"Rat"

Graff and Major Anderson have an argument over making the battle room scenarios unfair, so that Ender can be prepared for anything. Ender goes to Rat Army, under command of Rose the Nose, and is assigned to Dink Meeker's platoon. Rose the Nose tells Ender not to use his desk or to practice with launchies, but Dink says he can't stop him. When battling Centipede Army, Rose sends Ender out to be frozen, but he ends up freezing many enemy soldiers, which makes Rose leave Ender alone. Dink tells Ender that he doesn't believe in the school, because children aren't supposed to be commanders of armies, and doesn't believe in adults running his life completely, or in the buggers planning to attack. Ender doesn't believe what Dink says, but it makes him more attentive to what people say. At a extra practice session with his launchies, Ender gets into a fight with older boys and feels bad about injuring four of them. He plays the mind game later, and looks in a mirror that shows Peter looking back at him. This scares Ender, and makes him realize that the teachers like his violent side the most, and that he's only a tool, no matter how he feels about it.

While reading, it seemed like Ender was the only hope, since the rules of the school had to be bent to ensure that Ender would be ready. Ender is learning more about being a soldier, and more about himself as well, and he has started to hate himself, as a result.