CHAPTER THREE: I HAVE TO STUDY HARD
Prof. McGonagall came to Mother’s waffle shop one day and kinda gave her a fright.
“I came for a family interview. Ronald must’ve forgotten to tell you.”
Mother turned and gave me a look, then sighed and said, “I know that kid’s a little dumb, but I told him to be good. If he’s naughty, feel free to beat him.”
Prof. McGonagall shook her head, “No, no, he’s very good. Although his mentality is not high—about 70, if I’m not mistaken—and belongs to the ‘Learning Deficiency’ category, but if he’s taught well, he can improve.”
Mother wiped her sweat a little and replied, “I hope you can teach him well. How about some waffles? You look like you need something for the stomach.”
Prof. McGonagall left without eating. Mother’s waffles are very good actually, especially when she pours two big spoonfuls of maple syrup.
As she watched Prof. McGonagall leave, Mother said to me, “See how much your professor cares for you, Ron? She even came to our home. She said you’re…well, whatever category was that she said, I forgot. You have to study hard if you want to improve.”
Like, no duh. Of course I want to study hard. Whenever class starts, I sit up real straight and listen real hard, but I don’t understand a friggin’ thing. I don’t even understand what is written on the blackboard. So sometimes I would fall asleep.
No more sleeping in class. I gotta start studying hard.
So I did. During Prof. Binns’ History class, I took out my textbook and pointed at the words with my finger, counting them one by one from left to right. Once I’ve reached a hundred, I counted again from one. I counted very hard and I never slept.
When Prof. Binns started writing words on the blackboard, the students began copying them into their books. So I quickly took out my pencil and looked hard. Finally I found three words that I know. I lowered my head and wrote big, one and man.
When I wanted to look for more words, Prof. Binns had already rubbed them off and wrote other stuff.
I drew beards on the people in my book with my pencil and drew guns for them. I know Mother is going to give me a wallop if she knew I drew these, so I quickly erased them. I tried looking for more words and found the same big, one and man words there. I quickly copied them on the next page.
For this class I didn’t fall asleep. I’m glad.
Harry Scarface said, “You can’t learn anything in a normal class. You should be in special class.”
“Mother said that there’s no special classes in seventh grade or any other high schools.”
“Then it’s the government’s fault, they owe you too much.” Hearing Harry Scarface say that kinda shocked me. But don’t worry, I won’t look for that ‘Mr. Government’ guy for revenge.
I said, “Prof. McGonagall came to my home that day and told Mother that if I study real hard, I can improve.”
I don’t know what ‘improve’ means, but I bet it’s a good thing.
Harry Scarface chuckled, “You are so naïve!”
I took out my book and showed him the words that I’ve copied in every page. Harry Scarface patted me on the shoulder and said, “Actually, judging by your heart, you’re way smarter than most people.”
I chuckled along with him. I like him patting my shoulder.
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