A Monster Calls Chapter 24 Summary

Punishment

  • Conor's in the headmistress' office because he put Harry in the hospital with a broken arm, nose, and teeth.
  • Yikes. Harry's parents, of course, are furious, but Miss Kwan has explained to them that Harry was bullying Conor because of Conor's "special" circumstances.
  • When Harry's parents heard about the bullying, Miss Kwan tells Conor, they backed off. After all, Harry can't get into a good college if he has accusations of bullying on his record.
  • The headmistress says that's not the point. She can't even figure out how one boy could have caused so much destruction all by himself.
  • While the monster was beating Harry, it was screaming, "Never invisible again."
  • Then it told Conor there were worse things than being invisible, dropped a few leaves on the floor, and disappeared.
  • Conor tells the headmistress it wasn't him, it was the monster. But understandably, that's not good enough for her. The rules say that Conor has to be expelled.
  • Which comes as a relief to Conor—finally he's being punished. He's being seen
  • Not so fast. The headmistress decides instead that expelling him would do no good. They'll talk more about him beating up Harry someday, but not now.
  • And nobody speaks to Conor for the rest of the day. We guess he'll have to stay invisible just a little while longer.