Friday 15 January
It is still the first week of term and I have had to deal with a most disconcerting incident in the showers. I heard giggling as I was passing, went to investigate, and to my absolute horror, found Watkins and Wrigglesworth, whom I had given six of the best not half an hour before, comparing their stripes. Unbelievable behaviour! Call me naive, but I had always imagined that a boy unlucky enough to be on the receiving end of my senior cane would display a decent penitence for at least the next twenty-four hours. This almost boastful parading of well-marked bottoms seemed disrespectful of the entire process. I gave the little toerags a further six of the best apiece, with plenty of follow through, but how do I know they won’t go off and compare the NEXT set of marks? I feel almost physically sick at the prospect.