Discipline Situation

Yesterday I was having a really good day.
My classes were going wonderfully, and I was allowed to leave early to go home because of the weather. Sweet!
On the way home though, I came accross a snowball fight. Harmless fun, I thought.
But when I got closer, I realized that it wasn't a snowball fight so much as four kids whipping ice chunks from very very close range at one kid who was just standing there trying to protect his face.
When I got close, they hugged him, trying to hide the fact that his face was cut up and that he was bawling.
I yelled at them, ineffectively, because they could not understand me. Then, they tried to guide me away, presumably, so they could resume the beating. I didn't leave. I made them leave. But they hung out at the corner, waiting for the kid. The poor guy.
He was really embarassed, and he crossed the street without me to avoid a group of other boys from the school. He was still crying, so it was understandable.
I kept an eye on him and the other boys, to make sure that they didn't follow him, and then I walked home. I don't have any ability to discipline anyone, so all I can do is pass it on.
Anyways, today, I did. The boys did not know though, and nothing happened until after second period.
This led to the greatest first period on a Thursday yet. The two boys who are always causing trouble were on extra good behaviour today. I think they were a little scared of me even. This compounded any effect I had left over from last week when I flipped and stormed out of class.
They were cooperative. They answered questions. They shushed their classmates! It was great.
Second period was good as always.
Third period, I picked out the boys from their school photos, which was hard, because for some of the boys,the photos were several years old.
When I came back to the office after fourth period, they were all kneeling in the office. Unfortunately, kneeling in my direction, which is a little awkward. Oh well, they deserved it.
It turns out though that they may have gone too far, but only a bit, and not unprovoked. They were picking on that boy because he had tried to defend his classmates by throwing a big ice ball at them! They didn't like that, and neither did his classmates, so they all ganged up on him afterwards. So, it wasn't unprovoked, but definitely still overkill.