Quote 1
Miss Honey gazed at Matilda with absolute amazement, but when next she spoke she kept her voice level. "That is really splendid," she said. "But of course multiplying by two is a lot easier than some of the bigger numbers. What about the other multiplication tables? Do you know any of those?" (7.27)
Miss Honey is shocked, amazed, dumbfounded, you name it. But she doesn't show it at all. She just acts normal and tries to suss out what's really going on. Of course this is exactly the right reaction. If she had done what Mrs. Wormwood did in the previous quote, well we're thinking that might have upset Matilda just a little bit. After all, she's a regular girl like the rest of us.
Quote 2
"Then go and catch them, Harry!" hissed the mother. "Go out and collar them red-handed!"
The father didn't move. He seemed in no hurry to dash off and be a hero. His face had turned grey. (4.40-1)
In this scene, Mrs. Wormwood turns to Mr. Wormwood to protect the family. She expects that he, as the husband and provider, will step up to defend everybody. Ha. That's just laughable to us because we know better. If anything, Mr. Wormwood is more scared than everybody else is.