Crushing Defeat!!!

Something that did not exist naturally could not be found, so Andrew did not encounter that Hufflepuff plotting against the Black Lake before classes began the next day.

Thus, Andrew's day remained fairly uneventful.

But just as life always had its little twists and turns, an incident began after the first class ended on the second day.

Although no fights had broken out over the weekend, those two neither-short-nor-long days had been enough for the first-years to put some of the bad ideas that had surfaced in their minds into practice.

The unity brought by group combat, combined with the crooked ideas born from their mixed backgrounds, had fermented over time into something remarkable.

During the break, the Gryffindor students had successfully bought some convenient-to-carry magical tools that would not escalate matters too much—boxing gloves acquired from the Muggle world and delivered by owl.

They secretly tucked them into their schoolbags. Then, after class, the strongest group of students put on those magical tools and blocked the Slytherin students' path.

--

How did things end up like this?

Harry stared blankly at the eager students before him.

He had practically been shoved into becoming the students' leader—though the feeling was not bad, he had not yet figured out how things had developed this far.

If he had been a little older, or read books on the subject, he would have understood that, on a grand scale, this was called the times creating heroes; on a smaller scale, it was simply a seed sprouting at the right moment.

His reputation had brought trust, Neville's request had brought motivation, and success had brought confidence and everyone else's ingrained assumption—if something happened, Harry Potter would help.

When that behavior was triggered once more, coupled with pressure from an opposing House, he naturally became the person most Gryffindors trusted.

"This time, we'll block Malfoy..."

Ron looked eager for action. Every Gryffindor looked forward to a big scene, and he was no exception. Especially since he had performed exceptionally well twice, earning plenty of praise from the students. Having been overlooked since childhood by his two unreliable older brothers, his desire to fight was now running high.

At this point, hardly anyone cared much about House points anymore. The nearly emptied point hourglasses and the approval of the upper-years had left most first-years afraid of almost nothing.

They would not write home to their parents anyway, so what was there to fear?

Of course, that was wrong. Quite a few upper-years were already waiting with wicked grins for these first-year Gryffindors to learn an important lesson not found on the school timetable.

One first-year student had also noticed that something was off. But after working hard to chop down the points, she was not in a very good mood herself and had no intention of stopping these reckless fools.

"Remember, don't hit their heads. Surround them, then leave once you're done!"

Harry cautiously gave the order, arranged people to keep watch, and, estimating that the Slytherins were about to arrive, immediately led the charge.

It had to be said that their earlier preparations had worked very well. Though boxing gloves were not terribly lethal, their protection left the Slytherin students helpless.

They quickly knocked down the students they had surrounded, but that was as far as they got.

The Slytherins who had only recently finished class soon gathered to reinforce them. While Harry and the others were brawling at close range, they pulled out their wands.

"Potter, you damned scarhead!"

"Shoes, Bite Him!"

Around seven or eight—perhaps even more—Slytherin first-years shouted a spell that sounded something like that at the same time.

Almost instantly, Harry felt as though something had viciously bitten the big toe on his foot. The sudden pain nearly made him lose his balance.

Though several Gryffindors continued to fight resolutely, their restricted movement ultimately brought them down under that vicious curse after they had taken out some of the Slytherins.

After the upper-years who had followed them, intending to make sure these first-years did not take things too far, failed to break the curse, they could only call students from other years to carry the unlucky freshmen to the school hospital.

Thus, the first battle between the first-years ended in Gryffindor's defeat.

--

"That was more or less how it went. Apparently, those Gryffindors not only lost their last few points, but Harry Potter and several of the best fighters were sent to detention together..."

At the lunch table, Hal described the entire battle as though he had witnessed it himself.

"They actually had someone buy Muggle fighting gear for them. They really overthought this... Though Gryffindors before them probably did the same thing, which was why they were countered, right?"

"Not exactly..."

Hal wagged a finger mysteriously. "Apparently, this was the first time anyone had done it. After all, by the middle of first year, everyone knew a few nasty curses. This Gryffindor loss had something to do with one person."

"That professor?"

"You've completely ruined the surprise, Andrew..."

Hal sighed. "Yes, Professor Snape. His favoritism toward Slytherin is utterly excessive. Over the weekend, he called the students who were not in detention to his office for extra lessons, and then the Slytherin students practiced in the common room for half a day.

"I even heard some uncertain news—that Slytherin professor brought out a nasty curse that almost no one had ever seen before to make sure they succeeded..."

That was not impossible.

Not only Andrew, but practically everyone in their dormitory agreed with that view.

--

"No matter what, you're a great hero—this is the first time Snape has ended up so furious."

The twins' words made Harry feel a little better, though it would have been even better if they had not mocked his two feet hanging in the air.

"We lost..."

Harry tried to make himself more comfortable, but the corners of his mouth still could not help curling upward.

"I also think it's not right to keep fighting them. We came to Hogwarts to learn..." He tried hard to think of what he should say. It was difficult; he had never concerned himself with such things before, because most of his time had been spent thinking about how to avoid Dudley and his so-called friends.

"But I still can't help it. Neville did nothing, yet Snape bullied him just because he didn't like him. And those Slytherin guys followed Snape's lead... Then everyone started fighting. We succeeded at first, then failed, and we heard a lot of advice afterward, but in the end, we just kept getting more anxious."

He closed his eyes, thinking of the stories about Dumbledore that he had read. "But now that we've lost, no one is anxious anymore. Slytherin has nasty curses, and we don't. I think we need some too..."

???

Under the twins' astonished gazes, Harry spoke faster and faster. "They asked their professor for advice, and we have upper-years too. Professor McGonagall might not support us doing this, but help from the upper-years isn't bad either—we'll always have to face those Slytherin guys... Next, we need to study properly. At the very least, learn how to deal with them..."

"A temporary win or loss means nothing, Fred, George. We'll go study first, then come back once we've mastered magic." Harry opened his eyes. They shone brightly, but in the end, he still did not say the beginning of that phrase. "Well... do not look down on the poor young."