Crushing Defeat!!!

You couldn't find something that didn't exist, so by the time classes began the next day, Andrew still hadn't encountered the Hufflepuff plotting to take over the Black Lake.

As a result, Andrew's day was fairly uneventful.

But life always had a few twists. After the first class ended the following day, trouble began.

No fights had broken out over the two-day weekend, but that was plenty of time for the first-years to put some of the bad ideas in their heads into action.

Their shared battles had brought them together, and their varied backgrounds had supplied plenty of crooked ideas. Given time to brew, the combination produced something remarkable.

Over the break, the Gryffindors had managed to buy a few handy items that wouldn't make a fight too serious: boxing gloves brought over from the Muggle world by owl.

They slipped the gloves into their schoolbags. Then, after class, the burliest students put them on and blocked the Slytherins' path.

"How did it come to this?"

Harry looked at his classmates, all itching for a fight, and felt a little lost.

He had more or less been pushed into leading them. It felt good, but he still couldn't figure out how things had reached this point.

If he had been older, or had read the right books, he would have understood. On a grand scale, it was a case of the times making the hero. On a smaller scale, a seed had sprouted when the conditions were right.

His reputation had earned their trust. Neville's request had given them a reason to act. Success had given them confidence and left everyone with the same assumption: if something happened, Harry Potter would help.

When it happened again, with pressure from a rival house added to the mix, he naturally became the person most Gryffindors trusted.

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

Ron looked eager. Every Gryffindor wanted to be part of something big, and he was no exception. He had done well in both earlier clashes and earned plenty of praise from the other students. After growing up overlooked by his two unreliable brothers, he was raring for another fight.

Hardly anyone cared about House Points anymore. The nearly empty House Point Hourglass and the upper-years' approval had left most of the first-years afraid of almost nothing.

As long as no letters went home to their parents, what was there to fear?

They were wrong, of course. Several upper-years were already waiting with wicked grins for these first-year Gryffindors to learn an important lesson outside the school curriculum.

One first-year could see that something was off. But after working so hard to lose points, she wasn't in much of a mood to stop these reckless fools.

"Remember, don't hit their heads. Surround them, then get out as soon as you're done!"

Harry gave his orders carefully and posted lookouts. When he reckoned the Slytherins were about to arrive, he led the charge.

Their preparations worked well. Boxing gloves weren't especially dangerous, but the protection they offered left the Slytherins at a loss.

The Gryffindors quickly knocked down the students they had surrounded. That was as far as they got.

More Slytherins gathered to help soon after class. While Harry and the others were still fighting at close quarters, the newcomers drew their wands.

"Potter, you damned Scarhead!"

"Shoes, Bite Him!"

Seven or eight Slytherin first-years—perhaps more—shouted what sounded like that spell at once.

Almost instantly, Harry felt something clamp down hard on his big toe. The sudden pain nearly knocked him off his feet.

A few Gryffindors kept fighting and managed to take down more Slytherins. But with their movement hampered, they too eventually fell to the vicious jinx.

The upper-years who had followed them to make sure the first-years didn't take things too far tried to find a counterspell and failed. In the end, they could only call for students from other years to help carry the unlucky newcomers to the Hospital Wing.

And so the first great battle between the new students ended in Gryffindor's defeat.

"That's about it. Apparently, the Gryffindors lost the last of their points, and Harry Potter and a few of their best fighters were sent to Detention..."

At lunch, Hal recounted the whole battle as though he had been there.

"They actually got someone to buy Muggle fighting gear for them. That took some imagination... Though I bet Gryffindors tried it before, and that's why the Slytherins knew how to counter it."

"Nope..."

Hal wagged a finger, drawing out the suspense. "Apparently, this was the first time anyone tried it. By the middle of first year, everyone knows a jinx or two anyway. Gryffindor lost this time because of one person."

"That professor?"

"You take all the fun out of telling a story, Andrew..." Hal sighed. "Yes, Professor Snape. His favoritism toward Slytherin has gone too far. Over the weekend, he called the students who weren't in Detention to his office for extra lessons. Then the Slytherins spent half a day practicing in their Common Room.

"I even heard a rumor, though I'm not sure it's true. To make certain they'd win, that Slytherin professor brought out a jinx hardly anyone had seen before..."

It wasn't impossible.

Andrew wasn't alone in thinking so. Nearly everyone in their Dormitory agreed.

"Whatever happened, you're a hero. I've never seen Snape get this worked up before."

The Twins' words made Harry feel a little better. He just wished they would stop making fun of his two suspended feet.

"We lost..."

Harry tried to settle into a more comfortable position, but he couldn't keep his mouth from twisting into a grin.

"I don't think we should keep fighting them, either. We came to Hogwarts to learn..." He struggled to work out what he wanted to say. He had never had much chance to think about such things before. Most of his time had gone into figuring out how to avoid Dudley and his so-called friends.

"But I couldn't help it. Neville didn't do anything, and Snape picked on him just because he didn't like him. Then those Slytherins joined in... and everyone started fighting. First we won, then we lost, and we heard all kinds of advice. But we only got more and more anxious."

He closed his eyes and thought of the stories he had read about Dumbledore. "Now that we've lost, nobody's in a rush anymore. Slytherin has jinxes, and we don't. I think we need some too..."

The Twins stared at him in surprise as Harry spoke faster and faster. "They asked their professor for help, and we have upper-years. Professor McGonagall won't support us doing this, but the upper-years can still help us. We'll have to face those Slytherins sooner or later... So now we need to study hard. At least learn how to deal with them..."

"Winning or losing once doesn't mean much, Fred, George. Let's learn magic first. Once we've mastered it, we can come back and try again." Harry opened his eyes, which shone brightly, but in the end he left the start of the saying unspoken. "Um... never underestimate a young man just because he's poor."