Miss Trunchbull is a thoroughly hateful individual, a nasty piece of work who terrorizes the children in her school. Matilda's one of them, of course, but so too is the unfortunate Julius Rottwinkle.

One day, Hortensia, who loftily proclaims to be one of the crusaders fighting for their lives against Miss Trunchbull—the "Prince of Darkness, the Foul Serpent, the Fiery Dragon"—tells Matilda all about what their wicked teacher did to poor old Julius.

The previous day, the Trunchbull had caught Julius eating Liquorice allsorts during the scripture lesson. Without a moment's hesitation, she picked him up by one arm and just flung him right out of the classroom window. Julius sailed out over the garden “like a Frisbee” before landing slap bang in the middle of the lettuces.

As if she hadn't just sent out a very clear message to the children, the Trunchbull spells out what will happen to them in future if they're caught eating in class: they too will go straight out the window. Although Julius landed in a patch of lettuces, he still broke a few bones. This isn't surprising, given the strength of the Trunchbull's right arm; she once threw the hammer for Great Britain in the Olympic Games.