Margaret begs her father to let her go to the foreign school. He finally agrees. But first, he warns his daughter: as water shapes stone, the foreigners will shape her mind and make it narrow.

At boarding school, Margaret soon meets the Raven, a nun with a hooked nose and long, bony fingers like talons. The Raven soon clashes with the strong-willed girl. To show her how much he dislikes her, the Raven hands out gray stockings to all the girls... except Margaret, who gets bright red ones. The girl immediately becomes the laughing stocking of the entire school.