In this chapter, the boys are introduced to the concept of "remedial goodness," or the ability to do good things in order to improve one's life. They are given various tasks to perform, such as "give it a bottle" or "carve out its heart." They are also asked to think of ways in which they can improve their lives. The boys decide that they would like to try their hand at a tournament game, which they have just seen on the news. The tournament game is supposed to be fun, but the boys do not want to be "nice just cause of my mother." Instead, they want to make friends. They decide to practice their magic by pretending to study in silence. When the boys ask the teacher what the average atomic mass of silver is, the teacher tells them that it is 107.9 h. He then asks the boy how he came up with this number. The boy tells the teacher that he has an "allergic reaction to pain" and that it would be better for him to sit the test out. The teacher tells the boys that they will not worry about the trivial things in life, and that they should focus on the important ones.