Lavender’s salamander prank transforms a routine classroom test into a public humiliation of Miss Trunchbull—and an accusation that drives Matilda to discover she can move objects with her eyes. The act begins as Lavender’s private bid to prove herself brave, but the creature’s sudden appearance in the water glass shifts the scene from a carefully concealed trick to a crisis of blame, rage, and unexpected power.

Causes and Preparation

Juffrouw Engel warns the class that Miss Trunchbull will test them on the two-times table and spelling. She also explains that a jug of water and a clean, empty glass must always be waiting on the table when the headmistress arrives. Lavender immediately volunteers for the task. Juffrouw Engel tells her to fetch a jug from the kitchen, fill it, and set it beside a glass before the lesson; the kitchen has at least twelve jugs and glasses for Miss Trunchbull, though the school as a whole uses them.

The errand gives Lavender an opportunity to plan a prank. She admires Hortensia for her bold tricks and Matilda for the secret stories Matilda has shared about the parrot in the chimney and the hair-oil switch that turned her father’s hair blond. Lavender wants her own chance to be a heroine, and she considers the possibilities of the water-jug duty on her way home. She imagines Miss Trunchbull as a formidable opponent, one who would demand a plan as carefully conceived as Wellington’s preparations for Waterloo.

Lavender finds the means for her scheme in the muddy pond at the back of her garden, where salamanders live. One evening she waits beside the pond until a large one appears, then throws her hat over it like a net. Getting it into her pencil box proves difficult: the animal twists and wriggles, and the box is barely large enough. She has lined the box with water plants, and once the salamander is inside she takes care not to trap its tail in the lid. A neighborhood boy has told her that a severed salamander’s tail can live and grow into an enormous new animal. Lavender doubts the story but does not want to risk it. She finally slides the lid shut, then leaves it slightly ajar so the salamander can breathe.

The Salamander in the Jug

On the day of the test, Lavender can scarcely eat at lunchtime. She tells Juffrouw Engel that breakfast filled her up, then rushes to the kitchen after the meal. She chooses one of Miss Trunchbull’s large, lumpy jugs of blue-glazed earthenware, fills it halfway with water, and carries it with a glass to the classroom. The room is empty. Lavender takes the pencil box from her bag, opens it just enough, and holds it over the jug. The salamander drops into the water with a splash and thrashes briefly before settling. Lavender adds the water plants, intending to make it feel more at home, puts her pens and pencils back into the now rather damp box, and joins the other children outside.

At two o’clock, the class and Juffrouw Engel return. The jug and glass are in their proper place, and Juffrouw Engel stands at the back of the room as everyone waits. Miss Trunchbull marches in. Later, as she lifts the jug and pours water into her glass, the salamander comes with the water and plops into the glass. The concealed creature becomes a sudden, visible presence where Miss Trunchbull expects nothing but a drink.

Miss Trunchbull leaps up and cries out. The children, seeing the slimy animal writhing in the glass, jump and shout guesses about what it is, calling it a snake, a baby crocodile, or a little dragon. Lavender warns the headmistress that it might bite. Miss Trunchbull is especially furious because she takes pride in fearing nothing, yet the animal has startled her into screaming. She has never seen a salamander and does not know what it is; she sinks back into her chair, her fear giving way to hatred and rage.

Blame and the Discovery of Matilda’s Power

Miss Trunchbull calls Matilda to her feet, although Matilda asks what she has to do with the creature. Lavender, seated behind her, feels guilty about putting her friend in trouble, but she does not intend to confess. Miss Trunchbull denounces Matilda and threatens expulsion, punishment, and a future in a reformatory. Matilda is angry not merely at being accused, but at being blamed for something she did not do. She insists she had nothing to do with the salamander.

The headmistress refuses to believe her and invokes Matilda’s father, who had warned her about his daughter. As Miss Trunchbull rages, Matilda’s anger intensifies. She watches the salamander writhing in the glass and imagines tipping the water and animal over Miss Trunchbull’s head, but fears what the headmistress would do in response. The glass, the creature, and the accusation focus Matilda’s attention on the table. She begins to feel a strange force gathering in her eyes, accompanied by a sense of power she cannot explain. She concentrates on the glass and silently wills it to tip. It wobbles, rights itself, and then, under her renewed effort, slowly leans farther and farther until it balances on the edge of its base.

The glass finally falls with a sharp clink. Water and salamander spill across Miss Trunchbull’s chest. She springs from her chair again, and the salamander clings to her jacket before she sweeps it away. It lands beside Lavender’s desk; Lavender quickly picks it up and puts it back in her pencil box, already thinking that another salamander might be useful someday.

Consequences and Significance

Miss Trunchbull demands to know who overturned the glass. The class remains silent. She accuses Matilda again, but Matilda sits still and says nothing. Lavender’s prank has therefore produced two different forms of disruption: it exposes Miss Trunchbull to the fear and disorder she usually imposes on the children, and it places an innocent student under threat. Yet the accusation also becomes the immediate trigger for Matilda’s discovery. Faced with an injustice she cannot accept, Matilda finds that she can exert force without touching the object.

The scene’s reversal is carried by ordinary classroom things: a jug assigned as a routine duty, a glass set out for the headmistress, a pencil box used as a hiding place, and a salamander mistaken for a dangerous creature. Lavender’s planning makes the animal’s arrival deliberate, but its appearance in the glass sets off consequences she did not intend. The moment ends not with Miss Trunchbull acknowledging what happened, but with her renewed accusation and Matilda’s new confidence. Matilda realizes that if the power of her eyes can overturn a glass and splash its contents over the feared headmistress, she need not feel afraid of anyone.