Rest and Relaxation

For the next two weeks, George underwent his new mental recovery and he hated every second of it. The rules he'd set only permitted him to attend classes and complete his homework whilst maintaining friendly relationships with the students and professors. In essence, he was forcing himself to live like the other students for a while.

George had read in a psychology book that limiting his activities would relieve his mind from burden and allow him to recover from his mental trauma. Unfortunately, understanding the way the human brain worked didn't make the treatment any less maddening. His instincts told him to use his time as efficiently as possible and not to waste a single second, every hour that went by without him having something to show for it was becoming torturous.

Regardless, George knew that it was for the sake of his mental welfare. Although excruciating, he needed to endure and learn to control all of his impulses including his productivity. That being said, George did find ways to keep his mind active. He mainly focused on restricting his use of the Calming Draught as often as possible. The only exception to the rule was during Snape's class. Snape had a habit of borderline interrogating George regarding the day he'd broken into the potion classroom with Gemma.

Outside of the potion class, Neville asked him to help him with their homework and George was more than happy to oblige. It was through this simple one-off favour George secured a consistent schedule in the Library where he could meet with Neville and help complete any homework he was struggling with. The two-man homework club went on for many hours since there wasn't a single subject Neville didn't struggle with besides Herbology.

George successfully made Neville have almost complete reliance on his support. Neville liked to talk about plants he'd read about during their time together, George mimicked his curiosity by adding to Neville's findings with more relevant facts and trivia. Neville's reaction was always positive and seemed to help with building his confidence. Within the space of a week, Neville had transformed from a timid boy on the train to an excited and infused student around George.

When it came to George's true feelings; he considered Neville to be an immature and idiotic child with a pure heart and humble character, almost the complete opposite of himself. These contrasting personalities were pleasantly refreshing and helped George wind down in the afternoons. He hoped their relationship would continue to flourish since it was doing wonders for his mental health.

Whilst on the topic of Neville, there had only been one occasion George was close to taking a sip from the Calming Draught and that was during his first flying lesson. Being suspended in the air by a frail wooden stick between his legs made him feel extremely uncomfortable. The brief moment where he allowed the broom to lift his feet off the ground resulted in George's body screaming danger signals as if he was in extreme peril.

Since the lesson was a perfect opportunity to practise controlling his emotions, George forced himself to stay in the air whilst regulating his breathing and lowering his heart rate. Luckily for his fraying nerves, the stressful lesson had been cut short by the accident with Neville flying off and breaking his wrist. As tempting as it was to help his friend, George decided to stand aside and watch.

Without George's intervention, the lesson played out just as he remembered. Harry was taken away by McGonagall to go and meet the captain of the Gryffindor Quidditch team. The flying lesson would have been the relatively boring end of his first relaxation week if it wasn't for George's Charms class on Friday. The class wouldn't have been of any significance if it hadn't been for the potential manslaughter George almost committed at the end.

The lesson itself was normal, but as the class was leaving the room, Flitwick asked George to stay behind. Flitwick wanted to know how George had progressed with his alarm clock project. Since his 'modification' on Sunday, he'd been using the alarm clock for the past week and had been successfully woken up every single time. However, the way that he woke up was far from ideal.

Waking up after a good night's sleep felt like a taser being pressed against his arm and sending one-hundred-thousand volts into his body. This consistently caused George to rocket out of his bed and convulse on the floor. Since he'd committed to no longer relying on Theodore to wake him up, George had to keep reluctantly using the alarm clock.

With hope clouding his judgement, George handed over the clock to Flitwick and explained the problems he'd been having. To George's horror, Flitwick offered to help but insisted that he saw the alarm clock activate to better diagnose the problem. George practically begged for Flitwick to not set the alarm on himself, but the half-goblin assured him he'd be fine.

Whilst crossing his fingers behind his back and praying for a miracle, George watched nervously whilst Flitwick set the alarm. Just like every morning for the past week, the alarm went off and a ball of sparks flew towards the nearest target. The orb made contact with the back of Flitwick's palm, and the little man bounced into the air and flew backwards into a stack of books.

After a mad scramble to uncover his Charms professor, George lifted a particularly massive book revealing the dazed Flitwick underneath. All of the man's white hair, including his beard, was standing on its end. His glasses were missing a lens and his oversized robes were crumpled up. Flitwick's mouth hung open and his eyes were unfocused, George wasn't sure if he was even conscious.

George grabbed the man's shoulders and shook him gently whilst calling out his name repeatedly. Luckily within a few seconds, Flitwick's eyes regained their focus and locked onto George. Then Flitwick got up unsteadily and dusted off his clothes while straightening his jacket. The following conversation between himself and Flitwick was mainly regarding how George had been able to over-amplify the alarm clock so severely.

Fortunately for George, Flitwick didn't hold him accountable for nearly electrocuting him. Flitwick re-evaluated the clock with a great deal more caution and sadly came to the same conclusion as George, he said that it was far beyond any further modification. Flitwick said he should dispose of the alarm clock before it could hurt anyone else, but George insisted that he needed to keep it since it was a present from a close friend.

George's second week of relaxation was less problematic since he neither attended a flying class nor nearly killed one of his teachers. The only new problem was his sanity. Completing his and Neville's homework was far from enough to keep his mind occupied. George started completing all sorts of mundane tasks such as; increasing his fitness regime to include running around the perimeter of the Quidditch pitch and introducing Myrtle to different types of music he had in his collection.

Other than thinking about his plans for October, there was little to do in Myrtle's company. Because of that restriction, George allowed himself to slightly bend the rules of his holiday. He began practising Disillusionment magic in the girl's bathroom. His progress was slow and by the end of the week, George only managed to turn his hand a sickly green in an attempt to blend in with the cubicle.

Also, George killed more time socialising with the few friends he had in Slytherin. Grant and Quinton only chatted in their dorm room, but when he did have a chance to speak to them, George put more emphasis on them finding other opportunities to talk. He'd told them about his schedule and they had shown particular interest in his fitness regime.

The cousins told him that they used to be part of a sports club back in the muggle world. They wanted to find the equivalent activities at Hogwarts, but they'd been disappointed by the lack of options. On their hunt for like-minded sports fanatics, they'd seen George running laps around the Quidditch pitch and had been meaning to ask him about it. George agreed to reschedule his exercise regime to complement their availability and reassured them he could hide his identity so they had nothing to worry about.

After explaining the idea to Grant and Quinton, they went away and discussed it privately before returning and agreeing to meet three times a week. During their first meeting, the cousins were ultra-competitive and attempted to outdo him in everything ranging from strength to athleticism. George quickly deduced this must have been some sort of test. Therefore, he made sure not to disappoint them.

George beat them in every activity, but he made sure it was by a slim margin. Luckily, his outstanding physique impressed them greatly and they insisted on him becoming their coach by the end of the week. They seemed to respect his strength and were keen to learn his methods so they could no doubtedly challenge him again.

He ran the cousins ragged until they could barely walk. This gruelling exercise program George had invented was a good opportunity to talk to the cousins privately. Just like Neville, they were a superb source of information, except they specialised in the Slytherin House. With relative ease, George was able to acquire regular updates on his perception from the other students. According to Quinton, it was still terrible.

Even with all the extracurricular activities filling up his week, George was still itching to start more productive tasks. He's satiated this urge by planning out his transformation at the end of the week. When he wasn't exercising with the cousins, he jogged past the Whomping Willow and evaluated his plan of attack.

Whilst analysing the Whomping Willow, George concluded that there were three ways to navigate past it without being smashed to a pulp. The first method was recommended by Remus and was considered the safest option. This involved slowly crawling towards the Whomping Willow whilst avoiding making any sudden movements or noises.

The tree can't see or hear so it uses its roots to detect trespassers, footsteps would create vibrations in the ground and give away your location. If you keep your movements to a minimum, the tree would not notice your existence until you were practically touching its trunk. This was the method Remus had used when he first attended Hogwarts until he learnt how to cast a specific spell.

Whilst on that topic, the second option was to cast the Immobulus spell which prevents the tree from moving for a short duration. Provided you are well-practised in performing the spell, this is by far the simplest option and doesn't require you to roll around in the dirt. George however, didn't like either one of those suggestions.

The first was unnecessarily risky and the second was impossible since George didn't know how to cast the spell. He'd considered learning it, but quickly realised it would take longer than a month to master. After running past the tree from different angles and recognising the exact location the hole must have been hidden, George made up a third option. This new method involved sprinting toward the tree and diving into the hidden hole before it could react to him.

These events all built up to where George was currently standing. He was thirty yards from the Whomping Willow whilst performing a few stretches in preparation for the sprint. He finished his warm-up exercises and lowered his body to the ground like a professional sprinter. With a final deep breath, he pushed with all of his strength and launched himself toward the Whomping Willow. He took large strides as he bounded toward the tree whilst carefully avoiding the uneven ground.

Once he reached the point where he was shadowed by the canopy, George could see the hole that led to the secret tunnel. As he neared the trunk, he heard the sound of wood bending and branches rustling above him. When George was only a few feet away, he leapt off the ground and dived forward with his arms outstretched. He passed the threshold of the muddy hole and tumbled over the roots before coming to an abrupt stop in the dark cavern.

After another second passed, George heard the loud bang of branches hitting the ground outside the entrance. The sound was proceeded by dried mud and dust falling from the ceiling. He coughed a few times and dusted his shoulders before slowly standing up. George looked into the darkness and saw a long dark tunnel with seemingly no end.

He unsheathed his wand from his sleeve and cast, "Lumos!", to produce a glowing white light.

George kept on walking for a dozen minutes down the dirty tunnel without any sign of reaching its end. The tunnel was crude in its construction as the roof varied in height and the walls in width. One consistent element was the path which was incredibly uneven and covered in roots which acted as the perfect tripping hazard for anyone who wasn't paying attention.

On the way to the Shrieking Shack, George wondered about the method of construction to produce such a long tunnel with magic. He thought the most likely possibility was the use of plant-controlling magic to move the dirt aside. If that was the case, George could imagine how effective the same magic could be in combat to slow or even incapacitate a large group of enemies with roots and vines.

George chuckled at himself once again for adding more to his to-do list. It seemed that he really couldn't help himself. He decided during the walk to end his holiday on Monday since two weeks without mentally exerting himself ought to be enough rest. It was probably for the best to end it early and have a week every month where he relaxed.