Christmas 1953 is the first one without Tabby. John stays with Dan in the Gravesend Academy apartment. Dan leads the Gravesend Players in a performance of A Christmas Carol, as is tradition. Dan hopes to cast Owen as Tiny Tim, but Owen protests. Owen has been forced each year to play the angel in the Episcopalian church’s pageant—a role for which his small size proves beneficial as it allows him to be hoisted into the air.

With most of the students and faculty of the Academy gone for the holiday, John and Owen have the run of the boys’ dorm. Using a master key, they enter the rooms of the absent boys. Owen amuses them both by determining whether each student is happy based upon his room’s contents. They learn to locate hidden items, such as pornography and condoms.

When the rehearsals for the Christmas pageant begin, Owen refuses to perform the part of the angel. He nominates John to play Joseph, who in turn selects a quiet girl named Mary Beth Baird to play Mary. An awkward boy named Harold Crosby will play the angel. Owen further argues to the rector and his wife that the turtledoves are ridiculous and should be replaced by another animal, such as a cow.