Mercer breaks the prefect’s seal and reads beneath the science-room lamp. His expression barely changes, but his quill stops moving as the note’s instructions settle.
Mercer
The attendance ledger, is it? Very well. You may see why it matters before you carry it back.
He draws the heavy book across the desk and opens it beside the note. Names, dates, and thin remarks fill the pages in orderly columns.
Mercer turns several pages. The spiteful comments align into a sequence: boys marked for correction before any ordinary offence appears beside their names.
Mercer
There. The charge comes after the selection, not before it. The record is made to follow the punishment.
Roald Dahl
The names are chosen before the reasons exist.
Mercer watches Roald over the ledger’s open spine, measuring his stillness. Behind the closed door, the science block remains quiet, while the dormitory boys stay behind under the prefect’s authority.
Mercer
You understand what I have shown you, Dahl. The question is whether you understand what becomes dangerous once it is understood.