autobiography "Magical Me" – do you intend to keep up writing at this speed?"

"Myron Amerinus for the Daily Prophet, what do you think about current Head-Mistress Minerva McGonagall`s plans on closing Hogwarts?"

"Have you spoken to the parents of the dead girl yet? Is it true that the boy who lost his memory was his sister?"

Gilderoy Lockhart stood in the middle of the chaos, proudly holding up his book "To Bash the Basilisk" and smiled widely. He answered questions and signed every surface that came in contact with his quill.

And as he was basking in the glow of his fame, Lockhart did not notice a red-headed figure hurrying out of the store and quickly disapparating.

With a silent "plop", Charlie Weasley re-assumed shape in the Weasley`s back yard. He had decided to check out the rumour that Lockhart was already selling his new book and used the chance to get a copy for his family.

As he entered the house, it was as if all sounds were muted and all happiness and life from the outside world was exchanged for grief and grey monotony.

"Hey Mum." he greeted. Trying to overhear her sobbing, he laid Lockhart's book in front of her on the kitchen table which was still filled with the unwashed dishes from the past week.

"Where is dad?" His mother pointed to the living room, still not saying a word. Charlie nodded, pressed a kiss on her forehead and went to see his dad.

Sitting down in the old, comfy couch of the living room was supposed to bring back a feeling of home and family, yet right now, as the room was so silent, it awoke none of Charlie's happy memories from his childhood.

"How are you, dad?" he asked, ignoring the warning glances from his older brother Bill, who had occupied an armchair.
"How I am? I was fired for a crime I didn`t commit and don`t know where to find a job. My youngest child and only daughter is dead. My son has lost his memory and is now a full-time resident in St. Mungo. My wife hasn`t spoken a word since a week. How am I? Dreadful. Devastated. Destroyed."

"What happened the Ginevra Weasley was a dreadful accident. Please understand that everybody in the Ministry, including myself, is deeply devastated. This incident has destroyed a family and is to be considered one of the most tragic events in the history of Hogwarts School."

Percy all but crumpled the paper back down and met the disbelieving looks of his four brothers.

"This is all Fudge has to say about it?"
"This is all the Prophet printed."

"No word about him firing dad, no word about Ron, nothing about Hogwarts being closed?" Bill let out a loud snort. "Unbelievable. That as…"

"Hey! No cursing! This is a funeral, after all." Fred commanded and this was so unusual that all the Weasley sons immediately feel silent. After a while, Bill thoughtfully began to speak.

"I don`t get it how they all believe this story. Dad stealing an enchanted diary from work to give it to his daughter because his is too poor to buy one, unknowing that this diary set`s free a mud-blood-killing monster inside Hogwarts coming from a chamber nobody has ever seen. A monster which belongs to Hagrid, but listens to the "Heir of Slytherin", kills the keeper of the diary and maybe gets the school closed."

"We should have gotten Harry out of his prison cells over at the Muggles despite mum forbidding it. He would have saved the day." George announced. He received nods from around the table and in unison, the brothers raised their glasses.

"To Harry!"

"Who is Harry? Do I know him? His name sounds really funny, though."

"You don`t remember anything about Harry. Harry Potter? Your first year in Hogwarts School together?" Charlie desperately and also patiently tried to re-wake the memory of his little brother. It seemed like a hopeless task.

Ron sat on a bed in St. Mungos and curiously studied the almost identical looking faces before him with a somewhat blank expression in his eyes.

It was their sixth visit here and he started to get an idea that those people were his brothers (their parents had not had the courage to visit Ron – they were still in deep grief over Ginny`s dead), but he did not remember any names, details or things they had done together.

"You don`t remember…"

"… Harry being youngest seeker of the century?"
"… the troll?"
"… the Philosopher`s Stone?"
"… the Chess Game?"
"… you basically saving the world?"
"… Gryffindor winning House Cup?"
"… Hermione?"

Ron stared at the white sheets as if in deep thought, but then his expression darkened again and he shook his head.
"No." It sounded somewhat desperate – as if he wished he could try and regain these memories.

"You also don`t remember that this year, Harry didn`t come back and after some people were attacked, you and Hermione figured out the riddle of the monster inside the Chamber of Secrets and that you followed and confronted a teacher down there?"

Ron slowly shook his head again and shrugged apologetically.

Fudge slowly shook his head again and shrugged apologetically.

"No, Dumbledore. Your suspension is permanent. You will receive a formal owl from the Board of Governors later today. Also, note that I have promoted the acting Headmistress McGonagall to do the job full time. However, she thinks about closing the school altogether. You made the wrong decision to let the children stay there while they were in great danger. Have a nice day!"

And with that, Fudge disappeared out of the fire and left Dumbledore thinking how different everything would be if Harry had gone to Hogwarts.

A year ago, after Molly and Arthur nervously told him that Harry had not returned any letters and that they were unsure if he would be able to go to Hogwarts, Dumbledore had travelled to Surrey to free him.

However, he was rejected by the Dursleys and could not convince them that a pudding was not worth capturing a boy in his room and not letting him go to school again.

Dumbledore planned on using magic, but unfortunately, the Improper Use of Magic Department showed up. They said kidnapping and bringing Harry to Hogwarts against the will of his guardians was just as illegal as the abuse itself.

"Leave it to the Muggle police." they told Dumbledore and left. Dumbledore received a warning for risking exposure and that solved the problem for the Ministry.

Furious about his helplessness, Dumbledore stared out of the window: The sun set and seemed to seal his destiny.

The sunset spitefully reminded him that the world outside was beautiful while he was sentenced to prison for an unknown time.

Hagrid sighed, turned from the window (although measuring eleven feet, he did not actually see the sunset, he caught a glimpse of the light and went to the crack in the wall to feel it) and walked away.

He managed one step before meeting the wall of his cell. It was built for two men, but fit only one giant.

Hagrid collapsed on the floor. They had not given him a bed again since to the first two broke under his weight. Just as he began to think about life in Hogwarts, the guards passed by.

He froze. Every hope of Aragog escaping from the Ministry in the forest left his mind and the only thing he saw was the prosecution of the spider. It was closely followed by images of his dad`s funeral and his expulsion from Hogwarts which led to his wand being broken.

It took half an hour after the dementors leaving for Hagrid to open his eyes again. He had hoped they would only do one patrol a day, but as it turns out, there were two now.

Hagrid looked up to the twilight shining through his "window" and saw a little red bird flying around there. But before he managed to get up and take a closer look at this sign of hope and life, the bird turned and flew away to the mainland.

As Tom Riddle watched the little red bird flying around, he felt free for the first in a long time. He stretched out his ownarms and felt muscles, joints and sinews working. He took a very deep breath, inhaling the scent of Hogwarts.

Something was wrong, though. It did not feel the same as many years ago, when he was able to call Hogwarts his home. There was fear and insecurity radiating off the school. Tom knew that his basilisk had done the job well – turning most of the mud-bloods to stone and even killing a blood-traitor.

He was not sure what to do next. He had cleaned the school from some who did not deserve to study magic and had heard the rumors of the school being closed completely. That would leave the rest of the mud-bloods without education, too. Therefore, his original goal was reached.

Tom had also heard about that Potter boy from the foolish blood-traitor girl. Since the boy was the real threat to him, he needed to be stopped. But therefore, Tom needed to leave Hogwarts.

He nodded to himself as he made his decision. Tom sealed the basilisk back in the underground chamber, planning on returning and freeing the creature once Hogwarts was closed for good.

Tom Riddle now needed a plan on how to gain followers again for killing mud-bloods and this Harry Potter. And he needed to move fast before anyone noticed what was happening.

There are many mud-bloods out there.

"There are many muggle-borns in Hogwarts. Fifty years ago, we thought the castle was safe after finding the responsible person. We were wrong and the monster was not gone. I know …Professor… Lockhart claims to have killed it, but we never got prove.

"All we got was a dead student. So, yes: I am going to close this school because as long as …something is living inside it, nobody is safe. Thank you for your attention."

With fierce steps, Minerva McGonagall made her way past the reporters. She ignored all the questions because she was close to tears. This had been her home and her life – now she was the one closing it.

She went up a flight of stairs and ran into Madam Pomfrey.

"Minerva, did you… Oh Dear, are you crying? It is the right decision, you know." The nurse embraced the other woman in a brief and respectful hug. "It is right to close Hogwarts. You would not want anybody else dying."

Professor McGonagall had collected herself and now nodded.

"I know. It is still a very hard thing to do. Are the petrified students brought back to life yet? All the others are already gone with the Hogwarts Express; I wanted to send the remaining ones home with floo powder."

"They are." Madam Pomfrey said, beaming proudly. "I took the freedom of sending them away already. Miss Granger wanted you to have this."

She handed her an unmoving photograph showing Hermione and her parents in Paris.

On the back, Hermione had written something.

Dear Professor McGonagall,

I know you are no longer Professor, as there is no longer a Hogwarts, but I can`t help it.
I wanted to assure you that you did the right thing – Hogwarts wouldn`t have been a save place. Especially not for the muggle-borns.

I have been to the library: from all I know, I think the monster inside the Chamber is a basilisk that moves through the pipes. Ron must have found out more while I was in the Hospital Wing, because he confronted Lockhart and lost his memory for it.

Oh, by the way: Lockhart is a liar. I have looked up some of his heroics and I think he did not do a single thing – he tricked those who did somehow. But since Ron lost his memory and Lockhart is so famous – who is going to believe this anyway?

The other thing: Don´t worry about the Hogwarts students. I have heard almost three quarters of the Slytherin boys are joining Durmstrang next fall. The Weasleys, Luna Lovegood and Cedric Diggory will be homeschooled. As for me, Angelina Johnson and possibly the Patil twins – we will be visiting Beauxbatons from next year on. Cho Chang will be student of the Chinese Acedemy of Magic…

We have all found a new place to continue our education – and you have done all you could. This is not your fault, but destiny. I wish you all the best for the future.

Sincerely,
Hermione

Sincerely,
Hermione

Harrys hand cast over the signature, hoping that would bring Hermione to life. He could really use a helpful "I have been to the library." right now.

Sad and angry about everything that happened (Hermione's letter was a 15-page collection of details from Hogwarts' last weeks), Harry rolled over in his bed.

He was sure that the events in Hogwarts were exactly what Dobby tried to warn him about. But he was also sure that his return would have made things better.

He was still trapped in his room, only allowed to use the bathroom twice every day. On these occasions, he had washed his clothes in the bathtub. They looked horrible, and so did his hair: He cut it himself, since Aunt Petunia refused to touch him.

She had given him his food, which consist of a water bottle and two plates of thin soup per day, through the cat flap and otherwise didn`t talk to him all year. So he spent his time reading school books that were useless now.

He had honorably shared his food with Hedwig, but the owl had gotten thinner every day. She could not hunt since the bars in front of the window are too small for her to fit through. Hermione, clever as she was, sent her letters with very small owls that could come into the room.

With a tear rolling down his cheek because every bit of hope was gone now, Harry fell asleep and into a dream.

"What are you doing here?" Harry asked through the bars, completely shocked about the three Weasleys parking a flying car midair in front of his window.

"We`ve come to rescue you, since you were not answering the letters."

"We figured: might as well take care of it on our own." The twins brought forward a long rope and attached it to the bars.

"Go!" Ron shouted. The metal began to make unpleasant noises and Harry listened for his relatives to wake up. Finally, the concrete broke and Harry was free.

Ron climbed into his room, the bars dangling down and ruining Aunt Petunias flower bets. They began to collect Harrys stuff. With hushed instructions, the twins were sent downstairs to get the broom.

One their way up, they broke hell loose.

Uncle Vernon was not built for a marathon, but with wizards breaking into his house, he developed running skills like a cheetah. Aunt Petunia, knowing her husband did not stand a chance, was examining the damage done to her garden, complaining loudly.

Dudley stood in the doorway and inspected the scene suspiciously. He didn`t understood his dad pulling on Harrys legs to get him back inside. The whole summer he complained about Harry being here and when Harry left, he complained, too?

Finally, they pulled Vernon out the window ("My flowers!") and dropping the bars on him ("POTTER!").

"Oh, by the way Harry: Happy Birthday!" Ron said, as all four were seated in the car, flying away. Harry smiled.

Harry awoke from the dream and smiled.

"Well, that would have been a solution."