A prefect came in to see what the noise was and copped the lot. I happened to be out of bed at the time and was assumed to be the culprit. He grabbed me by the neck and marched me back to his study. Normally I would have got the slipper but I can only assume that the prefect had already packed his gym shoes so he picked up the nearest substitute, his leather trouser belt, and gave me a swift dozen on the seat of my thin pyjamas. It didn’t actually hurt that much but the sound was deafening, echoing down the corridor back to the dorm to my startled friends.